NOVEL WEB Side Story Chapter 13: Arent You Curious?
Side Story Episode 13: Aren’t You Curious?
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How could this noble princess speak Sournean so perfectly?
Melissa felt even more intimidated. It wasn’t just because she now had no choice but to converse with her.
‘…It must be related to Alan…’
Even in the Kingdom of Sourne, which had extended its hand to the Hua Empire before the Principality, they remained an enigmatic presence. The family that led the relationship with Hua was none other than the Leopolds.
In other words, the top authority on Hua Empire matters in the Principality was undoubtedly Alan Flynn.
“Shall we go in, Your Highness?”
Alan escorted her inside the mansion. Hastily regaining her composure, Melissa followed the two with trembling steps, and behind her, the princess’s attendants followed.
“No need to worry.”
At Alan’s words, the princess, referred to as “Your Highness,” softly smiled. To think she could smile like that. Melissa’s heart ached once again.
When they finally entered the dining hall after walking down the long corridor, they were greeted by a table lined with ornate silver candlesticks. It was a grand feast that the servants had spent the entire afternoon preparing with utmost dedication. Melissa, the lady of the house, had also contributed to preparing this splendid meal.
Exotic flowers brought by the attendants were placed in vases, and at last, the meal began.
Melissa was inwardly worried about being bombarded with questions from the princess, but she ended up having fewer opportunities to speak with her than expected.
To be precise, the princess hardly spoke at all. She moved her utensils slowly and exchanged minimal conversation with Alan, discussing matters like the Principality’s council or the well-being of the royal family.
Given such topics, Melissa couldn’t join in the conversation. The sheer presence of the princess in the air made Melissa so tense that she found it hard to breathe, let alone swallow her food properly.
The princess even glanced at Melissa countless times during the meal. Those expressionless and cold looks certainly didn’t seem to stem from any kind of goodwill.
‘Could it be… that she’s comparing me to Alan?’
Melissa tried to relax by sipping her wine. However, maintaining her composure was nearly impossible. If it weren’t for the warmth of the hand quietly holding hers under the table, she would have found it extremely difficult to endure.
But everything would be fine once it was time to serve dessert. Introducing the dessert would naturally lead to a conversation with the princess. Compliments about the taste might prompt her to ask about Hua’s desserts, and the awkward atmosphere would naturally soften.
As the meal was gradually winding down, Melissa, with a resolute look in her eyes, took a deep breath. At that moment, Alan spoke up.
“The dessert was specially prepared by my wife, Melissa, Your Highness.”
“Is that so?”
However, there was one crucial detail Melissa had overlooked.
“I would like to enjoy the dessert with just the ladies.”
“Your Highness, you mean…”
“I mean I would like to have it alone with your wife.”
Life never goes as planned.
「Everyone, please leave.」
“I appreciate your interest in my wife, but she—”
At that moment, Melissa stood up abruptly, slamming the table loudly.
“I’m fine with that!”
“…Melissa.”
A worried gaze met hers. In truth, she hadn’t intended to slam the table or raise her voice so much. It was simply her desperate desire to shine as her husband’s wife, a thought she had mulled over all day, that burst forth.
We are a couple. I don’t want to just wait for your help. I want to be a kind and reliable wife. I want you to be able to rely on me too.
With that in mind, Melissa whispered under her breath. “It’s alright.” A whisper meant only for him.
* * *
Left alone with the princess in the dining hall, only silence remained. Surprisingly, the princess didn’t even blink. The only movement came from the flickering candles and Melissa’s wandering gaze.
“Then, I will bring the tea and dessert, Your Highness.”
Melissa spoke in a trembling voice as she slowly rose. Her plain chemise dress fluttered lightly. As she turned around, a firm voice interrupted her.
“That hairpin.”
“Oh, this…”
Melissa had worn the hairpin as a gesture of welcome for meeting the princess, and she fumbled to explain her sincere intentions.
But she quickly found herself at a loss for words.
“I chose it.”
“What?”
What did she mean by that? Whether it was true or not, the fact that the princess mentioned it… Did she want the hairpin back?
After all, royals could act as they pleased for any reason, or for no reason at all. Recalling the inexplicable glances she had felt throughout the meal, her fingertips turned white with anxiety once more.
At that moment, the princess’s voice cut through Melissa’s thoughts.
“Did you know that he came to Hua last summer?”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
Of course, she knew. Last summer, she had waited for Alan every day in the annex, endlessly resenting and desperately missing him for disappearing without a word.
“At that time, he asked me to choose a hairpin for him, and I picked a wooden one, but he immediately rejected it.”
“Rejected it…?”
“He said something about someone’s hair being too dark and wanted something else.”
“Oh…”
So, he intended to give it to me, Melissa thought, as the princess murmured like the wind.
“I’ve known about you for quite some time. He has been visiting Hua since his boyhood. I was interested in him from the beginning, so I allowed him to be close.”
“Are you saying…”
“Whether it was out of respect for the royalty or not, he did not oppose me.”
“……”
Melissa had many questions. What did the princess mean by knowing about her? How should she interpret the princess’s interest in Alan? And, was that interest still there?
But she couldn’t dare ask any of them, so she quietly began to serve the tea and dessert. She moved silently, even stifling the sound of her footsteps, hoping the princess would offer more details on her own.
In the quiet, the princess’s gentle voice rippled like water.
She told a story of when the two first met as young children and conversed in the language of the Hua Empire. Back then, Alan was not fluent in the imperial language, and the princess did not know Sournean at all. During their awkward conversations, the boy had suddenly confessed his worries to her.
He spoke of a girl who caught his eye and made him anxious. He said he always waited for her but felt sorrowful because they could never be together.
Melissa had heard from Alan that they had taken notice of each other around the same time, but she had not realized the depth of his feelings. She was slightly taken aback. Could it be a memory so old that even he had forgotten it?
‘He must have had no one else to confide in,’ she thought.
Imagining a young Alan with a crestfallen face made her heart ache a little.
The princess said she had given him this advice:
‘If someone else tries to hover around her, you must warn her, even if it means scaring her, so that she doesn’t give him the chance.’
She had said it as if it were an unbreakable rule of the Empire, but in reality, it was just a joke.
Melissa placed the tart with cherries on the table and let out a sigh. Old memories that had seemed distant now resurfaced.
‘Could it be that the reason for those suspicious notes was something as trivial as this…’
In other words, Alan had been talking to the princess about someone over the years. However, it seemed he had never revealed who that person was.
Just as she was thinking that this was typical of Alan, the princess continued.
“I found out who the protagonist of his stories was last summer. He told me everything.”
“He told you everything?”
Melissa, pouring the steaming tea from the teapot, muttered with a curious look.
“That’s not like him at all.”
“It wasn’t voluntary.”
“What?”
Did she mean she coerced him? Or used a truth serum?
Melissa’s brow furrowed slightly as she set down the teapot. Her face quietly contemplated how inappropriate it would be to urge the princess to explain immediately.
“We had a drinking contest with some strong liquor.”
The princess laughed softly then.
“He was a guest, and offering fine liquor is a custom of the royal family.”
“…..”
“Of course, I had filled my bottle with tea. It’s a useful tactic to gain the upper hand in important negotiations.”
“What…?”
Melissa, pushing the steaming cup towards the princess, asked in disbelief. The princess laughed again, a low, amused sound.
“Do you think our methods are cowardly?”
“But he rarely gets drunk…”
Melissa couldn’t bring herself to outright agree, so she carefully steered the conversation. The princess murmured,
“Weak Sourneans like you can’t imagine the strength of Hua’s liquor.”
“Was Alan okay the next day? It was a long trip…”
“I assumed he was suffering from a hangover since he didn’t appear after that night.”
“…Wasn’t he?”
The princess held her teacup, her little finger elegantly extended.
“It wasn’t a hangover. It was shortly before their party left Hua. After that night, his assistant took over his duties. Alan received a letter from his homeland and was in shock.”
“Oh…”
“The fragrance is quite nice.”
Melissa, lost in thought, forgot to thank the princess for the compliment. It must have been around the time when Alan received word from his contacts. A letter he wasn’t expecting, suggesting he stop searching for news about his parents…
She recalled the late summer night when Alan returned home, looking as if he might collapse at any moment. He seemed so fragile, like a mirage, and she had held him tightly.
‘At that time, though, we weren’t certain that Alan’s parents had passed…’
The princess, noticing Melissa’s face shifting from dreaminess to melancholy, asked in a soft voice,
“Aren’t you curious?”
“What about…?”
“What that man, completely dazed, said about you.”
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