Forget My Husband, I’ll Go Make Money

Knock-knock

When Dionna heard the light knock, she quickly shut her half-opened mouth.

‘Who is it? Don’t tell me the maids are back already?’

No, it had been a while, so it made sense that they were back. Frankly, the fact that the maids serving the Princess left the Princess alone on her wedding day for such a long time didn’t make sense by itself.

And they were even maids from her home country.

‘I haven’t even been able to ridicule the princess yet.’

Dionna’s face was filled with frustration. But soon, she calmed down.

‘I believe the Silvanus maids hate the princess. It might be more effective if I use that point well.’

She only needed to focus on making sure her true intentions were not revealed. The maids from Silvanus were anxious because they were unable to slander the princess so it should be very easy.

She didn’t need to say too much, only throw a few baits.

“Come in.”

However, the person who came in after the door opened was not a maid.

‘B-Brother Durante?!’

Dionna’s eyes shook at the unexpected visitor.

“Your Highness.” [1]

Durante greeted Aristine formally.

Not with informal courtesy but an official formality. The formality that a warrior shows to the royal family.

Dionna’s expression hardened immediately.

“It feels odd to be called that already.”

Aristine said, leaning against the armrest.

“You may rise.”

Once her relaxed permission fell, Durante bowed and rose to his feet.

As she watched the whole process, Dionna bit the flesh in her mouth.

Despite saying it felt awkward, Aristine looked very relaxed. As if she was saying that such treatment was very natural since she was born a noble personage.

Dionna clenched her fists.

‘Why is Brother Durante here…’

She felt anxious in the pit of her stomach.

She remembered running into Durante right after instigating Mukali last time.

‘Don’t tell me it’s because of that?’

Maybe he heard everything she said to Mukali then.

Dionna struggled to keep her shaking body upright. This came as a huge shock, and it was hard to accept for Dionna because she had always been managing her image.

‘But, but…at least it’s Brother Durante, not someone else.’

He wasn’t the type to meddle like this just because he heard that discussion. It should be the same, even now.

She doubted Durante came here knowing she was in the bride’s waiting room. Even if he knew, Durante was not the type to interfere in things that did not concern him.

‘He must be here for something else.’

Right, everything was fine.

Dionna comforted herself.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Aristine and Durante was flowing smoothly.

“It’s been a while since we’ve talked, Sir Durante.”

“Yes, we crossed paths a few times, but I was not able to greet Your Highness.”

They saw each other at the welcome banquet, and also ran into each other a few times in the palace but they only exchanged nods and passed each time.

“So, what brings you here?”

“The ceremony will be starting soon so I’m here to make sure the preparations are all set.”

“There are no issues.”

“Understood. By the way, Dionna, why are you…”

Durante’s gaze turned to Dionna.

Dionna’s stiff lips moved slightly. But no words left her mouth.

She wasn’t sure how much Durante knew so she didn’t know what to say.

“Ah, she came to congratulate me on my wedding apparently.”

Aristine answered in place of Dionna who was silent.

“Congratulations, you say?”

“Mn.”

Aristine nodded and chuckled.

“Come to think of it, she did say a few more things so it’s not all congratulations.”

The main point was the really boring show off of a lover.

“I’m curious about that too.”

Durante said with a rare smile. Even though his eyes were smiling, his expression was quite chilly.

Aristine tilted her head.

It’s boring though?

Only people who didn’t know what the discussion was about would ask so bravely.

Aristine turned to Dionna.

Her gaze was practically saying, ‘since someone’s made the stage, you can show off as much as you like’.

But for some reason, Dionna flinched and stiffened at her gaze. She stood still as if her lips were glued together then her eyes curved softly as she smiled.

“Oh, Princess…I didn’t say that much, did I? I said I hope that Your Highnesses will have a successful marriage.”

“Didn’t you add that at the end because you were embarrassed after bragging about yourself?”

Aristine asked with a tilt of her head.

She thought Dionna enjoyed it, especially since she came to find a practical stranger to brag about her lover.

Dionna’s face burned red.

“I wasn’t aware Dionna had something worth bragging about.” (Durante)

“I think the Princess misunderstood. It’s really nothing.”

Dionna hurriedly replied when she heard Durante’s words.

Seeing Dionna like this, Aristine sighed lightly.

Durante was curious but Dionna was acting embarrassed when she finally had a stage set up for her.

In the end, Aristine had no choice but to say it herself.

“It’s nothing big. She was just bragging that she and Tarkan have had a very special relationship since they were young.”

Dionna’s face turned white once those words left Aristine’s mouth.

She hurriedly checked Durante’s expression.

He was looking at Aristine without much change in his expression.

“What did she say again? I can barely remember. Ah, she also said that Tarkan’s mother cared a lot for her.”

Aristine continued as she went over her memories.

Seeing that, Dionna felt like her heart was going to explode even more.

‘Bad memory, my foot.’ [2]

The princess was deliberately only saying things that would make people angry, yet she was claiming her memory was faint.

‘Shouldn’t she shake with anger when she thinks of all this?’

“Hmm, what else did she say…Ah, anyway, she said it in different ways, but the conclusion is that she and Tarkan have a very deep relationship.”

Aristine roughly concluded her speech.

Frankly, she remembered exactly what Dionna said.

After all, she had trained her memory to be excellent while going over the visions from the Monarch’s Sight.

‘But come on, it’s embarrassing.’

If she had to repeat what Dionna said, word for word, it would be quite embarrassing. So, she just fudged the explanation.

‘I have to give it to Dionna; she’s amazing to be able to say such embarrassing things for so long.’

Aristine was impressed.

‘How can shame not exist for some people!’

When you think about it, it sounded like an insult, but it was true admiration.

“Hmm, a deep relationship, huh.”

Durante lightly folded his arms and looked at Dionna.

Dionna flinched and tried to say something to him. But before she could, Durante turned back to Aristine and asked.

“So she congratulated Your Highness and His Highness Tarkan’s marriage after saying that?”

“Mn, that our marriage must be successful since it’s for peace before anything else.”

“Indeed. I see.”

Durante nodded his head. His indifferent gaze swept over Dionna.

In summary, the princess’ words pointed to one thing.

Dionna had the nerve to go to a bride who is getting married and say, ‘Your husband is my lover and although he is marrying you, our love is true love and it will last forever.’

—all of that in a blatant manner.

‘And then say ‘congratulations on your marriage’ to top it off.’

It was the icing on the cake.

Durante chuckled.

“B-Brother Durante…”

Dionna, who had turned so pale that it was pitiful to see, called out to Durante with pleas in her eyes.

Aristine shrugged her shoulders when she saw that.

‘If you were going to act like this after, why did you come here to show off.’

She was acting so confident that Aristine thought no issue would arise from this. Generally, going to a bride on their wedding day and saying this and that about the groom was a good way to get slapped.

‘It’s different in this case though.’

After all, Tarkan and her were merely partners in this business called a political marriage. They had even agreed on this fact before marriage.

Dionna must know that as well.

She boasted so much of Tarkan’s special regard for her so of course, he must have told her.

‘That is why I thought she was just boasting thoughtlessly but judging from the way she looks right now, I don’t think that’s the case.’

Hmmm.

Aristine looked at Dionna who didn’t seem to know what to do then she opened her mouth.

She figured it would be better to take Dionna’s side here and give Tarkan a hand.

“I am fine, Durante.”

Aristine’s expression as she said that really looked unaffected.

But rather than ease his expression, a chill formed in Durante’s eyes.

Translator’s Corner:

[1] Your Highness: Durante called her [bijeonha]. Apparently [bijeonha] just means wife of His Highness, not the wife of the crown prince like I previously thought. Sorry for the mistake.

[2] Bad memory, my foot: Ok so the literal translation here is ‘Why can’t she remember so well?’ and considering the context, I think this is Dionna asking why isn’t Aristine’s memory failing for the bad parts. But I can’t think of a better way to put it, so this is what I used.