Vomiting after drinking too much always made her feel better, less dizzy, less drunk. She knew it didn't change the amount of alcohol absorbed in her system, but somehow, it felt like it did. Usually, she would immediately feel lighter, a little less hungover, but even after emptying her stomach, Hazel didn't feel better, she was still miserable and confused, she still felt like she was slowly losing her mind.

She felt so lethargic that she didn't even know how she pushed herself away from the toilet bowl. Her mind utterly blank, she barely noticed when Sophie washed and dressed her.

"Miss Hazel, before you go meet his highness the prince, I need you to tell me everything you remember."

Hazel guessed she was talking about what Hazel Vedar would remember. "Erm... my name is Hazel Vedar, like you said, I'm the daughter of Elias and Maeve Vedar, grand duke and grand duchess of Zahar. You are Sophie... Bonpin?... I think... and we are currently in the Grand dukedom of Zahar."

"Almost perfect, except we are not in Zahar but in the Yanera manor, your family’s residence in Demetria. Do you remember why we came here?"

"Erm..." Hazel browsed her memory for the answer. She had read the book literally yesterday, she cannot have forgotten already, right? "I remember!", she finally exclaimed after a few seconds of concentration. "We came for the... for my engagement, right?"

"Exactly! Now, do you think you can go to the reception and meet his Highness?"

Hazel shook her head fervently. She could barely hold this conversation without feeling like her temples were on the verge of exploding. She highly doubted she could subject herself to one of the Hazel-Darin confrontations. “I don't think I can do that. Can't I just stay here and enjoy the silence?"

She was starting to panic again. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. It was too much too soon for her.

“Breathe,” Sophie tried to soothe her. Hazel did as she was told, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “I know you’re a bit confused at the moment, but you can do it.”

“I don’t think I can…”

“Of course you can! You’re Hazel Vedar, daughter of Elias and Maeve Vedar and future Empress of this sorry Empire! There is nothing you cannot do.”

Sophie’s tone was very uplifting as she delivered her pep talk. Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do.

"But—" She wanted to tell her that she wasn't the Hazel they knew, that it might be better to wait for her to return before proceeding with such an important thing, but Sophie cut her.

"Don't you want to be the Empress anymore? Please my lady, no one else but you can receive the Holym ring. We can think of other options later, but we shouldn’t completely forsake this plan. You don't even need to stay that long, just come in, greet him, make some small talk, get the ring and send him back on his way to the palace."

Hazel could see the alarm in Sophie's eyes. In the novel, Sophie was a very very minor character with barely enough personality for the reader to note her existence. She was the second daughter of a Zahari count who had been chosen to be the villainess' lady-in-waiting. She and Angela had been used in the novel to showcase Hazel Vedar's cruelty and violent outburst of anger.

The interactions she had seen earlier and the conversation they were having now felt weird... a little too different from the plot for comfort.

Hazel pinched herself again, hoping once again that she wouldn't feel anything. Unfortunately, it hurt like hell. It looks like she’d have to go along for a bit longer.

"Okay, I'll go get the ring. But only because no one else can do it."

"Thank Pradma Hazn. I knew you would understand”, the lady-in-waiting replied, chuckling lightly. “Just remember to behave normally."

"How do I even do that?!", Hazel asked, feeling panic take over her once more.

"I'll show you!"

Sophie then proceeded to give her a crash course on etiquette.

They started with greetings and the different titles to use when meeting members of the imperial family and other nobles. It wasn't hard, she had a good memory so she knew she would remember.

"Great!" Sophie smiled brightly when she felt like her teachings had been properly received.

"What do we do now?" Hazel asked.

"Now, we go over table manners."

It was a grueling 20 minutes, where Hazel felt like the brunette was trying to shove five hundred volumes of etiquette into her skull. But in the end she could speak like a character straight out of a Jane Austen novel and execute the proper bows and greetings.

She doubted she'd need all of this but Sophie had insisted that it was better to be overly prepared than make a mistake. She didn't agree but who was she to contradict the woman.

When they were done and ready to go, Hazel, unable to push her curiosity down, finally asked the question that had been swimming through her mind for a while.

"What did y— we do yesterday for us to end up in this state?"

"We went to a hidden bar to celebrate your birthday. Your coming of age ceremony is coming soon and everyone in the Empire will be there, but we wanted to do something special, just the 4 of us. One thing led to another and we may have had one too many drinks. The three of you thought you could handle it because you're used to drinking the watered down beer they sell in the taverns near the estate, but obviously you were wrong."

Seeing how much fun Sophie was having retelling their adventure of the day before, Hazel could guess they all had a better relationship than what she gathered from the novel.

"You're not the worst though", Sophie continued. "You should see Alen. He's guarding the front door but he can barely guard himself from collapsing", she laughed heartily.

 

 

---

 

 

If Sophie hadn't done her best to convince her, she didn't think she would have had the strength to walk the distance between the room she woke up in and the reception room. Each step she took felt like the floor was a boat swaying under her. Despite that, she plastered a fake smile on her face and waltzed in the room.

"Finally awake, I see"

As she entered the reception room, Hazel was greeted by a snide comment coming from a brown-haired woman sitting across from a blond man.

"I was feeling horribly sick. I feared I might have caught a deadly illness so I had to check with the doctor first."

The brown-haired woman, she assumed was Rianon Brecht, the protagonist of the story, narrowed her eyes at Hazel.

"Is that so?"

"Of course. Had I been deathly ill, I would have to send his Highness back on his way as we cannot possibly subject him to such a danger. Thankfully the doctor ruled that it was a mere case of overexertion. There is nothing to fear."

It barely started and she was already done with these stressful human interactions that were forced upon her hungover self. First she had to endure the existential crisis of being transmuted into a character's body and now she had to sit through some love triangle drama and pretend not to want to puke.

Hazel moved slowly to the couch across from the prince, careful not to slouch like Sophie had instructed. She sat as delicately as she could next to Rianon.

Moving in a body she wasn't used to was hard enough but she also had to try and replicate the spotless etiquette that had been drilled in Hazel Vedar from a very young age. Needless to say, Hazel wasn't doing a great job; and if the offended glare she was getting from her supposed future fiance was any indication, she had probably forgotten to do something really important.

"Oh shit!", were the words that instinctively came out of her mouth when she realized she hadn't greeted the prince even once since she walked in. Ignoring the wide eyes of her audience, she replicated the quick curtsy Sophie showed her and repeated the words she taught her. "I greet his Highness, Darin Praetor, Second amongst men. Greetings to you too dear cousin." She then sat back down, not minding the heavy silence her actions had elicited.

Now comfortably seated, she took some time to observe the character she had read about only a few hours ago. She had been curious about the appearance of the prince who made two beautiful and accomplished women fight over him.

She had to admit that he was attractive, honey blond hair and piercing green eyes just as Amy had depicted him in her novel, a lean yet athletic figure that showed the years of swordsmanship he had to go through as a high-ranking noble and all that wrapped in expensive clothing that fit him perfectly like a glove. He was surely handsome but he wasn't really her style. At first glance, she didn't see what in him was worth Hazel Vedar throwing her sanity through the window. She speculated a little sarcastically that he could have a great personality.

"Miss Hazel Vedar", he greeted back, a little disrespectfully then she had been but disrespectfully nonetheless. "To what do we owe the honor of you blessing us with your presence." There was no smile on his face, nor warmth in his voice and demeanor. He greeted her the way one would an intruder and not his future fiance.

Hazel remembered this scene in the novel. It had happened a few weeks after Hazel Vedar and Rianon arrived in the capital. By that point, Darin and Rianon had already met a few times and the prince was fully obsessed with the soft-spoken heroine. Although the novel never explicitly said that Rianon felt the same, considering the genre of the novel as well as her willingness to spend time with Darin and her acceptance of his overt affection, Hazel had assumed that the female lead was just as in love with the male lead.

A few days before their engagement was officially announced, Darin had come to the Yanera mansion to propose to his fiance before telling her that he had no intention of ever loving her even if they were bound to get married. In the midst of them exchanging scathing remarks, Rianon had innocently walked in, prompting the prince's entire demeanor to do a 180. The scene had ended with Rianon and Darin leaving the reception room while Hazel had been left alone to burn with rage and envy.

Although Darin's hostility was still very much there, it seemed her tardiness had already changed the scene.

"And here I thought you came here for me. I have to say, I am a bit hurt. I put on my prettiest dress to greet my beloved fiance only to discover that he had completely forgotten about my existence." She replied, trying to emulate what she felt the villainess would say.

Hazel had still no idea where she was or what exactly was going on but she knew she would be going back home very soon. She figured she might as well play the role she was given at the moment.

The grimace that appeared on Darin's face told her she did a great job.

“How could I when your exploits are on the frontpage of every newspaper in the city,” He finally retorted with a mocking tone. “For someone who’s sick, you seemed quite energetic last night.”

Hazel narrowed her eyes. The taunt wasn’t lost on her, but she didn’t understand how he would know what the villainess had been up to the night before.

With a bright smile, the crown prince added, “I do hope you left some wine for the other patrons. I would hate to see such a respectable establishment go out of business because of the lady.”

Hazel’s eyes narrowed further as she tried to understand how he knew so much.

[Did he just imply his fiance has a drinking problem?]

In Lovely Goddess, Darin and Hazel Vedar had been unofficially engaged for around 10 years, but they had never gotten along. The villainess, even as a child had been obsessed with becoming the Empress, that obsession had made her want to possess Darin, bend him to her will. Darin had never felt any affection for Hazel Vedar, the more he interacted with her, the more his lack of interest turned to hatred. Antagonism was the dynamic that ruled their relationship. Their union was doomed before it was confirmed, Rianon’s arrival had only precipitated its end.

Hazel chose to ignore the prince and focus her attention elsewhere. Her head was already pounding, she didn’t have the energy to decipher his cryptic insults, and even less to reply with her own.

When she turned towards Rianon, the heroine's expression left her a bit puzzled. The way Rianon was drinking her cup, only her eyes were visible, but the bemused twinkle in her eyes as well as the slight rise of her cheekbones suggested that she was smirking.

Hazel regretted this sitting arrangement. Rianon seemed way more interesting to observe. While Darin was rather predictable and a bit disappointing, Rianon was anything but. Her long tight brown curls cascading along her arms matched her skin almost perfectly. She had a mischievous air about her that Hazel hadn't discerned while reading the book.

Noticing that she was being watched, Rianon sent Hazel a condescending smirk. "You arrived at the right moment, cousin, his Highness was about to show me the Holym ring. You know how I've always been curious about the Temple's magical items, it will be my first time seeing one this close.” She ten turned to the prince and, with what Hazel could only describe as ‘a very calculated, obviously fake sad pout’, she added, “It's a shame I cannot touch it."

The Holym ring was the ancestral jewel that the heir of Prath offered to his fiance as a token of his eternal devotion and love. It was said to have been gifted by Demetrius, the first pratheen Emperor to the first Empress.

It was in fact a magical item that attached itself to the first person who touched it directly. It could only be removed after the wearer’s death or by the Temple’s high priest, who usually did so in front of the altar while officiating the wedding ceremony between the crown prince and the crown princess-to-be. Hazel couldn't keep her mind from associating the magic ring with the imagery of a shackle — and it wasn't just because the mere mention of marriage left a sour taste in her mouth.

In the novel, Darin had begrudgingly given the ring to Hazel but had later petitioned the Temple to have it removed from her hand so he could officially welcome Rianon as his future wife.

"It's only an old thing that we keep for the sake of tradition." Darin replied immediately in an attempt to soothe . Hazel had a feeling that he wasn't just talking about the ring. "I'll give you something better if you so desire. How about a ball gown made of melanthian silk?"

Hazel rolled her eyes.

They were acting like they were the only people in the room, like she hadn’t walked through the door a few minutes ago.

[This guy doesn’t even care about keeping appearances anymore.]

"If you offer it so earnestly, what else can I do but accept." Rianon said, comically batting her eyelashes at a very smitten Darin. She laughed for a few seconds and Hazel felt the sound travel through her eardrum and into her skull, wreaking havoc on its way.

Almost as though she knew the effect the noise had on Hazel's suffering body, the woman laughed louder, almost as though she was mocking Hazel.

[How was she described again? Gentle and pure? A heart unfit for deceit? Such bullshit!]

Seeing the blush taking over Darin's entire face, she refrained from letting out a groan of exasperation. As much as she loved the romance genre, she always had very little patience for love triangles. Being actually involved in one, directly or indirectly, was even more exhausting than reading it.

The rose-colored atmosphere floating around the couple was a bit nauseating and the loving gazes they sent each other felt disrespectful even to her who was nothing more than a spectator.

[I guess I should be glad that they at least have the decency to keep their hands to themselves. The stares, I can handle but PDA would really push me to my limits.]

Unfortunately for her, she had to stay with them until the prince decided to leave. She doubted he had any intention to leave anytime soon, which meant her suffering would not end either.