Volume 1 Chapter 118

Volume 1 + Chapter 118: Failure

“Your Highness, the Princess!”

Just as Alice was preparing to sneak into her mother’s chambers to see what Eve and Her Majesty were doing, the maid beside her suddenly reached out and pressed a hand on her shoulder.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To greet Mother with a good morning.”

Alice shot the maid an annoyed glance, her tone carrying a hint of uncertainty.

After all, Alice had never been this well-behaved, she almost never went out of her way to greet Chancelianne in the morning.

Under normal circumstances, Alice usually slept until eleven or twelve before getting up.

She also had a serious case of morning grumpiness. If someone forced her awake, it was no different from provoking a wild beast.

Alice could practically tear down her entire bedchamber.

So her going to greet Chancelianne in the morning was truly a first in all these years.

Anyone could tell that something was definitely off.

“You’re going to look for Miss Eve, aren’t you?”

The maid smiled faintly, cutting straight to Alice’s true intention.

She was already very familiar with her young mistress’s daily habits. After all, there were only a handful of people who could make Alice willing to get up early. The first was the Emperor himself and today, that was clearly impossible. The Emperor had already departed on a goodwill visit, and Alice certainly would not disrupt her own biological clock just because he was absent.

That left only one answer, Miss Eve.

In fact, even if Chancelianne personally came to visit, Alice might not necessarily crawl out of bed.

It was not that Alice was disrespectful toward Chancelianne, but rather that Chancelianne’s indulgence of her had long reached an almost helpless level.

On ordinary days, if Chancelianne came by and found Alice still fast asleep well past morning, she would usually choose to leave quietly, never scolding her over such a trivial matter.

Because of this, Alice was extremely respectful toward the Emperor, behaving as obediently as a well-trained little animal. But when facing Chancelianne, her courage grew remarkably bold, she dared to act coquettish and would even shamelessly lean in for hugs in private.

This stark contrast left the witnessing maids both amused and at a loss, yet utterly unable to find it in themselves to blame her.

“There’s no problem with you going to see Miss Eve, but please put your clothes on properly.”

The maid said this with righteous seriousness.

Hearing her words, Alice immediately bristled. How had she not dressed properly?

This time, she was wearing more than she ever did when seeing Eve. She had even tied a beautiful silk scarf around her neck.

In other words, that scarf meant she was wearing one more item than usual.

One could say she was being very conservative, all right?

“I am dressed properly. Look!”

As Alice spoke, she spun around in a circle, showing off the luxurious knee-length princess dress she was wearing.

As the skirt flared slightly with her spin, it revealed the “absolute territory” framed by her white stockings.

A princess with such a pure yet alluring presence was not something just anyone could witness.

At this moment, Alice looked clean, innocent, and adorably well-behaved like a lotus rising unstained from the mud.

But the maid watching her had already seen through everything.

She calmly produced two small pieces of white, lace-trimmed fabric from behind her back.

The moment Alice saw those delicate little items, her body stiffened, and she nearly lost her balance.

“Are you sure you’re properly dressed?”

The maid looked at the pretty white lace undergarments in her hand, her tone icy.

“I… I forgot.”

Alice stammered, her voice tinged with caution.

But the maid had already seen straight through her.

“It’s fine if you enjoy playing around, but please be mindful. Miss Eve’s status is special right now. You’d better behave yourself.”

The maid knew Alice all too well, she was definitely planning to just plop herself straight onto Miss Eve’s lap.

“Put. On. Your. Underwear.”

“I know.”

Alice unhappily took the underwear and walked into the nearby changing room to put it on.

Watching the door of the changing room close tightly, the maid could not help but let out a small sigh.

“Sigh… the princess is finally being a little obedient today.”

After a few minutes, Alice came out. Perhaps because she was “properly dressed,” even her manner of walking seemed a touch more gentle.

The maid could not help but smile with some relief. This was what a sweet, well-behaved princess should look like.

“Alright, go on. Just remember not to go too far.”

“I know. I’m not a child.”

Alice replied impatiently, then fled as if escaping.

There was a reason she said that, children weren’t allowed to do outrageous things. As for her, a grown-up, she intended to do them all.

After Alice left, the maid sensed something was off.

Wasn’t the princess’s changing speed a bit too fast?

She instinctively pushed open the door to the changing room, only to see that set of lingerie, maturely sexy yet faintly innocent hanging neatly on the rack, with a little tongue-out doodle Alice had drawn beside it.

“Impossible to guard against…”

The maid looked utterly helpless. She really should have known Princess Alice was never that obedient.

All she could do was hope that Princess Alice wouldn’t do anything too outrageous.

But clearly… that was impossible. What kind of proper princess goes out without wearing underwear?

…………

“I understand. I am personally aware of this matter.”

After listening to Eve’s account, Chancelianne set down her teacup and smiled gently.

“You… were aware?”

“Yes. The little girl you mentioned, her mother, was actually a member of the Lorraine family. And the Lorraine family’s contributions to the Empire and its standing within it, I believe Miss Eve, you understand this well.”

Chancelianne spoke softly. Of course Eve understood what the Lorraine family meant to the Empire.

The Lorraine family’s influence spanned the entire Empire. The former head of the family had shared life-and-death bonds with the late emperor, while the current head, Zhizhi’s aunt had an exceptionally close relationship with Chancelianne.

She and Eve were the only two people in the entire Empire with unrestricted access to the imperial palace.

In fact, her clearance was even higher. Eve could only enter the palace alone, whereas the head of the Lorraine family could bring two or three people along with her.

This was because the Lorraine family controlled one of the Empire’s lifelines, research into magitech.

Magitech represented an empire’s level not only in industry, but also in military strength and even political influence.

And the Lorraine family stood at the forefront of this field. The imperial royal family’s ability to suppress the Church owed no small part to the Lorraine family’s contributions.

“Then she was…?”

“She was responsible for researching a magical formula. In the future, this formula could have provided powerful protection for the Empire’s army but it failed.”

“Because of that failure, the imperial knight order that participated in the experiment was completely wiped out. Not a single person survived.”