My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 143

– Clack.

– Clack…

We were all walking quietly, really quietly.

Not just our group, but all the academy students were walking so quietly you could say they were nearly holding their breaths.

“Right now, you are in the Third Secondary Palace of the Imperial Palace, which is currently being used for relatively light purposes like academy tours or small meetings.”

Only one woman, acting as the guide in front of the assembled students and teachers, was explaining this.

Even though it was a relatively less important building, it was still a part of the Imperial Palace.

There were knights stationed in the hallway to prevent any trouble among the students… In many ways, this was not a very ordinary situation.

“If you look up at the ceiling, you can see the beautiful fresco painted by the famous imperial painter Charles Leang.”

“Oh…”

The atmosphere was basically quiet, but then again, they were teenagers.

It was a bit much to expect too much patience and restraint from kids around 13 or 14 years old, after all…

“It’s such a pretty mural.”

“Right?”

It was indeed a beautiful painting.

Not just a simple mural, but a massive artwork covering the ceiling, and it wasn’t just one but close to ten of them.

It was hard to find many who could look at that and just shrug it off as no big deal.

I wasn’t someone with a huge interest in art or such things.

But still, I was quite interested in the category of ‘pretty things.’

The reason I collected jewels and various ornaments since a long time ago, and formed ties with gem artisans was all for that reason.

“From here to the end of the hallway, such ceiling paintings continue. The stories depicted in these murals are about the founding myths and the history of the Solkemia Empire up to now…”

Listening to the guide’s explanations, I slowly took in the sights of the Third Secondary Palace.

While exploring, I was struck by how impressive it was, truly feeling that an Imperial Palace was an Imperial Palace… Honestly, I didn’t mind how much time it took.

It’s not like I’d get to tour the Imperial Palace very often in my life.

“Indeed, an Imperial Palace is an Imperial Palace, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this before… It really feels like an empire, unlike the scale I imagined as a mere baron’s household.”

“To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be this grand either.”

“Hehe, well, there’s no way it wouldn’t be. If the Third Secondary Palace is this big, just how massive must the second and first ones be?”

After finishing our tour of the palaces, we were given a brief moment of free time.

I was sitting with Grace on a decent chair, having that kind of conversation.

In fact, it wasn’t just Grace and me; most of the students were still in shock after seeing the Imperial Palace and couldn’t help but keep looking at the buildings.

“A little later, we’ll be going into the main palace. Don’t you wonder how much more magnificent it’ll be?”

“Of course.”

“Hehe… This garden we’re in right now honestly feels way too different compared to the gardens we’ve seen up till now, right? This could almost be called a park!”

After discussing with a tone of reverence for the Imperial Palace, we finally headed to the highly anticipated main palace.

Despite the presence of the First and Second Secondary Palaces, we were told we wouldn’t be seeing them today, so we headed directly to the main palace.

Just seeing the main palace from a distance made it hard to estimate the amount of money spent on its construction.

I couldn’t wait to see how impressive the inside would be.

Honestly, I was really curious.

If the Secondary Palaces were astounding, how lavish and beautiful could the main palace, the core of the Imperial Palace, possibly be…? I was genuinely excited.

“Camelia, it’s time to get up.”

“I’m sorry. I was just really looking forward to seeing the main palace…”

I had been sitting too long, which prompted Ivana to say something to me.

Anyway, now was the time to go see the most famous and important main palace of the Imperial Palace.

Even from afar, it was undeniably radiant; the palace decorated with pure white marble and gold was more than sufficiently splendid.

It was likely that most of the students, not just me, would think it was magnificent upon seeing the Imperial Palace.

It was much more remarkable than the usual academy buildings, after all.

*

The tour of the Imperial Palace concluded.

Of course, there were some places we weren’t allowed to enter, so we hadn’t seen absolutely everything, but we definitely managed to look around the main palace.

The tour that progressed from the garden, to the secondary palaces, and finally the main palace was really enjoyable.

Honestly, at first, I thought the palace tour would wrap up by the morning.

“Huh… Ugh…”

By the time we returned to our lodging, evening had fallen without us realizing it.

The time we spent exploring the Imperial Palace took much longer than we initially thought.

The sheer size of the palace was overwhelming, and with so many academy students involved… we really walked a lot.

In fact, if I exaggerated the time spent touring the palace, it could easily be said to have taken almost half a day.

“I’m so tired…”

“Lady, how about changing your clothes and lying down for a bit…?”

“Ugh, I’ll have to wash up again soon… It’s such a hassle…”

Right now, I was lying lazily on the floor, exactly as Rize advised.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one being like this.

“My legs hurt so much from all that walking…”

“Sis, would you like me to massage them for you…?”

“Y-You’d do that…?”

Everyone was lounging comfortably on the couch.

We had been moving around non-stop, and the vastness of the Imperial Palace made it inevitable.

We had spent nearly the entire morning just exploring the garden and the secondary palaces…

“…There was a reason the itinerary only mentioned the Imperial Palace.”

Seriously.

We really had walked an insane amount today.

I felt like I walked more today than I had in any single day at the academy.

“Isn’t Ella tired?”

“Unlike you, I actually do some physical training regularly, you know? I don’t just slack off during PE class at the academy.”

“Oh.”

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea for you to do some exercise regularly? If there was a PE exam at the academy, you would’ve definitely flunked it.”

“……..”

It wasn’t easy to argue against that.

Despite being healthy and flexible, my endurance and such… were definitely lacking.

I probably wouldn’t fare too well if I competed against my friends in sports or anything.

I was really glad there was no physical exam in PE class at the academy.

“Thank goodness tomorrow will be a bit more… less walking around kind of day.”

“Sis, are you really tired?”

“Yeah…”

“Would you like me to massage your thighs too?”

“Would you really…?”

“Of course! It’s only natural as your younger sister if you’re having a tough time, right?”

Anyway… after touring the Imperial Palace, most of us were completely worn out.

The only ones who seemed okay were Ivana and Ella?

“…I thought Ivana would obviously not be weak, but I really don’t understand why Ella isn’t tired.”

“It’s because you’re just out of shape.”

“Grace and Karen are also complaining of tiredness, you know.”

I truly found it hard to understand.

I mean, it was true I was out of shape, and Karen was as well.

But even Grace, who was of average fitness, was feeling tired. Why on earth was Ella okay?

“I actually do exercise regularly, you know?”

“…Liar. I’ve never seen you doing it, so how can I believe that?”

The truth is, I had never seen Ella exercise at all, despite having known her for so long and spending a lot of time together.

“Shall we have an arm wrestling match? I think I could easily beat you.”

“Oh. It’s more likely I’d lose even if you didn’t work out.”

“…….”

Ella looked at me with a pitying gaze, but it was true.

I was out of shape, and most of my physical efforts came from magic or Rize.

“Besides, Ella’s always wearing loose uniforms and clothes, so it’s not like that’s noticeable at all, right?”

“Hm… That sounds a bit unreasonable…?”

“Anyway, I refuse to accept that Ella regularly works out!”

I sat up from my lounging position and said that.

Even though Ella didn’t seem tired after all we did today, denying that my friend Ella had exercise as a hobby was something I could not concede!

“Should I show my abs? They’re not super defined or anything, but…”

“Show me.”

“…Really?”

Ella looked a bit taken aback at my response.

But she was the one who brought it up first, and besides, we were both girls, right?

I didn’t think it was a big problem to just show her stomach, and I didn’t have an alternative way to prove Ella’s claim, anyway.

“U-Um… So, I just have to show it, right?”

“Yep.”

“Okay. I’ll show you then. But you have to acknowledge it for sure, okay…?”

“If they actually look like you say, then of course I’ll acknowledge it!”

I said with a smile.

Hearing that, Ella slowly grabbed the hem of her clothes.

She seemed a bit shy about the situation, her face flushing slightly, which was pretty adorable.

“…See? Doesn’t that look pretty toned?”

“Hmm…”

I observed carefully as Ella raised her clothes just enough to show her stomach.

It definitely wasn’t a soft, squishy belly.

Instead, it was really impressively firm… not quite a six-pack or anything, but certainly a very nice stomach.

I know “pretty stomach” sounds odd, but honestly, it was a pretty stomach?

“Wow, you have a pretty stomach.”

“R-Really?”

“It does look like you work out. I honestly thought you were kidding.”

“I told you I really do!”

Ella spoke in a slightly pitiful tone, clearly feeling wronged.

At this point, her hands tightened on the hem of her clothes, which showed she was genuinely hurt by my disbelief.

“…You all, how long are you going to keep at it?”

“Uh… Good question?”

It was at Grace’s comment that I suddenly remembered; we were all in the living room, and everyone had been watching my and Ella’s exchange that had been going on for a while.

…This seemed a bit embarrassing.

However, despite that, I had to admit Ella’s stomach truly was pretty.

I found myself thinking how I wanted to keep looking at it for a bit longer.