I Became a Barbarian's Bride - Chapter 60
“Since our first meeting wasn’t the best, it’s understandable if you don’t have good feelings about it right away, but I hope that someday, you’ll come to like Xieman more than Roshan,” Kagan said, nodding his head.
“Then get ready and come down to the first floor, Princess. There’s a lot to show you, even though everyone’s busy preparing for the festival.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be there soon.”
“I’ll get ready and wait for you downstairs.”
Kagan lightly tapped her shoulder before turning away.
Nisha watched him walk away before retracing her steps back to her room.
‘Xieman is definitely better than Roshan.’
There was no need to share that thought with him, though.
‘Still… if it’s because of the prophecy, even if I’m no longer useful as a hostage, they won’t kill me.’
At least she had gained a small glimmer of hope—hope that her life wouldn’t be cut short so easily.
‘Hope, huh.’
Or maybe it was despair.
She had hidden her abilities in Roshan to avoid being subjected to horrific experiments.
The moment her powers were revealed, the Emperor, the Empress, and even her unwilling siblings wouldn’t have left her alone.
They might have forced her to use her abilities non-stop, and once they figured out how she recharged, they could have killed her repeatedly to suit their needs.
‘Of course, I can’t fully trust anyone here either…’
If she were still in Roshan, even walking around on her own two feet like this would have been impossible.
She didn’t consider her life to be unhappy.
She thought it was just bad luck that she was born to the wrong parents and that her misfortunes had simply piled up.
However, when she realized she couldn’t even seek death, that was when true despair set in.
Others longed for immortality, but she couldn’t understand why it had been given to her.
Ironically, she hid her abilities in Roshan because she wanted to live, and she revealed them in Xieman for the same reason.
Even to herself, the contradiction was striking.
She changed clothes on her own with practiced ease.
The clothes in Xieman were light and comfortable, without corsets, making it easy for her to dress by herself.
‘I wonder how Mary, Rad, and Mash are doing.’
With all the preparations for the banquet, she hadn’t had the time to check on them.
She thought she’d have nothing to do, but she found herself busier than expected, getting her measurements taken, choosing dress designs, and inspecting accessories as she was dragged around.
Cough-.
She quickly covered her mouth as another cough erupted and hastily poured herself some water.
Even so, the coughing wouldn’t stop, so she had to take the medicine prescribed by the local physician.
‘They drew so much blood for the tests… I hope there’s nothing wrong.’
After sipping a few more gulps of warm water, she left the room.
When she reached the first floor, there stood a man with his hair now turned black.
The usual silver hair was already captivating, but now, with its darker hue, he seemed even more imposing. Perhaps it was the new color that gave him a cooler, sharper impression, as if touching him might cut you.
She watched as he surveyed the surroundings with an expressionless face, looking like an entirely different person. Just as she hesitated, Kagan noticed her, smiled softly, and approached.
“You’re hard to miss, no matter what you wear, Princess.”
“Is it because my skin is too light…?”
“No, that’s part of it, but it’s also because you have a gentle demeanor. And you’re quite a rare beauty.”
A rare beauty?
Nisha furrowed her brow slightly without realizing it. To her, everyone in the imperial palace seemed far more beautiful than she was.
They all had bodies that flaunted their figures proudly, with everything in the right place—ample where it mattered and slender where it didn’t.
Compared to them, she…
Nisha quietly lowered her gaze, looking at herself briefly before forcing a smile and raising her head again.
They say comparisons only lead to misery, and it was true in her case.
It wasn’t that she felt particularly bad, just that she didn’t quite understand his words.
“In Xieman, we don’t use carriages much, so we’ll have to ride horses. Will that be okay, Princess?”
“Are you giving me one too?”
“I don’t mind, but… are you sure you’re okay with it?”
Kagan asked, sounding slightly doubtful. When Nisha nodded, his brow furrowed a bit.
“The horses in Xieman are rather large…”
