Alicia, who had made specific plans with Sienna, finally visited the Emperor’s study with her to obtain his permission.
The Emperor, who was sitting comfortably in his study chair reading a book, as it was break time after lunch, greatly welcomed the visit of his daughter and daughter-in-law.
“What brings you two here together? Is something the matter?”
“We need Your Majesty’s permission.”
Alicia, who exchanged glances with Sienna with a smile at the Emperor’s question, slowly explained her plan.
“Adrian will cry.”
The Emperor knew his son better than anyone else.
It was clear that if he received such a surprise gift, he would embrace Alicia and sob loudly, regardless of his dignity as an imperial family member.
“If it seems like elder brother will cry a lot, I promised Sienna that I would cry first.”
“You’re calculating that Adrian, surprised by your tears, will hold back his own.”
“I was worried that my husband is a crybaby, but I learned a lot from Alicia again this time.”
The Emperor’s face was also covered with a gentle smile as he watched his daughter and daughter-in-law burst into laughter, looking at each other’s faces, finding something so delightful.
“Sienna.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Won’t you be disappointed if Alicia prepares such a surprise gift first?”
“What do I have to be disappointed about? It’s something that will greatly please my husband. If it can make him smile, I welcome it wholeheartedly.”
“I have gained a good daughter-in-law.”
“Then Alicia will prepare a surprise gift for my birthday too.”
“I was going to yield to elder brother, as it is a husband’s duty to please his wife, you know?”
“Oh my? I’m about to get extremely disappointed. Cancel it quickly. I’d rather receive a gift from my pretty younger sister than my crybaby husband.”
“What about one from your father-in-law?”
“Then I’ll be the crybaby that day.”
A lively conversation took place.
After conversing for a long time like that, Sienna left first, and Alicia, left alone with the Emperor, could tell that her father had something to say to her.
“Don’t look at me like that and speak.”
“You noticed?”
“You didn’t even try to hide it.”
The Emperor, smiling and lightly tapping his daughter’s hand, hesitated to ask, and Alicia, noticing this, spoke first.
“You want to ask why I thought of this, right?”
“…That’s right.”
“It’s because I’m of age now.”
“May I ask what you mean?”
“You won’t leave an imperial princess of marriageable age like this, will you?”
The Emperor’s face hardened as he realized what Alicia meant.
He recalled what his daughter had said before.
“Alicia, I am both the Emperor and a father. I want my daughter to be happy.”
“Your Majesty, I am Your Majesty’s daughter and the imperial princess of Eregron. If it can help Eregron, that is my happiness.”
An imperial princess of marriageable age.
From Alicia’s perspective, who planned to leave far away with no intention of being tied to anyone, it was just an excuse.
However, for the Emperor, Adrian, and Sienna, there was nothing more effective than this in preparing this surprise gift.
‘Sienna will probably guess to some extent too.’
Regardless of the rumors, now that Alicia had publicly declared that she would give up her feelings for Killian, her marriage was a high-priced commodity that anyone could obtain if they paid the right price.
She was not a princess of a small kingdom, but an imperial princess.
Anyone with ambition, big or small, would covet her.
Alicia knew this too, and before she decided to leave, she had been thinking of selling her marriage abroad at a high price.
The Emperor probably guessed this to some extent, but he wouldn’t have expected his daughter to bring it up directly like this.
“Letters of intent will be flying in from many places. Right?”
It was true.
Not only the nobles of the empire but also foreign countries were openly coveting the position of the imperial princess’s husband.
Not far off, among the congratulatory envoys from Tirione attending this imperial prince’s birthday banquet, the kingdom’s second prince was included.
“You can’t keep refusing. So before that, I want to give elder brother a memorable gift at least once.”
It was true that she wanted to give a memorable gift.
If she succeeded in saving his life at this birthday banquet, she would leave the empire as soon as possible.
She wanted to leave such a gift to the Emperor and Sienna as well, but it was a pity that there was no time.
“So please allow it, Your Majesty.”
“…I understand. Do so.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll have to tell them to further strengthen the boundaries of the hunting grounds. The number of beasts released should be reduced too, excluding predators.”
“Won’t elder brother be disappointed?”
“I guarantee you, he’ll be lucky to catch even a single rabbit properly while staying by your side. If Adrian is limited to one rabbit, do you think the other nobles will be able to hunt properly?”
“That’s… true.”
“We might as well save on the budget this time.”
“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said. Elder brother will cry out of disappointment if he hears that, you know?”
“…Why is that boy so tearful?”
Alicia, unable to utter any excuse for her elder brother as it was true that Adrian was tearful, let out an awkward laugh.
The Emperor, who knew too well why his beloved daughter was laughing like that, burst into a very delightful laughter, but Adrian would never find out about it.
“By the way, Alicia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I understand your intention to prepare a surprise gift, but… will it really be all right?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you’d prepare a homemade cake.”
“What about it?”
“…Is that really something humans can eat?”
A long time ago, when Alicia was very young, she had baked cookies for the Emperor.
She had heard somewhere that eating something sweet like cookies was a good remedy for headaches, and the Emperor was moved to see his daughter bringing burnt black cookies with sparkling eyes.
The problem was that Alicia wanted the Emperor to eat those cookies right there in front of her.
Burnt black cookies with unknown proper measurements.
The Emperor, unable to utter words of refusal to his daughter, whose pretty sky-blue eyes sparkled with anticipation, ate all of them that day and collapsed from food poisoning, suffering for a week.
Due to that shock, Alicia had completely lost interest in cooking…
“Alicia? Why are you avoiding your father’s eyes?”
“…I’ll try my best.”
“Just try?”
“…I’ll put in a lot of effort.”
“…You should take a break from banquet preparations for a while and practice making cakes. I’ll inform my chef, so you can learn from him.”
“But there’s Amy?”
“The cookies you made back then… you made them with Amy’s help. I remember.”
“…”
“Amy’s cooking skills are excellent, but as a teacher… I’m not sure.”
Mina was clearly learning how to make pies from her very well.
However, because of the cookies made back then, the Emperor didn’t seem to trust Amy very much.
“I’ll give you an assignment.”
“What assignment?”
“You’ll make a cake that people can eat without getting sick. If you succeed within a week, we’ll use your cake as the surprise gift, and if you fail, you’ll personally deliver the cake made by the chef as the surprise gift.”
He was a father who loved his daughter but also loved his son.
The Emperor, who remembered that there were rumors that someone had tried to assassinate him while he was sick from eating the cookies his daughter made, had no intention of seeing rumors spreading that his son almost died at the hands of his sister or that his daughter had tried to poison her elder brother.
At the Emperor’s rather serious words, Alicia, who had no confidence in her cooking skills, nodded her head firmly.
She was going to do it properly, as it might be the last birthday present she would give to Adrian.
[This is the timeline separator]The imperial servants were busily moving around the hunting grounds, preparing to open them once again for Crown Prince Adrian’s birthday banquet.
As the news had spread that even Imperial Princess Alicia would be participating in this hunting competition, the preparations had to be done with utmost care.
“Hey, you there! That’s not supposed to go there!”
“S-sorry, sir.”
“How did such a sluggish person enter the imperial palace?”
“I heard he was recommended by some aristocrat?”
“No matter who it is, they won’t have as much power as His Majesty, so you stop it too and hurry up.”
The man who had briefly clicked his tongue at his colleague’s urging disappeared, and the servant who was left alone slowly raised his head and surveyed his surroundings.
What he had to do today was not to carry this kind of luggage.
The servant, who had listened for a moment to make sure no one was approaching, took out a small pouch the size of his palm from his bosom.
He couldn’t see what was inside, but judging by the feel, it seemed to be a long, hard stone or sculpture.
“If I just bury this here well, they said they’d give me money, right?”
The man who dug the ground and buried the pouch left the promised mark on top of it.
One gold coin for burying it in the ground, and two gold coins for leaving a mark on top of it.
It was an errand from the aristocrat who had written him a letter of recommendation.
“The errand is simple, but the problem is going directly to receive the payment. Just looking at those yellow eyes gives me the creeps…”
The man, who had hidden the mark with the luggage piled up around it so that others could not see it, shivered.
What does a person have to do to get such eyes?
The man, recalling a famous story within the empire, shook his head.
Isn’t he, who still lives well even though his father died and his title was demoted, wealthy enough to readily give out gold coins for such an errand?
“Does he have time to hold grudges while living well?”
The servant, thinking that it could be possible, brushed off his hands and quickly moved his feet to leave the place.
And on the mark hidden without anyone’s knowledge, at the spot where the man had left, a black liquid of unknown origin gathered and formed a small puddle.
Only the aristocrat who had handed the gold coins to the servant would know what it would later turn into.
__________
Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up! (Female-dominant)
Short intro:
What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.
Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.
Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!
She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.
*
At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.
This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!
***
Synopsis:
Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…
A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead
vs.
An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead
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Zozo Zahraa
I hope you hurry up it’s a really great novel