Chapter 23: Because we are friends

While the guests were whispering, focusing only on Chloe’s external appearance.

The real power players focused their attention on her etiquette.

Because Chloe’s greeting had been that elegant.

‘Hoh, she’s quite something.’

‘I don’t know who her etiquette teacher is, but they’ve taught her everything from salutations to protocol without a single flaw.’

Elegance that shows loyalty without flattery.

Easier said than done.

Considering her age, one could even call it genius.

To the point that the magnates of Pirandel and the prince-electors of the Holy Empire didn’t see Chloe as a commoner.

She was no less than a royal of the same age, let alone an ordinary noble lady.

If it weren’t for the bald head.

And while they overlooked it at first, her appearance was too unique to ignore.

The dress, hand-picked by the Painter’s Guild Leader.

Chloe wore the outfit, carefully chosen by an artist who deals with nobles, flawlessly.

If it weren’t for the bald head.

‘…This won’t do. All I can see is the bald head.’

‘Her skin is so white and smooth, it makes her even more dazzling.’

Beauty that shines like a pearl (pun intended).

And a dignity that wasn’t overshadowed by her stunning beauty!

It was a skill difficult to explain unless she had learned court etiquette from a young age at her parents’ recommendation.

If it weren’t for the bald head.

Meanwhile, the thoughts of the powerful were somewhat true.

Chloe had learned etiquette from her father.

Because Oliver was a gentleman who wished for nothing more than for his cute and lovely daughter to grow into an elegant lady.

Was that why?

“Gurgle-gurgle-gurgle…!”

The Holy Empire’s court musician, Oliver Turing.

Fainted, foaming at the mouth, in the glorious audience chamber.

Among the fathers with daughters, not a single one condemned Oliver’s sin of being carried away on a stretcher in front of the Empress.

“…Have him recuperate. Take him to the head priest.”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

Though she only had sons, the Empress didn’t feel like blaming Oliver either.

No, she was even a little grateful.

“That’s a very… unique hairstyle.”

Because Oliver fainting on her behalf had allowed her to calm down a bit.

“…Was my appearance perhaps too disrespectful?”

“No. Have you forgotten who I am? I am the Empress of the Holy Empire. I see shaved-headed priests commonly enough.”

Hair is a symbol of the tainted secular world.

Many among the clergy shave their heads.

‘Though this is the first time in my life I’ve seen a girl, a child not even ten years old, come to a party with her head shaved!’

The Empress desperately held back from shouting so.

Does she think she’s some orc bandit from the Mingar wilderness?

Why come to someone else’s birthday with a shaved head?

‘And a girl younger and prettier than me at that!’

Live up to your looks a little.

Why are you drawing more attention than the birthday girl herself?

It was frustrating, but it wasn’t right to glare at a child.

The Empress’s gaze naturally fell on the guardian.

‘Sh*t.’

In other words, the Painter’s Guild Leader.

“Did you shave that head of your own will? Or… was it the will of this man who has stepped forward as your guardian in place of your father?”

“Y-Your Majesty! This rudeness is truly mortifying-“

“I was not asking you. And I believe I said it wasn’t rude.”

Cold sweat on his back.

Cold sweat on his hands.

Cold sweat enough to make his crotch damp.

The Guild Leader couldn’t even dare to lower his eyes in front of the Empress, his lips turning blue.

He couldn’t even sneak a glance at Chloe.

Because if he did, his gaze would surely be filled with anger.

‘How dare this cunning wench retaliate like this?!’

It was a counterattack he had truly never dreamed of.

He could have at least imagined something like suicide.

Considering the benefits he had provided, he had been confident she wouldn’t kill herself.

Even if she resisted, he thought she would try to escape,

or at least go to someone else for protection.

He was mistaken.

‘A little kid who’s only 8 years old drove me this far? Just by shaving some d@mn hair?!’

Some d@mn hair.

Easy to say, but the reality was not so simple.

“I have heard some unsavory rumors from the Painter’s Guild since that man took office.”

“Aha, so it seems he has no excuses to make?”

“On the other hand, look at that child. How dignified she is!”

Words. Words. Words.

The words of the lords, the magnates, the knights and mages.

Among them, there was not a single powerful figure the Guild Leader had approached.

‘They’re abandoning me? Just like this?’

Of course they would.

Because he was no longer needed.

Their interest was in Chloe.

Not some criminal who parasitized them for a sliver of power.

This was by no means a simple head-shaving.

It was a divine move to protect her honor, her chastity.

And her freedom.

How noble.

How creative.

The Guild Leader trembled.

And he was certain.

‘This kid… is a genius.’

A genius whose level of thinking was different from that of ordinary people,

a genius who couldn’t be controlled by common sense!

Clicker would have agreed 100%.

[I’m an AI that respects human creativity….]

‘Stop lying!’

Glancing at the conversing Chloe.

All sorts of ideas flashed through the Guild Leader’s mind.

‘…Should I use the Necklace of the Blood Spirit?’

A momentary impulse.

The Guild Leader barely suppressed the convulsive command.

‘Not now. I’ll be caught, one hundred percent.’

The Necklace of the Blood Spirit was like an electric shock collar.

It forced actions through pain and mana, so using it would leak a mana reaction.

Of course, spirit magic is difficult for humans to detect.

With luck, there was a chance he wouldn’t be caught.

But among all these powerful figures and skilled masters, would not a single one notice the activation of magic?

“You’re trembling, Guild Leader. Have you committed some crime?”

“No. That is absolutely, utterly untrue.”

Above all, the one before him was the Empress.

The ruler of the Holy Empire who ascended to the throne with the blessing of the twelve great gods of Luntraval.

The pinnacle of the prince-electors officially recognized by the Holy See.

Gods and spirits.

These are beings in a reciprocal relationship.

There was a high chance that the Empress, who was sensitive to divine power, would notice the spirit magic.

‘That’s why I already put a gag order on Chloe!’

He had noticed her shaved head before they even came to the banquet hall.

He had already issued a gag order through the Blood Spirit.

Telling her not to say anything disadvantageous to him.

Of course, this gag order was by spirit magic.

Now that the Blood Spirit couldn’t use magic, it was difficult for it to be effective.

But there was no way Chloe would know that.

In other words.

“If you shaved it yourself, there must be a reason. Tell me.”

It would be fine no matter how much the Empress questioned her.

Since no magic was being used, there would be no mana reaction,

and Chloe would answer of her own will.

So there was no problem.

“She said it was to enter a monastery.”

There shouldn’t have been.

Normally, that is.

‘What?’

The Guild Leader instinctively turned his head and doubted his eyes.

A tone with no highs or lows.

A character famous even in the original work for not using question marks.

It was Emil.

‘H-how is this kid here…?!’

The Guild Leader had thought.

That Yaltarion and Emil would be turning Yaltesance upside down looking for Chloe.

It was a naive thought.

A thought at a level to be played in the hands of Emil, a genius far more proper than Chloe.

“And you are?”

“Noemillica, granddaughter of Yaltarion. Forgive my rudeness for daring to intrude upon Your Majesty’s conversation.”

Rudeness, shmudeness, what are you doing here?

Chloe, just as surprised as the Guild Leader, doubted her eyes.

“Emil…? How are you here?”

Seeing Chloe’s bewildered face for the first time.

Emil couldn’t help but bite her lip.

It couldn’t be helped.

“…How, you ask.”

Chloe’s thoughtless words.

Because she understood with bone-deep clarity what they meant.

‘You never thought I would come for you.’

You thought that I wouldn’t care whether you disappeared or not,

that I would never come to help you after you were kidnapped.

That’s what she thought.

That Emil, who had fought with her and gotten angry just because they had taken different paths,

would never come to help.

That she would have to get through this somehow on her own.

‘So, you struggled all alone.’

Probably in a situation where she was deprived of even the freedom of speech by some cruel threat or harassment,

she fought, even going so far as to shave her precious hair.

‘Without trusting… or waiting for me.’

It was only natural.

Trust and wait for me?

Emil didn’t even have the right to say such a thing.

It was a wrong that could not be atoned for, even with an apology.

But.

Emil also had something to say.

Something she had to convey, different from an excuse.

“Don’t ask how, ask why.”

“…Why?”

Because we’re friends.

She wanted to say that.

Even knowing she had no right to.

“Because you…”

So, let’s lie.

Suppress my heart and kill it.

“Because you are my rival.”

Swallowing the blood from her bitten lip, Emil thought.

For now, this is enough.

She shouldn’t burden her already wounded friend with the weight of forgiveness.

And Chloe and the Guild Leader also thought.

‘Sh*t.’

‘Sh*t.’

I’ve been well and truly caught by this vicious genius.

‘Don’t even think about quitting painting, is that it….’

‘I know everything, so give up, is that it….’

To not miss the scent of a pushover in crisis and immediately try to ‘save’ and ‘recruit’ them?

What a crazy yandere painter.

This is a grand festival of clichés that transcends the era.

Anyone would think Emil was the protagonist.

Chloe stomped her feet in frustration.

‘You really could have helped me!’

My brilliant web-novel-protagonist-like eloquence was just about to begin!

While complaining, Chloe was also a little worried.

What if Emil gets punished for being insolent?

Should I stop a severe punishment and let a light one slide?

“The granddaughter of that Ribeyong Artist, is it? I permit it.”

Yaltarion is a really famous artist.

Chloe slapped her forehead.

“But what did you say just now? That Chloe is entering a monastery?”

“Yes. But it’s a bit strange. Why would a child who is about to enter a monastery debut in high society?”

Emil, in her dress, narrowed her eyes.

A look of doubt bloomed on her cute face.

“And with someone who is practically a stranger, not her parents who are court musicians, nor my grandfather who is an Archmage.”

“Hoh?”

The ever-changing expressions of the three people.

The Empress, having finished her observation, twisted the corner of her mouth.

“Very well. I will take responsibility and look into this matter. I swear to the gods that no innocent blood will be shed.”

…Flash!

At the Empress’s conclusion, Emil lifted her head.

Her guilty expression from her conversation with Chloe was gone, replaced by a bright smile, as if it had been a lie.

As if she was genuinely relieved by the current verdict and vow.

‘Hmph, well now.’

She’s a child who can’t lie.

The Empress gave a bitter smile.

Until a moment ago, there had been no small amount of anger at having her birthday ruined.

But now, it didn’t matter.

The Empress decided to forget such trivial annoyances.

“A wonderful friendship. Cherish it, Noemillica.”

“…I am most grateful.”

A conversation more eventful than a play.

As payment for watching the friendship of the genius girls.

“Drag him away. I will personally interrogate him after the banquet.”

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty?! I-I can explain everything!! Your Majesty! Please give me just one chance!”

While being dragged away by the imperial soldiers.

The Guild Leader saw.

“It’s okay, Guild Leader! Don’t worry!”

A bald girl waving both hands cheerfully.

Chloe’s selfless smile.

“If you haven’t committed any major crimes, you’ll be released before you die! I’ll be cheering for you, fighting!”

“…Kuaaaak-!! Chloe, you damn b*tch- Mmph!! Mmph!!”

The Yaltesance Painter’s Guild Leader.

Imprisoned on charges of deceiving the Emperor, child abduction, and 14 other counts.

“We took care of the child abuser!”

“Let’s keep it up, everyone!”

The three-day birth festival had only just begun.

“Oliver was carried away? Why?!”

Outside the banquet hall.

The break room.

The court music director, Lindaril, spat out the wine she was drinking.

Because of the news that was like a bolt from the blue.

“It’s a long story to explain… but that’s what happened.”

“Good heavens, it seems it’s not a joke. What should we do?”

Lindaril’s elven ears turned bright red as she stomped her feet.

Oliver’s fellow musician was also burning with anxiety.

‘To faint in the presence of the Empress…’

How great must the mental shock have been?

Both she and Lindaril’s hearts ached with worry for their colleague,

“Then what about the concert! Will he be up by tomorrow?”

“?”

This elf’s personality?

“Kuh-! What kind of misfortune is this on such an important day!”

Downing a drink in frustration and letting out a deep sigh.

Lindaril curled up dejectedly.

“It’ll be hard to find a skilled musician by tomorrow, won’t it?”

“…Even if we find one, they probably won’t help us.”

“I understand. Humans are so cold-hearted.”

It was unfortunate.

Her own (not Oliver’s) unexpected misfortune.

Lindaril looked up at the sky and sighed.

“Ah! Isn’t there a genius musician apprentice out there somewhere who is incredibly skilled but hasn’t debuted yet, just waiting for an opportunity!”

“That would be nice. If only there were someone like that around at a time like this.”

“Right? And if they’re a kid, we can pay them less too!”

Sarcasm doesn’t work on her.

The court musician thought while playing along.

‘The personality of elves… not a prejudice, but a statistic… note to self…’

Anyway, those island-dwelling pointy-ears.

Just wanna smack ’em.

No, not that.

‘It really would be nice if there were. A genius apprentice like that.’

A genius musician to stand in for Oliver.

She would have to hope for such convenient luck to come their way.