The next day—
Atha decided to escape.
The reason for this was that the amount of invitations that Ruby had brought since early in the morning was enormous.
Ruby was sorting out the invitations one by one as she chattered continuously: “Hmm, this one doesn't matter, and this one doesn't matter either...”
When she saw an invitation she liked, she placed it on the table and added an explanation: “I highly recommend you to attend the salon of Countess Pamela at least once.
There are a lot of prominent people in the field of art, and it will be useful to you later when you start organizing bazaars or charitable works.”
Then she flipped through several more invitations, and placed an additional one on the table: “You'd better go to Countess Ert's tea party.
She has the closest relationship with Her Majesty the Empress, and is one of the most influential figures in the current capital's society.”
And one more.
“An invitation has also arrived for Her Majesty the Empress’s luncheon next week.”
And one more.
“This is Countess Carrion’s invitation.
She is a very fashionable and well-connected woman, and getting close to her would never hurt you.”
Especially since Count Carrion's family is famous for being followers of His Highness the Crown Prince, so befriending the Countess will lead to such and such...
Whether it was a comfortable life of confinement or not, this seemed to be the perfect path to die of exhaustion.
So Atha had no choice but to decide to escape.
I repeat again, she only wanted one thing: to do nothing, and to just eat and sleep.
Taking into account the looks of others, worrying about tomorrow, and exhausting her body.
I'm tired of it all.
Because her previous life had always been like this.
She thought she had finally gotten rid of it, and now she had to live like this again?
'This is never acceptable!'
Of course, she didn't really intend to leave the Imperial Palace.
Her goal was to pretend to escape and then get caught, only to have her range of movement narrowed to Blossom Palace only.
But there was one thing that was on her mind.
She had tried to escape once in the past, and what worried her was that it had been so easy back then.
She doesn't know if it was because of “protagonist support” or what, but stealing the maid's clothes and getting out of Blossom Mansion was suspiciously easy.
She was certain that her escape at that time would certainly have been successful if she had only had the physical strength.
So now she's worried: 'What if I really escape?' 'There's nowhere to go'
I completely ruled out the idea of returning to the Hermann family.
Because here she knew the pleasure of being full and eating delicious food.
When she was ignorant, she lived as agreed, but she did not have the confidence to endure the harsh food intake control system she endured in the Herman family again.
Most importantly, her goal was not just escape.
Rather, the goal was to reduce the permissible scope of living.
if-
'What if I walk out of the palace, and I'm not caught even after several days...
Do I just walk back?'
This didn't seem like a good idea either.
Aside from it being a very awkward move, it was doubtful whether Alisto would receive it again then.
Would he provide a comfortable life in prison for a woman who escaped after the topic of marriage was brought up?
Will he really?
Hmmm…
After deep thought, Atha had a genius idea towards evening time.
She would try to pretend to escape, and as soon as she left the imperial palace, she would immediately return.
After that, she will confess the truth to Alisto and say that she was really trying to escape.
Anyway, since it exceeded the permissible range, its range of movement would definitely be reduced.
If she asked him to consider the fact that she was returning herself, it might just end with him scolding her and ordering her to stay quiet in Blossom Mansion.
The plan may seem reckless on the one hand, and naive on the other.
However, Atha had faith that things would work out somehow.
'Because I am the heroine of the novel!'
Her faith stemmed from “supporting the protagonist.”
Oh, wait.
She almost forgot something important.
She had to make up a reason to run away too.
When she confesses to Alisto the event of her escape, she must say: “I tried to escape for this reason and that reason, but I came back again.”
'What would be appropriate?'
***
The reason Ruby went to Mrs.
Watch yesterday was because she wanted to live.
From the beginning, if she really wanted to protect her sister Bess, she wouldn't have gone to report to Mrs.
Watch.
Even if she doubts that Bess is an owl and that they are testing her competence as an owl through her.
Strictly speaking, she informed Mrs.
Watch specifically because she thought Bess might be an owl.
Because if she didn't report her conversation with Bess, when Bess is already an owl—
'I would have failed the owl aptitude test and been eliminated.'
In fact, this means that she chose her life between herself and Bess.
She ostensibly used her brothers as an excuse, but in reality she did not want to die.
Moreover, her master, the Crown Prince, was not such a tolerant man as to keep an owl that had betrayed him alive.
Every owl is fully aware of how cruel he can be.
So, she chose the method that would enable her to survive on her own.
'I'm finally starting to feel hopeful after meeting Miss Atha.'
She didn't want to waste this happiness.
She felt sorry for Bess, but she wanted to be happy if only with the rest of her siblings.
Ruby forcibly pushed the gushing feeling of guilt away.
Time passes even as she is overwhelmed with guilt.
If she makes an irreversible decision, she needs to move on.
Speaking with the head maid, Mrs.
Watch, yesterday, Ruby sensed something.
And it is that she should never be shaken, even if it is the death of a member of her family before her eyes.
But the problem is that it has already shown its shakiness.
'I might get fired if I don't warn'
Since she is well aware of the hidden meaning of the word “expulsion”, she is haunted by anxiety.
She needed a clear, conclusive answer on how to avoid being kicked out as an owl.
And the essence of that answer lay in Miss Atha.
‘If Miss Atha wants me, they won’t be able to fire me so easily!’
She also had to rethink the question of her sister's survival.
Instead of staying like that, it might have been better to turn Bess into an owl before the truth that she was a spy was fully exposed.
After putting her thoughts in order, Ruby began to treat Atha with more sincerity and devotion than usual.
She prepared warm bath water, and sat next to her, constantly pouring flower water onto Atha's shoulders.
“Is the water temperature right?”
Atha smiled lazily, clearly enjoying herself: “Yes, it’s perfect.”
“I'll massage your neck and shoulders too.”
Ruby saw the corners of Atha's mouth rise, so she lubricated her hands with lavender essential oil, then began carefully massaging her shoulders.
She seemed to like the massage very much, as she let out moans of satisfaction from Atha.
“Ah, that's great.
Hey.”
Ruby carefully watched her features and then opened up a difficult topic: "Excuse me, Miss Atha.
I have something I'd like to ask you about."
Atha opened her eyes, which were closing from relaxing in the warm tub, and asked, “Yes, what is it?”
“Will you keep me by your side even when you become Her Majesty the Empress later?”
At that moment, a bell rang in Atha's head.
'...Empress?'
She inhaled sharply.
'What a foolish person I am who can't see further than where her feet are'
If I married the Crown Prince, I would later become Empress, but I was so obsessed with the idea of imperial confinement that I forgot what would follow...
Wasn't I the "simple-minded" character I often criticized while reading web novels?
What trouble.
Because her mind froze, she remained silent and stunned, so Ruby continued her words with more caution: “I have worked in the palace for more than ten years.
My years of experience are longer than my peers, and I know a lot of people working in the palace, and I am also quick to pick up on rumors, so staying by your side will definitely benefit you one day.”
Atha began rubbing her eyes, which suddenly became dry, and even began to hiccup.
Me, empress?
Even if it was inside a novel.
There are things that can be tolerated, and things that cannot.
The position of Empress certainly fell into the second category.
If we enumerate the characteristics of empresses in web novels:
First, they are all very smart.
Secondly, they are adept at planning and machinations.
Third, they have a lot of political supporters.
And fourth, if they don't find supporters, they create them anyway.
But what about me?
I was just a “loser.” I would have been lucky if I hadn’t been bullied.