Chapter 12.1

Chapter 12.1

The princess was a beauty. 

It was a bit hard to see from that angle with her bended position, but it was easy to know she was thus. Her long brushed down black hair was shining and her skin was snowy white. And it seemed to be so naturally, not because of powder. Her eyes that looked down at the countless nobles were lavender-like. Slightly lifted nose and small lips. She still had a baby face because of her full cheeks, but she was a beauty nonetheless. 

But… 

Wearing a dress of a dark red color at 15 years of age showed she had a peculiar taste. 

It’s not like I had any special feelings about red. I like the color red. Especially dark red, the color of blood, is exactly my taste. Black is better, but the stains on the dark red color are like patterns.

But if you ask whether it’s a suitable color for a fifteen-year-old to wear…

It contrasted so much with the blonde queen who wore a dark green dress. The king had black hair and wore all black too.

It felt like a young concubine had followed them. It seemed that other people had the same feeling, as I heard low murmuring from here and there. Of course, the sounds weren’t clear enough for me to understand. 

Grandfather smacked his tongue next to me. I glanced at him. As if he read my eyes, he stopped his tongue, but I could see he was displeased. I raised my eyebrows slightly, and grandfather grinned. As if his expression was telling me, ‘this I can do as an old man’. 

As the king descended down the stairs, everyone straightened up. He spoke. (To be exact, the attendant shouted next to him.)

“I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who came to the Princess’ 15th birthday party. As all of you know, today is our Princess’ 15th birthday, and it’s the day when she officially appears in front of everyone as a successor to the throne. The Princess showed various abilities from early on that show her fit to the throne. So I, too, am very proud of her. I want all of you to congratulate her.” 

The successor to the throne. Since the King doesn’t have other children, there shouldn’t be any uncertainty about the succession structure, but… the Grand Duke’s existence still caused some discomfort. Was the King’s speech aimed at the Grand Duke? 

I don’t know. Nevertheless, there’s no need for me to worry. I should just leave the politics to father and Alex and just live enjoying my looks. And I won’t marry and just become a burden to Alex. 

Cheers to a useless life! Cheers to becoming a burden to others! 

I could just live this lifetime like this. Isn’t that right?

The Princess blended among people. The King and Queen headed to their seats and sat down, while nobles flocked one after another to greet them. Of course, the Princess drew the most attention, but I expected more people to go her way. I thought people would surge her way in groups to greet her. 

“I can’t quite understand it.”

My grandfather muttered to Alex, more than me. 

“Neither can I,” Alex replied quietly. Grandfather fiddled with his fabulous, long white hair. 

Oh, I know who my grandfather looks like. An image that had been tickling my mind since earlier came up momentarily. The older Shawn Connery with more hair. 

“The late King was a very wise man.” 

Grandfather shook his head slightly. I shrugged my shoulders. 

“Since there’s no guarantee that a child will resemble its parents.”

Grandfather raised his eyebrows and a smile formed on his lips.

“You children only inherited good things from your parents.” 

“My face?”

I tilted my head as I said this, my grandfather burst into laughter. 

“That’s right, your face is like that too. Our baby has become so eloquent while I haven’t seen you.” 

“Aaron said I’m making his life difficult.” 

Aaron hurriedly raised both hands. “No, I haven’t said such a thing…”

“What are you going to do later, when you can’t even handle your only younger sister? You have to meet a good woman so that I can adopt you and make you a Duke.”

Aaron’s face paled. Oh, right. Grandfather has no children other than Mother. That’s why women flung themselves at him even more. Because men can look for heirs even at that age. 

Duke of Seymour. Yeah, that’s big. Even though Grandfather seems to have made up his mind about taking in Aaron. 

“Alice, if you find a decent guy, maybe I could give you the title.” 

An arrow was flung towards me. I shook my head quickly.

“Oh, no. I can’t…”

I’m not interested in marrying or having a baby either. Please don’t pass on those terrifying responsibilities to me! The me of the past, might have had some fantasies about parties and marriage, so I might have been excited to imagine a sweet and wonderful noble husband, but the thought of marriage makes the present me shudder with my whole body. 

There’s no way a young man that’s innocent to the bones exists. People aren’t that simple. 

For example, my brothers are good people, but they’re good as family. I don’t know how good they are to others. Even if we’re close as family, sometimes, there are times when we fight and show our vicious sides. When it gets too much we can even kill each other, right? You want me to handle all that? Why would I? 

Thank you, but I’ll have to refuse.

TL: We’re glad to announce that we will be translating this novel again. From hereon, the narrative will be changed from third person to first person based on the original Korean text. The earlier chapters will slowly be edited to adapt this change. Look forward to this novel! ~keopi