【Mission: Pick Up Your Flowers★

Do you know that the Hersen Empire holds a grand founding festival every fall?

A traditional custom of that founding festival!

Men give flowers to women they fancy.

Receive flowers from three male leads at the founding festival to raise favorability!

Deadline: Midnight on the last day of the founding festival

Success condition: Receive ‘flowers’ of any kind from the three male leads

Success reward: Overall favorability increase and hints for future missions

Failure penalty: Overall favorability decrease and increased difficulty for future missions】

She opened her eyes wistfully while looking at the favorability that would rise and fall as a group depending on success and failure.

Now that all the male leads have been revealed, they’re taking everyone hostage.

‘Sigh, I have to do as I’m told. What power do I have?’

At least this mission didn’t seem too difficult, so she first gathered information about the founding festival.

The founding festival of the Hersen Empire had two customs.

One was for men to give flowers as gifts to women they had feelings for.

But apparently it became overheated at some point, so there were many cases of giving flowers made of jewels or gold.

Conversely, there was also a custom for women to give handkerchiefs with flowers directly embroidered on them to men they had feelings for.

‘Embroidery……?’

She looked down at her hands, which had tried various part-time jobs in life but had never once attempted needlework.

What should she do?

If she gave handkerchiefs and asked for flowers in return like bartering, it seemed like they would give them more readily…….

Moreover, since it was a kind of flirting, it seemed like she could raise favorability too…….

‘Should I give it a try?’

She made up her mind resolutely and called Mandy.

“Mandy, do you know how to embroider?”

“To some extent. Why?”

“Then teach me embroidery until the founding festival.”

She grabbed Mandy’s hands and asked. To give handkerchiefs to three men, she had to embroider as many as three pieces.

If she worked hard from now, it would be possible, right?

……It wasn’t.

On the afternoon before the founding festival, Mandy looked at the embroidery she had completed and said.

“Miss, I found out that giving personally embroidered handkerchiefs is considered tacky these days.”

“……Really?”

“Yes, I found a handkerchief shop that other young ladies frequently visit. How about at least going to take a look?”

“Good.”

When she told her to embroider sunflowers, she had sewn an unidentifiable yellow creature, so Mandy had given up on her.

She wasn’t very good with her hands.

In the end, she went out with Mandy and bought three high-quality handkerchiefs.

And the next day, unlike usual, a lively atmosphere pervaded from morning.

During the founding festival, servants often received vacation time to play, so she also gave Mandy spending money and vacation.

She practically pushed out Mandy, who stubbornly refused saying she would stay by her side, and called Carl.

“You know today is the first day of the founding festival?”

“I know. Everyone’s been singing for a week.”

Carl shook his head with a fed-up expression.

She held out a money pouch generously filled with gold to him.

“It’s a festival, so you should go out and have some fun too.”

“What will you do, Master?”

“I have to do what I need to do.”

“Then I’ll follow you, Master. That’s what I need to do.”

She looked at the workaholic bondservant who refused even when given vacation.

Does he really plan not to leave my side for even a moment as he said before?

“Won’t you regret it? If you follow me around, you won’t be able to fully enjoy the founding festival.”

“I’ve never participated except once when I was very young anyway, so I have no regrets.”

Saying that made her more concerned. Of course, she had never participated in a founding festival even once.

She looked at his stubborn handsome face, then scratched her head and stepped back.

“Alright, then get a mask first.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re going to the imperial palace.”

She took the handkerchief for the crown prince and headed to the imperial palace with Carl.

The streets she saw while riding in the carriage were bustling with people.

Merchants selling various foods and souvenirs, children running around with balloons, various groups performing on the streets.

The festive atmosphere permeated from the plaza to every corner of the streets.

The imperial palace, which was getting closer, was also decorated for the founding festival with huge flags hung on the castle walls and the entrance decorated with flowers.

Their carriage stopped in front of the crown prince’s palace. Since she had been in and out several times before, the people of the crown prince’s palace greeted her familiarly.

Carl, who had been following behind her wearing a mask, suddenly spoke.

“That carriage.”

“Hm?”

Wondering which carriage he meant, she turned her head following him.

There stood a carriage with a red flag bearing an eagle emblem.

It was none other than that of House Celsior.

***

A few days ago.

Duke Howard Celsior returned from an outing and called his daughter.

Johanna, who arrived at her father’s study, heard a unilateral notification.

“I’m thinking of engaging you to the crown prince. Make sure to approach His Highness first and become close so things would proceed smoothly.”

“……Suddenly?”

Johanna showed a flustered expression and asked additionally.

“Weren’t you ultimately thinking of connecting me with Head Priest Raviel?”

“Am I crazy? Of course that man will rise to the position of head priest in the future, but I can’t be satisfied with that level of status.”

Howard’s eyes gleamed greedily. But Johanna didn’t hate it. She was also a greedy person like her father.

“During the empress’s seclusion, none of the imperial consorts’ children could push out the crown prince. Eventually, the current crown prince will inherit the throne, and you’ll become crown princess and then empress.”

Until now, House Celsior had been a strong ally of the First Imperial Consort.

But the experience at the Queen selection changed Howard’s mind.

As expected, an empress is an empress.

If connected to her only son, Howard would become an imperial in-law and enjoy greater power in the future.

“What could suit my daughter better than the position of the most noble woman in the empire?”

Johanna smiled in agreement toward her father, who was grinning broadly.

Thus, on the first day of the founding festival, she went to the imperial palace to meet Linus.

She planned to ask him on a date and even receive flowers according to custom, but…….

“Please wait here.”

Johanna’s eyes turned cold as she watched the woman entering the reception room.

Mysterious silver hair and sparkling blue eyes—a delicate and prim face.

Shailyn, who had been continuously obstructing her path, had appeared again without fail.

Of course, to Shailyn, Johanna was also a similarly meaningful existence.

An obstacle or troublemaker.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here, Miss Sharofe.”

“Indeed, Lady Celsior. Have you been well? You might not know, but I’ve had various incidents.”

Shailyn pulled up the corners of her mouth while recalling what she had heard from Janice.

She had deliberately left Carl outside and was facing Johanna one-on-one.

Johanna feigned ignorance and lifted her teacup.

“I heard the news. You must have suffered a lot. Instead of resting and recovering, is it okay for you to be wandering around outside like this?”

“How could I stay still? It seems like someone has been sneakily and despicably causing trouble from behind me since before. Isn’t it quite pathetic?”

Shailyn swept her hair back and smiled sweetly.

It was obviously something said for her to hear, so Johanna’s lips twisted.

“You must have been going around doing things worthy of being hated by others to that extent.”

“I suppose I got wrongly involved with someone with a deep inferiority complex.”

“What would there be about you to feel inferior about?”

Shailyn straightened her back, swept her hair behind her ear, and lifted her chin confidently.

“Well, this excellent face and personality?”

She placed her white hand under her chin. Her hair and accessories sparkled in the chandelier light.

As if to brightly illuminate Shailyn’s surroundings.

Johanna, who had been watching that sight, couldn’t help but let out a scoff.

“Ha…… I’ve thought this since we first met, but your confidence is excessively overflowing.”

“It’s better than being excessively shameless. And at least I don’t sneakily scheme from behind.”

At the retort that didn’t back down even one word, veins bulged at Johanna’s temples.

The hand holding the teacup trembled faintly from too much force.

“……Are you targeting me with those words right now?”

“Oh my, I didn’t particularly set a target. If I had to say, it’s for those who would feel guilty when they hear it?”

Shailyn covered her mouth and annoyingly curved her eyes sweetly.