Chapter 89

"Why me!"

Diona let out a loud cry.

The more she did, the colder and more bewildered the gazes of the people around her became.

"Diona."

Finally, Tarkan spoke to her.

Diona looked at Tarkan as fast as her neck could turn.

Even though he didn't look at her and only paid attention to Aristine, she couldn't completely give up hope.

"You seem to be mistaken."

His golden eyes pierced Diona like sharp daggers.

"In the past, present, and future, you will never be special to me."

He had never given her a single thought in all the years he had lived. Not once.

At this cruel declaration, Diona's pupils widened in shock.

"T-Tarkan, Your Highness..."

"The person I married is Aristine."

Tarkan put his arm around Aristine's shoulder, as if to protect her.

Seeing how much Tarkan cherished Aristine, Diona felt as if her heart was being torn out.

"Never approach my wife again."

As he pulled Aristine closer to him, Tarkan said.

Tarkan's eyes, as he looked at Diona, were full of contempt and disdain.

The sister of the beloved warrior who had died.

Tarkan always looked at Diona with such eyes.

Diona hoped his gaze would change.

'But not like this!'

She wanted to be seen as a woman, as a lover.

Not with such a hostile and full of disdain!

"Aaaaaah!"

Diona screamed and clutched her head.

"No! No! No!"

The warriors held her back as she raged.

She had already lost her usual composure, and now Diona was so disheveled that she could hardly be called a noble lady.

Umiru, who had been silent until then, shuddered and said, "Well, the priority is the stability of Her Highness. Let's resolve this sticky situation outside."

Her gaze swept past Diona and landed on Tarkan, a reproachful look in her eyes.

The warriors grabbed Diona's arms.

"Diona, come with us."

"No...!"

"Don't make a scene. Let's talk outside."

Diona resisted, but she couldn't match the strength of the warriors.

She was dragged away, her arms held on either side.

"You should be resting, but you're causing a disturbance..."

"I'm sorry, Her Highness."

The warriors apologized to Aristine and hurried away.

"Really, you should have known better. Her Highness."

Umiru snorted and mocked Diona as she was dragged away.

Seeing her behavior now, one could guess how she had acted in the bride's waiting room on the wedding day.

"Anyway, I've always felt something was off about her."

Umiru shook her head.

"Aristine."

Aristine, who had been watching Diona being dragged away, looked up at Tarkan's call.

He seemed somewhat tense.

"About the lover you said I had before—"

"Your Highness Tarkan, you should also leave."

Umiru cut Tarkan off.

"For the patient's peace."

Though she spoke of the patient's peace, it was clearly a polite way of asking him to leave.

Tarkan frowned.

"Umiru."

"Why do you keep staying near people who bother you?"

Tarkan flinched and stiffened at Umiru's words.

He didn't mean it that way.

He was slowly gauging Aristine's reaction.

Aristine had her usual indifferent face.

But with a guilty conscience, he had to back down.

Since Aristine had the misconception that he had a lover, he had something to say.

However, it seemed better to clear things up after the situation was more settled.

Tarkan slowly got up from his seat.

"Aristine."

He felt a lingering attachment as he was about to leave.

"Hmm?"

At least, he wanted to clarify that he didn't mean to bother her.

Looking into her violet eyes, Tarkan fell silent for a moment.

He had never tried to clear up a misunderstanding about his words in his life.

He thought it didn't matter if there was a misunderstanding.

But he wanted to clear up Aristine's misunderstanding.

"That, when I said you bothered me—"

"Oh, I get the general idea."

Aristine nodded and gave a dismissive smile.

"Really?"

"Yes, I won't bother you anymore."

Tarkan frowned.

"That's not what I meant..."

"There's no need to explain. I've already found a way to solve the iron ore problem."

Aristine smiled.

"So don't worry. I'll make sure it's not something you need to concern yourself with."

From her smiling face, he felt a line drawn between her and him.

A line that was more solid and clear than before.

That's not it.

Before he could say more, Aristine was faster.

"Oh, I need to get moving too. Time is short. You should leave as well."

"Aristine."

He wanted to explain properly, but Aristine got up from the sofa.

"You've been neglecting your work while taking care of me. Go on."

It was clear she had no intention of talking.

Tarkan looked at her silently for a moment.

But even if he forced the conversation, it wouldn't reach Aristine.

Most importantly, he didn't know how to explain it.

Aristine kept bothering him.

But he wasn't sure why.

How could he explain it in such a state?

In the end, Tarkan had no choice but to leave the room at Aristine's urging.

He felt as if he had been chased out.

'No, was I really chased out?'

Tarkan sighed.

* * *

Rumors spread quickly in the palace.

"Goodness, did you hear that?"

"You mean Lady Diona?"

"I always thought she was kind and considerate... She even took good care of the palace staff."

"I never imagined she would do such things behind our backs."

For a woman to pretend to be a lover to the main wife when she had nothing to do with her husband was the epitome of scandal.

"How could she say such things to Her Highness?"

"And on the wedding day, she went to the bride's waiting room and did it?"

"Really! To boldly lie about His Highness Tarkan is unbelievable."

"By saying that, what does it make of His Highness Tarkan!"

"You're making our Highness look like a cheater!"

Who was Tarkan?

A proud hero who had protected Ailugo from the Beast and Silvanus.

And now, such a scandal about him!

"What must Her Highness have thought of Tarkan all this time!"

"To think she lived with the belief that her husband was a cheater!"

"How unfair!"

Thinking from Tarkan's perspective, it was unfair, and from Aristine's perspective, it was unfair too.

"But to not show any signs of displeasure and get along well with Tarkan... "

"There were no signs of her being unhappy."

"Maybe this marriage was so important that she endured, even though her heart was rotting inside?"

"If there were problems between them, it would cause a lot of talk..."

"Really, she must have been very thoughtful."

"On the other hand, it's also sad. What must she have been thinking in this foreign land without any connections?"

She was only focused on making money and lived well.

She didn't care whether Tarkan was a cheater or not.

But the palace staff, who didn't know this, sighed deeply as they thought of Aristine.

"Lady Diona has liked His Highness Tarkan for so long. It was pitiful when he married someone else..."

"Yes, we all felt sorry for her."

Even though they thought there was nothing they could do since Tarkan was now married, they still told Diona things like:

"You would have suited him better," or "It would have been better if you had become the princess."

Half of it was genuine, and half was for comfort.

Since Diona would never become the princess, they could say such things.

And Diona seemed to know this well.

"Whenever we said such things, Lady Diona always defended Her Highness."

"Yes, she said she hoped His Highness Tarkan would be happy and that the two Highnesses would have a strong relationship."

"She also said that for the sake of peace, the two Highnesses needed to get along well."

"Oh, so all of that was a lie?"

The palace staff rubbed their arms and shivered.

"It's really creepy."

"I thought she was being sincere..."

They shook their heads and bowed their heads in disappointment.

"I'm sorry to Her Highness..."

"We were wrong."

The more they lived in the same palace, the more they liked Aristine, but it also felt like a guilt towards Diona.

Somehow, following Aristine felt like betraying Diona.

So they often told Diona that she suited Tarkan well.

"When other girls said Diona was mean, we should have listened."

The palace staff closest to Aristine had been saying for a long time that Diona was strange.

"Yes, I thought they were just slandering her."

"Maybe it's a good thing we found out the truth now."

"Let's treat Her Highness well from now on."

"Yes, we've been too indifferent, using the excuse that we have our own close staff."

"She even got sick..."

The palace staff started discussing how they would serve Aristine better.

If Diona found out, she would be furious.

After all, it was a matter of the palace staff she had recruited over several years turning against her.

Chapter 27. Between Friends

"Indeed, if it's done this way, it's possible even without refined iron."

Ritten nodded and looked at Aristine.

"Truly, Her Highness. How you came up with this idea... It's amazing."

Aristine smiled awkwardly at his admiring expression.

'Actually, it's not my idea, but a technique I saw on Earth in the imperial world...'

Aristine cleared her throat as she watched Ritten, who seemed to be wagging an invisible tail.

Currently, she was explaining to Ritten how to overcome the situation where refined iron could not be obtained, and as expected, Ritten's reaction was positive.

'That's a relief.'

If Ritten agreed, it meant it could be implemented here.

Aristine's solution was simple.

'Can't get new iron? Then recycle old iron!'

In other words, using scrap metal.

Of course, there are different grades of scrap metal, and it's difficult to produce high-quality steel due to impurities.

'But it's different for the blade of a scalpel.'

After all, the blade of a scalpel is disposable.

If you collect and recycle used blades, there's no need to secure refined iron.

'Of course, refined iron will still be needed.'

The period during which the queen's side can forcibly secure refined iron won't last long.

Once that period is over, refined iron can be purchased freely.

The problem is the method of recycling scrap metal.

Aristine had found the solution in her previous life.

'Electric arc furnace method.'

Literally, a method of melting and refining scrap metal using the heat generated by electricity.

Heat the scrap metal with electric current, separate impurities, and remove carbon.

By doing so, stainless steel is produced.

By using scrap metal instead of refined iron, the problem is solved.

"This process has another advantage."

Aristine smiled at Ritten.

"The blast furnace process for turning iron ore into refined iron is eliminated."

Originally, iron ore would be refined into refined iron through the blast furnace process, and then the refined iron would be further refined into stainless steel.

But with the electric arc furnace method, scrap metal can be directly refined into stainless steel.

In other words, one process is completely eliminated.

"Indeed."

Ritten's eyes sparkled.

"Then a lot of time will be saved."

"Yes, time is of the essence for us."

Less time means less cost.

"To catch two rabbits at once...! Her Highness is truly the savior of this world!"

Ritten, moved, firmly held Aristine's hand.

Aristine looked at him with a bewildered face.

'No, why is the "savior of the world" coming up here?'

She only suggested changing the stainless steel manufacturing process.

'And it's because I want to make a lot of money.'

Aristine soon gave up and sighed as she watched Ritten, who was wagging his tail and sparkling with excitement.

'He's always like this.'

It was easier to think that way.

Aristine, who had given up on understanding Ritten, spoke seriously.

"But there's a task that needs to be addressed first."

"Yes, we'll need a high-temperature energy source."

Aristine nodded.

On Earth, molten iron was produced using the high heat of electricity.

Then, what about here?

Naturally, magic stones would be used.

However,

"The problem is that the newly discovered magic stone mine is under the management of Prince Hamir."

Forget about being a husband, he just wants to make money.