(21) The Foolish, Stupid Princess
Is that so?
Am I cruel and cold-hearted?
Throughout her life, Asla had thought her mother Gloria was cruel and cold-hearted, but she had never considered her own personality to be cruel and cold.
She could have been a bit more considerate. How had she grown into such a rough-edged personality?
When Asla, filled with self-loathing, said nothing, Gloria placed her finger on a leaf of the shrub planted beside her, gently stroking it as she continued.
“The Princess is also rather cold, so the two of you are similar in that regard.”
“……”
“Like you said, I opposed your marriage to the princess. My opinion hasn’t changed much even now.”
Gloria scrutinized Asla as Enoch from head to toe with a piercing gaze.
Asla couldn’t understand at all.
Weren’t the words of those women disparaging her at the wedding closer to the truth?
The only decent thing about her was, yes, her presentable appearance.
Bad personality, ruined family, and no money to bring—what did she have that was better than Enoch Ventus, the Empire’s most eligible bachelor?
With a sense of disbelief, Asla pointed at Ian and asked.
“Did you want Princess Asla to marry High Priest Ian Herta? Since royalty typically marries those with strong holy power.”
Anger frosted over in Ian’s eyes.
A few years ago at the Grand Temple, when Ian had a private audience with Enoch, he seemed to have shouted more rudely, but he appeared to be restraining himself in front of Gloria.
“I won’t tolerate such a misunderstanding!”
But Gloria shouted irritably first, startling Asla into looking at her.
“I still can’t believe or accept in my heart that the Holy Kingdom has fallen. I’ve lived in the Holy Kingdom for half a century. But Asla is different. Of course, I can’t bring myself to tell Asla…… to completely abandon her dignity as a princess and live freely from now on.”
Gloria continued, alternately looking at the two people who were listening to her outburst with surprised faces.
“Asla will have to live in a place without the Holy Kingdom from now on. Since she’s no longer the heir to the Holy Kingdom, she doesn’t need to marry forcibly according to the Kingdom’s law to continue the bloodline, so I hoped the Princess would marry someone she loves.”
Gloria’s words about wanting her to marry someone she loves.
Asla couldn’t believe her own ears. But Gloria, who let out a small sigh mixed with pain, seemed sincere.
Had her mother been…… someone who cared about her this much?
However, Gloria began to say things that were even harder for Asla to believe.
Gloria, with a complicated expression, took one step closer to Asla as Enoch.
“Lisette Groase, Asla’s nanny, told me that Princess Asla especially fears and dreads you. Let alone love. How did you come to be so hated by the Princess, Duke?”
“……Lisette Groase said that?”
“Yes. She has cared for Asla since she was a baby. She’s also the person Asla trusts and relies on the most.”
Gloria spoke with a confident tone, nodding her head.
Asla felt as if lightning had struck her head.
‘My nanny lied.’
But why?
Asla recalled moments from her past when she had cut out all newspaper articles featuring Enoch and kept them separately, confiding only in her nanny about her unrequited love for Duke Enoch Ventus.
Each time, her nanny would stroke her head and smile gently—how happy those times had been.
Unrequited love was difficult. But because her nanny supported her love, she could endure it and even find joy in it.
Why had her nanny lied to her mother?
‘Perhaps she wanted to keep my secret?’
An absurd excuse. Just as she was beginning to loathe herself for still trying to defend her nanny in her mind, Gloria added.
“That’s why I opposed. Do you understand me a little better now?”
Asla didn’t answer Gloria’s question.
No, she couldn’t.
She hated herself for misunderstanding her mother so thoroughly and felt so ashamed she wanted to run away somewhere.
‘Then…… does Enoch believe that I fear and dread him?’
Recalling Enoch’s cold attitude toward her at the wedding venue, Asla stiffened and remained silent.
Gloria then slightly craned her neck to glance furtively toward the bridal waiting room where the new bride Asla was sitting.
Asla felt even sadder seeing her mother’s expression filled with sorrow.
“I don’t know what you were thinking when he accepted marriage to Princess Asla, but Asla won’t be a good wife to you either.”
Gloria hesitated for a moment.
“Though she is my daughter…… Lisette reported that she grew up as a self-destructive child who hated and despised the Holy Kingdom from a young age. The Holy Kingdom began to be contaminated from the moment she was born. I didn’t realize how great Asla’s guilt was.”
“……Ha.”
Another false report from her nanny.
Asla was confused. Had her nanny deliberately given false reports to Gloria, or had she truly grown up so terribly?
Just as she felt her mind might be destroyed, Gloria hung her head and muttered.
“Asla’s father, who is now dead, and I…… regretted not looking after that child while trying to solve the Holy Kingdom’s contamination. But Asla never looked at us either. Whenever we tried to visit her, we only received messages that she didn’t want to see us.”
Asla felt like she was going mad.
When on earth……?
She had no idea that her father and mother had ever come to see her.
‘My nanny was the wall.’
She finally felt as if her mind was being illuminated.
All the words of Lisette Groase, who had cried saying how pitiful Asla was for not being able to meet her parents, were lies.
Asla Sherita…… was a foolish, stupid princess who had only trusted such a nanny all her life.
“I’ll give you this.”
When Gloria nodded to Ian, he reluctantly pulled out a book with a yellow cover from his br*ast pocket.
Asla, knowing what this book was, let out a hollow laugh.
The reason Enoch had not even kissed her, let alone shared her bed—the royal etiquette book had come from here.
“This is the Royal Etiquette Book that Holy Kingdom royalty must follow. I heard Asla obsessively follows the etiquette book, so even though you’re married, read this book and respect Asla. That way, even if she doesn’t love you, Duke, perhaps someday she can acknowledge you as a partner and live well with you, together.”
The Sherita Royal Etiquette Book she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Asla quietly stared at the sickening yellow cover, then slowly asked Gloria.
“Did you also hear from High Priest Lisette Groase that Princess Asla obsessively follows the etiquette book?”
Gloria nodded affirmatively to Asla as Enoch’s question.
‘Ah……’
Asla felt as if all strength was draining from her body.
Her nanny knew better than anyone that she hated the Sherita Royal Etiquette Book to the point of abhorrence.
Despite having memorized the Sherita Royal Etiquette Book at a very young age, she had become completely sick of the schedule that required her to read the etiquette book aloud five times every day.
So Asla always secretly grumbled only to her nanny.
That she felt like she would be reciting the etiquette book even in her coffin after death.
So her nanny…… couldn’t possibly not have known.
Asla silently accepted the etiquette book that Ian handed over following Gloria’s order and bit her lip firmly.
It was complicated, painful, and confusing.
Gloria, who had been watching her, sighed briefly as if frustrated and pulled her hat down deeper to cover her face.
“Well then, Duke. Would you guide me to the most secluded spot where I won’t be noticed by the guests, let alone Asla? I still want to see my daughter’s wedding before I leave.”
‘So you stayed until the end of the wedding.’
Asla looked at Gloria with a heavy heart.
Whoosh—
As a loud wave sound echoed from above her head, Asla immediately looked up at the sky.
God’s blue waves, as blue as the clear sky, were crashing down.
The dream was over.
Realizing it was time to return to reality, she quietly closed her eyes.
⁕⁕⁕
“Um…… Duke?”
After receiving a report from May early in the morning that Asla had gone to meet Gloria, Enoch had been staring blankly at the empty room for quite some time.
May, knowing that Enoch had stayed up all night, sincerely advised him.
“Madam said she would return soon, so please get some rest. I will inform you immediately when she returns.”
He looked around Asla’s room once, where only May remained, then silently turned and returned to his own room.
Enoch, who had reserved both of the only two suite rooms in this hotel, belatedly regretted booking separate rooms.
‘Haa.’
His failure to properly respond to May wasn’t because he was tired, but because he was extremely surprised.
Enoch had deliberately stayed up working without sleep.
His plan was to quickly sort out urgent matters, and then have a meal together when Asla woke up later.
When Asla wasn’t in her room, he initially panicked, thinking she had gone to the Grand Temple alone to question the oracle.
But fortunately or unfortunately, Asla had gone to see Gloria Sherita instead of the Grand Temple.
Enoch rubbed his eyelids and sat in a chair in the suite’s study, leaning his head back.
The bright morning sunlight streaming through the window gap was so dazzling that Enoch closed his eyes tightly.
“Why now of all times.”
With his eyes closed, Enoch’s brow slowly contorted.
Enoch knew well that Asla wasn’t particularly close with her mother.
Gloria had explained it to him often.
Though Gloria was somewhat strict and old-fashioned, it wasn’t a major flaw.
He couldn’t understand why Asla hated Gloria so much when she seemed to have no other particular defects, but Enoch wanted to respect Asla in this regard as well.
‘I don’t know much about mothers.’
Enoch had lost his mother when he was very young.
Since he hadn’t experienced situations where relationships with his birth mother could become strained, he couldn’t carelessly interfere in Asla’s affairs.
But he couldn’t ignore Gloria, who was living poorly and struggling without any support after the fall of the Holy Kingdom.
His mother-in-law had opposed his marriage to Asla because she wanted her daughter to marry someone she loved.
Though it was a marriage he had accepted because of a pledge made with Emperor Rosenberg for the future, he was greatly shocked to hear that Asla feared and dreaded him.
More beautiful and noble than the splendid golden wedding dress that sparkled in the sunlight—why did she fear him?
He couldn’t help but feel resentful and bitter toward her.
His cold demeanor remained, and harsh words slipped out naturally.
But he soon regretted it.
He had planned to apologize when they were alone after the wedding reception, but he had to go straight to the capital after receiving an urgent communication from Emperor Rosenberg.
‘I sent a letter explaining the general situation and apologizing, and even received a reply from Asla saying it was fine. Was that not from her either?’
Enoch let out a painful groan as he recalled Asla’s gaze, looking at him with a worn-out expression.
He was sure. Asla knew nothing.
“Damn it.”
Enoch, who had spat out the curse irritably, clenched his fist and struck the armrest of the chair.
