Her head turned towards the voice whose refined diction had caught her ears. The tall man standing there with a fringe of jet-black hair covering half his face was accompanied by a retinue of menservants and maids.
‘That man is…’
The prime minister of the empire who you would often encounter if you played as the royal princess.
Among the characters who weren’t capture targets, he received a lot of valuable screen time, a nameless extra who was also the empire’s one and only Grand Duke.
‘Since Evanessa visits here every year, she should be acquainted with him at the very least.’
Evanessa bowed slightly while lifting her skirt in a curtsey. While this was a form of courtesy that Yewon never had any reason to learn as a common and casual citizen of modern-day Korea, the motion was performed instinctively. It felt as if the memory of the movement had been ingrained into her body.
‘Could this have something to do with my stats?’
While Evanessa had been mocked for having low stats, due to the pope’s influence on her early education, her etiquette stat score was almost maxed out.
“It has been a long time, your Grand Dukeship.”
It would be convenient if her lines could also come out so naturally.
However, she was lucky that she still had her experience from playing as the Royal Princess, who held an unrequited love for the prime minister. While it was still a problem that she didn’t know his exact name, there was no danger of confusion from calling him by his formal title.
“Yes, I haven’t laid eyes on you since the Founding Day Anniversary.”
The two of them casually made their way into the interior of the palace. Meanwhile, Daniel appeared preoccupied as he was inspecting the squad of knights who had been mobilized to serve as the saintess’s escorts.
‘In any case, I’ll see him later at tonight’s dinner.’
Since she couldn’t disturb him now, she would give him her regards later.
As Evanessa walked off following the prime minister, the menservants, and maids who had been standing by fell into step behind her.
“I happened to hear that your Saintess’s followers caused you some trouble again.”
As Evanessa walked along the corridor leading into the main palace, she raised her eyes. She looked up at the broad back that was just a step ahead of her.
“Yes.”
“You dealt with them in a very refreshing manner.”
“…Yes?”
“His Royal Highness has been left waiting for a while.”
What could it be? She had an unpleasant feeling as if she had just been rejected.
After that, there was no more conversation between the two until they reached the audience room.
The two knights stationed in front of the audience room bowed to the prime minister. As one of the menservants following them stepped forwards to announce the saintess’s arrival, permission to enter was heard from inside. The knights guarding the entrance pulled open the doors.
As if to say that the role he played ended here, the prime minister stepped aside.
“So then, your Saintess, I will see you again at the welcome party.”
Absorbed in the realization that she would soon meet the emperor face-to-face, Evanessa nodded tersely.
“Yes. Bye-bye.”
Bye-bye?
Only
The prime minister’s lips quivered at the strange farewell that he had never heard before. Not noticing the mistake she had made, Evanessa disappeared inside and the menservants and maids following her took their places in front of the door.
The prime minister turned away, his index finger tapping at his lips in a habitual manner. As he walked toward the end of the corridor, his head cocked to the side in perplexity, he muttered under his breath.
“What could it mean?”
***
Evanessa’s guesses were spot-on. It was clear that this dating sim game had buffed her abilities. Although she didn’t know anything about Western manners, her body reflexively sank to the floor on one knee in utmost courtesy as soon as she laid eyes on the emperor.
Of course, her lines were still her own.
“It is my honor to see the noblest majesty of Lunium’s chosen empire.”
After playing as the saintess dozens of times, she had memorized the words of the greeting by heart. Because if you chose to target the crown prince’s route, you would have to repeat that greeting time after time.