Chapter 3

“Huh…………!”

A collective gasp escaped the Ailugoans as they inhaled sharply.

Aristine’s words left them in disbelief.

Durante’s expression was quite a sight as well.

Everyone reacted as if they had just seen a bomb swallowed right before their eyes.

“Cough.”

Durante cleared his throat to lighten the atmosphere.

“Not exactly, but a demon appeared.”

So, that’s why they rushed out, Aristine realized.

‘It wasn’t just a hunt, but a demon hunt, I see.’

If that’s the case, it makes sense that he left his seat when his fiancée was coming.

‘But.’

“Why didn’t you tell me that from the beginning?”

Despite Aristine’s sharp question, Durante remained unperturbed and calmly replied.

“I only answered the question about where it was.”

Aristine paused at this.

He’s right. He didn’t exactly lie to me.

Aristine looked at Durante and slightly curled her lips.

“Lying isn’t the only way to deceive someone.”

Given that this was their first meeting and the other party was wary of her, it might be better to be more amiable. She decided to smile and not argue.

First impressions are important.

But Aristine had no intention of doing so.

This was different from when she was in the empire.

Now that she had escaped that tedious place, she intended to act in Ailugo.

‘I’m done cowering.’

If she tolerated it during their first meeting, they would think it was fine to continue giving her misleading information.

This needed to be clarified from the start.

‘People who are wary and dislike me’

In other words, since they have no expectations of me, I don’t need to meet their expectations, do I?

“Giving a half-truth to lead to a false conclusion is also a form of deception.”

For the first time, a hint of confusion appeared in Durante’s eyes.

Aristine stared directly into his eyes, her gaze sharp.

Durante momentarily held his breath.

Her face, dirty with mud, dust, and sweat, was strangely captivating.

Her violet eyes, like the sky at dawn, were mesmerizing.

“I hope you don’t try to deceive me again.”

* * *

Durante suggested that the princess take a bath and change clothes before going to the palace.

However, Silvanus immediately protested.

‘Are you daring to say our princess is dirty? ’

‘What is your intention in making the princess wear Ailugo clothes before she enters the palace? ’

It was absurd that they suddenly cared about what the princess did when they hadn’t bothered before.

After a few exchanges, the smooth-talking Silvanus people refused to back down.

Since it wasn’t appropriate to cause a dispute without their lord present, Durante eventually stepped back.

“Can we really take her to the palace looking like this?”

“There’s no other way.”

“What do we care about what the Silvanus people say?”

“Do you want to create a national dispute during a political marriage? Who will clean up the mess?”

“Just looking at her, it seems like a conflict will happen anyway.”

He was right.

The king of Ailugo would surely feel insulted when he saw the princess and the envoy.

The king wants a complete end to the war.

So, while the political marriage won’t be broken, there will be some noise.

And that noise will fall on their lord.

Moreover, the rude attitude of the Silvanus people clearly indicated they were deliberately seeking conflict.

“Even so, the conflict shouldn’t start with us.”

The warriors fell silent at this.

Durante hoped no one was in the palace.

‘It’s probably a vain hope, but at least the king is unlikely to come in person, which is some comfort.’

“Still, I didn’t expect the princess to be like this.”

Everyone understood that he didn’t mean she looked shabby.

“She’s something else. So different from what I imagined.”

“Our lord, he, is quite shy… Haha!”

Laughter spread among the warriors.

At first, it was so shocking it was almost terrifying, but the more they thought about it, the funnier it became.

Only the princess could say such things to their lord.

“I like her.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah, she’s much better than I imagined. I was surprised in a different way when I first saw her.”

As Durante listened to the warriors’ chatter, he turned his gaze to the carriage the princess was in.

The carriage was so luxurious and ornate that it was hard to believe the disheveled princess was inside.

What’s her story?

It was natural to wonder.

He couldn’t forget the princess’s eyes from earlier.

Even with her dirty face, her eyes shone like stars in the night sky.

They were transparent, revealing her inner self, yet deep like the ocean, impossible to fathom.

Durante quickly shook off his thoughts. His lord was the most important to him.

“Don’t be too lenient. The Silvanus people are cunning, and you can’t read their intentions. The princess might be here to kill our lord.”

Chapter 2. Pervert

‘Are these people more excited about the princess than our lord?’

‘The one who will marry the princess is our lord, not you.’

The warriors frowned at the crowd gathered at the palace of Tarkan.

They couldn’t say anything about the lord’s siblings.

While the person who was supposed to be the husband couldn’t come to meet the bride due to the demon, the other royals seemed so leisurely.

‘At least the king didn’t come.’

Fortunately, the king didn’t see the princess’s dirty appearance.

However, that didn’t mean the future was entirely positive.

The intentions of the lord’s siblings were clear.

‘They’re here to spy on the bride and find ways to belittle her.’

Even if she were perfect, they would find something to criticize.

But the princess was clearly far from perfect.

Seeing the princess’s appearance, the royals, who had expected a grand carriage, sighed.

They would think the bride in the carriage would match its grandeur.

Please, don’t let the carriage door open. Let it break down. Or let lightning strike.

Unfortunately, the door opened smoothly and—

“Good heavens!”

“What is this…?”

The princess, dressed in rags, appeared.

People were so shocked by her appearance that they couldn’t even mock her at first.

But it was only a matter of time.

“Haha!”

Soon, mocking laughter erupted.

“Indeed, a fitting match for her lowly blood.”

“She’s at the right level.”

“I had high hopes for the princess of Silvanus, but she looks worse than a beggar under the Panu Bridge.”

Giggles and insults filled the air.

Evaluating her from head to toe, countless eyes pierced Aristine like sharp spears and arrows.

The new bride, arriving in a foreign land, was met with suffocating hostility.

Even the people from her own side, who were supposed to protect her, laughed and ignored her.

Their eyes gleamed with more joy than anyone else’s.

“She won’t be welcomed looking like that.”

“Did she think things would be different in Ailugo? She’s been acting strangely arrogant.”

“She’ll now realize her place and behave properly.”

Everyone present, except for Durante and the Tarkan warriors, mocked and ridiculed Aristine.

At that moment,

The sound of fluttering fabric and something soft and smooth covered Aristine.

‘Huh?’

Before she could understand what was happening, her body was lifted.

Her feet left the ground, and instead, a firm hand supported her waist and thighs.

“Princess.”

A deep, growling voice echoed in her ear.

A shiver ran down her spine.

Aristine finally realized what had happened.

Someone had wrapped her in silk and carried her in their arms.

‘Hmm…?’

She understood what happened, but why does it feel like I’m misunderstanding the situation?!

Aristine twisted her body in confusion.

But the man holding her didn’t budge.

He lifted his arms higher, making Aristine lean against his chest.

His embrace was so broad that she was buried in his warm, solid chest.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, touching her like that?!”

A Silvanus knight shouted at the man.

Of course, it wasn’t because touching the princess was disrespectful.

“Do you know what this silk is? It’s so precious it can’t be exchanged for a golden chest! It’s specially for the king of Ailugo…”

The knight’s voice trailed off.

His mouth closed tightly, and his eyes trembled like a ship in a storm.

Completely overwhelmed, he looked around nervously.

Aristine was puzzled.

‘This man doesn’t seem to have done anything special…’

When she looked up, her eyes met the man’s.

‘Ah, eyes that shine like the sun.’

Beautiful.

They were so bright, almost golden.

“So, what.”

The man’s lips moved smoothly, his eyes never leaving Aristine.

His voice was low and strangely threatening, like a predator’s growl.

“I should give my bride the most precious thing.”

Bride?

Aristine finally realized.

Turning her gaze, she saw Durante and the warriors bowing before the man and herself.

The sight of the rough warriors bowing in unison was impressive.

Behind them, the Silvanus knights were visibly frustrated but dared not approach or speak.

She had never seen these arrogant people act this way, especially towards the Ailugoans they had mocked and despised.

The man’s overwhelming presence was that powerful.

‘This is…’

Their eyes met again.

This time, she clearly recognized him.

‘The person who will be my husband.’

* * *

Tarkan glanced at the gathered siblings who had come to gawk at his bride.

The royals averted their eyes, looking away.

Seeing them as unworthy of his attention, Tarkan strode into the palace.

The palace staff knelt to welcome their lord.

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Tarkan gently placed Aristine on a large sofa and said casually.

“Misunderstand?”

The palace staff were shocked by Aristine’s casual response.

No one had ever spoken to their lord so easily.

Usually, even trying not to, people would shrink in his presence, but the princess looked unfazed.

“It’s not because I like you.”

‘Of course not.’

Aristine agreed with Tarkan.

She had never thought such a thing from the start.

She knew her appearance without a mirror.

Aristine lifted her arm and sniffed.

Instead of perfume, she smelled sweat.

‘If he liked me for this, that would be dangerous, right?’

A taste for falling in love with a dust ball.

It was almost insulting to call him a pervert.

‘Ah, he means I shouldn’t misunderstand and think he’s a pervert.’

But strong denial often implies the opposite.

‘So…’

“Pervert?”

“What?”

Tarkan was bewildered by what this woman was saying.

Calling him a pervert out of the blue.

Despite her words, her face remained calm, showing no change in expression.

‘No, it doesn’t matter.’

“Clean this woman up.”

Tarkan clicked his tongue and ordered the palace staff.

First, they needed to deal with her dirty, dusty appearance.

“We’re not married yet.”

But the woman suddenly said this.

At first, he didn’t understand, but then he realized what she meant.

Women always wanted this from him.

Tarkan smiled bitterly.

“I won’t eat you after you’re clean. Who would want a dirty woman like you.”

After saying it, he realized it wasn’t appropriate to say to a woman raised in the palace.

Moreover, “dirty” could be interpreted differently.

Tarkan glanced at Aristine but quickly lost interest.

‘It doesn’t matter what she thinks.’

She was just a marriage partner by royal decree, not someone important to him.

“Eat me…?”

But when those words came from her lips, he couldn’t help but be shaken.

Though he had said it first, hearing it from the woman who would be his wife felt different.

“You…”

The woman paused, then looked him up and down before saying casually.

“You’re a pervert.”

It was a definitive statement.

‘I’ll be a husband, but I’ll focus on making money.’