TTMLPTWW ~ Chapter 52

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When I barely woke up from fainting due to the explosion.

I had to eat tasteless rice porridge again.

“I was really… worried. It’s fortunate that the fallen sign luckily veered to the side…”

Dahlia looked at the bandage wrapped around my hand with gloomy eyes.

I could feel her sincerity in worrying about me, which warmed my heart.

“Yeah, I was lucky. Sorry for making you worry.”

I thought of Masera, who had shielded Eugene and me.

I didn’t know where he suddenly came from…

Anyway, ever since that day when he inflicted a serious wound on my heart, I, being human, was incredibly sulky. Even though I knew that the longer the cold war lasted, the worse it would be.

‘Still, if he was willing to throw himself to save me, it couldn’t have been words spoken out of hatred. He must also have a wounded and sensitive side, and what can I do if he’s just an ill-tempered cheese cat who’s clumsy with his expressions…’

I asked Dahlia, who was helping me with my bath, a few questions.

I only asked what kind of treatment people with war trauma usually received, but her complexion darkened rapidly, just like Masera’s had.

“With the consent of their families, they are admitted to mental wards, restrained, and given tranquilizers.”

“…Why?”

I knew that social perception wasn’t good, but I was surprised that it was to this extent.

“It’s to prevent self-harm or suicide. Especially for veterans, who receive pensions until they die…”

Dahlia couldn’t bring herself to continue.

To confine someone in a mental ward for life for fear of losing their pension. I, too, was shocked and lost for words.

I felt like I finally understood why Masera had reacted so sensitively.

In his eyes, I must have looked like the same kind of person. To him, I was a Princess who had lived without knowing anything about war and without any worries.

‘I was too hasty. I thought there would at least be prescriptions or psychological therapy.’

Anyway, I need to talk to Masera and reconcile. We need to work together.

I asked Dahlia, who was changing my bandages and clothes.

“Dahlia, is Brigadier General in the residence?”

“He went out earlier, but he’ll be back soon.”

I put on a thick quilted coat to greet him and went outside, where I spotted an officer in a Federal Army uniform.

It was Brigadier General Steve, Major Rodriguez’s direct superior.

I didn’t want to acknowledge him since he wasn’t on good terms with Masera.

“Oh, isn’t that the Princess.”

But he greeted me first.

I put on my social smile and looked at Brigadier General Steve.

“Yes, hello.”

He looked at my bandaged hand and wore a pitiful expression.

“I heard you were injured in the factory explosion the other day. Are you alright?”

“As you can see, I’m healthy.”

“So it seems.”

Then why did you ask? I grumbled inwardly and was about to end the conversation and leave.

But the persistent Brigadier General Steve kept talking to me.

“There’s been talk recently that Brigadier General Vicente and the Princess aren’t on good terms.”

Who could have spread such a rumor? There are many people in the residence, so it must have leaked out through idle chatter.

“We had a bit of a lovers’ quarrel. That’s how newlyweds are, you know.”

I only told half the truth.

He scrutinized my smiling face and got to the point.

“Is it because investors are withdrawing in large numbers, delaying the development work? It seems they think the investor withdrew because of the Princess. To blame his wife for that, how awful.”

He arbitrarily made up a story about discord.

‘If a major investor pulls out, it’s natural for other investors to follow suit! It’s all because of you!’

That man must have invested a large sum from the beginning with that intention.

He cheerfully added.

“Actually, it’s because of the rumor that it’s a barren wasteland with nothing, let alone resources.”

That’s you, isn’t it? You spread that rumor, didn’t you? You chatterbox.

But if I get upset first, I lose. I curved my eyes into a gentle smile and said.

“Mining and resources are such speculative investments that it’s hard to invest unless you have the heart of a beast. If you don’t have the leeway, it’s right to make stable investments.”

I used the roundabout way of speaking I learned in Medea very effectively.

I roughly treated him like someone who lacked courage and money.

Brigadier General Steve didn’t back down and smiled leisurely.

“If it’s stopped like this, the losses will increase over time. The Princess has the Duchess as her sister, doesn’t she? You can’t just let your husband struggle alone, so ask the Duke’s family to invest.”

Does that mean, ‘Anyway, it’s all your fault, so what are you doing?’ That man seems to have a knack for aristocratic speech as well.

‘I heard that man has been interacting with the Duke frequently recently.’

It seems that the Duke and Brigadier General Steve have joined hands.

Could it be that the Duke is using Brigadier General Steve to create problems, hoping that Masera will ask him for help?

Lost in thought, I narrowed my eyes at someone in the distance, then widened them again.

It was Masera in an unbelievably romantic version, holding flowers in one hand and a cake in the other.

‘Who did he buy those for?’

Masera, with a stiff expression, stared straight at Brigadier General Steve and me as he approached. And he nonchalantly handed me a lovely bouquet of baby’s breath tied with a ribbon.

He bought it for me? Is this the world turning upside down?

Startled, I widened my eyes and accepted the flowers.

Brigadier General Steve, who seemed to want our relationship to be at its worst, also looked slightly surprised.

“Haha, my valiant comrade has become a romantic.”

Even at Brigadier General Steve’s mockery, Masera didn’t change his expression, like an iron man who had been tempered by countless taunts.

“It’s been a while since the war ended.”

He said casually and held out his remaining hand to me.

“I remembered that my wife liked cherries, so I bought a cherry cake on the way.”

“Wow, my husband is the best for remembering even the smallest things!”

I wanted to portray the sweet appearance of a newlywed couple, conscious of Brigadier General Steve. It was a slight variable that Masera couldn’t manage his expression.

I intertwined my fingers with Masera’s and raised them proudly, saying.

“Now that the war is over, Brigadier General Steve should also meet someone he loves soon!”

Seeing the cracks starting to form in Brigadier General Steve’s smile, it seemed like I had won.

We left the loser behind and headed for the glass greenhouse.

As soon as we arrived, Masera, who had been holding my hand, abruptly let go and asked in a stiff tone.

“Do you usually smile so readily at anyone?”

“Yes. Smiling brings good fortune, and it doesn’t cost anything. What’s the problem?”

So I answered stiffly as well.

Wasn’t he trying to reconcile by buying a gift? Why is he picking a fight again?

Masera put down the cake box, grabbed his own bangs, turned his head, and sighed as if the ground was sinking.

“…Do as you please. It’s your heart.”

“What did you buy this for? A get-well gift?”

When I questioned the meaning of the bouquet, he lowered his eyes, shifted his gaze back and forth, sat heavily on a chair, and loosened his tie.

“No, just. It’s nothing special.”

“Nothing special means you give bouquets to just anyone? Unlike smiling, it costs money, doesn’t it?”

At my barbed words, he covered his eyes with one hand and shook his head.

“I’ve never been inside a flower shop before.”

Imagining him awkwardly picking out flowers made me laugh for some reason.

I sat facing him, propped my chin on my hand, and smiled brightly.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally opened his mouth.

“I.”

“Yes?”

Masera squeezed his eyes shut, opened them, and continued in a polite manner.

“I was wrong.”

“What were you wrong about?”

“That day, I judged your words of concern for Eugene negatively, and I spoke carelessly about you. Thank you for worrying about Eugene and thinking of him.”

He was going to apologize anyway, but he had to be difficult. How cute.

“Actually, I didn’t do well either. I didn’t know what treatment meant to people suffering from war trauma. They keep them locked up in mental wards for life, right?”

I held out my hand to him.

“Just as there are sensitive parts for you, I also touched your sensitive parts. I’m sorry for speaking without being careful either. So let’s reconcile now and get along well.”

He looked at my hand like a wary cat, reluctantly took it, and immediately let go.

“I only apologized because it was something I should apologize for, living and being a harmonious couple with you is…”

“Wow, this cherry cake looks delicious!”

I was opening the cake and didn’t hear his tsundere-like words.

* * *

Duke Rukanosa’s residence.

Helene invited upper-class ladies to a banquet. There were also people from the press and the financial world mixed in.

“Duchess. I heard that the royal family’s legacy is buried in the land owned by the youngest Princess, is that true?”

Someone who was interested in the wasteland development project asked, and Helene smiled.

In fact, this banquet was held to spread public opinion as she wanted.

“I’ll have to ask my sister in detail… but after hearing the stories of those who went on the exploration, I’m a little worried.”

‘I’m sorry to my father, who wants that land to be valuable, but I’m a member of the Duke’s family now.’

The Duke wanted to see Masera and Cynthia ask him for help and submit.

Helene also wanted that picture, of course.

It was necessary to make the war orphan and the maid pretending to be a fake Princess understand their place and make the hierarchy clear.

Helene wiped her mouth with a napkin and thought.

‘The article will be out by tomorrow. That what’s buried in that land is just a vain delusion.’

Helene was convinced that the royal land she inherited, ‘Diem,’ was real.

It was because of a phrase she accidentally found in her mother’s belongings when she was young.

「The legacy of the Bariesa Dynasty can only be found by the bloodline of the Snow Queen. The glory of the golden day will return to the true heir.」

‘Diem’ meant day, and the bloodline of the Snow Queen was herself, not Cynthia.