Chapter 3
Although Lucy was a member of the royal family, she lived in a modest annex far from the main palace.
Unlike her older half-sister Elisha, who was favored by the Emperor, Lucy had fallen out of favor.
Both Lucy and the servants in the annex believed that quietly keeping a low profile was the only way to extend her life.
However, after Lucy had an accident falling from the terrace railing, strange rumors began circulating around the usually quiet annex.
And now, several days after Lucy had been healed by Cecil, she still couldn’t leave her bed, and new rumors were spreading.
“Princess Lucy.”
Veronica, Lucy’s tutor, adjusted her glasses and looked at her.
She had stopped by lightly to check on her, but seeing Lucy’s condition, she had no choice but to summon the court physician.
When the physician arrived, Veronica gave him a pointed glance before speaking.
“Could you summarize Chapter 1 of the Akane Empire’s history?”
“I don’t know.”
The physician’s eyes widened at Lucy’s answer.
Veronica ignored it and continued with her questions.
“What are the three great taboos of the Akane Empire?”
“I don’t know.”
Veronica scribbled something in her notebook and showed it to Lucy.
“Could you solve this arithmetic problem?”
“I don’t know.”
Veronica swallowed hard.
She led the physician to the window and whispered,
“Did you notice? Just speaking to her makes me feel as if my own intelligence is dropping, based on her answers.”
“Isn’t it possible she just doesn’t know?”
“Absolutely not!”
Veronica’s voice had risen unconsciously; she cleared her throat and lowered it again.
“This is the princess who, feeling abandoned, studied desperately to survive. She wouldn’t answer ‘I don’t know’ to such basic questions.”
Lucy, usually timid and meek to the point of making those around her depressed, only displayed confidence during Veronica’s lessons.
“Her only strengths were proper etiquette and intelligence… but look at her now.”
Veronica glanced at Lucy.
Lucy scratched the bandages on her head and yawned lazily.
Veronica seemed shocked, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Even her eyes… there’s no trace of her old brilliance.”
The physician nodded in agreement.
“I heard she fell headfirst from the terrace railing. That may explain her current state…”
“So you’re saying Princess Lucy has become an imbecile?”
“Ah! Don’t casually use that word!”
Veronica shut her mouth at the physician’s scolding.
“It’s truly unfortunate. Bad luck upon bad luck.”
“Yes… and she injured her head, of all things.”
“Imbecile…”
Veronica could not finish the thought and swallowed it internally.
Both the physician and Veronica gazed at Lucy with pity.
From that day, rumors that Lucy had become an imbecile shook the annex—and eventually reached the Emperor’s ears.
Hehe. Slightly miserable, but just as planned.
Lucy praised herself.
It seemed that unless it was a major story event, she could speak simple phrases without the system intervening.
‘Of course, with negative intelligence and reputation, I can only give ridiculous, graceless responses.’
Still, that was something.
Lucy resolved to progress in the game even under the worst conditions.
Especially when she realized that the rumor of her being a fool had reached the Emperor, she rejoiced inwardly.
‘Now I just need to wait patiently…’
Just as Lucy thought this, there was a knock at the door.
‘Already?’
Lucy adjusted her expression to look dumb, then opened the door. Her eyes widened at the visitor.
Flowing golden hair, slightly upturned green eyes.
Every step radiated elegance.
Lucy’s mouth fell open.
‘It’s Elisha.’
Elisha Adelstein, Lucy’s beautiful and cruel older half-sister.
Leaning against the headboard, Lucy straightened her posture.
Seeing her in person, the sense of authority was far beyond what she remembered from the game.
Elisha was practically the final boss of this game.
She had also been the main reason Lucy had reached the death sentence ending in her previous playthrough.
Elisha smiled at Lucy, who had stiffened in surprise.
“Lucy. I’m glad to see you awake.”
Elisha gracefully sat beside the bed.
After a moment of silence, she reached toward Lucy and gently stroked her hair, as if pitying her injured sibling.
The hand slowly moved down toward Lucy’s chin, and in an instant, it grabbed her jaw forcefully.
“Clever, aren’t you.”
With her head forcibly held, Lucy had to meet Elisha’s icy gaze.
“Did you want to get Father’s attention by doing something like this?”
“……”
“I’ve heard rumors. That perhaps you intentionally fell to end your life.”
Otherwise, how could someone suddenly fall from the terrace they used daily?
Elisha’s lips tilted into a crooked smile.
“But that’s only because they don’t know you.”
Her grip on Lucy’s chin tightened, though her voice lowered to a whisper.
“You’re clumsy enough to stumble even in familiar spaces.”
A clear sneer lingered on Elisha’s lips.
“Had you any courage, you’d have begged Father to let you leave this trashy annex long ago.”
Elisha narrowed her eyes at Lucy.
“Pretending to be helpless even after receiving healing, and now you’ve become a fool?”
She scoffed.
“Even if you want Father’s attention, wasn’t this a reckless move?”
“Father was angry.”
Lucy swallowed dryly.
“Anyway, congratulations. Father probably won’t ignore rumors that tarnish the royal family. I suppose he’ll take an interest in you now. How long that interest lasts, I can’t say.”
Elisha tilted her head at Lucy’s silence.
“Why so quiet? Not whining like ‘It’s not me, sister, it’s a misunderstanding!’ as usual?”
Elisha, narrowing her brows at Lucy’s silence, suddenly laughed.
She released Lucy’s jaw, crossed her arms, and leaned forward, laughing for a long while.
Even after her hand left, Lucy felt her jaw tingle, watching Elisha.
“Watching your clumsy act is amusing, though.”
Elisha’s lips still held a smile, but her eyes were cold.
“What are you going to do next?”
Elisha sniffed.
“The palace banquet is coming soon, isn’t it?”
The palace banquet.
The first quest of “Heartbeat Love in Akane♡”.
She had to attend, play an instrument, or dance elegantly to gain the Emperor’s recognition.
“Will you sit there, silent and staring, at an event where you need to impress Father?”
Elisha tilted her head.
“Wouldn’t it be better to skip it altogether? I can inform Father myself.”
After a moment of thought, she shook her head.
“No, I’ll leave it be.”
Uncrossing her arms, Elisha reached toward Lucy again.
Seeing Lucy flinch slightly, her smile deepened.
“I don’t know what you’re planning…”
This time, instead of grabbing her jaw, Elisha gently stroked Lucy’s cheek.
“I don’t want to miss the fun of seeing you become everyone’s laughingstock.”
“……”
“Now, rest well.”
Elisha left the room with a kind tone.
Alone, Lucy slowly brought her hands to her chest.
‘That was close.’
She had completely forgotten about the first quest.
‘Thank you, Elisha.’
Thanks to Elisha talking and leaving, Lucy remembered the quest.
Ding!
[First Quest Triggered!]
[You, the royal family’s ugly duckling, may have a chance to gain the Emperor’s recognition at the upcoming palace banquet.]
[Do your best!]
My best?
All she had were negative stats. How could she impress anyone?
[Do you accept the quest?]
[- Yes]
[- No]
Even in her previous life, she had failed this banquet quest despite having built some stats.
‘If I go now, I’ll just be a laughingstock, like Elisha said.’
But then she glanced at the system window.
[Failure: Reputation -20]
‘But…’
[Success: Reputation +20]
Her eyes moved slightly lower.
[※Special Reward: Soft Mochi Rice Cake Puppy]
‘A soft mochi rice cake puppy…!’
Indeed.
Reputation was the next challenge.
Lucy had always needed the special reward pet, then as now.
