How to Win My Husband Over

Chapter 9

Participants in the tournament didn’t fight among themselves but rather battled ferocious demonic monsters. Though it was a death match, only nobles were allowed to participate. And to prevent cheating and serious accidents, a committee consisting entirely of priests oversaw the event. Cezar would be coming to preside over the committee and visit me.

Damn it.

Elenia, who looked as indifferent as ever as she listened to the conversation, brusquely asked, “You don’t have much of an appetite?”

She noticed I was only sipping wine?

“It’s just that this wine’s really good,” I replied.

“Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach isn’t good for your health.”

Of course. I sheepishly put down my half-empty wine glass and started nibbling on a piece of lemon pie. When the girls stood up one by one to dance, I excused myself, saying I needed to go to the ladies’ room. I wasn’t going to throw up the pie, of course. I couldn’t risk being caught puking, so I was going to get some fresh air on a balcony.

Elenia was right. I felt somewhat lightheaded after drinking on an empty stomach. As I left the banquet hall and rushed to the closest balcony, my shoulder bumped into someone coming from the other direction.

“Oh!”

“Oh, excuse me.”

Apparently, it was a bad day for my shoulder. As I staggered back, he quickly took my hand to steady me.

“Are you okay?”

His voice sounded quite young. I looked up, grimacing slightly at the pain, and found myself looking into a pair of oddly familiar purple eyes. He was tall, but his face was still round. He had to be about fifteen. His pale blond hair that came down to his neck and his delicate jaw reminded me of someone.

“I’m okay. Um…”

“Oh, I’m Lorenzo van Furiana. You were just with my sister, right?”

Freya’s little brother. No wonder he looks so much like her. But…

“Are you really okay? Should I take you to the banquet hall?”

“Really, I’m okay. I was coming out to get some fresh air. Are you a paladin?”

“Sir Iske would laugh to hear you ask that. I’m only a squire. May I ask, do you find the banquet boring?”

Well, banquets are always boring. But why do you hate me? The boy was smiling and acting merry and nice. Still, he clearly held me in such great disdain that I could feel it suffocating me. Yes, I was sensitive to hostility, but the contempt in his eyes was obvious—he was probably too young to hide it.

Look at this kid. He’s just met me, and he already hates me more than anyone else here. Not even my own husband despises me that much. As for Elenia, she was flawlessly impassive, so I couldn’t tell how she felt about me. And things were a bit awkward between me and Freya, but she didn’t exactly hate me. So then, what was wrong with her little brother?

I smiled at him wordlessly, and the boy stared at me. After an uncomfortable pause, he scratched his head and spoke first.

“Oh, my apologies. It’s just hard to believe I’m seeing you in person.”

“Sounds like I’m quite famous here.”

“No one in this world doesn’t know who you are. You’re the pope’s daughter.”

“Really? That’s surprising. Unlike my brothers, I’ve never done anything worthy of fame.”

A short silence followed. Lorenzo pretended to give what I’d said some thought, then confessed with a grin, “Actually, there is this song a bard sang about you. It was popular until a while ago.”

“Oh, really?”

“You sound like you’ve never heard it. Would you like to?”

“I’m intrigued. Please, go ahead.”

“It goes like this.”

With great exaggeration, the boy cleared his throat and began to sing:

“She cannot find a man worthy, the Lark of Cistina, but perhaps her half brothers would be enough to please her—”

However Lorenzo expected me to react, he never found out.

Whack!

“Aaagh!”

“You crazy kid! Haven’t I told you to keep your foul mouth shut?”

“Wait, wait! Aaah!”

My eyes widened. A knight sprang from the adjacent hallway like a basilisk, smacked the boy’s head, and mercilessly pulled his ear. Sir Ivan, no less. Yes, the pretty holy knight with a nasty manner of speaking.

“Apologize to her before I actually rip your mouth wide open!”

“B-but…”

“Sh*t. Your idol Iske is right there. Do you want me to bring him? You know how much he hates such filth. If he finds out what you were just singing, I’m sure he’ll take good care of your mouth. And once he’s done with you, you’ll have to apologize to Lady Omerta here with that f*cking mouth of yours.”

I doubted Iske would actually cut up Freya’s brother’s mouth, but at any rate, Lorenzo either feared Iske or couldn’t handle the pain. He mumbled something like an apology.

“Louder! Either you apologize louder or scream louder!”

“Um, it’s okay. Please let him go.”

I didn’t want an apology, and I wasn’t mad in the first place. I put on a sorrowful smile. Sir Ivan looked at me and, still fuming, released his grip. Lorenzo got the hell out of there.

Tut-tut, I thought as I watched him flee. Sir Ivan shook his head, cursed once more under his breath, and then turned to me with a beautiful smile on his face.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s okay,” I assured him.

“Please don’t take things the wrong way. That boy is just a bit crazy, he made up that stupid delusion on his own. No member of the Holy Order of Longinus would ever sing such a vulgar—”

“Sir Ivan, it’s really okay. It’s not like I’m unaware of the rumors about me.”

There came another silence. He looked baffled, and I summoned my tears.

“M-my lady?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that… Suddenly I’m afraid my husband might believe the gossip, and…”

“That’s absurd. He doesn’t care about what others say in the first place, even when he really should.”

Sniff. “Really?”

“Really. Plus, he’s not kind enough to let someone bother him and get away with it. Frankly, I was surprised earlier. Oh, I don’t mean you were bothering him, um…”

Huh. Should I be honored?

“Then Sir Iske doesn’t despise me?”

“Not at all! He doesn’t deserve to hate someone like you. He’s always lived however he pleases, and he’s not getting his way for the first time. He just doesn’t know what to do about it.”

“Then he won’t hate it if I like him?”

“Of course not. I’m sure it will be an honor to that fool.” Sir Ivan nodded earnestly in encouragement, but then he seemed to realize what he was saying and cleared his throat awkwardly.

It’s okay. I understand.

“Ahem. Um, let me escort you to the banquet hall.”

“I’m okay. I came out to get some fresh air.”

“But if you’re on your own… Very well. Just let me know if that little bastard shows up again.”

Is he worried the boy might come back and make me cry? He’s got a foul mouth, but he does practice chivalry. I stepped out on the balcony alone. The evening sky was still bright because the sun never set in the summer in Erendille.

A staircase led from the balcony to a beautifully decorated garden that had a pond surrounded by artistic sculptures. I needed a distraction from all the thoughts in my head and went down to take a look. Approaching the lake, I walked along a trail with lush tulip trees and lovely pink, purple, and white perennials. Then I spotted auburn hair by the sculpture of a pair of swans, their lithe necks curved in a heart shape. I hadn’t seen her from up on the balcony.

“Princess Arianne?”

She hid behind one of the swans, then poked her head out. She had a handful of yellow summer flowers. Was she playing there alone? Where is her nanny?

“Please don’t tell my mother.”

Of course. So you did sneak out. Though I was surprised to find out she was capable of doing so, I still nodded and smiled.

“I won’t. What are you making there?”

But the little princess didn’t answer and kept staring, apparently wary of me. To show that I wasn’t there to bother her, I turned and approached the expansive pond with a graceful bridge running across it.

“You shouldn’t be there alone,” the princess mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“You have to go there together for love to last forever.” She came out from behind the sculpture.

So the pond can bring eternal love. I was impressed that there was such a romantic place inside the palace walls. Then again, the king himself was a pretty romantic guy.

“Does it really work?” I asked.

“I don’t know. That’s what my nanny said. A fairy lives under the pond who grants true love.”

I bent down to match her height and smiled, then realized her gaze was trained on my hair, no less. Is it because my hairstyle is similar to hers?

“Is that a bouquet?” I asked.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s really pretty. Who did you make it for?”

After some hesitation, the little princess nodded and whispered in a barely audible voice, “I’ll give it to you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll give it to you if you let me touch your hair.”

Huh? I almost tilted my head to one side, but then I smiled again.

“Now?”

“Not now, later.”

So you want to play with my hair? I was apparently a life-size Southern doll in her eyes, which was understandable considering her age.