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‘Puppet?’ She echoed. Matilda tilted her head in
thought. She heard that word back in her home country, but her kingdom’s
evaluation of Barenshiaga and Leandroth was favourable.
Matilda shook her head to indicate no
such thing had been heard. She placed her fork on her exquisite china place and
picked up her tea cup.
‘What about the rumour that my younger
brother and I are children of a mistress Princess, and not the previous
Empress?’
She nodded.
It was well known that the previous
Emperor and Empress could not bear children, so they adopted the children of
the Emperor’s sickly mistress; also a Princess in her own right. (Zuben: Why
are these women always sickly? If they are not, they are usually mercenary.)
Leandroth heaved a great sigh.
‘Her illness was caused by a disease,’
Matilda tilted her head, trying to
decipher his mumbling.
‘I will tell you about her1,
but it is not like you may be imagining.’ He said darkly,
The words came out as though they were
forced through him. The way he said “Her”, it was disdainful and bitter; what a
strange way to refer to his mother.
‘Also, the former emperor is not
resting from illness in the Rikyu Palace.’
‘Not ill?’
Leandroth’s words were becoming too
puzzling.
‘No, there is no sickly emperor, no
concubines either. The former emperor, who everyone called the Mercenary
Emperor and the woman he loves the most, are now travelling the world as a comedian.’
‘Eh?’
Although he was only joking, the way
Matilda’s eyes rounded at the words seemed to amuse him greatly. (Zuben: What?
He was only joking? Here I was thinking that was a good way to retire one’s
self.)
‘Our mother is deceased now; only the
previous Emperor remains alive.’ Leandroth said coldly. He looked distant and a
cold aura blanketed him. (Zuben: Me no understandie)
Matilda's breath hitched at the coldness of his expression..
‘For the Emperor, the Empress let him
have a harem because she could not have children. She was in agony, not being
loved or favoured by the Emperor. But she distracted herself from her pain, by
raising us.’
His distant gaze, started to waver
slightly.
‘The former Empress was a good mother
to us. I loved her very much.’
Leandroth was very still.
‘I think that Mother-in-Law loved you
and Bartholomew.’ She said quietly.
‘Why do you think so?’ Leandroth’s
voice trembled. Matilda pretended not to notice and put her cup back on the
saucer. She spun the cup as she tried to find the words. She looked right at
him and smiled,
‘Because, Leann is an easy person to
love.’
Leandroth was someone who didn’t put
on a façade. He was true to himself and those he had dealings with. That first
night was admittedly bad behaviour, but he had been kind after. Of course there
were things she did not agree with, but overall he was a good person.
Leandroth stared back at her, his cheekbones
dyed lightly vermillion. He turned away and said,
‘Thank you, Mattie.’ The sentiment
touched Matilda deeply.
‘So,’ he continued, ‘my grandfather,
the empress’ father, Marquis Bermud currently serves as the Prime Minister. He
is just and fair. He was a fantastic knight and swordsman. Balto and I look up
to him,’
‘Yes, I know,’
‘It’s funny how things have turned out
since my birth Mother died.’
Matilda looked at Leann.
‘The reason I do not mind even thought
of as a puppet Emperor is that whoever is ruling, the people don’t actually
care as long as there is peace, abundant food, taxes are not high and they are
able to pay. It is the same either way.’
Leann laughed mirthlessly.
‘It has been this way since the reign
of the previous emperor. Since it wasn’t troublesome, I did not say anything.
It makes life easier.’
‘Because it is easier…’ Matilda said
drumming her fingers on the table.
‘Does that bother you?’
‘If it is too troublesome to do it,
you don’t bother?’
‘I don’t want to tire myself, if I
can.’
‘If you don’t want to get tired,
shouldn't you improve efficiency?’
‘How do you think I should go about
improving efficiency?’
‘Considering the whole thing, you will
suffer at first, but it should become easier with time.’
Leandroth laughed, ‘I guess I'm going
to have to work a bit harder. You really are good...’
‘Eh?’
‘How would you overcome the possible
conflict with the Prime Minister?’ Matilda asked
‘I don’t think the Prime Minister
would be a problem, but there are those idiots who have been undermining the Prime
Minister and misusing their authority. Get rid of those, return pertinent
governing affairs to the Emperor’s Office and we go from there.’
‘That’s…’ Matilda was going to say
more but she held back. Leandroth laughed.
‘Of course, it would not be easy, but
it is worth the trouble in the long run. I will have to work harder.’ He said
with a wry smile, and continued laughingly, ‘So it is Mattie’s job to kick my
behind into gear.’
‘So, is this why you chose me?’ she
asked.
‘No.’ He said, ‘Because you are a lady
of age, you accepted my marriage proposal. Even though it will be troublesome,
I want to try hard for my people. So I can stand tall beside the Prime Minister
Princess. In short, you are the saviour of Barenshiaga.’
Matilda shrugged her shoulders; she
could not take his words seriously. However, but he was able to guess her
thoughts,
‘I am not interested in ruling. I
would rather give it all to my brother. But I made a promise with him…’
‘A promise?’ Matilda asked. Leandroth
looked at Matilda’s inquisitive expression and laughed mischievously.
‘Being the Emperor is troublesome, but
if we marry the one you love, we will do our best as royalty.’ (Zuben:
Sometimes these writers make zero sense what so ever. If someone makes better
sense of this part in the raws; let me know)
‘What?’
‘Using our power, we will not
compromise on who we marry. We will work hard for the government and the
people. My brother runs the military and I am a politician.’
Matilda’s mouth dropped. She would like
to use these silly brothers as an example to those to run themselves ragged
over succession.
‘Troublesome…’
‘Eh~ Why are you reacting to that? If
you want to react, I want you to respond to “I love you the most.”’
He really had no shame.
‘Who do you love the most?’
‘You.’ The reply was as expected.
‘And the other Princesses?’
‘What about them?’
‘There was an old woman amongst
them…?’
‘Ah~’
‘And that overly friendly one?’
‘Are you jealous?’ He asked smiling a
smile she found totally obnoxious. Matilda turned her head away from him.
She gave a long suffering sigh and
said, ‘I have been told by everyone that they are beautiful, lively and
wonderful women. Rather than being jealous, I just want to know where I stand
in your eyes.’
‘The one I love the most.’ He said
without hesitation over her.
She looked up, surprised. Leandroth
gave her a heart fluttering smile, his laughing eyes were gentle,
‘You are
attractive to me,’
Her heart thumped at his words and she
blushed. Why does this person say such embarrassing words so easily; one after
another like a babbling creek?
Matilda sealed her lips. Then, she closed her eyes and raised
her chin proudly,
‘Please apologise,’ she said as she
opened her eyes.
‘Huh?’
‘Please apologise for the first
night.’
Matilda’s face was flushed red, but
she kept her gaze steady. Leandroth looked at Matilda’s serious expression.
‘You know how intimidating coming here
was,’2
‘Yes,’
‘So please apologise for touching my
body when I was unconscious.’
Leandroth remained silent. (Zuben:
Why, bruv? Oh yeah, I think I remember him saying he wasn't going to apologise
for diddling her senseless, but I can’t be bothered to check.)
‘Now that I am sure that you love me,
I would not mind if such a thing happens again, but things were different then,
so I want a proper apology from you…for you.’
‘For me?’ Leandroth asked sweetly. But
Matilda was not tempted to back down.
‘Yes, I want an apology; I am not
asking for much, I just want to forgive the “you” then.’
‘Mattie…’
‘I don’t want to have any left-over
ill feelings between us. If you will apologise, I will also apologise for
trying to take my own life with poison.’
She had no choice but to compromise.
She wanted her parents’ affection like a child, but she had become invisible to
them. She decided to die without thinking of Leandroth’s feelings, because she
thought that it was an arbitrary political marriage.
Death…was not a path she should have
chosen so easily. (Zuben: Wow! Really?)
His big hand caressed her cheek as he
said, ‘Mattie, I am sorry.’ He apologised like a child.
Yet somehow her heart ached. She
looked up and her husband looked like a big golden dog that had just been
scolded by his master. She stood up
without thinking and hugged his head to her chest.
‘I forgive you and I am sorry too. If
you truly want me, then I…’ Matilda did not finish her sentence. (Zuben: Can’t
imagine what she’d like to say *wiggles eyebrows*)
‘I'm sorry; I will be depending on you
from now on.’
She shook her head to tell him it was
okay. Because her father desired, she lived. Now Leandroth wanted her, will she
live? A cold shiver ran down her spine at her morbid thoughts.
‘Oh my! Boob jiggles~’ an easy going
voice said from between her arms. She looked down at Leandroth who had buried
his face in her cleavage and was now kneading with one hand and caressing her
buttocks with the other.
‘I am quite happy to be dependent on
you,’ he said cheekily. Although they were separated by layers of clothes,
Leandroth found her nipple easily and began to tease her. Pleasant sensations crawled
through her.
‘Ah, it’s a pity it’s not night, would
you be angry if I take you here?’
She looked down at him with her head
tilted to one side,
‘That’s sudden-Ahn~’ Her reply was cut
short because Leandroth pinched her nipple and her legs nearly turned to jelly.
How was he able to tell where her nipples were through her clothes. (Zuben:
Look at your boobies, honey. You might find you have “nerps”)
‘Did you not think it strange?’
‘Hmm?’
Words from Zuben:
For your life affirming needs, get
sex!
Her suffering was so great that she
needed to poison herself! It was simply ‘Wah! Daddy doesn't love me. Wah! I'm
horny but hubby don’t care! Wah! I'm a jealous type! Death becomes me!’
So many “I'm sorrys” man! What a drag.
Still, it’s a good thing she got an
apology though. That first night was just weird as fuck.
[1] This was really “that person” in
the translation, but I dislike that phrase. So I chose to say “her” instead.
You can still convey bitterness and anger.
[2] That line really is not what was
said, but the original made no sense so I changed it.
This chapter is heavily revised! If
y’all were reading ahead with Google translate or know Japanese more than I do;
my knowledge = 0, you will note that I have embellished and redesigned. I have
changed the story to match what I imagine is going on and how I feel it should
read like based on the mangled translation I got from three translating software.
It may not be fantastic. But I think its aight!
And there is no hanky-panky for the
next few chapters after this one. Colour me disappointed. And they are harder
to edit ‘cos three translating programs can’t do complicated. Le sigh.
Princesses are always sickly because ancient eastern standards of beauty require things like pure white skin, which requires spending all their lives inside sheltered from the sun and not performing any serious physical labour. Combine that with superior standards of cleanliness compared to the west, which unfortunately means the immune system doesn't get as much training as it needs and a variety of other aspects and you have a recipe for frailty and poor health.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally; that is why eastern medicine focuses heavily on nourishing and strengthening the body of a sick person so that they can fight off the disease on their own, rather than attacking the disease like western medicine. The reason for this is because the standards of beauty literally required high-class eastern people, especially women, to live in what we now know to be extremely unhealthy conditions.
Thus the majority of illnesses faced by the upper classes were normal things that a healthy, well trained body could easily fight off on its own and were best dealt with by nourishing the sick person rather than straining their already poor health further with antibiotics.
That's why upper class women in Chinese, Japanese and Korean literature are always frail and sickly; because historically they usually were.
Thank you I had not thought much about this . But by observation through reading and watching dramas I can agree .The royal men seem some what healthier because they train with the military.
DeleteAnother arrow in the quiver of why royalty is always sickly is the ridiculous amount of inbreeding that went on between royals.
DeleteTL.. are you even reading the work? Everything is written down, why just one read and you understand why she feels the way she does. Also when she poisoned herself, she was depressed, has low confidence and suicidal all combinations would justify taking her own life in her head. I know maybe you haven't truly felt what it feels to have all that mental illness and think that way but wanting to kill yourself is scary and only when you are truly in her place, can you understand/justify why, how and what makes you behave and think that way, however irrational. I know because I suffer from that and to get away from thinking that way I run from reality, people and situations that make me fall further down that rabbit hole. ultimately i got anxiety disorder...
ReplyDeleteOw te compreendo,mas eu uso como armadura meio que um ódio direcionado para as coisas deprimentes.....e sou bem mais instável que o comum ksksks
Deletei like this zubin dude !! lmao his comments are better then the story itself
ReplyDeleteOkay so I have issues with the apparently many other princesses he has. So he has a harem. She came to a foreign country and instead of talking to her he went playin with his other lovers while she was sad and misplaced. And like he says he loves her but is still keeping his princess mistress harem. Am I right I mean I don’t find him appealing at all this entire time. I only read it for her because his character is terrible. I still find the first night weird despite a forced apology. And he’s lazy as a ruler. So he wants someone to rule in his stead whom he can also have sexual relations with. Blah. Me no like him.
ReplyDelete