Heavy Shower (5)

* * *

“Princess Consort, did something good happen?”

“No, what good thing.”

Aristine shook her head in denial at the court lady’s question.

Despite that, a smile as bright as the sun was drawn over her face. In reality, she was in a very good mood.

‘I didn’t know kissing felt so good.’

Aristine felt enlightened.

She finally understood why people kept emphasizing that aspect whenever they met her.

And why her court ladies were obsessed with bedroom matters.

《Your bed broke on the first night!》

She remembered how Paellamien glared at her like she was trying to deceive her.

At the time, she considered it a part of the duty necessary to produce an heir and didn’t know how it could be so important for marital life.

‘I was ignorant.’

Paellamien was a wise woman.

This was a very, very important issue.

Aristine unconsciously touched her lips. A faint blush spread across her cheeks.

The court ladies smiled contently at the sight of their princess consort looking adorable like a shy, new bride.

The royal couple came out of the bedroom later than usual, so they figured it must have been a majestic night.

Aristine savored the lingering touch on her lips for a while, then she suddenly sighed.

“Haa, I heard it takes two to three months before they come back from expeditions…”

She inadvertently muttered aloud while stabbing the cake with a fork.

The blueberry cheesecake was crushed without mercy.

This was the first time that Aristine was acting like this, especially since she always emptied her plate.

It was quite obvious why she didn’t have any appetite, so the court ladies smiled.

“Why don’t you go see His Highness Tarkan?”

“Well, I’m going to be at the battle ceremony later anyway. If I go now, I will only interfere with preparations.”

Clack, Aristine put down the fork, seemingly having lost interest in eating the cake.

“Interfere? No such thing. His Highness Tarkan will love it.”

“Agreed. I think he’ll be invigorated instead.”

“It will also be good for the warrior’s morale.”

Aristine agonized over the persuasion of the court ladies. Frankly, the fact that she was agonizing about it, was evidence that she was quite inclined towards what they were saying.

Otherwise, she would have dismissed it without even concerning herself with whether she might be a disturbance.

Aristine tapped her teacup a few times, then eventually, she quietly mumbled.

“I shall go then…”

“Alright, then we must prepare to go!”

“Huhu, just trust us, Princess Consort!”

“We will make sure Your Highness is imprinted in his mind, and Highness Tarkan is slapping his thigh for three months!”

The court ladies cackled.

Aristine looked at her court ladies acting like this and sighed, ‘oh, dear’. But in the next moment, a quiet smile floated onto her lips.

As the court ladies got to work, Aristine gazed intently at the mirror for the first time in a while.

The chain circlet that ran down her long hair was decorated with butterfly ornaments and briolette-cut amethysts.

With every move of Aristine, the butterflies danced, and the jewels sparkled.

She was adorned in a blue dress that exposed her shoulders and a white gold belt across the waist. The long dress shimmered as if the trail of the dress was embedded with stars.

Rather than being embroidered with silver thread, it was inlaid with diamonds.

The white-gold waistband was designed with long dropping chains, and diamonds were laid between each chain. Her arm ring and necklace were also made of pure white gold, which made Aristine’s fair skin stand out even more.

The look was completed with the addition of an immaculate white, silver fox fur as a shawl.

The court ladies were full of admiration as they gazed at Aristine. She was like a goddess of the night, bringing with stars with her.

“Haa, I knew it would be perfect for Your Highness, but this…”

“You look so beautiful.”

“His Highness Tarkan will be in shock.”

“With this, he might just come back in less than two months!”

“And as soon as he comes back…”

The court ladies started giggling.

Normally, she would have wryly looked on as the court ladies’ imaginations ran wild, but it was different now.

Aristine gripped the soft shawl tightly.

Her heart was pounding.

She wanted to see Tarkan.

She wondered if they should have stayed in a little longer this morning.

They should’ve just kissed one more time, but she was embarrassed for no reason and made a fuss about getting up.

“The carriage is on standby.”

Hearing that, Aristine shook her head.

“If my carriage appears, everyone will start making last-minute preparations and they’ll stop what they are doing. Today is the day they set out, so I don’t want to bother them that much.”

The court ladies smiled at her thoughtfulness and nodded.

“Then, I’ll be better to go in a normal carriage.”

“There are a lot of carriages coming and going, why don’t you take one of those?”

“His Highness Tarkan will be surprised!”

The court ladies were delighted.

Aristine didn’t want to bother busy people, but she felt it would be nice to surprise Tarkan like the court ladies said.

Aristine fought to calm her fluttering heart and went outside.

* * *

“Maybe I should get married too.”

Jacquelin suddenly mumbled and the warriors who were sharpening their swords looked up.

“I mean, I just started wondering.”

As a matter of fact, the warriors who were titled Generals, were more interested in the sword than romance.

They spent more time at the training hall than at home and travelled to the demonic beast plains several times a year.

Due to that, they didn’t have much thought about marriage.

But lately, the atmosphere had changed a bit.

Of course, this was because of Tarakan and Aristine who were affectionate at every moment, regardless of the people around.

“You can’t get married just because you want to. You have to stay at home long enough for a seed to sprout.”

When a married person said that, Jacquelin shut his mouth.

“Honestly, even we didn’t that Milord would have such a sweet honeymoon.”

“True that. I was very worried when I first heard that Milord was doing a political marriage. “

“Ah, the fact that the other party was a Silvanus Princess is one part…”

“Also because Milord has a first love that he cannot forget.”

The warriors brought up a topic that they hadn’t spoken about in a while.

“I really didn’t think Milord would change. You know, he’s only thought about one person for almost 10 years. And it’s a girl he doesn’t even know that well.”

“What a hardcore love.”

“But thankfully, unlike our worry, the Princess Consort is not being treated coldly by Milord.”

“Indeed. Our Princess Consort is much better than that first love that can never be found.”

The back-and-forth conversation of the warriors suddenly came to a halt.

Their eyes went wide, and they stared at the person standing in the field.

“Princess Consort…!”

The warriors were flustered and hurriedly got up from the bench.

They felt a presence arrive but today, people were constantly moving around in preparation for departure. They never thought it would be Aristine.

“What are you talking about?”

Aristine asked in a quiet voice.

Her voice was low, calm, and cool, without any fluctuations.

But it made the warriors feel even more helpless.

Aristine felt like her mouth was drying up as she watched the tall men avoid her gaze.

A first love.

Wasn’t that just a tale spun by Dionna?

“It’s already all the past.”

“It can’t really be called a first love. It happened at such a young age…it’s like a memory of playing house.”

The warriors laughed awkwardly and made excuses to Aristine.

Aristine understood what they were saying. But strangely, she couldn’t accept it.

It’s just a romantic affair in the past, and nothing to do with Aristine.

It was called old-fashioned to care about a person’s past. Afterall, your current lover likes you, so believe in them, and just stop caring about it.

However, Aristine simply couldn’t put it aside.

Because…

‘We are different from other couples.’

Did the current Tarkan truly like her?