The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - 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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Episode 31.

Wait—no wedding ceremony?
Barkan’s single remark froze the air in the Banquet Hall.
I too was hearing this for the first time, so I glanced up at him uncertainly.
Barkan himself wore a serene expression as he met the Emperor’s gaze directly and continued speaking.
“I have not yet discussed this with Princess Evelina, Your Majesty, but I trust she will come to understand my intentions.”
Intentions? What intentions exactly?
‘I mean, you could’ve given me a heads-up before causing a scene!’
I forced a smile and blinked rapidly.
The Emperor’s expression darkened. His gaze upon Barkan turned frigid and terrible.
“When I sent the Princess to the Grand Duchy, I found it strange that the Grand Duke accepted without objection.”
……
The Emperor’s voice dropped lower still.
“Did you plan to disgrace both the Imperial House and my honor in this manner, Grand Duke?”
A silence, thin as ice, descended upon the hall. Even the quiet intake of someone’s breath seemed unnaturally loud.
The characteristic oppressive presence of imperial blood flowed outward, pressing down upon the air around me.
Yet Barkan remained composed. He glanced down at me briefly, then turned his gaze back to the Emperor and opened his mouth.
“How could a subject harbor such thoughts, Your Majesty? And yet—”
Barkan paused, and his dark eyes swept coldly across the Banquet Hall filled with nobles beyond the Emperor’s shoulder.
“The war ended not long ago. Though we are fortunate it concluded with Kastilo’s victory, many knights who marched to the battlefield did not return.”
As Barkan’s voice resonated through the Banquet Hall, the nobles’ expressions shifted in various ways.
Some bore the sorrow of remembering the fallen knights; others wore expressions of displeasure; still others seemed indifferent, as though hearing a tale from another world entirely.
As though to commit each noble’s face and expression to memory, Barkan regarded them one by one as he continued.
“They were someone’s parents, companions, children, and siblings. The people of the Grand Duchy, along with countless citizens of the Empire, grieve those who did not return from the battlefield, living each day in sorrow.”
Barkan did not raise his voice in particular.
“How, then, could I—the Grand Duke of the Empire, who stood at the very fore of that battlefield and led them—how could I possibly hold a wedding ceremony at such a time?”
At Barkan’s words, neither the Emperor nor any of the nobles in the Banquet Hall could speak.
It was a noble justification that none could refute.
Barkan gazed quietly at the Emperor and spoke.
“I am not saying I wish to cancel the marriage to the Princess. I shall return to the Grand Duchy, complete the necessary preparations, and then perform the Marriage Vow Ceremony at the Great Temple.”
Barkan concluded with a slight bow. The Emperor stroked his chin thoughtfully and regarded Barkan with a narrowed gaze.
After studying Barkan for a long moment, the Emperor suddenly turned his head toward me.
“What does the Princess think of the Grand Duke’s words?”
The Emperor’s crimson eyes fixed upon me intently.
‘Ah—he’s throwing this at me.’
I was baffled. I couldn’t understand why he was asking me in this moment, in this atmosphere.
Did he expect to see the obstinate Princess who had talked back sharply in the Lunch Hall?
Or did he expect the clumsy Princess who had accepted worthless land with gratitude?
‘These deceptive imperial people, I swear.’
Whatever the Emperor expected, I decided to simply answer as myself.
I bowed lightly and replied with utmost courtesy.
“His words are beyond reproach, Your Majesty.”
……
It was not the answer the Emperor wanted; his brow furrowed deeply.
The Emperor pressed me.
“You agree that holding no wedding ceremony is the right course?”
I clasped my hands lightly before me and smiled brightly.
“That isn’t the point, Your Majesty. The Grand Duke, I believe, made this decision out of a desire to grant sufficient time for mourning the fallen. And I share his view entirely.”
The eyes of the Banquet Hall, which had been fixed upon Barkan, now turned to regard me. I placed a hand upon my heart and continued.
“Your Majesty, you called me a Symbol of Peace in the Lunch Hall before. As that Symbol of Peace, which Your Majesty himself acknowledged, how could I possibly hold a grand wedding ceremony while ignoring those who fell so tragically on the battlefield?”
As I spoke with my fist clenched tightly, the Emperor’s eyebrows twitched more prominently.
I made a show of suppressing roiling emotions, drew a deep breath, and continued in a more measured tone.
“……After all, I came to the Kastilo Empire not for a wedding ceremony with the Grand Duke, but for peace and harmony between our two nations. The Marriage Vow Ceremony alone will be more than sufficient to prove our union with the Grand Duke. So then……”
I paused, shrugged lightly, and turned toward the Emperor with softened eyes, offering a small, gentle laugh.
“What’s so important about a wedding ceremony anyway, hm? Don’t you agree, Your Majesty?”
……
At that, the Emperor raised one eyebrow, and several nobles standing behind him shifted nervously, glancing between the Emperor and me.
‘Yes, you’ll find it just as surprising.’
I doubt they expected an enemy princess to be so brazenly bold before the Emperor.
Of course, I’m wagering my life on this.
Everyone knew the Emperor was the sort of man who could sever a person’s head with a single finger or a word, and reattach it just as easily.
I swept my gaze across the Banquet Hall, never letting my smile falter.
“Oh my. The atmosphere seems to have grown rather heavy all of a sudden. That wasn’t at all what I intended to say.”
I laughed, feigning embarrassment, and looked toward the Emperor.
“Your Majesty. Since we’ve touched on the subject of those who’ve fallen, might I make a request—not as the Princess of Delmar, but as a Symbol of Peace?”
The Emperor’s gaze pierced through me, sharp with suspicion.
It was the look of a man wondering what sort of mischief I was planning now.
“……Very well, speak. But if this is a demand for more territory, I’m afraid that won’t do. I’ve already suffered enough from my ministers on that account.”
“Ah…….”
It was meant as a jest, but his words carried thorns.
I bit back a silent curse.
‘And all the while knowing it was worthless land he was pawning off on me—the audacity.’
Truthfully, I hadn’t raised the matter in hopes of gaining actual material resources.
The opposition from the Imperial Faction nobles was painfully predictable.
But if I could offer spiritual compensation—the sort of honor that knighthood thrived upon—that would change things entirely.
“This isn’t a request for my sake, Your Majesty.”
I smiled with eyes narrowed.
“It’s a request for the ‘Heroes’—those who gave their lives for the peace of this empire, of Kastilo.”
“……Heroes?”
“Yes!”
As I smiled without the slightest hesitation, the Emperor’s facial muscles stiffened.

***

That dawn.
The banquet finally ended well past midnight.
As the nobles began departing from the Imperial Palace one by one, their faces bore a deep weariness for reasons unclear.
Some wore expressions lost in thought, while others climbed into their carriages with visibly sour looks.
Though the hour was late, the Imperial Palace remained bustling with the commotion of those leaving.
In the outer reaches of the Imperial Palace, some distance even from the Separate Palace, stood the dormitory building where the knights were housed.
At the entrance of the quarters connected to the Training Grounds, the Eclipse knights of the Grand Duchy were maintaining their weapons and armor.
One of them spotted a fellow knight approaching from a distance and called out cheerfully.
“Hey there, Aidan! Back earlier than expected? Nothing unusual at the banquet?”
Aidan Folgerts, one of Barkan’s and the Princess’s honor guard, walked toward them unwinding his cloak from his shoulders.
“Nothing unusual.”
Aidan let out a short, hollow laugh.
“There was something unusual.”
“Hm?”
The knights who had been wiping blades or cleaning the gaps in their armor gradually came to a halt, setting down their work.
Aidan was among the younger of the knights, yet despite his age, he possessed a gravity of character that left no room for jest.
So when he approached with such a serious expression, his senior knights could do nothing but tense.
One of them asked Aidan a question.
“What happened? Why do you look like that? Has something befallen the Grand Duke?”
Another knight set down his sword and rose to his feet.
“Is he going to cut the Northern Region’s support funds even further?”
Aidan shook his head slowly, then spoke in a lowered voice.
“The banquet concluded without incident.”
“Then why do you look so troubled?”
“…….”
Aidan paused, searching for words, before speaking with an expression of genuine bewilderment.
“I simply… don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand what?”
“……The Princess. What sort of person exactly… is she?”
“……Eh?”
At Aidan’s counterquestion, the gathered knights exchanged glances among themselves.

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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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