A Snake’s Life Ch 53

Chapter 53

 

Zerpell had stepped out briefly for a meeting, and I was waiting quietly in his office. It was the meeting regarding the ball he had mentioned before. He had patted my head and told me to wait, saying it wouldn’t take long, but even after the minute hand on the clock went around once… then twice, he hadn’t returned.

“Why is he taking so long?”

As I grumbled and waited, Zerpell came in with a sigh. I ran up to him, beaming.

“Oh? You’re back??”

“The date for the imperial ball has been decided.”

“Really?”

“It’s going to be a grand event. The New Year’s Festival, which was postponed due to the drought, will be held together with the ball. Thanks to that, all the nobles will be gathering.”

He seemed quite worried. I gently patted his chest.

“Why? Are you worried? It’s just a gathering for eating and drinking. And it’s not like I’m going alone. Who would dare mess with me when I have you? Besides, I’m not someone who can be taken down easily.”

I thumped my chest confidently, as if to say, “Just trust me.” Honestly, whether it was the emperor or the empress, I didn’t think much of the nobles. After all, weren’t they the ones who made things difficult for my master?

Truth be told, I hadn’t told my master yet, but I was planning to publicly declare my support for him at the ball, where many people would be gathered. That way, no one would dare pull any nonsense. Who would dare argue when the Divine Envoy says so? Wouldn’t that be helpful to him?

Proud of me, he stroked my hair. I stared up at him. Wait a moment… There was something in his words that caught my attention.

“All the nobles?”

“Yes.”

My jaw dropped. All the nobles??

“Why on earth?”

I understood that the New Year’s Festival was a major event. But all the nobles? Did they want us to get crushed by the crowd? Zerpell stroked his chin and said,

“They say it’s tradition. Though it’s called all the nobles, not everyone attends. Don’t worry too much.”

He clicked his tongue quietly, seemingly annoyed with the tradition as well. Still, when the palace summons someone, who would dare not attend? My head already hurt thinking about it. I decided to look on the bright side. I’d be showing my support for him in front of all the nobles. The scale was bigger than I’d expected, and before I knew it, I clenched my fist with determination. Zerpell, whether he understood my thoughts or not, spoke in a calm voice.

“Then you’ll need to learn proper etiquette.”

“Ah…”

He was right. Nobles were sticklers for manners, and even the smallest mistake could lead to gossip. Well, with memories of my past life, maybe it wouldn’t be too hard?

“Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

“No, I’ll be staying by your side, so I should at least know proper etiquette. I’ll work hard!”

“It won’t be too difficult. And even if someone dares to look down on you, just hold your head high. You’re under my protection, and you have the gods behind you, don’t you?”

I listened to his reassuring words with a silly smile and hugged him to show my trust. As his hand brushed my hair back, I looked up and met his smiling eyes. He spoke in a gentle tone.

“Shall we have some clothes tailored?”

“This early?”

“The earlier, the better. Custom clothing takes quite a long time to make. I’ll call someone for you. You can choose a boutique from the catalog. After that…”

I was a little dazed by his enthusiastic tone. He looked visibly excited like a child. I could tell he was trying to be extra good to me since he confessed his feelings. But I couldn’t help brushing off his efforts. It was obvious he was trying to win me over, and going along with it felt like I might get swallowed whole… Like I might get swept away without even realizing it.

Saying things like, “I’ll give you anything you want,” was clearly an attempt to win my favor. Most of the time, I said I didn’t need anything or that I was fine. Clothes and jewelry? Zerpell had already bought a ton of them the first time, so I had more than enough. The palace was already full of riches; I didn’t need anything extra.

Did he think this was his chance? Trying to win me over with gifts made it obvious how inexperienced he was in romance. But since I needed an outfit for the ball anyway, I didn’t mind. Listening to him, it seemed complicated — choosing a boutique, flipping through catalogs, and all that.

“How about the boutique we saw last time? That one seemed nice.”

“……Is that one good enough?”

“Didn’t you pick that place with care last time? I like that one.”

He seemed pleased with my answer and gave a satisfied smile.

“I’ll let Ian know.”

While I was basking in his affectionate touch, it suddenly struck me — who would teach me the etiquette lessons?

“By the way, who’s going to teach me etiquette? Is a teacher coming?”

“I’ll be the one teaching you.”

“You, Master? I mean, I’m fine with you being the teacher… but aren’t you too busy?”

I turned my head to look at his desk. It was still piled high with stacks of documents. I was starting to worry that his schedule would get even more hectic.

“I feel like I’m just making things harder for you…”

“Shuiren. Do you really think I would let someone else approach you?”

He didn’t even bother hiding it anymore — his possessiveness was plain to see. The way he held my arm tightly felt like he was locking me down. Strangely, his possessiveness came across as cute. I smiled and looked up at Zerpell.

“You better be a good teacher then.”

“Of course.”

Zerpell’s eyes curved into a beautiful smile.

Leaning against Zerpell, I skimmed through the list Ian had selected for me. These days, I spent time receiving lessons from both my master and Kir.

The lessons with Zerpell weren’t formal; most of the time we were just drinking tea together. But that didn’t mean we were just playing around. There was still much to learn — posture while walking, how to greet people, hand gestures, eye contact, how to speak…

I had first asked Zerpell to teach me about noble speech patterns. After meeting the Empress, I realized how tricky and troublesome noble eloquence could be. If I wasn’t careful, I could end up making a fool of myself. But when I told him this, Zerpell replied firmly.

“There’s only one thing you need to remember about that.”

I gripped the table and looked at him seriously. Zerpell gave a slight smirk. I was listening intently, but his words left me speechless.

“Just say what you want to say.”

“That’s it?? But what if that puts you in a bad position?”

I leaned forward toward him. I had expected some tricks or at least a list of dos and don’ts.

“I’ve told you before — they’re the ones who should be minding their behavior, not you.”

Zerpell sipped his tea and spoke resolutely, unfazed by my concerns. I asked again if that would really be okay, and he nodded without hesitation.

“Whatever it is, let it be your will.”

He always said everything was fine… Was it really? Even with a confused expression, he didn’t waver. Well… it was certainly more comfortable for me… In the end, he mostly taught me posture. Surprisingly, etiquette wasn’t easy.

Having memories from a past life didn’t mean I was good at etiquette. Just like watching fashion shows didn’t make me a model. This was trickier than I expected. I tried to imitate his way of walking, but it wasn’t easy.

Bowing, in particular, was a struggle. The manner of bowing differed depending on rank. Thankfully, as a Divine Envoy, the number of people I had to bow to was limited. Still, the fact that I had to bow to the emperor and empress didn’t sit well with me, but I worked hard, determined not to give them any reason to pick on me.

He taught me in detail — how much to bend my waist, where to place my hands and feet, and so on.

‘Being a noble isn’t for everyone.’

That’s when the trouble started. It began with the position of my feet. Even the direction of my toes mattered. I thought it was ridiculous, but apparently, it was very important here. Legs slightly together, back straight. What did they mean by “slightly”? I tried to follow Zerpell’s posture as best as I could.

“Shuiren, your waist… a little more…”

“Eek! Wh-what?!”

As I tried to mimic him by eye, I inevitably made small mistakes. Then, Zerpell suddenly grabbed my waist. The unexpected touch gave me goosebumps, and I let out a yelp before I knew it. When I spun around, he looked slightly flustered.

“Did I startle you?”

“What are you doing?!”

“Just correcting your posture…”

“Oh…”

How embarrassing. He was just trying to correct my stance. I overreacted — I told myself not to do that again next time.

But I failed to keep that resolution. This time, he ran his hand down my back, and I jumped. Was I always this sensitive to touch? I didn’t think so… Zerpell seemed amused by my reaction and chuckled softly. When I glared at him, he smiled slyly.

“You did that on purpose just now!”

“Hmm…”

He feigned a cough as if to deny it, but he couldn’t fool me — I saw his chest rise ever so slightly. As we played around like that, I ended up mastering the posture faster. I wasn’t perfect yet, but at least it was good enough not to get criticized.

At some point, the door was wide open, and Ian stood there, clearing his throat. He spoke calmly.

“Lesson time is over. Also, I brought the clothing catalog you requested.”

He smiled brightly, and I scratched my cheek awkwardly. His expression was clearly a professional one, masking his true feelings. He had probably seen everything that happened with Zerpell. I felt oddly guilty…

Zerpell returned to his office at Ian’s word, and I sat on the table flipping through the clothing catalog Ian had brought.

Since it was a New Year’s Festival and an imperial ball, I was looking at custom-made outfits. One-of-a-kind pieces. While Zerpell reviewed documents, I reviewed outfits. Technically, we were only ordering my outfit, but I also looked at potential designs for Zerpell.

My master never cared much for fashion. As I peeked at him, I tried to find a design that would suit him. I had already chosen mine. Hmm, this one looks good.

“Master.”

“Have you decided?”

“How about this one? This is mine.”

“Just one?”

One is enough, isn’t it? What else would I need?

“Seems like you didn’t find many that you liked.”

“No? I picked this one after narrowing it down a lot.”

Seeing his crooked smile and teasing tone, I quickly showed him the design I had chosen, worried he might actually scold me. I explained that I had a hard time deciding because there were so many options.

“Anyway, what about this? Don’t you think it’ll look good on you? You haven’t picked yours yet, right?”

“…I suppose they’re probably choosing one for me around now.”

“That’s why I picked one for you!”

See? I knew it. Last time during the rain ritual, he didn’t even bother choosing an outfit. He looked baffled at the fancy clothes Ian brought. This time too, I figured Ian was probably handling it on his own.

“So, do you like the design? For the color, I guess black or grey suits you best?”

I was enthusiastically explaining the merits of each design when I felt a heated gaze beside me. Tilting my head, I looked up. Zerpell was twirling my hair around his fingers as he spoke.

“Why?”

“Shall we wear matching outfits? You in white, me in black.”

“Uh… Matching outfits?”

Wasn’t that a bit much? But thinking that it would clearly show our bond, I agreed. Wearing the same design would make us look close, wouldn’t it?

“Sure! Then which design should we choose? Personally, I like this one. The patterns aren’t too flashy…”

I picked out a design from the ones I had considered, one that would suit both me and Zerpell. He gave a satisfied smile at my approval and suddenly lifted me up and sat me on his lap. Then he began to share his thoughts more actively.

Was wearing the same outfit really that exciting? I was a bit puzzled, but we ended up chatting at length about clothing. Had I known what it would mean to wear the same design as him, I definitely wouldn’t have agreed. But at that time, I had no idea.