As the atmosphere grew tense, I became anxious. I was on the verge of being reduced to a mere figurehead princess, a blindfold for the barbarian’s eyes.

Moreover, if the marriage did actually happen, though unlikely, that would be a problem too. Considering the 5th Prince of Dobrakan’s wrath upon receiving a fake princess in place of Princess Laratu, sitting idly by was akin to willingly offering my neck for execution.

My throat felt parched.

“Would I be suitable?”

I tried to look as worried as possible.

“I’m just a daughter of the Lorenst Count, after all.”

Lady Emerun raised her eyebrows.

“Are you suggesting our Countess wouldn’t meet the Prince’s standards?”

“The family isn’t the issue. It’s me I’m worried about. As you’ve said, I was born on the streets, lived a life there. I was fortunate to be accepted into the family, but the stains of the streets must have lingered. You’ve often said I still bear the marks of poverty. Would the Imperial Prince not see through that?”

“I didn’t realize you were so aware of your place.”

Lady Emerun seemed surprised.

‘This is infuriating.’

I could feel my lips trembling.

“Even if the royal family agrees, if the Prince gets angry, we can’t escape his wrath.”

“That can be concealed.”

“Poverty marks can’t be hidden that easily…”

Lady Emerun interjected, sounding sympathetic.

“You don’t need to belittle yourself. You may not meet my standards, but you’re decent enough to pass as a noble lady.”

“I lack the knowledge and dancing skills befitting a lady.”

“Barbarians are more lacking, what’s there to worry?”

“The dowry for the royal family would be enormous.”

“Being a princess would solve that! The royal family should support us!”

It was like a battle of spear and shield.

‘She talks better than a fence trying to offload stolen goods.’

I sighed, then realized.

Greedy, glinting eyes were all fixated on me.

A chill ran down my spine.

It was reminiscent of the time I was caught pickpocketing a detective. His gaze, knowing all along and waiting for the right moment, flashed in my mind.

How did I survive then?

“Barbarians who eat scorpions in the desert don’t care about lineage. They often share one woman among many men, so they wouldn’t mind whether she’s noble or not.”

“…”

“Besides, acting for the family is an honorable and natural duty for a noble.”

That’s when they typically preach about ‘nobility.’

Listening to Lady Emerun’s nonsense, I remembered how I got out of the detective situation.

‘Straightforwardness.’

I admitted I was caught and immediately withdrew my hand from his pocket.

I remembered the detective’s amused face.

I stared directly at those targeting me.

‘This isn’t home. I mustn’t be mistaken.’

This place was a battlefield, ready to use and discard me once my usefulness expired.

In my naive days, I wanted to be a great thief, unfettered, robbing corrupt merchants. As I grew, I realized it wasn’t so grand, but my desire to live free from control and command remained.

To achieve that in this world, I needed money and power.

Living as a mere household maid, disguised as a Countess’s daughter, I would always be used as a disposable pawn.

Now, before me was a diamond coated in poison, the position of a princess that drove a noblewoman to suicide.

‘When I received pickpocketing jobs from petty merchants, the riskier it was, the higher the pay.’

My cheeks tingled. With cold fingertips, I clutched my skirt tightly.

‘Okay, I’ve decided.’
“If you insist on going to such lengths… may I ask just one thing? Will my doing this truly benefit our family?”

‘A bit of poison? Just brush it off. As long as I can digest it, what’s a little poison? Even if I ingest it, I just need to find the antidote before it’s too late.’

If it really comes to it, I’ll resort to the ultimate plan: escape.

People don’t realize how labyrinthine the underground world is.

‘If worse comes to worst, I can just lay low in Amtein for a few years.’

“That’s it! If you do this, our family can spread its wings. Shall we give it a try?”

I observed Lady Emerun calmly as she asked anxiously.

‘Though I plan to do it, I can’t go in empty-handed.’

I sighed deeply.

“Even if you say it’s alright, I’m still worried. If I could hide my origins by not speaking, would you have worried about me so much?”

“You might look fine…”

I forced a gloomy expression despite her comforting tone.

“But at a recent banquet, people were whispering about me. I didn’t even realize my dress was torn at the hem.”

“That’s because you wore a cheap one…”

Lady Emerun responded hesitantly. I nodded vigorously as if to confirm.

“I wanted to buy a new dress, but they’re so expensive nowadays. I couldn’t afford even one. How nice it would be to look pretty in anything like Miss Aris.”

Lady Emerun glanced at Aris. While she was indeed beautiful, her dresses came from the best boutiques in the capital and were adorned with rare jewels.

‘I’ve often been tempted to swipe them.’

Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman

When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…

One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.

Synopsis

During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.

Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”

Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.

Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”

With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.

Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?

He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”

_____

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