Chapter 105

Breaking the bed (5)

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It had only been a few days since her husband told her, ‘you are a married woman’. So she would like to decline this offer to become a daughter-in-law candidate.

‘Besides, isn’t the Queen my mother-in-law? And Hamill is my brother-in-law.’

What to say about a mother-in-law who introduces her newlywed daughter-in-law to another son…

Even exaggerated dramas weren’t this crazy.

Aristine’s gaze at the queen grew even odder.

‘Even if I’m that desirable, it can’t happen.’

She had already signed a business contract with Tarkan. She couldn’t break the contract one-sidedly or deceive him.

Aristine quickly turned vigilant as she looked at the Queen.

* * *

The Queen, Yenikarina, Paellamien, and Starlina looked at Aristine, completely speechless. The same went for the court ladies who were waiting on them for teatime.

They all stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at Aristine.

‘Did she just…’

‘What does she…?’

After a moment of silence, they fully understood what was going on.

The Queen’s face blanched with anger. Even more agitated than her, was Yenikarina.

“What is that supposed to mean, Princess?”

“Huh?”

“Saying you’re a married woman, what exactly does that mean!”

“Exactly as it sounds…it means I am a married woman. I am not single.”

Aristine was startled by how agitated Yenikarina seemed.

The fact that she and Hamill couldn’t get together wasn’t something to be so despaired about, was it?

‘With Yenikarina’s personality, that’s impossible since…she hates me, doesn’t she?’

That’s what Aristine thought, but she couldn’t think of anything else that could explain the current situation.

“Hm, regardless, I’m Yenika’s sister-in-law.”

Even if she didn’t marry Hamill, she was already Yenikarina’s sister-in-law.

She said that with a smile to get Yenikarina to lighten up but for some reason, Yenikarina’s face instantly crumpled. Like a bug just flew into her mouth.

“Wait, what are you…! No way, my brother, Yenika’s big brother…with a girl like you…”

Bang!

Yenikarina slammed her hand on the tea table.

The dishes clattered and tea splashed out of the teacup. Even after doing so, she was heaving as if her anger had not settled.

“Yenika, calm down.”

Aristine began to try and calm down Yenikarina, who had gone red and flustered.

Paellamien looked at Aristine, feeling nervous. What other trouble was she going to cause?

“Although I am a married woman, we have already become one family. You don’t need to try so hard.”

Yenikarina felt her sight turn black. Her blood pressure instantly rose to an unbearable level.

“Princess.”

The Queen, whose anger had cooled to some extent, stiffly called out to Aristine.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” (Aristine)

“It seems you misunderstood me, but I was just talking about my son.”

To be more precise, she was trying to irritate Aristine by comparing Tarkan to him.

‘Ah, she must be embarrassed. Because I refused the proposal.’

Aristine gave the Queen a slightly sympathetic gaze. To be fair, it must hurt her pride. She shouldn’t have said that to her daughter-in-law though. Even if Tarkan is not her biological son.

Aristine decided to go along with the Queen to make her feel less embarrassed.

“Of course. And I was just telling you that I am a married woman.”

An incredibly thoughtful smile appeared on Aristine’s face.

The Queen’s face distorted.

‘That means you’re obviously misunderstanding what I said.’

“No, I was really just describing my son. After all, you are now a member of the royal family, and you haven’t seen Hamill yet; there’s no other meaning.”

“Yes, and same here, I am just reiterating that I am married. No other meaning.”

Aristine nodded to say she understood everything.

‘Understand what?! Your understanding is completely backwards!’

Feeling her head throbbing, the Queen grabbed her forehead.

It felt like she was going to hear the same thing back even if she said more. And the more she said, the more cumbersome it would be to explain herself.

It was no use. They couldn’t communicate so she had no confidence in success.

No way to win.

But to just leave this misunderstanding as it is, engulfed her in a sense of shame and defeat.

‘How did this happen?’

She even summoned the Princesses who moved at her beck and call to deal with Aristine, so she didn’t know how this came about.

As the Queen leaned back in her seat with exhaustion, Starlina who had been studying her, opened her mouth. Since she did something wrong earlier, she had to help lighten the mood of the Queen and Yenikarina.

“Frankly, it is only natural that Her Majesty the Queen has a lot to say about Brother Hamill. If I have a son like that in the future, I will want to show off every day.”

“Yes, me too,” Paellamien enthusiastically chimed in, “Isn’t he incredible? To think he’s in charge of the manastone mine.”

‘Manastone mine?’

Aristine perked up at Paellamien’s words.

“His Majesty trusts Brother Hamill the most, that’s why he was entrusted something so important.”

It was also intended as a way to appease the nobles who were against marrying the Princess of Silvanus to Tarkan.

The side supporting Hamill strongly opposed it. However, if Hamill himself wasn’t capable enough, he wouldn’t have been entrusted with a huge national project known as the manastone mine.

“Indeed, imagine how busy he is. He can’t even return to the royal palace because of that. That’s why they say if you’re too talented and useful, you will be troubled.”

The Queen, whose headache had mellowed a little, huffed and smiled.

This was because Hamill’s political position had risen even further after he was put in charge of the manastone mine.

“Then his absence due to official duties is because of the manastone mine?”

Hearing Aristine’s question, the Queen went ‘Indeed’ and turned to look at her. Expecting Aristine to feel quite resentful.

But there was only admiration in Aristine’s eyes.

“Yes, Sister Rineh, you understand how amazing this is too, right? I doubt there’s anyone who doesn’t know how important mana stones are. And Royal Father entrusted this to none other than my brother Hamill.”

Yenikarina said proudly.

Perhaps her mood was restored, or she had calmed down, but her tone had returned to normal.

Her eyes coldly glared at Aristine.

‘My big brother is a thousand times better than your husband,’ her gaze seemed to say.

Aristine didn’t particularly care what Yenikarina was going on about but…

‘Of course, then it makes sense why his duties are not known to the public.’

If you compare it to her past life, it was similar to the discovery of oil. It was a wise idea to postpone the announcement of this, because waves were already being made in the international circle due to the political marriage between Silvanus and Irugo.

“That’s true. How nice.”

Aristine spoke enviously.

Her face was full of honest envy. She was well aware of the incredibility of the manastone business.

‘To be more precise, the incredible amount of money it makes.’

However, Aristine was still a long way from taking charge of a manastone business. It was a strategic national project so it was a business field that individuals could not enter.

‘I envy you golden spoons.’

A business like that came with guaranteed success.