Shadow Queen

Chapter 30

“I heard the eve was held, aren’t you going?”

Anne asked Elena, who was stuck in the bedroom all day long, when she looked at her. In the past, it was inconceivable that Anne would speak to Elena first. However, after receiving the ruby ring, she often asked her whether she felt trusted.

“I don’t have to participate just because it’s a festival, do I?”

“Still…”

“It doesn’t fit my class. I’m not interested in playing at a vulgar level.”

Elena said so and peeked at Anne. Her drooping shoulders and facial expressions showed signs of regret that she could not go to the eve event.

“Why don’t you go alone?”

“What? Oh, no.”

Elena gave an angelic smile.

“I heard there are a lot of things to see at the night market on the eve. If you don’t see it today, you’ll regret it forever.”

“C-can I really go?”

“Well, if I need anything, I’ll have May do it. Take it easy.”

When the unexpected permission fell, Anne hurried out of the bedroom, looking excited. For a while, she heard busy footsteps downstairs, and Anne was seen running out of the window.

“May!”

Elena, who confirmed Anne was leaving the dormitory, called May and ordered her.

“Bring me what you left with Sir Hurelbard.”

Elena got up from her chair when May brought a bag wrapped in a wrapper.

“Let’s go out for a while.”

Elena left the dormitory with May without telling her the destination.

“I’ll follow.”

When Hurelbard, who was in charge of the safety of the dormitory, tried to follow as if it was natural, Elena shook her head and dissuaded him.

“You don’t have to go with me Sir. It’s rather troublesome.”

“There are a lot of outsiders coming in today because of the festival. Moving alone can be dangerous.”

The eve is a festival. Non-student citizens can freely enter academic institutes today. However, few humans were large enough to cause accidents at academic conferences guaranteed by the imperial family.

“I’m not interested in the eve. I’m going to read some books at the central library.”

“But…”

“I think it’ll be uncomfortable if you follow me.”

When Elena was adamant, Hurelbard could no longer step forward and stepped down. Although it was annoying, the institute boasted excellent security so that nothing unsavory had happened since its opening. Hurelbard decided to trust the guards and the deployed capital knights.

After leaving the dormitory, Elena passed the street trees and headed to the central library. Enrolled students who she met while going to the eve, did not cross five fingers. In the central library, there were students from low-ranking aristocrats or commoners who devoted themselves to their studies regardless of the festival, but they were also a minority.

Elena passed the reading room and went up the stairs to the second floor. When she went up to the fourth floor around the corner at the end of the hall, there was a quiet corridor.

May wondered. She couldn’t guess why Elena visited the library.

If there was a library atmosphere up to this floor, the third floor had an old-fashioned feel, as if the Imperial Palace had been relocated.

Elena opened the marble door in the middle of the hall and entered. There were neatly displayed bookshelves, sofas, and wooden desks made of paulownia. The wood on the desk faded as if it were a very old thing, and the sofa was worn out.

“This is a recording studio. It’s the space that the Royal Family gave to our family when the academy opened. These desks are historical items used by my father, my great-grandfather, my great-great-grandfather, and perhaps even higher-ups.”

Elena’s tone was dull, even though she might have pride. If it had been her previous life, she would have been overwhelmed by herself living as a daughter of such a great family, but now there was only hatred in Elena’s heart.

Elena walked toward the opposite wall. There were portraits of the ancestors of the Friedrichs. Among the dogs were the portraits of Grand Duke Friedrich’s youth.

“You guys have such ugly faces. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

May didn’t know what to answer, so she shut her mouth.Although Elena revealed that she hated her father, Grand Duke Friedrich, she could not recklessly agree. Only hatred remained in Elena’s heart.

“May, open up what you brought here.”

May quickly opened the wrapping paper and arranged the items he had bought out on the table. There were various types of wigs, eyelashes, and color cosmetics, and there were thirty different types alone. Elena asked, touching them one by one.

“Do you have any idea what I’m going to do?”

“… I don’t know.”

“I’m in trouble if you don’t know. From now on, you have to help.”

May blinked as if she didn’t know what she was talking about.

***

<The Alchemy of Makeup>

It is the book that Elena was most interested in during her stay in the safe house. There were secrets about the costumes, makeup, and makeup of actors, mostly in plays, operas, and musicals. Practical make-up techniques were also important, but Elena came up with a more important element.

The atmosphere changes when the impression changes.

When the atmosphere changes, people change.

What does Princess Veronica look like in other people’s eyes? I approached it with the thought that if I could erase that, I would be able to wear perfect makeup.

What does Princess Veronica look like in other people’s eyes? She approached it with the thought that if she could erase that, she would be able to wear perfect makeup.

“Please draw the ends of my eyes a little droopy.”

A person’s impression varies from his or her eyes.

“Shade the jawline. Let it lose its shadow.”

If you kill the jawline, you’ll get a soft impression.

“Remember this makeup. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

May answered, but couldn’t stop wondering why she wore such makeup.

The make-up hid Elena’s noble features in her nature and made her into a common impression.

“That’s not bad. Can you help me with my wig now? “

May, who rolled Elena’s blond hair tightly so as not to be disturbed in advance, grabbed a bobbed-haired wig and put it on her head. When the inner pin was locked to the hair and fixed firmly, the original blonde disappeared without a trace.

“May, take off my necklace and earrings.”

Elena’s long white neckline was clearly revealed. In itself, it was long and beautiful like a deer, but she couldn’t get rid of the feeling of boredom.

“Glasses.”

May picked up the black rimmed glasses and handed them to her.

A prop is the completion of makeup. Glasses were once popular among middle-aged aristocrats, and recently developed into a practical form for vision correction. These days, it was worn by many people regardless of age or gender. Elena wore the glasses.

“What do you think? It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

May was at a loss how to react. Elena’s satisfied smile spread around her mouth as she stared into the mirror.

“Who would look at me like this and think I’m Princess Veronica?”

Impression was not at the level of change. Elena in the mirror was like a completely different person.

Drooping eyes that made her look gentle. A round jawline that killed the sharpness. Neat yet gentle straightened, bobbed hair. Black horn-rimmed glasses that made her look studious. She was confident that even if Baron Frederick or Chesana saw her, they wouldn’t notice her.

“……I can’t find traces of her anywhere. You’re like a different person.”

“That’s a good answer.”

May, who was watching Elena who was satisfied without words, couldn’t bear the question and asked.

“With all due respect, may I ask you why you’re wearing this disguise?”

“Because I have to deceive.”

“Who do you think you’re deceiving?”

May asked back, feeling answerable to an unsolved mystery.

“Not one or two. There are a lot of times when you can’t see it inside.”

Elena, who left a meaningful remark, woke up from her chair. Maybe because of her changed appearance, May felt Elena was so heterogeneous.

“I’ll have to go to the eve.”

“In that outfit?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I have a lot of enemies. The name Veronica, its identity, is all a burden to me.”

Elena left a meaningless remark and grabbed the doorknob that went out.

“You’re going to wait here.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind going alone?”

Although the academic institution’s security is good, the eve was a festival where even common people hang out. She was afraid that she might be involved in an unsavory affair.

“The institution’s security is pretty good. Who else would see me as a Princess on such a day? Don’t worry and rest.”

Elena, who said goodbye, turned around and left the recording room. She ran into the librarian as he came downstairs, but she didn’t seem to care much. This is because most students do not even know if there is a record room for influential families in the central library, but some students often come to see it for field trips.

Elena went down the stairs and brushed shoulders with the librarian.

“That’s strange. No one else went up except your Highness and her maid…”

Looking at Elena’s back, which was getting farther away, the librarian muttered to herself. It was a very small word, but Elena heard it clearly. And she was as happy as a child that the librarian didn’t recognize her.

“The disguise is quite successful.”

Security guards and librarians working in the central library must be familiar with their names and faces after receiving portraits of high-ranking aristocrats in advance. In other words, she knew Veronica’s appearance but did not recognize Elena as the same person.

“How long has it been since I’ve had this freedom?”

Elena felt liberated for a while. It was so comfortable now that she could do whatever she wanted, free of Leabrick’s surveillance, oppression, and regulations. However, such feelings did not last long. She realized that she was also pretending to be Lucia, not her true self.

“Let’s not be mistaken. It’s not freedom. Real freedom can only be enjoyed when revenge is over.”

Elena stepped into the plaza where the eve festival was in full swing, taking care of her excitement for a while. It was bright from a distance, but when she arrived near the square, it was as bright as day.

There is a saying that the highlight of the eve is the night market. It wasn’t wrong when she looked around the night market. An innumerable number of tents lined up, creating a street filled with food and entertainment.

“…!”

Elena’s expression, which was moving through the crowded crowd, hardened. Anne was standing in front of her, of all things.