Chapter 74
“Whatever. We’re going now.”
But this time when I tried to let go of his hand, Lucas grabbed my hand first.
Hey, didn’t you dislike me touching you? I don’t why you changed your mind, but geez, you change your mind a lot. And you even warned me this time that we’re going to be teleporting!
Tak.
As Lucas flicked his finger the scenery changed from the yellow grass field to my cozy room.
“You’ve arrived?”
What the heck! What’s that! There’s a person that looks exactly like me in my room!
The person that looked like me smiled and greeted Lucas and me, causing goosebumps to appear on my arms.
“Doppelganger!”
“What are you talking about. I said it was a doll.”
Oh, right. Embarrassed, I slowly dropped my finger that was pointing at the doll. But seriously, though.
“Is this really a doll? It could pass for my twin!”
“Ha. It’s because I’m too talented. Even when I don’t put in much of an effort, this is the result.”
As I looked the doll up and down, Lucas bragged in an arrogant voice.
The doll was wearing the same dress that I was wearing when I left. Even the way her hair was tied and pearls were placed in her hair was the same.
The details down to the tiniest were the same as me, but it was the first time I was seeing myself like this, so it was fascinating.
“Look as much as you want. It’ll look exactly the same as you no matter how much you’ll look.”
“Really? Is it exactly the same?”
“Of course. It was made by me.”
“Am I this pretty?”
“Of cour…”
Lucas paused before answering my question. He glanced sideways at me when he realized he almost fell for my leading questions.
Darn. I thought he would fall for it.
“Hehe. Mr.Lucas really is amazing. You even made a doll that looks so real.”
While I was praising Lucas like a god, the doll was standing still without saying a single word. The doll was really well-behaved. It was a calm concept that didn’t really fit me that well.
But Lucas scowled while looking at the doll act like that.
“It’s the same but I don’t like it because it’s not the same.”
Huh, what was this sudden change? But before I could ask, Lucas flicked his finger and the doll disappeared without a trace.
“I wasn’t done looking! Why’d you do that?”
“It was creepy.”
“What!”
Did he really just say something that looked similar to me was creepy? Was that a diss? Was it?
“Why are you so worked up? Did I ever say something mean to you?”
“You said that the doll that looks like me is creepy!”
“Looks like you, my ass. It’s not the same at all.”
Lucas really was a strange fella. Just a few moments ago he was complimenting himself for making a doll that looked exactly like me and now he was saying that it didn’t look like me at all.
While I was being flustered, Lucas flicked his finger to return me to my normal clothes and hair with a satisfied face.
“Even if it’s a little ugly, the original is still better than the fake.”
Excuse me? Did you just diss me again? And you’re still laughing, hm?
“You’re maids will be in soon. I’m leaving now.”
“I’m not stopping you! Leave or stay, I don’t care.”
Not caring about what I was saying, Lucas maintained a satisfied face even as he left.
“Princess, I’m coming in.”
Like Lucas said, Lili knocked on the door while I was pouting to myself inside.
“Oh my. You’re already up. You were studying so hard that I wasn’t even able to say a single word earlier.”
“Oh, I w-was?”
“Yes. And it’s almost time for dinner. You should start getting ready now.”
“Ok, I will.”
I put on a calm face and smiled at Lili.
It was a good thing I wasn’t late for dinner with time. I secretly sighed in relief.
Hm? But it was strange. It seemed like it was hectic outside.
Knock knock!
“Princess, may I go inside?”
Hannah knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
As I approved, the door opened and Hannah came in, but her face was red.
Ohoho. It was the face of someone who couldn’t wait to tell me something. Ces followed, shaking her head like it couldn’t be helped.
“Hannah, is there something going on outside?”
“Yes, you’ll be extremely surprised when you know why!”
I was curious now. And I opened my mouth in surprise from what Hannah excitedly said.
“The Magician of the Black Tower who hasn’t been seen in years in greeting the Emperor right now!”
***
“Goodness! The lake is really beautiful!”
The young ladies were all exclaiming praises for the lake. I looked at them with an indistinct look.
Yes, the lake was definitely beautiful from here. That’s what I also thought. Sigh. To think that such a creepy monster was living there. It was definitely hard to imagine.
“It’s exactly like the Princess’s eyes.”
I flinched at someone’s words because I was complaining about the lake inside of my head.
“Of course, nothing can compare to the eyes of the royal family that’s said to be given by gods. When I first saw them at the debutante ball, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.”
“You’re right!”
Oh, it was a compliment. I thought it was a rude remark. Slightly embarrassed, I returned the compliment.
“Lady Corinth’s eyes are very pretty too. They’re a pure green color that reminds me of a newly grown bud.”
As I complimented her with a bright smile, Lady Corinth blushed.
Huhuh. The reaction was quite cute. It was a different side to her that I had never seen before. I only knew her as the die-hard fan of Ezekiel.
“It’s really wonderful. You’re even able to enjoy boating within the palace.”
I understood her marvel because I had thought the same thing as well.
“The view you are only able to see from the lake is quite a sight.”
Of course, I didn’t even want to look at this place after seeing that monster twice. But I heard that after that incident, Claude had completely gotten rid of the monster. It was nice for me but….it didn’t really feel that great. Did I act so unsightly and horridly that Claude got rid of the monster that had been staying here for several generations?
Eck. I feel like I did. It was the first time I saw Claude so surprised. Anyways, so now I was able to comfortably enjoy boating with the rest of the young ladies.
“Everyone, be careful.”
It was probably right of me to get inside the boat first since it was everyone else’s first time. But the boat didn’t tilt or rock back and forth because of the magic it was imbued with. So there was no need to get on with someone’s help.
But since I still had the reputation of a princess, I grabbed Felix’s hand to get in.
Yap. I lightly got onto the boat.
Hm? But no one was moving.
Why were they all standing so still like marble? It seemed like they were sneakily peeking glances at each other. Was it because they were scared of boating for the first time?
I told the surrounding knights to help the ladies on the boat. Oh, was it because they had heard about the lotus monster that had been living here?
“Don’t be scared and come in. I’ll hold your hand.”
I looked at them weirdly for a second and held out my hand. But after that, the ladies seemed to be peeking glances at each other more fervently. What was going on? Were they having a staring contest? There’s nothing more to it than getting on the boat, ladies!
At that moment, a surprising event occured.
“I’ll be next to the princess!”
“No, me!”
“What are you talking about! The princess was talking to me!”
“Hey! Don’t pull my clothes from behind! That’s cheating!”
I found out they had been holding onto each other’s dresses to prevent each other from getting on the boat. I was surprised. They had done this just to get on the same boat as me?
I didn’t know if I should be touched or laugh. I guess I should be thankful they were being like this not because they didn’t want to go boating but because they wanted to ride with me.
Sob sob. Seemed like talking about the boys before and sharing chocolate with them was worth it.
“Then shall we go?”
Hm?
I was slightly surprised at the calm voice that came from somewhere. The other ladies were also surprised.
They all turned their heads to where the voice came from, and dropped their mouths from shock.
“It seems like this boat is full now, so you’ll have to use another boat.”
Jannette, who had been standing elegantly across from me with a parasol, smiled at the other young ladies from inside my boat. W, Wow. Jannette had this kind of skill? While the other young ladies were fighting, she took this chance to get on the boat?
“Princess, please sit first.”
Jannette brightly smiled at me.
“Lady M, Margarita, just when….?”
“That’s not fair! That was my spot!”
“Huh? Lady Margarita was definitely behind me…?”
I could feel the other young ladies’ astonishment. I was also surprised, but looking at the calm Jannette, I felt like I was going to laugh any second now. Wasn’t this situation so funny?
“There’s nothing we can do since the spots are all full. There are other boats, so please get on them carefully.”
In the end, I sent away the other young ladies. They had faces of disbelief, but there was nothing they could do since Jannette was already in front of me.
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