The Perfect Bride - Chapter 20

dorothea12-16 minutes 06.05.2023

“Please grant me the honour of serving a beautiful lady.”

The angel-faced prince held out his hand. His voice was polite and his gestures gentle.

But the eyes that looked at her, Natalie thought, seemed to say, “I know your sin, and how dare you not take this hand.

Staring down at the large hand, Natalie turned her head to look at her mother.

The Baroness, clutching her daughter’s arm as if it were a lifeline, had a very confused look on her face.

Perhaps her expression is similar to hers now.

Natalie patted the back of her mother’s hand weakly and slowly pulled away. She couldn’t afford to look any worse in front of her frail mother.

“Mother, I’m not feeling well, I’d like to go back first, please allow me.”

“But how will you manage to go back alone without a chaperone?”

Dorothy happened to be in the middle of a conversation with a gentleman. The Baroness could not return to the hotel as she was.

The prince gestured to Catherine, who had taken a step back. Catherine smiled gracefully and took a step forward.

“There are plenty of kind ladies in Grand Batten to look after a young lady who is not well.”

With that, she half-turned to introduce a middle-aged woman.

“Mrs Bate.”

The woman called Mrs Bate bowed lightly towards the Baroness and Natalie.

“…I do not know how to thank you for this kindness.”

The Baroness, whose gratitude had been left in the air, whispered to Natalie, unsure of what to say.

“My dear, are you sure this is okay?”

Natalie thought to herself. Maybe, no.

“…Please tell Dorothy.”

With that, she turned away from her mother and locked eyes with the old Earl of Humperwood. He was staring at her the way he would at a cheating wife.

She was hetitant, but the filthy look was enough to urge her to enter the coffin that Prince Ian had left open.

‘I’d rather have hands that would kill me with a single blow than perverted hands.’

The last thing she needed was to be labelled a pervert for writing a few erotic novels in her youth.

Natalie whirled round as if she were sick of it, and took the prince’s hand in her own. She didn’t dare to look him in the eye.

Instead, she watched as their fingertips touched.

She has a casual belief that with a nickname like ‘Angel,’ he must be generous and kind. Surely he wouldn’t actually try to kill me, right?

Therefore, when she took the prince’s hand, she did not see him bare his teeth and give a cruel laugh. If she had seen it, she might have regretted, thinking that she had ended up with a perverted hand.

As if waiting for the right moment, he wrapped his fingertips around Natalie’s hand and began to lead her away.

Walking out of the ballroom with the prince’s hand in hers must have felt a little like walking through a crowd naked.

***

Thud.

In the swaying carriage, Ian glared at Natalie, who sat across from him. He’d seen her a few times before, but never this close.

‘I thought I was done with you after helping with the trial. I never thought I’d see you again.’

It was dark inside the carriage, lit only by the lanterns outside, and though he couldn’t make out her expression, he could tell she was frightened. Her breathing was unsteady and her eyes were fixed on the floor.

It wasn’t an unusual reaction. Usually, in Ian’s presence, three things can happen: mesmerised, groveling with all sorts of whimpers, or terrified as hell and unable to breathe.

‘Strangely conspicuous.’

Although she was occasionally amusing, her presence was not particularly remarkable. In fact, he had completely forgotten about her until he coincidentally ran into Roger Heaton at the White Tail Club.

So why were they staring at each other.

The baron’s lady who never fails to surprise him, has heard a secret she shouldn’t have.

He had hoped that if he were to follow the bright red buttocks running away, he might expect to see something entertaining.

And she did not disappoint, giving him another dramatic scene.

The Old Earl of Humperwood, a distinguished critic and a man with secret rumours of having a perverted temper. Many people suspected him to be David. Eager to escape, she was caught by the very pervert and whisked away.

With a sense of vague anticipation, he followed behind her, but it wasn’t fun, and his mood soured quickly.

Humperwood searched the garden to find Natalie, who was hiding in Charlotte’s garden. As he saw her quietly quarreling, he could roughly paint a picture of what was happening.

The unpleasantness of being under the same sky as a lesser man. It was a feeling the sensitive prince often felt.

This time, his hatred for Humperwood moved him. He pretended to be an escort and did something noticeable for that reason.

Ian’s eyes sparkled like a curious boy who had met an unknown creature, while Natalie was simply terrified.

‘Now what should I do with this.’

Ian spoke slowly, trying to be nice for now.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Natalie jumped up and down in her seat at the sudden question.

Ian’s brow narrowed slightly at her frenzied reaction.

“…I don’t think I did.”

He muttered, a hint of regret in his voice.

“Thank you for your assistance, Your Highness.”

“You are welcome.”

Natalie suddenly realised she hadn’t even introduced herself to the ‘presumably kind’ prince.

“Oh, I’m….”

“Yes, Miss Natalie Dowse.”

‘…How does he know me. Does it have anything to do with this unexpected invitation? Have I been invited to be one of his eccentric bride candidates?’

When she thought about it, it made sense that the prince knew her face and name….

However, the prince’s plan feel like a national-scale scam. her face twisted with frustration without restraint.

The prince smiled sweetly, as if to tell her to relax, but it had little effect on Natalie, who was already panicking.

“You walked very fast.”

Not really trying to be sincere, the prince got straight to the point.

“Would you mind telling me how far you heard in the garden?”

“…I have no idea what you’re talking about….”

“Haha, I would be hard to waste your time.”

The chilling laughter on his angelic face altogether looks sounsettling. Natalie instinctively sensed the danger and looked up reflexively.

“…….”

The face was still fair, to be sure, but it felt like a different person than before. No, now that she could see him properly.

His eyes were piercingly cold in the faint light, unable to find their true colour, and it wasn’t an illusion that his gaze felt somehow cold when he held out his hand to her.

“Judging by your reaction, you must have heard everything.”

So much for generosity. So much for the kindly prince.

“Regrettably.”

Now she realise that it was only the tone and the words that were kind.

He’s so self-assured, so regal. He was as arrogant as anyone she’d ever seen in her life.

‘Tch. You don’t seem like a nice person. Someone said you were an angel.’

Natalie hastily bowed her head and lowered her eyes. She should have expected this was going to happen when Mrs Bate, the temporary chaperone who was supposed to take her to the hotel, didn’t get into the carriage.

“Miss Dowse, the offence of eavesdropping is a heavy one, and there are many ways of keeping quiet. What is the easiest way?”

“I, really….”

“You’re a writer, use your imagination.”

The prince went on and on about David. He knew too much about her. Her insecurities were more pronounced than before.

“By the way, my aide and the princess are more frightening than me, just so you know.”

“I, I have nothing….”

“You’re lucky you were caught by me.”

The words ‘luck’ coming out of the man’s mouth didn’t seem fitting, as he was currently helping her to update her ranking for the worst day of her life. Today had already been one of the worst the moment the Earl of Humperwood had recognised her.

“Miss Dowse, I am a merciful man and I will give you a choice.”

“A choice?”

Natalie lifted her gaze in surprise.

“Yes. Two options.”

Their eyes met again, and the prince smiled in a way that seemed almost affectionate.

“There’s being removed the moment you step out of the carriage, and then there’s marrying me.”

“…There’s what?”

Natalie asked, blushing involuntarily.

“What can I do when you’ve overheard everything.”

The prince did not point out her disloyalty. Instead, he said in an affectionate voice that he couldn’t help himself since she had overheard all his secrets.

“Personally, I recommend you stay married to me for a year and then become a divorcee. I’m sure you’ve heard me say it before, but my dream is to be a divorced man.”

The prince adds with a smirk.

“…Please don’t kill me.”

Spare me, Natalie cried, and the prince looked pitiful.

“Of course I want to spare you, too.”

A hint of hope flashed in Natalie’s eyes.

But the prince had no intention of fulfilling her expectations.

“But now that you’ve heard everything, can anything be done?”

He sighed softly, as if he really had no choice.

“But I really…”

“I don’t want to make any unnecessary sacrifices. Your resume alone makes you an excellent bride. It’s also efficient since there’s no need to explain the plan twice.”

There’s nothing she can do when she overheard it. Natalie even felt a little unfair.

“The more I think about it, the more I can’t think of a better woman to be my bride. What do you think?”

The story of the damsel in distress who is bullied by her stepmother into marrying a prince is a fantasy.

In the real world, no noble damsel can marry a prince.

Maybe someday the ranks would blur, but for the next half century at least, it seemed like a wall that would stand.

So those words could not be a sweet confession.

It’s an invitation to roll in the mud together.

Natalie shook her head as pitifully as she could. But it was no use in the face of the imposing prince.

“You must not have met any man like me, either.”

She must have made a mistake…. He spoke as if the subject of divorce was a great honour.

“You can do a lot in a year as my wife.”

At that moment a sliver of moonlight, hidden by clouds, leaked through the car window and half-lit the prince’s face. The prince’s

The moment he said that, the moonlight from the clouds leaked through the car window and half-lit his face. The prince’s blue eyes sparkled transparently.

“For example.”

Natalie could feel the words coming out of his mouth.

“Rebuilding you and your family’s reputation after it was destroyed by your crime of writing pornographic novels.”

There it was. Natalie held her breath as if something had stabbed her.

“Once a reputation is tarnished, it’s difficult to restore it.”

But the prince didn’t stop.

“If you become my wife, you could help open up your little sister’s tightly-blocked wedding path, thanks to you.”

Natalie let out an involuntary gasp. The image of Dorothy’s crying face, screaming at her, filled her mind for a moment.

If she could, she would go back in time and live her life again. She’s thought about it hundreds of times, wondering what would have happened if she had acted differently.

But the fairy grandmother didn’t exist, so time just passed by.

The prince was talking about a miracle that only a fairy grandmother could perform.

“Nothing will change if you do nothing. But you…”

Bianca’s voice was like a curse.

“You seem to want to improve even a little.”

Perhaps because she had been crouching down for three years, doing absolutely nothing. She couldn’t even do anything at this moment.

“I think we can help each other, Miss Dowse.”

She had first met him when she was at her most embarrassed and pitiful.

hi. since i'm currently working on ⟨a lot⟩ of projects, updates are now slower. but i'll change them once i've translated a lot of chapters on that novel.