Chapter 31

A very shy pervert (2)

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As a result of the king’s declaration, Aristine’s usage of the old-fashioned carriage became something that happened entirely out of her own will, not because of the emperor’s cold treatment.

Since the King of Irugo acknowledged that, no one else could question any further on the subject.

‘She’s not an easy one.’

The Queen maintained a pleasant expression, looking unaffected, and gracefully lifted her glass. Of course, her insides were burning into cinders.

Right then, the vigorous voice of a man cut through the silence.

“Haha, I expected the Princess of Silvanus to be very prideful, but it seems you’re more unconstrained than I thought. It is nice to know that the new member of the family has a good nature.”

When he said the word ‘unconstrained’, he exaggerated it a lot. That was rather intentional.

Aristine looked at the person who was talking.

‘Duke of Skiela.’

Her mind ran over the information she had studied while she was eating with Tarkan before the audience.

‘The queen’s father. In other words, the grandfather of the 1st prince, Hamill, and the 2nd princess, Yenikarina, and apparently, a close adviser to Hamill.’

Understandably, it was not courteous to mention one’s country and go on about it, with your nose held high. However, the king, whose attitude was amicable towards Aristine, did not rebuke her.

Unlike Silvanus, which was entrenched in empty formalities and vanity, in Irugo, this level of laxity should be acceptable but─.

‘He’s testing me.’

Aristine accurately captured what the King was thinking.

‘Probably something along the lines of ‘you have to handle this much yourself’.’

It wasn’t just the King. Tarkan was also clearly studying her.

A corner of Aristine’s lips went up.

‘Alright, I suppose I have to live up to their expectations then.’

Meanwhile, people’s conversations continued.

“I like that the princess is unconstrained as well. After all, she came here as a representative of Silvanus and is wearing our Irugo clothes. This shows how much favor she has towards Irugo.”

Despite calling it ‘favor’, their expression looked like they wanted to call it ‘servile’ behavior.

Aristine could see the Silvanus handmaids mumbling among themselves in the back. They were probably whispering that she should have worn the Silvanus dress.

If she had worn that dress, it would have harmed her more if that was even possible and naturally, it wouldn’t have benefitted her at all.

“Of course, she wants to appeal to us. I mean, Silvanus was pushed back in the war and they’re the ones who proposed to end it.”

It is only right that she tries to please us. That latter statement was omitted.

“Indeed, look at how many tributes there are. And they even added the princess on top of it…”

Now, they were treating Aristine like she was a tribute, right in front of her face.

The Silvanus who always looked down on Irugo, calling them a country of barbarians gave them their most noble Imperial bloodline. Those words were practically telling her to know her place since she was someone who was packaged and sold even though she was an Imperial Princess.

That it was only natural for her to want to curry favor with them and grovel at their feet. The conversation among the royals and nobles was increasingly crossing the line.

Of course, this was on purpose.

Unlike what they expected, the princess was perfectly fine. No, she was past fine, in fact, with just a few words, she gave a glimpse of possible political ability.

They had to suppress her now when she didn’t know anything because she just arrived at Irugo.

And it just so happens that the King was choosing to remain a spectator right now. Even Tarkan was just watching quietly, seeming as though he didn’t consider her one of his own people.

It was unexpected considering how he carried her away yesterday, but this was actually better. There was no better chance than this.

Once their thoughts reached this point, they sharply began to wag their tongues.

“Then again, they dared to think lightly of us and attack us only to be counterattacked and even lose their territory…Should it be a big deal to give away their princess?”

“Frankly, I think the second princess who is called the jewel of the Empire should have come instead of a princess with a flaw of being in confinement.”

“The princess should know her shortcomings, so I believe she will act accordingly. Surely, she must have that much sensibility.”

In the absence of any restraint, the remarks gradually went over the line.

The heated atmosphere hit its peak.

She deliberately waited for this moment.

Aristine carefreely opened her mouth.

“That is odd.”

Her clear voice instantly drew people’s attention. People shut their mouths when they saw a look they didn’t expect on her face.

They thought she would be turning red with anger or struck speechless because of the humiliation and scorn.

But Aristine actually had a faint smile on her face.

“The reason this Princess came here in the first place is to end the longstanding hostile relationship between Silvanus and Irugo, and to bring about peace.”

A relaxed tone, perfect pitch and pronunciation, an upright back, and straight shoulders.

With her dignified figure befitting of a royal, she could not be called a ‘flawed’ princess.

“But all I hear are remarks trying to find fault with me, starting from my carriage to my Irugo attire and even my upbringing, remarks that tarnish the meaning of this peace.”

Aristine’s gaze swept over the people attacking her.

“It sounds to me like a bunch of you want war.”

They were all taken aback and every single one of them rushed to speak. But no word left their mouth. They wanted to refute it but as a matter of fact, there was nothing logically wrong with what Aristine said.

To them, they were only saying such things to bring Aristine down a notch.

However, the content of that statement made it seem as though they wanted to drive a wedge in the newly concluded peace in any way possible. In other words, it was not different from lighting themselves on fire and running around the room.

“By extension, I suppose you wish to go head-on against the will of His Majesty Nephther, King of Irugo.”

At those words, absolute silence fell over the room.

Even those who wanted to at least add something to refute, shut their mouths.

They had to be careful.

If they considered her an easy target and attacked her as thoughtlessly as before, they might really get branded as people opposing the king’s will.

“Of course, I’m sure that was not your intention at all.”

Aristine’s eyes curved into a sweet smile.

“Ha, haha…yes, indeed.”

“How can that be our intention? We are all gathered here for the sake of peace.”

“I am glad you understood us, Princess.”

Aristine smirked when she saw the nobles agreeing with awkward smiles. It was more effective to give them one hole to breathe than to push them hard without any path of escape.

‘Only then will they act the way I want.’

They had no choice but to try and escape from the breathing hole she made.

And this should be obvious but Aristine had no intention of fighting against all these nobles.

‘There’s a similar phrase from my previous life.’

To catch a general, you have to catch the horse they are riding first.

‘And the horse Hamill is riding is─.’

“Duke of Skiela.”

Upon hearing Aristine call him, the Duke of Skiela grew tense.

Now, he knew that this princess was not as soft of a target as he thought.