Chapter 137
More precisely, it was because Kylus had said he would search the Empress’s palace immediately today.
She already knew that the palace would be searched and had prepared to infiltrate during that time, but she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
She thought they would set a date for it… since it was the Imperial Palace.
But that would increase the risk of evidence being destroyed, as Kylus said.
That’s why I brought the potion.
Indeed.
Alice had brought a magic potion that could change her appearance, just in case.
But when things progressed faster than she had anticipated, she couldn’t help feeling momentarily flustered.
She was also worried about whether she could pull it off successfully.
First… I need to go to the temple. And change my appearance there…
It was while Alice was mentally reorganizing her plan to infiltrate the Empress’s palace.
Kylus called to her.
“…ice… Alice!”
A voice louder than usual. Alice startled and turned her head toward Kylus.
“Your Grace… when did you arrive?”
“What were you thinking about so deeply that you didn’t hear me calling several times?”
“Ah…”
No wonder he had called her in such a loud voice.
She had been so focused on planning her infiltration of the Empress’s palace that she hadn’t heard Kylus calling her.
Alice spoke casually:
“Well, since Her Majesty the Empress left first… I was worried that evidence related to black magic might disappear before the search.”
“That will be difficult. I’ve already selected knights from the imperial army, not the Imperial Knight Order, and positioned them around the Empress’s palace. If any suspicious movements are seen before the search begins, they’ll be caught immediately.”
“Ah… That’s fortunate.”
Alice nodded in admiration of Kylus’s thorough preparation.
“Then I must go ahead for the search. You should go to the mansion with Sienna and His Highness.”
“Ah! I was planning to go to the temple.”
“The temple?”
Kylus’s eyebrows rose in curiosity.
Alice briefly considered whether to tell Kylus or just go.
But she thought it would be better to tell him, as Kylus might otherwise barge into the temple later.
“With the trial today and everything, I’m feeling quite unsettled. I’d like to pray to the deity at the temple so that everything may end well.”
She said with a playful wink, as if to lighten the mood:
“Who knows? Since the deity is close to me, he might help us a little with this matter.”
Alice didn’t pretend to be innocent and claim she was just going to pray.
She knew such “I don’t know anything” acting wouldn’t work on Kylus anymore.
So she added a touch of her characteristic honesty.
Thanks to this, it seemed Kylus actually believed her lie this time.
He retreated with eyes showing little suspicion.
“Hmm, not a bad idea. Then I’ll have Davit escort you.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see you this evening, my lady.”
Kylus took her left hand. And gently kissed the back of it.
Alice’s lips curved upward instinctively at this affectionate greeting.
“See you at home, Your Grace.”
Kylus, who had given her a gentle smile, left the gallery first, and Alice also left the palace with Sienna and the Third Prince.
Then Alice saw the Third Prince’s tense face.
It was because nobles outside the palace were approaching him to greet him.
Naturally, Sienna stayed by his side like a considerate aide, helping him navigate conversations with the nobles.
Watching this with a contented smile, Alice approached Sienna and said softly:
“Sienna, I have something to do, so I’ll go ahead.”
Sienna responded with a smile as if to say not to worry.
Alice immediately headed toward the ducal carriage where Davit was waiting.
“Take me to the temple.”
Soon, the carriage carrying Alice swiftly departed for the temple of Lord Helios.
Arriving at the temple, Alice walked with familiar steps toward the sanctuary, accompanied by Davit.
The sanctuary, unlike the general prayer rooms, was deep inside the temple.
Alice often encountered priests on her way to the sanctuary, but they didn’t scrutinize each other.
This was because Prion had arranged for her to enter and exit the sanctuary whenever she wished after she first met the deity there.
Of course, during this process, there was no mention of the deity or Alice’s special holy power.
Prion had used Kylus as an excuse.
He said that Duke Dearrut, who made substantial donations to the temple, had requested that his wife, who possessed holy power, be allowed to pray in the place closest to the deity.
The Pope had granted permission without particular suspicion.
It was true that she had holy power, and it was true that Kylus made large donations to the temple.
So, today too, Alice easily arrived at the sanctuary.
“Lord Valleytown, wait here.”
“Yes, my lady.”
After telling Davit to wait outside the sanctuary, Alice opened the large door and entered.
Since the priests’ services were held twice, in the early morning and evening, the afternoon sanctuary was empty like this.
Alice approached the statue of Helios with quick steps. Then she clasped her hands together and offered a prayer.
Asking Helios to appear before her.
As soon as she offered her prayer, the deity’s voice echoed in her ear:
“Are you infiltrating the Empress’s palace today?”
Unlike the first day she had prayed, Alice now summoned the deity without difficulty. Of course, the deity’s appearance was still that of a small child.
But that’s better than nothing.
Alice showed surprised eyes at the deity who immediately guessed her purpose as soon as he manifested.
“How did you know? Have you been watching everything from above?”
“No. How could I be watching every human affair when I have so much to do?”
“Then how did you know it was today…”
At Alice’s murmur, the deity replied with his characteristic gaze, as if looking at a hopeless child:
“Didn’t you tell me before? That you’d come again on the day you infiltrate the Empress’s palace. To forget it so soon, tsk.”
Ah, right. I did say that.
Alice cleared her throat in embarrassment and said:
“Ahem, I just forgot because I’m too busy, like Lord Helios. And what’s important now isn’t this… As you guessed, I’m going to infiltrate the Empress’s palace today.”
As Alice’s expression became resolute, the deity’s face also grew serious.
“I thought it would take more time, but it’s faster than expected.”
“Yes. Well, somehow… More importantly, is the transport scroll ready?”
The ancient magic scroll that could transport her from here to the Empress’s palace.
The deity had promised to prepare it.
The deity nodded and snapped his fingers. Then two scrolls appeared in mid-air.
Alice looked at the floating scrolls and took out the magic potion from the small clutch she was carrying.
“Is that the magic potion?”
“Yes.”
“You got the right one, didn’t you? Using some strange thing and getting sick…”
“It’s a proper potion from a trustworthy person.”
Alice firmly told the deity, who was furrowing his brow with concern.
Then she opened the lid of the crystal vial containing the iridescent red liquid.
And she hesitated. She was a bit scared now that she was actually about to drink it.
After all, it was her first time drinking a magic potion. And the deity’s unnecessary comments made it worse.
Alice glanced sideways at the deity.
The moment the deity raised his eyebrow as if to say “what?” at her sidelong glance, Alice drank the potion without hesitation.
Every last drop.
“Ugh… tastes awful.”
Unlike its wine-like color, the potion tasted truly terrible. A disconcerting taste that was hard to describe.
Soon her stomach began to churn, and changes began in her body.
Without a mirror, Alice couldn’t properly confirm, but she could certainly feel that her appearance had changed.
She touched her transformed face and asked the deity:
“Am I completely changed?”
Instead of answering, the deity floated a mirror in front of her.
Alice saw herself in the mirror and let out a “wow” in exclamation.
Her pink hair had turned brown, and her golden eyes had become green.
Her round, cute features had also completely changed to an ordinary face with no distinctive characteristics.
They said that if you visualize the face you want while drinking the potion, you would transform accordingly.
“Amazing… With this face, I really won’t stand out.”
She was very satisfied with having such an ordinary face that would hardly leave an impression even if directly encountered. It was exactly the look she wanted.
Alice planned to infiltrate the Empress’s palace today as a maid.
While most attendants in the Imperial Palace were of noble origin and would stand out, the maids who did menial tasks were commoners and didn’t attract attention at all.
That’s why she disguised herself as a maid.
Moreover, the Empress’s palace, disordered by the search, would certainly need more maids than usual for cleaning.
Alice planned to naturally blend in among them.
The ladies-in-waiting and attendants at the Empress’s palace would be panicked by the search, so they wouldn’t pay attention to a mere maid.
Alice smiled at her successful disguise and reached for the transport scroll floating beside the mirror.
But before grabbing the scroll, she paused and looked at the mirror again.
Then she shouted “Ack!” in dismay and hit her head.
“What!? Why are you suddenly acting like a madwoman?”
The startled deity removed the mirror and took a step away from Alice. As if avoiding a truly insane person.
But Alice had no time to be offended by that. She was truly on the verge of going mad at her own stupidity.
“I forgot the clothes!”
“Clothes?”
As the deity tilted his head in confusion, Alice replied in a dejected voice:
“…Yes. I completely forgot about the maid’s uniform. I need to wear a maid’s uniform to infiltrate the Empress’s palace…”
Indeed.
Alice had been so focused on changing her face that she had completely forgotten about the Imperial Palace maid’s uniform. She just realized it now, looking in the mirror.
Where in the world would there be a maid working in a visibly expensive dress?
Where could she get an Imperial Palace maid’s uniform right now?
It was then, as Alice was despairing, that the deity spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal:
“Is that all? I thought something serious had happened.”
“It is serious. Without a maid’s uniform, I can’t enter the Empress’s palace… Huh?”
Alice, who had been speaking, widened her eyes at the Imperial Palace maid’s uniform that suddenly appeared before her.
“I’ve given you a maid’s uniform, so there’s no problem now, right?”
“You had this?”
Alice was genuinely curious about the suddenly appearing maid’s uniform, asking with pure intentions.
But the deity’s face wrinkled drastically.
“I’m not a pervert to be keeping a maid’s uniform!”
“Ah, I didn’t mean it that way. Don’t misunderstand.”
Alice waved her hands, insisting it wasn’t what she meant.
She might not trust the deity completely, but a pervert? She had truly never thought that.
The deity shook his head and opened his mouth:
“Haah. I just created it. While I can’t transform matter like magic with my power, I can create things.”
“Aha. Then please make one more thing.”
“What?”
“A maid’s identification badge. I won’t be teleporting directly to the entrance of the Imperial Palace, so they probably won’t check identification… But if possible, perfection is better.”
The deity immediately created an identification badge.
Alice then changed into the maid’s uniform inside a partition created by the deity.
Finally, after completing all preparations, Alice came out from behind the partition and grabbed the two scrolls.
“The blue one is for going to the Empress’s palace, and the yellow one is for returning to this sanctuary. Don’t mix them up.”
“Yes. I’ll be back.”
“Alright… Be careful.”
Though he often cursed her as a fool, his concern for her was genuine, as his cute face was filled with worry.
Alice smiled as if to say not to worry, then tore the blue scroll with a rip.
Simultaneously, her vision blurred, and the location changed.
