The person with the Empress was Ensia.

Despite making eye contact with Acelia, Ensia merely smiled casually with feigned innocence.

Hiding her confusion, Acelia greeted the Empress.

“Your Majesty the Empress, have you been well?”

“It’s been a while, Princess. The princess seem to be doing well.”

Why the hostility right away?

The phrase ‘the princess’ implied that the Empress herself had not been doing well.

Expanding on the meaning, it was something like ‘I’ve been worried because of you, but you look fine? Lol.’

Should I have come? Should I leave now?

Concealing her anxious thoughts, Acelia smiled gently.

“Lady Monium is here too. I wonder if I’ve interrupted a pleasant time.”

“We were talking about you, princess. Please sit. Since you’ve come all this way, let’s have tea together.”

Together? Including Ensia?

The perceptive Ensia, seeming to realize this wasn’t her place, prepared to leave.

“I shall take my leave now, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Already? There’s still tea left.”

“The princess has arrived. Please enjoy your intimate time together.”

“You must have more to tell me. How disappointing. I’ll have some tea leaves prepared for you to take.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

No matter how close relatives they might be, isn’t this too affectionate?

They even look similar. Anyone would think she was the daughter.

Acelia felt irritated seeing the Empress, who was always cold toward her, being so kind to Ensia.

But why was Ensia, who hadn’t been seen much lately, with the Empress?

Noticing Ensia’s pink eyes narrowing slightly as she passed by, Acelia instinctively realized she had changed her approach.

She smelled conspiracy.

Though she couldn’t know what conversation they had, it certainly didn’t seem beneficial to her.

‘Damn. I came to try raising my damage level, but am I getting involved in something troublesome?’

When Acelia sat down, fresh tea and refreshments were prepared.

The Empress, who had been waiting silently until then, began.

“I hear your name mentioned frequently both inside and outside the palace these days.”

“……”

“Was my request for you to live quietly so difficult?”

This was exactly what she had expected. Acelia pondered why the Empress was so obsessed with her living quietly.

— Princess, you must keep this secret.

— Mother, why did you do that? This is an insult to His Majesty!

— If all the truth comes to light.

Scenes glimpsed from ‘Acelia’s’ memories. Acelia had a secret.

And that secret was most likely related to the Empress.

Acelia glanced at the guard knight standing behind the Empress.

He stood motionless, staring only at the Empress, as if there might be some danger in the tea room.

The relationship between the Empress and the guard knight seemed suspicious no matter how she looked at it.

Could it be…… adultery? Would they dare such a brazen act in the imperial palace where the Emperor resides?

No, that couldn’t be it.

“Princess? Can you not hear me?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Reflexively apologizing, Acelia decided to take a gamble.

She wouldn’t do this if she valued her life, but she only had three days left.

She needed to satisfy her curiosity before leaving.

“But might the reason you say such things to me be because of Your Majesty the Empress’s ‘secret’?”

“……!”

“Please refrain from disrespectful behavior toward Her Majesty the Empress, Your Highness the Princess!”

When Acelia mentioned the word ‘secret,’ the reactions of the Empress and the guard knight diverged.

While the Empress was surprised by Acelia’s provocative words, the guard knight became flustered and angry.

‘What’s this?’

The subsequent conversation also unfolded differently than expected.

The Empress raised her hand to stop the guard knight and spoke with a casual attitude.

“Princess. In the palace, there are eyes and ears in the walls and ceilings. Be careful with words and actions that might cause misunderstandings.”

“Yes. But won’t you answer my question?”

“What secret do you mean?”

The Empress, who had tilted her head, let out an “Ah” of exclamation.

“Could it be, Princess, that you’re bringing up something that’s already over? I thought we had a good talk then.”

“What?”

The next moment, the Empress’s virtuous face twisted like a demon’s, and words poured out like machine gun fire.

“Itoldyoutokeepyourmouthshutifyouwanttolive,doyouthinkI’lldiealonehere?”

“……!”

A chill ran down her spine. She seemed like a completely different person.

The Empress neither misunderstood Acelia’s suspicion of adultery nor was she being evasive.

She had simply left Acelia alone because she posed no threat.

The fear that ‘Acelia’ must have felt seeing this side of the Empress was vividly clear.

She was startled and rubbed her tingling arms.

When the Empress opened her eyes after closing them briefly, she had returned to her familiar self.

She continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“Aren’t you past the age for adolescent rebellion? Princess, must I repeat what I’ve already told you?”

“……No.”

It wasn’t untrue. But Acelia meekly agreed.

The fear she had momentarily felt was immense.

For an instant, her eyes met those of the guard knight.

‘Ah.’

Acelia realized. That man knew this would happen. That’s why he tried to stop her.

The Empress spoke with displeasure.

“I hear that the Princess, who should be modest, has grown distant from her fiancé and is having an affair with another man. And with a high priest who isn’t even a noble, of all people. I’m truly embarrassed to face Duke Wade.”

“……”

“Unlike before, you don’t attend gatherings with the ladies and unnecessarily show interest in diplomacy and politics. It seems you’ve become quite conceited. Ensia was very worried about you. Princess, shouldn’t you be setting an example as a member of the imperial family rather than causing disputes?”

So Ensia had indeed tattled on her.

She must have sought help from the Empress when she realized she couldn’t handle it herself. Acelia felt wronged.

“Without further discussion, join the social club led by Ensia. Go and learn about proper ladylike conduct. Understood?”

With her fate uncertain in just three days, what did proper ladylike conduct matter?

‘Is the roulette showing no reaction?’

The roulette, which she had expected to immediately display an error message upon meeting the Empress, remained silent.

Disheartened, Acelia vaguely acknowledged and left the tea room.

Unexpectedly, the guard knight followed her out.

“You were reckless.”

Alone with her, he spoke with a stern expression.

But Acelia, her mind filled with thoughts about her damage level, had no time to pay attention to him.

This had been her last chance, what should she do now?

“That was something you should never have said in front of Her Majesty the Empress. Didn’t you anticipate this would happen?”

“Am I a prophet? How would I know? And why are you following me? Are you a stalker?”

Acelia snapped, irritation welling up.

“Could it be…… did that high priest tell Your Highness something?”

“Why bring him up here? ……Ugh!”

At that moment, a terrible headache struck.

Unlike previous glimpses of Acelia’s memories, unintelligible noise disturbed her eardrums, and her vision crackled like a TV with a broken signal.

Amid the confusion, Acelia heard the sound she had been waiting for.

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

[!!Error!! Abnormal access detected. 〈Acelia Hedwig〉’s damage level increases by 15. Current damage level: 100.]

[Information fully unlocked as damage level reaches 100.]

[▶Poison (Otherworld Oxygen Poisoning)

— Makes the body weak and sometimes causes coughing up blood, nausea, chills, fever, etc.]

[Status abnormality (Poison) has been removed.]

[Status abnormality (The Last Leaf) has been removed.]

That wasn’t the end.

[!!Error!! A status abnormality has occurred.

▶Celebrity: Gather 100,000 followers

has begun.]

[Current followers: 13,240]

Clutching her head that felt like it would split open, Acelia gasped.

What? What the hell is Celebrity supposed to be!

* * *

Shaking off the guard knight’s attempt to hold her, Acelia returned to the princess’s palace.

Maids tried to support her as she gasped for breath, but she pushed them all away and alone in her room, recalling what had just happened.

‘One status abnormality ends and another begins? Are you sane?’

The roulette remained silent. Feverish, Acelia roughly wiped her sweaty forehead and opened the information window.

[Checking the updated information.

Name: Acelia Hedwig (Baek Seyeon)

Title: The Princess Beginning to Be Known (Fame 60/100)

Age: 23

Traits: 〈Sickly〉, 〈Timid〉, 〈Cheating Fiancé〉, 〈Excellent Actor〉, 〈Mastery of Swordsmanship—Swordmaster trait (limited to the first thrust in combat)〉, 〈A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step!〉

Status Abnormalities:

▶Abandoned in this Shitty World!

— The roulette activates in unspecified situations.

▶Celebrity: Gather 100,000 followers (Current followers: 13,240)

— If you fail to gather 100,000 followers and achieve 100 fame within 60 days, your infamy will increase, raising the probability of execution! (Time remaining: 59 days 23 hours 40 minutes 15 seconds……)]

“Hey! This isn’t right!”

Finally, Acelia screamed loudly.

Otherworld Oxygen Poisoning was absurd enough, but now suddenly gather followers? And this time, execution?

“Are you even human? A human couldn’t do this. You’ve developed a taste for threatening lives, haven’t you!”

Acelia punched the air. But that only drained her energy.

Out of breath and forced to calm her anger, Acelia thought coolly.

“What are followers anyway? Why so many?”