Weeping Men: The Innocent Princess's Secret Delight - Chapter 2.9
“Y-yes!”
“Those people who requested an audience before.”
The aide, who managed dozens of audience requests, didn’t understand immediately.
“You know, the ones who came asking for a refund of the compensation they paid for their incompetence, and I personally punished—”
“Ah! I understand!”
However, with the following description, he could immediately identify who they were. The aide quickly cut off the words to avoid hearing the description of the ‘punishment’ his superior had inflicted on them.
“Can you bring them?”
But he didn’t expect to be called for such an order. The aide blinked and asked back.
“For what reason…?”
“Hmm.”
Froyzen’s eyes curved like an arch. Despite smiling, it was eerie.
“To reclaim what’s mine.”
Between the curved eyes, black pupils swirled with murky possessiveness.
***
Judith also showed her face at the political affairs meeting.
Like an ornament, she occupied the seat next to the Emperor, not offering a single opinion until the end of the meeting before leaving.
Just her smiling presence raised the room temperature by 2 degrees, making her an excellent heating totem.
‘Display item, reporting for duty.’
No one knew that beneath her smiling face, she was describing her attendance in such terms.
The Emperor’s intention was obvious. Those important enough to attend the political affairs meeting where the empire’s major and minor issues were discussed might have to be given the position of imperial son-in-law in case of emergency. He was making them leave an impression from the start.
‘It’s reasonable.’
Judith had never been dissatisfied with the Emperor’s intentions. Rather, she tended to view them positively.
‘This way, I can hear the imperial annual plans without going through troublesome methods.’
Opportunities to clearly foresee the empire’s affairs are rare. The sooner the information, the better.
For this reason, today too, Judith was sitting next to the Emperor, fulfilling her role as a flower in a vase, refreshing the air in the conference room.
But she was sleepy. She didn’t know how many times she had closed and opened her eyes, pretending to smile.
‘Today’s agenda is nothing but boring.’
It was all things that didn’t matter. She was thinking about going back and teasing Kaizen when…
“I propose to advance the hunting tournament.”
A topic that perked up her ears came up on the conference table.
Judith looked at the person who raised the agenda. It was Kaizen’s brother, Froyzen, who looked exactly like him but always wore a gentle smile, giving off a completely different atmosphere.
Even when Judith looked at him, he continued speaking without giving her a glance.
“As our territory has expanded to the north, hasn’t the check from neighboring kingdoms intensified? If we hold a hunting tournament now to show Your Majesty’s vigor, it will surely be an effective diplomatic move.”
It was a valid reason. The attendees started to glance at Judith.
The hunting tournament was an event hosted by the imperial family. All members of the imperial family were required to participate in the hunt.
However, women were an exception to this rule. The Empress and Princess could appoint a knight under their command or a relative as a proxy.
Everyone assumed Judith wouldn’t participate directly. How could a princess who tears up at the mere news of animals suffering from natural disasters like forest fires or floods personally take up weapons and go hunting?
So this was the perfect opportunity. A chance to secure the vacant position of Judith’s fiancé.
After all, it was customary for an unmarried princess to appoint her fiancé as her proxy.
“…Ahem.”
The Emperor was obviously displeased. He was suddenly put in a situation where he had to decide on the princess’s marriage partner immediately.
But he couldn’t reject Froyzen’s request for such a reason. It was clear which was more important between foreign invasion and marriage arrangements.
“I will consider it.”
It was essentially an affirmative answer. Some people looked at Judith with unnecessary hope, but Froyzen never cast a glance at her until the end.
He seemed uninterested in being a potential son-in-law candidate, but that made it even more certain. From the beginning, he had raised the hunting tournament agenda aiming for the selection of a son-in-law.
‘Since the daddy card doesn’t work, now it’s the emperor card?’
It felt like a challenge. And Judith had never avoided a challenge thrown at her.
“How about a site inspection for the tournament in a week?”
She offered her opinion for the first time. The Emperor’s eyes widened.
His gaze conveyed the rebuke, ‘How can we find a son-in-law in a week!’ but she ignored it.
Of course, Judith had never accepted a fight without confidence in winning.
A week passed.
In the hunting ground where, due to winter, the game was limited to snow foxes and snow weasels, more people gathered than animals.
Everyone was dressed in hunting attire to match the imperial event’s appearance, but everyone’s real purpose was elsewhere.
‘Who will come out as Her Highness the Princess’s proxy?’
Some were there for gossip, while others were there to quickly seize new business opportunities. If a powerful family were to join the imperial family, it would cause many changes in the empire’s economic flow.
But as they stood in the open field on a winter day, staring at the desolate landscape for a long time just to satisfy one curiosity, it became increasingly boring. People started to guess who would appear as the princess’s proxy.
“Will it be the young Duke Pentmian after all?”
“Would he so obviously swallow the bait he set himself? It would be a disgrace to the ducal family.”
“But there’s no one more suitable. They’ve been a martial family for generations, and I heard his marksmanship is excellent.”
“If we’re talking about suitability, the second son is better than the first. He’s the closest of the close as her guard knight, and if we want to show strength abroad, he’s the main figure of the northern conquest…”
“Huh. How ignorant. The whole empire knows the second son is the black sheep of the ducal family. Would the Emperor give a chance to a son who’s lost favor?”
“There are rumors that the princess is head over heels for him.”
Two brothers over one woman. And a scandal between the imperial family and the ducal family at that.
Once a conversation starts with this, who could stop? It was that stimulating.
Gradually, the crowd split into two factions and started to argue.
“It will be the first son!”
“It will be the second son!”
Small betting pools even opened up here and there. People began to anticipate more and more which of the two brothers would appear.
Finally, the imperial family members appeared. The first to come was the Emperor, who, despite his middle age, maintained an unyielding spirit with his straight back.
Next was the Crown Prince, who had the same pink hair and jade-green eyes as the princess, and even a similar lovable atmosphere with his constant smile. Both were dressed in imperial hunting attire.
‘Not these obvious ones!’
People were waiting for the next person to appear. Who would show up dressed in hunting attire?
‘Could it really be Kaizen?!’
‘Of course, it must be Froyzen!’
And then, the person who appeared behind the Crown Prince was—.
Pink hair tied up high.
“I’m so excited!”
It was the Princess, Judith.
