Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter 5

Shall We Marry? (3)

translated: iseuli

edited: lili

“That’s it?”

Hugo asked as he flipped through Fabian’s report, that consisted of only a few pages. It had been a month since the Duke had ordered him to investigate the princess. No other investigation had taken that long. He had come all this way in the dead of night; for all the effort he had gone through, he was very disappointed.

“There was barely anything to be investigated, so I was exercising my precaution. I’m sorry for not meeting your expectations.”

It was the first time Fabian had felt the limit of his own skills. It wasn’t the first time he did a background check on someone, but this time around, no matter how much he dug around, it was all for naught. She had been hidden away deep inside the royal palace, so it wasn’t easy to interact with her in the first place. Nobody knew about any Princess Vivian, so there wasn’t a starting point for his investigation.

Hugo no longer reprimanded Fabian. He understood Fabian’s skills well. He wasn’t a subordinate who would do a mediocre job, then make up excuses to hide his shortcomings.

The princess had grown up as a commoner until she was 12. Afterwards, she had entered the royal palace. On the surface, she had never left the royal palace since, neither had she made a debut among those of high society. However, once a week she would pretend to be a palace maid and leave for an errand. That was the information Fabian had collected this whole time.

‘Since she’s never made a formal debut in high society, how was she able to act so naturally during the Victory Ball?’

She had not made a name for herself in the Victory Ball, but it wasn’t a place any normal person could easily take on. She didn’t stand out in the party; at the same time, she did not make any mistakes or cause trouble for herself either.

“She wrote a permission slip of leave for herself and left just like that? Since when had it been that easy to escape the royal palace’s security?”

“The palace gate guards know her as a maid. There are too many royal children in the palace, so the amount of maids that enter and leave are too many to keep track of. They simply check whether they are taking anything out of the palace and that’s about it.”

He had wondered what she was doing each week, but she always went to the same place. She was going to a famous female novelist’s house every week. The female novelist lived a hermit’s life as well, and knew only one other person – the house maid.

“And I assume she has gotten the brat’s information from her?”

The existence of his son, Demian, was not a top secret, but it was not something a mere princess could come to know on a whim. Hugo had been suspicious over how the princess had come to know of it, thus he’d ordered the investigation.

“She is a famous author. It’s known through her novels that she understands high society very well. It seems she has some kind of connections with an informant, who delivers all the latest rumors of high society. I have not been able to confirm the identity of this person, but if you wish, I shall continue my investigations.”

“That’s fine. It’s not important. In the end, what I wanted to confirm was whether she’s really a princess or not.”

Most of the report was made by speculations. She was a princess with nothing to her name, but at the same time, everything about her was unclear. He skimmed through the pitiful report once more.

“Why are there no maids residing with her?”

“There had been many palace maids that had worked by her side… But most of them left or were reassigned after a few days for an unknown reason.”

“Are you sure there isn’t anyone pulling any strings behind the scenes?”

“There’s no mistake. I’ve investigated high and low, but she has no connections with any factions within the royal palace.”

There was no way to get a more thorough report than this. Hugo was lost in thoughts for a moment. It didn’t take him too long to make his decision. He had gone about this like any of his other responsibilities, in a quick and orderly manner.

“Since she leaves the palace the same time every week, she will probably leave tomorrow. Bring her here.”

“Huh…? Tomorrow…?”

It was his day off tomorrow.

“Is there a problem?”

“…No. Your Grace.”

His stubbornness had resulted in karma taking away his day off. Fabian gritted his teeth, absolutely certain that this was also a part of that witch’s curse.

***

Please do not take out the translations outside of Sleepy Korean Translations. I choose not to accept donations or profit for a reason. Thank you for your understanding.

“How did that thing go?”

Norman quietly inquired while peeking at Lucia.

“What thing?”

“The thing about the two paths you asked about last week. Wasn’t it about you? I don’t know the details very well, but is it something that’s difficult to talk to me about?”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Everyone has a secret or two. There are times when you must keep a secret from your loved ones and family. It just seemed like you were struggling with something… I just wanted to know if you were okay.”

Norman’s job was to understand other people’s emotions and thoughts. She could see into others easily with great accuracy. Although Ms. Phil always had a sour expression, Norman had no trouble understanding her; whereas Lucia, no matter how many times she met Ms. Phil, she couldn’t see anything past that sour expression.

“Your words from last time helped me a lot. I decided to take the gamble. Currently, I’m waiting for the results.”

“I see. If you hear good news, you must tell me.”

“Yes, I promise to do so. But Norman, these days, sometimes my heart doesn’t feel like my own heart. The person that is related to me… I will tell you the current situation. It’s my father.”

Including the time she’d met her father at 12, adding to it the event in her dream, she had only met him twice. Her father was but a mystery to her.

“My father neglects me. He doesn’t starve me to death, and feeds me well. However, I’ve only met him once when I was 12 and that was it. All this time I never thought much of it. I thought it wouldn’t matter because it’s no different than having no father at all.”

One year. Only one year was left. After one year, the Emperor would die.

“I’ve always thought that person had nothing to do with me. But these days I can’t help but feel endless loathing for him… Or something similar to that.”

She wanted to enter the inner palace where the Emperor resided and say to his face, ‘You will die soon.’ She kept feeling the atrocious desire to see his face contort.

She was but one of his many children. It was not like she was born out of love. If only he had shown a little bit of care, she would not have been sold off into such a marriage.

“I feel like if that person dies, I will feel very gratified. Even though he is my father… I really shouldn’t be thinking this way, right?”

“What are you talking about? You call that kind of person a father?”

Norman gazed at Lucia with calm and sad eyes.

“It’s okay to hate him. It’s okay to pour a cup of water and curse him away(1). As long as the pain in your heart goes away, that’s fine. As long as that feeling doesn’t eat away at your heart, it’s okay to hate that person.”

Lucia’s eyes gradually grew red. It was all Norman’s fault. She had never known affection in her life. A total stranger like Norman had showed so much affection and care to Lucia, she couldn’t help but compare Norman with her father. Through Norman’s care and friendship, the seed of hate for her father had grown. Norman carefully sat next to Lucia and embraced her tight with both arms.

“Lucia. You always act older than you really are. Life is short. Even when you live your life doing what you want, you won’t be able to do everything. As long as it’s not killing someone, don’t hold yourself back, but do everything you want. This is my advice as your senior in life.”

Lucia burst out laughing. Technically, Lucia was Norman’s senior in life. Lucia opened her arms and hugged Norman. Although Norman was very skinny, her embrace felt cozy and snug. Lucia felt happier in this life than in the life within her dream. Just by getting to know Norman, Lucia believed she had succeeded in her second life.

***

Please do not take out the translations outside of Sleepy Korean Translations. I choose not to accept donations or profit for a reason. Thank you for your understanding.

She was making her way back to the royal palace. A man casually blocked the road in front of her. He was a young man with dark brown hair. Bowing his head towards Lucia, he handed her a white envelope.

She hesitated for a moment before she received it. Inside, the envelope was empty. But on the front side, there was a black lion emblem.

At this point, he would have finished his investigation of her. It wasn’t surprising they figured out her regular schedule of leaving the palace.

“I’ve come to escort you.”

She could recognize who this person was due to his cold midnight blue eyes from her dream.

‘Fabian.’

He was the Duke of Taran’s personal aide. There were only a few powerful nobles sitting together at the center of power within the Dukedom of Taran. The Duke limited the power of everyone around him and disallowed any room for concession. Roy Krotin was among the top well-known nobles of the Taran Dukedom, and just below him was Fabian.

He managed all of the Duke’s daily tasks; he was the highest ranked secretary and aide. There was a widespread rumor that Fabian held the responsibilities for accepting or rejecting social party invitations. Therefore, no matter how high and mighty a noble might be, they would bow down and prostrate themselves in front of Fabian.

“Right…now?”

“Our Lord has requested a more in-depth discussion than last time’s. You may reject this invitation, I will return alone.”

Lucia looked over to the two people waiting for her by a carriage. The carriage didn’t have a single window nor the duke’s emblem. If Lucia were to get onto this carriage and disappear, nobody would be able to find out that she had been done in by the Duke of Taran.

‘How thorough. I’m a little scared.’

Lucia stepped into the carriage without another word. The carriage took off and a short while later, it stopped. Someone opened the door from outside. Lucia recognized that it was the Duke of Taran’s mansion. She had been there only once, but she could recognize some familiar landmarks.

“Please come this way.”

A different man with the exact same midnight blue eyes as Fabian escorted Lucia into the mansion.

While Lucia waited in the receiving room, Fabian went to knock on his Lord’s door.

“We’ve escorted her here.”

“Is she alone?”

“Yes.”

“Did she follow peacefully?”

“Yes.”

Hugo chuckled. She was a humorous lady. She looked like an uncommon person from the moment she welcomed herself to the Duke’s home on her own; today as well, nobody would know the fact that she had been escorted to the Duke’s home. She seemed to have no fear as to what could happen to her.

Hugo was supporting his chin with one hand while drumming his desk with the other. The marriage with her had perked his interest, but he was not desperate to get married at the moment. Although he had ordered a thorough investigation, there remained many mysteries about that woman. She didn’t seem too suspicious, but that didn’t mean he could easily overlook this fact. At the same time, it wasn’t much of a problem. He never put his trust in anyone in the first place.

It didn’t change the fact that he had to get married. Whether he got married now or later didn’t change anything. It wouldn’t matter who that person was. Therefore, Hugo tossed a coin. If she rode the carriage and arrived at his home, it would be heads. If she rejected, that would mean tails. He preferred heads. He had decided on his life changing decision that way.

Currently, Lucia was enjoying the crackers and tea that were served by the man who had escorted her here. The tea was very fragrant and the crackers were seriously delicious. Lucia thought she would be able to live a happy life if she had just these two things.

“You are a very good cook. These are the most delicious things I’ve tasted in my life.”

Following Lucia’s compliment, the man momentarily paused before answering.

“I’m glad they suit your taste.”

She had already finished half of the crackers he’d served very happily; Jerome looked at Lucia thinking she was a unique young miss.

He had served many guests before, but it was the first time he met someone as relaxed as her. Generally, they would be too nervous to touch the food and barely sipped the tea. If he knew she was a princess, he would have been even more surprised.

While Lucia was happily stuffing her mouth with crackers, the receiving room’s door suddenly opened. She quickly stood up when she noticed it was the Duke of Taran. He greeted Lucia with his usual frosty expression and took a seat directly in front of her. He waved his hand and Jerome nodded, seeing himself out of the room. Now, only two people remained in this wide receiving room.

“Please have a seat.”

Lucia plopped herself down in shock. Her mouth was stuffed to the brim with crackers at the moment. She had no way of spitting them out, so she started chewing them as fast as she could. She had swallowed too quickly and felt herself choke, so she started chugging down her tea. He waited quietly without a word, but that made her even more embarrassed, causing her face to flush.

When she finished ingesting the crackers, he placed a huge envelope onto the table and pushed it to her side. He nodded his head, signaling her to look inside. She did so and took out some documents. She pushed down her embarrassed feelings and calmly read over the documents.

‘She should be 18 now.’

Her physical appearance fit her age, but at times she seemed much more mature than her age. It was true that those from the royal family and high society matured quickly, but there was something different about her.

Hugo began truly inspecting the young miss for the first time. Before, he had simply confirmed her physical traits like her hair color and general face structure. This time, he took his time inspecting her as a woman.

She wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t an impeccable beauty either. The only thing that stood out was her eye color. At first glance, it seems golden, but it looked more like an orange pumpkin colored jewel.

But that was it. Her looks or body did not entice him at all. It was probably for this reason that he agreed to take her as his wife.

Inside the envelope were two documents. A parental custody waiver and a family registry agreement. Those were the two most precious documents for a female. Usually women had no knowledge of the law, but they were educated on those two things to the last dot. Including divorce papers, they were never to sign those things so easily. Those documents symbolized all the power a woman held.

“As per Princess’ request, these are the two documents that you must sign.”

“…This is it? How about the other things we’ve talked about last time…?”

“Other than these two, there is nothing else we can officially document.”

“Really? Do you not need freedom in your personal life? Will it be okay to cling onto you and love you?”

She had her eyes opened wide while asking these questions like an ignorant child, and he instantly felt a grand amount of stress build up inside his chest. He abhorred nonsense conversations or lame jokes. He hated it when people tested out the waters uselessly. He had no thoughts to leave any loopholes in this contract.

“Then I shall add those two as well as a verbal contract.”

Unexpectedly, she wasn’t shocked by his words at all. She nodded while in serious thought and held a pen to sign the documents, inversely shocking him.

“Hold on. What are you doing right now?”

“You told me to sign it…”

“I’ve told you my conditions of the contract, so you must have your conditions as well, don’t you?”

“It’s okay to add my own conditions as well?”

“Of course. A contract only beneficial to one side cannot be established in the first place.”

He wanted a contract, not to swindle someone. Lucia fell in deep thought. She’d never thought of this at all. Her only goal was to marry him. Since he offered, she didn’t want to reject. It would be too wasteful.

“Do you need time? Just for your information, if this contract isn’t completed today, everything will be canceled.”

“Why?

“Whether this will be a profiting contract is not for certain and there are too many variables.”

He had to reorganize everything to meet the princess again and reschedule everything in his life around her; it was just too troublesome. This marriage agreement was on a whim. One never knew how his feelings might change tomorrow.

“Is it okay if I ask you one thing? Why do you hate a woman’s love?”

He gazed at her without word and Lucia wondered if she’d stepped on a painful memory, while returning a meek gaze.

“Did I…ask something you didn’t want to talk about?”