‘I’m finally free!’

Aristine barely stopped herself from cheering out loud. She had finally gotten away from her sickening country and even more sickening father.

‘He is definitely crazy.’

Her father, the emperor, tortured her in all sorts of ways, using the justification of turning her into a ‘success’.

‘I really thought I died in that fire.’

The first thing she felt back then was the burning air, not the heat. Aristine had woken up to the sensation of something scraping her lungs and throat. If she had woken up just a little later, she would have died in her sleep.

When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by flames and the windows were blocked off.

At the time, Aristine was only six years old. A normal person would have died. But Aristine survived. That is if you could call that survival.

She was charred black like a chunk of meat, yet her father looked at her young self and asked.

《How did it go? Did you awaken?》

Aristine, who was blankly staring at her father in confusion, realized.

‘Ah, father was the one who set the fire and blocked the windows.’

That realization hurt her more than her scorched lungs and the blisters that had begun to form on her legs and arms. It hurt so much that she wanted it all to burn.

‘I don’t think it will hurt anymore when my heart turns to ashes.’

And now, more than 10 years later, Aristine’s heart had burned completely into ashes.

After ‘the incident’ with her half-sister, Aristine had even been confined. Since she was locked up as a young child, she lived on her own for more than 10 years so it was strange to feel her heart beating with excitement.

‘Then again, I was able to see my past life thanks to the confinement so maybe there was one good thing about it.’

Aristine’s mind unlocked its potential to protect herself. She became able to ‘see’ her past life otherwise she would have gone mad.

‘…It’s nice to finally leave but it will be a little annoying later.’

Aristine gave a faint sigh as she thought of her older blood-brother who wasn’t in the palace right now. Either way, now wasn’t the time to think about the place she was leaving, she should be thinking about where she was heading to.

‘I wonder what kind of place Irugo is .’

The land of barbarians.

A place where fire and iron rule.

An isolated plain surrounded by demonic beasts.

《The Irugo barbarians mate with both beasts and humans, you can’t even call them human.》

《You will be in bed with a bastard who rolls around with demonic beasts.》

《Who knows, he might prefer the beast to your stiff self.》

The words her father whispered to her echoed in her ears again.

Certainly, a part of it was because he wanted to spew curses on Aristine’s marriage, but the emperor had always hated Irugo.

Silvanus and Irugo have not had a good relationship for generations.

Silvanus was very proud of the nations it had conquered but there was only one place it couldn’t invade—Irugo.

Aristine’s father, the current Emperor, came up with a grand plan to bring Irugo to their knees. However, the direction of the war took a strange turn and Irugo began to swallow up Silvanus’ land instead.

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The person who made the greatest contribution to Irugo’s success was none other than—

‘Tarkan. My future husband.’

Aristine recalled the target of her arranged marriage.

The emperor proposed a ceasefire with Irugo when the court realized that a further continuation of the war would only result in a loss. And in response, Irugo’s king demanded enormous war reparations and one more thing.

‘The emperor’s direct bloodline must marry Tarkan.’

The arranged marriage was meant to represent an end to the hundred years of hostility and the birth of a new alliance.

The King of Irugo truly wanted the war to end. Because Irugo was surrounded by demonic beasts so continuing the war would put a great burden on them.

This was a story that would normally end with the saying—and there was peace between the two nations.

‘But my father never intended to let the war end.’

The only reason the emperor negotiated for a cease-fire was to buy time. For now, he wanted to break Irugo’s streak then he planned to prepare for war behind the scenes before trying to invade again.

‘And that’s why he sent me. I’m a discarded hand.’

Something to give enough justification to declare war on a nation they had entered a marriage alliance with. There were many things they could easily cook up to achieve that, but there was only one thing that suited the emperor’s taste.

‘Killing me and blaming Irugo for it.’

Aristine laughed inside the shaking carriage.

Did the emperor know that the discarded hand he sent to die would send back a gigantic ‘fuck you’?

But to achieve that, she needed one person’s cooperation first.

“Tarkan.”

Aristine quietly recited the name of the person who would become her husband.

Translator’s Corner:

*Err, is there a word for blood-brother? As in, a brother from the same mother & father as you.

...‘What game are they playing now.’...

Aristine quietly stared at the simple tea-table laid out before her. She already knew something was up when they set out with an old-fashioned carriage instead of using a portal.

Sure enough, she was right because she was unable to get out of the carriage for almost 10 days.

‘I can’t even feel my legs now.’

Because of that, she couldn’t even wash up or change her clothes. She tried to at least take off her uncomfortable dress but the knights kept knocking on her window so she couldn’t even do that.

But then, they suddenly told her she could come out and when she did, they claimed to have prepared a few refreshments for her…

‘It would be weirder if I wasn’t suspicious.’

“Have a seat.”

The maid’s words were polite but with her tone and attitude, it was practically an order. However, Aristine sat down without saying anything.

‘Not yet.’

She was still acting as docile as she usually was in the palace.

‘It is not time yet.’

Aristine’s eyes swept over the armed escorts. Who knew whether they were guards, surveillance, or…

‘Assassins.’

Regardless of who they were, the Empire had only just begun reorganizing so it needed time. Which meant it was not yet time for Aristine to die. But in a way, that also meant they could do anything to her, apart from killing her.

Ironically, Aristine, a princess of Silvanus, could only be protected when she arrived in Irugo, an enemy nation.

‘Although, time will only tell if I will truly be protected.’

Aristine stared into the teacup which was filled with black tea. Its shaky surface reflected Aristine’s composed face. She was yet to even touch the teacup, but the surface of the liquid kept wobbling, and soon, Aristine’s reflected face disappeared completely from its surface.

And in its place…

‘Ah…’

Was a different sight.

* * *

The sight reflected on the surface was that of the handmaid who had just ordered Aristine to sit down. Her attire was exactly the same as it was now.

Unlike Aristine, the maid was able to wash up and change clothes every day, so she was far more cleaned and groomed.

The maid was moving a pot of boiling water. Her destination was the tea table.

Or Aristine, to be more precise.

Inside the surface, the handmaid poured the boiling water on Aristine. Aristine’s burned face swelled up with redness.

[Oh no! I’m sorry, Princess.]

Despite what she said, the maid’s face was full of obvious ridicule. Her hands were rough and harsh as she wiped Aristine’s face with a cold towel. Her actions seemed to make the injures worse instead.

[Wow, she looks like a drenched rat.]

[It’s the perfect look for a barbarian’s bride.]

The other maids a little further away giggled and whispered among themselves as if they wanted Aristine to hear it.

“…”

The surface shook and it soon fell silent.

The scene from just now vanished into thin air and Aristine’s calm face was the only thing reflected back.

Just like it had been in the beginning.

This was Aristine’s ability.

The ability her father, the Emperor, desired so much.

But it was the ability he thought Aristine failed to obtain.

The reason why she couldn’t be considered a ‘success’ and ended up as a ‘failure’.

The Monarch’s Sight which manifested through a mirroring surface. It wasn’t just an ability to see into the future.

Aristine could see the future, past, and present through a surface. However, Aristine wasn’t able to see things just because she wanted to, and just because she didn’t want to see something didn’t mean it wouldn’t be shown to her.

In other words, she could not control it.

‘What shall I do.’

Tap, Tap, Tap.

Aristine’s index finger slowly tapped on the table. She could see the handmaid approaching out of the corner of her eye.

Carrying the boiling water.

For a brief moment, Aristine’s eyes went on alert. As soon as the maid got right next to her, Aristine sprang to her feet.

“Ahh!”

The maid screamed as she was doused in boiling water. When she saw the figure in front of her suddenly rise up, she reflexively stepped back but because her center of gravity shifted, the water she carrying ended up pouring on herself.

The maid’s face swelled and reddened in the blink of an eye.

“Oh no.”

Aristine lamented, covering her mouth with her hand.

“My, my face, my face…!”

The other maids were shocked and hurriedly went to bring cold water. It was quite different from the scene she saw with the Monarch’s Sight.

After making fussing over her for a while, one of the maids stood up and stomped over to Aristine.

“What are you going to do about this!”

“Why are you asking me?”

When Aristine threw back a question in response, the maid, Rosalyn, gaped in surprise. This scorned princess had the nerve to talk back to her now?

“All I did was stand up.” (Aristine)

“That…!”

“She poured the water on herself, you can’t blame me for it. Am I supposed to act as a babysitter for you guys?”

Aristine tilted her head.

“Well, it does look like you guys need a babysitter.”

This much was perfect.

She omitted the snide remarks she wanted to make, but the very slight lift at the corner of her mouth said a lot more than a hundred words could.

“Wha, What did you just…!”

“If you do not need a babysitter, you should have been careful.”

Aristine’s tone was as if she was just informing her of the truth.

Rosalyn couldn’t say anything in response. She was so startled and taken aback. However, the thing that annoyed her the most right now was the fact that she couldn’t think of any rebuttal.

‘To this dumb ***** of all people…!’

Her face heated up with humiliation.

While Rosalyn quieted down, Aristine sat down and sipped the black tea. Her back was straight as a line, and the movement of her wrist was as elegant as a swan.

Even though she hadn’t been able to wash up or change her clothes for almost 10 days, she looked as if she couldn’t be more relaxed.

“Hah…”

The maids watching her huffed in disbelief. They wondered if the person they were seeing right now was really the princess they knew.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say they knew the princess well. But she was ‘that princess’, you know. The nuisance who was shoved out of the emperor’s sight and treated worse than strangers in the Imperial family.

The idiot who never got the chance to learn or be taught anything. A mentally unsound lunatic who had lived alone for most of her life.

‘But…’

‘Is this really that crazy princess?!’

That didn’t make any sense.

This wasn’t just different, it was different by a long shot.

Right, she probably just guessed right this time.

However, this was only just the beginning.

...“What do we do, Princess? These are the only clothes you can change into.”...

Rosalyn said to Aristine, her red lips in a twisted smile.

Although she made it sound like it was such a shame, her eyes could not hide her delight. The other handmaids next to Rosalyn giggled and waved the dress at her like they were showing it off.

Rather than calling it a dress, it was more like a rag.

The maids grew more excited when they saw Aristine stay silent and chattered away.

“It’s so dirty, what can we ever do?”

“It’s not like we can’t give the high and noble princess my old and humble clothing.”

“Ah, but our dear princess likes wearing things like this, so I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“I guess you’re right. I mean, look at the clothes she’s wearing now. I don’t think she knows it smells.”

“The princess has been wearing that the whole time, so she might just prefer this.”

Rosalyn remarked as she grabbed the dress from the other maid’s hands and threw it to the floor.

They trampled it with their shoes, but you couldn’t even see signs of it on the dress. Because it was already dirty with soil and dust.

Aristine looked down at the sight.

‘So this is all they could come up with.’

A chuckle escaped her lips.

‘I knew it, they are playing it safe.’

Aristine snatched the dress that the other maids were holding perfunctorily and turned around.

“What the…”

“Unbelievable.”

They had run their mouths, but they didn’t feel satisfied.

Aristine ended up wearing dirty clothing like they wanted but somehow, it felt like they were the ones who looked more ridiculous.

* * *

After getting into the carriage, Aristine pulled the curtains and took off her suffocating dress.

The only dress they had prepared for her for the sake of this arranged marriage, was the one she was taking off right now.

Because she had worn it throughout the rough carriage ride, it was now so scruffy that its original appearance was nowhere to be found. The sensitive and weak material had worn out very quickly. She wouldn’t be able to wear it again.

Aristine held up the dress the maid had trampled with her feet and threw it on. Both outfits were dirty anyway and this one was more comfortable than that suffocating dress.

The maids had sarcastically said she might prefer it, but they weren’t exactly wrong.

‘To think the worst they could do was step on the dress.’

They had definitely gotten scared. Although they wouldn’t admit it to themselves.

‘It was a good thing I retaliated.’

Initially, she planned on staying quiet till she arrived at Irugo. But when she saw them trying to pour hot water on her, she changed her mind.

She felt she needed to put a sort of brake on the maids’ harassment. If all she had done was avoid that water, things like that would have kept happening to her until she arrived.

‘The Monarch’s Sight doesn’t always work when I want it to, so if I left it like that, I might really get burned.’

So she responded by making sure the maid was completely scalded. And the psychological effect on her opponents was quite remarkable.

It’s not like the princess made the water spill on purpose, she just poured hot water on herself by mistake.

The princess cannot defy us.

She only made a few remarks, we can still treat her like nothing.

Even as they thought that to themselves, they were unconsciously being careful.

‘It’s scary.’

The maid who tried to pour hot water on Aristine had half of her face riddled with burns. The burn wasn’t that severe so she could be fully treated when they arrived at Irugo but right now, there was a huge blister on her face, and it was swollen like a red balloon.

The maids would see that face every day and shrivel subconsciously. They were people who had never considered that they themselves could be hurt while they were harassing others.

Then for the first time, they realized: ‘I could be hurt’. Naturally, they were more hesitant to bully Aristine than before.

‘And that’s why they could only do this safe act of spite.’

When you put ‘pouring boiling water’ next to ‘trampling on someone’s clothes’, the latter seemed cute in comparison.

Most of all, Aristine wasn’t affected by sort of thing. She had been locked up for far too long to care about something like her outfit.

‘That said, I really didn’t know I only brought the dress I was wearing.’

Aristine, who had been confined by herself, only had old and shabby clothing. Even if the maids didn’t step on that dress, her clothes were already inappropriate for a new bride to wear in a wedding carriage.

Plus it wasn’t just any marriage but a political marriage between two countries.

It was likely the emperor’s order to only prepare one dress for her.

‘I can tell what the emperor is thinking.’

He wanted to make her look as messy and pathetic as possible by the time she arrived at Irugo.

There would be a dazzling carriage, luxurious wedding gifts, guards in shiny armor, and beautiful maids. And in the midst of that, a princess who looked like a sewage rat.

‘Such trash is only fitting for you barbarians—that kind of message, I guess.’

Unlike the princess who looked like a sewage rat, the luxuriously arranged accompaniment and expensive wedding gifts were meant to show Silvanus’ national power and by extension, Aristine was meant to mock Irugo.

Unlike Irugo who truly wanted to war to end, the emperor only wanted to buy time before launching another war, so he had no qualms about being so rude.

Since he didn’t care how Aristine would be treated in Irugo, there was nothing to bother him.

‘No wonder I thought my marriage send-off was too fancy.’

She vaguely thought Irugo must have requested a lot of wedding gifts. Well, the things Irugo requested must be part of it too.

‘His Majesty the Emperor can be so naïve.’

Did he really think everything would go as he wished?

To him, his foolish daughter, who couldn’t get the Monarch’s Sight, was confined from a young age and was an idiot who knew nothing about the world so he could use her and kill her as he liked.

‘I’m sure I can get good clothes and wash up if I really want to.’

Aristine lay down with a plop.

‘But let’s play along with this farce until we arrive.’

Retaliating against such little things was no fun.

Only when it’s done at unexpected times was it entertaining.