THE residence of Lord Elestial—possibly the most famous man in Celaeno—towered over the western side of the capital. Unlike the murky, black palace walls that sometimes drew in complaints from citizens about being “too hard to see,” the walls of the Elestial estate were all painted the same brilliant red.
In fact, not only were the walls red, but so were the pillars, rooftops, and main gates. A few brave citizens secretly complained that the vermillion estate “hurt their eyes,” or “should be illegal,” but most were so afraid that the family in question might hear their jibes that they didn’t dare say a thing. No one had been brave enough to say anything to their faces, either.
The front door was unnecessarily lavish; it was inlaid with all sorts of red gemstones such as ruby and garnet, and servants stood in waiting outside it. Whenever the lord’s sweet, adorable daughter arrived home, every servant in the estate came out to greet her. That was one of the rules they were instructed to follow. If anyone broke a single rule, that person was immediately expelled from the estate and ordered to return all the wages they had ever earned in return for the offense they caused.
Celaeno was once the kingdom of a tyrant of an emperor, and the rules of Lord Elestial’s estate were comparable to the sort of treatment the tyrant emperor subjected his servants to. However, the salary was unbeatable. Thanks to that, a considerable number of people had begged to work at the estate, proclaiming they were prepared to lose everything.
“There’s the carriage. Our lady has returned,” one of the maids announced, her tone stiff and formal. All the other servants’ faces went rigid. Welcoming Cornelia home was tough, meticulous work. If anyone displeased Cornelia in any way at all—intentional or not—their salary would be cut by fifty percent.
The servants waited as the carriage drew through the main gates and up to the front door, their faces as dour as criminals lining up to face the guillotine. The carriage door opened, and Cornelia’s main butler climbed down before offering a hand to the fiery woman herself. The servants bowed their heads solemnly.
“Aghhhh…! You’d never believe how angry I am!” Cornelia growled, her cat ears pricking up as she stomped her feet in frustration. With her anger, the temperature rose by a few degrees. Her emotions were spiraling out of control, converting into magic as a hot, humid wind pulsed around her.
The number one person no one ever wanted to upset was already furious the moment she arrived on the premises. The servants were taken aback by her unexpected display of rage, but they managed to keep their composure so as to not let it show. If they did anything to add fuel to the fire at this stage, a pay cut would be the least of their worries.
“W-Welcome back, my lady,” the head maid piped up, putting her life on the line. She bowed her head first, then the rest of the servants followed suit.
“…Thank you.”
The maid’s mouth hung open.
“M-My lady, I didn’t catch what you said. Could you please say it again?”
“I said, thank you! What of it? Is there a problem with that?” Cornelia barked, pinning the maid to the spot with a stabbing glare.
“Of course not, Lady Cornelia!” she replied swiftly, shaking her head vehemently.
However, she wasn’t the only one at a loss; Cornelia’s trusty butler was wide-eyed and utterly speechless. Usually, when their lady was upset, she would laugh scornfully at all the servants desperately bowing their heads so as to avoid conflict, and silently saunter her way inside the estate. Usually, she would grimace and start smacking people’s faces with fire-clad slaps at even the slightest offense.
But, today, she said “thank you.” She said it today, of all days—when she was supposed to go and pick a fight with the prince’s new fiancée. However, for whatever reason, she’d come home with slightly better manners.
✦ ✦ ✦
“DID you manage to meet with the Jade Saint? How did it go?” a butler asked in the calmest tone of voice he could muster.
Since he’d been waiting for the carriage to return the entire time, he knew nothing about what had happened during her visit. Although he wanted to avoid rubbing her the wrong way when she was already in the worst possible mood, he had an obligation to report back to Lord Elestial later. If possible, he wanted to be aware of all the details as soon as he could.
“It was absurd. I’ve never met such a slow, empty-headed woman before,” she scoffed.
“My, my. I never would have expected His Highness to fall for such an insignificant human,” the butler agreed.
“It’s truly astounding, but that’s just the way he is. Did he always have such a revolting personality, I wonder?” she murmured to herself.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing,” she said with a flick of her hand. “That aside, are the arrangements for the Duel of Maidens in place?”
“Why, of course,” the butler smiled smoothly.
When the crown prince of Celaeno got engaged, it was customary for that woman to undergo a test to ascertain whether she was fit to become empress. And the one who conducted the test was the woman in the role of Goddess of Judgment—and funnily enough, Cornelia had just been appointed as such.
In all honesty, she hadn’t faced much competition in landing the job; no one really wanted to be the one to critique the woman their prince had oh-so lovingly chosen. Usually, one of the lords’ wives was chosen to fill the role, but this time around, all of them were too afraid to volunteer. That was why Cornelia landed the job so easily after Lord Elestial pulled a few strings.
The decision took place behind closed doors, and Cornelia had purposefully been keeping her plan a secret. She’d dropped Sirius a small hint earlier, so he would probably catch on to what she was talking about sooner or later.
When the Goddess of Judgment concluded that the prince’s fiancée was not fit to be empress, a Duel of Maidens would take place. In other words, the prince’s fiancée and the woman serving as the Goddess of Judgment had to—as one might guess—duel each other.
If the potential empress won, then her marriage to the prince could safely go ahead. However, if the Goddess of Judgment won, the engagement would be called off.
Empress Vera, the wife of Emperor Uranometria, was also challenged to a Duel of Maidens before marrying into the family. Apparently, she beat the opposing party to a pulp. Marialite, on the other hand, was a weak human, and had nothing going for her other than her saintly powers. She didn’t stand a chance against Cornelia.
“Hehe…” Cornelia chuckled to herself. “Human or saint, she shall be fairly judged. This kingdom needs a strong woman to lead it.”
“Precisely, my lady,” the butler added with a bow of his head. “Now, let us deliver the letter detailing the duel forthwith.”
“Yes, let’s,” she grinned. “I’ll compose a threat so bone-chilling that the Flower Bed Saint will have no choice but to…” she suddenly trailed off, a blank look in her eyes as the silence continued.
“M-My lady…?” the butler prompted her gingerly.
“The truth is, I have a problem.”
“What is it?”
“I honestly don’t know the best way to frighten Marialite,” she admitted, heaving a deep sigh as she pressed a palm against her forehead. Her cat ears drooped dejectedly atop her head. “Even when faced with death, she didn’t flinch. At all. How am I supposed to inflict emotional damage on a woman like that? It feels like no matter what I write, she’ll simply grin and say ‘Wow, that’s impressive!’ in that sickly oblivious tone of hers.”
“Do not fret, my lady. There’s not a person alive who wouldn’t cower when faced with your menacing presence.”
“You weren’t there, fool. What do you know? Even when I—” she cut herself off, her mouth hanging open in a disturbed look of realization. She slapped a palm to her chest, desperately feeling around her bare neck. “Aaaaagh! Oh, hell!”
She had forgotten to take her pendant back from that abominable woman.
“Get the carriage!” she barked. “I need to go back to the palace!”
“W-Whatever’s the matter, my lady?”
“Can’t you tell by looking at me?! That Marialite took my pendant!” she screeched. If it were any other accessory, she wouldn’t care. She could replace those cheap old things as many times as necessary. However, that pendant was different. She had to get it back.
Leaving her half-drunk cup of tea behind, Cornelia fled the estate.