Chapter 7

“But?”

“…Not today…”

“Are you saying I’m ugly?”

“No way!”

I struggled with my feet and pressed myself close to the mirror. Then I could see myself better in the mirror. How I am in the mirror… aren’t I pretty? Oh my god. I must have slept too well. I still have pillow marks on my face. I know why the first guy freaked out as soon as he saw it. Thanks to Lisbeth’s pillow containing strange beans saying it’s good for the skin, my face was full of bean marks.

“I’m ugly.”

“…A-absolutely not.”

Look at her avoiding my eyes saying no. Lisbeth is the worst.

“What should I do with my cheeks?”

“It’ll get better over time.”

“…Not at all. Should I massage it? Hmm.”

No matter how much I don’t want to look good in front of dad, at least I don’t want to lose to Lilian. That’s why I was a little more concerned about my appearance, but I can’t believe there are bean marks on my cheeks. I sighed and fiddled with the marks. At that moment, the voice of the first guy filled the room with irratation.

“Rolling stone, stop.”

“Brother is always ugly so it doesn’t matter, but I have a pretty face! So it’ll take longer to get ready.”

His bad guy improved. I got angry and looked at Lisbeth. Lisbeth came out with this bonnet and tied the strap towards my cheeks more than usual to hide the part I was concerned about. It’s less visible that way… Haa… I guess I’ll use that bean pillow again! Meanwhile, the first guy approached me and stood next to me while smirking a bit for no reason.

“Excuse me.”

“Why? I’m busy.”

“Just now, did you get mad at me and call me brother? I think that’s what I heard.”

“…Oh my. You heard it wrong. Confession prince.”

“Are you embarrassed?”

He’s like a pervert who checks everything once again after listening to it. He lifted his cheekbones and stared at me intently.

“The word brother that I hear from Lilian is different.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I’m saying that I don’t want to hear it, unlike Lilian. Don’t ever call me brother again.”

“Uh. I won’t.”

That liar. He was surprised and clearly looked at me in amazement at the word brother just now. But he kept pushing me next to him as if he was embarrassed.

“Right, don’t do that. Are you ready now?”

“Yeah.”

I came down from the chair with pretty shoes and stood tall in my seat. A pure white dress, clothes full of frills in between, and a new white bonnet made my appearance more beautiful.

“All done!”

“Then let’s go now.”

“Okay okay. We have to go.”

I followed him around without any significant path. And just as I was leaving the door, the first guy suddenly pushed his hand into my face.

“Hand.”

“…What?”

“Give me your hand.”

“Why do I have to hold hands with you?”

“You might run away.”

“I’ll never run away.”

But confession prince was determined. Leaning slightly, I lost my way and he quickly grabbed my hand, swaying it around.

“You really don’t listen. There’s nothing pretty about you”

“There are a lot. I have a pretty face, a pretty voice, and I can’t find anything that isn’t pretty.”

“…If you don’t speak.”

At the time when I held his hand semi-forced and quarreled, the back of my head stung. It feels like something is strangely following me. I don’t feel so good but I figured it’s not a ghostly hunch. Someone following me not far away is like, ‘I’m watching you.’ Moving as if letting me know. I wondered if it’s an assassin, but I didn’t think it is because there’s no reason to kill me when I don’t have much. Or my knight? Is it the kind of person who secretly hides, protects me, and takes care of me?

‘Could it be dad?’

I thought it might be something like that for a while, but I quickly gave up on the idea. It’s never going to happen. The emperor in the original book didn’t give much love even though Bebeana tried to be loved so much. There was no way he cares about me. Then… Who is it? I wonder if the first guy is being watched somewhere. My eyes naturally fell on him. At an amazing timing, he looked at me and shook his head.

“Rolling stone.”

“Uhh. Confession prince.”

“Aren’t your legs sore?”

“Sore legs? Just by walking like this?”

I haven’t even walked ten steps since I got out of the room, so my legs don’t hurt. What kind of paper am I made of? There’s no way my feet would hurt that much. On top of that, the shoes given to my name in the Imperial Palace gave me the feeling of walking barefoot. I mean, it’s very comfortable.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Uh.”

Doubt lingered in his eyes as he checked once more. Ah, I know. Did this confession prince live only by being deceived? I jumped on the spot to prove he had nothing to worry about.

“Look. I’m totally fine. Don’t worry. I don’t whine because my legs hurt. Even though I look like this, I’m stronger than you thought.”

“Seems like it. Lilian goes crazy saying that it’s hard to walk a little bit. You must be strong because you’re a commoner.”

“That’s why she’s weird. She’s not even a baby. I’m perfectly normal. Confession prince.”

(T/N: Oof)

I wrinkled my face thinking about Lilian wanting to be carried when she’s 10 years old. It doesn’t fit her age. Acting cute should also be used in moderation. After holding his hand and walking for a long time, my eyes began to slowly see the place where they held the boat play.

It was a place where I could go a long way toward the forest opposite to the garden from the palace where I was. There was an artificial lake at the end made with light brown road. The sparkling lake water was beautiful thanks to the sunlight. My mouth opened automatically to the sight so large that it was difficult to capture at a glance.

“Whoa…”

“Is this your first time seeing this?”

“Yeah.”

“Commoners can’t watch even if they want to.”

“And that commoner’s song.”

If you just say nice things you would be likable, but if your feelings are devided you can’t look good if you talk. You say that whenever you see my face. I turned my gaze back to the lake. Come to think of it, it’s a little strange. It looks quite artificial but also made naturally? The first guy who was quiet couldn’t stand it and opened his mouth.

“That lake was made by father for Lilian on her 5th birthday.”

“Ahh. I see. Mo-…”

“Mo?”

Money. The word almost popped out.

“…M-mo as in modest.”

“Commoners are very good at using weird words too. You should stop using those words. Father likes smart children.”

Gosh. He thinks I’m doing this to be chosen. That’s an illusion. He said father like smart kids, so I have to pretend I’m an idiot. I don’t want to do that.

“Everyone is gathered over there.”

The first guy pointed somewhere with his hand and where his fingertips touched dad, the second guy, and Lilian were sitting comfortably at the table. My face naturally stiffened when I saw it and my anger leaked out.

“AH. WHAT.”

I was a little embarrassed by what I said without realizing. It’s annoying to wear similar clothes in the world, but Lilian was sitting at the white tea table and chatting happily with dad, wore the same clothes as mine.

“Ah, the clothes are the same.”

To the point where you can believe we’re sisters. My face was so stiff that I thought I was dressed like this on purpose. If there’s a difference, it would be our head or face shape. Even the bonnet is the same.

“Oh my.”

Lisbeth’s face who picked out  the clothes also stiffened, perhaps because she saw it late.

“Princess, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be the same… I dressed you in the prettiest outfit… “

She pouted her mouth like she was quite upset. Well, that’s possible. It looked the prettiest even to me. Come to think of it, there’s no choice but to have similar clothes. Since I was a princess who came in late anyway, the wouldn’t have been able to measure my size and bought two sets of clothes roughly the same size as Lilian, one for me and one for her. I turned my head slightly toward the apologetic Lisbeth.

“Lisbeth.”

“…Yes?”

“Am I pretty?”

“That’s right. The princess is really beautiful.”

“Yeah. So it’s okay. Even if we wore the same clothes, I’m prettier. Don’t worry.”

Rather, thanks to wearing the same clothes I could clearly feel the difference in appearance between Lilian and me. Fufu. I looked at the tea table, letting go of my annoyed expression for a moment.

“You’re more confident.”

Again, the voice of the first guy that came in sharply.

“This isn’t a confession. It’s true.”

“…It’s true that I’m handsome.”

“No. Idiot brother is ugly.”

“…It feels like a combination of brother and fool.”

“Yes, that’s right. Stupid brother. Come on. Ah? But did you know what confession means?”

“Because I’m quick to catch on. Are you referring to someone who’s showing off?”

Ooh that’s amazing. I smiled and looked at him sideways.

“If it’s right, praise me for saying it right.”

“I don’t want to.”

I smiled and waved his hand back and forth on purpose as if to show off. So funny. Since he’s a middle school student. Hitting and falling a few times in moderation is the answer. After a while we were able to find ourselves close to the tea table. As soon as he felt the first guy and I approached, dad put down his teacup and the expression on his face wasn’t very good. Like he’s angry.

“You’re late. Elterion.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Hmm? That’s it? Why aren’t you saying anything? I looked at confession prince who didn’t make excuses despite dad’s reprimand. I thought he’d say he was late because of me, but he didn’t say anything. It’s like he was saying he’s late because of himself. No way, if this is for me I just don’t like that. I quickly got caught between the first guy and dad.

“It’s because I’m late to prepare.”

“…”

For a moment, the eyes that had been looking at the first guy just now turned to me. As if contemplating me I couldn’t get used to the thorny eyes. I’m not the kind of person to flinch just because of those. After all dad is a human being anyway.

A bad guy with two daughters by his side thinking about who to sacrifice. So there’s no need to be scared or afraid. If only I could get everything I needed from him. As I looked at him without hesitation, he smiled and moved his gaze to the side.

“As expected, she’s also a unique kid. Rather than that, we should prepare.”

He stretched out and got up from his seat.

“Lilian is tired so let’s get ready.”

“Yes. Bebeana, you go and get ready to get on the boat too.”

“Yeah yeah.”

Ok, at least you’ve listened to me as much as shit here, so I’ll have to pretend I’m listening to the first guy. I approached a boat not far away. The first guy moved close to me, whether he was worried or had other intentions. Lilian came to a step later into dad’s arms, smiled broadly and pointed to her stomach.

“Lili wanna wide the boat.”

“Sure. Come on, let’s get on the boat. Who does our Lili want to ride with today?”

(T/N: Idk if it’s just me but her relationship with Elterion is lowkey cute? He’s still a narcissist tho. Also don’t tell me that Lili will want to ride with Bebe :>)