Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 143. Touring the Imperial Palace
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-Clack.
-Clack...
We were all walking quietly—truly quietly.
Not just my group members, but every Academy student was walking in near silence, holding their breath.
"The place where you all are now is the Third Annex of the Imperial Palace. Currently, it is used for relatively light purposes, such as tours for Academy students or minor meetings."
And only one woman at the very front of the gathered students and teachers, acting as the guide, was explaining this.
Even if it was a relatively unimportant building, it was still part of the Imperial Palace.
There were knights stationed along the corridor to ensure the students walking through didn't cause any trouble... It was a situation far from ordinary in many ways.
"If you look up at the ceiling, you'll see the beautiful ceiling frescoes painted by Charles Léan, the famous imperial artist."
"Oh..."
The atmosphere was basically quiet, but these were still kids in their early to mid-teens.
It was wrong to expect too much patience and endurance from children who were only about thirteen or fourteen...
"Those are some incredibly pretty murals."
"Yeah, they are."
They really were pretty paintings.
Not just simple murals, but enormous-scale works on the ceiling—nearly ten of them.
It was rare for anyone to look at such paintings and feel nonchalant about them.
I wasn't particularly interested in artwork or art in general.
But even so, I had quite a bit of interest in things that fell under the 'pretty' category.
That was why I'd collected jewels and various accessories before, and why I'd built connections with jewelers in the capital.
"From here to the end of the corridor, these ceiling frescoes continue. The content depicts the founding myth and the history of the Solchemia Empire up to now..."
Listening to the guide's explanation all the way through, we slowly toured the Third Annex.
As we did, I properly felt just how grand the Imperial Palace was... Honestly, it wasn't a waste of time.
There weren't many chances in life to tour the Imperial Palace.
"It's definitely the Imperial Palace, huh?"
"Yeah."
"It's my first time seeing it up close like this... The Empire really lives up to its name. It's on a completely different scale from what I imagined for a mere viscount family."
"Honestly, me too... I didn't expect it to be this massive."
"Hehe, that's inevitable. The Third Annex is already that big—who knows how enormous the Second and First must be?"
After finishing our tour of the annex, we were given a short break.
Grace and I were sitting on some nearby chairs, having that conversation.
In fact, it wasn't just Grace and me—most of the students were quite shocked after seeing the Imperial Palace and kept glancing back at the buildings.
"A bit later, we're going into the Main Palace too. Aren't you curious how even more amazing that'll be?"
"Of course."
"Hehe... Even this garden we're in now is on another level compared to the ones we've seen so far, right? It's practically a park."
After exchanging those palace-worshipping words, we finally entered the long-awaited Main Palace.
There were the First and Second Annexes too, but we'd been told we couldn't see those today, so we went straight to the Main Palace.
Just glimpsing it from afar made it impossible to guess how much it had cost to build.
I wondered how incredible the interior would be.
Honestly, I was curious.
The annexes had already been truly impressive, so how splendid and beautiful would the palace's main body, the Main Palace, be... I was really curious.
"Camellia, we should get up now."
"Sorry. I was just getting a little excited thinking about the Main Palace..."
Ivana had said that to me because I'd been sitting too long.
Anyway, now it was time to see the Imperial Palace's most famous and important place: the Main Palace.
Even from afar, it sparkled unmistakably—the palace adorned with pure white marble and gold was dazzling enough.
Probably not just me—most students would think the Imperial Palace was glamorous upon seeing it.
It was far beyond the Academy buildings we saw every day.
*
The Imperial Palace tour was finally over.
Of course, there were places we couldn't enter, so we hadn't seen absolutely everything, but we had toured the Main Palace for sure.
The tour flowing from the gardens to the annexes to the Main Palace had been truly satisfying.
Honestly, at first I'd thought touring the palace would wrap up in the morning.
"Huu... Ungh..."
By the time we returned to the dormitory, it was already evening.
Touring the Imperial Palace had taken far longer than we'd initially thought.
The palace was simply enormous, and with so many Academy students... it had really taken a lot of time.
In fact, if you added a bit of exaggeration, it had taken nearly half a day.
"So tireeeed..."
"Young Lady, wouldn't it be better to at least change clothes and lie down...?"
"But I have to wash up again soon anyway... Too bothersome..."
As Lize suggested, I was lying sprawled on the floor, lazing away the time.
Of course, I wasn't the only one.
"My legs hurt so much from all the walking..."
"Sis, want me to massage them...?"
"Y-Yeah...?"
Everyone was lounging comfortably on the sofas, resting.
We'd literally been walking non-stop, and the palace was so huge we had no choice.
We'd spent almost the entire morning just on the gardens and annexes...
"...No wonder the schedule only mentioned the palace. There was a reason."
Really.
Today we'd walked an insane amount.
Probably more than I'd walked in any single day at the Academy so far.
"Aren't you tired, Ella?"
"Unlike you, I do some physical training normally. I don't even slack off during Academy PE classes."
"Oh."
"You really should exercise more regularly, you know? If there were actual tests in Academy PE, you'd fail for sure."
"........"
It was hard to argue back.
Separate from being healthy or flexible, my stamina... was definitely poor.
If I competed with my other friends in sports or something, it'd be pretty tough, right?
Thank goodness there were no PE exams at the Academy.
"But tomorrow's schedule seems lighter... less walking, thankfully..."
"Sis, you that tired?"
"Yeah..."
"Want me to massage your thighs too, not just your calves?"
"You'd do that...?"
"Of course. It's only natural as your little sister if you're hurting."
Anyway... after touring the palace all day, pretty much all of us were exhausted.
The ones who weren't were Ivana and Ella, at most?
"...It makes sense Ivana has good stamina, but I don't get why Ella's fine."
"It's because you're the one lacking exercise, from the start."
"Grace and Older Sister Karen are tired too."
I really couldn't understand it.
Sure, I lacked exercise, and so did Karen.
But even Grace, with average stamina, was worn out—why was Ella okay?
"I told you, I exercise regularly."
"...Liar. I've never seen you do it—how am I supposed to believe you?"
I'd seriously never seen Ella exercising in all this time.
We'd known each other for ages, and I spent a lot of time with her normally, but still.
"Want to arm wrestle? I could beat you easily."
"Nah. Even without exercising, I'd lose to you, so."
"......."
Ella looked at me pitifully, but it was true.
I lacked exercise, and for anything requiring strength, I used magic or Lize anyway.
"Besides, Ella always wears her uniform or loose clothes. It doesn't show."
"Hmm... That feels forced...?"
"Anyway, I won't accept that you exercise regularly!"
I sat up from lying on the floor and declared that.
Even if Ella wasn't tired today, I couldn't accept that my friend Ella did exercise as a hobby!
"Should I show you my abs? They're not super defined or bulky, but..."
"Show me."
"...For real?"
"Yes."
Ella looked a bit flustered at my response.
But she'd offered first, and we're both girls anyway?
Showing just her stomach didn't seem like a big deal... Plus, there was no other way to verify what she said.
"Uh... For real...?"
"Why? Not confident?"
"It's not that...?"
Ella looked a little embarrassed, but I could kind of understand.
Suddenly having to show her stomach would be awkward.
But she'd claimed she exercised and could prove it by showing her abs?
Showing was the most reliable way.
"J-Just show it, then?"
"Yes."
"Got it. I'll show you. And you'll definitely admit it...?"
"If it's really like you say, of course I'll admit it."
I said with a smile.
Hearing that, Ella slowly grabbed the hem of her shirt.
Her face was a bit flushed from the embarrassment of the situation, which was honestly cute to watch.
"...See? Pretty toned, right?"
"Hmm..."
I closely examined Ella, who had lifted her shirt just enough—barely enough to show her stomach.
It definitely wasn't soft and squishy.
Just as she'd said, toned... Not quite a six-pack or defined abs, but still a pretty stomach.
The phrasing 'pretty stomach' felt a bit odd, but it really was pretty.
"Nice stomach."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, it does look like you exercise. Honestly thought you were lying."
"I told you I do it for real."
Ella appealed to me with an aggrieved expression and tone.
The way she'd gripped the hem tighter showed she really felt wronged.
"...You two, how long are you gonna keep this up?"
"Oh... Yeah."
Ella had kept showing me her stomach until Grace spoke up, and I'd been looking at it.
I'd forgotten for a moment, but we were all relaxing together in the living room, and everyone had been watching our conversation from earlier.
...This felt kinda embarrassing.
But regardless, Ella's stomach was honestly pretty.
I'd even been thinking I wanted to keep looking at it like this.