Chapter 6

Again...

I felt a strong sense of déjà vu as I was led to my quarters.

After all, my quarters were not in the main castle but in the detached palace. I never thought I would be confined to a detached palace even after coming to the empire. I am the Empress's bride, even if it's just for show, right?

Maybe I should accept this as my fate and bury my bones in the detached palace.

Even I can't help but look far away at this.

First, I need to take a bath.

I can't dive into bed looking like this, covered in blood and tattered.

Before taking a bath, I briefly toured the detached palace and my room, but the room's quality wasn't much different from my homeland. That's good, that's good. Not to brag, but I'm generally quite weak physically, so my skin gets irritated by bad fabric, and I start coughing from a little dust.

I'm a rare type of princess who, even if my mental state is fine, my body quickly gives out when stressed.

After nearly dying once, I don't complain as long as I can live a normal life, even if the standard of living drops.

I've grown a lot in this short time.

"Rykaon! Let's go take a bath!"

"Sure."

I decided to take a bath with Rykaon right away. I can't stay covered in blood forever.

After washing off the dirt, Rykaon's fur returned to its original clean silver. Come to think of it, Rykaon's color scheme is mostly the same as mine. Rykaon has silver fur and purple eyes, and I have silver hair and light purple eyes, so we're almost the same.

Just having the same colors gives me a strong sense of familiarity.

I feel refreshed after the bath. When I came out, a bath towel and change of clothes were prepared. The maids of this detached palace must have prepared them.

I dried my body and put on the clothes that were prepared.

"Phew, I feel so much better!"

"That's good."

"I think I'll go introduce myself to the maids."

"Sounds good?"

I headed to where the maids' voices were coming from after leaving the changing room.

"There you are."

"Princess!"

The maids, who had been chatting in the kitchen, hurriedly stood up and tried to bow, but I stopped them with a hand.

"No need for such formalities. I just came to introduce myself since I'll be in your care from now on."

"An introduction...?"

The maids looked taken aback.

Do ordinary nobles or royals not come to introduce themselves?

"Yes, please take care of me from now on."

I bowed slightly, and they hurriedly bowed back in a disorganized manner.

When they raised their heads, I could sense that they wanted to ask something.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

After I said that, one of the maids hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Um, is the wolf that accompanies you the Princess's contract beast?"

"Yes, it's my contract beast."

I'm happy to be able to confidently say that I have a contract beast. I've always felt a bit inferior because I couldn't contract one, even though I'm technically royalty.

When I answered in a princess-like tone, the maid asked another question.

"When did you contract with this holy beast?"

"Actually, this one isn't a holy beast but a divine beast—"

As I started to say that, I could feel the maids' gazes instantly turn cold. It was the same kind of look as the people who had guided me earlier.

"I see. Thank you for your answer. We'll take our leave now."

"Huh?"

With that, the maids quickly left.

It was clear they were fleeing from me, so I didn't chase after them.

...The empire is scary.

Why does everyone's attitude suddenly change? The temperature shift is so sudden, I might catch a cold.

Ah, maybe they think I'm lying about Rykaon being a divine beast. In my country, divine beasts are more like fairy tale creatures, so it's understandable that they wouldn't believe it right away.

But, does being thought of as a liar really warrant such a sudden cold attitude? Is lying a grave sin in this country?

There might be more differences between this country and what I expected. It looks like it will take some time to get used to.

In any case, I should stop claiming that Rykaon is a divine beast for a while. It seems to touch a nerve with the people here.

Most importantly, I can handle it, but I can't bear to see Rykaon exposed to people's ill will. Even just now, some of the maids glared at Rykaon as they left.

Father and Mother in heaven, Shannon is already disliked by all the maids on the first day.

I have a bad feeling about my life in the empire from now on.

And, that bad feeling turned out to be spot on.

--- The maids I had just greeted today didn't come to the detached palace at all after the wedding. Not a single one.