The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 94

I was taken aback.

Squeak.

The sight of a long garment rack being pushed into the living room was announced by the sound of light squeaking as its wheels rolled across the floor. 

The garment rack had all kinds of dresses lined up from one end to the other. 

‘W-What’s this?!’

Looking at the dresses with a flustered face, I glanced back at the empress. 

“I, Your Majesty?”

“There are only three days left before the victory banquet, yes?”

The empress winked at me. 

“As you know, a lady needs many things to attend a banquet.”

“Yes, but…”

“Above all else Charlize, this will be your first banquet, is it not?” said the empress, knowing full well the answer, but perhaps wanting to let reality set in a second time.  

The empress looked at me with a gentle gaze. 

“That said, I want you to go out there with everything you’ll need.”

As expected of the empress!

I was overwhelmed by a wave of emotions. 

The empress gave a sigh as she held one hand to her cheek. 

“It’s unfortunate though.”

“Why? What was unfortunate?”

“We ran out of time, we couldn’t get a dress specifically tailored for you.”

…did she mean what she said?

Just look at those dresses sparkle, isn’t it almost blinding? They’re gorgeous. 

I wore a doubtful look on my face. 

Whether I looked doubtful or not, it didn’t matter. The Empress did nothing but let her eyelashes flutter gently. 

“We instead purchased all the dresses from a well-known boutique as soon as we saw them, so you can be at ease…”

“…What?!”

I felt like I was going to faint. 

The price of a banquet dress is well beyond the monthly expenses of the common household.

Did she also say she purchased every dress from a famous boutique as soon as she saw them?

The treasury of the Empress’s palace…is it okay to spend its budget like this?

The Empress glanced back at the dresses. 

“Once we tailor these to suit your frame and you try them on…”

Suddenly. 

A firm voice rang out. 

“Your Majesty, pardon me but I hope you will give me that opportunity.”

It was Damian. 

Hmm, Damian, why are you here?

I widened my eyes while the empress frowned. 

“No, what are you doing here, Crown Prince?” the empress asked. 

“Well, it’ll be Charlize’s first time debuting as the Crown Prince’s fiancee.”

Damian proudly raised his chin. 

“Shouldn’t she be receiving a custom-tailored dress?” said Damian with a sly smile. 

“Wait, don’t tell me you-!”

In an instant, the empress’s face hardened. 

“….did his Highness ever stop by Madame Rosita’s boutique?”

Madame Rosita. 

I’ve heard that she was a designer who distanced herself from fashionable social circles, not taking kindly to them. 

Nevertheless, ladies in the empire are more than eager to get their hands on the dresses she made. 

“Of course. Not only did I visit Madame Rosita this week, but I went to see the seamstresses under her as well.”

Damian smiled triumphantly. 

“Madame Rosita also promised to complete the dress on schedule.”

“WHAT?! No wonder, she declined my request!”

The empress was wide-eyed. 

“Crown Prince, no matter how much your authority has been restored, to use the treasury of your palace without constraint, isn’t that being excessive in your spending?”

“Can’t I give my fiancee who’s going to debut as a socialite for the banquet, a gift deserving of her?”

Damian countered the empress’s question with a cheeky expression. 

“And the gift I’m giving to Charlize isn’t from the Crown Prince palace’s budget. 

“Then how did you get the coinage?”

“After I went to the North, the law was revised with a new decree.”

“Decree?” 

“Yes. Every time a beast is subdued, the person shall receive a subsidy of a certain amount from the empire.”

Oh, I remember that too. 

After the Duke had a lengthy and vicious argument with the Emperor, subsidies were enacted in correlation to the subjugation of the beasts. 

It paled in comparison to the blood, sweat, and tears given by those in the North but thanks to the decree, those living in the North could breathe more easily. 

Damian was still smiling triumphantly. 

“I got my share while I was there. After eight years of toiling, I saved up an impressive amount.”

Hearing that left a sober feeling in me. 

It meant that the gift Damian intended for me held the same value as his life. 

As he felt my gaze, Damian turned and smiled. 

“Don’t make that face, Lize.”

“…your Highness.”

“I just…I wanted to put on a happy face.”

A tender atmosphere started to form when-

“Anyway, no!”

The Empress interrupted. 

It didn’t take long for Damian and the empress to start a heated discussion on the topic of ‘Whose dress would I wear?’

“I don’t have time right now, what kind of dress will the custom-tailored dress be?!”

“Is it not enough Madame Rosita said she would be done with it on schedule!”

“Ha, his Highness doesn’t even know.”

The empress retorted fiercely. 

“It can take a month for a lady’s shoes, jewelry, and all other accessories to be prepared accordingly!”

“No problem, so I’ve got a jeweler, a cobbler, and a general wares merchant I need to see!”

Damian too, he didn’t back an inch. 

“I, look…..can you two….?”

I tried to get them two to stop but to no avail. 

Just when I was going to feel terrible about myself.

“Kid.”

Who said that?

The only person who calls me a kid would be the Duke of Rochester, right?

I looked back startled. 

The duke had made an abrupt appearance, entering the living room. 

No, what’s the duke doing here too?

“Duke of Rochester?”

I hurriedly walked over to the duke. 

“Why did you come all the way here?”

“Hmm, this.”

However, the duke turned away from me, clearing his throat as he did. 

What’s up with him?

I was tilting my head when the duke turned around with a determined expression as he handed me an envelope. 

“I picked it up on my way here.”

He picked this up? What’s inside it?

I stared at the Duke with a dazed look. 

Then the duke’s temper shot up for no reason. 

“Are you going to open it or not?”

“Oh? Ah, yes…”

Charlize quickly opened the letter and was lost for words. 

T-This…

‘It’s a blank check!!’ 

It was a blank check signed by the Duke of Rochester, the richest man in the empire!

My hands began to tremble. 

The duke, who was watching my expressions closely, struck while the iron was hot and spoke in an unwavering voice. 

“Don’t get any wrong thoughts. I didn’t give that to you because you’re cute.”

“…..um?”

“I just…”

The duke, who glanced at the empress during her argument with the crown prince, smirked at their quarrel and continued. 

“My only concern if you went out in shabby clothes, is the worry the empress, who has taken care of you until now, would go through.” 

“Yes, that’s it.” said the duke. 

“That’s exactly it.” said the duke again, perhaps persuading himself more than anyone else. 

The duke nodded with a solemn look. 

Then. 

“Hello, brother.”

The empress, who agreed on a temporary truce with Damian, opened her mouth albeit her voice slightly muffled. 

“Even if my brother hadn’t done so, I was prepared with all the dresses she would need, right Charlize?”

However, upon hearing those words, the duke’s eyes lit up in open protest against the Empress. 

“I can’t possibly let Her Majesty, the mother of the empire, be troubled with such a trivial matter, I’ll take care of this little one…”

“Brother, if you’re always busy with national matters, could you even afford to spend time paying attention to Charlize’s dress, let alone deal with the intricacies of picking out the right dress?”  

The two looked at each other, eyes squinted with unyielding expressions. 

Damian also interjected himself into this. 

“Charlize is my fiancee! Isn’t it expected of me to take care of her?!”

“Don’t say that. I’ve had such an amicable relationship with her as a little girl that I considered adopting her!”

“All right, Charlize is my maid. I had her for thirteen years!”

….the issue became tripartite. 

Before I knew it, the three of them began shouting. 

 It seemed like lively and infectious energy flowed through the three of them, bouncing from one to the other. 

Even if they somehow fought all day, I have a feeling that their argument wouldn’t come to an end. 

I finally took a deep breath and joined in on their ‘conversation.’

“I’m sorry, I have no intention of accepting gifts from any one of you.”

“What?!”

“What are you saying?!”

“Lize, why are you doing this all of a sudden?!”

It was the empress, the duke, and Damian in that order. 

The three looked at me, their gazes piercing the air as I smiled awkwardly. 

“Well, um, I’ll just use my own money.”

“Your own money?”

“Yes. I have some savings that I’ve kept so far.”

It’s thirteen years of worth!

I straightened my chest as I looked back proudly. 

The empress asked me with an inquisitive tone in her voice. 

“You mean, you’ve collected the wages you’ve earned while as a maid?” 

“Yes! It’s enough for a dress and some accessories…I hope…wouldn’t it….aa?”

I was confident at first, but my speech flopped due to my stammering. 

I found the empress, the duke, and Damian all staring at me with wonder and pity all at once. 

….how would I describe their expressions?

It was like they were watching a small child scrape every single coin she had… 

At the same time, a regretful voice spoke. 

“Hello, Charlize. It’s too bad you’re not accepting gifts.”

Oh, my. 

That voice?!

I gulped my saliva. 

No, when did the empress dowager get here!

She looks slightly downcast!

“Isn’t this banquet the event for you to debut in front of the public?”

“Wow, your Majesty, the empress dowager…:”

“I even had picked out a few pieces of jewelry you could use.”

Goodness. 

Seeing the sadness in her eyes, I felt so terrible. 

“Then, let’s do this instead.”

In the nick of time, the empress opened her mouth, she likely had a good idea.