Chapter 34

A very shy pervert (5)

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Just when Yenikarina was about to be pushed into a corner.

“Yenika has a leg ache so it will be best for her to remain in a comfortable seat.”

She heard a voice of salvation.

‘Royal father!’

Yenikarina looked at her father with misty eyes. She quickly agreed with what he said.

“Yes, indeed. Yenika would love to concede Yenika’s seat for the sake of peace but…”

She cutely let her sentence trail off then she shook her head.

“No, not necessarily for peace, I would love to give up my seat for my new big sister. Yenika really likes Sister Rineh.”

She gave a bright smile as she mentioned liking Aristine then pursed her lips with a sullen face.

“But my legs don’t feel that great…As you can see, Yenika is on the smaller side compared to other people.”

I am a bit fragile.

Her big eyes looked up at Aristine with that sort of meaning.

If her opponent were someone else, it would have been quite effective to mention the contrast. But it wasn’t as convincing because she looked more fit than Aristine who was from a different race.

Aristine watched Yenikarina act out her play then she slowly opened her mouth.

“Oh no, I didn’t know you were feeling uncomfortable, Yenika. Are you alright?”

“Even if Yenika is feeling uncomfortable, this is an occasion to welcome you, Sister Rineh so of course, Yenika will come!”

“Thank you.”

Aristine raised the corner of her lips.

‘I didn’t think the King of Irugo would intervene here.’

She didn’t expect it because the King had been calmly watching things unfold like an observer. Even more so because he had acted favorably towards her.

‘Hmm…she is the king’s favorite daughter. I never thought that I’d suddenly be more favored than Yenikarina.’

After all, she had only met the king twice, yesterday and today.

If he was willing to erase everything after just that, it meant that the king of Irugo was a foolish monarch.

‘If he were that emotionally driven, the position of crown prince would not still be empty in the first place.’

He would have already made Tarkan the crowned prince.

Nephther wanted Tarkan to be his successor but had no intentions of crowning Tarkan at the cost of splitting his country apart or creating conflict. He wanted people to turn to Tarkan rather than force it, which is why he paired Aristine with Tarkan.

‘The king’s attitude towards me is favorable, that part is true.’

But as much as he acknowledged her, he intended to test her as well.

‘He’s probably thinking—Oh? Not bad, huh? How far can you go then?—or something like that.’

When Aristine didn’t say anything for a while, Yenikarina smiled triumphantly.

‘Hah, you may have tried to look good before father yesterday, but Royal father favors Yenika the most!’

She leaned back in her chair, gazing at Aristine and Tarkan like she was showing off.

‘Yenika is the only person who knows father’s weakness and can hide it for him!’

The Queen also looked at her daughter with pride.

Just when the pair of mother and daughter were getting drunk on their victory…

“Instead, as Rineh said, a couple should stay together.”

Everyone was startled by the nickname that came out of the king’s mouth.

‘He said Rineh…?’

‘To think he calls the princess as if she’s his own daughter.’

‘What the? Didn’t he step in to give Yenika a hand?’

While people were taken aback, the king continued speaking without a pause.

“And as Tarkan said, space can easily be made.”

After saying that, the king glanced at the court servants.

“Bring a chair.”

The court servants bowed and followed the king’s orders.

They quickly brought a chair for Tarkan and Aristine, they didn’t know where to put the seat in the area reserved for the immediate members of the royal family.

The queen deliberately changed the spacing of the seats to make it difficult to add extra chairs. In order to add the newly brought chairs to the table, the chairs that the royals were sitting on would have to be moved and re-arranged.

“No need for such hassle.”

Nephther said and gestured to the area right below him.

‘…’

Once people’s eyes fell on where he was gesturing to, they let out a silent scream.

The space just below the King and Queen.

That place was something that had to be left empty.

It was a space reserved for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of this country.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

The Queen called the King, almost screaming.

The king’s blue eyes slowly turned to the Queen.

“What is the matter, Queen.”

His tone was laced with warning, but the Queen refused to simply back down. She couldn’t let Tarkan sit in that position. She had to stop such a thing from happening.

The Duke of Skiela was also agitated and rushed to speak.

“That place is for the Crown Prince and Princess, Your Majesty! How can His Highness Tarkan who is only second-in-line to succession sit there!”

“The Duke is right. There are laws and propriety that need to be followed in the royal family.”

The Queen agreed with the Duke to strengthen his position and appealed to the King.

The King looked at the two of them and burst into boisterous laughter.

“You all think too much. Don’t think so deeply about it. It’s just putting a chair in an empty space.”

If there was really no meaning to a seat, there would be no problem with having Aristine sit in the lowest ranking area.

‘And yet you didn’t say anything when Tarkan dared to defy me with some nonsense about putting peace at the lowest position!’

The Queen’s eyes flashed with anger.

Even though he saw that, the King merely gave a relaxed smile.

“It can’t be helped. After all, there was a mistake in the seating arrangement.”

The Queen flinched and stiffened.

This whole thing was her scheme from the beginning. She acted like it was a servant’s mistake but everyone in this room knew that wasn’t the truth.

Now that the King has pointed it out, she had no choice but to back down this time.

The Queen clutched her armrest tightly. Anyone could see she had been bitten by her own ruse.

With anger raging in her eyes, she turned to Tarkan and Aristine who were sitting in the space for the Crowned couple.

The two of them sat there comfortably without any sign of unrest as if the seat had been theirs in the first place.

The couple-to-be sat side by side, their beauty in full display, and the harmony between them painted a beautiful picture.