The live broadcast of this event had already been advertised quite heavily, and it was natural for some people to look the matter up out of curiosity.
Naturally, with neither Emilia nor the broadcaster making any attempts to keep things hidden, anyone who wanted to look into it would know that this girl was most likely the core reason for the whole thing.
The general public was already used to rich people doing ridiculous things in an attempt to please others, gifting things ranging from private jets to entire companies. So aside from causing arguments about the true ‘worth’ of this gift, it didn’t really cause many waves.
Of course, while many people believed that a gift with ‘actual monetary value’ would be much ‘better’ in their eyes, there was no denying that this ‘Emilia White’ was doted upon extremely heavily by her family.
For many, their entire reason for coming here had been just to catch a glimpse of her in person.
”That’s the White Deer’s little princess?”
”Eh, she looks older than her photos?”
”Where did you get those?”
”Heh, I bought them from beeBay at a discount.”
”Huh? Show me!”
Noelle was observing the situation closely using hidden surveillance, and she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when she confirmed that, while some were quite creepy, there were no ‘negative’ responses from the audience.
Although a part of the reason why no one was alarmed was that Emilia’s face hadn’t been published in any magazines or posters yet, her age also played a crucial role.
Relying just on memory and old videos, most people were bound to doubt their own judgment like Emilia expected, instead of coming up with ‘crazy theories’ as Noelle had feared.
After all, no matter how warm and friendly Emilia appeared on the surface, the number of people actually allowed to approach her was quite limited.
Not to mention that before girls reached their mid-twenties and went through college, even massive ‘overhauls’ in appearance weren’t too uncommon.
Sometimes, they just found what suited themselves, and everything just clicked, making an ugly mess turn into a beautiful arrangement almost instantly.
No one seemed to ponder on the topic too much, and after admiring the girl’s ‘absurd luck’ for being born both rich and beautiful, they soon moved on.
”By the way, did you see the delighted expression on the face of the little witch when she was picked up?”
”Right?! I thought I was the only one who thought she looked like a pervert…”
Penny’s father couldn’t help but nudge his wife. “Aren’t you going to scold them this time?”
The blonde lady just rolled her eyes. “Why should I?”
He coughed. “Well, they’re slandering our daughter?”
”Isn’t it true?”
Recalling how she had slobbered all over the TV screen when it showed Emilia’s face that day, the man wisely decided to shut up.
Noelle could only shake her head with a wry smile. “Make sure to filter out any unsightly content from the broadcast, and note down all those who take ‘special interest’ in our little boss, understand? Continue monitoring.”
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The curtain was soon raised once more, and the scene this time was that of the royal palace, with the princess teaching the stubborn little witch how to use forks and knives properly, as well as other basic etiquettes.
Having never been particularly patient, the princess soon found herself slightly frustrated by her ‘uncooperative’ partner. “Can’t you pay more attention? I feel like I’m playing piano in front of a cow!”
The little witch pouted. “But I don’t want to learn all this stupid stuff, so why do I have to?!”
Emilia had never seen the ‘usually docile and obedient’ Penny act so ‘petulantly’ in front of her, and she couldn’t help but smile, finding the experience quite interesting. “I didn’t want to do it either, but as a princess, there are some things you just can’t avoid.”
The little witch groaned. “I’m not a princess!”
Princess ‘Emily’ giggled. “Well, you’re married to me now, so it’s the same thing.”
Penny gulped as she looked at the gorgeous crimson-haired girl up and down, the word ‘married’ echoing through her head along with happy little bells and whistles.
Fortunately, she still managed to squeeze out her lines somehow. “I-I never agreed to that!”
Of course, the petite girl regretted it immediately after. ‘Mom, I have sinned! Even if it’s an act, how can someone say no to such a beauty?! Ah Ah Ah!’
Penny’s gaze turned to her mother in the audience involuntarily, but the woman’s gaze was focused intently on her princess. ‘As expected of my mother… she also has good taste! I’m proud… no wait!’
Oblivious to her thoughts, Princess Emily smiled. “If you really don’t want to marry me, just teach me magic?”
The ‘little witch’ vehemently shook her head in denial. “I can’t!”
Emilia giggled as she nudged the little witch. “See? Aren’t you just too shy to admit that you really like me?”
Penny blushed, but still tried her best to appear furious. “Y-You—!”
The little witch rushed off in a huff, and the princess followed behind her with a teasing smile.
Over the next few scenes, such ‘bullying’ of the little witch at the hands of the princess became a routine in the palace.
As the king had been helpless before his daughter’s stubbornness, the two of them had reluctantly reached a compromise. The king would bestow them the ‘marriage’ in name, but only if the princess could convince the little witch to agree to it within six months.
The little witch thought it was a good deal for her as well, since the king promised that no one would bother her after those six months as long as she rejected the princess. And to top it all off, there was no need to help anyone with potions and remedies either!
Unfortunately, she never expected the stubborn little princess to be so unreasonable.
Not only did the girl not attempt to flatter or woo her, but she also tried to bully her at every opportunity she got! Far from being the leisurely six-month vacation, this was more like a six-month-long torture session!
”Don’t tell her I’m here!”
The king felt his lips twitch as the little witch hid behind his throne. “Don’t you have some potion to make you invisible or something—!”
His words got stuck in his throat when Princess ‘Emily’ stormed in, looking furious. “Come out, you! I promise this princess isn’t one to beat her wife!”
Feeling his throne vibrate in fear, the king didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry.
But seeing their tit-for-tat attitude for each other, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
With how things were, his daughter was bound to get tired of this witch soon enough, and it was impossible for any ’emotional development’ to happen between the two girls.
Although he generally did whatever he could to let his princess be happy, how would his kingdom be able to survive without an heir? Two women couldn’t have children, after all!
”Unless there is some potion to make babies?!”
The princess looked at her father with a frown. “What babies? Is there something you want me to know?”
The king couldn’t help but gulp. Knowing how proud and possessive his daughter was, wasn’t any woman suspected of becoming her ‘stepmother’ bound to suffer?
Moreover, with her recent ‘interests’, he couldn’t even be sure if that ‘suffering’ wouldn’t involve his crown being replaced by a green hat, and the king couldn’t help but shiver at that thought.
Fortunately, before he could come up with a flimsy excuse, the stupid little witch jumped up from behind his throne, and attempted to make a run for it right under the eyelids of the ferocious princess.
”How dare you run away without eating the cookies this princess prepared so painstakingly?!”
The king was shocked to hear that his little princess, who had never been interested in anything but fighting and playing around, would be willing to enter the kitchen!
”Could it be… she’s not just playing around?”
The general coughed. “The princess has never been involved in romance before, your majesty. Since this is her first ‘love’, she’s bound to take it seriously.”
Of course, not everyone was in favor of the idea. “The princess was alone with the witch for so long, isn’t it possible that she’s been—”
The king slammed his fist on the throne, immediately cutting the adviser off. “Enough! Call the chef and tell him to steal some of the cookies made by my daughter.”
Although they were ashamed that their monarch would say such a thing with a straight face, the orders of the king still had to be followed.
When the stone-like cookies were presented to the court, the king was even ‘generous’ enough to share them with some of his most trusted people.
Their expressions changed immediately after the first bite, but no one dared to say a word.
After all, even if the princess fed them colored charcoal, there was no way they could cry about it in front of her overly-doting father unless they wanted to be scolded into pigs and dogs.
The curtain fell, and when it opened again, the warm and funny atmosphere was completely gone, and in its place remained only gloomy darkness, with the courtiers and soldiers looking at the king lying on the floor in terror.
Princess Emily cried in despair and rage next to her father’s lifeless corpse, her playful and mischievous self seemingly dying with the king, and no one dared to step forward to console this enraged tigress.
Even the little witch only dared to watch on with a reluctant and conflicted expression. Who could have thought that the stubborn and willful little princess would go through such a thing?
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The audience almost collapsed in shock, and a few people couldn’t help but burst into discussions the moment the curtain closed again.
”What the hell is going on? The king died just like that?”
”Did he die from eating the cookies from the princess?”
”No way, right?”
Unfortunately, they didn’t even get to come up with their own conjectures when the curtain opened once more, this time with the princess sitting in her father’s throne.
”Did you find out who did it?”
”P-Princess, all the food and wine that the king took was tested for poison, but—”
”I don’t want to hear excuses! Since my father was poisoned to death, there must be a source of the poison, and I won’t let them go no matter what!”
All the courtiers and ministers looked at each other helplessly. Given that princess Emily even refused to change her title until her father’s murderer was found, even they were desperate to resolve the issue, but what could they do without any clues?
”B-But there was really no poison found in any of the food that came from the royal kitchens, princess, we even had all the old food samples checked again!”
Princess Emily frowned as she noticed multiple ‘trustworthy’ ministers attesting to the man’s claims. “How could it be possible? We must be missing something…”
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