Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Elf Princess Accepts Political Marriage
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"Why are you so late?"
Iris glared at me and spoke to Leila in a curt tone.
"The conversation dragged on a bit... You know it's not an easy topic, Iris."
"What's so hard about it with a commoner...?"
Iris seemed to know about the political marriage talk too, judging by her words.
What's so hard about it...?
It's about breaking up with Ruane, and she's saying that just because I'm a commoner?
A bit annoyed, I shot Iris a look, and our eyes met.
"What are you staring at like that? If you don't look away with those filthy eyes right now..."
"Iris, enough...!"
Leila raised her voice, and Iris stopped mid-sentence, still glaring at me.
I wanted to keep staring her down, but... it's probably best to tread carefully with the Duchess of a ducal house.
Here, I should take the low road for a moment.
I averted my gaze and lowered my eyes a bit, and Iris gave a satisfied little smile.
She's a total bitch, but that snow-white beauty smiling is stunning... Well, she's Philia's mother, so it's no surprise.
I was admiring Iris's looks when Leila turned to Ruane and began to speak.
"...Ruane, I have something to discuss."
"Yes? What is it, Mother?"
"Well... the poli..."
"Ah...! Your Majesty, I'll speak with Ruane first!"
Leila looked troubled as she spoke, so I cut her off and pulled Ruane out of the room.
My actions must have seemed incredibly rude because Iris looked dumbfounded and started talking to Leila about In-hyeok.
"You're just going to let a commoner act like that, Leila?"
"I'm fine with it, Iris."
"Haa... I really don't get you, Leila... But... what's that on the side of your mouth?"
Iris, who had been sighing, pointed at the curly, thread-like thing stuck to Leila's mouth.
"..!!!!"
Leila startled and quickly peeled the hair from the side of her mouth, then spoke to Iris as if nothing had happened.
"It's nothing. Must've gotten it from one of the buildings behind the estate..."
"Hmm... Is that so? You've seemed a bit dazed since earlier, and your face is a little red... Are you feeling unwell?"
"I guess I'm not feeling great today..."
* * *
"H-Husband, what did you want to talk about...?"
Ruane looked flustered after I suddenly dragged her out and asked me.
"Sigh... Ruane, about what Her Majesty mentioned earlier."
"Yes..."
"She said you're getting a political marriage."
"A p-political marriage...?"
Ruane gave me an incredulous look, as if she couldn't believe my words.
"Sigh... So the Queen wants us to break up so you can have the marriage."
Ruane's expression darkened rapidly from confusion as she heard me.
"N-No, Husband... A political marriage out of nowhere...?"
"I don't know the details either... but she bowed her head and begged, so I agreed for now."
"......"
At my words about agreeing, Ruane's face fell into deep despair. Her eyes welled up as if she might cry any second, and her body began to tremble faintly.
"You... agreed...?"
Ruane hung her head, her voice utterly deflated.
"I agreed for now, but I'm not letting go of my woman. It was hard to refuse the Queen's request outright, so I went along with it. Ruane, I'll stop this marriage somehow."
Only then did her darkened face brighten into a smile. She held back tears that spilled little by little and threw herself into my arms.
"Hic... I thought... since you have other women... hic..."
"Does that mean I'd abandon you, Ruane? Even if you begged me to let you go, I wouldn't."
Reassured by my words, she rubbed her face against my chest, then lifted her head, smiling brightly at me.
"Never... never let me go, Husband."
"Of course."
I stroked Ruane's hair, and once she seemed settled, I explained my plan to cancel the political marriage.
Ruane looked shocked at first but smiled, saying it was just like me, and accepted the plan.
"Then let's head back in, Ruane."
"Yes, Husband."
After finishing our talk, we reentered the room. Ruane looked at Leila and spoke.
"Mother."
"Yes, Ruane."
"I'll accept the political marriage."
Leila looked stunned at Ruane's firm answer and glanced at me, but I just shrugged nonchalantly and smiled at her.
"So... who is the marriage with...?"
Ruane asked Leila, who had been looking at me.
"Ahem... The eldest son of the Replion family, one of our kingdom's three great houses."
"The Replion family...?"
"He's highly skilled and handsome, so it should be fine, Ruane. I accepted because he's not a bad match."
What do we do if you think he's not bad and accept... Ruane's will is what matters...
Ruane glanced at me, and I smiled back. With resolve, she replied.
"Understood. So when is the wedding, Mother?"
"Probably... three weeks from now. I'll head back and hold the ceremony right away."
"...Three weeks from now, right away."
"The family wants to hold it as soon as possible, so it couldn't be helped... Please understand, Ruane."
"Understood, Mother. It's fine..."
Leila approached Ruane apologetically and hugged her tightly.
"But Mother, I have one request."
"What is it, Ruane?"
"Could you invite... Husband—no, In-hyeok—to the wedding?"
"That is..."
"He won't cause trouble, so don't worry. I'm just curious what kind of man I'm marrying."
Leila looked at me dubiously, but since it was Ruane's request after accepting the marriage, she couldn't refuse.
"Understood... Three weeks from now, come along."
"Thank you, Mother."
"No... I can at least do this much for you, Ruane."
Hmm... She has to, or else. Ruane's basically selling herself here—if she couldn't even do this, I wouldn't stand for it.
With everything done, we prepared to say our goodbyes and leave the room.
"By the way, Princess Ruane, where's Philia?"
Iris suddenly asked about Philia.
"Philia wasn't feeling well, so she went back to the dorm to rest."
"Hmm... I see... Got it, Princess Ruane."
I was a little surprised to see Iris make a sad expression.
Wasn't Philia abused by the Venezia Duke? What's with those sorrowful eyes missing her daughter?
Puzzled, I bowed to Leila and Iris with Ruane and left the room, exiting the estate.
Walking side by side with Ruane outside, Iris's expression nagged at me. Unable to hold back as we walked, I asked Ruane.
"Hmm... Didn't the Venezia Duke abuse Philia? That cold duke looked sad when Philia's name came up."
"Ah... Well, about that..."
Ruane hesitated but eventually told me.
According to Ruane, when Philia was young, the Venezia Duke thought it was natural and did something that deeply hurt Philia.
From the story, her misogyny probably stemmed from the Venezia Duke too.
"Now the Duke regrets his actions, but Philia..."
Hmm... Dodged a bullet...!! After doing that to Philia, the Duke's pretending to be sad?
Is playing victim without knowing what they did a Venezia family trait...?
Still, Philia's pitiful, so I need to talk to her and comfort her properly... But not telling me about this...
Time for some body talk...
"Philia must be feeling down then... Ruane!"
"Y-Yes? Husband?"
I called Ruane's name loudly, startling her into responding.
"Let's hurry to Philia's dorm!"
"Yes... Kyaa! Husband, wait a sec!"
I grabbed Ruane's arm and dashed to Philia's dorm.