Extras Are The First To Be Abandoned - Chapter 25

 

When I returned home after finishing my work with Evanders, I was greeted by a familiar face.

 

“Ethel.”

 

Who else in the Imperial Palace would dare to call me Ethel but Karen? I shook off Karen’s hand and moved on.

 

I didn’t want to talk to Karen too much. There was nothing I wanted from the imperial family.

 

‘I don’t want to have to force you to smile.’

 

Karen followed me persistently and grabbed my wrist.

 

I looked back at her, shaking her hand off, and she exhaled nervously and met my gaze.

 

“I didn’t, I really didn’t. I told you. Jason, he did it. I know it’s hard to believe, but please, just listen to me. Jason Evanders told mother through Joseph….”

 

“I understand.”

 

I turned and walked, Karen blocking my way.

 

Her hands trembled as she grabbed both my wrists.

 

“Let me tell you something about your commoner parents, if it’s okay with you. I am truly innocent. Stella Ethelanche.”

 

“…”

 

“I don’t know what that cunning man said to you, but I swear I didn’t do it. I am…”

 

“What are you so afraid of?”

 

“What?”

 

“Come to think of it, it’s my social debut soon. It’s a celebration for my return. Are you scared because you think I’m going to reveal your true self that day?”

 

“What are you saying now?”

 

“Then keep being afraid.”

 

“You.”

 

“It’s vague until I open my mouth.”

 

I knew Karen didn’t do it and that it was Jason’s fault. But the moment I was about to say that I knew, I suddenly had second thoughts.

 

I wanted Karen to feel too. The feeling of trembling with fear, of being helpless, of not knowing when you might lose the thing you love most.

 

I never forgot the day I knelt down in front of Karen and begged for the life of my own family.

 

Karen’s voice trembled as she answered.

 

“…I kept your secret as I promised.”

 

“You’re not doing it for me. Don’t talk like you’re being nice.”

 

“But I….!”

 

I quickly moved away from her. I wanted to rest. Just being face to face with Jason was enough for today.

 

“Everyone else…”

 

I stopped walking when I heard Karen’s voice behind me.

 

“People know that Princess Stella Ethelanche is a very beautiful person. Because she is known as such.”

 

“…”

 

“Everyone will be disappointed. But that’s because you are you. You’re not Stella. Even after all that time, you’re still just a plain, stupid idiot. Yes, you’re really…”

 

“Thank you for the compliment. If I’m not Stella Ethelanche, who am I?”

 

After all, unlike me, Karen was a “real” princess, so all she could do was swear at me like a fool.

 

Street junkies are more than that.

 

Having already become immune to a great deal of swearing at the inn, I nonchalantly struck back at the princess’s last provocation.

 

It wasn’t even a blow.

 

Her reputation didn’t matter to me anyway.

 

The same was true for people’s evaluation.

 

“Do you think people will be disappointed in me like this?”

 

“…”

 

“If they’re going to be disappointed, tell them to be disappointed.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“…Because I don’t need people like that in my life. I don’t need those people in my life. I have the ability to say this, and that’s okay. The people who need me will fit me. What is it that you have, sister?”

 

I tried to walk away so I wouldn’t have to deal with the last of her languishing, but Karen opened her mouth.

 

“… Your letter.”

 

“What?”

 

Karen walked over to me and pushed the letter towards me.

 

The letter was stamped with the seal of “Jean Bezil”, the most famous designer in the empire.

 

“Take the damn emerald necklace you left in my room and this damn letter.”

 

“…”

 

“Good luck then.”

 

Karen strode past me.

 

I watched Karen’s silver hair as I fidgeted and followed her to her room.

 

Come to think of it, I remembered leaving the necklace that Jason Evanders gave me in Karen’s room.

 

When I got somewhat closer to the room, I could smell the scent of freesia.

 

Karen’s maids bowed respectfully to her, and the attendants opened the door to the gorgeous room.

 

When the door closed, I said to Karen,

 

“The room is very spacious and beautiful.”

 

Karen looked at me, her shoulders shaking with fear.

 

“I didn’t notice it when I was little, but now my eyes have grown a little wider. The wood of the bed is the finest, isn’t it? Oh, and the window curtains are made of silk, too. Each piece of embroidery is so delicately embroidered, it’s an exquisite product. “

 

“Don’t you touch it.”

 

“Even if the silk is as small as the palm of your hand, people don’t even want to use it as a handkerchief, so they put it in a frame and hang it on the wall. This was the case when I worked as a servant in a bourgeois family. The owner was very sparing of that piece of cloth and wouldn’t even let me go near the frame. But this one has prettier colors and more delicate embroidery than that. There’s also a bed.”

 

“Don’t sit there!”

 

I ignored Karen’s words and fell flat on the bed.

 

The chiffon-like comforter was fluffy, and it slowly shrank and supported me like a cloud.

 

I glanced at Karen’s terribly unhappy face and looked out at the majestic canopy.

 

I can’t count the number of times in the empire that an honorable woman would live in a room like this.

 

Finally, I could tell which room the “real” princesses lived in.

 

When I was a child, a mere attic room in an imperial warehouse was all I had.

 

“Please, come down from there, you’re making my bed dirty!”

 

Karen was calling me, almost screaming.

 

Indeed. How about me lying on Karen’s bed, when she already felt dirty just by talking to me?

 

I made eye contact with Karen, who was whimpering.

 

“… Sister, do you want me to take this room?”

 

“Have you lost your mind?”

 

“That’s not very polite.”

 

“Shut up and get out of my bed right now.”

 

“It’s a waste of money to pay for it…If I ask mother and father to give it to me, I think they’ll give it to me. Should I ask for this room?”

 

Tears were about to fall from Karen’s beautiful eyes as she shook her head like an innocent child who knew nothing.

 

“No, don’t do that.”

 

“What are you going to do then?”

 

I stood up and looked at Karen, who had just made a sour face.

 

“I’m going to ask your parents not only for this room, but the entire contract with Ethel in this room as well.”

 

“…”

 

“Um, the terrible memorandum of understanding that Princess Karen Ethelanche told Ethel to write. Perhaps if I fail to play the real Imperial Princess in the last paragraph, you’ll go to Ethel’s house…..”

 

“Stop it!”

 

Karen began to sob. Do I become a bad person when anyone comes in at times like this? I decided to stop teasing Karen.

 

“I won’t take your room even if you give it to me, so please stop, sister.”

 

I got up from my seat and grabbed the fancy jewelry case that was on Karen’s tea table.

 

It was the emerald necklace that Jason Evanders gave me as a gift, saying it would make a scandal.

 

It was published on the front page of the Velvet Daily News on this date. I brought it with me when I came to pursue the situation with Karen as soon as I returned from the Duke’s residence that morning.

 

“It must be nice to cry and everything will be solved like this. If you’re that old and you always have the Princess talk in your mouth, be your age. Be a Princess and don’t be stingy.”

 

“Keep the bedding and curtains. I’m not going to use what you’ve touched again anyway.”

 

“I appreciate that, but I’m afraid you don’t have enough money to buy them if I took it. I’m sorry that I’m richer than the imperial family.”

 

In my Velvian accent, I said goodbye to Karen and headed for the door.

 

“I’m my bad guy, aren’t I?”

 

Karen’s voice trembled.

 

“I’m the only bad one, aren’t I?”

 

I stepped forward, ignoring her words.

 

Karen grabbed my arm.

 

“Jason Evanders might have said sweet nothings to you and given you gifts. But your family has been loyal to you, so in your eyes, I am the only bad girl and this is my year to be punished by the heavens. However, it is best not to trust anyone. Especially Jason Evanders. That man is still a human being, no matter what you think. He’s good at pretending. That’s my favor to you, Stella Ethelanche.”

 

Karen shook my hand away.

 

“It would be the most foolish thing you could do to ask for that human’s hand, just because you’re losing to us.”

 

Karen seemed to be trembling with fear as she said this.

 

“You don’t have to tell me that.”

 

“No, you don’t know.”

 

“…”

 

“You don’t know anything.”

 

The fear on Karen’s face after the words had become miserable.

 

After I walked out the door I stared at the emerald necklace in my hand, I knew where I was headed even before visiting Karen.

 

***

 

“Editor-in-Chief!”

 

Hector Servache was the editor-in-chief of the Velvet Daily.

 

He wasn’t good at his job, but he was outstanding in the eyes of his boss.

 

There was a saying that if you rub your hands as hard as Hector Servache, you won’t even get cold in the winter.

 

He was a hyena. He devoured the leftovers of the other animals on the top of the food chain.

 

He even pushed the other animals off the cliff.

 

Then ate what they left behind.

 

His opportunistic looks and resourcefulness in dealing with the world made him the editor-in-chief of the Velvet Daily.

 

With such a balance in his favor, the Imperial family was not so feared.

 

They had the support of the people, but what meaning could they possibly have beyond symbolism?

 

They had no stability because they had only just been reinstated, they had no money, and all they had was legitimacy.

 

It would have been noteworthy if they had sold out their daughter to the leader of the revolution, Duke Clyde Delanhill, but the imperial family was not that much of a businessman.

 

It was a choice that Hector, a merchant rather than an aristocrat, could never share.

 

His newspaper was expensive, but his respect was even higher than his newspaper.

 

That was why Hector Servache was confident enough to hide behind his master and be arrogant when the Imperial family called.

 

The Imperial family was nothing to him. Except for one person.

 

“Her Imperial Highness Princess Stella Ethelanche.”

 

He remembered the face of his master, Jason Evanders, in the scandal of Stella Ethelanche.

 

It was anger.

 

It was a bit complicated to see it as simply a look made by the loss of one of the most promising corporate muse.

 

In a moment, the color of his face, which had fed him all his life, worked quickly.

 

At first glance, Princess Stella was the most likely future “Lady  Evanders” that Hector Servache could see.

 

The aristocrats saw the headlines on the front page that were talking about it and argued that Princess Stella and Jason Evanders must have a business relationship, which was preposterous.

 

Not now, but at a later date, if Princess Stella would see him better than anyone else, he would clearly benefit.

 

The right attitude to take towards the princess in such a situation was obvious.

 

He promptly rushed from his office to greet the princess with courtesy.

 

And Hector Servache, who had been so confident, was now facing the crisis of a lifetime within a minute of facing Stella.

 

The princess was never ordinary.