A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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55.
The two figures strolling through the garden made for an absolutely perfect couple.
Of course, in this Empire, half-siblings could not marry, so it was merely an appearance.
Alex, arranging his golden hair neatly, spoke to Lilith.
“Lilith. Don’t you think it’s time you separated from your brother? That’s obsession.”
The moment the words left his lips, Lilith’s beautiful eyes narrowed.
“Whether I’m obsessed or not is none of your concern, Brother. I simply thought that Princess wasn’t suited for you.”
“In your eyes, no one would be suitable. That’s why you’ve always eliminated every young lady from high society who approached your brother, isn’t it?”
“They’re all inferior to me. They’re neither beautiful nor cunning—why would you place such women beside a brother destined to become Emperor?”
“That’s true. In Blake, there hasn’t been a woman capable of surpassing you, the poison of high society, except for the Empress herself.”
Alex stopped abruptly in his tracks, casting a shadow across Lilith’s face as he smiled with an enchanting grace.
“But in Sincester, there is one. A most brilliant living flower.”
“That Princess?”
“My intuition suggests so.”
“Even if that were true.”
Lilith pushed against Alex’s cheek with her palm. Her smiling face was far too captivating.
“No one understands Leonard like I do, Brother. Yet such a woman stands beside him. It’s absurd.”
“…What nonsense are you spouting, Lilith?”
“It’s not nonsense, but a secret.”
Lilith stopped walking and smiled sweetly, breathing in the fragrance of the flowers beside her.
Witnessing this, Alex’s brow furrowed.
“That’s precisely why the Second Empress wants to lock you away, calling you mad.”
“Mother is simply jealous now that I’ve become more beautiful. How pathetic—a mother envying her own child.”
Alex shook his head slowly. Nothing he said reached Lilith.
Lilith, who had been watching him intently, stopped walking and wore a crooked smile.
“Brother Alex, you must think I’m mentally ill, don’t you? But you’re no better.”
“That I’m a reckless fool too fond of women? I’ll admit that’s a form of madness too.”
“That’s not it. You’re actually drowning in inferiority beneath Leonard, Brother.”
At Lilith’s words, Alex’s face hardened like stone.
“You were the second most powerful prince after Demian, but then Leonard suddenly appeared and pushed you aside. The moment you saw him, you realized your own powerlessness and quickly abandoned your claim to the throne. Do you think I don’t know you’re consumed by inferiority and self-loathing?”
“…Lilith.”
Alex smiled faintly.
Yet that smile was utterly cold.
“Don’t presume to judge my life. I respect my brother.”
“I’d wager anything that you’re just as mad as I am, Brother. There’s no other explanation.”
Lilith crossed her arms and turned her gaze elsewhere.
It was toward Charlotte’s bedroom, where she resided.
“I could never look at my sister-in-law the way I look at you, Brother.”
The smile gradually faded from Alex’s face.
* * *
It was my wedding day.
Though I had never held a wedding in my past life, I had witnessed many, and I knew how frantically busy a bride could be.
As expected, I found myself rising before dawn and beginning preparations much like knights marching toward a battlefield.
“That’s not a wedding ribbon! The second one from the right!”
“Goodness! Didn’t they say the Princess wouldn’t eat until the wedding ceremony ends? Who brought bread here? Just water, just water.”
“Bring a smaller corset. One so tight I can’t breathe at all!”
Why, oh why, did I have to read a fantasy novel set in the medieval era?
If only I had read a contemporary romance instead, the wedding wouldn’t be this complicated….
Though, who knows.
If I had possessed the younger sister of a tycoon protagonist, I might have had to wear a dozen wedding dresses instead.
“Your Highness! What are you thinking about? Sara Renande sent word that there’s nothing wrong with the necklace and has sent it back!”
Dorothy’s urgent voice pulled me back to reality.
“Ah, Princess Lilith’s necklace?”
“Yes, should I replace the magic stone necklace you’re currently wearing with this one?”
“Hmm…. Yes, do that.”
“What? You’re really going to wear it?”
Ignis, who had been lounging carelessly beside me, widened his eyes in surprise.
“There’s no magic enchantment on it. And since it’s a necklace gifted as a representative of the Blackwood Family, it would be disrespectful not to wear it.”
“Then I’ll put it on right away!”
Dorothy, in her haste, quickly retrieved the necklace from its box.
But that was when it happened.
“Dorothy! Put that necklace down this instant!”
Thetis, who had been carefully arranging every fold of my wedding dress, cried out urgently.
Her face had gone deathly pale.
“Who on earth gave you that necklace…!”
“What’s wrong, ma’am?”
Thetis stepped closer to Dorothy and me, peering intently at the necklace.
“This jewel is a very rare pearl known as ‘Aphrodite’s Tear.'”
“What’s the problem with that?”
Thetis hesitated slightly at my question, but soon revealed the truth.
“This time, two of these pearls came from a single shell. One of them was given to the most famous courtesan in the Underworld…. It’s still unclear who gave it to her. But I’ve heard she wears it around her neck and selects her clients based on it.”
Suddenly, everyone’s movements froze simultaneously.
“A courtesan?!”
“That’s insane!?”
Abigail shrieked in a shrill voice, and Dorothy vigorously nodded in agreement.
Princess Lilith truly was mad.
If I had walked into the wedding wearing this necklace, it would have proven that I was on the same level as that courtesan.
It was as though cold water had been poured over my head, and my mind snapped into focus.
“…Did Princess Lilith know this fact when she gave it to me?”
“She must have known. That courtesan is so famous among the ladies of society….”
“But it seems the Sixth Prince doesn’t know about this?”
“How could he? One wouldn’t know unless they frequented clubs where courtesans gather. Besides, didn’t he send it directly to Sara the moment he received it? And Sara was a citizen of Sincester Kingdom.”
“…hehe.”
Laughter bubbled up from within me.
“Your Highness?”
“Hehehehe!”
Hahahaha!!
Giggle giggle!!
As I began laughing like a madwoman, everyone’s eyes went wide.
Ignis plucked a pin from nearby and tossed it at me. “Are… are you insane?”
“Are you insane?”
Yes, I was insane. Absolutely insane.
I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Honestly, I was breathtakingly beautiful.
I didn’t know who the famous courtesan of Blake was, but I had once met the most famous courtesan of Sincester.
Though it was the Holy Kingdom, people lived the same lives everywhere.
The lives of courtesans there and here wouldn’t be so different.
And as someone from the lower classes in my past life, I understood deeply the condescending perspective those high-nosed nobles held toward them.
I smiled faintly, then clapped my hands.
“What are you all doing? We need to prepare for the wedding. And Dorothy? Put that necklace around my neck.”
“Yes?”
“If someone’s thrown down a challenge, I have to accept it!”
I emphasized this to the maidservants who had been trying to pin up my hair.
“Put all of it up. Completely! Make sure this necklace is absolutely~ visible.”
* * *
Alex paced outside the Wedding Hall.
He had heard about Josephine’s son’s movements yesterday, and Lilith’s words kept circling through his mind.
-I could never look at my sister-in-law the way I look at my brother.
He couldn’t affirm Lilith’s words.
Me? Inferior to my brother? And harboring desire for my sister-in-law?
Nonsense.
Denying it, Alex slowly shook his head and stood firmly at the Wedding Hall entrance alongside his knights.
Unless he were mad, no one from the Imperial Palace would attack the Princess, but Blake had more madmen than one would expect.
That was when it happened.
Someone approached the hall from the distance, accompanied by two knights.
His pace was neither hurried nor leisurely—rhythmic and serene.
His hair shimmered like black silk beneath the sunlight, and his blue eyes gleamed like cold glass marbles.
Beneath a black leather belt hung an immaculate sheathed sword, and draped across his shoulders was a navy-blue cloak bearing the crest of Sincester Kingdom.
As he drew closer, Alex felt an oppressive presence emanating from him—different in nature from Leonard’s.
Where Leonard crushed others with intense fury, this man seemed to constrict people with pure conviction.
“Duke Cedric Myers.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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