The Third Prince is Too Dazzling! I Can’t Look at Him Directly! Translation

29. The Third Prince is Too Dazzling! I Can’t Look at Him Directly!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Your Pick-Up Lines Are Not Very Effective

“Good morning, milady. Please start getting ready.”

I might be losing my mind, but who is this maid, again? I don’t think I have seen her before. She appears to be my senior in age. Other than Hadi, no other maids have come to work here. And it’s the crack of dawn to boot.

“Please make haste, milady.”

She doesn’t seem to be giving me a multichoice menu here, to say the least. I just sigh and get up as instructed. The aura emanating from her is not a bad person’s, so I guess there’s no problem.

As I get ready, I try talking with her, but there is never a moment where she isn’t zipping from one place to another, looking extremely busy. Come to think of it, we haven’t even made eye contact. I just want to break the ice a bit.

I manage to get up and ready quite quickly. In pretty short order, I find myself facing the door. This maid is taking me somewhere.

“Um, where are we going?”

“It has been proclaimed that milady is to move to another room.”

Move out? It is the first time I’m hearing about it; I guess this comes from Gilbert. No, no way. Just yesterday he told me to stay put in my room.

“Um, who made this arrangement?”

“Her Highness the Queen. She also said that she wants to speak with you, so please make haste, milady.”

This is bad. My still half-asleep head suddenly woke up completely. I intended to follow through on Gilbert’s instruction to lay low and stay in my room for a while, but this is what you call a request you can’t refuse. I wish he had offered some advice for a case like this when I would be forced out of the safety of my room.

“Oh my, what is milady doing up so early in the morning?”

I must’ve bought some time with my questions because Hadi has shown up for her work shift. She seems to notice something suspicious about the other maid because she takes a step in front of me and stands up as if to protect me.

“Mistress Lina is here as the Third Prince’s princess candidate. Where on earth are you taking her?”

Amazing. Undaunted by the senior maid’s admittedly commanding presence, Hadi stands defiant. Her figure seems like a trusty shield protecting me from all dangers for a moment. The standoff is intense. I can almost see sparks flying between these two seasoned maids.

I force myself to snap back from my reverie and have an idea.

“Miss Hadi, thank you very much, but I’ll be going.”

Hadi’s eyes open wide at my remark while the senior maid breathes a sigh of relief.

Don’t misunderstand, though. It’s not like I’m rolling over and showing my belly because some supreme authority told me so. I should take the opportunity to speak with Queen Trianna given this strange timing, with His Highness the King collapsing. I don’t believe the Queen would summon me on a whim given the circumstances.

I intended to meet with the Queen anyway to figure out her puzzling persona. She is summoning me. So I’ll go, simple as that.

The memory of Gilbert’s face telling me to prioritize my own safety swirls in my mind. But in this place and moment, if there is something that only I can do, I don’t want to shirk away from it.

Dad made me think yesterday about the most important thing to me. Ultimately, I couldn’t narrow it down to one. When I reflect on that alone, I think of many people, and those same people are in my mind right now. I won’t be able to face them if I just let myself drift listlessly through these important events without taking action.

I turn to Hadi and smile at her to let her know it is fine, and then I go along with the senior maid. She is such a fast walker, though, and soon we are traversing the corridor facing the garden where I had talked with Jerik just yesterday. That maid just won’t stop her fast pace.

“Where is this new room?”

“We have just arrived. It is this one right here. Her Highness the Queen requested you wait here for her.”

“OK, thank you, so… Huh? Whoa!”

The maid opens the door slowly, leaving only a small gap for me to pass through. Weird. Anyway, I go in, but I feel her hand on my back. She pushes me with all the strength of a grown woman, and I stumble forward several steps. Before I can regain my bearings, the door is slammed shut, followed by a familiar clicking sound. I turn as fast as I can and grab the doorknob with both hands, but it won’t budge even a little.

Why!? You really don’t have to lock me up in here, do you!?

“Sorry, ma’am!”

The sound of loud footsteps running away echoes.

“Please lemme out!”

The footsteps become increasingly distant.

No reply. If the Queen just wants me to move out and have an audience with her, there is no need to confine me in the meeting place, right? I came here without delay or reservation anyway!

A-anyway, I guess it’s pointless if she really wants to have me locked in here, but let’s check the windows to see if there’s any way I could get out.

I quickly spin around. The room that comes into view seems to be quite a few levels above me.

Every piece of furniture is decorated with fine engravings and elegant gold accents. The sofa’s seating surface is not your typical velour but softer and embroidered with beautiful floral patterns. The carpet is also of the highest quality, woven with fine and thick fabrics.

Wait, wait, focus, Lina. The all-important window, is it locked or not? I gingerly walk to the window. Brushing aside the lace curtains, I find that it is covered by a rather fashionable iron grill shaped in the form of flowers and vines.

“What am I gonna do?”

Fearful, I take a seat on the luxurious sofa. Idly, I pass my fingertips over the silk cover, feeling the small ridges between the threads.

Having fallen into this situation, I guess there’s nothing to do but wait until whoever trapped me shows up. How can they be so mean, though? There is no need to go this far; I’m just a helpless girl.

Anyone who gets treated this way is bound to be very scared.

My fingertips continue idly to trace the sofa cover’s embroidered vine patterns.

Anyway, since I’m stuck here with nothing to do, let’s recap what I’ll say and ask when I meet Trianna. I try to concentrate, but suddenly, those azure eyes flicker in my mind.

I-I had no idea I would be trapped! In my own way, I was trying to be useful! In my mind, I am trying to make excuses to a person who isn’t here.

Huh. Gilbert is gonna get mad at me again, isn’t he?

◇◆◇

“You are… quite an audacious young lady, aren’t you? Wake up!”

My eyes open in startled surprise. There she is, arms folded, looking down on me. Her Royal Highness, Queen Trianna. Looks like I fell asleep without noticing. I was dragged out of bed pretty early, you know. I raise my fingers to my mouth and discreetly check I hadn’t drooled a bit while sound asleep. All clear, phew. Then, I stand up in a hurry… Oh, I feel a little dizzy.

“Unbelievable… What ever did Gilbert see in you?”

Queen Trianna’s face is beautiful, even when knitting her brows in obvious displeasure.

“It’s just as well. From here onwards, you shall live here as Jerik’s consort princess. Wait here for his arrival.”

“H-huh?”

I thought Prince Jerik had assured me that such plans would be steadfastly refused.

Even though I had run several scenarios in my head about how I would open dialogue with Trianna before dozing off, I didn’t see this one coming. What a preemptive strike.

“That will be all. I arranged my servants to bring you here without telling you anything because I thought it would be good for you to hear about what is to be your role in life from now on from me. Are we clear?”

“Not at all, Your Highness!”

I reply the moment Trianna stops speaking. Normally, the polite thing is to wait a couple of seconds before stating your refusal, but there’s no way I want to go along with this. And knowing Trianna, she was just going to leave immediately without even letting me speak, like yesterday. I’m not gonna let that happen again. It’d defeat the purpose of letting myself get dragged here.

Trianna pauses for a moment as if taken aback by someone speaking up who she didn’t expect to pose any resistance. But her brow furrows in the blink of an eye.

“How about I make that cheeky mouth of yours unable to say any more impudent things ever again? Are you aware I am all too capable of destroying those who don’t know their place, ignorant girl?”

She is really playing the villain here. Her lines and facial language convey a grave threat. But more than that, her intensity is really something else…

Her aura is as beautiful as ever. I have confidence that such a person would not harm me recklessly just to make a point. Even though she is extremely imposing, I must not let fear paralyze me.

That’s why I’m going to take a gamble here! I’ll do my best! I can’t rely on the next chance I get to meet face to face with Trianna, if there’s ever even going to be such a chance. This is the moment for me to do what only I can do. I’m gonna turn this ship around, and Mr. Pompous Me-me-me Prince and his Scheming Black-Hearted Chamberlain are going to recognize me for real this time!

“Your Royal Highness! I humbly request a few minutes to speak with you!”

“Why you, do you even know how below my rank you are?”

“Yes! I am well aware!”

I reply enthusiastically. Quite out of place for someone who was being threatened by the Queen herself, but I guess I got ahead of myself there. The wrinkle between the Queen’s eyebrows gets bigger and meaner, but then, she exhales a deep sigh.

“Hmph. Very well, impertinent girl. Let us hear what you have to say while my whim allows it.”

Trianna sits down, but she is looking down on me even then. She sits with a perfect straight-up posture that complements her majestic presence, just like you would imagine from a true queen. I try my best to correct my posture and look as proper as possible and sit down again on the sofa, facing Trianna across the table. I have to stay strong in the face of her intimidating presence.

I thought about how I’d go about it, but in the end, I am a straight shooter, after all. If Glenn were here, I’m sure he would skillfully use indirect, subtle questions and turns of phrase to probe the Queen’s story and true feelings, but that’s not something in my skill set, to be honest. So I will just do things my way. I’ll just ask her directly.

“Could you provide an answer to the question I asked you yesterday at the soirée? Why are you putting up an act of playing the villain?”

The moment I pose my question, I catch a glimpse of a glint in Trianna’s sharp eyes and, for the briefest of instants, of a suppressed outburst against me. It took me a lot of courage to say it aloud, but many things would fall into place if I could get this answer.

I must not lose my nerve, I think as I sustain eye contact with Trianna… but that may have been interpreted as a lack of respect. Trianna’s face becomes expressionless. Her aura, too, wavers in the manner of someone on high alert, with all their defenses up. I may have been too straight and to the point. But I couldn’t think of any other way of saying it.

“I believe Her Royal Highness is a magnificent person. That is why I can’t understand why Her Highness would go to such lengths to make herself look mean…”

Whoa, am I getting ahead of myself? I have no idea how she’s gonna react. But this is the only card left for me to play to try and make things better. It’s better to regret things you did than things you didn’t!

“Sincere and proud… a little stubborn, but you are chasing after an ideal with the strongest of wills and conviction, right? What is it you are chasing after so much to the point of putting on the act of a villain in front of everyone and enduring giving your own son a mistaken impression?”

Ah, am I making a big mistake? Trianna’s aura has congealed into a rigid, stern shape, though you don’t need to be able to see auras to sense hers. Her facial expression holds just as much severity. What should I do? I want to cry a little.

Even so, I don’t want to keep my mouth shut and then look back on this as that time I was a good-for-nothing who couldn’t speak up when a once-in-a-lifetime chance presented itself. It was my choice to come this far. Retreat? No! I’m pushing onwards even further!

“I somehow understand that Her Majesty is looking far into the future.”

Right. My intuition is that Trianna is on a different level than everyone else around her. Maybe there’s something beyond that no one else can see, and she is after it.

I’m sure Gilbert wants to know what that is as much as I do.

“A-and if I could be of use, I would like to help any way I can. Oh! Except for the whole part about becoming Lord Jerik’s consort princess, though…”

Trianna shows no signs of willingness to respond or of even acknowledging my speech, but now that I have come this far, I have no choice but to say my piece to the end.

“E-ever since I caught sight of Her Majesty’s au—… august presence, I was taken and enchanted at first sight! Please let me know at least a little of what hopes you hold in your heart!”

Please accept my heartfelt feelings! I rolled up my red-hot feelings into a neat little last appeal there. However, Trianna still shows no sign of being receptive to my pleas. And then, she exhales a sigh of tiredness once again.

I’m out of lines at this point. I don’t think I can continue my speech even if I have the courage to. I’m spent. Could you please say something before my heart explodes?

And then, the words that broke the long, heavy silence are…

“I see. It’s more or less what I expected. Let’s have you give birth to the next crown prince.”

What!? We’re skipping the whole consort princess talk and going straight to having a baby!? L-lady Trianna, did you even hear me talking!?

Oh, but wait. She is still wearing her villainous mask, while her aura is cheerful. Almost as if beaming, “What an auspicious development!” Auras are more eloquent than the mouth or even the eyes. Well, it may be happy for Trianna, but for me…

I find myself still frozen and dumbfounded. After flashing me a bewitching smile, Trianna leaves as if she hadn’t just decided on my entire life. A refined metallic sound announces her departure as she closes the door behind her. However, I feel like that is the sound of my being locked into a future someone else had decided for me.

W-what am I gonna do?

I even went against the order of prioritizing my safety to embark on this doomed quest. Ultimately, I know as little about Trianna as I did before setting foot here. What a total failure. Achievements: zero. Or negative, actually.

Negative… Yeah, that’s right. Because, what if! What if Trianna drags Jerik into it and really makes me his consort? What if that smile just now was because she came up with a way to make it happen? I can’t possibly end up giving birth to Lord Jerik’s child! Because, well, it means that child would become the future king! Oh, this is just surreal…

I believed myself safe from physical danger until I got caught in pretend-villainess Trianna’s webs. My life may not be in peril, but, you know, my chastity…

Firstly, does anyone believe for a second that I am a charming and attractive young woman who Trianna was just taken with and wants to include me in the family? Can I even assume that was what led to her decision just now, or was it something else? One thing is for sure: Trianna’s taste is incomprehensible.

No, no, all of that is whatever for the time being. Now is not the time to figure out someone else’s feelings. I better clear my head and calmly and logically think of a way to get out of this predicament. Good luck, my brain! Now’s the time to genuinely work!


<Previous
Next>