ICBFE 08

As soon as I entered the Imperial Palace, compliments flooded from all sides.

“Lady Vanity, you completely fooled us! Who would’ve thought there was a gemstone that resembled a diamond? We never imagined such a thing!”

“Not to mention your discerning eye! Marianne said the clothes were so cheap that even commoners could buy and wear them.”

Every one of them looked at me with overly admiring eyes.

Apparently, the price of that cubic stone was even cheaper than I had imagined. It was cheaper than the flour used to make bread. Because of that, even adding just a few of them made commoners’ clothes sparkle.

Thanks to me, cubic stones became the latest trend. All the young ladies in the city were adorning their clothes and hats with them. My reputation was soaring higher than ever.

Had I known how cheap cubic stones were, I never would’ve bought that outfit.

Now it made sense why Marianne had given me that sly smile.

“Vanity, you used to say you only wore what your mother chose. But this time, you picked it out yourself, didn’t you? I never knew you had such a keen fashion sense.”

I also didn’t know you were going around slandering me to the princess, Rosalie.

Instead of saying that, I simply smiled sweetly.

Because if I admitted that it happened by accident, I’d just look even more ridiculous. So I brushed it off with a smile rather than explain.

Avoiding the noble ladies who were all too eager to cozy up to me, I headed back to the exam site. If this kept up, I felt like I really might become one of the crown prince’s fiancée candidates—which terrified me. But since I already knew all the upcoming test assignments, I was confident I could fail all of them.

Today, I had to mess up the exam.

As soon as I stepped into the test site, even Lady Elika didn’t hold back her praise.

“Please come in, Lady Vanity.”

She welcomed me far more politely than she had two days ago. Which made her all the more unlikable.

“Good to see you, Countess Elika.”

In my previous life, I tried to impress her by bringing her tea and snacks with great care. But in this life, there was no need for that. Not just because I wanted to fail the selection, but because Elika was someone who strictly separated public and private matters.

No matter how nicely I treated her, she had always graded the exams with complete objectivity.

“Today’s exam will be held outdoors. Shall we head out, Lady Vanity?”

I searched my past life’s memories. Today’s task was to identify tea by scent alone, then explain its effects, origin, and cultivation method. Back then, it had started to rain during the event, and I had calmly asked for a parasol and continued the exam. Elika had greatly praised my composure.

But today, I planned to loaf around and, as soon as the rain began, dramatically claim my clothes were soaked, feign a cold, and bow out.

Since the other ladies didn’t yet know what the outdoor exam was about, they chatted about it in the hallway.

“What kind of test could they be holding outdoors?”

“Surely it’s not physical activity, right?”

“As long as it’s not cooking, I’ll be fine. I know nothing about cooking.”

“There’s no way the Crown Princess would need to cook. So it can’t be that.”

“Then what kind of test could it be? I’m so nervous.”

Through the arched hallway windows, the garden was visible, and there were outdoor tables covered in various teas and teacups. But even seeing that, the young ladies didn’t guess the actual task.

They simply thought the tea was prepared for them to drink. I’d thought the same in my previous life.

It occurred to me that if I gave someone a tip, they might perform better, and my own score would naturally fall. That might work out in my favor.

Who should I tip off?

The candidates who would be eliminated were already predetermined. When it came to royal marriage alliances, profit and loss couldn’t be ignored. Unless someone was truly exceptional, most candidates who weren’t from ducal or marquess households were destined to be cut.

If I wasn’t selected, someone had to take my place. Even if one of them made it to the final three, Rosalie and Lumina would still be in the running, so becoming Crown Princess would be no easy feat.

But just being one of the final three would bring immense honor to one’s family. So, helping someone else reach that position could be a significant gift.

Marquess Edmond’s daughter, Deliatia, was poised and composed, but I’d heard the marquess himself was known for his ambition. Still, I didn’t know anyone else. In my past life, I’d been so focused on following orders that I’d only grown close to Rosalie.

I decided to give Lumina the tip. I wasn’t choosing her as my replacement just yet, but I could trust her family’s integrity. At least I knew they weren’t involved in my family’s downfall.

However, Lumina disliked noble ladies like me, so even if I gave her a tip, she might not believe me.

“Lumina. I think today’s task is identifying types of tea.”

Lumina glanced at me like she couldn’t believe I was speaking to her, then reluctantly answered when I smiled at her.

“Tea?”

“Yes. There’s nothing on the tables except teacups. So I thought maybe it’s about tea.”

Lumina looked at me like I was spouting nonsense.

“Think about it. Would they call us out here without preparing something in advance? Doesn’t that seem strange?”

Apparently my logic made some sense, because Lumina gave a slight nod—though she kept eyeing me warily.

“But why are you telling me this? Don’t you hate me?”

That bluntness was just like her. Her family believed that lying brought misfortune, so Lumina was always honest. She often said things others would never say aloud.

“No. I’ve never hated you.”

That was true. I’d never disliked Lumina. She was the one who disliked me.

“Really? Well, even if you don’t hate me, I still hate you. And you don’t have to whisper nonsense like this to me. Everyone will find out once we get there, so what’s the big secret?”

Lumina marched off without another word, leaving me dumbfounded, just staring at her back.

Geez! At least let me finish!

My next target was, naturally, Deliatia. She didn’t seem especially suspicious of me, but she did look surprised.

“Really? That might be it. Thanks.”

Identifying tea didn’t seem like a big enough reveal to impress her. But I had another piece of information that might catch her off guard.

“And it’s going to rain today.”

“Rain? How do you know that?”

“On my way here, I overheard a mage saying it would rain. You know some mages can predict the weather, right?”

“But it’s so sunny right now.”

“Could you let me finish?”

Thankfully, Deliatia wasn’t as impatient as Lumina and didn’t look overly suspicious. She calmly waited for me to continue.

“If you see dragonflies flying low at the test site, tell the supervisor to bring out parasols. It might look sunny now, but the humidity is rising. You’ll probably spot low-flying dragonflies soon.”

Deliatia looked at me in wonder. As if she couldn’t believe I knew such things.

Well, I had lived a whole life longer than these girls. Naturally, I knew more.

“But why are you telling me this?”

“No special reason. Just thought I’d pass along what I heard.”

After finishing with Deliatia, I approached Rosalie, who had clearly been dying of curiosity watching me talk to the other ladies.

Of course, I planned to feed Rosalie false information.

“What were you all talking about, Vanity?”

“I got a really good tip, Rosalie.”

“A tip?”

“It’s going to rain soon.”

“Rain?”

Just as I expected, Rosalie was quick to react. She was already worrying about what would happen if her dress got ruined.

“So I was thinking… what if we let ourselves get rained on?”

Her expression said, “What kind of ghost story are you spouting?”

“If we show ourselves participating even while soaking wet, it might make us look more responsible and resilient. We might get better scores.”

“But we’re going to pass anyway. Why go that far?”

As expected, Rosalie was sharp.

Why, indeed? Because I can’t let you become Crown Princess, and I can’t let myself be chosen either. But if both of us get soaked and catch a cold, we’ll be disqualified for sure. Unless we have iron constitutions, we won’t escape a fall cold.

“I just thought our reputations might improve. People admire noblewomen who don’t hesitate to sacrifice for duty, right?”

Maybe it was because my logic sounded convincing, or maybe because everyone had been calling me a fashion icon lately—either way, Rosalie soon agreed.

“You’re right. That actually sounds pretty good, Vanity.”

Rosalie smiled brightly, clearly pleased with my idea.