Episode 04 Are You Jealous?

In fact, Eris’ father, the Marquis of Miséran, did not say anything, but he was very angry. The Crown Prince’s favorite wasn’t the center of the Emperor’s faction. It was even more so because it was Helena of the Antebellum family, which he destroyed by himself.

The engagement of the Crown Prince and Eris was a political card that the Emperor offered to appease the aristocracy, but with the Prince coming out like that, the Emperor was in trouble, Therefore, the emperor wanted to express that there is no problem with this marriage by directly hosting my coming-of-age ceremony at the Imperial Court,

“Thank you for your consideration. It will be an honor for the family that will never be again.”

“I heard that the Crown Prince cares about his nanny’s daughter.”

The emperor seemed to want to deal with all the trouble since she met him. It started to give me a headache.

“You mean Lady Antebellum.”

“Do you know her?”

“When I was young, she used to play house with His Highness the Crown Prince and Lord, Kazar.”

“It’s because of the nanny. The Empress took a bad habit of caring for the baby.”

The Emperor kicked his tongue and tapped the desk lightly. I felt a little bit suffocated because I was eager to leave.

He is now acting up like a loving grandfather, but the Emperor once killed another prince with his own hands. The reason was that he was plotting treason, but despite insufficient evidence, there was no reconsideration or hesitation,

The Empress was also involved, but she was able to survive because she had Alecto, the current Crown Prince, in her belly

The Emperor still loves the Empress, but it was also understandable that the Empress, who lost her son overnight, clung to the nanny or the current prince.

“Are you jealous?”

“No.”

“Yes, there’s nothing to be envious of.”

The Emperor beckoned me to come near. When I approached him, he held my hand tightly with his warm hands. It was too tight and a little painful.

“A man’s love is more fleeting than a flower of the season. What is more important than love is the position and power that the man will bring.”

“It’s been a long time since the agreement with your father had been signed, so don’t be too impatient. It is you who will become the Crown Princess anyway and take the place of the Empress. Your people will fill the palace, and your child will become the Crown Prince.”

At first glance, he seemed to be soothing me, but it was actually a threat to me, or “Eris”. The threat of giving up if you have someone else in your mind, the threat of the Imperial Court having that power, the threat of Eris being at the Crown Prince’s mercy,

But the Emperor chose the wrong person. When making threats, it is important to understand, what your opponent is afraid of.

I’m not afraid of death. In fact, it didn’t matter if the Miséran family was exterminated. They’re Eris’s family, not mine.

No matter how many terrible things your boss says, his subordinates have to laugh it off. There is no labor office, so there is no place to report.

Originally, I wanted to talk back to him because of my temper, but I endured being the eldest daughter of the Marquis.

I still had a little hope that I could get out alive. I really just want to live my life after I meet Hubris and get a definitive answer that I can’t go out unless I die.

The nagging given on New Year’s and Chuseok (P/N: Korean Thanksgiving) under the disguise of well-wishes were a big help. Managing a smile, I replied,

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“.... The Crown Prince has a good mate. The Imperial Family will be in charge of preparing for the coming-of-age ceremony, so keep that in mind.”

As I walked a little bit out of the office, I was a little worried about whether I would run into the Crown Prince and if he would become embarrassed when I was here even though he was still my fiance.

I was upset because I was told that he doesn’t need all the women in broad daylight and that getting married is the best, but if the Prince was annoyed, I don’t think I can really manage my facial expression. Yes, today is not the day.

I was walking to the carriage that was waiting for me, when I heard someone running from behind and my shoulder was suddenly tightly grabbed,

“Kyaa!”

“Ah!”

I was so frightened that I pushed her, and then heard a new scream. Looking back, Helena, whose pretty silver hair hung around her face, was crying.

She looked up at me with tears in her big eyes, hoping that I would help her up, but I couldn’t say a word because I was so astonished. As I stared pathetically, she woke up with a whimper,

“I was surprised, Lady Antebellum, to see you run in the Imperial Palace.”

“It’s.. it’s just because I wanted to see Eris, so I want to..”,

“If you want to say hello, just call me. You’re not a child. How come your hand comes before your words?”

“Alec likes it, so ..”

Oh, my gosh.. My head is aching. I felt like I’m seeing my five-year-old cousin. As I lowered my eyes, the skin on Helena’s palm seemed to have peeled when she fell, thus it turned red and showed blood.

Helena quickly hid her hands behind her. Luckily, she didn’t seem to be seriously injured when I pulled her hand to look at it.

“Look. Are you hurt?”

“Huh?”

Helena looked at me with a confused face, shook her head quickly, and laughed.

“That’s all right, the Royal Doctor can just take a look at it later.”

“How does the Royal Doctor, who treats only the Imperial Family, see Lady Antebellum’s wounds?”

“He likes me.. because he likes me.”

I was worried for nothing. I dropped Helena’s hand, a little annoyed.

I did care about Helena, who is loved by everyone, but I had to worry first about my fate, as one who couldn’t even die.

She was a person who would live very well, whether with the Crown Prince or meeting Hubris, who called in the Emperor to heal her, she was a very well-off person

As I turned around and walked away. Helena followed me, staring at me. She murmured in a high, thin voice.

“....Eris, are you angry?”

“Uh, please don’t. It’s annoying.”

And why does she keep talking informally? I was worried I’d make a harsher remark, so instead of walking, I stopped and stared at Helena,

If you had to take it off anyway, you’d better finish it quickly before they get upset for no reason, Even in Korea, I hated people with smiling faces,

“Lady Antebellum, don’t you know why I use honorifics to you, though you’re a commoner? As the eldest daughter of the Marquis, I deserve to be addressed with courtesy as one belonging to the Royal Court.. Nevertheless! The reason I give you honorifics is because the Empress and the Crown Prince love you. I respect them, not you.”

“But, but Eris.. we’re friends. I want to be close to you...”

“Friends? Sigh..”

In the novel, Helena claimed to be a friend of Eris, an ironclad friend. But in her retrospective scenes, Eris was not described in a single line.

Both sad and joyful memories were focused on Alecto and Jason. Either Helena’s standard of a friend is ridiculously low, or she did not care at all when Eris was with her. Every night when she went to bed, Eris must have hated Helena,

Well, when I saw it, it seemed like a setting that the author put in mindlessly for a villainess character who had everything yet hits a friend’s back.

I don’t even know about Eris’ life, but it’s funny to take revenge on Helena while I’m on this side, so let’s just stop talking to Helena,

“Let’s break up, then.”

“....What?”

“Let’s break up. I don’t want to be friends with you. We’re not even friends in the first place.”

“Why, why, why? Is it because I’m close to the Crown Prince?”

I was very irritated. I don’t want the Crown Prince! You can have him! I’m making someone abandon a friend for a man! Is this all you need to do if you have a pretty face?

As I was trembling with bewilderment, someone turned me around roughly. The cold, hard face of the Crown Prince looked down at me. I didn’t want to lose, so I glared at him.

“Lady Miséran, you haven’t changed. No, it’s getting shameless.”

“It’s a glorious afternoon, Your Highness. It’s a virtue for those of high status.”

It was a funny statement, but honestly, I was annoyed and answered in a slightly sarcastic tone, and the Crown Prince became furious,

“Do you dare to speak before me now?”

“Your Highness, that’s why I can discuss my status in front of you. You’re engaged to me.”

“It’s just an engagement! Do you think the Imperial Family will tolerate the arrogant act for a marriage that has not yet been confirmed, as if you have already become a Crown Princess? Any engagement like this can be destroyed. There are many who can be my fiance if not you!”

“Alec, stop it.... I’m wrong. Eris, no.. Lady Miséran wanted to give me the code of law...”

In the meantime, Helena poured gas into the fire without notice. While stopping the Crown Prince, she exposed the wound from her fall a while ago.

On behalf of Helena, who could not answer the Crown Prince who questioned who did it, someone shouted at the top of her voice,

“Lady Miséran did it!”

“What?”

“I saw Lady Miséran pushing Helena with my own eyes! So I brought Your Majesty in before things got worse.”

When I looked at her, a small, devious woman quickly went and hid behind the Prince,

And then I smiled at Helena, ‘Did I do well?’. It was a fact that I pushed, but Helena’s surprise, attack on me first was completely omitted from the statement,

The Crown Prince slapped me before I could refute anything. My head turned with a smack, it was a loud sound. As if the inside of my mouth had been torn, a metallic taste spread, and my cheeks burned.

I was slapped in the face. I’ve never been beaten by my parents, but I was slapped on the cheek by a guy I just met.

“Eris!”

“Now that you’ve scratched mine first, it’s only fair to give you a scratch, right?” (T/N: “mine” he means she scratched “his Helena” / “My Helena”),

If that’s the case, ask Helena to hit me, else I don’t know what’s fair,

Come to think of it, I think I read this part in a novel. When I read it, I wondered if there were any crazy people like this, but after having experienced it myself, it made my blood boil*.

*[T/N: “Yama turned around. ‘OFOP is referring to yama as in which is apparently ‘mountain’ in japanese. The ‘SCF’ means spinning...so literally it says ‘mountain is spinning, the ‘mountain’ is referring to your head, so 0F0 ECH (according to namu and other korean blogs) means something like ‘LOOD LET 012/01 I 2 SACP = blood in your head) boiling from anger.]

I know I feel the same way, I am just about to blow up.... But if I’m going to live my life, I’m going to have to do it only after getting confirmation from Hubris....

Anyway, since I was going to be executed at the end of the novel. Should I just slap the Crown Prince and hang him now?