The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 127

The dress was pure white and dazzling.

Even though many party dresses are white, this one was clearly a wedding dress, no matter how you looked at it.

Just look at the abundant lace and the top-quality pearls embedded throughout. Even a random dog on the street would bark, “Wedding dress!”

“Really? Hmm, I thought it would look good with Nuna’s hair color. Don’t you like it?”

I suddenly realized that Yuri called me ‘Nuna’ but didn’t use honorifics.

‘He used to say it was good to use honorifics when he was young…’

“Florin Nuna?”

Yuri suddenly approached me, noticing my startled expression, and stared intently.

Instead of answering immediately, I glanced back and forth between the dress and the faces of the attendants standing nearby.

‘They look scared.’

I had lived surrounded by countless attendants in Arkhalik [a fictional kingdom]. That’s why I could easily read the emotions the attendants were trying so hard to hide.

‘Fear.’

Could it be that Yuri would punish me if I refused this here?

Quickly assessing the situation, I calmly chose my words.

“I do like it. But I don’t want to change something I’ve already decided on.”

“Oh, then I’m a step late. I really wanted to see Nuna wearing that; it’s a shame.”

“What did you prepare for your outfit?”

“Ah, my outfit?”

Yuri gestured to the servant behind him. Looking closely, it was the same servant who had come to pick me up at the Driblian mansion during the day.

“Of course, I matched it similarly to Nuna’s dress. We’ll be entering the Debutante [a formal coming-out party for young women] together… It would be nice to dress in a way that suits each other.”

‘I wonder if that’s all there is to your intentions.’

‘Isn’t it to make it look like I chose you?’

Or maybe it was an expression of intent to take me straight to the wedding hall as is.

There were many things I wanted to ask, but I swallowed the questions.

‘You really resemble the Emperor, our Yuri…’

He’s definitely smiling sweetly like a gentle spring breeze, but it’s quite a talent to look so dangerous.

It’s not that he’d harm me, but it feels like he could harm everyone else but me.

‘He looks like sunshine, but the most terrifying thing is when he’s not a sunshine character but a dark, obsessive male lead [a common trope in romance novels].’

I pretended to examine the dress closely and organized my thoughts.

If I were just Florin, I would have been swayed this way and that, and my life itself would have become a hard, miserable story, but fortunately, I was Florin, the ‘Princess of Arkhalik.’

If anything happened to me, my father would come charging in with the entire army of Arkhalik, so I wasn’t afraid of Yuri.

“I want to give Nuna everything. I’ve really worked hard for that all this time, you know?”

“You must have gone through a lot.”

The dress was so voluminous that I couldn’t see Yuri’s face beyond the torso very well.

What kind of expression are you making right now?

“Yeah. Nuna doesn’t have to do anything for herself anymore. You can if you want, but you can just stay still, and I’ll do everything for you.”

“Do everything, huh…”

I recalled the conversation I had with Dante a while ago.

“As you saw today, I’m good at dealing with kids. I’ll take care of the child. You can do whatever you want.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll stand firm in the family and support you for the rest of your life… Just choose me, Florin.”

Dante and Yuri said similar things.

But the meanings of the two were as different as heaven and earth.

‘Dante respects my will. He’s saying he’ll support and cheer me on if I want to do something. And he’ll make sure I don’t have to worry about anything else.’

In short, Dante is offering to be a supportive partner. But Yuri… meant he would cover my eyes and block my ears.

In short, Yuri wants a passive version of me.

“Even if I don’t need it?”

Yuri paused at my quiet question.

Then Yuri continued in a gentle tone.

“I became a good Crown Prince to give Nuna everything she wants. Because I need power.”

“…”

“The reason I studied hard, the reason I took over the Emperor’s work early, the reason I took care of and solved troublesome problems is all the same. The more stable the country is, the more time I have to spend with you.”

Ah, the honorific changed. Is he upset?

There was no sign of displeasure on his face or in his attitude, but I somehow thought Yuri was angry right now.

“But if my help, the things I do, aren’t needed…”

The end of his trailing words was chilling.

It was as if winter had come to this place where I stood, and I smelled something like sleet falling somewhere. It might be my imagination.

“I became a Crown Prince loved by the people, just like you said, me.”

“…Yeah.”

“Don’t you think I deserve praise?”

Ah, was Ariadne like this too?

Is that why she accepted the Emperor? Because she judged that was the only way to suppress the shark’s ferocity.

Yuri, who had approached me, gently held my hand with the most pitiful and pathetic look in the world.

As if he couldn’t live without me, as if I held his lifeline, he rubbed his cheek against the back of my hand and acted cute, looking utterly harmless.

He didn’t seem to have any sharp teeth to hurt anyone.

“Yuri. I want to go on a date while walking down the street.”

That’s why these words suddenly popped out. I wanted to see how Yuri would react.

“Are you asking me out on a date right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, I’m so happy…!”

Yuri took his cheek away from my hand and smiled brightly.

The shadow had completely disappeared from his face, and he looked so soft and cute that I wondered if the chill I had just felt was just my imagination.

“But instead of the street, can’t we go somewhere else? I’ll prepare it. Because it’s our first date.”

But that couldn’t be.

I pretended to joke and acted.

“You just don’t like the street? Where the commoners go.”

“They make too much noise when they see me. I prefer a place where I can be alone with Nuna. Ah! But if Nuna feels uncomfortable, how about the opera house?”

A space monopolized by the nobility. Of course, as royalty, he might not want to mix with commoners. I wasn’t criticizing that at all.

However…

I didn’t want to have a child with that kind of man. That was all.

* * *

‘Yuri has an extreme tendency to control.’

That evening, I said I wanted to enjoy a bath as soon as I finished dinner.

Actually, the reason I specifically said bath was because I wanted to be alone. Otherwise, Yuri would have stayed by my side until I fell asleep.

‘The tendency to control is fitting for the position of Crown Prince. But… as a husband, it’s terrible.’

It was 100% sincere when he said I didn’t have to do anything and that he would do everything for me.

Yuri personally led me to the large bathroom with an open-air bath and ordered that no one be allowed near except for the five maids who would attend to me.

I was so embarrassed that he was making such a fuss over just taking a bath.

Besides, why did I need five maids?

Let’s say the first one washes my hair, the second one soaps my body, and the third one checks the water temperature… Let’s assume the fourth maid organizes things.

Then what does the last one do?

Does she perform tricks in front of me?

“How is the bathwater temperature?”

“Is it too hot or too cold?”

“Please tell me if you need anything.”

The maids attending to me were all young ladies from viscount families and were around my age.

I was very burdened by their eagerness to treat me even better, but this was also an opportunity.

An opportunity to learn about Yuri’s side that I didn’t know.

“The temperature is fine. But girls.”

“Yes, Lady Florin.”

“What about His Highness the Crown Prince? Is he usually a kind person?”

The chattering maids suddenly shut their mouths.

All five of them were too young to handle difficult questions skillfully.

“Y-Yes! He’s very kind.”

“But actually, we don’t serve His Highness the Crown Prince up close, so we don’t know very well.”

“That’s right. Originally, we belonged to the Crown Princess’s palace.”

“It’s an honor to serve Lady Florin like this!”

After a moment of silence, the maids treated me as if I were the Crown Princess right now.

‘I’m not. I don’t intend to be.’

I wondered if Raheen would have enjoyed being treated with such excessive special treatment, but I didn’t.

“I see. It seems like everyone in the Imperial Palace thinks highly of His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Of course! He’s very handsome and knowledgeable.”

When I brought it up, the maids looked at each other and began to praise Yuri with all their might.

“I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince has a genius-like talent in politics and diplomacy.”

“And he loves Lady Florin very much.”

“You’ll be happy when you get married.”

“He dresses well, his voice is clear and beautiful, and what about his eye smile?”

I wasn’t swayed by the words coming from the maids’ mouths and watched their reactions.

The twitching corners of their eyes when they spoke, the habit of touching their lips, the gazes that were twisting their hair and looking away, etc. The signs that they were lying, hiding the truth, or vaguely glossing over it were clearly revealed.