HAPPILY EVER AFTER(1)
Edited by: ShadowDog
The King came to the Queenâs Palace without sending any message in advance. When he appeared, Beth was in the middle of a conversation with a noblewoman that she had invited. The noblewoman couldnât blame person that had suddenly disrupted them and had to rise in the middle of their discussion to leave.
Beth wondered why the King abruptly intruded into her palace. It was hardly possible for the king not to know that the time when she met with the noblewomen was in its own way, an important part of her itinerary as Queen.
âWhat might be the matter, Your Majesty?â
âThis king got stood up.â
Kwiz plopped down on the sofa with a peeved expression on his face.
âSorry?â
âThis king is the only one in the world that can stand someone up. Yesterday, Selena definitely promised to have lunch with me today.â
Kwiz was really looking forward to the lunch appointment with his lovely daughter whom he wouldnât trade for all the treasures in the world. Even when it went past the appointment time, he gratifyingly thought that she was running late because she was a young lady and had to prepare. But even after waiting for a good while, there was no news. He got concerned and sent a servant to check but the servant returned with a hollow answer. Princess Selena had already gone out in the morning, so she wasnât around.
Kwiz was terribly hurt by his daughterâs betrayal. It seems like just yesterday when she was clinging to him and crying âRoyal Fatherâ and he couldnât believe that sheâd already found other things more interesting than her parentâs embrace.
In Xenon, there were two men who showed off their unstoppable love for their daughters. One of them was Bethâs husband and the sovereign of this country, and the other was the Duke of Taran, a man who held power second only to the king.
Beth recalled the ridiculous matter that happened because of the highest authorities in the country. It was called the dollhouse case.
Kwiz custom-made a dollhouse with a cutely decorated bedroom for his daughter. Selena took that dollhouse to the ducal residence and boasted about it to her friend. Evangeline was very envious and waited for her father who was returning home late that day.
Hugo was moved to see his daughter came out to meet him with sleepiness in her eyes.
[Father. I want a dollhouse too.]
When Evangeline rubbed her head in his chest and whined, Hugo felt very regretful that he couldnât put a dollhouse in front of his daughter right now. And the very next day, he found a constructor and began production for the dollhouse immediately.
My daughter should have the best in the world!
A larger, fancier dollhouse with a living room inside a bedroom, became Evangelineâs. Selena, who visited the ducal residence, was shocked to see her friend with a better dollhouse and ran to Kwiz.
[Royal father. Eve has a better dollhouse.]
Who will make the nicer, more fabulous, more expensive dollhouse?
Beth and Lucia watched, completely dumbfounded at the two men who were competing with each other over something immature.
It went past the standard of being a toy and crossed into the territory of artworks. They chiseled a small bathtub out of marble, called a watchmaker to make a miniature clock to hang inside the dollhouse, commission a famous painter for a painting to hang on the wall of the dollhouse, and even got adopted equipment facilities for the small bathtub to receive water.
After almost six months, the dollhouses were completed, and the two men came to a mutual agreement and set up an objective judging panel to judge their work. They got the same score in the first round and chose a date for the second round. Their wives who had just been observing the situation came forward. It was a competition that had nothing to gain even if you won and would only hurt the feelings of whoever lost.
[It looks like we are both troubled by husbands who canât act their age, Duchess.]
[I know what you mean, Your Highness.]
The two women comforted each other and forcefully concluded the fight by agreeing to donate the dollhouse to the showroom in the Outer Palace hall.
In fact, while the fathers were busy fighting over the dollhouse, their two daughters had already lost interest and were focused on other ways to entertain themselves.
The amazing competition that drew the attention of many people, fizzled out in the end without a winner. The two huge dollhouses, made in the form of a three-story estate mansion, became a specialty for foreign envoys to see at least once.
After the dollhouse incident, it became a trend for people to look at their youngest daughter and go, âour daughter is the cutest.â
âSheâs at an age where she forgets promises she makes easily, even firm ones.â (Beth)
âShe went to the Dukeâs residence again, right?â (Kwiz)
âThereâs no other place that Selena goes to.â
âIt is troubling for the princess to form the habit of going out continuously from a young age. Why do you allow it, Queen?â
âItâs the Dukeâs residence, I see no issue there.â
âStill, when you consider it, an esteemed young lady should be the one entering the palace. How can the princess be going out to meet an esteemed young lady?â[1]
Beth chuckled. Her husband wasnât the type of person to be strict or nitpicky over such formality. He was grasping at straws.
âThey are children. Itâs not a matter that requires the pride of adults.â
âThereâs also the issue of safety.â
âTo be quite frank, the Dukeâs residence would be safer than the palace.â
Kwiz couldnât say anything to that. The guards around the Duke of Taranâs residence reminded him of an impenetrable fortress. Kwiz always wondered how heavily guarded the security was at the ducal residence. So last summer, he lightly made a bet with the Duke.
[Gong. This king is going to try to go through the guards at your residence. Will you take up this kingâs challenge?]
[I never avoid a challenge.]
Kwiz also made a second bet with his adjutant. Naturally, he bet that he would succeed, and the adjutant had no choice but to bet on the remaining option.
The way the wager worked was: if the mansionâs intruders brought back a specific mark in the mansionâs garden, it was Kwizâs win, and if the infiltration failed, it was Hugoâs win. The result was terrible. Kwiz was soundly defeated. Two out of three attempts, they couldnât even get past the wall before being discovered, let alone acquiring the mark.
In exchange for the bet, Kwiz had to meet the Dukeâs demand for another title and once again, he could not use a word chosen by his adjutant. So far, his bets with his adjutant have all been consecutive defeats.
The adjutant was overwhelmed with pride because Kwizâs conduct had become more refined since he became king.
There were no doubts about the safety of the ducal residence, and so, Kwiz didnât need to worry about Selena. Kwiz couldnât think of anything else to nitpick on, so he sullenly shut his mouth.
Translatorâs Corner:
[1] [Gongnyeo] vs [Gongju]: Gongnyeo is used to refer to a young woman with high status, Gongju is the formal title for princesses, i.e of royal family. Gongju Katherine = Princess Katherine. In a way, Gongnyeo can also mean princess but it isnât a title. I didnât want to use princess(because it overlaps) so I translated gongnyeo to esteemed young lady.