Colette showed no emotion about being chosen as one of the royal candidates.
There was neither excitement nor anticipation, nor fear or apprehension, only the usual calm, as if someone else was standing on the stage to receive the glory.
After the ceremony, various gazes of flattery, congratulation, ingratiation, envy, jealousy, and hatred converged. Nobles approached her with different intentions, but she rejected them all. She left Hall Crimson Hall alone and indifferently.
Back in her usual quiet and secluded palace, she removed her hair ornaments and elegant, gorgeous dress, and changed into a relatively simple dark red silk skirt. She then took a stroll in the somewhat desolate backyard.
There are no beautiful roses like in other palaces here, only some withered yellow weeds, and a tattered flag, heavy with dirt, hangs on the high wall in the distance, occasionally swaying in the wind.
If we shift our perspective to the other side of the palace, where Prince Hosha and Princess Eve reside, the scene is entirely different.
Friends and relatives who usually visit each other frequently gathered together at this moment. The banquet hall was filled with delicious food, and maids went in and out, serving various delicacies and fine wines for the nobles present to celebrate. The enthusiastic voices even drowned out the live music band.
"Congratulations! It's only a matter of time before His Highness inherits the throne."
"Haha, that's too exaggerated. You can't say things like that. His Majesty is still very healthy and mighty." Grand Duke Felen, Prince Hosha's uncle, chuckled as he accepted the congratulations from the nobles. He then went to Prince Hosha's side, patted him on the shoulder, and said some encouraging words, which drew applause from the entire audience.
Although he was the center of attention for everyone present, Prince Hosha was still relatively young and couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart. His fingers trembled slightly after the ceremony ended, and his mind was completely immersed in this huge change of identity.
He had always been aware of his position, but even so, receiving public recognition at such a grand ceremony still overwhelmed him with emotion, and he couldn't calm his mind for a moment.
After the congratulations, everyone drank wine together, and the conversation continued to revolve around the ceremony. Finally, someone brought up Colette, the least known of the three.
"I don't think I've ever heard of that princess before," someone asked.
"She's not very famous, after all, her mother passed away almost 20 years ago."
Princess Leanna was a beauty in her lifetime, and it is said that she was once favored by the emperor. Unfortunately, her family was not powerful, and she died of illness not long after giving birth to Colette.
The term "getting sick" is still quite rare among the Blood Clan.
"Yes, it's a very rare disease. Even the chief physicians in the palace couldn't cure it. At the time, some suspected it was deliberate poisoning out of jealousy of her favor with the emperor."
"When Princess Leanna passed away, His Majesty was furious. It is said that he thoroughly investigated the palace, found several suspected drug smugglers, and executed them all. Only then did his anger gradually subside."
"In the first few years, His Majesty would visit Princess Colette out of old affection, but he gradually forgot about her, after all, he had too many children."
"I don't know why Colette was included in the royal selection this time. Her maternal lineage has long been declining. The current patriarch and family head are from a collateral branch, with weak blood ties to her and rarely contact her."
"Perhaps it was the idea of Erosion Witch. This woman is highly trusted by His Majesty, not only as his lover but also as his closest advisor. Logically, her son, Prince Red, should be one of the three chosen kings, but this time, unexpectedly, he is not."
"The ' Erosion Witch ' is very clever. She knows that although she is trusted, she is weak and isolated in the Royal Court. If she were to make her son the chosen one, she would be caught in the crossfire between two major factions. She probably deliberately gave up the position and let an unlucky guy take his place."
" Colette is actually a good choice. She has almost no external support, and if the Erosion Witch ' is willing, she can probably control her very well. Besides, she is Princess Leanna's daughter. Perhaps His Majesty will remember some past events after seeing her and will be able to accept this child as the crown prince."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion, and similar conversations were taking place in Princess Eve's palace as well.
"How pitiful," Princess Eve remarked, forking up a delicious cake and pastry with her fork, commenting on Colette's plight.
"Wang Xuan's position is not one that just anyone can hold onto."
"If she comes begging me, I might be able to give her a way out, hehehe." She laughed as she said this.
"Her Highness is so kind and compassionate, she can even forgive her rivals," her sisters and friends exclaimed in admiration.
Laughter and celebratory sounds echoed throughout the hall.
At night, Colette returned to the quiet palace, where only the doorway was lit, and the interior was dimly lit.
She returned to her room, sat at her desk, placed a glass lamp, then picked up a book and slowly began to read.
Now taking on her identity, Sylutia also slowly read the book, her mind gradually becoming absorbed in it.
About an hour later, a flurry of footsteps came from outside the door, followed by a bang as the door was pushed open.
The maid who had raised Colette since childhood entered again. Compared to ten years ago, she had some wrinkles on her forehead, and this time she was accompanied by two younger maids.
" Colette, what's wrong with you? Such an important matter, and you just lie at home doing nothing after coming back?"
"Also, I heard that many important people greeted you at the ceremony, but you didn't respond to any of them. Don't you understand etiquette?"
"You know, I grew up with Princess Leanna. She was praised by everyone for her dignified and perfect demeanor. How come you haven't learned anything from her?"
In the past, Colette would probably have explained the reason with trepidation, but now she just silently continued reading her book without looking up at all.
Although Tia was a little curious as to why this maid dared to be so arrogant and rude, her body still had a deep-seated habit of dealing with such situations, and she didn't want to rashly change her habits. She just wanted to know what would happen next.
Seeing that Colette still did not respond, the older maid suddenly walked over, snatched the book from the girl's hand, slammed her palm on the table, and roared her questioning voice again. Unfortunately, Colette could not hear her at all this time and just leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and staring blankly.
Seeing that Colette continued to ignore her, as if she were a stone, the maid finally lost her temper, raised her finger, and slapped her.
With a "smack," several bloody marks appeared on Colette's face, and she finally opened her eyes.
Seeing this, the maid finally felt relieved and pleased.
"Get up and give me a proper explanation!" she said arrogantly.
Colette didn't respond immediately; she simply wiped the blood from her face with her fingers and examined the remaining blood on her fingertips.
Faced with this situation, the two young maids behind them were somewhat at a loss, and could only lower their heads, carefully avoiding eye contact.
"You're being noisy," Colette finally said, her voice still calm.
At this moment, the old maid's eyes widened in anger, and she was about to lash out again, but somehow, a hand had already pierced through her chest and grasped the heart inside.
With the slightest pressure, this heart collapsed and shattered like a water balloon.
Watching the old maid slowly collapse with a look of astonishment and disbelief in her eyes, Colette ignored her and instead had two younger maids bring her water to wash her hands.
"Drag this person away, otherwise she'll make a mess of my study." She wiped her fingers clean and sat back down in her seat, the dead maid lying at her feet, within easy reach with the slightest movement.
"Yes, yes." The voice started softly but then grew louder, as if afraid of being too late in answering.
And so, the voice that had been nagging Colette for over a decade disappeared from her life, and she remained completely unmoved.
She felt neither sadness at the other person's death nor joy at finally getting rid of this annoying person; she had lost interest in many things.
If a normal person's will to survive is 10, their desire for power and wealth is 7, and their desire for delicious food is 3.
If that's the case, then Colette's desire for anything wouldn't exceed 1 point, and sometimes she wouldn't even be able to understand those people's obsession and madness.
She didn't understand why so many people spent all day doing all sorts of things just for those few round, golden metal pieces. What were those metal pieces even for?
Buying food? The most delicious banquet in the palace and simple wheat porridge—to her, it was only a difference of 0.012 and 0.011 points, not much difference at all.
Is it a gift for someone she likes? Who is worthy of her liking? Aren't we all just people with one head and two eyes? Maybe it's just that she's dressed neatly so she doesn't feel any extra expectations.
In return for everyone's flattery and praise? Is it really necessary to obtain these sound waves generated by the movement of the mouth?
Improving her strength? That's the only thing Colette still cares about, but her desire for it is only around 1 point, comparable to taking a walk in the backyard at night.
Another point worth mentioning is that Colette's desire to live is 0.3, meaning that she feels little difference between death and life.
There was nothing in this world that she expected, nor anyone or anything that she cared about; everything was like gray plaster, bland and fragile.
Objectively speaking, she has a noble princess status, which is enviable, but from her own perspective, it is also quite boring and not worth mentioning.
There was no joy or anticipation, no pain or despair, just a very bland and indifferent existence. The only reason I hadn't collapsed was because I was still following the old path of my life and hadn't encountered the right opportunity yet.
She didn't care about anyone or herself; that's how Colette quietly spent her youth, and even becoming one of the royal selections didn't bring about any change.
Months later, no one cared about her new identity anymore, and the dress she wore to the ceremony that day was put in the closet, slowly gathering dust and being forgotten.
Until one night, this tranquility was broken by a figure who had come from afar.
She was the witch who accompanied the emperor. This mysterious woman, who had lived for countless years, quietly looked at Colette, her deep purple eyes slightly closed, then opened, and uttered a sentence that changed Colette's behavior.
"It seems the injury you sustained as a child has never truly healed."