Chapter 271: Like Father, Like Daughter (3)
The First Princess had changed.
To be precise, rumors were spreading throughout the city that she was “coming to her senses.”
She looked different even for me, so those who had been with her for a long time will be taking her change more dramatically.
The first who had noticed the change was her direct maids. They would probably get more surprised as time passed by. Things that she used to have taken sensitively were now often overlooked, and she also generously overlooked small mistakes.
It would not be unreasonable that the happiness circuit of the maids, who had been taking all kinds of craziness under her, would go wild.
Interestingly, these maids only waited for me to find the First Princess, but as if they were convinced that I changed her, they were showing strange movements. Regardless of her being the First Princess, they were showing organized behavior in order to bring her closer to me.
Of course, to me, these actions were just cute, so I didn’t care much.
Rather, I felt sorry for her maids, who had to show such a move.
‘Right. You must have suffered the most…’
I just didn’t want to burn their happiness circuit.
This didn’t affect me much, but this organized action is like a struggle for survival for them. I even felt a strange cheap sympathy for them, so whenever I was with Charlia, I sometimes raised my thumbs for the conduct of her maids.
The effect was better than expected.
When I met the maids the next day, their faces were filled with spirit as if they were ready to swear allegiance to me.
Considering that was something I just did out of pity, the effect was good.
In fact, after a little more time, whenever I wasn’t there, her maids had come to the point of telling me how Charlia was doing.
Of course, this was not a common form of reporting.
When I asked them what she was like when she entered and left her parlor, all they did was give a fairly sincere answer.
They’d say something like,‘ Since the Honorary Bishop went back, she looked very happy,’ or ‘She took the time to read, and she couldn’t easily fall asleep.’
However, it was certainly pleasant news that her maids favored me.
‘They’ll have some use.’
There was always a place to use any material. Even the maids who had little power would prove to be advantageous on my side.
As mentioned earlier, the biggest beneficiary of this event was the First Princess’s maids.
It was obvious without saying it, but it wasn’t the only ones she bullied that gave me a big smile.
Her people, who were worried about her, were also nodding at her changed behavior.
In particular, the Emperor of the Empire was very happy.
Charlia, which he always considered to be trouble, had changed enough to make the old man, who only looked at his children, feel good.
In fact, it wasn’t that big of a change.
It wasn’t that I did some magic to completely fix Charlia’s state of mind. In the first place, humans were easy to turn evil, but difficult to become good.
Even if it could be fixed, it couldn’t be done in such a short time.
‘Absolutely…’
It was almost impossible to reform Charlia and make her Empress.
I just talked about how she would be better seen by the public and presented that vision. In addition, it was natural to manage her schedule by making a list of things to do.
Charlia had the same malice and stubbornness as Charlotte.
The sense of defeat that she felt since she was a child was only ruining her self-esteem. She was incompetent and tightly packed with inferiority, but that was why she had grown up as someone who wanted to be recognized more than anyone else.
I couldn’t dare imagine how stressed she would have been when no one cared for her as all of the gazes were directed at her sister.
I’m sure the kind of person that Charlia was waiting for would have been someone like me.
Someone who could recognize and support her. Someone who could tell her that even waste that couldn’t be recycled was great.
Decisively, someone who could properly decorate her insignificant behavior and put it on the market or a person who could sell a cookie bag filled with nitrogen, more than half.
“She gave the maids a vacation.”
“Seeing that she continues to go to the temple, it seems that the First Princess’s Majesty is determined.”
“I was told that she was also attending the cabinet meeting in the morning. They said she was just listening quietly…”
“I heard that she is curious about how the country people live. I heard that she wanted to go out on her own and that she had already set up a schedule.”
“Come to think of it… I heard that recently she is not even drinking.”
“I also paid attention when she refused the wine at the last dinner meeting.”
The nitrogen to put in the First Princess’s insignificant steps was very simple. When I opened my mouth, their gazes switched over to me.
“The bloodline is not going anywhere as expected. Hahahaha.”
It was a sentence of conversion that could attract old nobles in a single moment.
‘Elective symbol number 1, Charlia. The bloodline doesn’t go anywhere.’
Of course, the Empire wouldn’t set up such a frame, but this was necessary to decorate Charlia’s insignificant moves.
The candidate’s actions for the common people were basically focused on the common people, and those who wanted to save the economy were focused on the economy.
Their policy directions, public relations, and campaigns all looked the same, but of course, there were differences.
In my case, it was more absurd. The frame I put on for Charlia was not for the imperial people, nor did it mean to save the Empire’s economy.
It was not even a slogan representing a candidate.
‘Orthodox.’
“Absolutely! Her Majesty Princess Charlia inherited the royal family’s blood.”
“Right. Hohoho. Who doesn’t get lost once, right? Where will that blood go?”
“If you think about it, didn’t they say that the youth of the Seventh Emperor, who was only heard as a story, was not so smooth? Only when he was over forty years old, he devoted himself to studying, and only after he was over fifty, he inherited the throne. If you look at the achievements he has accomplished despite that… I also wonder if now it’s just a beginning to Her Majesty Charlia.”
“Hahahaha. That’s right!”
It was a spectacle to see them talking by themselves.
I thought my mission was over by just saying one line, so I started heading to a corner with a wine in my hand.
It was no wonder that Jung Hayan, who I haven’t spent time with for a long time, had begun to follow me. Lee Jihye, who was doing the same work on the other side, was slowly approaching me as well.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Ah… no, Oppa… because I’m with you. Hehe.”
It felt like a long time since I last talked to Hayan.
Of course, I always talked to her since I saw her every day, but I felt sorry because I couldn’t take care of her in decisive moments.
I wanted to do something for her, but Jung Hayan seemed to be happy as long as she was with me.
As I gently stroked her hair, she snuggled closer and closer, as if she was in a good mood.
“Shall we toast?”
“Yes!”
“So, how was the study?”
“Ah. I think it’s doing well. I had to advance my schedule a little, so I got a little busy, but it w-was… smoother than I thought. We’ll try to build a prototype within a few days.”
“Did he say when will it be ready?”
“No. He didn’t…”
“Hmm…”
“Should I ask him a little more?”
“No. There’s no need to. The Second Princess…”
“I-I’m keeping an eye on her.”
“Okay. If there’s anything unusual going on, you should report it immediately.”
“Yes!”
As I held her hand slightly, I could see her bowing her head.
We just happened to be in the middle of the social party, and she seemed utterly happy as I dragged her around.
I hadn’t learned social dance properly, but it felt like I could do some steps.
Jung Hayan, too, began to spin round and round, feeling good.
I didn’t know what she was thinking, but seeing her big smile, it seemed that she felt pretty good. I thought she felt as if she was a fairy tale princess.
Of course, I was not in a bad mood either. If you were to ask me, I would say I feel pretty good.
Although she was often scary, Jung Hayan basically put me first. I had gotten used to it, and she was pretty cute to me whenever she did so.
‘I’m a little nervous that she’s been too quiet lately, but…’
I thought there would be some action as her magic powers increased, but she hadn’t done anything other than using the Anemone’s Eyes occasionally.
Considering that we’d been separated for a long time, she had indeed become very quiet.
‘Did she think it was insufficient?’
Except during the time she was doing the quest I’ve given to her, she spent all her time making use of her knowledge from the legendary-grade staff, so she may feel that she hadn’t yet digested the things she has gained properly.
‘I guess she wants to become stronger.’
I was, of course, anxious about how she would behave once she got what she wanted.
Even if I were to only think about what I heard from Lee Jihye, I didn’t know when and where she was going to make an unexpected move, but at least she wouldn’t do anything weird where I couldn’t see her.
Anyway, things that could be called plans were already in progress.
Charlotte’s surveillance entrusted to Jung Hayan and the research on video hologram technology I’d requested from Max are cruising as if they were in a breeze.
The key was whether it could be done in time, but I didn’t need it right now.
The two sisters’ fight for imperial power had not yet come to the surface, and just because the video media had gotten created right now, it did not mean that it could be utilized.
That was to say that it was time to balance the scales.
It was time to raise the position of the First Princess a little further and proceed with the negative things about the Second Princess.
‘The powerful people must have at least one bad rumor about her.’
I even thought about spreading some pretty well-fabricated groundless rumors, but I thought it was good to keep a decent level as the returner cared about her.
Of course, from Charlotte’s point of view, it could be a frame that would piss her off, but this was the best I could think of.
The slogan for making her negative was quite simple.
‘As expected, you can’t fool the blood.’
It was the same words, but the meaning was clearly different.
Having a commoner as a mother was a big weakness in this kind of society.
‘Where will that half-blood go?’