Don't Concern Yourself With That Book
Chapter Side Story 1-6

Side Story 1-6

Translator: yun

After returning home, instead of looking for Cjezarnian, Ira remained in her estate. That was until the fretful Cjezarnian summoned her to the palace. Until that point, she had been eating and resting well.

“Did you have fun partaking in the festivities?”

Sulking, Ira stared back at Cjezarnian.

“Are you asking if I had a good trip?”

Ira replied sourly. Cjezarnian quickly nodded.

“Ah. I don’t know why but carriage trips to and fro the empire were so long and exhausting–my head couldn’t stop hurting and the nights were cold–it perpetually felt like I was catching a cold.”

“Yeah!”

“And my back still hurts from the ride.”

Cjezarnian nodded and sulked with her. Ira had only continued to whine because Cjezarnian was not responding the way she wanted. Seeing him like this, Ira could only sniff inwardly. Suddenly, she let out a deep sigh.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes, Ira!”

“Well, can I speak comfortably?”

Cjezarnian responded with a bright “Of course!” and granted her permission. 

“Look here, Your Highness.”

Ira swiftly crossed her legs. 

“Why didn’t you tell me that Her Majesty, the emperor, had sent you a reply?”

Ira had hardened her expression and, instead of recounting her travels like he wanted her to, she began chastising him.

“Oh, that. I forgot!”

Cjezarnian replied with a bright smile.

“What?”

“And the surprise gift? That should have been the most fun.”

“Fu–un?”

Had she ever seen such an innocent expression on a prince before? Pulling her words, Ira quickly calmed herself down before she almost exploded.

“No, let’s calm down.”

Ira massaged her temple before saying. 

“Look here, your highness. There was one thing I noticed in Kaltanias.”

“Hm?”

“You’ve been exchanging letters with the emperor all this while, haven’t you?”

Being his childhood friend, Ira knew Cjezarnian’s nature well. Hadn’t she been a witness to all his good, bad and ugly sides since they were children?”

“Huh?”

Sure enough, Cjezarnian’s eyes lost focus as he averted his gaze. 

“Of course you did. There’s no way you could get past me! How often did you converse with each other?”

“I-it’s nothing like that! I didn’t send her that many letters. I’m telling you the truth!”

“…..”

“… A-about two times a year?”

“…..”

“… T-three times.”

A Crown Prince who was personally liaising with the emperor of another nation. 

‘If Slorenian hadn’t gone missing, he would have readily become her consort.’

It was an undeniable possibility. 

“Have you forgotten that Kaltanias and Walter had long been enemies?”

“That was back when brother was still the Crown Prince…”

“We even fought a war with them.”

Sneakily avoiding eye contact, Cjezarnian scratched his cheek. 

“But… what else could I do? I like her”

With mixed feelings, Ira stared at her childhood friend. 

‘Is it because I grew up watching him?’

Despite the Walternian Royal Family birthing generations of lustful men, Cjezarnian’s father only accepted one companion. Perhaps that was why his children exhibited similar preferences. 

After the death of the woman he loved, Slorenian had disappeared. And Cjezarnian seemed to be no different. 

‘How can he be so foolish?’

While others might forget their innocent crushes one day and reminisce about them as their first loves, she knew that her childhood friend would not. 

“Ha. Cjezarn. Let me put this simply and casually.”

Raising her head, she called her friend’s nickname. 

“The emperor you like so much is eating, sleeping and generally doing well.”

Cjezarnian’s eyes glistened like jewels. He always had unparalleled looks since he was a child. 

“And she is happy. At least that was what I saw of the emperor.”

“Mhm.”

“By the side of the man she loves.”

“…..”

Cjezarnian did not respond but he did not rid himself of his bright smile. But he had calmed down slightly from before. 

“I’m glad. To hear that she’s happy.”

Ira had subconsciously suppressed her desire to scream, ‘You blind fool!’ at him. It would be foolish of him to continue to protect the position his brother had abandoned. Ira foretold that there might be a possibility that Cjezarnian might never be able to forget the emperor. Like his father and like Slorenian. His heart could not hold more than one person at once. 

“You shall marry me.”

“Mhm… Huh?!”

Cjezarnian who had nodded out of habit then looked up with widened eyes. He seemed to think he must have heard her wrong. 

“You didn’t hear me wrong.”

“I-Ira?”

“This doesn’t mean I love you either. Don’t worry.”

“T-then why?”

Ira pouted her lips. Before smirking menacingly. 

“Because, you will never be able to forget her.”

“…..”

“How are you going to get married in that state?”

Blankly staring back at her, Cjezarnian blinked. 

“Will you be alright with me?”

“What do you think?”

In any case, marriages involving the Royal Family and aristocracy never stemmed from affection. Ira closed her eyes. She could not deny that this preconceived notion that marriage was a duty might have changed after seeing the emperor and her prince consort. 

“There’s something I want to do. I want to own my own estate.”

“Huh? But women can’t become…”

“No, they cannot.”

Ira responded calmly. 

“So, you shall change things.”

“Huh?”

This did not mean Ira did not dream about dating, love or marriage. But marrying Cjezarnian would be better than marrying any other man in Walter. 

“You will be the next king.”

At least he would be a man who listened to her. Rather than love, he would provide her companionship. 

“I am someone who cannot leave the country. As you know, it is impossible for unwed women to travel out of the country without their father’s permission or, if they are wed, their husband’s permission.”

Ira had been born as a daughter of a duke and had lived a comfortable life. At the very least, a life as an adorable filial daughter.

“Honestly, I had given up. I had given up on everything.”

The problem was that she was too intelligent. Nevertheless, whenever she looked over her family estate’s accounts, all she would hear about was how skilled and quick-witted she was. 

From some point, she had given up. Resigned herself. She thought it was something she could never achieve even if she tried. But someone acknowledged her intelligence. 

“But I still want to leave this place and meet whomever I want to. I would like to see Her Majesty, the emperor, again.”

Ira recalled the emperor who, despite her youth, held a gaze that made her seem to have countless years of experience. 

“She had asked me to be friends with her.”

The emperor might have suggested it on a whim. But it had shaken everything Ira had known her whole life. 

“There are many who are unaware of their own value.”

From her bright purple eyes, it was clear that she was referring to her. 

“I don’t know. How I feel about all this. But I want to leave.”

Ira stared back at Cjezarnian. 

“You must know. That I’m someone who must obtain what I desire.”

The reason why she had broken off her engagement with Slorenian was because she did not want to be engaged to him. Even as she blushed at the sight of the handsome men in Kaltanias, she was never greedy. 

But now, she wanted to grab a hold of her own future. 

“I want to live like her.”

Ira’s chest swelled outwards like cotton candy. She might fail but she would never know if she never tried. 

“So, join me, Cjezarn.”

Cjezarnian could only blink his widened his eyes. 

“Are you really alright with me? Ira, I’m only saying this because I’m worried about you.”

“You and I will never be able to love someone else for the rest of our lives. A man who can provide the freedom I need will be a good enough partner for me.”

“Even though there will not be love?”

“Yes. You shall replace that love.”

Ira chuckled.

“Instead of wishing for love for the rest of my life, I shall have your life. And, in turn, mine.”

Cjezarnian shifted his gaze before nodding with a bright smile. 

“Alright. Because you’ve always been intelligent and wise.”

Walter had been a kingdom in the background of a story a certain ‘girl’ had heard of from a novel. The stone thrown by that girl had also changed Walter’s future. 

Later in the future, after Cjezarnian le Walter had ascended the throne, numerous changes were implemented in the kingdom. And by his side, was the Duke of Marigold, the first female duke to have ever existed in the Kingdom of Walter. 

To everyone’s surprise, the Duke of Marigold who had always proactively participated in the nation’s affairs was also the Queen of Walter. 

“You are not any more the queen than you are the duke. You are both a queen and a duke. Do you understand?”

Although they had not gotten together because of love, their relationship could not be any more peaceful. 

“Of course. My queen is always right!”

After the couple had been crowned king and queen, the strangest thing about the royal couple was that the Queen of Walter visited the Empire strangely often. 

The friendship between the two great powers of the west, the Queen of Walter and the Emperor of Kaltanias, was a tale passed down from one generation to the next for a long time.

***

A few years after Ira’s return. 

Ashley, the emperor of Kaltanias, had received a carefully crafted letter. The letter had been sent from the Royal Family to Walter.

“What are you smiling about so gleefully?”

“Ah. I had just been notified about the marriage of a member of the Walternian Royal Family.”

As he watched Ashley grinning from ear to ear, Amor held his chin and tilted his head.

“Whose?”

“The duke and the Crown Prince.”

Ashley chortled as though she had really been delighted to receive this news.

“The duke is someone you know, Amor. The adorable little ducal princess who came to visit a few years prior.”

“Ah.”

“She really did become a duke.”

“Are you happy to hear that?”

“Yes.”

Amor’s gaze as he stared at her sparkled like the stars.

“I am happy with this change. Moreso since it was enacted by man and not the gods.”

The girl, who had lived in a world she believed to be a novel she had read before, had grown to become a woman. 

“There’s no world where everyone can get happy endings but there is one where all my loved ones are happy.”

And the woman was going to live for a long time and perhaps a very long time. How blessed would she be if she were to bear witness to the birth of an even better world in her lifetime? 

Staring at Ashley lovingly, Amor planted his lips on her cheek.

“That’s a relief. Because seeing you like this pleases me too.”

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