Chapter 24
While the princess was picking at her food, lost in melancholy, the Crown Prince and Iris delivered the stone requested by the southern wizard to the Queen of Beberia.
“Oh, I wondered why we hadn’t heard anything—it seems you were asleep. Thank you for delivering this, Your Highness.”
“It’s nothing. I’m the one who received help.”
“Come to think of it, you’re going to meet the northern wizard, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“My, that’s a tough choice. The northern wizard is a bit… eccentric.”
The queen spoke with a hint of concern.
But Iris, already aware that the wizard was an eccentric woman, didn’t mind and quietly sipped her wine.
“The southern wizard told me how to summon her, so that should suffice.”
“Summon him?”
At those words, the king and queen exchanged subtle glances. Seeing this, the Crown Prince tilted his head slightly.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, I think I can guess what he told you. That method will probably get an immediate response.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
Iris, meanwhile, was enthusiastically eating beside them.
‘Oh, the fruit here is delicious. Must be because it’s a warm country.’
As she munched away happily, the room suddenly grew quiet. When she looked up, everyone was staring at her.
“…What?”
“Nothing, you’re just eating so well.”
“Oh, I don’t get to eat fruit like this often.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
A brief silence followed, but Iris didn’t care and finished her meal heartily. For some reason, the Crown Prince even pushed his share of fruit and dessert toward her, which she gratefully accepted.
And so, the meal came to a somewhat awkward close.
After finishing, Iris stood to leave with the Crown Prince. But an unexpected voice called out to her.
“Um, Lady Iris.”
It was none other than Beveria’s Princess Dorothy.
“Oh, yes. What is it?”
“C-Could we talk for a moment?”
“With me?”
Iris tilted her head in question, and Dorothy, clutching the hem of her dress, nodded. Her face looked somewhat resentful, and Iris could roughly gauge the situation.
‘Oh, I see.’
The Crown Prince looked at the two with a puzzled expression, completely oblivious. Iris inwardly tsked at him.
‘Crown Prince, you sinful man.’
In the end, she nodded for the sake of the young lady.
“Alright. The garden looked beautiful—would you show me around?”
“Yes.”
“Iris?”
Iris waved her hand dismissively at the Crown Prince, signaling him to go rest and not worry about it.
The Crown Prince gave her a slightly incredulous look, but she paid it no mind and left with Dorothy.
Step, step.
The two women strolled through the garden, softly glowing under the light. Dorothy walked a few steps ahead, with Iris following behind.
For a while, neither spoke. Iris patiently waited for the young princess to choose her words. It wasn’t like it cost her anything.
“Um…”
Finally, the princess spoke.
“Do you love His Highness, the Crown Prince?”
“What?”
Iris blinked for a moment. Dorothy turned to face her, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
‘Oh dear, her first love is hitting her hard.’
Iris smiled inwardly and thought for a moment.
“Well?”
“What?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What?”
The princess stared at her with wide, bewildered eyes.
Iris, finding her expression amusing, suppressed a laugh.
“His Highness courted me, and I think well of him, but I’m not sure if it’s love yet…”
“N-No, how can you *not* love someone like him…!”
Dorothy, in her excitement, blurted out the words but quickly lowered her voice. Her gaze was fixed on Iris’s face. Iris tilted her head at the stare.
“Of course, with a face like yours, maybe you *could*…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Someone as beautiful as you might not be d’azzled even by someone as beautiful as His Highness!”
“What…”
Is that a compliment or an insult?’
“But please, don’t hurt him!”
Iris’s lips twitched. ‘Oh, I want to burst out laughing, but I can’t.’
‘The Crown Prince, hurt by me?’
As if the man who proposed a contractual relationship for political gain could be hurt by her.
“Princess?”
“Yes, yes?”
“As you may know, I’m a woman who’s been divorced four times.”
“Oh, uh…”
The princess trailed off, as if she had momentarily forgotten that fact.
“Of course, I might have my own issues. But I’ve been betrayed by many people for a long time. So I don’t easily trust anyone.”
“…”
Iris gave a bitter smile. Well, she had given them the opportunity, but they all took the bait and fell into the trap of infidelity.
‘Maybe they’re just as dirty as I am.’
She looked up at the sky.
*Whoosh.* The breeze brushed past, gently stroking her fine platinum hair.
Dorothy, sensing Iris’s subdued mood, closed her mouth.
Iris looked at the princess’s face.
‘Was my face like that when I loved my first husband?’
Had she looked at him with those same lovestruck eyes, knowing so little about him?
She smiled, her eyes curving.
“If you wish, Your Highness, you’re welcome to try seducing the Crown Prince.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
She gave a self-deprecating smile and turned away.
“Of course, if you don’t want to get hurt, it’s better to stay still.”
And she murmured quietly,
“He already has someone destined to love.”
“…”
With those words, Iris left the garden, leaving Princess Dorothy alone. The young princess’s mind was tangled with Iris’s words.
‘What did she mean by that?’
To her, a young girl who had only ever lived within the Beveria Palace, it was an incomprehensible statement.
And behind the two women who parted ways, a shadow moved and slipped back into the palace.
* * *
“Iris said that?”
“Yes.”
The Crown Prince wasn’t the type to obediently rest just because Iris told him to.
This man had shamelessly eavesdropped on the two women’s conversation, and what Iris said was so intriguing it drove him mad.
“That I already have someone destined to love. What do you think?”
“It’s hard for me to fully grasp her meaning, but perhaps she’s saying it’s not someone like her.”
“Is that how it sounds?”
“Yes.”
The Crown Prince fell into thought, listening to the report from his attendant.
“She’s not some future-seeing wizard.”
“…”
“What’s certain is that, to her, I’m just another guy, no different from the rest.”
The Crown Prince let out a low laugh, but it wasn’t a pleasant one. The attendant bowed lower and left.
Not long after the attendant departed, the door clicked open, and Iris walked in.
“They’ve given us the same room here too, out of some strange courtesy.”
“Well, it makes sense. It’s known that we’re about to get engaged.”
“It feels like just yesterday you were pretending to court me, and now we’re already rumored to be engaged. Rumors are scary, aren’t they?”
She laughed and headed toward the separate bedroom. The Crown Prince called out to her.
“Iris.”
“What?”
Iris, who had been about to take off her necklace, stopped and looked at him.
The Crown Prince approached her silently, unfastened the necklace for her, and placed it in her hand.
“I acknowledge that you’ve lived quite a tumultuous life.”
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
“Until our contract ends, I won’t do anything to disappoint you.”
“…”
Iris pondered for a moment why he was acting this way, then nodded.
“I hope so.”
Her eyes, as she spoke, were simply calm. No trust, no suspicion, just serene.
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By Anna 💓
