Chapter 30: Political Marriage, Love Marriage

“Princess Jasmin.”

As Bliss curtsied while holding her skirt, Princess Jasmin, who had just finished getting ready, looked at her with curious eyes.

“Did something good happen today? You look happy.”

Princess Jasmin narrowed her eyes while observing Bliss, then smiled as if something had occurred to her.

“Is it because of Caelan?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re married, so you must have slept and woken up together. Unless you went somewhere this morning, it must be because of your husband, right?”

Princess Jasmin spoke in a soft voice as she walked to her personal couch.

“I wonder what it feels like to greet the morning as a married couple? I have someone I can’t bear to part with too, but… a maid and a husband are quite different, aren’t they?”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Compared to a maid who stood around to serve and acted invisible, a husband certainly had a much stronger presence. That was precisely why Bliss was more conscious of him.

However, unaware of Bliss’s thoughts, Princess Jasmin fired questions one after another.

“What’s it like? How is it different? How do you feel when you see him?”

Bliss tilted her head as she sat across from the princess. She wore a troubled expression, unable to think of an immediate answer. Princess Jasmin didn’t wait for her to collect her thoughts and continued speaking.

“The ladies I meet occasionally all say different things. Some say they exchange light kisses like morning greetings and whisper words of love, while others say they can’t even look at their husband’s face because they’re sick of seeing it every day.”

“Where did you hear all that…”

“You mean? Just because I don’t keep ladies-in-waiting doesn’t mean I don’t socialize. What I want to know is which category Lady Adrian falls into.”

Princess Jasmin didn’t stop there and asked what kind of couple Bliss and Caelan was.

“Um… do you really want to know?”

Bliss stumbled over her words slightly before regaining her composure. She had merely greeted her with a slightly excited mood, but she couldn’t understand why the conversation had taken this turn. In truth, she didn’t have many answers to Princess Jasmin’s questions.

“Well, we don’t exactly whisper words of love, nor do we turn away from each other in disgust. We haven’t been married long, and our feelings haven’t developed to that extent.”

Since no other words came to mind, Bliss answered honestly. Fortunately, her answer seemed to satisfy Princess Jasmin, who nodded instead of giving her a strange look.

“It was a political marriage, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Watching Princess Jasmin drink her tea with its subtle fragrance, Bliss absently picked up the cup in front of her. Since this wasn’t exactly a comfortable topic for her, she was partly trying to divert her attention. Looking down at the scent that wafted up to her, she noticed the unusual pinkish tinge to the tea. She realized it was the scent of steeped roses. Though she should have simply thought of it as flower petals being steeped, she couldn’t help but think of the rose garden.

‘I shouldn’t have gone to the rose garden.’

Even though she grew tense whenever she saw Caelan and wanted to bury her memories of him as much as possible, the events in the rose garden kept resurfacing in her mind. Now that she was visiting even without Caelan, the rose garden had become a special place for Bliss.

Bliss set down her cup and asked the maid to bring her tea steeped with different leaves. While the maid went to prepare fresh tea, Bliss wiped her empty hands on her skirt and said.

“Father proposed the political marriage to Marquis Adrian, and the Marquis accepted it. And as you can see, I married him.”

“Then you didn’t date?”

“No.”

“Well, how many nobles have love marriages anyway? It’s hard enough for nobles, let alone someone like me?”

Princess Jasmin muttered while resting her chin on her hand. In this world where political marriages were so prevalent, it seemed doubtful that a princess could have a love marriage. Even if the princess liked someone, there was no guarantee the Emperor would approve. When considering it that way, perhaps political marriages were easier in a sense, though somewhat sad.

Wouldn’t everyone, regardless of status, want to spend their life with someone they love? Thinking about that, Bliss couldn’t say much since hers was a political marriage too.

Bliss was contemplating how to change the subject when she turned her head absently and brightened up at the sight of the metals lined up in one place that they had discussed yesterday.

“Your Highness, over there…”

“I’ve also reached marriageable age now. Just yesterday, Father asked if I had someone in mind, but I couldn’t answer.”

Bliss quietly closed her mouth at Princess Jasmin’s absorbed words.

‘So that’s why she said those things.’

“It feels quite regrettable to marry like this.”

As Princess Jasmin sighed and muttered, Bliss continued touching the cup she had set down. At that moment, Princess Jasmin’s marriage talk seemed no different to Bliss than discussing the items she collected. It was a concern she couldn’t provide any answers to.

“I can’t even look for someone I like now, and postponing marriage isn’t an easy option.”

After hearing Princess Jasmin’s other concern, Bliss took her hand off the cup and touched her skirt. Unable to carry a sheath separately, she had made a pocket in her skirt, where she could feel the hard dagger through the layers of fabric. She wondered when she should mention it. While she kept touching the dagger and turning her head this way and that, she hadn’t noticed that Princess Jasmin had stopped talking.

“Hmm, shall we change the subject? Why do you keep looking over there?”

Having noticed how Bliss kept glancing over, Princess Jasmin asked while pointing at the metals.

“While I can’t really respond about marriage, I think I can talk about those.”

“Is that so?”

When Princess Jasmin gave her an encouraging look, Bliss eagerly opened her mouth to speak. This was actually why she had been so keen to meet the princess early in the morning. Although the conversation had detoured into discussions about couples and husbands, it had finally returned to the main topic.

“How about we make needles for the experiment?”

“Is there any particular reason it should be needles?”

When Echo suggested making needles, even Bliss couldn’t immediately see how they would differ from swords.

“First, they take less time to make than swords. We won’t need as much metal as we do for swords either. And if we make needles, we can test properties like hardness and sharpness too.”

After considering Bliss’s explanation, Princess Jasmin nodded.

“That’s not a bad idea. No, it actually seems quite good. Even for comparing metals…”

As the princess listed the advantages she’d thought of, Bliss smiled with relief. It seemed she had been secretly worried despite trying to hide it.

“Then I should send this to the blacksmith first. And while the needles are being made…”

“We need to set up my play area.”

Bliss stared intently at Princess Jasmin. Objects had vanished like an ebbing tide at a single word, so she couldn’t understand why setting up a play area would take time.

“If we’re going to make it, I want to do it properly.”

Reading Bliss’s expression, Princess Jasmin replied with a subtle smile.

***

Bliss opened her eyes at the sound of Caelan opening and closing the door. She tossed and turned for a moment, unable to get up right away due to the fatigue from her frequent palace visits over the past few days.

After turning over a few more times, Bliss reluctantly rose. Though her body was tired, her spirits remained high.

“I wonder what items Princess Jasmin will bring out today.”

Bliss let out a small yawn while pressing her fingertips against her eyelids. Then she took the dagger from her bedside and placed it on her lap. Since Caelan had told her to keep it, she didn’t particularly hide it. Though nothing had happened so far, there were times when she worried about potential dangers, but lately she felt more at ease with Echo around.

“At first, I just planned to listen to Her Highness’s concerns, but the more I listened, the more drawn in I became without realizing it. It’s quite interesting…”

Bliss opened her eyes and gently brushed away the hair that tickled her face.

Of course, while initially interesting, she had also found it frustrating. Since these were genuine concerns, they had become her worries too, as if they were contagious, and she wondered if there might be solutions. But before a day had passed, with Echo’s help, everything became even more engaging.

A week had already passed since then. Though fatigue accumulated daily, there were quite a few rewarding moments as well.

“It’s all thanks to Echo. From now on too…”

“My lady?”

“Ah… Jackie.”

Bliss, who had just been gathering her hair, turned around startled. Jackie stood there with an awkward smile, hesitating in her spot.

“I came in because it seemed you were awake. Um, shall I prepare water for washing?”

“Yes.”

As Jackie hurriedly left, Bliss dropped her hands. Though her hair came undone as a result, she couldn’t even think about fixing it.

“I can just say I was talking to myself, right?”

【They won’t ask anyway.】

“That’s true.”

After all, servants wouldn’t ask questions unless their master inquired first.

“Still, they’ll keep looking at me strangely. It’s not like I can tell them I’m talking to a dagger.”

Bliss patted her chest in frustration. Knowing this, Echo, instead of offering comfort, only made Bliss feel more conflicted.

【I didn’t say anything.】