Chapter 6

Her lilac-silver hair looked like it held rays of sunlight, and it looked far brighter when contrasted against Tarcan’s hair next to her.

No way...

They tried to deny reality, but it was obvious who the owner of the lilac-silver hair was.

“Why are you three standing there? Come inside,” the king said. They snapped out of their reverie and walked toward the tea table.

As they approached Aristine, their hearts tightened ominously. They hoped the only unexpected surprise was her hair and that the rest of their assumptions were still true. This was how they reassured themselves as they closed the distance:

She just has silver hair. Plenty of people have black, red, and golden hair, and silver is just another color. She’s nothing but an ordinary silver-haired woman.

But the tinge of lilac and her hair’s luster was far from ordinary. They could almost smell the floral scent simply from seeing her head.

The fact that they had faltered hurt their pride, so they attacked Aristine behind her back with their vitriol.

“R-right. Silver hair. I thought it was gray because of the dirt. It happens. She just bathed. It’s just her hair...”

“Yeah, it’s not as though bathing could improve her face.”

As they traded quick whispers back and forth, they regained their confidence.

“We came to see you, Father. I didn’t expect the rumored princess to be here!”

“We were surprised to find an unexpected visitor had gotten here before us.”

That was their excuse for hesitating.

“We were looking forward to meeting you since you must have the elegance and wisdom of anyone who comes from the imperial blood of the Silvanus.”

“Brother, be honest with us. You’re just glad to see how beautiful she is, right? The thousand-year-old Silvanian family is famous for producing attractive men and women.”

“Haha, was I too obvious? Tarcan, you’re so lucky.”

They were complimenting Aristine for only one reason: after raising expectations sky-high, they planned to make her plummet into the depths of humiliation once everything was proven false.

“The Silvanian royal family does have a long history. Yes, she does have their royal blood running through her...”

The first princess, Paelamien, paused when she saw Yenikarina’s face. Yenikarina was smiling like always, but her mouth was stiff, and she looked pale.

Why? She usually enjoys things like this...

Something was off. The panicked thoughts that Paelamien had suppressed the moment she saw Aristine’s hair climbed back up. Now, they reached a tipping point.

Something was most definitely wrong. That was when Aristine turned around.

The Silvanian princess’s lilac-silver hair whipped through the air as her petite face was revealed. Under her long lashes were eyes of an enigmatic purple hue. Her face was smooth and pale as cream and her lips looked soft like sugar.

Compared to the Ilugoans, who had well-defined curves, her thin arms and legs made her look almost fairylike.

Is she the same beggar princess we saw earlier...?

A gasp escaped Paelamien. She had expected the princess would clean herself up. In fact, she had assumed Aristine would don a beautiful dress and several pieces of jewelry. But she had also assumed no adornments would be enough to save the princess’s looks.

That was how dirty, filthy, and utterly pathetic Aristine had looked. Who would have imagined such a beautiful person could have been hidden under those layers of dirt?

“You said she looked like a rat from the sewer!”

“I don’t know what happened, all right?!”

The silent, internally screaming conversation was held through their eyes.

“Who in the world...?”

Even Aristine’s voice sounded ethereal. Seeing something beautiful was an entirely different experience from witnessing beauty move and speak.

“Oh... I-I’m the third prince of Ilugo, Marten. Nice to meet you, Your Imperial Highness.” Marten was in a trance as he introduced himself to Aristine.

No one expected any less from him since he was a known womanizer. The fact that Aristine had asked the question as though she was talking to someone beneath her had slipped his notice entirely.

Why does he only use the head between his legs?

Paelamien frowned and elegantly snapped her folding fan open.

“I am the first princess, Paelamien, Princess Aristine. I can let your attitude slide this time, but you should mind your choice of words.”

The first princess let out another exaggerated “Ha!” as though she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

“Who are we, you ask? We can’t possibly look like servants who came to tend to you.”

“Right, how could she not know such basic manners when she’s the princess of Silvanus?”

Stalina, the fourth princess, scoffed. She already seemed like she couldn’t stand Aristine. But the Silvanian princess, on the receiving end of their rudeness and scolding, didn’t even blink. In fact, she didn’t respond at all.

Instead, Paelamien reacted to her lack of response. They had clearly attacked her, but she seemed unfazed by their verbal abuse. The warning bells rang in Paelamien’s mind.

After an awkward silence, Aristine quietly began to speak. “I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood...”

“Misunderstood? Just where is the misunderstanding?”

It was a silly excuse for her lack of etiquette and served as proof of her rumored stupidity. Paelamien was ready to attack Aristine the moment she finished speaking. She would make sure the girl would never be able to raise her head again.

“I wasn’t demanding you introduce yourselves. I was simply asking myself, ‘Who are they?’ because I feel I’ve seen you before.”

Paelamien was stunned into speechlessness by Aristine’s reply. In fact, she felt guilty enough to hide half of her face with her fan.

I didn’t expect her to remember me during all the chaos...

Paelamien and Marten had been among the royals who had visited Tarcan’s palace to take a look at Aristine.

It can’t be, right? She’s just saying that because she saw me in passing.

Paelamien had mocked the princess earlier, then walked into the room pretending as though they’d never seen each other before. If the princess pointed out the obvious, she would lose face.

In front of our father, the king, too.

She couldn’t make any mistakes before her father. Since she would only be at a disadvantage the further they traveled down this line of conversation, Paelamien decided to keep her mouth shut.

Right, she shouldn’t have noticed me. I heard she wasn’t able to talk to anyone after her confinement because she was uneducated. She wouldn’t know how to speak eloquently.

Paelamien calmed her nerves.

She must have asked because I look familiar. But just in case...

Tarcan couldn’t help but let out a suppressed laugh when he saw Paelamien feign nonchalance. It was amusing to see the normally haughty first princess panicking.

I didn’t expect this.

Aristine was born into the family that had ruled Silvanus for a thousand years. In other words, she was part of the most noble and pure-blooded of royals. Tarcan thought she’d hate him for being born from a commoner.

Even his half-siblings detested the commoner’s blood flowing within him. Tarcan had assumed Aristine would be worse than all of them. She wasn’t anything he had anticipated, however...

Hmm...

Tarcan had a tendency to solve any and all of his problems by himself, even though he had several people at his beck and call. He hadn’t thought Aristine would be of any help, but if she continued to provide him with such entertainment, well... He might need to change his opinion of her.

The fourth princess, Stalina, snorted and glared at Aristine. “Ha! Don’t make excuses. Who talks to themselves like that? Are you really of imperial blood? A true royal wouldn’t come up with excuses for their faults or deny them either.”

“Oh, right. But I suppose you were treated as though you came from lowly blood back in Silvanus.” Stalina smirked. Her twisted smile grew wider when Aristine’s eyes turned to her.

“What? I was talking to myself as well,” Stalina said.

Paelamien wanted to crouch and cover her head. Her stupid, dim-witted sister had committed another faux pas.

It’s fine! This isn’t a reason for trouble if the princess doesn’t remember.

Paelamien tried to maintain a semblance of calm.

The queen sent us to bully Princess Aristine, so...

So this could be for the better as long as Aristine didn’t remember her and Marten.

There were so many people there, including the servants. She can’t possibly remember all of us. Especially when the situation was so chaotic. She didn’t even meet my eyes.

Still, Paelamien kept an eye on Aristine to gauge her reaction. She couldn’t read the other princess’s emotions, but she saw no anger.

“Prince Marten,” Aristine said, ignoring Stalina entirely. Stalina’s face turned red. On the other hand, Marten seemed to still be in his trance as he stared at Aristine.

“Haven’t we met before?” Aristine said.

Her purple eyes, which were a mix of red and blue, looked like they contained the universe. On top of that, as she spoke to him, her curved eyes made her look ever so elegant and pretty. Marten nodded before his mind could catch up to him.

“Yes... I do think we have. No, we must have. I’ve been to Silvanus before, and...” Marten began to ramble through an unasked-for story, his mouth in a wide smile as he spoke.

“I’m honored you remember me, Your Imperial Highness. Well, my looks are unforgettable, I suppose! Haha!”

Of course, Marten had never met Aristine in Silvanus. He wouldn’t admit to it, of course, as he’d taken her question as flirting.

Well, obviously, I’m better than Tarcan!

Stuck in his own world of misconceptions, Marten was proud of himself.

“Oh, I believe we met elsewhere, not in Silvanus.” Aristine smiled and gave Marten a pointed stare.

“Haha, where? Perhaps it was in a dream? Do you think that could be it? Maybe you’re the woman of my dreams as well. Hahaha!”

Paelamien was tempted to shove something in Marten’s mouth to stop him from talking.

She definitely remembers Marten and me at Tarcan’s palace!

She was certain of it. Princess Aristine was feigning ignorance.

I thought she was an idiot because she wasn’t educated and lost her connection to reality during her confinement.

But now, Paelamien could see she was wrong. The princess was extremely clever—and a threat.

She’s telling us she has cards up her sleeve but isn’t using them.

It was easier to fight someone who had laid their hand open on the table. But right now, she was stuck reading Aristine’s reactions and hoping the cards would reveal themselves.

Paelamien glanced at her father to gauge his reaction. He showed no sign of intervening.

But he’s watching her. And with a rather curious expression, at that.

Paelamien pressed her lips together.

Even if His Majesty is pretending like he doesn’t know what happened at Tarcan’s palace, he can’t ignore it once it comes out of the princess’s mouth.

Then, the king would have to do something. While it was possible for him to take his daughter’s side and ignore the matter entirely...

His Majesty is interested to see how Princess Aristine will resolve the situation.

If Princess Aristine came up with a good solution, the king would most likely take her side.

I need to step back.

The best way of going about this was making sure Aristine couldn’t bring up the incident at all. Just as Paelamien reached that conclusion, Stalina opened her mouth.

“What are you doing? Are you flirting with another man right in front of your fiancé? I’ve already given you my advice! How can you still be so vulg—?”

“Stalina!” Paelamien yelled to stop Stalina from finishing her sentence. Startled, Stalina turned to look at Paelamien. Her eldest sister wasn’t one for outbursts. In fact, she maintained a benevolent air when interacting with all her siblings except Tarcan.

“Her Imperial Highness was simply asking a question. How could you accuse her of flirting? Why would you make such a strange assumption?”

“B-but, Paelamien, she just...”

“Let’s leave it at that. People only see what they wish to see.”

“What? Paelamien, how can you—?”

“How can I what? Go on.”

Stalina went silent at the growled question.

“Are you trying to argue with me for something you did wrong?”

Stalina lowered her head and made no further retorts. Paelamien clicked her tongue at the sight.

She won’t cause any more trouble now.

She had spoken harshly to Stalina, but as long as she could shut her up, Paelamien considered it a success.

“Reflect on your attitude and learn from it.”

Stalina gritted her teeth stubbornly. She was angry. She couldn’t believe Paelamien was chiding her. Wasn’t she the sister who always overlooked her mistakes, even when she stepped out of line?

So why is she...?

“Stalina,” Paelamien urged her. Stalina curled her hands into fists. She couldn’t argue anymore when Paelamien was this angry.

“I understand. I’ll reflect on my behavior, Your Highness.”

She was filled with resentment, but Stalina bowed her head to Paelamien nonetheless.

* * *

A clean kill.

Tarcan felt like clapping. Aristine had done an immaculate job of hunting her enemy. In fact, it was nothing short of amazing. Toward the end, all she had done was sit through the sisters’ confrontation.

Tarcan had always been interested in battles of the sword with monsters but had avoided verbal confrontations with his fellow humans. This interpersonal clash would entertain him for quite some time.

Aristine was an exceptional hunter, even in Tarcan’s eyes. If her quarry had been monsters and she had accomplished an equivalent feat in the field, he would have recruited her then and there.

His eyes ran down the side of Aristine’s face. He couldn’t tell where in her thin and fragile features she’d hidden her vicious claws. It dawned on him once again that she really was a strange woman.