The evening before.

Opening the carriage window, the evening air, already darkening, brushed against my face.

I had traveled for days and nights by carriage from the Kingdom of Chatonille to the Lafion Empire.

Outside the window, endless fields of grain stretched out.

This must be a sign that we’re nearing the imperial capital of the Lafion Empire.

Emperor Rinel Gardion Edfa.

What kind of man would he be?

Would he be as handsome as Prince Tessler from the Kingdom of Chatonille where I lived?

What if I’m discovered? I hope he’s not a particularly perceptive person.

Lost in such thoughts, the pointed spires of the Lafion Imperial Palace, rising in the distance, came into view.

If it’s discovered that I’m a substitute empress, perhaps on top of that spire…

“My head might end up there.”

I swallowed hard, clasping my neck with both hands.

After a devout prayer session cursing Prince Tessler with my hands clasped, I closed the carriage window again.

I pulled out a luggage bag from under the carriage seat that I had carefully packed, even while rushed, on the day I left for the Lafion Empire.

Taking out a mirror from the bag, I looked at my face and touched the burn scar on the right side.

“So there’s a magic potion that can make this disappear?”

According to Grand Duke Martins, who came to escort me, we would spend the night at a hotel in the imperial city and enter the palace early the next day.

And before going to the hotel tonight, we were scheduled to first stop by a clinic run by the magician Prince Tessler had mentioned.

I could hardly contain my excitement.

About an hour later, the carriage came to a stop.

With a knock, Grand Duke Martins’ voice was heard.

“We’ve arrived. Please get off.”

I put on a hat with a veil that came down to the tip of my nose and got out of the carriage.

As soon as I got off, I was taken aback. I hadn’t expected it to be a grand clinic building, but I certainly didn’t think it would be in such a secluded alley.

The name on the clinic sign was also quite puzzling.

[Proud Night]

Moreover, the sign had a picture of a man standing with his legs apart, hands on his hips, in a literally proud posture.

“… Is this the right place?”

I pointed at the clinic sign with my finger, looking at Grand Duke Martins’ sharp face that seemed devoid of humanity.

“Yes, this is the place Prince Tessler mentioned.”

“Is… that so?”

I hesitated to take a step forward.

As I hesitated in front of the clinic door, Grand Duke Martins added:

“Among the nobles of the Lafion Empire, the magician Big is known as an expert in treating virility issues.”

“Virility?”

Ah, is that why the clinic is called ‘Proud Night’?

I looked up at the sign again.

“That’s the surface level, but only a select few know his true abilities. For example, things like creating a magic potion to remove Lady Zelda’s burn scar.”

“Then I suppose the nobles who usually come here are customers with virility problems?”

“Probably so. But not everyone who buys virility potions has functional issues. I’ve heard that people of all ages, both men and women, buy them when their stamina is low.”

“But most come because they can’t be proud at night, right?”

“Well, statistically speaking, that’s probably true. Except for special cases like Lady Zelda.”

Grand Duke Martins seemed to agree with my words as he took out a small pouch from his bosom and handed it to me.

“What’s this?”

“When you go in, show this and Big will give you that potion.”

I took the pouch and checked its contents.

“I understand.”

Inside the small pouch was a pink diamond, a rare gem even in the Kingdom of Chatonille, the world’s largest diamond producer.

“Aren’t you coming in with me, Grand Duke?”

“No, I’ll wait here.”

Grand Duke Martins replied with a tired face.

“Why don’t you come in and buy yourself a virility potion?”

“… No. I have no problems!”

Grand Duke Martins snapped unnecessarily.

Didn’t he just say earlier that not only people with functional problems buy Big’s virility potions?

Leaving Grand Duke Martins behind, I opened the clinic door with trembling heart.

The interior of the clinic was dark and secretive, like a salon frequented by noble men.

Perhaps it was deliberately kept dark for the privacy of customers coming to buy virility potions.

“Seems there are no customers? Oh, you startled me.”

A man in a black robe with a hood pulled low over his head was sitting like a ghost in one corner of the waiting room.

“How may I help you?”

At that moment, a woman who seemed to be Magician Big’s assistant approached and asked me.

“I came with this.”

I quickly opened the pouch I was holding and showed the pink diamond.

“Ah, please follow me.”

As if she had been briefed beforehand, the assistant immediately led me to the consultation room.

***

As soon as I entered the consultation room and sat down, Magician Big immediately handed me a magic potion, as if he had been waiting.

“Drink this first.”

I gulped it down in one go.

I could feel the potion sliding down my throat.

A few seconds later, something unbelievable happened.

“It’s gone… Really gone? Doctor! The burn scar that was just there, it’s not just me who can’t see it, right? Right?”

My burn scar disappeared in an instant, almost unbelievably quickly.

Was it this simple? And yet, for all those long years, I…

I was choked up.

I kept looking in the mirror, overwhelmed by my now flawless face.

Then Magician Big spoke in a cold tone.

“As you probably know, this is only a temporary effect.”

“I’ve heard.”

“For now, as per the order from the person who commissioned this, a month’s supply has been prepared. If you wait outside, my assistant will give it to you.”

Prince Tessler, you stingy bastard.

Only a month?

“Just a month’s worth? I’d like to buy more.”

“That’s not something I can make right away, so it’s difficult. Even this order was made pushing the limits.”

“Then I’ll make a reservation for the amount to take after a month!”

“Well… I’ll take the reservation for now. If you have nothing more to say, would you please wait outside?”

Magician Big scribbled something on a chart with a somewhat displeased expression.

“Excuse me, besides this potion that temporarily removes the scar, do you also make a treatment here that can cure it completely? I heard there was such a treatment.”

“Well, that’s beyond my abilities.”

“I see… Alright.”

It seemed that the treatment to completely cure the burn scar that Prince Tessler had mentioned was not something I could request from him.

Nursing my disappointment, I left the consultation room and sat on the sofa in the waiting room.

Wait, something feels off.

“Ah, I forgot.”

I put back on the veiled hat that I had taken off in the consultation room and was just holding in my hand.

Although the burn scar had disappeared, it was still a face that would marry the emperor of this country, so there was no benefit in exposing it.

Especially not in a place like the ‘Proud Night’ clinic.

While waiting for the magic potion to take away, a Lafion Empire newspaper on the table caught my eye.

To kill time, I reached out, picked up the newspaper, and started reading absentmindedly.

“All the women of the empire are curious about His Majesty the Emperor’s ideal type as he approaches the national marriage. What kind of woman is His Majesty’s ideal type? Will the soon-to-be empress from the Kingdom of Chatonille meet His Majesty’s ideal?”

How childish.

If I had a quill pen right now, I’d like to write the answer directly under this article.

I, who will marry the emperor, have a 100% chance of not being his ideal type!

I continued reading the newspaper article.

“According to a close confidant, the secretary, Emperor Rinel’s preferred type of woman is…”

I was reading the article on the front page of the newspaper, chuckling as I turned to the next page.

“What? Why is the next page missing? Ha, it’s torn.”

I tossed the newspaper back onto the table.

“Damn it.”

I was slightly annoyed that the flow of the article I was reading was interrupted. Not because I was curious about the emperor’s ideal type.

“What kind of journalist… Why would anyone be curious about the emperor’s ideal type? There must have been tons of such articles already. They should write about the ideal type of the empress who’s going to marry him instead. That would be more fresh.”

“It seems you already know the emperor’s ideal type quite well?”

A mocking voice came from somewhere.

There’s no one in front of me, where is that voice coming from?

“Oh, you startled me!”

As I rolled my eyes to the right, I saw a black object in the diagonal corner.

Looking closely, it was the man in the black robe I had first seen when I entered the clinic.

He’s still here?

Is he waiting for something to take away, like me?

“Usually, men’s ideal types are predictable, aren’t they? Beautiful, good figure, kind. Would His Majesty the Emperor be any different? But why are you speaking informally to a stranger?”

“Because you’re a stranger.”

“!”

How grand of a noble must he be to speak informally right off the bat?

“Aren’t you being too presumptuous about the emperor’s ideal type? The emperor isn’t an ordinary man, you know.”

The man continued to speak informally with confidence.

“You seem to know His Majesty the Emperor very well too?”

“I’m quite close to him. But… did you just speak informally to me?”

The man asked, looking around in disbelief.

“I guess so? You’re a stranger to me too. It seemed that speaking informally to strangers was the etiquette in the imperial city, so I followed suit. Why?”

“Ah, I see you’re not from around here? Well, this clinic is famous for its virility potions in other regions too.”

“I’m not here to buy virility potions though?”

“Then why are you here?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

I snapped back at the man’s words irritably.

As a rule, one should raise their voice to rude people.

“From what I see. You’re sitting there all crumpled up in the corner of the waiting room, with your robe hood pulled down like a criminal, because you can’t be proud at night, right?”

“… What nonsense.”

“Come on, you look exactly like someone who came to buy virility potions, all weak and feeble.”

“… That’s ridiculous.”

The man kept snorting as he retorted.

“That sounds more plausible than lying about being close to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“… I really am close to him.”

The man’s voice sounded like a growl.

“Ah, is that so? You’re close? Then what’s the emperor’s ideal type?”

“Not you, that’s for sure.”

“…”

Suddenly, I felt like I’d been hit.

Wow, I can’t even say that I’m about to have a national marriage with this country’s emperor!

In a moment of anger, I stood up abruptly from the sofa.

How arrogant must he be to not only speak informally from the start but to be so rude?

Should I pull off that hood of his?

“Here’s the treatment you reserved.”

At that moment, Big’s assistant brought me a pouch made of carpet.

“Thank you.”

Yes, let’s just leave.

Don’t exchange any more words with such a lowly person who speaks informally upon first meeting.

Still, it felt unfair to just leave, so as I walked towards the clinic door, I glared at the man and muttered softly.

“His Majesty the Emperor should be different from such a rude man. Otherwise, it would be pitiful for the empress who came from afar. I really hate rudeness…”

“Ha, you speak as if you’re very close to the empress too. You sound like you know the empress’s ideal type?”

The man asked mockingly, having somehow heard my muttering.

“I do know. I know it very well.”

“What is it then?”

“Not you, that’s for sure.”

“!”

“Definitely not you.”

I threw back the exact words the man had said earlier, driving the point home.

That feels refreshing.

As I opened the clinic door, I caught a glimpse of the man taking off his robe.

I slightly bent my waist backward to check the man’s face.

Gasp, what did I just see!

Under the hood was a face I could never have imagined.

He was such a handsome man, even among the handsome men I had seen in my life, he was at the very top.

Oh my, my ideal type was right in front of me and I didn’t realize it!

***

“It seems you remember now?”

Emperor Rinel asked, crossing his arms as if interrogating me.

“Yes… I committed a great disrespect yesterday, not recognizing you…”

‘It was because Your Majesty spoke informally first that I did the same.’

These words came up to my front teeth, but I couldn’t dare say them out loud.

“Let’s set aside the fact that I’m not the empress’s ideal type, but let me ask again. Wasn’t tonight supposed to be the empress’s first night?”

I quickly shook my head left and right.

“No! Your Majesty is exactly my ideal type, and I also… for the first time with Your Majesty…”

I intentionally let my face flush after throwing these words out.

I could control this level of blushing at will.

I’m not sure if this could be called an ability, but it’s one of the phenomena that occurred after I got the burn on the right side of my face.

Emperor Rinel’s expression softened a bit.

“But you know. I’ve heard before that in the empress’s country, people freely engage in relationships from the age of 20 when they become adults. Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They have splendid encounters. Ah, but my life was nothing but miserable. Hahaha.”

I replied, bursting into laughter.

In reality, even after my debutante, I was outside the interest of young nobles due to my burn scar.

While I, the speaker, was laughing brightly, the emperor’s expression grew increasingly unfavorable.

He twitched occasionally, seeming like he was about to make some expression, but there was no sign of him smiling.

“Hmm, I wonder if I should consider that fortunate…”

His hand moved towards the right side of my face.

Even though the burn scar wouldn’t be visible to him, I reflexively avoided his hand without realizing it.

Despite my action clearly being an impertinent attitude, he didn’t say anything.

A moment of silence passed.

Wanting to change this uncomfortable atmosphere, I blurted out whatever came to mind.

“I heard there’s a grand duke who’s much younger than Your Majesty.”

Seeing Emperor Rinel’s expression darken rapidly, it didn’t seem like a good choice.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I talked with that kid.”

“Is the grand duke far away?”

I didn’t remember seeing anyone who looked like a grand duke at the wedding either.

“He’s in a cold place. You probably won’t have a chance to meet him, empress. It’s good that you won’t have to meet my troublesome young brother.”

He was smiling, but his eyes looked sad.

“Even when he’s close, he’s in a place my hands can’t reach. Because he freezes more when I approach, I can’t… visit him.”

“Where exactly is he…?”

I asked him with surprised eyes.

“Joseph received the same curse as me. I could use magic power, so I didn’t lose all my body heat to the curse wave sent by the magician, but Joseph was different.”

I wanted to ask what happened to the grand duke in the end, but I couldn’t ask so carelessly.

To me, who was just observing, he added unbelievable words.

“Joseph is now trapped in ice.”

Oh my goodness.

“Is he… in the imperial palace?”

When I cautiously asked, he neither confirmed nor denied, but lay back down on the bed.

“Let’s lie down now. The empress will have a lot to do from tomorrow.”

It meant not to ask any more questions.

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

Well, what good would it do for me to know the details? I’ll only be in the empress’s position temporarily.

Even as I thought this, seeing his face tinged with sadness made me uncomfortable in a corner of my heart.

“And yesterday. About me going to the clinic.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I went to buy a magic potion to raise body temperature. The fact that