Chapter 12
Isabella was only able to return to the mansion late in the evening. Selly, who had thought she had been out attending an afternoon tea party all this time, quickly took her bag.
“Miss! Did you have a fun time?”
“Yeah… I did, it was fun for a change.”
Despite her words, Isabella’s face clearly showed exhaustion. Selly followed behind her as she headed toward her bedroom and asked cautiously.
“Should I prepare dinner for you?”
“No. I’ll just rest today.”
“Yes, Miss. Please get some rest.”
Isabella even declined a bath attendant and quickly washed off the sweat soaked into her hair and body. Her muscles ached as if she had done strenuous labor for the first time in her life.
“This should count as a successful mission, right?”
Wiping her still-damp hair with a towel, Isabella flopped down onto the bed and pulled out her smartphone. Since meeting Kairus, she hadn’t had a moment of rest to check it properly.
Because the mission required her to use her unique ability, she had spent the entire day cleaning the vast palace grounds, to the point where every part of her body ached. Massaging her stiff shoulders, she tapped the dark screen lightly.
As she checked the newly arrived notification, her eyes began to waver—and then the towel slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
『 First Mission: “Remove Corruption” 』
▶ Mission is on hold due to non-fulfillment of conditions.
▶▶ Please use your “unique trait” to eliminate “corruption.”
Not even a failure—just “on hold.” She had cleaned herself nearly to exhaustion, and yet the mission was still considered incomplete? Isabella’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
“This can’t be right! I cleaned so much today!”
Unable to accept the result, she accessed the system. What had she missed?
When she opened the unique trait window, her gaze fell on something unexpected—the trait level had clearly increased.
『 Trait level increases due to usage! 』
▶ < “Everything from people to objects—any stain or grime disappears completely~!” Lv. 5 >
“What am I still missing?”
She recalled the instruction from the Emperor’s birthday party, her head tilting slightly.
“Was it because I used the ability in the wrong place?”
But that didn’t make sense—after meeting Kairus, she had left the detached palace, cleaned the banquet hall where the party was held, and even the main palace before returning home.
Suddenly, one keyword from the system stood out in her mind: “corruption.”
“…Is there a special meaning to that word?”
She replayed the day’s events in her head. She had used her ability extensively in the palace’s main and annex buildings, thoroughly cleaning everything as instructed.
“So what exactly was missing?”
As she racked her brain, a knock sounded at the door.
“Miss, may I come in?”
“Huh? Just a moment!”
She quickly shoved her smartphone into the bedside drawer and picked up the towel from the floor. Selly entered, holding a silver tray with a letter.
“You have mail, Miss.”
“A letter?”
“Yes. I’ll leave it on your nightstand.”
“Okay, thank you.”
As Selly turned to leave, Isabella narrowed her eyes slightly. There was ash and black dust on Selly’s hands—likely from cleaning the fireplace.
“…What if corruption includes people, just like the description of my ability?”
A new suspicion formed in her mind. She stopped Selly before she could leave.
“Wait, Selly.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Isabella held out her hand. “Can you show me your hand?”
Selly approached, confused, and complied. Isabella gently rubbed Selly’s hand with the damp towel.
“Is something on my hand?”
Selly looked at her now-clean hand in confusion.
“Yeah, there was dust on it.”
“Oh, I see. Please get some rest, Miss!”
The moment Selly left the room, Isabella pulled her smartphone back out of the drawer.
She opened the system again and tapped the trait level. A yellow progress bar appeared.
However, the value remained unchanged.
Feeling slightly disappointed, she walked around the room, removing dust wherever she could find it.
Soon, a small notification sound rang from her phone. The level had increased—but only slightly.
“So it really has nothing to do with people?”
She stared at the trait window, confused, tapping the screen repeatedly. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why the mission had been put on hold.
Exhaling deeply, she turned off her phone. She had no clear way to complete the suspended mission.
Remembering the limited information in the mission description, she reached for the letters on the nightstand.
“Come to think of it… did I even have anyone who would send me letters?”
For the past ten years, as the fiancée of Ikaneul, she had frequently received invitations from people trying to get in favor with the House of Rasseles. But since rumors of their broken engagement had spread, none had arrived in recent days.
So why send her a letter now?
As she examined it, she noticed a golden wax seal engraved with an elaborate emblem.
An emblem no citizen of the Empire could fail to recognize—the imperial crest.
Her lips slowly parted.
“…No way?”
Hastily, she tore open one of the envelopes. Inside was an invitation decorated with gold foil.
It was a request to attend the Princess Elena’s rabbit hunt, with her name clearly written at the bottom:
<Isabella Lydia>
Of all people—it was an invitation from Princess Elena.
Her vision dimmed slightly.
Then suspicion arose.
“Why would she invite me now?”
Before Isabella’s engagement to Ikaneul, it was widely known that Elena had feelings for him. If not for their grandparents’ arrangement, Ikaneul’s fiancée would have been Elena, not her.
The rabbit hunt was especially famous for being an event where Elena invited those she favored to socialize.
So why invite someone who was practically a rival?
A headline from past gossip columns flashed through her mind:
“Princess Elena who loves Ikaneul, and Isabella—who will the goddess of love choose?”
Isabella sighed deeply.
“So this isn’t a rabbit hunt… it’s a hunt for me.”
Feeling like she was nothing more than prey for high society gossip, she shook her head in frustration.
Ikaneul no longer mattered to her anyway—if the princess wanted him, she could take him.
But she couldn’t simply refuse the invitation without a valid reason.
As she set Elena’s letter aside, she opened the remaining envelope.
“I’ll be waiting here for as long as it takes. I hope you’ll return with a positive answer.”
Kairus Rosen Child.
Recognizing the neat handwriting and sender, Isabella sighed again.
—Become my special aide, and I’ll give you everything you want.
If she became his aide and helped cure his mana overload condition, she could resolve her stagnant broken engagement quickly and earn a large sum of money for interdimensional travel expenses. It was an excellent opportunity.
But something about it felt off.
She had already been the subject of countless rumors due to her engagement to Ikaneul. If she were to get entangled in a scandal with Crown Prince Kairus as well, that would be an even bigger problem.
After a moment of hesitation, she shrugged.
“So what!”
For once, she decided to live for herself rather than meeting everyone’s expectations.
She was only going to stay here until she completed her mission anyway, and rumors would fade quickly.
She didn’t have time to worry about useless things.
As she was about to put the letter back into the envelope, she suddenly remembered Kairus’s eyes from earlier that day.
If it wasn’t her imagination, there had been a hint of familiarity in his gaze—like he was glad to see her.
But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t recall ever meeting him before.
“…We definitely met for the first time today.”
Exhausted, she lay back down on the bed. As she pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes, sleep quickly washed over her like waves.
Completely unaware of what awaited her next, Isabella fell into a deep sleep after a long, exhausting day.
