Episode 17
Feeling like she was about to choke, Yerin swallowed the sweet cake.
And Doyul’s behavior continued.
“Here, have one more.”
“T-Thank you?”
He kept urging her to eat more cake.
“Just eating cake makes my throat dry. You should have some tea too.”
Like a patient with a fatal disease if the tea in the cup runs out, he would occasionally fill it up with more tea.
Unable to feed Yerin something, she became increasingly frustrated.
“Since earlier, you’ve been acting like a father taking care of his child, haven’t you?”
Every time something went into Yerin’s mouth, her eyes sparkled.
Of course, Yerin wanted to meet those expectations as much as possible, but…
“I’m too full!”
Her stomach had already reached its limit.
In the end, Yerin raised the white flag.
“Lord?”
“Yes.”
“We just ate not too long ago.”
Yerin sighed and looked at Doyul.
“I… can’t eat this much.”
“…Ah.”
At her careful words, Doyul’s expression became as if he had been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.
A moment later.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Doyul apologized with a sullen face.
And Yerin, looking at him, slightly opened her lips.
“A puppy scolded by its owner…”
…Well, I guess it’s still a bit rude to think of someone becoming the princess of the Northern Ice Palace as a puppy?
Yerin quickly raised her hand.
“No! I wasn’t trying to apologize!”
Trying to fix the situation hastily, Doyul’s shoulders were still slumped.
Ah, this isn’t working.
Let’s change the subject for now!
With that in mind, Yerin quickly opened her mouth.
“But, more importantly! Why did you suddenly bring out the cake?”
“Well, that’s…”
Doyul hesitated to speak.
And so, Yerin heard about Doyul’s situation, going back about six hours ago.
“I just can’t concentrate.”
After bringing Yerin to her quarters.
While Doyul’s body was sitting in the study, his thoughts were solely focused on Yerin.
“After traveling such a long way, what if her appetite isn’t good?”
From Sacheon Castle to the Northern Ice Palace, it was a long journey.
During that time, Yerin had never once complained about the food.
And that bothered Doyul.
“…She doesn’t eat much in the first place.”
In fact, at that time, Yerin was playing the role of a “weak and pitiful girl.”
Anyway, in Doyul’s eyes, who didn’t know the situation, Yerin just looked pitiful.
“What kind of food would Gamo like?”
He unconsciously asked the guard.
“Well, don’t young girls like sweet things?”
That was the answer he received.
Doyul faithfully followed that answer, and as a result…
“…That’s how it happened.”
Doyul finished speaking and cautiously looked at Yerin.
Yerin blinked her eyes blankly.
Ah, so to summarize Doyul’s words.
“He was worried that I had no appetite and went around asking for advice, and brought out the cake?”
Thinking that, her heart felt a little heavy.
Meanwhile, Doyul was watching Yerin’s reaction like a puppy that had made a mistake.
“If you’re uncomfortable…”
“How could I be uncomfortable?”
What a jerk, but he’s also cute.
Filled with gratitude, Yerin smiled widely.
“You’re thinking of me, that’s why.”
“Still…”
“The cake was really delicious. I just couldn’t eat more because I was so full.”
As she said that with force, Doyul’s expression finally softened a bit.
While they were chatting away, Yerin covered her mouth and let out a small yawn.
“Yawn.”
Her stomach was full, and her body was warm, making her feel sleepy.
Then, Doyul suddenly asked her, as if struck by inspiration.
“Are you tired?”
Upon hearing the question, her eyelids felt heavy as if they were weighed down.
Yerin silently complained to herself.
“Ah, this is why having a young body is so uncomfortable.”
It seemed that her young body easily accumulated fatigue.
Moreover, as bedtime approached, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by sleep.
“Yes, a little.”
Nodding quietly, Doyul immediately called for the attendants.
“The princess will retire to her chambers. Prepare for her.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The attendants bowed their heads.
With the help of the attendants, Yerin lightly washed up and changed into her nightgown.
Finally, as she nestled into the warm blanket, Yerin dozed off.
“Have sweet dreams.”
Just before Yerin fell asleep, a tender goodnight greeting reached her ears.
She murmured softly.
“…Your Highness Doyul.”
At that, Yerin ended up losing to Suma.
The sound of soft sobs echoed.
Doyul, who had been silently observing, extinguished the lamp.
Soft darkness descended.
* * *
At that moment.
Jisukmyung was facing her niece, who was swept in a whirlwind of tears.
“So, if you were to summarize your actions.”
Tap, tap, tap.
The fingers tapping on the armrest suddenly stopped.
At the same time, Jisukmyung stared at her niece with sharp, piercing eyes.
“It seems like you ended up suffering instead of the mistress because of your actions, is that right?”
“Au-aunt.”
“Am I understanding this correctly?”
“…Th-that’s…”
Sadly, there wasn’t a single incorrect word in her aunt’s statement.
Gaeun bit her lip until it bled and bowed her head deeply.
Jisukmyung’s voice sharply cut through the air.
“Just what’s going on in your head, anyway?”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you were just pressing the mistress’s buttons, you should have done it properly!”
Frustrated, Jisukmyung raised her voice once again.
“What are you going to do after suffering in her place?”
“Sob…”
Gaeun struggled to hold back her bursting sobs.
Her hunched shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
Sigh.
Jisukmyung, after letting out a long sigh, touched her forehead with her hand.
She shook her head slightly.
“Today, just go back.”
“But, Aunt.”
Gaeun looked up at Jisukmyung with teary eyes.
“What if the princess… starts to hate me?”
Jisukmyung, who had been staring at her niece with disapproval, spoke with a sigh in her voice.
“Just this once, she won’t completely reject you.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah. The princess isn’t that cruel, even when she seems like it.”
At that, Gaeun’s face paled.
But that color didn’t last long.
It was because of the one word Jisukmyung added.
“Still, from now on, it’s better to be more cautious.”
“W-what do you mean…?”
“For the time being, don’t come to the palace.”
Gaeun looked shocked, as if struck by lightning.
“Aunt!”
“At least show some restraint, so the princess’s heart can soften, okay?”
With that, Jisukmyung concluded the conversation with an irritated gesture.
“If you understood, you should leave now.”
“B-but…”
“Hurry up!”
After Jisukmyung expressed her annoyance, Gaeun left the room with a trembling body.
“Dang Yerin.”
The rolling stone that disrupted the marriage between the prime minister and the Northern Ice Palace.
If it weren’t for that girl, they could have expanded the prime minister’s influence through the marriage with the princess…
Jisukmyung glared at the empty space with a frown.
“…Although she was almost a discarded lady in the Tang family, I still underestimated her.”
That girl from the Tang family.
Wasn’t she subtly irritating, like a thorn under the fingernail?
“Honestly, Gaeun’s approach wasn’t bad.”
Her pretext was to assist the Northern Ice Palace’s staff in gaining knowledge about the palace and the Northern Sea Castle.
As a middleman who didn’t know much about the Northern Sea Castle, she had an advantage over Yerin.
It was a strategy that killed two birds with one stone.
But still, Jisukmyung easily suppressed Gaeun like that.
“She even studied in advance to gain the princess’s favor… How cute.”
Jisukmyung’s pupils sank coldly.
“I should be more careful from now on.”
* * *
After that, the days passed leisurely.
“Ah, it’s boring.”
Yerin, who had finished breakfast, sat on her bed and tapped her feet.
“I wish they would give me something to do.”
To be honest, she hadn’t been this bored from the beginning.
On the day after arriving at the Northern Ice Palace, Yerin was tense when she woke up.
“I have to get along well with the palace staff no matter what!”
That was her mindset at the time.
However…
“May I see the lady-in-waiting?”
“Is there anything you need?”
After the public incident with Gaeun, hardly anyone impolitely begged her for anything.
The Northern Ice Palace staff were somewhat blunt, but they treated Yerin with respect.
Considering that Yerin was the daughter of a disgraced official from Sacheondang, it was a very gracious treatment.
Thus, a day passed, and then two.
Yerin gradually began to adapt to the relaxed lifestyle.
“Come to think of it, when was the last time I had such a leisurely time?”
