Then should she just give up everything and flee the summer palace? That made no sense either. She barely knew what kind of world this was.
Right now, she was just vaguely guessing based on her gaming experience. She didn’t know how she would survive outside or what she would do for food.
‘…And why should I run away when I did nothing wrong?’
If she could just endure until the ending, she would wake up from this dream anyway, so why throw everything away and take the difficult path? The best option would be to stay here and avoid Blake and Everitt.
She just needed to stick close to Natalie at all times. Then they wouldn’t be able to touch her.
‘And if Natalie tries to choose one of those two bastards, I’ll risk my life to stop her.’
After sorting out her thoughts this way, Bella fell asleep from exhaustion.
She failed to realize that she had unconsciously excluded the possibility of not waking up even after the ending.
***
On the morning of the third day, she was able to get up. Bella quickly sought out a doctor without anyone knowing.
Fortunately, this world also had something similar to contraceptive pills. Ironically, she learned about this because of Blake.
After ej*culating, he had gently cleaned every part of her body as if they were lovers and mentioned that there would be no problem because he had drunk tea.
Though Bella had been in shock after their encounter, she still remembered those words.
Fearing her identity would be discovered, she covered her hair and face with a veil when she visited the doctor, but when she hesitated and stammered, “Um…”, he immediately asked.
“You’re here for moon tea, aren’t you?”
The doctor scooped a generous amount of tea leaves from a large box in the corner and said.
“There’s not a single person here who isn’t drinking this tea, so you don’t need to cover yourself like that. This box will be empty within a week at this rate, they’re all so vigorous… Drink one cup a day. Or you can have the gentleman drink it instead. As long as one of you drinks it, it’s fine.”
Bella returned to her room with the tea, her face flushed.
‘How is this an all-ages game? I’ve been deceived.’
Everyone was doing that behind closed doors. Everyone except Natalie.
Why on earth wasn’t this an adult-rated game, given the situation? I would have happily played it if they had just changed the title to “The Princess and the Men of the Summer Palace” with content where the princess sleeps with all the male leads.
After grumbling and brewing a cup of tea, she felt much better.
It was already time for Natalie to finish her late breakfast and begin her grooming. Bella quickly tidied her appearance and headed to the Princess’s room.
“Ah, Bella! I heard you were sick. Are you feeling better now?”
Natalie greeted her with delight. She was already seated at her vanity with another lady-in-waiting attending to her abundant pink hair.
“Yes, thanks to your concern… But I seem to be late.”
“Not at all. I just woke up a bit early today. Mari will be doing my hair today, so Bella, please sit there and keep me company.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Bella slightly bowed her head to the maid called Mari and sat on a chair a little distance from the vanity.
Mari received Bella’s greeting with a somewhat sullen expression and continued moving her hands. She was braiding the hair into a very intricate and beautiful style.
As Bella was genuinely admiring the sight, Natalie spoke in a refreshing tone.
“By the way, I dismissed the servant who pushed you into the fountain.”
The skilled hands braiding the hair flinched and paused momentarily.
“Everitt caught that servant for me.”
“…Grand Duke Myers did?”
Surprised by the unexpected name, Bella looked at Natalie with astonishment. Natalie smiled sweetly and continued.
“Yes. And there was someone behind it. Mari?”
“Y-yes… Your Highness…”
“You should apologize to Bella, shouldn’t you?”
Mari’s face turned pale.
“Miss Carta… I’m truly sorry… I-I was w-wrong…”
So it wasn’t just a servant’s malice; this maid had deliberately ordered it. Bella quietly gripped the hem of her skirt.
“Why did you do it? Did I do something wrong?”
“W-well…”
Natalie just looked at Mari with a smiling face, though she clearly knew everything. She wanted Mari to explain with her own mouth.
Mari finally confessed tearfully that she had harbored resentment after losing the hair-styling duty to Bella.
Bella sighed.
The intent had been to push her into the fountain water to humiliate her in front of everyone. It wasn’t life-threatening and could have been dismissed as just a rough prank.
‘That bastard Blake Rowell turned it into a terrible opportunity.’
Remembering how she had spread her legs and cried out beneath his massive body, heat rushed to her face. Bella barely managed to keep her expression from crumpling.
“…I accept your apology.”
“Th-thank you.”
“But I have one condition. With Your Highness’s permission, of course.”
Bella deliberately turned her head to look at Natalie. Natalie returned her gaze with an interested expression and asked on Mari’s behalf.
“What’s the condition?”
“That she teaches me how to style Your Highness’s hair. I don’t know how to create such intricate hairstyles.”
“Haha.”
Natalie laughed out loud.
“I was going to make her apologize and then dismiss her right away, but I guess I can’t now. Mari, you should be very grateful to Bella.”
“I-I am truly grateful…”
Mari knelt on the floor and bowed her head toward Natalie.
“Your only use now is to help Bella. Prove yourself. If you misbehave once more, it won’t end with just dismissal. I have no intention of standing by while such things happen again in my palace.”
“Y-yes… Your Highness.”
“Now let’s finish styling my hair quickly. I want to decorate it with pearls today.”
Natalie raised her eyebrows and turned back to face the vanity. Watching her, Bella slightly tilted her head, wondering why the Princess was being so kind to her.
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pickle3
Missing the part where Belle is apparently related so thats even worse for mari lol.
Im starting to wonder if maybe at some level they all actually know who she is, and are ‘getting back at her’ or something.
Clearly something is up.