Chapter 5

On her first day, after taking one step into the Royal Palace, Corinna was in a daze.

She had heard that it was busy. She did, but it's really busy. So this is the praiseworthy Royal Palace.

She had imagined the Royal Palace to be resplendent. The beautiful female royals come and go in their luxurious dresses, while the ladies-in-waiting are indifferent, and courteous. The lovely Imperial Guard knights striding along, the superior civil officers systematically developing policies, and the powerful nobles that stand beside those above. And behind the scenes, there'd be a bit of scary things happening behind the scenes, like intricate webs of schemes… Corinna arbitrarily imagined things like that. No, it wasn't just Corinna. An average commoner that lived in a world that was detached from the Royal Palace would imagine things like that. Because stories circulated in society as if it was natural, the Royal Palace is thought of to be that kind of place.

But this is–

While Corinna was dumbfounded, she stood by and watched her surroundings.

At any rate, everyone was walking fast. And no one's staring either. The wonderful Imperial Guard knights were definitely wonderful, but they walked at a terribly fast pace, and passed by. Their faces were grim as well.

Above all were the civil officials that were frenzied. There were people that wholeheartedly walked, that discussed with sharp tones while walking, and that read documents as they walked without looking. Corinna had an image of civil officials as quiet intellectuals, but they were exuding a scarier mood than even the knights.

Among the sight that Corinna was seeing, there was not one elegant person in it.

"Hey, you, what're you doing?!"

"Ah, yes!"

Corinna was taken aback for a moment as watched the state of the Royal Palace, but as the senior lady shouts at her, she returned to her side in a panic.

"There's a lot of work to do! Quickly!"

"I apologize!"

She wonders if she's to be her boss from here on out. The lady urged Corinna forward, and she took one step into her life of being a court lady.

It's as her father said, work was busy. Anyhow, she was made to do anything. Cleaning, and after the odd chores, she also helped guests, as well as paperwork. As people quit one by one, those who had a strong sense of responsibility and had a helpful disposition from the beginning were successful.

As she lost herself in her work, Corinna approached one year of having worked at the Royal Palace.