How I Ended Up Becoming the Imperial Princess While Trying to Pay Off an Illegal Loan - Chapter 10

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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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010.
* * *
The Second Prince’s Palace Garden was sprawling and meticulously maintained.
Unnamed flowering trees grew in every direction, and fish darted lazily through the small pond. Stepping stones lay scattered across the ground at irregular intervals, adding to its charm.
Yet Tamia’s face, as she surveyed the beautiful garden, was clouded with discontent.
“Husband.”
“What is it this time?”
“There’s far too much in the way.”
Trees everywhere—here, there, nowhere to move.
Tamia gestured dismissively at the garden, grumbling.
“I can’t even practice properly. These stones underfoot are uneven and terribly inconvenient. The courtyard back home was spacious and clean.”
‘She means barren, not clean,’ Leon thought to himself.
Rather than voice the observation aloud, he simply indulged her complaint.
“Of course there’s a separate training ground. It’s just some distance from the Second Prince’s Palace. If you’d like, I could have this entire garden cleared and converted into one for you.”
!
The attendants and gardeners flanking them seemed to cry out silently, their horror practically shaking the air.
“There’s a separate training ground? Well, then there’s no need to demolish the garden. I thought this was the only space available.”
Sigh—
Relief rippled through the assembled staff.
It was then.
“Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!”
An attendant’s loud announcement preceded the Empress’s entrance.
Malicia Valentis.
Though she had long passed fifty, she appeared barely into her mid-thirties—a woman of delicate, refined beauty.
Her lustrous pink hair was gathered neatly atop her head, crowned with a small tiara.
“I came myself to meet the daughter-in-law my son brought home.”
Leon’s face contorted the moment Malicia opened her mouth.
That roundabout way of speaking, that tone—it grated on him every time.
What she meant was: ‘You haven’t even paid your respects, and what exactly are you doing out here?’
Leon merely nodded curtly and clamped his mouth shut, which caused Tamia to tilt her head quizzically.
‘Did they have a fight?’
If so, then as someone with a good nature, I should step forward and greet her myself!
“I am honored to meet the Moonlight of the Empire! I was planning to call upon you first, but to have you come in person—Your Majesty is truly kind.”
Tamia bowed brightly toward Malicia, then jabbed Leon’s side as if seeking his approval. But Leon still refused to meet the Empress’s gaze.
‘What? Their relationship looks far worse than when he was with His Majesty!’
Why is the family dynamic like this?
Back home, even our fiercest quarrels never lasted more than three days before we made up.
“Are you Tamia Arderin?”
Malicia’s question jolted Tamia from her thoughts.
“No, I am Tamia Valentis now. We’re married, after all.”
“Ah, Valentis….”
The Empress Malicia fell silent for a moment, as if considering, then abruptly struck the cheek of an attendant standing behind Tamia.
Slap—
!
The Second Prince’s Palace servant, struck without warning, could not even cry out, cradling their face in both hands.
“The Princess Consort’s manners are appalling. Answering back so directly.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I cannot lay hands upon a disrespectful princess myself, so I have disciplined her subordinate instead.”
The atmosphere froze instantaneously.
‘There she goes again.’
The Empress had a talent for manufacturing discord whenever something displeased her, using those around her as leverage to extort what she desired.
As Leon finally moved to intervene against Malicia’s arbitrary display—
“My goodness, Your Majesty! You mustn’t strike like that.”
Tamia seized Malicia’s wrist with a flourish, examining it from different angles.
“Does your wrist ache? Striking that way produces only noise—the damage doesn’t land properly. You’ll only hurt yourself.”
?
“To strike correctly, you need to rotate from your core, not snap your wrist. Shall I teach you?”
Facing this utterly unexpected response, Malicia stood blank with bewilderment.
Tamia continued kneading Malicia’s hand as she spoke.
“My, your skin must be quite delicate. Look how red your palm is. Your Majesty, you really mustn’t do such things. Your lovely hands will be ruined.”
“Hey, let go of that…!”
Malicia jerked her hand away, opening her mouth to retort, but Tamia pressed on without pause.
“Ah, but no—if you’re to maintain discipline in the Imperial Palace, you must do difficult things even with tears in your eyes, yes? Then call for me the next time you need to slap someone. I’ll be delighted to do it for you instead, and quite thoroughly at that.”
“Wh-what…!”
“In exchange, I’ll need to charge a consultation fee, so do keep your purse well-stocked. Say, about ten denarii? Hehe.”
Hmm, would this much strength satisfy her?
Tamia brought her palm down against a nearby rock, and the solid stone crumpled inward, molded perfectly by the shape of her hand.
“…!”
Malicia stared in shock that bordered on fainting, then wheeled about and fled as though her life depended on it.
“Do call me, won’t you? I’ll be waiting!”
Tamia called out cheerfully after Malicia’s retreating back.
* * *
“Husband.”
Tamia plunked herself down on a garden bench and patted the seat beside her.
“Come sit here.”
She carried herself as though the Imperial Palace Garden belonged to her now.
Leon settled beside her, and Tamia lowered her voice.
“Be honest with me. Both of them—they’re not your real parents, are they? You were picked up from under a bridge?”
“What?”
“There’s no other explanation for you to be on such poor terms with your family.”
Her earnest reasoning drew an unexpected laugh from him.
“Half right, Tamia. The Empress is not my biological mother.”
“Ah, really? I could tell—there’s such a distance between you two!”
“It’s more surprising that there are nobles who don’t know that fact.”
“Well, I spent far more time rolling through dirt with demons than sitting at a desk, so…”
Tamia scratched the bridge of her nose, looking embarrassed, then asked again.
“Then the Emperor—is he your stepfather too?”
“No, Father is my biological father.”
Though even a stepfather would have been preferable, all things considered.
Leon swallowed the bitter rest of his words.
“Since we’ve begun talking about this, I’ll tell you everything. My biological mother died when I was five years old.”
“Ah… I see.”
“My father blamed me for her death.”
“What? How was that your fault? Did you kill her?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what on earth was the reason?”
“She was attacked by a demon while we were traveling together and died.”
Tamia blinked, not following.
“Father said I was worthless for not protecting Mother and reproached me for it.”
“That’s insane! How is any of that your fault? You were only five!”
Tamia bolted upright, indignation flashing across her face.
“You don’t need to be so angry about it.”
“Husband, should I go back and drop the Emperor into that hole again?”
Her bristling anger made him laugh despite himself.
“I’m grateful for the sentiment, but that won’t be necessary.”
“You’re welcome.”
Tamia sat back down quickly.
“Honestly, I was a bit frightened you’d say yes. If I went through with it, our house would be branded traitors because of me.”
If she’d meant to back away, why had she volunteered in the first place?
Leon found himself laughing again at her candor.
“Husband.”
“Yes?”
“A five-year-old child losing to a demon is only natural. So don’t carry that guilt.”
“Guilt?”
“Yes. Thoughts like: if only I’d been stronger, I could have protected her—or if I hadn’t insisted on that journey, she’d still be alive. All of that is worthless. You were just a small child, that’s all.”
Tamia demolished his long-held trauma with casual thoroughness.
“It’s wrong to make someone feel at fault for something that isn’t their fault. That sort of thing deserves no more thought than demon droppings. Understand?”
Tamia thumped his shoulder with an audible smack.
“Ow, T-Tamia. I’d appreciate it if you could be a little gentler in the future.”
“Oh, sorry. Father always told me to be careful too.”
Tamia’s eyes widened as she began to gently pat Leon’s shoulder, the one she’d just struck.
That rough, clumsy touch somehow purified the rot that had been festering in Leon’s heart in an instant.
‘It wasn’t my fault, she said…?’
Had anyone ever told him such a thing before?
Leon was still staring at her, dazed, when it happened.
“Your Highness, there you are.”
An attendant from the Second Prince’s Palace came rushing toward Leon, breathing hard.
A long Gold Chain hung from his hands.
“I’ve brought the implements for the First Night Ceremony, in accordance with Imperial Tradition.”
“…Me, a husband?”
Tamia’s hand, which had been patting Leon, froze in mid-air.
“Do we…do we really have to do the First Night Ceremony tonight? More importantly…”
She swallowed hard and continued in a trembling voice.
“Why do we need a chain for the First Night Ceremony?”

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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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