The Villain’S Daughter-In-Law Is Inherently Powerful [EN]: Chapter 113

Chapter 9. Three Husband Candidates and Debutante Preparations

“Princess, Princess. You’re going to meet your future husbands soon.”

“Which one will you choose?”

“Do we have to choose just one?”

The sunlight feels warm on my cheeks, and the greenery is so lush these days.

Arcalik maintains a consistent temperature year-round, so the transition from winter to spring isn’t drastic, but the wind feels a bit warmer.

“The rule is to choose only one.”

“Aww.”

A few years ago, after arriving in Arcalik from the ground, I became friends with the daughters of prestigious families here.

They were initially wary of me, but now they’re quite comfortable and I can call them friends, even though they still use honorifics while I speak informally.

In any case, just being close to me, the daughter of the king who is revered as a god, seems to be a great shock and joy to them.

“Princess! I, Hwa-iran, have brought exciting news!”

While we were enjoying our tea time, Hwa-iran, wearing a [gat] (traditional Korean conical hat), appeared and greeted us from the doorway.

Hwa-iran spoke cheerfully, but the atmosphere instantly froze.

Arcalik is a country with a strongly enforced class system, so it was a natural reaction.

If we were to visualize it as a pyramid-

It would look like this.

Before I arrived, the owners of each island were at the top of the hierarchy, so it was natural that those in the fourth position couldn’t move ahead of them.

“Oh dear, did I ruin the Princess’s tea party?”

“No, it’s alright. Tell me what news you’ve brought. But I won’t give you tea.”

“Ugh! You’re too much. I brought such interesting information!”

I gestured for everyone to step back and then sat Hwa-iran down in front of me.

“I’ll listen to how interesting the news is first and then decide whether to serve you tea or not.”

“Then I should tell you quickly. Dante Driblane. The Princess’s husband candidate.”

Dante.

At that longed-for name, I flinched and my hands trembled. I knew Hwa-iran would tease me if I showed this reaction, but I couldn’t help it.

“They held a tournament, selecting the best knights from the Magic Empire and the Holy Empire, and he just went ahead and won it.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. He overwhelmingly won, they say.”

Amazing!

Here, I was able to learn a lot about the ground [the world outside Arcalik].

Arcalik had a lot of information about the countries on the ground, and thanks to that, I knew how powerful the Holy Knights of the Holy Empire were.

But Dante beat those Holy Empire knights.

‘Well, Dante could have joined the Paladins too!’

We haven’t met in a long time, but if you asked me who my closest friend was, it was Dante.

You were annoyed, but you wrote letters every week like writing a diary and sent them to Hwa-iran in bundles.

When I read them, I felt like I could grasp Dante’s every day.

Occasionally, when I wrote back, you would send another reply that felt like you were jumping for joy beyond the letter paper. Later, there were so many that I had a separate room just for storing Dante’s letters.

“I’m so curious about how he grew up. I want to meet him soon.”

“He’ll be speechless when he sees you, Princess. I guarantee it.”

“Everyone just tells me I’m pretty, so I feel like I’m some kind of beauty of the century.”

“Oh my, of course, you’re the beauty of the century!”

Seriously.

I hummed, but I didn’t dislike the compliment.

I glanced at the dresser behind Hwa-iran and the full-length mirror next to it.

I, now a complete adult, was there.

The round feeling still remained, but that was because of my face shape, and I wasn’t childish at all.

An adult who doesn’t need anyone’s protection.

I don’t know if I’m a beauty, but I lived a prosperous life and grew up happily, so that affluence flowed through my whole body.

“But it’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“No, I mean, from some point on, the Princess stopped communicating with them on the ground via video.”

“Ah…….”

That wasn’t my intention.

I scratched my cheek.

For a long time, Father often came to Arcalik. When Father came, I could talk to my adoptive mother and many other people on the ground with magic.

Since the magic unfolded as if they were right in front of me, there was nothing awkward.

But at some point, Ian expressed his refusal. Yuri only sent letters, saying let’s meet in person later, and didn’t show his face.

Since the two of them did that, Dante also said, ‘Let’s see each other’s faces in person later.’

I was sad when I was young, but when I think about it, Ian probably said that because he didn’t want to show me covered in blood.

As I got older, I had personal things to do… Also, what if I was changing clothes?

Father’s magic video connection didn’t kindly ask the other party, ‘Is it okay to connect?’ He just connected right away.

Since it showed everything in the room, I expected it would be difficult after puberty.

So, in conclusion, I don’t know how those kids have grown up. All I have left in my memory are their childhood appearances.

“But Princess, how and when will you decide who to make your groom?”

“Hmm… I don’t really know. I guess they’ll tell me when I go down to the ground?”

“Now that you’re an adult, shouldn’t you go on dates and decide?”

“That’s true, but… If I tell Dad I’m going on a date, I’m dead.”

Dad was still restless.

I’m not ten years old, but he’s worried about what will happen when I go down to the ground. If he hears I’m going on a date, he’ll definitely follow me.

‘Dad following me on my first date…….’

I shuddered as I imagined it.

Terrible. I can’t ruin my first date like that!

‘The problem is who to have my first date with.’

According to the stories I’ve heard, Yuri has already been recognized for his competence. He’s smart and ingenious, and he comes up with answers to solve various issues.

Even scholars are shaking their heads [in admiration], so it must be amazing. Dante has become a wonderful knight, as I just heard.

‘There are no rumors about Ian, but…….’

I believe Ian is active in the darkness, not in the light. He became Hwa-iran’s disciple, so.

So, maybe everyone has built up the skills to become the head of the family?

‘Hmm. But you know what? I doubt those kids even like me in a romantic way.’

You could say you liked someone and hold their hand tightly when you were six years old. But the ‘like’ at that time and the ‘like’ now are different in many ways.

You could say you liked everyone back then, but that’s not the case now.

Maybe they won’t be attracted to me romantically when they meet me again.

“You seem to have a lot of worries.”

“Yeah. It’s like that as the time to go down approaches.”

Changes in stagnant relationships bring both excitement and fear.

I don’t know well, but… Maybe many things will change, I had such a premonition.

* * *

“Hey, what’s so good that you’re grinning like that?”

“Leave him alone. I heard the Princess is finally coming.”

Dante’s Princess.

That was a very famous story within the Black Wheel Knights.

Stories about ‘Dante’s Princess,’ whom knights who had served for a long time had personally served, were like fairy tales to newly enlisted knights. It’s like she’s not a real person.

I heard that the person who went to the country above the sky called Arcalik is coming back soon and will become the little mistress [future head of the family]… I haven’t seen her, so I honestly don’t believe it.

Anyway, the advantage of that story is that Dante has been grinning scarily these days.

He smiles while training, smiles while teaching new knights, anyway, he smiles and even lowered the training intensity by three levels.

With that alone, the knights were filled with a desire to praise the Princess.

“But wasn’t that Princess supposed to choose the person who will become the next head of the family?”

“Yeah.”

“What if… Dante doesn’t get chosen?”

“We’re all going to die.”

Dante was now the vice-commander of the Black Wheel Knights.

Knight Commander Salones was now old and it was difficult to go on expeditions to far places, so Dante was taking on that role.

Overwhelming physique and strength compared to his peers, unattainable speed and dynamic visual acuity, etc.

Dante Driblane was truly a monster, and those who had to be trained by such Dante were dying.

Dante usually distinguished between public and private matters and didn’t bring personal feelings into training, but…….