Chapter 34
Odelia’s Preference Contest (2)
Thus began the Odelia Preference Contest.
For some reason, the contest that had only been suggested in the morning was already in full swing before 1 PM.
To make things even more absurd, there were so many participants among the marquisate’s staff that they had to hold preliminary rounds.
…Honestly, this whole thing felt more insane than any trouble I’d stirred up since arriving here.
Soon, Annie’s voice echoed through the speakers.
“After fierce preliminaries, we have six final contestants!”
That’s… a lot.
I was quite curious about what the preliminary round theme had been, but I figured finding out would just be a hassle, so I decided to ignore it.
“I’m sure many of the eliminated participants are curious about the theme of the preliminary round!”
But our sparkly show-off Annie ignored my wishes and continued speaking.
“The preliminary theme was: name five of Lady Odelia’s strengths!”
Oh, come on!
My head throbbed. Five? Just looking at me should make you list five thousand!
I glared at Annie, vowing to pinch her cheeks later.
But Annie just gave me a sparkling look like she wanted to be praised.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t participate in this contest.
I was both the judge and the prize.
Not to mention, if I entered, I would obviously win without competition.
While I mulled that over, the introductions for the finalists continued.
“Entry Number One! The real power behind House Snifter! Without him, there would be no Snifter family! Baizen Snifter!”
With Annie’s introduction, Baizen quietly stepped up to the platform, his face covered.
Clearly, he also found this whole situation ridiculous and humiliating.
If he was going to be that embarrassed, why even participate?
Annie then added that he had listed thirty of my strengths during the prelims.
Well, thanks for that.
“Master, could you share a few words of determination?”
Annie bounced over, shoving a mic toward him with zero tact.
In the past, someone might’ve feared getting shot for that, but the now peace-oriented Baizen posed no threat.
Still covering his face, Baizen simply said:
“Why is this madness happening in my house?”
Right? I’d like to ask that too.
How did all this start in our home?
In that moment, Baizen and I felt like kindred spirits.
Baizen quickly stepped down from the platform, clearly humiliated.
Next up: contestant number two.
To my dismay, it was Lucy.
“Miss! I’ll win this and grant your greatest wish!”
That wish would be for you to step down immediately.
I wanted to shout it, but couldn’t bring myself to when I saw her cheerful eyes.
Fine, do whatever you want.
At this point, no one would listen even if I screamed to stop the contest.
I gave up and rested my chin on my hand, sipping through a straw.
Then it was Ian’s turn.
He stepped up, tossing his sparkling blond hair back and forth under the sun before reaching a hand out toward me.
“I shall win and make you mine!”
At Ian’s declaration, the young staff all screamed in excitement.
They sounded so happy, no one dared stop them.
As for me, I honestly wished he’d tone it down.
I thought he’d dropped his obsessive male lead act, but here he was again, speaking as if I were property.
I’d have to show him soon just how unhinged my soul was.
And seriously, if he doesn’t stop tossing his hair like that, he’s going to give someone dandruff trauma.
Even after stepping down, he kept shaking his head like a rock star. It didn’t look cool—it looked dizzying.
Then Ginger stepped onto the platform.
Unlike the others, he was dressed quite formally, which made him stand out even more.
His neat navy uniform sharply contrasted with his fiery red hair. The same staff who had screamed for Ian were now looking up again.
At this rate, we’re going to have fan clubs sprouting everywhere.
“Milady, if I win, I want to become your husband.”
The smug grin on his face made me instinctively flip him off.
I seriously debated doing a full-on Star Lord-style middle finger spin.
Surprisingly, Ginger had just barely passed prelims by listing five of my strengths.
Well, I guess I should be grateful.
Next up was Rudolph.
His long hair had been tied up—at my suggestion—and it suited him well.
Looking at him, I thought he might be able to pull off a “celestial maiden” style next.
As soon as he spotted me, Rudolph beamed.
“Odelia, I love you.”
I asked for a statement of determination, not a confession.
Not that I minded, though.
But then, short screams broke out among the crowd.
Apparently, someone had fainted just from seeing Rudolph’s smile.
I’m sure we’ll be dealing with fan clubs here soon enough.
So far, that’s five contestants introduced.
Annie had said there would be six finalists, so one was left.
To be honest, I was most curious about this one.
Annie, being the host and organizer, wasn’t participating.
The head butler Akon and the head maid Strahd were also organizers and not competing.
So here’s a little quiz:
Did I really not rig this contest even a little?
“The final contestant is quite the surprise! It’s Nalla, the laundry room maid!”
Answer: No. Of course I planted someone to match my tastes.
Someone who knows I’m crazy and would do exactly what I say—a cute little pawn.
After sneaking out dressed as a maid a few times, Nalla and I got along fairly well.
Okay, truthfully, after she discovered my identity, she started following me around and doing little errands for me.
You could say we were fairly close now.
Close enough that she couldn’t easily refuse a favor from me.
And thanks to that, the situation was perfect.
Nalla stepped up, mumbling that she’d do her best, then bowed deeply.
“And that wraps up our contestant introductions! Now, we’ll explain the rules of the contest! Milady!”
After Nalla’s greeting, Annie called me up.
As I stepped onto the platform, a storm of voices erupted from below.
Most of it was: “Miss, please stop causing trouble,” “Don’t steal snacks from the kitchen,” “Please stop running in the halls,” etc.
Unbelievable.
Annoyed, I let out a loud screech into the mic and cleared my throat.
“Hello, everyone. You might be wondering how such a crazy contest came to be, but frankly, I’d like to ask that myself, so let’s skip the greetings.”
I took the cue cards from Annie and explained the game.
“The contest will be a quiz game. The person who answers the most questions correctly wins. I sincerely hope someone matches my tastes perfectly and ends this madness quickly. That’s all.”
A very concise explanation.
Honestly, I didn’t want to stand up here talking any longer than necessary.
I handed the cards back to Annie and returned to my seat.
Which—by the way—was ridiculous.
It was set like a tower at least three meters above the contestants.
Whoever designed this clearly intended to humiliate someone.
Also, how the hell did they even build this in a few hours?
I felt like a princess stuck in a tower, waiting for a prince to rescue her.
As I picked up my pen, Annie’s cheerful voice rang out again.
“There will be ten questions! Milady will announce the correct answers herself! The person who answers the most questions correctly wins the contest!!”
Annie was fully in game show host mode.
She flipped to the next card and read the first question aloud.
“Question one! What is Lady Odelia’s ideal type?”
A surprisingly normal question.
“There are choices for this one. Please write your answer after hearing them.”
I nodded, thinking it was a light, fun question fitting the contest.
Annie flipped the card and continued.
“1. Sexy Ginger Starwood. 2. Cutie Rudolph Märchen. 3. Pretty Ian Imperial. 4. Smart Baizen Snifter.”
As she rattled off the names, my face twisted.
Who the hell made this hellish balance game?
Any choice was awful!
“Most participants listed questions about Lady Odelia’s ideal type, so we turned it into a shared question. The descriptive words were submitted by each contestant.”
At that, I looked down at the contestants.
Lucy, clearly upset about not being selected, sulked, while Nalla didn’t seem to care either way. The other four looked very confident.
“Sexy?”
“I am sexy,” Ginger said, rubbing his chin with a smirk.
If he wins, we’re getting divorced on the wedding day.
Next, I looked at Rudolph.
“Cutie?”
“Odelia likes cute things.”
Honestly, he was even more shameless than Ginger. There’s a limit to “cute.”
Then I turned to Ian, who looked just as confident.
“I am beautiful.”
“…Have you lost your mind, Your Highness?”
I looked down at him with genuine disgust. Sure, he’s handsome, but what the hell.
Lastly, I looked at Baizen.
Thankfully, he seemed to be the only sane one here.
‘Smart.’ It suited him, but he looked mortified and kept his head down.
“By the way, Master didn’t submit anything, so I added that myself,” Annie chimed in.
Ah. So Annie was the culprit.
“Thanks for the effort.”
Baizen just nodded silently.
Out of sympathy, I jotted down my answer:
‘5. Normal person.’
I prefer a boring average guy over any sexy, cutie, or pretty nonsense. Normal is best.
Naturally, there was some backlash.
But when I said I preferred one sane person over four lunatics, everyone nodded in agreement.
“Alright, with everyone in agreement, let’s move to the second question! Question two: Does Lady Odelia like money?”
…Annie, you have no intention of making these questions normal, do you?
I seriously questioned the integrity of this contest as I drew a big circle on the paper.
A pot of desire always stays true to its nature.
I am the vessel of greed in this greedy era.
Naturally, everyone got that one right.
After a few more fun questions, we finally reached the last round.
So far, it was neck and neck between Nalla and Ginger, each with five correct answers.
This question would decide the winner.
“The finalists are Duke Ginger Starwood and Laundry Maid Nalla! The final question will determine the victor!”
Annie, visibly excited, practically snorted as she bounced around.
Someone really needs to give her some calming tea.
With a dramatic flourish, she raised the final card.
“Final question! Does Lady Odelia like men?”
Okay, who the hell wrote this?
“For your information, the question was submitted by His Highness the Crown Prince!”
Ian looked up at me seriously, his face full of genuine curiosity.
Why do these people care so much about whether I like men or women?
I lifted my pen, seriously reconsidering how these people even viewed me.
