Princess Shu

Chapter 2.1 – If Only I Didn’t Love You

As a matter of fact, all sorts of strange phenomenons used to occur in the Ghel Empire a few years before Yeri appeared.  The Empire declared that it would offer sacrifices in order to appease the heavens. Among the common offerings, such as cloth, livestock, and grain, a “noble princess” was included in the list of sacrificial offerings. High society was immediately swept into a frenzy, but the Imperial Family remained firm in their decision.

The requirements for selecting the so-called princess was simple: a young woman whose noble lineage above the rank of baron, and was unmarried.

How on earth would a noble be offered as a human sacrifice? The exact details were not known. However, the Empire was rife with rumors that the offering would be presented alive. The Imperial Family tried to crack down on the talk, but gossip traveled thousands of miles. The rumors traveled even further, as the Ghel Empire also had allies in other kingdoms.

According to Valia’s memory, a volunteer only appeared a few years after the first princess was selected.

To be fair, no parent would want to sell their precious daughter to the temple without knowing the specific details. The same was true even for Valia, who had no parents. Valia, who had been in need for money in the past, wondered if the compensation was generous enough, but Carl flatly refused.

‘And after a while, I was ill.’

Although their fate from now on was star-crossed, Valia was grateful for Carl’s unyielding objection. Even though he must have spent a lot of money raising her, he never uttered a single complaint.

 

Valia tapped her fingers on the dining table. The aged wood was gradually cracking with age. Then, just like that, a thought slowly occurred to her.

‘I’m sure what happened after that…’

The Empire, of course, had scoured the many kingdoms several times over for their princess recruit, but to no avail.

Then, a young lady volunteered. She was a fallen noble, and what she did became a hot topic of conversation even down to the kingdom’s smallest tea parties. What would happen to her, and would she really be offered as a sacrifice? The Empire was filled with insatiable curiosity.

‘And it was some time later.’

To everyone’s astonishment, she became Marquis Garth’s wife. It was unknown why she married the Marquis of the Ghel Empire. No one knew. However, it was said that there was some kind of deal involved.

Whatever the case, the woman went from the daughter to a fallen aristocrat to the wife of the Empire’s highest-ranking noble, putting her at the center of gossip of the noble society for quite some time. Most sneered at her in jealousy and envy. Even the men derided her for getting to live in comfort.

Valia didn’t understand their way of thinking.

That young woman didn’t know what she was signing up for when she volunteered as the princess, neither did she know how much fear and hesitation there would be.  Valia, who once had the same worries, could sympathize in some respects.

Meanwhile, the loudmouths who complained about the woman’s lucky outcome did not truly know what she had been through. Valia heard this talk and gossip herself when she became a servant girl in the palace. The one commonality among the people’s chattering was jealousy.

 

Valia wondered how she would feel if she were that woman at the time. “Would I have been happy as if I had the whole world?” Just like that woman, Valia also was the daughter of a fallen noble and had lived in poverty. Perhaps the woman applied for the mysterious princess position from the desire to be something rather than be nothing in her current condition.

In the end, the woman became the wife of Marquis Garth, the man at the pinnacle of noble society. Her position had rocketed from the dirt up to the sky.

‘Although I was jealous of the fact that she no longer had to worry about money.’

It wasn’t because Valia desired expensive jewelry, delicate lace or fancy dresses. A luxurious life was nice, of course, but she did not yearn for it. She simply wanted the minimum comfort. Could anything compare to the sorrow and desperation when one’s family was between life or death, but one had no money for medical treatment? So rarely did Valia experience that level of misery as she did then.

“But from then on, the Marquis’ wife became miserable herself…”

While the woman’s rise in status was almost myth-like and had rocked the Empire, the scandal was brief.

A mysterious woman appeared. Her behavior, speech, eyes, laughter and atmosphere were unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. She had a new charm that gripped noble society. Many young noblemen adored her, and she even garnered a following among the ladies. She was a saintess from a fairy tale, and her partner eventually came to be Ghel Empire’s First Prince.

There were many twists and turns here, too. The First Prince was the son of the Empress and thus had a strong claim to the throne, but it was not guaranteed to him. The First Prince had a rival—another prince born from a concubine of an influential family. Valia didn’t know the details, but she knew that thanks to Yeri, the First Prince defeated the other prince and was chosen as the heir to the Empire.

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In the end, Yeri became the First Prince’s fiancée. The many men who were in love with Yeri were tearfully forced to admit defeat, but there were others who refused to give up.

Valia was also in a position where she could gain access to the numerous gossip mills of society. And, among the men who would not give up their love for Yeri, the most unexpected name was—

“…Marquis Garth.”

That’s right, it was Marquis Garth.

It was said Marquis Garth loved Yeri. Valia didn’t know if it was true. However, the Marquis’ wife gradually began to take on a haggard look beneath her drooping eyes.