Chapter 7

Etutu was not a human being. They were made out of dragon flesh. Their red eyes were their district features, but if they wanted, they could hide their irises like a normal person. Although they looked like a human, they barely had the emotions of humans.

Ashite peeked at Yeref, who was standing next to her. He was part of Etutu, part of the top tier of the group, who escorted and guarded for the king.

She walked into the Terre festival with him. Although it was not necessary for people who walked in together to be with each other the whole time, it was practice for them to stay together until the king finished his words of thanks. Therefore, there were two tall men and women standing in the corner together. The man’s red eyes were hidden, but the silver hair close to being white was not something that could be concealed. That’s why everyone was looking at them.

It was possible that people were also looking at Ashite. The princess from Skara was wearing Monterobisian clothing rather than traditional clothing from Skara.

Ashite touched her red lace veil. What she was wearing was an off the shoulder dress with small followers and jewels. There was a bit of highlighter on her collarbone. She was not used to the heels and they made her back hurt, but she did not show it. The servants who dressed her were so happy to see her final result. She actually liked it too when she saw herself in the mirror.

It’s weird to get used to foreign clothing, she thought and smiled.

“You all did a nice job.”

Just a little saying from Ashite made the servants giggle like little girls. The leader of the servants kindly told her everything that she had to keep in mind for the ball. The king probably had ordered them to do so. She paid attention to what the servant was telling her.

However, by the time she walked into the ball room, the lights were so bright that she could not see anything clearly. The king was giving words of thanks on the platform. She could not focus on that either.

But Ashite was hoping that the king wouldn’t finish. There would be so many people who would come at her like dogs. It was obvious that all of those people talking to each other while they were looking at Ahsite and Yeref would eventually approach her. She did not want to hear or see them.

She was holding onto her will to run away from here. It was definitely not polite behavior to get away from here.

To worry less, it was good to focus on something else. Ashite started to look around the ballroom.

The first impression she got was radiance, as if she were looking straight into the sun’s rays. There were long dragons embedded throughout the walls, some paintings representing many generations, a tapestry obviously imported from Khan, a statue of a dragon, a chandelier twinkling like crystals, and a masterpiece painted on the ceiling of the ballroom. Fine pieces of gold, iridescent opals, the most beautiful and strong diamonds, ruby that was more vibrant than blood, bright silver, sapphire deep like an ocean; all these jewels were gathering together. Including the colorful and beautiful ladies and gentlemen, everything in the ballroom was luxurious and extravagant.

“Now, I hope everyone enjoys this Terre festival with the grace of Monvixo.”

The words of thanks ended. Ashite grabbed her forehead.

Everyone applauded. By the time the applause ended, the orchestra started to play music. The music was spreading around under the control of the conductor. Even at this moment, Ashite was thinking of what type of music it was and what would be the proper dance for this music. Then she realized she had zoned out for a bit.

Ashite looked at Yeref. Then she bit her lip. Something was off. Although the nobles would not have the will to degrade her, sometimes pure curiosity hurt someone without unintentionally. And there was no way the nobles knew that she was just a powerless princess.

“Princess.”

Yeref showed respect to Ashite from the first time they saw each other. He was a descendant of Nante, yet he still showed his utmost respect. It seemed like the king told him ahead of time to treat the princess properly. Ashite tried to calmly answer Yeref’s calling.

Her lips were shaking without her thinking. Although it had been a while since she had been to the ball, she thought she would be able to do well. However, she was acting like a child. She did not even have a moment to calm herself down. Being calm was something she was good at, but this place was so bright and luxurious.

“A message from the king,” Yeref told Ashite. She seemed to be surprised. “Don’t be sensitive to his words, princess.”

His red eyes were such a beautiful thing. Looking into his eyes, her anxiety calmed down. It was easier to get rid of the anxious feelings.

As she was calming down, she thought about the king. She already received the king’s help three times. The first time she was eating with him, the second time she was eating with him again, and now. Finally, she was able to breathe normally. <> She soothed herself as she breathed in.

No matter what reason she came into this country, Ashite was a foreigner and the king’s guest. Therefore, she should not make any mistakes. Ashite was not fully aware of the manners of Monterobis yet, so she wasn’t sure what exactly was appropriate or not. The king had showed kindness to the princess. She told herself to thank him before the end of the night.

From the beginning, Ashite’s weapon was something she had been preparing since she was in Skara. She had a calm facial expression no matter what she heard. Who cared that she was a captive from the war? She was the princess from Skara. So, she was not scared of the group that was approaching her.

“Nice to meet you, princess.”

A group of young ladies and gentlemen greeted her politely. Yeref was about two steps away from her. However, no one greeted him. Since he was part of Etutu, even the highest class of nobles showed their respects, but it seemed like they did not know he was part of Etutu. It was reasonable ⁠— even though his silver hair was showing, he hid his red eyes and the group was not public enough for normal people to recognize. They seemed to consider him as just a knight that the king assigned to her. Yeref did not greet them either. However, because all the attention was on the princess, they did not seem to care about him.

Ashite let that pass. There was something more important to care about. <> Ashite waved her hand gently.

Someone laughed quietly. Ashite was a little confused. She looked at the lady who laughed with her calm facial expression. She asked, “Why are you laughing at me?”

“Ah, sorry princess.”

But her face was showing that she was not sorry. Ashite could tell instinctually. She was just a captive of the lost country of the war, and she was acting like a princess to them; it was funny to them for her to act like she was above her.

The lady smiled with her eyes.

“I’m the daughter of Duke Moncheta, Yena.”

Starting from her, all the others introduced themselves, too. They were from well-known families. However, that did not scare Ashite. Yena’s impolite manner was not even funny to her. There was no need to be mad at the attack. She did not have to. She was getting the protection from the king, Yeref was right next to her, and most importantly, she had her own elegance.

“Nice to meet you. As you may know, I am the princess of Skara, Ashite-Floka.”

There was going to be welcoming for her later anyway, so there was no need for a long introduction. Ashite treated them relaxed. She spoke in Moniten, not the common language of Marycury.

Monterobians had a lot of pride for their language. Moniten accents and expressions caused confusion between meanings. It was one of the hardest languages to learn. One language expert said that its diversity fit great with Monterobis.

Yena was surprised that the princess was better at Moniten than she expected. She wondered if the princess spoke to the king in Moniten, too.

Almost all the unmarried women were told by their father to be seen by the king. The competitors were from families with similar levels of power. They were the daughters of counts, marquises, and dukes ⁠— except for one person. The princess of Skara was in a completely different class than any of them. But that did not change the fact that she’s a foreigner, a captive of the war. Reminding herself that, Yena slowly approached her.

“Welcome to Monterobis, Princess.”

Her eyes were not welcoming. Unlike the way she spoke, her eyes did not lie.

After all this, Ashite understood her acute behavior. In fact, the king had way passed his marriageable age. After the Terre festival, the vassals would be worried, too. He became thirty without a fiancée. There were numerous nobles who wanted to have their daughters married to the king. Yena must have been one of them. Maybe she would have to go through her father’s scolding every day. Thinking like that, Ashite felt bad for her.

There was no need for them to be worrying about her because there was no way she would be together with the king. She had no power. Why would the king choose to marry someone with no power? Even on Ashite’s side, she never considered the king as her partner. Yena was acting as such because she considered Ashite to be her competitor. That must be a tiring life, Ashite thought.

Yena got madder at the smile of Ashite. The fact that this princess acted like she didn’t care about the whole situation bugged her. As a daughter of a family that had the most power after the royals, her ego was big. Duke cherished her a lot, too. He would show off his smart and elegant daughter.

That is why this princess was bugging her. She wanted to peel that calm face and reveal the truth. The king would not be looking this way anyway. She looked back. The king was far away from where they were, without a single guarding knight next to him. The king never even treated a knight badly, so there was no way he could treat the daughter of the duke poorly. Yena kept thinking, then found one flaw in the princess.

Although Ashite was looking at the group of nobles talking to her, she was missing some of the things they were saying. Noticing that, Yena smiled slightly.

“Princess, are you not used to the ball?”

“Oh, she might not be. This is her first time at the Terre festival.”

“Maybe she’s been to Theheras? It’s similar to Terre.”

The ladies and gentlemen were talking to each other. Ashite was not able to answer that easily. Even though they were probably the same age as her, she felt like she was older than them, as if grandchildren are taking care of a grandmother. Thinking about that, she laughed a little. Suddenly, Yena talked out loud as if she is trying to gain all the attention.

“Hmm, she probably could not attend because the princess was⁠—”

“Ms. Moncheta!!”

Everyone in the room knew what she was going to say. Marquis Monhaine’s second son was surprised. Even before he realized his mistake of yelling out loud, he apologized to Ashite.

“Watch your mouth, Ms. Moncheta,” the princess warned Yena in a very cold tone. In that moment, Yeref’s irises turned red, as if a spell had broken. Including Yena, none of the young nobles knew where to look. Someone finally said something, with their mouth opened from the surprise.

“E..tutu?”

“The king has guaranteed my peace. You must be aware of who I am. Be careful in how you behave.”

She blushed. The fact that she spat out the words without thinking was bothering her. She tried to talk about someone else’s private story in front of other people. It was not the behavior of an elegant lady.

Frankly, the princess’ past was discovered by nobles ever since there was a rumor that she was coming to Monterobis. However, that did not mean they should talk about such a thing in front of her.

“But the king’s partner…”

Yena apologized vaguely. Ashite received the apology. Then Yena walked away saying that someone asked to dance with her. This time, she bowed down to both Ashite and Yeref. Even in the end, she could not look straight into Ashite’s eyes. She disappeared in the crowd of people. After the leader was gone, others started to disappear, too. Yeref stayed next to Ashite with glaring red eyes.

Ashite sighed. She didn’t even want to point out what they did wrong anymore. <> she thought. After looking around the ballroom, she found where the king and high-class nobles are lingering. It was time to greet to the king. Ashite decided to approach the king after a while.

The music was still flowing slowly.

Under the platform with the throne, in the brightest spot, there was the king and the high-class nobles. As if all of the luxury of Monterobis was gathered in one spot, they were the most elegant people in the place. They were the most well-known families there⁠ — Duke Moncheta, Duke Morhus, Morquis Monhaine, Morquis Modia, Count Guillaume, Count Banassi, the king, and all the other powerful people in the country.

After Lu Havre end the words of thanks, they started with small talk, leaving their purpose behind. They celebrated the victory of the Haias War and talked about how much respect they show to the king for this.

Suddenly, a lady appeared quietly by the door in the corner. With his sensitivity, Lu Havre turned around and greeted her politely. All the other nobles greeted her, too.

“Your highness, it’s been a long time since the last time I saw you. I hope you’ve been doing well.”

But the face of the woman receiving the greetings was not great. The wife of the previous king, Lativasa, held her head high. Unlike her uncomfortable face, her voice sounded fine.

“You must have been busy. It’s been a while since you came back, and you never visited me.”

“I apologize. There was lots of work to take care of⁠—”

“I do not want to hear any excuses!” The lady raised her voice, but Lu Havre seemed fine. Not even his brow moved.

“Your highness, I apologize. Please forgive me. I am doing so little as a son⁠—”

“Son? Son? Did you just say you’re my son?