The Crown Princess Scandal

Ignoring Hwajin entirely, Hwaan stood up and was about to leave when their father, who had been listening quietly all along, raised his hand.

「Wait.」

At the sudden command, both Hwaan and Hwayeong turned to look at their father.

To their surprise, he had a rare serious expression on his face and slowly nodded his head. He then spoke leisurely to Hwajin.

「The Crown Princess, you say... That’s actually not a bad idea.」

「Father?」

Everyone except their father and Hwajin shouted in shock and stared at him.

But their father, completely unfazed, continued in his usual calm manner.

「I’m saying it’s not a bad idea. It would be a great honor for our family to produce a Crown Princess, wouldn’t it?」

At their father’s unexpected reaction, Hwamyeong, the eldest brother, who had a perfectly normal way of thinking, shook his head in disbelief.

「Father, this is ridiculous.」

「Why? I don’t think it’s that absurd of an idea for a daughter from the Baek family, the most prestigious family in Hwacheon, to become a Crown Princess. Hwajin might be a bit scatterbrained, but no one can deny she’s beautiful.」

With that, the entire family’s gaze shifted back to Hwajin.

She was indeed beautiful—exceedingly so. Since she turned sixteen, there had been so many marriage proposals that it was hard to choose a suitable match.

But the real problem was not her looks, it was the ‘content’ that was stored inside that beautiful container.

Faced with this utterly absurd situation, Hwamyeong, who was at a loss for words, hurried to counter their father.

「Father, you need to look beyond her appearance. Do you really think she could survive in the palace?」

Hwacheon, being far from the capital, was known for its intricate craftsmanship of hairpins and decorative ornaments.

Because of this, women of Hwacheon generally enjoyed a high social status and naturally had a quite active social and public life, making them more extroverted.

Among them, the daughters of the Baek family that ruled Hwacheon were particularly lively and unique, with Hwajin being especially notorious in a negative way.

It was not a secret that restlessness ran in the family, so that could be overlooked, but Hwajin was especially capricious and couldn’t stand boredom, which is why she was constantly causing trouble.

Although she didn’t know much about the palace, she had heard that the etiquette there was incredibly strict. Not only was she herself unsuited for such a place, but Hwajin was absolutely not the type who could endure life in the palace. 글쎄,

In fact, by tomorrow, she might completely forget what she said today and start chasing after another man. And after that, she would likely pretend she never did such a thing, leave others to deal with the consequences, and run away without a second thought.

This was something the entire Baek family and the people of Hwacheon knew well, but their father seemed determined to ignore it.

「Why do you always assume the worst? Hwajin is already sixteen. She must have learned how to calm herself down by now, so there’s no need to worry.」

Despite the entire family’s gazes full of distrust and frustration, their father ignored them and drew his own conclusion.

「Anyway, if that’s what you want, Hwajin, I’ll send a message to the palace right away. The selection process of the Crown Princess will begin soon, so if we start preparing now, she can enter the palace in time.」

Their father seemed eager not to miss this chance, his eyes gleaming as if even becoming a concubine would be good enough. The rest of the family, too stunned to respond, could only shake their heads. They assumed that whatever happened next would be their father’s and Hwajin’s responsibility, not theirs.

At least that was what they believed.

However, that assumption shattered immediately when they discovered that their insane sister had written Hwayeong’s name, instead of hers, on the official marriage proposal to the palace—all because she thought the Crown Prince was ugly.

* * *

“Baek Hwajin, I will make you pay for this.”

Hwayeong ground her teeth, vowing to make her sister’s life a living hell after the selection process was over.

Every time Hwajin caused trouble, she would play innocent and shift the blame onto someone else before making a quick escape. But this time, she had gone too far.

‘You knew my temper, and yet you still dared to provoke me? You’ve just lit a fuse on a powder keg.’

She thought, contemplating whether to boil, fry, or grind her sister to dust when she got back.

Up until now, she had let things slide since she found it meaningless to confront with her childish, irresponsible little sister.

But now, it had become apparent that those days of tolerance and forgiveness were a mistake.

She should have crushed Hwajin so thoroughly that she wouldn’t dare to challenge her again.

‘When I get back, I’ll make sure she coughs up blood!!!’

Hwayeong thought as she reaffirmed her resolve for revenge. Just then, a clear voice called out from outside.

“Miss, if we want to reach the palace before sunset, we need to hurry. Let’s speed up the pace.”

It was the voice of Sohwa, her servant, who was clearly worried that they were running late.