When the empress selection process first began, Westalia and Paige had been living together in the mansion Westalia had purchased to gain Archaitian citizenship. Now, the pair’s primary residence was within the palace grounds—a prize to reward Westalia for becoming one of the final empress candidates. However, Westalia still kept her large mansion in the city as a secondary residence.
Westalia and Elizabeth had both been given residences within the palace, with the latter’s being called the “First Candidate’s Residence” and the former’s the “Second Candidate’s Residence.” The numbering of them as the first and second residences, as if they were ranked in some sort of order, seemed to prove that there were those at court who favored the Reyn family. It was as if they were saying that Elizabeth was closer to being empress than Westalia was.
Today, Westalia had forsaken her unfortunately named royal lodgings in favor of her mansion in the city. After the trial in the Kingdom of Lhumzia, in which she had been cleared of all charges, she’d hired several new servants, and the sprawling mansion should have been bustling with activity.
Yet, somehow, it was once again just Westalia and Paige. Westalia propped both elbows on the long table in the living room and rested her chin in her hands. Paige, intimidated by the serious expression on her lady’s face, gulped.
Westalia relaxed her expression into a smile and broke the silence. “Paige, I dismissed the servants because I don’t have any money to pay them with. I don’t think I even have enough money for us to eat today.”
“Don’t say something so depressing with a smile on your face! Also, this is the second time we’ve had this exchange!” Paige cried. The uselessly large mansion was quite difficult to maintain but Westalia had dismissed all the servants necessary to manage it. And it couldn’t be sold if Westalia wanted to keep her citizenship in the Archaites Empire.
Westalia had regained her status as the daughter of the ducal Lejainne family in the Kingdom of Lhumzia, and with it, her personal wealth. However, she had immediately used all of that money to support the purchase of medical herbs for Lhumzia, where an epidemic was running rampant. She’d even cut down her personal living expenses.
“In any case it shouldn’t be a problem if we use our residence at the palace as our base of operations. I think it very unlikely that they’d allow a candidate for empress to starve to death,” Westalia said. At Le Chantier Palace, the maids and knights who attended the candidates were provided for out of the royal funds. Of course, the candidates were also provided with three meals, and even snacks. However, the mansion couldn’t be left fully unattended, so Westalia and Paige came once a week to clean it.
“Sheesh. It’s wonderful of you to give your personal fortune to charity, but you really should think ahead. Isn’t it getting your priorities wrong if you save other people’s lives and then you come down with an illness and don’t have the money to buy medicine?” Paige asked.
“Maybe I’ll pick up a part-time job,” Westalia replied.
“That’s the second time I’ve heard that too. You better make sure you pay my salary, at least,” Paige said, placing her hands on the table and looking Westalia straight in the eyes. Westalia scrunched up her face and looked away.
“O-Of course I’ll pay you. I’ll hurry up, become empress, create peace between Archaites and Lhumzia, and then pay you enough to live happily for the rest of your life,” Westalia said.
“There’s no point in trying to be evasive about my immediate paycheck, you know,” Paige said. Westalia looked up at the ceiling with a small smile on her face, knowing Paige could see straight through her.
Westalia could overhear Paige muttering things like “Somehow I’ve ended up working for an exploitative boss anyway,” but the grumbling just went in one ear and out the other.
Regardless, since I’m in the Archaites Empire and have easy access to medicine that cures contagious diseases, doesn’t it only make sense that I would want to save even a single person? Westalia thought. It was the empress’s job to show compassion for her people and to save those who were suffering.
When she was in the running to become Lhumzia’s queen, she’d heard the stories of many suffering from the epidemic, but she hadn’t been able to do anything to help them. At the time she’d felt obligated to help them simply because she was the next queen, but it was a little different now. During the empress selection process in Archaites, she’d met many kind individuals and had started to develop a bit more genuine compassion for them.
The Archaites Empire was the source of medicinal herbs that were effective against diseases similar to the one that was rampaging through Lhumzia. Since trade was currently impossible because of hostilities between the two nations, despite their tenuous truce, Westalia had no choice but to purchase the herbs privately and then send them to Lhumzia.
Westalia had been given new funds for the next part of the empress selection, but they had yet to be given to her, so she and Paige had no choice but to live in extreme poverty until they got paid.
Paige let out a sigh and looked down. At Westalia’s feet were several boxes of handmade artificial flowers. Paige was amazed at the intricacy of the artificial wisteria flowers with their rows of tiny petals. But she immediately raised her eyebrows and looked questioningly at Westalia.
“You’re not really going to spend the next six months hand-making artificial flowers, are you? There’s no way you think you can beat your rival like that,” Paige said.
Westalia was silent. According to rumors, since the challenge had been announced Elizabeth had been utilizing the Rias Corporation, run by her own family, to produce a huge quantity of artificial flowers on a small budget. It would be very easy to keep the price down and mass-produce them since they were produced at the factory of her family’s company.
Paige picked up one cluster of artificial wisteria flowers and observed them with admiration. As Westalia resumed making her flowers, Paige spoke up.
“But I have faith in you, my lady. Obviously, you have a chance of beating Miss Elizabeth.”
“No, I don’t,” Westalia replied.
“Huh?!”
“There’s no way I can win,” Westalia replied calmly, continuing to work quietly. Paige reached over and grabbed the wire that her lady was working with.
“So you’re just going to enjoy your handicrafts and not even come up with a plan? If you keep doing this you’ll lose to Miss Elizabeth!” Paige cried.
“I’m doing this to try and come up with a plan so I don’t lose,” Westalia replied, shaking off Paige’s hand. The wire she held would become a flower stem, to which she was now applying fabric petals.
“I like to walk or do something with my hands while I think,” Westalia said. “Sometimes ideas just come naturally while I’m doing that.” However, in the two weeks since the challenge was announced, Westalia had been holed up in her mansion, and while the quality of her artificial flowers had only been improving, she had yet to come up with a single plan of action. The amount of boxes filled with artificial flowers that surrounded Westalia’s chair were growing in number.
“Shall I tell you what it is you’re doing while you’re all wrapped up in making artificial flowers?” Paige asked.
“What?”
“It’s called escapism.”
“Call it a quest for creativity,” Westalia replied.
“There you go again with your wishful thinking.”
Westalia completed another artificial flower as she argued with Paige. There was no way for Westalia to win if she bought artificial flowers with the budget she had been given. The Rias Corporation was one of the largest clothing companies in the country, primarily making and selling dresses to aristocrats. Elizabeth was in a position to utilize the company however she wished. The woman’s confidence was understandable.
“If I don’t think about it from a different perspective, I won’t win. I have to come up with something bold and groundbreaking,” Westalia said. That was exactly the kind of creativity that the emperor was talking about, and that was what was important in this final selection. At the very least, Westalia definitely couldn’t win by using the same trick as Elizabeth, which was to hire some company to produce the flowers in a factory.
“What about burning down Elizabeth’s storehouse the day before the final tallying?” Paige asked.
“That’s a crime. But, well, maybe we can raise some legitimate reasons to prevent flowers from being collected in her warehouse.”
“Legitimate reasons?”
Westalia put her finished flower into a box and looked up at Paige.
“For example, if the Rias Corporation went bankrupt, then their factory wouldn’t be able to operate.”
Paige looked shocked.
“That comes with conditions, of course. The Rias Corporation can only be destroyed if they have something to hide,” Westalia said. “But I am a little curious about it. Why did the emperor choose collecting flowers as the challenge when he knew that it would be easy for the Reyn family to produce artificial flowers? I wonder if there is some sort of underlying meaning to this challenge.”
Although it was still a matter of speculation, Westalia suspected that the challenge wasn’t simply to collect flowers but to fulfill the emperor’s unspoken request. He’d even told her to think about the real reason he’d chosen that challenge if she wanted to win. That meant that she could come up with a winning strategy if she understood the hidden intent in the emperor’s challenge.
Even before the empress selection had begun, it had been basically a given that Elizabeth, with her family’s backing, would be granted the title. And it wasn’t just her family; all the supporters of the Reyns wanted Elizabeth to win. Under such circumstances, if Westalia had no chance at all, then there was no point for the clever emperor to go to the trouble of extending the selection process another six months.
The emperor’s true intention, if he did harbor some secret desire, would be nothing other than maintaining the imperial family’s position and political power. If the daughter of the Reyn family, whose power had been gradually expanding, were to become empress, she would certainly be a threat to the imperial family. The Reyns were rumored to be corrupt, so the Orencias would have to be even more vigilant. With that in mind, having the Reyn daughter around the palace would be a thorn in their side to say the least.
If Westalia was to formulate a plan, she would have to deduce the connections between the biased challenge of flower gathering, the Reyn family and the Rias Corporation, and the emperor’s true intentions.
Westalia had considered the final point for the past two weeks. What else could he desire, if not the downfall of the Reyn family?