Chapter 24: CH 24

(3rd Person POV)

Anastasia muttered as if it was awkward.

“….Isn’t too fancy.”

“Absolutely not, Your Majesty. It’s much simpler than your usual outfits…”

One of the maids uttered in disbelief.

No matter how much people believed that Anastasia had changed, they still believed that her innate aesthetics would not have completely disappeared.

“We were thinking about adding more accessories to the outfit…”

“No, this is already more than enough. It is already breathtaking, thank you.”

Anastasia immediately answered as she stood up right away.

This was the first banquet that she would be attending since rumors spread about her sudden change. That is why if there were too many decorations, it would risk undermining all of her efforts so far.

“Shall we go to the party now?”

“Won’t you be going to the Central Palace, Your Majesty?”

‘Why am I going to the Central Palace?’ 

Anastasia looked puzzled.

“I mean…. Wouldn’t it be nice to enter the banquet hall together with His Majesty the Emperor.”

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

“Did I do that last year?”

“No…..”

The maids answered back in a small voice.

Everyone has the same dejected expression on their faces. Anastasia sighed and spoke to Madame Rochester.

“Let’s go now.”

“Ah…yes, Your Majesty.”

Madame Rochester looked a bit disheartened, however Anastasia ignored it and continued walking.

‘How is it that her attitude is still the same as it was before? How has it not changed towards His Majesty the Emperor?’

Madame Rochester couldn’t understand Anastasia’s decision since she was looking forward to this part the most ever since Her Majesty had matured.

-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

(Anastasia’s 3rd Person POV)

It was only natural for there to be a large gathering for His Majesty’s birthday celebration as one the most important people in the empire.

In order to get a chance to catch even just a glimpse of the Emperor’s eyes, all of the nobles gathered at the banquet hall of the Imperial Palace in large droves.

However, the noble women’s interest was not towards the Emperor but rather towards his wife, Her Majesty the Empress.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

They wanted to see for themselves if the rumors were true that Anastasia, whose infamous reputation had spread throughout the provinces, had finally changed for good.

“When will Her Majesty the Empress appear?”

“Tsk, honey. Don’t you have any dignity left?”   

“Plenty. You also said that you were curious as well.”

In fact, the noblemen were also quite curious as well. Currently, Empress Anastasia was the main interest of all the people in the empire.

Anastasia became the hottest topic within the empire and that made everyone anxiously wait for the moment she would appear. 

“Presenting the wisest moon of the Empire, Her Majesty the Empress.”

At that moment, the banquet hall quieted down immediately. Everyone was looking at the entrance door in anticipation.

Anastasia, who was dressed up quite splendidly, walked in with grace.

‘….Why did everyone suddenly become quiet?’

Anastasia felt awkward at the complete silence in the banquet hall.

Of course, whenever the Empress appears, there would always be someone who would break the ice. This, however, was a different atmosphere than any past events. A type of silence was not seen before.

‘They’re not keeping their mouths closed to be polite, but more like they were too focused on looking at me than they are with speaking.’

Anastasia’s thoughts were correct. Everyone was too busy watching her every move to do anything else.

But no one dared to approach her first. Everyone was not sure if her infamous personality had really changed or not, so they couldn’t act rashly for fear of consequences.

Of course, those who were originally close to Anastasia thought differently.

“Your Majesty, you’re here! Greetings to the hostess of the Imperial Palace.”

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

“You are definitely shining. You are the most beautiful person in this banquet hall.”

“But is that the proper word to describe her? When Her Majesty appeared, I was almost blinded because she shines so brightly.”

“Oh! Me as well! I thought someone had stolen a statue in the museum, and I was worried that someone might report it as missing!”

(P/R: Anastasia was so beautiful that she couldn’t be a real person. That she must be one of those beautiful sculptures in the museum and someone would report her as stolen.)

The ten women around Anastasia laughed and chatted among themselves with ease, but Anastasia just smiled awkwardly.

‘Such praises…..’ 

The original Anastasia was not a good person, but it was still embarrassing to listen to flattery about oneself.

“I’ve come to the realization that, even if you go to any other places, I think you should never go to the racetrack. It will be a big deal.”

“Oh? But why not?”

“Because you’re so pretty, it doesn’t make sense!”

“…….”

‘Should I laugh…?’

(T/N: Hahahahaha…. Sweet talker. LMAO.)

[pr/n: I’m just as confused as you are Anastasia haha.]

“Wait, I just realized that everyone wore their winning item from the last auction.”

As Anastasia quickly changed the subject, those who wore Anastasia’s collection blushed in embarrassment.

“It is all thanks to Her Majesty’s grace that I always feel like going to different gatherings these days.”

“Everyone was so jealous. There was a lot of fuss about where I had managed to secure such an item.”

“As you may have already known, it is not legally possible to make a design identical to the one worn by Her Majesty the Empress.”

“So how did you all respond?”

“By simply telling them the truth. That I had won it through an auction that was held directly by Her Majesty the Empress, herself.”

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

“If I didn’t, then someone who was jealous might report me as a counterfeiter, right?”

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“Your Majesty, do you have any plans to hold another auction again? I’ve been dying to spend some money these days.”

(T/N: Wow I wish all can be like that hahaha.)

[pr/n: Make it rain like nobody’s business  pft]

“And besides, I heard that you used all of the winning bids to donate to charity? How did you come up with such an amazing idea!”

“As expected, Her Majesty is really wise. If I knew that you would use it for that purpose, I should have raised the price higher. I regret not doing so then.”

“I was actually thinking about holding another auction since there are still more items to be disposed of.”

At Anastasia’s words, the eyes of those around her gleamed with anticipation.

“But I’m not sure if everyone would like it as much as last time? Do you think that the others would enjoy it as well?”

“What are you talking about? If Her Majesty the Empress held another auction, everyone would definitely want to attend.”

“If you want us to be the only guests for the time being, that is also something that we can do. Since we also don’t want you to share your precious items with too many people.….”

Of course, Anastasia had no intention of giving too many people a chance to control the rarity of the auction.

‘If it becomes that popular, there will be a lot of nobles who would try to get an invitation. Even if they were to buy it using their own money.’

“After all, everyone I’m close to had already been invited last time. Even if they choose to sell their invitation in the name of fairness, there would be no further words.’

Anastasia agreed to it since it would be less complicated and she would be more comfortable.

‘Let’s just see how it goes.’

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

At that moment, a group of young girls was seen in the peripheral of Anastasia’s eyes.

It was a group of people who seemed restless to greet her, since they kept glancing towards Anastasia’s side furtively. 

However, since she was already occupied with her close friends, they were not able to grab an opportunity to introduce themselves to Anastasia.

Anastasia apologized to her friends in a gentle voice.

“I’m sorry to say this, but I need to say goodbye for the meantime. There are still a lot of people that I have to greet this evening. Since today is a public event, it will be difficult for me to spend time just with you ladies alone.”

“Oh! No of course, your Majesty.”

“The fact that we’re just trying to say hello… We’ve already taken too much of your precious time, Your Majesty. We hope you forgive us.”

“No, I of course also enjoyed talking with you guys. So let’s set up a date and meet up soon.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I wish you all the best today.”

So the first group that she met with slowly withdrew, and finally the others were given the opportunity to greet Anastasia.

As soon as there was a gap, those who had been looking for an opportunity quickly approached Anastasia.

“I greet the wisest moon of the empire, Her Majesty the Empress. I would like to introduce myself, I’m Cosette from the House of Stanley.”

“Nice to meet you, Young Lady of Stanley.”

Anastasia was always kind and friendly to everyone she met. Rumours spread in an instant on how amicable her reply was.

“Her Majesty the Empress seemed like a whole different person. Last time, you didn’t hesitate to embarrass a local noble when they tried to greet you. But now you’re so attentive and polite! I think I fell in love with Her Majesty the Empress just now!”

[pr/n: Wow…you know, Anastasia or not, in any other circumstances of saying that to the rulers of your empire…your neck just might not be attached anymore but I guess you’re all lucky.]

“I guess the rumors were true. You’ve completely changed from before.”

“Somehow, it seems that the Goddess Rosenia has been reincarnated with your beauty and personality stronger than ever now.”

Anastasia realized that through the eyes of those who had looked at her before, they had since changed their opinions from the last memorial service of Emperor Charles.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

The way they looked at her, is now similar to the gazes they reserved for Wilhelm.

Anastasia, inwardly took a sigh of relief.

‘At least, if I maintain this amiable reputation, I can avoid the under the guillotine ending .’

Since her main goal was for a smooth abdication, there would not be any problems in the future if she maintains the current favorable status. 

‘Should I return now to the Empress’s Palace?’

The only thing that went through Anastasia’s mind was doing all of the work on her desk as the Empress of the empire.

After all, if she continues to greet each and everyone with a pleasant smile, even if she herself asks to be excused due to her physical condition, it would not be questioned.

Only when the main character of the gossip disappears, the rest would be able to speak more freely.

Anastasia decided to make this group of young ladies the last people she will converse with before returning back to the Empress ‘s Palace.

“Oh, but won’t you stay with us a little longer?”

A young lady who had come from a remote southern island, asked Anastasia with an innocent expression on her face.

Anastasia looked at her with puzzlement, unable to grasp the true meaning of her words.

“We are aware that you haven’t been able to greet His Majesty the Emperor yet, but I was wondering if we were overstepping our bounds by having you here with us?”

“…….”

Anastasia’s expression hardened with embarrassment at those words, but the southern lady who spoke her words was not aware of the effects they had caused.

“Oh, right? I don’t know if we are interrupting the time the two of you have together. “

“Oh my, we didn’t think ahead. Our sincerest apologies, Your Majesty.”

The problem was that not even the friends of the southern lady were aware of the problem.

No matter how far they were from the capital, they should have known that the relationship between her and His Majesty the Emperor were not on good terms.

Anastasia smiled awkwardly and roughly glossed over as quickly as she could.

“That…I was going to go soon.”

“Are you really sure, Your Majesty?”

“Oh, His Majesty the Emperor is right over there. Do you see him?”

‘….What kind of mischievous coincidence is this?’

[pr/n: the kind that us irl want to have too but alas…well I mean if you count food.]

Anastasia instinctively shifted her gaze towards someone’s clamor, and there was Wilhelm. Standing there with an expressionless look on his face.

At the same time, their eyes had collided with each other.

It was too potent for that brief connection to be a mere coincidence. Anastasia became very flustered.

Please do not repost our translation. Read only at Pink Muffin Translations.

‘…What should I do? Should I go and say hello?’

`We had already made eye contact, but it would be hard to brush it off as a fluke’

‘And my feet won’t move that easily….’

‘…Why is Wilhelm coming to me?!’

Wilhelm started to approach Anastasia first.

[pr: ah yes, it is that time of the release again where we go curse you AP #6. like we love you but also curse you…and yes, yes by ‘we’ I mean me.  I don’t know what to tell you all except I’m committed now.]

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