Chapter 24

Seeing that the atmosphere wasn't bad, the young ladies chattered more excitedly.

"Really, when the two of you are together, it looks so cool..."

"His Highness Tarkan only keeps Lady Diona by his side, doesn't he? There are so many young ladies who would love to serve His Highness, but..."

"His Highness seems to have a heart for Lady Diona, too..."

Diona let the young, naive ladies talk and enjoyed herself thoroughly.

Only when their conversation started to wind down did she finally speak up.

"I appreciate the kind words from the young ladies who think well of me. But I don't think this is something to talk about on the wedding day."

"Ah... I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize. I know best that you all said it out of kindness. But this marriage was decided by His Majesty."

A marriage arranged by the king, not Tarkan.

That was what Diona wanted to emphasize.

"Ah, that's right. We can't comment on what His Majesty has decided."

"That's why His Highness Tarkan..."

The young ladies' gazes towards Diona became more sympathetic.

A tragic couple separated by royal decree.

Even if political marriages were inevitable in noble society, Diona was certainly worthy of marrying Tarkan.

The young ladies held Diona's hand tightly.

"Lady Diona, we support you."

"Be strong."

Diona looked at the young ladies with a puzzled expression, not understanding why they were suddenly acting this way.

"Hehe, thank you. It feels good to hear your support all of a sudden."

Her tone suggested that she appreciated the support even if she didn't fully understand why.

She didn't seem to realize they were talking about her relationship with Tarkan.

The young ladies sighed even more deeply at her reaction.

'She really is innocent...'

'So selfless...'

Seeing this, the princess seemed even more detestable.

Diona smiled gently.

"It was nice to chat with you, young ladies. I'd love to talk more, but I need to go see the princess now."

"The princess?"

The young ladies asked in surprise.

Why would she go to her rival on the wedding day, especially when the other party was in a wedding dress?

"The princess is getting married in a foreign land, how lonely and anxious she must feel."

"But why should Lady Diona..."

"I'm the only one among the young women who knows her. I don't think the princesses will take care of her..."

Diona said this while looking into the distance for a moment.

Her gaze was wistful.

"I think the princess would feel more at ease with me. We met on her first day in the palace."

Diona smiled, as if to hide her wistfulness.

The young ladies frowned.

Did she mean the princess called Diona first?

Diona didn't say it explicitly, but her expression made it sound that way.

'Could she have deliberately called Lady Diona?'

'Because she knew about the relationship between His Highness Tarkan and Lady Diona...'

The princess didn't deliberately take Tarkan away; it happened because of the political marriage. They tried not to think too badly of her.

Even if Diona looked upset at Tarkan's wedding, they didn't think the princess was a bad person.

However...

The young ladies exchanged glances.

"No other members of the Silvanus royal family came. She's getting married without a single family member present."

Diona sighed softly, as if feeling sorry for her.

Hearing Diona's words, the young ladies felt a pang in their hearts.

They disliked the princess even more.

'No family members came. It means she wasn't treated well by her own family.'

'What does our Lady Diona lack compared to such a person...'

The young ladies' thoughts were clearly visible on their faces, and Diona smiled.

These young ladies of lower status, though numerous, were useful for spreading rumors.

Diona glanced at the clock on the wall and the bride's waiting room.

'Should I go now?'

The princess was alone in the waiting room right now.

She had been waiting for a chance for the princess to be alone.

The palace attendants who were helping with her preparations had returned to their duties, and the maids who were supposed to stay with her had all left for some reason.

The atmosphere seemed tense, so they wouldn't be back for a while.

She didn't want to seem like she was waiting for the princess to be alone, so she spent some time.

'Now it's enough.'

"Then I'll really go now. See you next time, young ladies."

* * *

Aristine turned her head at the sudden sound of the door opening.

'Did the maids come back already?'

She thought they wouldn't return for a while after the maids who were bickering left.

But the person who entered the waiting room was someone completely different from what Aristine expected.

"You..."

It was her.

The woman in the mirror with Tarkan.

The woman who whispered that his heart hadn't changed.

"Your Highness, I greet you."

Diona bowed gracefully and smiled gently at Aristine.

"My name is Diona. We met briefly before, do you remember?"

"I remember. You served me tea then."

"I'm honored that you remember me, Your Highness."

Diona bowed again.

She did this to hide her face, which kept wanting to twist.

The princess in her wedding dress was even more beautiful than she imagined.

Men who saw her for the first time today would fall in love and feel frustrated at the same time.

Because the moment they fell in love, Aristine would be someone else's wife.

'...His Highness Tarkan's wife.'

Diona clenched her fists.

"So, what brings you here, young lady?"

Aristine asked, and Diona looked up and smiled.

"Of course, to congratulate the two Highnesses on their wedding."

As she said this, Diona's sea-colored eyes glistened slightly.

"The two of you... really suit each other."

Her faint smile trembled like a candle in the dark.

Anyone could tell it wasn't just a simple congratulation.

It was a smile filled with a messy, dirty love triangle.

A tragic heroine's smile, stepping back and wishing them happiness, while her heart ached.

'You and my man have something very special. A deep story you don't know about.'

It felt exactly like that.

But since she just said she was congratulating them and that they suited each other, there was no way to probe further.

There was no smile that could make the new bride feel more uncomfortable and uneasy.

But she had chosen the wrong person to target.

"Thank you."

Aristine nodded calmly.

Her gaze was on Diona, but she wasn't really paying attention.

'...What?'

Diona was taken aback by Aristine's completely calm demeanor.

From the welcome banquet, she knew the princess wasn't someone who missed subtle hints.

'She must have understood the hidden meaning of my words... How can she be so unresponsive?'

This wouldn't do.

Diona decided to be more explicit.

She needed to make it clear to the princess what she meant to Tarkan.

"His Highness Tarkan and I have been like siblings since we were young."

A seductive smile appeared on Diona's face.

"His Highness's mother and my mother were very close. My brother and His Highness were the same."

Diona looked into the distance, as if reminiscing, with a tender expression.

"His Highness's mother was very fond of me..."

She was saying that the mother had already chosen her as a daughter-in-law.

"Because of that, His Highness has always taken good care of me and cherished me since we were young."

We've had a special relationship since we were very young.

Our families were so close that it wouldn't be strange if we got married.

'Yes, that's right.'

Diona was deeply immersed in her own words and thoughts.

To Tarkan, she was special.

'But suddenly, someone came between us...!'

The sight of Aristine sitting confidently in the bride's waiting room in her wedding dress was unbearable.

'That should have been my place...!'

But Diona skillfully hid her emotions and spoke warmly to Aristine.

"His Highness Tarkan is usually cold and doesn't keep women around him."

She added, "I'm sure Your Highness has experienced that too."

She was implying that the cold Tarkan would mistreat Aristine.

"Of course, it's different for me because I've known him since we were young."

Diona said this and observed Aristine's reaction.

Aristine showed no reaction.

She didn't seem to be paying attention to Diona anyway, and now she looked completely uninterested.

'You'll be mistreated by your husband, but I'm special to him. He takes good care of me.'

Even saying this so openly...

Diona was the one getting anxious.

She moved closer to Aristine and kept talking.

"I never thought His Highness Tarkan and Your Highness would get married."

She was crossing the line.

Then she waved her hands as if to retract her words.

"Ah, I didn't mean anything by it. I just didn't expect a marriage between Ailugo and Silvanus, given their long-standing hostility."

Diona was now standing right in front of Aristine.

She looked directly into Aristine's eyes and spoke each word with emphasis.

"Their marriage must succeed for the sake of peace."

Her red lips moved, asking, "Isn't that right?"

Even though Tarkan's only love is me, he's marrying you for the sake of peace.

Isn't that right? I want you to answer that way.

Aristine, who had shown no reaction until now, couldn't hold back any longer.

'I can't let this marriage happen so smoothly, without any problems.'

Diona's eyes gleamed with excitement, imagining the princess's hysterical outburst.

'Come on, get angry, scream, and cry.'

Just as Diona was thinking this,

'Oh...'

Aristine was genuinely impressed.

'Really, this is so boring...'

Hearing someone brag about their boyfriend was one of the most uninteresting and irrelevant things.

Sometimes she saw people brag about their partners in the imperial harem, and it was really boring.

If they were having a passionate, epic love affair, it might have been interesting.

'Bragging about a partner is always...'

A predictable and boring victory. No emotion, no excitement, no meaning.

'Why did Diona come all the way here to do this?'

Who asked for the love story of these two people?

No one asked, and no one cared.

'Honestly, I just didn't know how long she would keep talking, so I didn't respond at all...'

She kept talking without any hint of fatigue.

'Bragging about a partner is something people want to do at any time. Is that why?'

Aristine wasn't interested in Diona or her relationship with Tarkan.

So, she didn't bother to read between the lines or pay attention to the nuances.

That was enough for political and business interactions.

To Aristine, Diona had only one significance.

Was she really Tarkan's lover, and could she be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with him?

Anything else was irrelevant.

There was no point in thinking about the hidden meanings of her words.

Diona never imagined that Aristine would judge her this way.

Now, she was looking at Aristine with desperate eyes, hoping for a reaction.

'Get angry!'

Feeling her gaze, Aristine decided to go along with this boring story.

It was hard to ignore the intense, demanding look in her eyes.

'Anyway, since she's my business partner's lover or something special, it's better to be nice to her.'

Social life is really tough.

Thinking this, Aristine smiled back at Diona.

"Thank you, I'll have a successful marriage as you say."

Diona's lips tightened at the unexpected response.

She forced a smile and emphasized again, more openly this time.

"Yes, marriage is usually between a loving couple, but this marriage is for 'peace,' so it must succeed."

"Yes, I know that my marriage to Tarkan is not just a union of a man and a woman, but a union for the greater good of world peace."

Aristine nodded seriously.

She wanted the conversation to shift away from the boring partner bragging.

'Ha......!'

Diona clenched her teeth at Aristine's clean, composed face.

She couldn't help but tense her jaw.

'What, are you saying this marriage is a higher-level union, different from ordinary marriages?'

Aristine's blue eyes froze like a winter sea.

'Are you saying it's a higher-level marriage, so don't interfere?'

There was nothing more frustrating for Diona.

Even if the marriage between the princess and Tarkan didn't happen, it was impossible for Diona.

Even if Tarkan married her, it wouldn't have this special meaning.

It would just be a typical royal marriage.

This marriage is so special, receiving the world's attention, only because it's the union of Aristine and Tarkan.

A marriage that ends centuries of hostility, and love.

Is there anything more thrilling?

The main characters should be Tarkan and herself.

Not Aristine!

Forget about being a wife, I'll focus on making money.