An Author and Protagonist Got a Happy Ending [Transmigration] - Chapter 24

Wear the wedding dress?

Won’t I be wearing it on the wedding day anyway?

Xiao Muyu swallowed those words. Although she couldn’t understand why the Princess suddenly made such an odd request, she wasn’t in a position to openly refuse. After all, putting it on for her to take a look wouldn’t hurt.

Xiao Muyu nodded and walked toward the bed. However, as she picked up a corner of the garment, she hesitated. When she had tried the dress on earlier, the maids had helped her; she was completely bewildered by such complex clothing. Trying to figure out where to start turned her brain into a pile of mush.

Killing monsters was easier than getting dressed.

Seeing Xiao Muyu’s predicament, the Princess walked up slowly and took the clothes from her hands. “I’ll help you.”

Xiao Muyu reflexively said “Thank you,” then immediately covered her mouth, feeling it was a strange thing to say in this context. It made it feel like she was trying on clothes in a department store—though department stores had long since ceased to exist in the apocalypse.

The Princess didn’t pay much mind to her occasional eccentricities and lowered her head to help Xiao Muyu change. Despite her noble status, her nature was cold and she disliked having people close to her; unless a task was exceptionally cumbersome, she preferred to do things herself. Even dressing someone else, she seemed quite practiced.

Xiao Muyu felt a bit uneasy at first. As the clothes were swapped, a bit of a chill touched her neck and shoulders. She rubbed her neck, only for another layer of clothing to be draped over her. When she shifted her gaze, she happened to see the focused expression of the person in front of her.

She looked so serious. If you didn’t look at what her hands were doing, you’d think she was processing official documents. This actually made Xiao Muyu feel… embarrassed.

It was an awkward way to put it, but Xiao Muyu’s eyes followed her uncontrollably. A high Princess of a nation, the future Empress, was personally helping her change. And it wasn’t out of spite or for fun; she was doing this small task with earnestness and gravity.

What had a mere “mascot” like her done to deserve this?

“You…” Xiao Muyu spoke without thinking.

“I what?” The Princess looked up at her.

“You’re acting as if you really like me.”

By the time Xiao Muyu realized what she was doing, the words had already escaped her lips.

Silence filled the room. The Princess’s fingers paused. Xiao Muyu held her breath and closed her eyes. “Don’t hit my face.”

The expected pain didn’t come. Xiao Muyu peeked with one eye.

The Princess was continuing her task. In the occasional glances she threw Xiao Muyu’s way, there was no sign of annoyance. It was as if she had just heard someone say, “Look, there’s a leaf under that tree”—just an ordinary, trivial observation.

“You’re not angry?” Xiao Muyu asked cautiously, unable to keep her mouth shut.

“I never expected you to say valuable things at every moment,” the Princess said flatly.

She’s definitely insulting me. Definitely.

Xiao Muyu shut her mouth tight to prevent any more ill-timed remarks from popping out. As for the previous sentence… they both tacitly skipped over it.

“Like”? They both should have known in their hearts that such a simple emotion didn’t exist between them. At least, it shouldn’t have.

They finished the change in silence. Even though the atmosphere was slightly delicate because of the interruption, when the Princess finally saw Xiao Muyu in full red, a flash of astonishment still crossed her eyes.

People occasionally called her a “vixen” in private; while the name wasn’t pleasant, one had to admit it was an apt description. With a face so beautiful it was bewitching and flawless fair skin, the bold red was the most visually stimulating, vibrant portrait imaginable.

Beautiful. Stunning. There were no more suitable adjectives.

The Princess froze in place, lost in a daze. Xiao Muyu, oblivious, looked down at the details of the dress. Previously she had only checked the size; now she had the leisure to look at the complex designs. The fabric was luxurious, the cut was dignified and grand, and the small details showed the craftsmanship of a master. It was exquisite.

Even from her own perspective, it was a gorgeous dress—the kind that would have girls flocking to it before the apocalypse. Pity that ten years of survival had long since eroded her sense of normal aesthetics. Aside from its hollow beauty, Xiao Muyu’s first thought was that the dress was too cumbersome.

Running away in this would be very inconvenient.

Wait… why was she thinking about running away when she was getting married here? This wasn’t the apocalypse anymore, where she could be surrounded at any moment. Xiao Muyu pushed the unbidden thought back down.

“Is this okay?” Xiao Muyu spread her sleeves toward the person who said she wanted to see. Fearing she couldn’t see clearly, she even turned around twice.

The Princess said nothing, staring at her fixedly for a long while. Suddenly, she took two steps back, turned, and walked out the door.

Xiao Muyu: “…”

One minute you want to see it, the next you turn and leave. What is your problem? But well, she was the Princess; she had the right to be willful. Xiao Muyu sighed, thinking she should just take the dress off. It was pretty, but quite heavy.

As she looked down, she suddenly realized another problem—how was she supposed to take this off?

The Princess hurried out. On the way, the maids saw her rushing with a fierce aura and dared not look up. That is, until she ran straight into Pei Qiuyue.

They both stopped at the corner. Pei Qiuyue looked at the Princess and exclaimed in surprise, “A-Xue, why is your face so red?”

The Princess instinctively touched her face, only to find the heat was indeed high. She feigned composure. “It’s nothing. Just hot.”

Pei Qiuyue’s expression seemed to ask: ‘Do I look like an idiot who is that easy to fool?’ The Princess had a naturally low body temperature, not to mention the Xuefu Kingdom was permanently frozen. Even if the climate in the palace was better, there were few times it was truly “hot.” If the words “shy” or “blushing” weren’t so incompatible with the Princess, Pei Qiuyue’s first thought would have been that someone had flirted with her.

The Princess changed the subject: “What are you doing here?”

“I’m bringing things to the Saintess. I showed her a catalog a few days ago and she said she liked these. I happened to be coming to see her, so I brought them along.” Pei Qiuyue gestured to the items in her hand. “A-Xue, if you’re busy, you can go first. I’ll deliver these to her.”

The Princess stepped aside to let her pass. But out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly recalled the current state of the person in that room. She reached out and blocked Pei Qiuyue. “Wait. Give them to… no, send them tomorrow instead.”

Pei Qiuyue asked, puzzled, “Why?”

The Princess made up an excuse: “It’s late. She’s already asleep.”

Pei Qiuyue hesitated, really wanting to say she wasn’t stupid and there was no need to lie to her. But she held back. She gracefully stopped her pace and pushed the items toward the Princess.

“In that case, please deliver them when you have time, Princess.”

Pei Qiuyue departed with a meaningful smile, leaving the Princess standing there dazed, holding a pile of items. She didn’t leave immediately, but turned to look at that island-like small courtyard. Even through the walls and wooden door, she could imagine Xiao Muyu likely sprawled ungracefully on the bed or floor.

The girl was always more relaxed when she was alone. The Princess touched the side of her face, as if she could still feel a trace of warmth.

Xiao Muyu’s bright, smiling face appeared before her again.

I was supposed to be the person who likes you most in this world.

That’s what she had said, hadn’t she?

Tomorrow is the wedding.

“Tomorrow you’re getting married.”

Hearing these words, Xiao Muyu felt no sense of reality at all. She looked down at her book and gave a muffled “Mm” while biting into a pastry.

The book was a “treasure” she had discovered recently. Not a catalog of clothes or jewelry, but an illustrated storybook recording folk legends of the Xuefu Kingdom. Even though Xiao Muyu was the author of this world, she couldn’t account for every detail; many of these small stories were new to her. Most importantly, it was a good way to learn the script.

Yes, after arriving, Xiao Muyu realized she was basically a semi-illiterate. The ancient script had some shadows of the characters from her other world, and she could guess the meaning through context, but there were hurdles in written communication. Since finding something to do, Xiao Muyu had become increasingly obsessed. If no one disturbed her, she could sit in the same spot with her book all day.

It wasn’t until Pei Qiuyue said it for the fifth time and reminded her: “Tomorrow night you’ll be moving into the Princess’s main hall. Is there anything you need to send over in advance?”

Only then did Xiao Muyu freeze and ask, “Why?”

“…” Pei Qiuyue fell silent for a moment, forced to repeat herself. “Tomorrow is the wedding. After marriage, the Saintess naturally moves into the Princess’s quarters.”

Xiao Muyu was clearly reluctant. “Is it not possible to just leave things as they are?”

Pei Qiuyue began to get a headache. She even wondered if no one had ever taught the Saintess what “marriage” meant. Then again, the Temple was a secluded place full of old fogeys; they probably never imagined a day when they’d marry her off.

“Saintess,” Pei Qiuyue weighed her words. “Do you know what ‘marriage’ means? It means becoming husband and wife, living together from now on—”

“I know,” Xiao Muyu looked at her with surprise. “But is it necessary?”

Pei Qiuyue didn’t understand. “What do you mean by that?”

“We don’t have feelings for each other. There’s no need for the formal living arrangements, is there?” Xiao Muyu asked as if it were common sense. “Are you sure that me moving in won’t just disturb the Princess and make her feel troubled?”

“But the Princess is so—” good to you…

Pei Qiuyue couldn’t finish the sentence. The Princess hadn’t brought it up, and she had just made the assumption. Even in political marriages, couples didn’t live apart after the wedding.

But Xiao Muyu’s words weren’t without logic.

Pei Qiuyue looked at the indifferent Xiao Muyu, and her heart suddenly felt heavy. She had thought the Saintess didn’t understand these things, but in reality, the girl was fully aware.

—Aware that she was just a substitute.

Perhaps it was precisely because she realized this that she was unwilling to move in.

Pei Qiuyue looked at Xiao Muyu with a look so intense it made the latter’s skin crawl. Xiao Muyu’s fingers froze, and she wanted to lift her book to block the other’s gaze. She didn’t yet realize that the emotion overflowing from the eyes of this master-level overthinker was called “pity.”