Translated by: Miss Ruby
* * *
Aristine turned her head at the sound of the door suddenly being opened.
‘The maids are back already?’
The maids had been getting on each other’s nerves and left the room angrily so she didn’t think they would come back for a while.
However, the person who entered the waiting room was completely different from what Aristine expected.
“You…”
It was her.
The woman that was with Tarkan in the mirrored surface.
The woman who Tarkan whispered to, that his heart would not change.
“Greetings to the Princess.”
Dionna bowed gracefully and gave Aristine a soft smile.
“I am Dionna. I met you briefly before, perhaps you remember?”
“I remember. You poured me tea.”
“I am honored you remember me, Princess.”
Dionna bowed her head again. She was afraid that if she didn’t, she might expose the warped expression on her face.
The princess looked more beautiful in the wedding dress than she expected. The men who saw her for the first time today would fall in love and also fall into despair. Because the moment they fell in love, Aristine became someone’s wife.
‘…His Highness Tarkan’s wife.’
Dionna clenched her fists tightly.
“I see, and what business might you have with me, young miss?” (Aristine)
At Aristine’s words, Dionna raised her head and smiled.
“Well, of course, I’m here to congratulate Your Highnesses on your wedding.”
As Dionna spoke, her sea-blue eyes grew slightly wet.
“The two of you… look really good together.”
Her faint smile wavered softly like a candle in the dark.
Anyone could tell she wasn’t just congratulating them. Her smile seemed to imply a very messy and muddy love triangle. She smiled like a tragic heroine who was telling her man’s wife that she was wishing for their happiness while sadly stepping away.
‘Your husband and I have something very special between us. A very deep story that you don’t know about.’
It felt exactly like that.
But all she said was congratulations. And you couldn’t ask more about it because she said the two of them looked good together.
No smile would make a new bride more uncomfortable and uneasy than this. However, she picked the wrong opponent.
“Thank you.”
Aristine nodded indifferently.
For the sake of politeness, her gaze was on Dionna, but she wasn’t focused at all.
‘…What the?’
Dionna was startled when she saw Aristine look completely unconcerned. Considering what happened at the last welcome banquet, she knew the princess was not that oblivious.
‘She must have understood the underlying meaning of what I said…how come there’s no reaction?’
It shouldn’t be like this.
Dionna began to speak a little more bluntly. She had to tell the princess exactly what kind of person she was to Tarkan.
“His Highness Tarkan and I have practically grown up together.”
A sensual smile arose on Dionna’s face.
“His Highness’ mother and my mother were close friends. So were my brother and His Highness.”
Dionna’s gaze grew distant as if she was reminiscing about that time and her expression turned affectionate and sad.
“His Highness’ mother showed me so much love…”
His mother wanted her to be her daughter-in-law and treated her very well. That was the nuance behind those words.
“Because of that, His Highness has always taken great care of me and cherished me.”
Their relationship had been special since they were very young. The relationship between their families was so good that it wouldn’t have been strange for them to get married.
‘Right. That’s how it was.’
Dionna was captivated by her own words and thoughts.
She was special to Tarkan.
‘But someone suddenly came between the two of us…!’
The sight of Aristine adorned in a wedding dress and sitting proudly in the bride’s waiting room could not be more offensive to her eyes.
‘That seat should have been mine…!’
However, Dionna skillfully hid her emotions and spoke sweetly to Aristine.
“His Highness normally doesn’t have any women around him because of his cold-hearted nature.”
Then she added, “Your Highness the Princess must have experienced it too.”
She was saying the cold-hearted Tarkan must have treated Aristine coldly.
“It’s different for me since I’ve known him for a long time but—”
Having said that, Dionna glanced at Aristine.
Aristine didn’t have any reaction.
Initially, she didn’t seem to be paying attention to Dionna but now, she looked completely uninterested.
You will be treated coldly by your husband but I’m special to your husband. He treats me well.
Even though she had said it so blatantly, the princess—.
Dionna was strangely anxious.
She moved closer to Aristine and continued to run her mouth.
“I never even imagined that His Highness Tarkan would marry Your Highness the Princess.”
She was crossing the line even further.
Then as if pulling away, she waved her hand earnestly and added, “Ah, I didn’t mean anything else. It’s just that Irugo and Silvanus have been enemies for such a long time that I didn’t expect a marriage like this to happen.”
Dionna was now standing right in front of Aristine.
She looked right into Aristine’s eyes and spoke forcefully, one word at a time.
“For the sake of peace, the marriage between Your Highnesses must be successful.” Then her red lips parted to ask, “Isn’t that so?”
Tarkan’s only love is me but for the sake of peace, he has no choice but to marry you.
Right? Go ahead and say yes.
That was exactly what her question sounded like.
Even though the Princess hadn’t shown much reaction so far, she wouldn’t be able to bear it after this.
‘I can’t let you get married like this without any issue.’
Dionna’s eyes were tinged with delight as she imagined the Princess’ incoming hysteria.
‘Go on, get angry, scream and cry for all to see.’
While such thoughts were running through Dionna’s mind,
‘Oh…’
Aristine was in pure amazement.
‘Is this supposed to be interesting…?’
Frankly, there was nothing more boring and unexciting than hearing someone brag about their boyfriend. There were times when she saw people showing off their lover in the Monarch’s Sight and that was exactly how she felt.
If they were facing death while having the love of the century, she might find it interesting.
‘Bragging about your lover is always…’
Filled with the boringness of a promised victory.
No effect, no intrigue, no meaning. [1]
‘Why did Dionna come all the way here to do this?’
Who asked about the lovey-dovey story between the two of them?
She didn’t ask, nor was she curious.
‘Honestly, I was wondering how long she was going to talk so I just kept silent but…’
Whether Dionna was oblivious to it or not, she kept running her mouth without getting tired.
‘I’ve heard people like to show off their love all the time, regardless of when. So, this is why.’
Aristine was not interested in Dionna, nor was she interested in the relationship between Dionna and Tarkan.
So no matter what Dionna said, or what nuance was implied, she had no intention of consuming her mental faculties to dissect every little thing and pay attention to them.
It was enough for her to do that in the political circles or while doing business.
To Aristine, Dionna only meant one thing.
That is, whether Dionna as Tarkan’s lover could really become a negotiating card for Aristine to use while negotiating with Tarkan.
Apart from that, she had no other interest.
She wasn’t worth Aristine wasting time to think of the deeper meaning of her words.
Dionna would never even imagine that Aristine had judged her that way.
Right now, she was looking at Aristine anxiously, waiting for Aristine’s response.
‘Hurry up and get angry!’
Upon receiving that gaze, Aristine decided she might as well empathize with this boring story.
After all, the woman’s eyes were earnestly desiring a reaction so ignoring it felt kind of weird.
‘Besides, whether Dionna is my business partner’s lover or someone special, it will be better to treat her well, right?’
Socializing was so hard.
While thinking that, Aristine returned Dionna’s smile.
“Thank you, I will be sure to have a successful marriage as you said.”
Dionna’s lips stiffened at the words that were completely different from what she expected.
She forced a smile on her lips and emphasized what she said.
This time with no subtlety, “Yes, a marriage is usually a union between a couple who love each other but this marriage is for ‘peace’ rather than anything else, so you have to succeed.”
“Mn, I know very well that my marriage with Tarkan is not a simple union between a couple but a union above all others for the goal of world peace.”
Aristine nodded earnestly.
She hoped the discussion would keep going in this direction rather than the boring lover brag.
‘Hah…!’
Dionna looked at Aristine’s tidy face and grit her teeth fiercely. Even though she tried not to, her jaw couldn’t help but clench.
‘What, is she saying her marriage is on a different level from ordinary people or something?’
The blue eyes looking at Aristine froze over heavily like the winter sea.
‘Her marriage is on a different level so I shouldn’t interfere?’
Nothing could drive Dionna crazier than those words.
Even if Tarkan’s marriage with the Princess was called off, Dionna could not stand it.
Even if Tarkan ended up marrying her, their marriage would not have this kind of special meaning. It would just be a normal royal wedding.
The only reason this marriage was so special that it drew the world’s attention, was because it was a union between Aristine and Tarkan.
A marriage that ended hundreds of years of enmity and hostility, and love that arose.
What else could be more heartrending than this?
The protagonists should be Tarkan and herself.
Not Aristine!
Translator’s Corner:
[1] I had to tweak this sentence a bit to match the story. The [No effect] is her saying it doesn’t move her at all. The [No intrigue] is her saying she doesn’t find it fun or interesting and the no meaning is self-explanatory; it’s meaningless to her.
**Is it just me? Or does Dionna like Tarkan’s status rather than Tarkan? Interesting. I thought she was in love.
*.*.*
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 67 - December 21, 2024
- Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money – Side Story 21 - December 14, 2024
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 66 - December 14, 2024
She is so full of herself and delusional. I think u should go to a therapist, gurl 🙄
Aristine be like: 👁👄👁
Thankss
I love how Aristine isn’t angry or bothered. She’s just like “good for you bestie but do i look like i care”
Btw thanks for the update !
Unlike you, I imagined it. If she really loves someone, I don’t expect that she will go here and there like a snake and try to deceive everyone. She obviously loves the position, not Tarkan.
I mean, because she didn’t really care what Tarkan thought and didn’t go around him to find out his feelings, if she did, she would know that Tarkan had different feelings than coldness to Aristen.
I guess it’s because of vanity? Something like he’s cold to me, it’s impossible for him to be nice to someone else.
As I always say Donna is malicious and like a chameleon, but she is also stupid, why would everyone’s opinion matter if Tarkan himself loved her, right? She had to focus on Tarkan’s feelings, not everyone’s impression. In the end, everyone knows that this is a political marriage, and political marriages are a very normal thing for nobles.
Briefly, this Donna is really not a deep character at all. I hope the characters will develop in the novel soon.
(Especially fools, they are really hateful)
Thanks for the update Miss Ruby
Love that Aristine isn’t engaging with Dionna and her drama. Aristine is a true queen.
Thanks so much for the update, Miss Ruby!
I don’t like green tea bitch and knowing that aristine pissed her off really make me feel great 😂
Thanks for the new chapter ruby 🌟
I agree, I don’t feel like Dionna loves Tarkan at all. She has never said anything that would indicate that. All she has said is that she should be married to him so that she would receive a crown, status and wealth. I wonder how Tarkan will react to all of this when he finds out. I’m also excited to read about him seeing her in het wedding dress for the first time, since everyone is saying she’s so extremely beautiful!!! Thank you for translating ❤️❤️❤️
Dionna is a bit of an idiot…she’s so much of an idiot I would think she actually believes she is in love with Tarkan (not just his position). She assumes that because she’s in love with Tarkan, everyone must be (including the princess) otherwise she wouldn’t expect such a reaction from Aristine. If she had a brain, she would realize that maybe if Tarkan viewed Aristine as a purely political partner, Aristine might feel the same way and be not at all interested in who Tarkan was in love with.
Tan “que aburrido” *aristino jajaja
Gracias por la traduccion
It’s so refreshing to see our heroine not get hurt by such a white lotus and her deliberately hurting words! Love the fact that Tarkan is the one who will be falling for her not the other way around. That’s why I love this story!
I don’t think dionna really loves Tarkan. I think it’s more about his status, looks and the attention she gets due to him. And the whole time she was mentioning her relationship with ml since childhood, they felt more like siblings than lovers tbh
How people fool themselves for something is beyond me. I mean to be honest, even if someone promises you love but is getting married to someone else that in itself speaks volumes. Now imagine the situation when that someone never said he loved you and is getting married to someone else, how the fridge do you come up with the idea that Tarkan likes you and loathes the princess? Birches like this becomes super bitter in the end and commit bullpoop. If I may, I would slap you til you pass on to the next life. You’re just as bad as Trashta and Soviesht ( possibly worse).
Maybe I’ve just known too many fake white lotuses in IRL, but if I was about to get married and someone came up to me to say all this my reaction would be “Ah, he’s got a delusional stalker, great.” not “Oh gosh, he’s actually in love with someone else and is going to cheat on me!” Not sure why such flimsy circumstantial “evidence” was supposed to drive a wedge into anyone’s relationship. Oh, so his mom once was nice to you and you knew him as a kid. Okay, and that has relevance to him as an adult how? Glad to know that my soon to be husband isn’t an emotionless brick and can have functional relationships and that his mom was a caring person I guess.
Both the maids and Dionna are so full of themselves. Like bro, just because you like them doesn’t mean they’ll like you back in the same way. Tarkan probably feels sympathy to Dionna because her brother died, not any special feelings like she’s making it seem.
Omg how much longer will we be subjected to this lmao
Aristine standing there in her wedding dress like.
🌸🌹🌺🌷
👁️👄👁️
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Dang spaces. I swear that looked like a dress lol
“I see tarkan as a brother as we grew up together” and then she said that she was being favored by his mother, and then said that she should have been queen. Her character is… how to say it… inconsistent? Childish tantrum.
I cant take it anymore. someone has to hit the back of dionna’s head for her to wake up
I haven’t said this so far but truly THANK YOU for translating this. Words are what makes this novel so interesting and you must be taking great pains to make sure your translations give the intended double meaning. Seriously, thank you for sharing your amazing skills with us. I am enjoying this story because of your hard work.
Poor Ari lol, I have that look when I get a customer service bot, or when I’m watching the skip timer reach “1” lol
She strikes me pretty much as a Freya-type (from How To Get My Husband On My Side).
Girl has felt so entitled to this one man that his every advancement, she considered hers. His every success, his every fortune. They are hers because childhood bestie-adjacent connection, because their families got along, because (long etc).
They see the guy as their possession, not a person with feelings. So even if it is cases like this when the union is about a treaty and preventing war and shit, they are so myred in the “mineminemine, all these things you’re getting were supposed to be MINE I called DIBS” that they cannot see beyond it.
Betting that this sasaeng whanabe will end up rising the stakes of her current bs (woe is me look how this foreign princess who is marrying my man bullies me) to eleven by faking an attempt on her life and blaming Aristine