“His Majesty’s true desire is none other than to preserve the present power of our family. If the Reyns marry in, they will surely interfere in the management of the empire. His Majesty is reluctant to let their family climb the ladder of power any higher than they already have in order to protect the interests of our people. Even though he can’t outright ignore them because of their influence, a situation in which Elizabeth could get her hands on the throne is very troubling.”
“Just as I suspected,” Westalia said.
Because the empress selection process didn’t depend on bloodlines, power was never concentrated in a single family but instead dispersed from one generation to the next. That meant that the position of the imperial family was fragile and vulnerable and that they must constantly fear they’d be undermined by a new power. If Elizabeth were to become empress, the Reyns would work ruthlessly to wrest the reins of power from the emperor. In other words, the emperor could not marry someone from the Reyn family if he wanted to maintain his royal power during his reign.
But still, what can I even do about it? Westalia wondered. The emperor’s true intention was tied to the downfall of the Reyn family. Westalia looked down with a melancholy expression on her face. Before leaving this morning, she’d checked Elizabeth’s storehouse in Le Chantier Palace and found a huge number of artificial flowers already stored there, even though it had only been a month. Her rival’s flower collection was progressing faster than Westalia had expected.
It’s too late to expose the secrets of the Rias Corporation to try and shut down the Reyn’s artificial-flower factory now. I can’t collect more flowers than she can. I can’t win... One of the ideas that had taken Westalia two weeks to come up with—namely, “prevent flowers from being collected in Elizabeth’s storehouse”—was now completely out of the question. However, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a way to gather more artificial flowers than Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth’s storehouse is already full of artificial flowers. As it is... I’m...” ...going to lose, she finished silently. Westalia’s anxiety was growing. How could she beat Elizabeth? How could she win the title of empress? She’d worked so hard and gotten this far, but was it all going to be for nothing?
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Leonardo said, resting a hand on her shoulder. Westalia turned away from his steady gaze.
“I’m scared. I don’t think I can win,” Westalia said. She’d managed to put on a strong front for Paige and Elizabeth, but in front of Leonardo she was able to expose her vulnerability for the first time.
“I know exactly how you feel. I heard about your situation from Paige, and I thought you must be pretty anxious about it. I wondered if you were just putting on a brave face in front of others,” Leonardo said.
Westalia probably had been avoiding reality by focusing on making her own artificial flowers.
Paige had become deeply concerned for Westalia after she’d fallen into a depression at the announcement of the extension to the empress selection. Paige had put her pride aside and gone to talk to Leonardo about it. She’d figured there was no one better to consult with about Westalia than him, given that her lady had few other friends. Since then, she’d occasionally reported to Leonardo about Westalia’s situation. Although Paige adamantly disliked Leonardo, she knew she could always turn to him for help when it came to Westalia.
“Are you going to give up now?” Leonardo asked. Westalia’s eyebrows twitched at this. “Would the Westalia Lejainne that I know so well really give up over something as small as this?” he pressed on.
Westalia pursed her lips and shook her head. Leonardo had probably said something so provocative because he knew she had no real intention of giving up. He knew very well that Westalia was the type of person who could be riled into determination.
“I’m prepared to work as hard as I can, and if it doesn’t work, I’m prepared to accept my loss gracefully. But...”
“But?” Leonardo prodded.
Westalia looked him dead in the eye and spoke louder. “I absolutely don’t want to lose. I won’t lose!”
Her flame of passion, which had grown weak since the announcement, flared up again at Leonardo’s words. Even if she was weak, even if she was on the verge of falling apart, she could not stop moving forward. The intense desire to become empress swelled within her.
“Good. I know that too. I’ll do anything to help you, so don’t try and do it all by yourself,” Leonardo said.
“Anything?” Westalia asked.
“Yeah, anything.” His eyes suddenly softened and he removed a long earring from his left lobe. He placed it in Westalia’s hand. “This is for you. You can do whatever you want with it.”
This earring was worth more than money. His intention in entrusting it to Westalia, was, of course, not that she would sell it for funds but that she’d put it to good use. The blue gemstone in the earring was engraved with the crest of the next emperor. With just this, she could read the banned books kept in the palace and order the Imperial Guard around. She’d returned it once, but it was also a memento that tied Leonardo and Westalia together. She was sure that it was his own way of showing his support.
“Isn’t this trusting me too much? Besides, you’re spoiling me too much,” Westalia said.
The corner of Leonardo’s mouth lifted and he said mischievously, “Don’t you know? I have no choice but to spoil you.”
Leonardo really did throw her completely off-balance. Westalia wasn’t sure how she was in such high spirits now, not when she’d been completely downcast only a few moments ago. Westalia wrapped her hands around the charm he’d entrusted to her and held it close to her chest.
“But I don’t understand,” Leonardo said. “Why is the last challenge of the empress selection to collect artificial flowers? It’s just like the paper used for the written exam; they’ll only end up in the garbage. If the subject were more beneficial to the people, it would increase the public approval of my family.”
Westalia jerked her head up to look at him. “What did you just say?!”
“It should’ve been something more beneficial to the people.”
“No! Before that! About the flowers!”
“They’ll just end up in the garbage.”
Westalia’s eyes sparkled, but Leonardo had no idea what she was getting so excited about.
“That’s it! I’ve got it! It’s finally getting interesting.”
Leonardo just looked confused. Westalia didn’t explain further, but she was clearly satisfied with herself.
It’s a gamble, but it’s worth a try. If there’s even a chance of winning it’s worth it, Westalia thought.
Westalia picked up one of the Elizabeth Pink hair ornaments and handed it to the clerk. “I’ll take this one, please.”
“Of course!”
After paying, Westalia rushed Leonaro onward. “Let’s get to Daniel’s quick, Leo!” Westalia rushed ahead of him, walking briskly to the apothecary. Leonardo was left watching her back, a troubled expression on his face.