Chapter 36. Big Dog, Little Dog
“Goodnight, Your Majesty.”
“Nwanny twoo, sweep well.” (Nanny too, sleep well.)
I closed my eyes, and the Nanny kissed my cheek, covered me with a blanket, and went outside.
Thump, thump.
Only the sound of my heartbeat could be heard. I spent my time looking at the dim ceiling quietly.
‘Hm. How should I do this?’
I had not yet decided what to do with the note Aiden had sent. I thought about showing it to Lissandro for about 0.1 seconds, but I quickly threw that thought away.
‘I can’t let them know that I can read. Even if I pretend that I only received the note, I won’t be able to tell him how I got it.’
There were many hardships for a person who had many secrets.
“Sigh.”
It was a night of many deep sighs.
As I stayed up all night with my eyes open, dawn quickly came. After much consideration, I decided to go out for a while.
‘If you were going to kill me, you would’ve already done so.’
I slipped the blanket off and arranged it as if someone was lying in it just in case Lissandro or the nanny came in.
“Gwood.” (Good.)
After working up a sweat for no reason, I walked slowly toward the balcony.
Creak-.
After opening the door, I poked my head out, but no one was there.
“He’th not hewe?” (He’s not here?)
I walked outside barefoot. I heard the cries of the owls hunting their prey.
It seemed to have been a note that didn’t mean anything.
“Ah, cwold…ung?” (Ah, cold… ung?)
Something came into my sight as I was stamping my feet.
“A powch?” (A pouch?)
There was a pouch in the corner. When I picked it up, it was heavy and a jingle sounded.
‘…jingle?’
My heart began to thump like crazy. Is it really what I think it is?
As soon as I opened the pouch, all I could see…were gold coins and jewels!
“Hub!”
I closed the pouch in surprise. I felt like I saw something I shouldn’t have.
‘Is it fake?’
I plucked up my courage and carefully opened the pouch again. The brilliant gold coins and jewels greeted me.
‘What the h.e.l.l. It’s my type.’
If this is actually a gift, there couldn’t be a gift more perfect.
Money. Gold. Jewelry. If it’s not stolen property, it’s always usable!
I took a look around again just in case, but there wasn’t anyone there. I slipped the pouch into my room and looked around.
But all I could see was the dark night and dark floor.
‘Let’s just go in and sleep now.’
It was at that moment when I was yawning and taking my hands off the railing.
Slip-.
“Huh?”
At that moment, I lost my balance and fell down the railing. It just had to mimic the last scene from my previous life.
If there is a difference between then and now, it’s that right now I want to live.
‘I don’t want to die!’
It was when I was falling and closed my eyes tightly.
I was immediately cuddled in a warm embrace.
“Just what… What are you doing at dawn, Your Majesty?”
When I opened my eyes carefully, I saw Lissandro in a cold sweat.
If he was very surprised or not, I could hear Lissandro’s heart pounding.
“If I wasn’t here, you could’ve gotten severely hurt.”
“…t-thw.a.n.k you, Lithandwo.” (…t-thank you, Lissandro.)
I had nothing to say, so I bowed my head and apologized. If it weren’t for Lissandro, I would have really fallen.
Lissandro sighed quietly and hugged me again.
“So, what were you doing and not sleeping?”
“W-wawk!” (W-walk!)
“Hm…”
Lissandro stared at me with suspicion. I laughed desperately because I felt like I was cold sweating.
“Hehe.”
“…sigh. Alright. It’s fine since you didn’t get hurt. You’re so cute that I can’t even scold you.”
Fortunately, Lissandro did not question me anymore. He leapt lightly and stood on the balcony railing, hugging me.
Lissandro, who was about to set me down, stopped.
“…?”
When I looked at him with confusion, Lissandro sighed again.
“I can’t do this because I’m too nervous. I’ll have to take you inside.”
Lissandro carried me into the bedroom, laid me down on the bed, covered me with the blanket, and then stepped back.
“You should take a walk during the day while holding hands with Xavier or Lalima. Okay?”
“Ung…”
I couldn’t treat Lissandro as bluntly as I usually do because of my sins. Lissandro laughed quietly as if he was having fun.
“Your Majesty’s cute when sullen too. Haha.”
“…hng.”
“Ahaha.”
He smiled cheerfully as I glared at him. But even so, he straightened my hair with a smiley face.
He spoke in a low voice, “Good night, Your Majesty.”
“Lithandwo too.” (Lissandro too)
When the door closed, the silence returned.
After a while, I got out of bed again and returned to the pouch I pushed into the room earlier.
“So… what mweaning doeth thith have?” (So… what meaning does this have?)
Jingle. The precious gold and jewels made a clear and cheerful sound.
Just listening to it made me feel refreshed.
“Aidwen mutht’ve sent it.” (Aiden must’ve sent it.)
Was it a present for me? Then there’s no reason for me to refuse.
I grinned and put the pouch in the most inconspicuous corner drawer of the bedroom. It’s probably safe here because it’s not cleaned here often.
I felt like I could get a good night’s sleep because I suddenly became rich.
‘Just try to take it back. I won’t stay still.’
***
There was a large bath in the bathroom. It was too large for me to use alone, so I used a small baby bath instead.
The sweet smell made me sigh unknowingly.
I was tired.
“Ah, our Majesty. How gentle you are.”
“I lwike baths.” (I like baths.)
“How mature.”
The nanny’s hands that wash my hair were so soft. The ladies looked at the calm me and praised me a storm.
“Your Majesty is the first one to bathe so well without crying.”
“That’s right. Our youngest, Elise, cries so loudly that I can hear it when I bathe.”
“That’s how kids usually are. Her Majesty is a great one.”
‘Agugu. It’s embarra.s.sing…’ (Agugu is what people do to kids. It’s like peek-a-boo.)
I was just happy to be able to soak in a bathtub full of warm water without having to worry about the gas bill, but I became a great person.
‘It’s incredible to have a bathtub at home.’
I couldn’t even dream of having a bathtub in my rooftop room.
In the room I moved in, I prayed earnestly, ‘Please don’t let the bathroom have condensation.’
Without a moment of bitterness, the nanny spoke, “Here. Should we close out eyes? That’s right, how good~.”
“Abubu.”
“The bath is done. Well done, hoho.”
Only my face was washed but there was another wave of praise from the women.
“You wash your face so well, how could our Majesty be so mature?”
“Cute, lovely, smart, and cool!”
“Oh my. Look at how your cheeks got red…!”
“So cute!”
‘Eua…!’
The twenty-year-old me screamed inside. I stayed as calm as I could to finish this embarra.s.sing bath quickly.
“You’re so gentle, we’re so proud of you!”
“The gentle Majesty is so cute…!”
“Stwop, stwop…” (Stop, stop…)
In the end, I could only finish the bath after I urged them to stop.
I changed into new clothes, dried my wet hair, and lay down on the bed clean.
“Ahh. How nwice.”
I was really happy with this languor, even more so that I didn’t need to worry about getting up early tomorrow.
“Your Majesty. I’ll be out for a while, you can play with this.”
“Ung. Okway.” (Ung. Okay.)
It was at that time when I was tossing around on the bed, fiddling with the doll that my nanny handed me.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, something hard stabbed me in the back. Surprised, I jumped to my feet.
“Wat’s thith.” (What’s this.)
There was a stone about the size of my fist lying on the bed. I hugged the doll tightly and carefully examined the stone.
There was nothing special about it except that it was a white stone without a dent.
“Who ith it. De one who bwought a stone hewe.” (Who is it. The one who brought a stone here.)
There’s no one like that among the women. I reached for the stone with disapproval.
And when my fingertips touched the stone-.
[Give…me.]
“…huh?”
Suddenly, someone’s voice flashed through my head. What is this? Before I could grasp what happened, more incredible things happened.
Shine-!
A white light exploded blindingly from the stone and quickly permeated through my fingertips.
“…!”
Surprised, I looked where the stone was, but there was nothing there.
“W-wat?” (W-what?)
I thought maybe the stone rolled around so I felt around the blanket, but as expected, there was nothing.
‘I absorbed the stone.’
Maybe it wasn’t just a stone? I looked at my physical condition out of anxiety, but there was nothing that changed.
I didn’t feel dizzy or sick, nor did I feel strange.
There was one thing that didn’t let me dismiss it as nothing.
The voice I heard as soon as I touched the stone.
[Give…me.]
‘Who was it?’
***
As soon as it saw me, the kitty stopped walking.
[Mabel…what?]
“U-ung?”
[Your divine power has increased. Quite a lot.]
‘Is it because of that?’
I sat down next to the kitty with a frown. Then, as if waiting, animal friends came and surrounded me.
[Mabel. Smells good.]
[Feels good. What, what is it?]
The animal friends usually liked to be around me, but today was a bit too much.
Patting toto, I looked at the kitty.
‘I’m here for this anyway.’
[Did you get a sign from G.o.d? How did you improve so much?]
‘There was a stone on the bed. So I touched it and absorbed it.’
[Stone?…a relic?]
The kitty’s tail thumped against the floor. It was a serious atmosphere.
‘I don’t know why it was there. But isn’t it good to have more divine power?’
[There’s nothing bad about it. It’s just opening up the potential sanct.i.ty in Mabel anyway.]
That means it’s not dangerous. I was relieved.
‘I have another question. I heard a voice.’
[A voice?]
‘Yeah. The moment I touched the stone.’
[What did it say.]
‘Well, I think it was asking me for something…’
I couldn’t hear properly because the voice was so blurry. Like a static radio.
[I don’t know either.]
The kitty shook its head. Suddenly, I was at a loss.
‘He was the only one I could ask.’
So the ident.i.ty of the voice fell into question.
***
It was dinner time with Oscar and the stand-in-Emperor. I sat down with a throbbing heart. Of course, I was wearing a baby’s bib.
‘We’re eating something delicious.’
I was waiting for the food to come out, and Oscar, sitting across from me, t.i.tled his head in question.
“Mabel. Why are you so happy?”
“Yummy food.”
“Because we’re eating something delicious?”
“Ung.”
The usual meal is delicious, of course, but it was a little boring. On the other hand, the meal served at dinner was more flavorful.
It was time to enjoy the time waiting for dinner to come out.
“Why is the preparation so slow.”
The stand-in-Emperor, who was looking at me with his chin up, suddenly began to blow cold air. My eyes grew round.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
The reason soon came to light.
“How dare you keep my Mabel waiting like this, I can’t stand by.”
‘Please stand by…’
I couldn’t bear to raise my head because I was the reason for the chilly atmosphere. Naturally, the kitchen went wild from the stand-in-Emperor’s unexpected anger.
They’re not guilty. It’s all my sins.
‘Sigh.’
I hit the table hard.
Kw.a.n.g!
“Bu-hang! Don’t dwo that!” (Bu-hw.a.n.g! Don’t do that!)
“…Mabel?”
“Waithing ith altho part of de meal. You thould know how to wait!” (Waiting is also part of the meal. You should know how to wait!)
A face stained with shock looked at me.
“Mabel. This…”
“Excuthes awe ugwy.” (Excuses are ugly.)
“…”
“Say sowwy soon. Bu-hang wath wong.” (Say sorry soon. Bu-hw.a.n.g was wrong.)
He looked at me with pitiful eyes like a dog in the rain, but I made a grim face.
After a while.
“…Sorry.”
“Huk!”
“…Heub!”
The kitchen staff were stunned by the stand-in-Emperor’s apology. Either way, everyone’s eyes were only on me.
“Is that enough, Mabel?”
“Ung. Bu-hang, gwood job.” (Ung. Bu-hw.a.n.g, good job.)
His expression brightened at once; it looked like he wanted to be petted.
I looked alternatively at the stand-in-Emperor and Oscar. Their sparkling eyes were directed at me as if they were hoping for something.
‘A big puppy next to me and a little puppy in front of me.’
I became rich in puppies.
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