BBYW Vol. 4 Interlude 4 (WN)
The Empire’s Red Rose 4
【POV: Raine Halphas】
My name is Raine Halphas, oldest daughter of the Halphas family, a relatively newly established noble family, serving the Baal Empire since three generations ago.
I used to have two older brothers.
Both of them were army strategists: they served under Lars Baal, the firstborn prince of the previous emperor.
However, both of them lost their lives in a battle with a neighboring country. Because of that, House Halphas entered a path to ruin.
The Halphas residence in the noble district was soon sold, and I moved with my family to a desolate mansion in the outskirts of the capital.
Without my two brothers, the main source of income for the household, it became very difficult to sustain the family: my mother and I cast away our pride as nobles and started doing odd jobs to earn anything we could.
The only silver lining was that, after the battle with the neighboring country and the conflict within the imperial family, the imperial palace was in dire need of manpower: my father, who had retired recently, was hired to work again.
Thanks to that, we managed to sustain ourselves, albeit just barely.
“Raine! Cheer, my dear!”
“Eh? What happened, father?”
One day, father came back home in unusually high spirits.
I put the papercraft flowers I was making on the table and went to the entrance to see him.
Father had a piece of paper in his hands: that was the source of his excitement, apparently.
“Her Majesty has read your composition!! She said she wants to hire you to work in court!!”
“EEEH!?!”
Shocked and surprised, I covered my mouth with my hands.
Reading the texts and manuals left behind by my brothers had always been a hobby of mine: I also wrote compositions to put my thoughts in order and write down my own ideas.
I lent some of them to my acquaintances, just for fun, but to think that they would reach Her Majesty…and she would even read them…!
“Her Majesty…you can’t mean…”
“Of course!!”
In this country, that could mean only one person. The single, absolute ruler of the empire.
Father, beaming, finally pronounced her name.
“Her Majesty, Empress Rossellia Baal! You’re in her service, starting tomorrow!”
～
And thus, I started working in the imperial palace, as a servant of Empress Rossellia…and now, for whatever strange reason, I was soaking in the same bathtub as her.
“…phew…this is so relaxing. Bathing after a day’s work is exceptional, after all.”
“Y-Yes…naturally, Your Highness…”
(What …what the…what in the world is happening!?!)
Barely succeeding in suffocating the emotional storm blowing in my heart, I put on a stiff smile on my face. Surely it would look unnatural to others, but fortunately Her Majesty was fully enjoying the warm water and was not looking this way.
Six months had passed since I started working in the service of the Empress.
At first, I was only tasked with simple paperwork, but rose the ranks at unprecedented speed: now I even participated in meetings of high rank officials, as keeper of records.
It definitely was not because I was especially talented, but because of the lack of suitable personnel in the palace. Surely so.
When the previous emperor passed, a dispute broke out between his three male heirs.
Due to this conflict, which grew to the point it even involved the empire’s neighboring countries, as well as the purges conducted by the “False Emperor” Grett Baal, many of the empire’s retainers lost their lives.
Empress Rossellia’s ascension to the throne put an end to the turmoil in the capital, but the lack of manpower was a persistent issue.
(I managed to land a well-paying job because of that, so I can’t complain…but I never expected to end up in the same bathtub as Her Majesty!)
Normally, a hot bath was a relaxing experience, but there wasn’t a shred of calm in my heart right now.
Her Majesty the Empress was bathing right next to me. The maids washing our hair and cleaning our bodies, as expected of personal attendants to the Empress, were all of higher standing than me.
Frankly speaking, I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles. How could I relax!?
If this situation went on long enough, my heart would end up leaping out of my throat.
Eventually, I managed to force out a feeble whisper.
“Y-Y-Your Majesty…may I inquire the reason why you have invited me…?”
“Oh? What do you mean, exactly?”
“I imagine there is a reason, an issue with me, or…”
“There is nothing in particular, actually. I just wanted to take a bath together.”
Her Majesty smiled, with a hint of mischievousness. The sheer beauty of such a gesture was going to make my heart stop.
I hit my chest, to make sure my heartbeat wouldn’t stop, and eked out the words “I am honored”.