Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Husband's Qualifications (2)
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“Veil, shall we head down now too? It feels like everyone’s just staring at us.”
Irina wiped the corner of her eye with a delicate finger and smiled.
Seeing her with all the knots in her heart undone, I nodded.
“Very well, Your Highness.”
I rose first to heed the princess’s command.
Then, I extended my hand with the elegance of nobility.
“...”
Irina stared fixedly at my courteous gesture for a moment.
Soon, she took it and murmured softly.
“You know, Veil...”
I tilted my head as I looked down at her averted gaze.
At that, Irina covered her lips with her other hand and spoke in a trembling voice.
“Don’t you think it’s about time to drop the ‘Your Highness’...?”
She soon covered her mouth with her palm, as if embarrassed by her own words.
Even her snow-white skin flushed faintly pink.
“Let’s think about that slowly together. After all, ‘we’ have plenty of time now.”
We.
At that word, Irina’s wistful eyes curved into a bright smile.
“Got it...!”
The princess straightened her dress hem and rose lightly.
Then, she locked eyes with the princesses waiting below.
*Pfft.*
Finally, as if proving her victory, she descended the stairs with me.
“...”
The princesses below stared up at the Second Princess with sullen expressions.
Lydia, in particular, snorted in disbelief.
“What...? No more ‘Your Highness’ now?”
The youngest princess crossed her arms alone.
She pursed her lips at the sight of us looking even closer than before.
“You could’ve ditched that heavy title the moment you got married anyway...”
She stroked the matching ring on my finger.
Lydia mumbled to herself quietly.
Lost in imagining her own pet name, the corners of her mouth crept up slyly without her realizing.
“Well.... In our East, they even have words like ‘husband’...”
Lydia bit down sharply on her rising lips as if scolding them with her pointed teeth.
Then, she approached me boldly, forcing a dignified expression.
“Veil, how long do you plan to sit there moping on the stairs?”
Lydia’s twin tails danced lively, matching her bright and confident personality.
“Come on, let’s go together. This is your first party as the star of the show, isn’t it?”
Despite being shorter than me, she held her head high and offered her slender hand.
It felt like upbeat Eastern music was playing from behind her.
“Understood.”
I hurried down like a child with them, offering both hands to the princesses.
And we joined them at the round table.
“...”
This time, Lea and Miya watched with displeased expressions.
Lydia’s signature bright and bold image.
It felt like she’d been outmaneuvered by the strategy of naturally seizing the mood.
‘Miyaaa....’
But Miya was no longer the type to cower like before.
As soon as we reached the table, she claimed the seat next to me with knight-like quick reflexes and agility.
And she sat down with casual ‘senior colleague’ small talk, making it look natural.
“Veil, did you just come back from seeing His Majesty?”
“Yes, I escorted First Imperial Consort Rozanna as well.”
“I saw her too. Her Highness Rozanna is so beautiful...! I can’t believe she’s in her forties.”
She whispered proudly right into my ear.
The princesses froze all at once as we drew close enough for our breaths to mingle.
‘Well, well?’
With utterly dismissive looks.
“You’re really starting to give off that Empire’s Greatest Sword vibe now, huh? Escorting a consort and all—. Pretty cool?”
But Miya paid them no mind.
Instead, she tapped my side with her elbow, flaunting our intimacy.
“Come on.... Senior, you look stunning today too? You’ve gotten even cooler since becoming an elite knight.”
I picked at her cheeky stray hairs as I spoke.
We exchanged the usual skinship between colleagues.
“...”
At that, the gazes of the noble ladies around the table turned sharply cold.
Irina, seated across from me, remained composed.
She smiled sweetly at me, sharing the memory that belonged only to us.
However, Lea, seated on the opposite side next to me, was unusually quiet today.
As if watching to see how far I’d go.
She just observed my skinship with Miya with a relaxed gaze.
“...”
Lydia also set down her wine glass with a clink as the mood she’d claimed seemed about to slip to the black cat.
She brushed back her bangs with what she thought was elegance and opened fire.
“Hey, Veil?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The moment my chat with Miya Senior paused, Lydia pounced like a sleek leopard.
“You’re a marquis now too, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been undeservedly elevated to that rank.”
Lydia, who used to tease me as ‘commoner, commoner—.’
She swallowed deeply, now that I was truly a marquis, wed to imperial blood.
“S-so, what I’m saying is.... How about we go get matching Eastern robes?”
“Robes, Your Highness?”
As I tilted my head, her grown-out bangs poked her eyes slightly.
Lydia stood right up and brushed them aside herself, peering at my face.
“Yeah. My family’s been wanting to see you lately—. They’d love it if we showed up in matching outfits.”
The youngest princess’s face drew close.
Unlike our first meeting, she was starting to look more adult now.
Still youthful and fair-skinned, but with intelligent eyes and smooth skin.
Plus, that provocative, sharp aura that teased whoever faced her.
Especially in that silk dress.
Was it because of the thin fabric clinging to her body?
Her pronounced navel curve and soft-looking lower belly tempted me to pinch them.
“Now that I think about it, my mother really likes you.... Father might even persuade him personally?”
Lydia glanced at her sisters and Miya as she said this.
Then, she smirked arrogantly.
“About ‘our relationship.’”
Indeed.
Lydia’s greatest strength.
A tight-knit family atmosphere.
And her position as the beloved youngest daughter.
She might just be the most perfect bride candidate.
“...”
Irina and Lea were at a severe disadvantage here.
Lea’s mother, Rozanna, already saw me as a sly knight.
Winning permission from both the doting emperor and her would be extremely tough.
Irina had even lost her mother.
As the only one without a mother, the emperor must treasure her immensely.
But.
“Huh, I already got my father’s permission.”
Here, Miya emerged as a dark horse.
“Veil, remember talking with my father in the garden before?”
“Ah, yes, we did.”
I chimed in, recalling the intimidating Baron Mace.
“I talked to Father after that, and he thinks highly of you.”
The eldest daughter leading a fallen house.
A self-made man from commoner roots.
They looked like a happily working couple, an ordinary married pair.
Lydia flinched at their wholesome, modest dynamic.
“Our side might feel more familiar than some lofty unrelated noble house...”
Miya fiddled with her cheek and tossed out a casual line.
But that offhand remark packed a punch.
‘Northern Grand Duchess and slave knight.’
Even in that masterpiece, it took ages for the slave knight to marry the grand duchess due to their status gap.
Yet Miya could breeze past that point, making her a formidable rival.
The stray cat I thought came just for a meal was settling in for good.
“...”
Irina’s smile froze, as if she’d overlooked that too.
Emperor Leonhardt.
Would he truly permit my marriage to her?
To all three of them, no less?
Perhaps only Lydia, with her maternal family’s approval, and Miya, with both parents’ blessing, stood a chance.
“...”
The round table’s mood chilled completely.
Only Miya and Lydia kept bright expressions.
Irina fell silent like Lea, probably plotting how to convince the emperor.
――――――.
Meanwhile, night deepened.
Servants carrying various dishes began appearing in the banquet hall.
Yet none of the princesses touched the food.
I started feeling awkward too.
Unexpectedly, Lea broke the long silence first.
After her deep talk with Irina.
After Miya and Lydia’s schemes.
The Empire’s First Princess’s first move was...
“Server.”
To call a servant.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“There should be a dish I ordered myself for today.”
She spoke as if she’d planned this in advance.
We other women, including me, tilted our heads at the unforeseen words.
“Can it be prepared right away?”
“Yes. Serve it to this one here.”
Lea’s elegant hand pointed at me.
The servant bowed quietly and returned with the prepared dish.
A large plate covered with a round tin lid.
It was placed before me.
“Your Highness, what is this...?”
I asked Lea, whose expression remained impassive.
She met my eyes and gave a subtly seductive smile.
“Your dinner.”
Come to think of it, she wore a black dress today, unlike usual.
Her deeply plunging neckline peeked through black lace.
It lent her an even more mature, sensual air than usual.
As if we were already married, she exuded leisure.
“Open it yourself.”
“Understood.”
I lifted the lid without a second thought.
Then...
“This is...!”
A long, thick-tailed fish dish appeared before me.
The luxurious delicacy known to delight men so much.
Lea rested her elbows on the table.
She propped her chin on the back of her hand and gazed at me intently.
“Veil.”
Her face drew near.
The rich pomegranate scent I’d once caught from Rozanna wafted toward me.
Like the pomegranate tree from our fortune-telling.
“Is it my father you’re worried about?”
But Lea’s pomegranate scent felt different from her mother’s.
If Rozanna’s was a fully bloomed fruit heavy with ripeness...
“Don’t worry. We can handle it just fine.”
Lea’s was fresh, on the verge of bearing fruit.
“If we get so deep that even Father can’t stop us, that’s that.”
Lea’s other hand slipped subtly under the tablecloth.
It settled softly on my thigh.
“Right?”
Her hand, gloved in smooth lace mesh.
It soon delved deep into my inner thigh.
Finally reaching my crotch...
She began stroking it like caressing a baby’s head.
“...!”
Her lewd fingers caressed the tip of the curve.
In response, my pants began to tighten.
“Hoo....”
Thankfully, the other princesses couldn’t see.
But Lea’s sensual, naughty touch showed no sign of stopping.
She rubbed my shaft worshipfully with her palm.
My lower body reacted, tamed by the haughty princess’s queenly touch.
Lea’s lips curved subtly, hooked on the thrill.
She was turning the crisis into opportunity.
“So that’s your method...”
I wasn’t one to yield easily either.
I took full advantage of the fact that the other princesses couldn’t see.
“Ngh...!”
Just as she stroked my curve.
I placed my hand on Lea’s plump rear.
And we brazenly caressed each other.
“I’m quite looking forward to it as well.”
Her skin felt even more elastic, perhaps from workouts.
In response, I gripped her buttock hard with my palm.
Lea swallowed deeply at my counterattack, struggling to keep her composure.
My heated pants and fingers.
Her warming rear and silky feel made our breaths quicken bit by bit.
We continued the banquet like that, fondling each other for quite a while.
“What’s with you two? Why the weird faces?”
Irina stared at us side by side and asked, her pupils losing focus.
Only then did we finally release our hands and call a truce.
“It’s nothing, Your Highness.”
“No, the fish is just thick.”
Lea cut a piece of the fish dish for me.
She subtly pushed the ‘thick’, ‘meaty tail’ part toward me.
“Eat up.”
The Empire’s First Princess wet her soft lips with saliva.
She smeared it teasingly with her lace-gloved fingers and smiled.
“Looks delicious.”
Irina swallowed deeply at Lea’s display.
She pulled the tail on my plate with her fork and took it.
“...!”
The silver-haired princess placed the thick meat in her mouth.
She half-closed her eyes seductively, savoring it first.
As if warning Lea.