Episode 3: A fiancée with a business addiction; will this marriage be okay? (2)
Translated by: Miss Ruby
T/N: ‘Waiting room’ from the last chapter has been changed to ‘tea-room’. I thought ‘waiting room’ made more sense, but I’ve changed my mind.
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The silver hair gleamed as though sunlight was hovering over it. It looked even more vivid as it contrasted with the dark hair of Tarkan who was sitting right next to it.
‘No way…’
They tried to deny the possibility but in this situation, it was obvious who the owner of that silver hair was.
“Enter. Why are you just standing there?”
The King asked the three who were standing still.
Only then did they come to their senses and walked towards the tea-table.
The closer they got the Aristine, the more their hearts stirred ominously but they tried to push the feeling down.
They were only surprised because the scene was a little different from what they expected but it wasn’t that odd. In that way, they comforted themselves several times.
‘It’s just silver hair. There’s black hair, red hair, and even blonde hair, of course, there are many people with silver hair. It’s just ordinary silver hair.’
Neither the shade nor the sparkle of the hair could be called ordinary so it wasn’t just silver hair. It was a color that made you feel the scent of flowers just by looking at it.
‘R-Right. So her hair was originally silver. I thought it was a dull gray, like dust. Well, that’s possible. She did get washed. Hair, yes. Just her hair…’
‘Right. No matter how much she cleans up, that face of hers won’t suddenly turn pretty.’
After whispering to each other as such, their shrunken shoulders swelled up again. The fact that they had even been flustered hurt their pride, so their tongues turned poisonous and they jeered at Aristine.
“I came to see royal father but dear me, the rumored princess is also here.”
“I didn’t expect to see her here so that surprised me.”
Like that, they made excuses for their pause earlier.
“It’s an honor to get to see her ahead of time. Since she is the princess of the age-old Empire, I expect she must be just as graceful and intelligent.”
“Elder brother, you can just be honest. You’re looking forward to how beautiful she is. After all, the Silvanus Imperial family is famous for their good looks.”
“Haha, was it that obvious? I think Tarkan is very lucky.”
There was only one reason for them to praise Aristine so much. To raise her high, and even higher into the sky, then drag her into the mud.
“The Silvanus Imperial family is one of the oldest bloodlines indeed. A noble blood with both beauty and talent…”
The 1st princess, Paellamien, who was smiling softly as she walked towards the tea table, paused when she saw Yenikarina’s face.
Yenikarina had a smile planted on her face as always. However, her smile was oddly stiff, and her complexion was a little pale.
‘She should be enjoying this the most, why is she…’
Something was strange.
Ever since she saw Aristine’s back, she had been pressing down the ominous feeling in her chest, telling herself it was okay, but the feeling kept growing. Now, it had grown so big that she couldn’t push it down anymore.
Something was definitely wrong.
The moment she thought that, Aristine turned around to look at them. Her silver hair moved aside with a flutter, revealing a small face.
Mysterious purple eyes veiled under long lashes, white cheeks that looked like whipped cream, and lips that looked as sweet as candy. Unlike the Irugoians who had strong features, her slender neck and limbs looked just like a fairy’s.
‘This is the beggar princess we saw earlier…?’
Unconsciously, a groan leaked from her mouth.
She already expected the princess to be clean by now. She expected her to dress up in fancy clothes and heavily adorn herself, but she thought it wouldn’t change anything.
The Aristine she saw earlier was just that messy and gross.
No one could have imagined that a beautiful woman, not just that, but beautiful enough to draw the eyes of everyone in the room at once, would be buried under that sight.
‘I thought you said she’s like a sewage rat?’
‘How should I know!’
A silent conversation went back and forth between them.
“Who?”
Aristine’s mouth opened and just hearing her voice felt unrealistic. The fact that the target of their admiration was alive, moving, and responding to them gave a completely different feeling from just calling her beautiful.
“Ah…I, I am Maarten, the 3rd prince of Irugo. It is an honor to meet you, Princess.”
Maarten, who had always been a womanizer, introduced himself to Aristine like he was possessed. He didn’t even notice that Aristine’s attitude when she asked ‘who’ was like she was talking to people below her.
‘Not even surprised; this fool has his brain between his legs, not his head.’
Paellamien frowned and haughtily lifted her fan.
“I am the 1st princess, Paellamien. I will let it go this time, but I expect you to mind your language next time, Princess.”
As if just think about it again made her speechless, Paellamien exaggeratedly gave a “Hah!” and snorted.
“‘Who’ she says. Surely, we don’t look like court ladies who came to serve.”
“Yes, exactly. You’re the princess of Silvanus, don’t you know such basic manners?”
The 4th princess, Starlina, made an expression like she couldn’t believe it and glared at Aristine.
Even when they criticized and looked down on her, Aristine’s expression did not change. Forget change, she didn’t even react.
As a result, Paellamien was the one who ended up shrinking back.
She had obviously attacked but the target just took it without even counterattacking, so it didn’t feel like it did any damage. Rather, it just made her feel uncomfortable.
It was only after an odd silence passed that Aristine quietly opened her mouth:
“I think you have misunderstood what I said…”
“I misunderstood? How is it a misunderstanding?”
It was an excuse so foolish it matched the rumors of the princess’ stupidity.
Paellamien smirked, thinking that once Aristine responded, she would stomp her so deep into the ground that she wouldn’t be able to raise her head again.
“I was not asking you who you were, I was talking to myself, wondering who you were. Because I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
“…!”
The moment she heard Aristine’s reply, Paellamien couldn’t say anything. Instead, she pretended to fan herself, half-covering her tingling face.
‘I didn’t think she’d remember my face in the middle of that chaos…’
Paellamien and Maarten were among the royal family members who went to Tarkan’s palace to watch Aristine’s arrival.
‘There’s no way, right? She must have passed me somewhere before, that’s why she feels like she’s seen me, right?’
She had already seen the princess earlier and even laughed at her.
However, when she entered the tea-room just now, she acted like she knew nothing and was just seeing the princess for the first time so the moment she got caught, she would look ridiculous.
‘And in front of royal father too.’
She couldn’t do anything that would earn her father’s disapproval. In the end, if she kept digging into things here, she would be the one at a disadvantage, so she had no choice but to shut her mouth.
‘Right, I’m sure she doesn’t know. I heard she wasn’t even properly educated or taught to deal with people because she was confined. Naturally, she doesn’t know how to talk in circles.’
Like that, Paellamien calmed her agitated mind.
‘I’m sure she just asked without thinking because she thought I look familiar. But just in case…’
Seeing Paellamien covering her face and fanning herself furiously while acting innocent, Tarkan laughed under his breath. It was amusing to see the 1st princess, who always went around with her head held high, standing there unable to say anything.
Translator’s Corner:
*My goodness, these names are just…chef’s kiss. I just googled it and used what google told me. Don’t come @me.
*Y’all, I typed Stalina, and my pc recommended for me to change it to Stalin. I almost died. Starlina is better, I guess.
*Why is Paellamien’s name so long?! It’s official. I hate her. Bring out the knives!
