Gaining Favors(1)

The next afternoon, I was informed to go to the Imperial palace so that I could briefly discuss the matters of engagement with the Crown Prince and the Emperor. At first, I was surprised... worried and rather unsure about how to gain the favors of the Emperor. If I acted like a Gold-Digger, and quickly make a jump for it... I might as well kiss my luck for Revenge... goodbye.

To get revenge... I needed favors. To get favors? I needed to act on my good side terms. How? The Emperor himself is very reasonable. But that bastard... it would take a long time to get his damned trust.

In my previous life... that loathsome bastard didn't trust me at all. Actually by all extension hated my face and my very existence as his fiancee. And to be honest... I was an idiot believing he would ever trust me or even come to love me.

And to be even more honest... I hated myself for chasing someone as a scheming asshole like him. Touching the blood of the Crest family and mines? Hah... you better be dragged to the pits of hell.

Also... there is someone else that I needed to stay away from: That new Ambassador. That one already claimed the title as the dangerous rebellious one. If I wanted trust... I needed to stay away from the Empire of Kyria with a ten-foot pole. If I am lucky... I'd want them to stay away from my sight!

***

A news arrived from the shop that both Lillia and I went to visit a month ago. The news had that the owner of the shop was selling the store out to new clients who wanted to own the shop. And the special news was I was going to get a fifty percent discount on the price. That's when I came up with another plan.

If I could strengthen the military of Dukedom, why can't I strengthen the merchandise and the marketing of the Dukedom too? This is great... but it could paint enemies behind my back and raise the stakes.

I could create a vast network of merchandise and stocks. Great... maybe even start a few other games. Hohoho... I am totally looking forward to this domination of society. Right now, the Crest Family's military is stronger than of Thornburg's family. But the Thornburg Dukedom's Faction has a good reputation of Entrepreneurship.

If I was going to enter Marketing and Business, I might as well clash with the Thornburg family. They might not be easy to crush with power... because our status is both tied- we could strengthen up.

"Lillia!" I yelled at my nursery maid who came running. She seemed bewildered when I handed over a box full of stamps and scroll of parchment.

"...what is this... Miss Belle?" she asked staring blankly at the items I handed over to her.

"...I want you to head over to the shop we went last time for our shopping spree, remember that shop?" I say, "I want you to go there and hand over the scroll of parchment. After that start stamping on the papers that they give you."

"What is this for?"

"Ownership of that shop..."

"Eh?" Lillia asked with a baffled face. Her jaws dropped, and her face seemed ridiculously cute.

"Now, now, go over there," I said patting her back. "If they ask you where you came from..." I say as I search underneath my drawers of my wardrobe. I found a family emblem that represents the Crest Family and gave it to her.

Lillia blankly nodded.

***

I left as soon as Lillia left for the Town, and I headed towards the Imperial West Palace. The same palace of my death. The same palace of my misery. Huge edifices towered over me as I looked at the West Palace. And my chest started hurting.

Is this what I call a painful heartbreak? This is so funny~ I am heading to my death place. Can I really avoid my death? There are too many "ifs" and "if not." So many variables in this life. I clenched my seat cushion as I forced myself to look up.

This time, I swear I will survive.

...

I was escorted in the Main Hall of the West Palace. There was a bloodlust of chills around the room. I felt a shiver run down my spine the moment the guards let me enter. Why did it bring back so many horrible memories? Whatever... I need to focus on my main mission.

"Your majesty, the Emperor of Emperizia," I say as I curtsy and acknowledge the middle-aged man sitting on the Throne. My eyes shifted towards a pair of chilling icy blue eyes which I could not forget;

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince of Emperizia," I say as I drop down and curtsy. Both of them nod at the same time as I stand up.

"Lady Bellrose, thank you for coming all this way to the West Palace, I acknowledge the fact that you made your time to look forward towards the Engagement," the Emperor says as he dully smiles.

"The Honor is mine, your Majesty," I say bitterly, choking on my own words. What honor? I wanted to scoff. I force a smile as I remember why I was here.

"So, what are your conditions, Lady Bellrose?" the Emperor says. I raise my eyebrows. Wow... didn't see that coming. I keep an expressionless and an uninterested face while I said:

"Anything that his Majesty seeks,"

The Emperor chuckles and looks at his son with a weird smile on his face. "Son, what are your conditions?"

Crown Prince Ares starts inspecting me as soon as the Emperor said that. I shiver as I look down at the floor, avoiding his cold icy sharp gaze. Soon he just simply shrugs and says:

"Anything father wishes,"

The Emperor frowns. I scoff when I see that. Frown? Why frown? Your son hates my face... and I clearly I hate his existence... spiteful little bastard.

"Why don't you both get along... I assume that you had some time to converse with each other during the Crown Princess Consort Ceremony? Right? No?"

I force to keep an expressionless face as I glance up at the Emperor blankly. Converse?

All we had time to do is to have a small cat-fight... surely you were the one who got the wrong information. If you want to put a warrior bloodbath between people... you should avoid mentioning 'friends or getting along...'

What friends? What 'get along'? It seems like a dumb joke right now...

"..."

"..."

Neither the Crown Prince nor I answer the Emperor's dull questioning. The Emperor frowned when he saw neither parties cooperating. Hah... so how did this engagement meeting go in my Previous Life?

If I remembered correctly, our meeting was held in a Suite Chamber room, not in the Main Hall. That time I was enthusiastically jubilant. A lovesick idiot, for god's sake. We talked about the dates of the Engagement Party and my future cooperation as the future Crown Princess.

But I wasn't going to go to that topic at all... those topics are blatantly stupid. I want to talk about the power I would receive after my coronation. I can't jump around with favors. That seems like what a useless little gold digger would do.

"Your Majesty, is there a question I can ask you?" I say looking at the Emperor.

"Yes..?" the Emperor said with questioning eyes.

"Why is that you chose me?" I say. "What benefits would you get after choosing me?"

The Emperor laughed off when I asked him that. I raised my eyebrows. This was quite an unexpected turn of events. Not expecting some joke reaction. Besides... I wasn't joking.

"Benefits..?" the Emperor asked, "What do you mean by benefits?"

"I mean it as in... 'why did you chose me' reason..." I ask.

"...You are from the Family of Crest. The Family of Loyalty in which they serviced me for years. This is the only way to give them the reward they wanted. It would be only natural if we chose someone trustworthy..."

Trustworthy? I secretly glanced at the Crown Prince who was staring at the Emperor. I bit my lip. What trust? What happened to the betrayal? The Reward my father got after he defended the country for thirty years? He got public execution. Haha...

And even I, his only, daughter didn't even have the honor to see it with my own eyes.

...

"Yes, thank you for your explanation, Your Majesty," I said bitterly as I curtsy. We'll see who's loyal and who isn't. Because... I'll drag the ones who betrayed me to hell.