The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress

Chapter 390: A scandalous proposal.

In the royal castle, around the moat which had been turned into a dating venue for royals under parasols, shiny lights and delightful music, Crown Princess Sigrid reclined on a beach chair, sipping on Mauve’s version of coconut pineapple cocktails served in pineapple shells. She had also mad alcoholic version that other royals were enjoying.

Surrounding Sigrid were four of the empire’s currently famous most scandalous noblewomen--each a walking headline, daily.

Lady Percival, who was already partially intoxicated, Duchess Crane that was staring daggers at Lady Thistlebaum. Lady Thistlebaum that was looking everywhere but at her one time best friend and Miss Nora Ashford, daughter of a rake and female rake herself. She was was rumored to be involved with six men, currently. Rumor had it that she was preparing to propose a law that allowed women to take two husbands or more.

Mauve and Christie, of course were there. Mrs. Elsworth too and she was trying hard not to fumigate the air as it had been infected with immorality.

"I have gathered you here," Sigrid started with a wicked grin, "to give you a chance to indulge in your immorality without fear."

Mrs. Elsworth gasped.

Lady Thistlebaum did not like it. "I am not immoral."

Duchess Crane immediately replied. "Says the woman that was spreading her legs for my husband like a...."

"Ladies, ladies, ladies...." Sigrid clapped her hands. "Save this all for the reality show."

All four ladies stared. They were not familiar with what she was introducing to them.

"Are we going on stage?" Lady Percival asked.

"I am not a good actress." Miss Ashford shared as she slyly winked at Cosmos who winked back.

Mrs. Elsworth noticed and she rolled her eyes.

"It is a show about your lives. I want you all to form a group as friends or just acquaintances and you regularly meet up for events, tea parties and the like. You can even go for vacation together. You just have to wear small microphones sewn into your gowns and be filmed at all hours, except bath time--unless you have no problems with that too."

Again, Mrs. Elsworth gasped. But this time, she was not the only one.

"Calm down everyone, I am suggesting that you go on tv naked or anything. We...the filming crew would of course edit and cover any nudity, accidental or intentional. The purpose of the show is to share the chaos of your lives with viewers for entertainment."

Duchess Crane narrowed her eyes. "You are not serious."

"Oh, but I am. Right now, all anyone can talk about in scandal land is what is going on between you, your husband and the Thistlebaum’s. Your servants are leaking information for a fee." She looked between the two women. "Why let them get rich off your scandal while you are not?" Turning to Lady Percival and Miss Ashford, she added, "The people are tired of all the never ending balls and debutante search for husbands. They want seduction, sabotage, secrets. You four embody this perfectly. You are walking plot twists."

Lady Thistlebaum fanned herself, fanning in disbelief. "I am not going to parade my chaos like a trained peacock"

"Oh but you will." Sigrid smiled sweetly. She gestured for Lady Thistlebaum to move closer and whispered to her. "I have leverage over you. I know that Lord Crane is not the only man you have been seeing. You took one of your younger footmen on a vacation in the South last year and things got steamy between you two."

Lady Thistlebaum gasped as she stepped back.

Sigrid gestured for Lady Percival to move closer and whispered to her, "I know that you are the seller of Widow’s brew, an outlawed wine which is brewed using some illegal substances. If this gets out, you will end up in a mine, digging for minerals in some small town for the rest of your life."

She gasped as well.

Next was Miss Ashford and to her Sigrid whispered, "You exchange dirty letters with stable hand named Gawain. Some of the things you fantasize about doing would put the most famous whore in the empire to shame."

Nora Ashford whimpered.

Last was duchess Crane who was wondering what Sigrid was whispering. "Your son is a petty thief. He does not have to be because he is from a wealthy family so he does it for the thrill. But if people find out what he is.....I am afraid his life will forever be ruined. No daughter of a good noble house will marry him. Anything that goes missing anywhere he is, people will point fingers at him. And someday...someone that hates him will kill him and claim it was because he stole something important."

Sigrid stretched her arms and smiled deviously at all four women. "Now, what do we think of my idea?"

Lady Percival was the first to reply. "Wonderful. My life is an open book filled with riveting scandals anyway."

"Who doesn’t like money?" Lady Thistlebaum laughed nervously. "If anyone is going to profit from my scandal, it should be me." noveldrama

"I want to be a villain, like Blanche." Miss Ashford declared.

Lady Crane was the only one left to climb on board. She looked at Sigrid for a while. For her, scandal collided with the preservation of her son’s reputation and that of her entire family. "You are not as nice as people say you are." she said. voice dangerously low.

Sigrid did not mind. "I have never claimed to be nice. People often mistake the fulfillment of my duties for nice."

"I will do your show but if my secret comes out, I am done." She threatened.

"Mine too." One by one, the ladies said.

They said that now, but Sigrid highly doubted that they would do so after the show found popularity. In fact, if their secrets were revealed to the public, they would be even more desperate to use the show to correct the narrative.

"So what’s in it for you?" Duchess Crane asked Sigrid.

Sigrid opened her arms and laughed, "Isn’t it obvious? I want to be entertained and court clowns juggling balls in the air while riding unicycles is not thrilling. I need to be saved from boredom and you four are going to do it for me. So, impress me ladies. I will take care of wardrobe, make up, jewelry....unless you prefer to use your own. I will even foot the bill of where you vacation or take trips to. All I want as an investor is ratings."

"And scandal." Mauve pitched in.