Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 31

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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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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 031

Since my health deteriorated and the Emperor issued his confinement order, my family’s visits to the Separate Palace became noticeably less frequent.

It was only natural for the sake of their reputations. There was nothing to gain from being entangled with a cursed, abandoned Princess.

Among the Imperial Family, it was my younger sister Jeina who visited most often.

Whenever there was a major event in the Empire, she would seek me out and warn me that as a member of the Imperial Family, I absolutely had to attend.

‘Next month is His Majesty’s birthday. For his fiftieth birthday celebration, even dignitaries from other kingdoms are sending envoys. So you must come too, sister.’

I attended a few times with her help, but I never had a pleasant experience.

A prince who greeted me would have his carriage meet with an accident, or blood would pour from my mouth when I coughed during a banquet—misfortunes kept occurring one after another.

As my physical condition worsened, I declined at the last visit, saying I wouldn’t be able to attend.

That was the first time I witnessed Jeina’s anger.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. Are you abandoning your duties as a member of the Imperial Family? Do you think the daily life and privileges you enjoy now came for free?’

She was right.

To her, practicing noblesse oblige, I was just a foolish Imperial Family member shirking my duties under the pretense of poor health.

I could only smile bitterly and offered no further excuses. Expressing this pain and despair in words felt far too pathetic.

After dozens of reproaches and hours of persuasion, when I still couldn’t get up, she finally gave up on me and left.

‘I won’t visit again until you become a member of the Imperial Family once more.’

She left with a parting full of disappointment.

‘…It’s already been five years since then. Time really does fly.’

My time had stopped in the Separate Palace, but hers clearly had not.

As I was lost in these memories, Jeina clicked her tongue with a soft tsk.

“His Majesty the Emperor has graciously allowed your return to High Society, but you’d do well to keep your wits about you. Even members of the Imperial Family can embarrass themselves if they slip up on etiquette.”

“Of course. I’ll practice.”

My terse reply seemed to displease her further, and she fixed me with a cold stare, arms crossed.

That icy gaze held not a trace of familial warmth.

“Your complexion has improved, at least. You should be able to find a suitable match now.”

“A match?”

“A fiancé, of course. Surely you’re not foolish enough to claim you don’t wish to marry?”

“….”

Faced with Jeina’s question—she who possessed sensibilities disturbingly similar to the Emperor himself, despite being a Princess—I found myself unable to respond.

If I answered that I had no thoughts of marriage at present, she would spend the next hour berating me for my incompetence.

“A Princess’s duty is to secure a husband befitting her station for the sake of the Empire….”

Sensing the lecture was about to begin, I cut her off mid-sentence.

“Speaking of which, did you know His Majesty the Emperor chose Loreil as my attendant?”

“…I heard it from Her Majesty the Empress.”

Fortunately, she hadn’t caught my intent, and she nodded with a hint of displeasure.

“I suppose they were trying to match you with Loreil. Though it’s hardly likely to work—your stations don’t align.”

“Her Majesty the Empress seemed interested as well. She apparently wishes to introduce him to you.”

“I’m aware. He would be a suitable match for me. I’m not sure why they suddenly want to connect us, though.”

Despite her words, she showed no sign of joy. She seemed to contemplate Loreil for a moment before asking me.

“What was your impression of Loreil?”

“He was a decent person.”

‘Though somewhat troublesome.’

He had been obsessed with uncovering the clue that I was a Demon. Because of that, I had no desire to become entangled with him.

“That’s not what I meant….”

“…?”

“Never mind, forget it.”

She shook her head briefly and rose from her seat. Having delivered the Emperor’s letter, she seemed ready to depart.

Emma, who had been waiting near the door, quietly opened it. Jeina glanced at Emma and spoke.

“I heard you replaced all the Servants.”

“That’s right. There were many with impure intentions.”

“Hmph, you should have done it sooner.”

Her footsteps halted just as she was about to leave with Emma’s farewell.

She turned around and looked at me.

“…Aren’t you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

“Who planted the Assassin in the Separate Palace. Aren’t you curious?”

My eyes widened.

It was a question Jeina would never ask.

‘Because Jeina is one of the prime suspects.’

I would have expected her to hide it instead, but I never thought she would ask so directly.

I tried to discern her true thoughts, but her expression remained utterly unmoved.

“It would be a lie to say I’m not curious. But I don’t think now is the right time.”

“Is that confidence that you can uncover the truth whenever you wish?”

“Something like that.”

Tracking their movements would have been simple enough. The reason I refrained from doing so was that I didn’t want to give the impression I already knew.

In matters like these, ignorance is the safest shield.

“How wise.”

Pleased by my words, she nodded in acknowledgment.

“Still, be cautious. They will grow far more vicious in their schemes going forward—both Assassins and Spies alike.”

‘Speaking as though she herself has nothing to do with it.’

But since I had already declared I wouldn’t pry deeper, I refrained from pressing the matter.

“I’ll naturally prepare for that much. Don’t worry. A Princess who was dying has suddenly become useful—naturally, many will take notice.”

“…Useful?”

At my words, Jeina’s brow furrowed sharply. Then she let out a bitter laugh.

“I take back what I said about you being wise.”

“Huh?”

“You still don’t understand your own position, Deina.”

She added a note of disappointment to her words, then turned sharply away. Just before stepping through the door, she spoke in a voice tinged with exasperation.

“Think carefully about why they tried to kill you in the first place.”

“What do you mean by—”

“And make sure the banquet preparations are flawless. Don’t disappoint me twice.”

She left the Separate Palace as if those were her final words to me. As I stood there watching her retreating figure, Liribel, who had been attending to me, spoke hesitantly.

“Does Princess Jeina… really dislike Princess Deina that much?”

“At the very least, she doesn’t seem fond of her.”

To Jeina, the perfect Imperial Family member, I was someone she could never bring herself to like.

When we were younger, she used to follow me around calling me “sister,” but the world we inhabited had changed since then.

Just then, Ivan emerged from the darkness where he had been hiding in the room.

“But I didn’t sense any hostility? Her tone was harsh, but she wasn’t wary of the Princess at all.”

“How could you tell?”

“She left all her shadow guards outside the Separate Palace. Her own guards were skilled enough to rival the Empress’s retinue.”

I gazed out the window. Beyond the Separate Palace, I could sense skilled individuals disguised as servants positioned around Jeina.

Of course, I had never told her to leave her guards behind.

‘Should I consider this a change in her attitude?’

It was difficult to predict. Even when we parted, her tone suggested she was questioning whether I would be useful to her.

I watched her figure fade into the distance, then turned to Ivan.

“Has the item I requested from Grid arrived?”

“He said he’d send it this evening. But why do you need something like that? Strange herbs and a rusted dagger…”

“Well, you see.”

‘Should I tell him or not?’

I decided it didn’t matter—he would find out eventually anyway, so there was no harm in telling him now.

“I’m going to call a friend.”

“A friend?”

“Yes, I’ve come to need a friend who will help me going forward.”

I gestured toward the letter Jeina had left behind.

It was faster than planned, but since the Emperor had set the stage, it seemed the right time to summon my childhood friend from my hometown.

* * *

‘A useless Princess.’

Jeina emerged from the Separate Palace, letting out a scoff of disbelief as she quickened her pace.

The servants, sensing her foul mood, quietly followed in her wake.

‘Those fools would have a good laugh if they heard this.’

Jeina cursed Deina’s shallow judgment. After rotting away in the Separate Palace for decades, Deina’s political acumen had clearly deteriorated considerably.

Deina was mistaken about her own value and the reasons she should have been assassinated.

‘She probably thought it was because she brought shame to the Imperial Family’s honor, or because someone coveted the Imperial Family’s surplus assets.’

It wasn’t an entirely wrong interpretation. There were likely three or four people with such motives.

But Deina seemed oblivious to the far more explicit purpose behind it all.

‘It’s true that Deina has been as unfortunate as if cursed. But the nobles who spread those rumors beyond control had ulterior motives.’

The rumors that spread across the entire Empire in such a short time—that was a sign that a specific faction had orchestrated it, in my judgment.

And their true purpose was….

‘Containment. At the time, Deina was receiving excessive attention from the Emperor.’

There were even whispers that perhaps the Emperor was granting her an undue position.

To the nobles backing the Imperial Prince and the conservatives who recognized Jeina as the legitimate Princess, I could only be an obstacle.

It was inevitable that they would target me in my weakened state. They needed to put an end to my potential.

I had to be killed now, before I could grow any stronger.

I had to be eliminated before followers could gather around me.

It was an assassination attempt born from such trite and nauseating logic.

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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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