The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - 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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Episode 55.

I was taken aback.
I’d thought Varcan had no interest in me whatsoever, yet he’d grasped with perfect accuracy that I disliked exposing my skin.
Looking at this, it seemed he had a surprisingly attentive side after all.
‘Or did Lord Roan tell him about that?’
While I tilted my head in confusion, Varcan’s matter-of-fact instructions continued.
“For the dresses to be worn in the Capital, use light fabric that doesn’t show skin.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Prepare separate dresses for the Northern Region as well. Superior warmth, and keep the ornamentation restrained.”
“It shall be done.”
And on top of that, jewelry and shoes.
‘What on earth is wrong with him today?!’
If I didn’t stop this now, he’d surely demand, “Everything from here to here—bring it all.”
I walked quickly to the side of Varcan, who stood before the jewelry display, and jabbed his ribs with my elbow.
“You don’t need to go this far. Stop, please.”
I whispered just loudly enough for Varcan to hear, and he whispered back in question.
“What are you saying?”
“You’re being excessive right now.”
I lowered my voice further.
“Anyone watching would think I’m some villainess who’s blinded the Grand Duke, stopped up his ears, and emptied the Grand Duke’s coffers.”
……
Then Varcan tilted his head slightly and looked down at me.
In that gaze, I could almost hear his voice.
‘Blind me? You, of all people, would dare?’
That was precisely the look in his eyes.
Flustered, I challenged him.
“Why are you looking at me like that’s absurd?”
This is getting on my nerves.
“You just cursed me out with your eyes, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
……
Varcan then turned his gaze back toward the jewelry in the display case and spoke with a voice utterly devoid of expression.
“Since you will soon become the Grand Duchess, you must maintain at least a minimum of propriety, shouldn’t you?”
“New dresses and jewelry won’t conjure propriety out of thin air.”
With the Lacrion Mountain Range development ahead, and all the expenses for supplying potions to the knights and equipping them, there’s already an astronomical sum required……!
As I pouted and grumbled, Varcan spoke firmly, as if compromise had never crossed his mind.
“No one is born already mastering propriety from birth. It is only a matter of learning it from now on.”
Then he leaned his upper body slightly forward and whispered against my ear.
“You have already proven to us that your mind is sound, so I am counting on you to acquire the propriety befitting the station of Grand Duchess with relative ease.”
……
The corner of Varcan’s mouth rose ever so slightly.
It didn’t seem to be a sneer, yet that microscopic shift in his lips somehow looked infuriating.
Since I was the one who’d proven I wasn’t mad, it was awkward to argue further here.
‘Wait. Is he saying he’s going to wring me out for the Grand Duke’s sake until my bones crumble?’
In that moment, the vast pile of documents stacked like a tower on the desk in the Grand Duke’s office came to mind.
An ominous premonition struck my crown—a feeling that half of them would become my responsibility.
Thus, Varcan, having spent a considerable sum of Gold Coins for the Grand Duke’s propriety, left the Dressing Room.
Ding—. As I was about to board the carriage, leaving behind the clear bell chime of the Dressing Room,
“Evelina!”
A stranger’s voice cut through the cold north wind and seized our feet from behind.
I didn’t turn around, but every hair on my body stood on end.
In the middle of this Northern Region territory, there was someone calling the impostor princess by the name Evelina?
Not as Your Highness, not as the Princess of Delmar.
They called the true princess’s name with such familiarity?
I forgot to breathe and slowly turned around.
There stood a woman I had never seen before, looking at me with an expression full of emotion.
Though her face was clearly unfamiliar, something about her seemed oddly familiar.
Beneath the fading afternoon sunlight, golden hair gleamed, and clear, transparent blue eyes gazed back at me.
‘Blonde hair and blue eyes…….’
A shade deeper than my platinum blonde, and warmer somehow.
But there was no denying that her features bore a striking resemblance to the face I saw in the mirror each day.
‘Surely not.’
As if to drive a stake through the worst-case scenario flickering across my mind, the woman stepped forward abruptly.
Varcan moved a step ahead of me in an instant, his hand reflexively grasping the hilt of his sword.
Caught off guard by the sudden obstruction, she looked between me and Varcan in surprise before stepping back.
Then she cried out, aggrieved.
“Evelina, it’s me! Your second sister!”
“…….”
Far from intimidated by Varcan’s oppressive presence—solid as a wall—she turned toward me with pouting lips, looking wounded.
“How long has it been since I left the Royal Palace? You’ve already forgotten your own sister’s face?!”
My second sister……?
I hastily recalled the genealogy of the Delmar royal family that the Guild had provided.
The second princess of Delmar.
Belia Delmar.
Known for her natural charm and carefree spirit, she was beloved by people of all ages and stations—a princess beloved despite her rank, or perhaps because of it.
And.
‘She was mentioned as a hostage prospect before I was.’
I felt the blood drain from my face as I slowly opened my mouth.
“……Belia?”
I spoke her name barely above a whisper, and Belia, with uncanny timing, caught it—her face blooming with radiant delight.
“Yes! Evelina! It’s me! Do you recognize me now?!”
“…….”
Oh no.
I think I’ve really gotten myself into trouble here.

***

Once we confirmed Belia’s identity, we had no choice but to bring her to the Grand Duke’s Residence.
Though once enemies, we now stood in a state of peace and alliance—at least on the surface.
And besides, she was a princess.
It would have been unseemly to leave an allied kingdom’s princess standing on the street when she had come personally to see her sister.
Even if that sister was officially considered mad.
‘But really—how is a princess allowed to wander about like this with no escort at all?’
And in what was once an enemy kingdom, no less?!
Of course, that didn’t make it illegal.
But…….
‘Coming unannounced like this is just asking for trouble.’
Especially since she wasn’t mad like me.
Once in the Reception Room of the Grand Duke’s Residence, Belia planted herself firmly at my side and looked around with obvious curiosity.
“No wonder the Grand Duke’s household of the Empire is so magnificent—it rivals the Royal Palace.”
“…….”
“Sixth sister. Where’s your room? Can I see it? Your bedroom must be incredibly lavish, right? After all, it’s where the second princess of Delmar stays.”
Belia’s eyes sparkled as she grabbed my arm eagerly.
Then she started, suddenly alarmed.
“Good heavens, why are you so thin?”
“Hm?”
“Is the Northern food not agreeing with you?”
“No, it’s nothing like that…….”
“Or is the Grand Duke starving you? Are the servants mistreating you? Tampering with your food?”
At those words, Varcan—seated across from us—fixed me with a cold stare.
I shook my head.
“He takes good care of me.”
“Then why are you so thin?”
“I’ve always been this way.”
“No, you weren’t. You used to be a bit more…….”
Belia stared intently at my face.
I turned my head slightly away.
‘Please stop looking at me like that.’
Skin, eyes, the shape of my mouth, even tiny habits.
There were countless things that a true family member might recognize.
If Belia noticed even one detail that differed from her memory of me, what then?
The moment that thought took hold, my chest tightened further.
I pretended to reach for my teacup, using the motion to put a bit of distance between myself and Belia, and she chattered on without pause.
“What was the Imperial Palace like? Is it as grand as this? It must be so much larger than the Grand Duke’s Residence?”
“……Yes, I suppose so.”
I gave a vague answer and took a sip of tea.
She really did talk without stopping.
I’d heard she was called the flower of high society in the Kingdom of Delmar, but I hadn’t expected this.
She was nothing like the princesses I’d imagined.
‘I thought she’d be more reserved, more dignified somehow.’
Like Eleanor from the Imperial Palace, for instance.
But Belia was rather…….
‘Hm, ……like me, actually?’
An uncomfortable realization, and I found myself frowning.
But I wasn’t the only one thinking it—Varcan’s gaze drifted slowly between me and Belia.
His eyes were so honest about it.
I shot him a look over the rim of my teacup.
‘Don’t look at me like that.’
I know, I know already!
This was therapy by mirror I’d never asked for.

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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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