Chapter 28: The Emperor’s Daughter Chapter. 28
That poor thing, yes, I sympathize with him. Fighting! Life wasn’t so grim! Look at me, my daddy had fallen for my charm, and now he couldn’t live without me! Of course, I knew that’s my dream, but…. well, someday I would!
After a moment of staring, Ferdel left the room. At the same time, the office was opened, and a servant entered the lounge.
“Your Majesty, the Count of Sesskullo asked to have a meeting with you.”
My dad was always busy. I waved.
Bye bye, Papa.
Caitel chuckled when he heard it. Still, he placed me down in the cradle and patted me on the head for a while. It was a very different touch compared to a few months ago.
“I’ll be back soon, so don’t come out.”
Now that the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt had been made, even a handmaiden could not enter the lounge without Caitel’s permission. In addition, it also opened the door connected to the lounge. The angle had been adjusted, so I could be seen playing just by turning my head. I heard that people rearranged office just for that.
Anyway, my dad was crazy.
I crawled in the cradle, turned around, and knelt as soon as I fell on my stomach. I couldn’t do this well last month, but it suddenly turned out well now. That’s the mystery of the human body.
I couldn’t wait to walk. I had to work out a lot.
Exercise, exercise.
As I was crawling in the cradle, the closed door to the lounge opened.
What?
I glared at the door with a nervous look, but it wasn’t the a.s.sa.s.sin who came in.
It was Ferdel.
Ferdel walked carefully and clung to the cradle railings. He peeped at the office across the door and hid in a blind spot, suddenly smiled.
“Ehehe.”
Wait. I thought he was returning to his work?
I pulled myself back a little, he snapped at my hand and stared at me with s.h.i.+ning eyes.
Uh, uh?
“So cute!”
Then he laughed again. I couldn’t help but panic.
… Was he this stupid?
The weather was very nice. I was feeling up to my ears in the sight of a rare temple after a long time.
Outside! It’s a walk! It’s a picnic!
“Bebebe!”
I was in a good mood, so there was a lot of c.r.a.p going on. I didn’t know, but it was just a meaningless sound for my tongue movement.
However, who liked this nonsense more were these two people who were looking at me. When I tried to say something they thought it was b*lls.h.i.+t and now when I said something meaningless, they liked it?
‘I don’t like you two! Do you know?!’
“Yes, yes. Peek a Boo!”
“Babba!”
“Oh, how cute.”
‘Do you like it?’
it was annoying, and I wanted to stop now, but this was the happiest time of Elene’s day, so I couldn’t. Serira looked at us both with a warm face.
“Come on, Princess, Gonzi Gonzi.” (Korean style of playing with baby)
When I repeated the simple act of stabbing the palm of my hand with an index finger, Elene smiled and screamed. Serira made a small beside him.
Mom, did I do well?
“Jamjamjam”
“Jamjamjam!”
My little palms pinched and unfolded. It was a small act, but it was a little difficult to repeat it. I hadn’t moved much, but my arms felt tired already.
‘Oh, I don’t know. I’m still young, so it’s great to do this.’
“Wow, that’s good. Oh, that’s…!”
Smiling brightly at the sound of praise, Serira patted my head. It was a cat-like act, but the compliment was so good I hit Serira in the arms without realizing it.
‘Ugh, Mom, a little more! A little more! Give me a little more praise.’
Praises were great. I’m pretty and lovely, huh? Didn’t they think I’m worth praising?
“You’ve got even more charming, my princess.”
Really? Really?
My nanny smiled as soon as I landed my gaze on her. That smile made me feel better.
“Terra!”
My p.r.o.nunciation was unclear because my teeth hadn’t fully grown yet, but Serira recognized I called her name. Her eyes were wide open and she was really pretty today.
Oh, it’s not that she was pretty because she was my nanny! With a big smile, I crawled up and knocked on Serira’s legs, sitting on her knees. Serira hugged me with a face wet with emotion. The moist tears settled in her eyes.
“Elene!”
Elene, who was sitting next to me feeling happy, when I called her name, her eyes also opened wide.
I grinned at the two of them. Maybe I would have more maids when I’m older. However, no matter how many maids I would have, these two would still remain special to me. As much as these two people treated me well.
The little Elene turned her head. I tilted my head. Then Elene began to cry, wiping away her tears with her ap.r.o.n. I was frightened.
‘Elene, why are you crying all of a sudden?’
“I think our princess is all grown up now. What if she says she is going to get married?”
“Yes, she is. Time flies.”
‘Excuse me, you two. I’m still 10 months old. It’s a long way from getting married.’
I was already tired to think of growing, and they were already drinking Kimchi soup (Korean way to say ‘Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched’). Ha, we were doing the same thing but had a different purpose.
I couldn’t wait to grow up. Until I was about 4 years old.
Even then, I could walk around, speak human language, and above all, I didn’t have to study! Yeah, I wanted to be 4 years old for the rest of my life.
“Princess-”
Elene, who was cleaning up her eyes, called me. I was in Serira’s arms and looked back at Elene. Elene’s eyes were still reddening. It made me cringe again.
‘Yeah, you used to like me when I hated you, but I must have gotten caught up in it too.’
I don’t like it when I see Elene crying.
I reached out to her and hugged her. Elene was looking at me and didn’t know what to do. Her face was full of anxiety.
“What should I do? She is so cute I can’t hand her to anyone. I want to keep her in my arms for the rest of my life.”
Hey, that’s a crime.
“I will watch over the princess, so go wash your face. Your face is terrible.”
“Is it too much?”
‘Yes. It’s a bit harsh.’
Elene smiled as I nodded. When one cried and smiled, they get horns on their b.u.t.t. Oh, I hated myself for worrying about it. Oh, but I’m seriously worried.
“Then, Princess, I’ll be back then.”
I nodded and crawled out of Elene’s arms. Both of them looked at me with many emotions.
‘Hehe, I’m good at it by myself now!’
Watching Elene running to get back soon, I crawled to the place where my toy was. Serira ensured not to let my knee slip for a moment.
When I went to the end of the mat on the lawn of the temple and sat down, my nanny smiled at me. Seven months ago, she was a woman with a lot of shade on her face, but now she looked like a totally different person. It was a little strange.
“Eita-”
She turned her eyes to my voice. Her eyes curved as she smiled. I smiled back at her.
Serira confirmed I was playing well and sat close to me and gave a look at the book she had brought.
A cool breeze was blowing. Not cold, but cool, serene as if submerged in water. Serira laughed when our eyes met again for a while. Of course, I laughed, too.
I liked her doing her job while taking care of me like a normal mother. From one point, perhaps after I managed to play by myself, Serira began knitting, cross-st.i.tching and reading. It was just a small work after she started taking care of me, but it was nice to say she was not living her life entirely for me now. Of course, if I were a real baby, I’d yell for attention.
“Uh, huh?”
‘Wait, toy, where are you going?’
The round-looking toy I accidentally dropped rolled around. I was so embarra.s.sed I put my mouth together. What should I do? I think I could catch it if I crawl a little. Hmm…
I looked back at Serira for a moment, but I didn’t want to disturb her when I saw her so absorbed in the book. Yeah, well, I was not an ordinary baby, and I was just crawling for a while, right? I fell on my stomach right away and began to crawl.
‘Pretty yellow ball, where are you going! Play with me!’
The ball rolled quickly and soon the acceleration of its rolling slowed and stopped eventually. I crawled to where the ball was. The feeling of touching the gra.s.s with my hands was itchy.
I sat down and smoothed the ball into my arms, and I looked around. I didn’t know because I only cared about the ball, but the scenery had changed.
Was it too far? Where was I?
“So what I’m saying is, he’s performing a really strong wave.”
“Is that so? I didn’t feel that.”
Uh, it’s a human voice.
That’s two men. Huh? One voice sounded familiar.
Who was it?
As I stretched out my head, I noticed two people walking along the walking path of the Temple.
Uh, it’s Ferdel!
He sounded familiar, and it was actually someone I knew. I didn’t know if it was Ferdel.
“You’ve never forgotten who the Northern n.o.bles pledged their allegiance to out there. No matter how much you proclaim to me that you are the head of the Southern aristocracy, there is a limit to the amount of public backlash we can contain. Like this, someday…”
“One day the regime falls. Is that what you’re trying to say?”
His answer was as sly as his smile. This made me confused again after remembering what I saw of him last week. I wondered if he was really the same person who sneaked behind my father’s back to hold my hand and smiled like a fool.
“It was the imperial sphere who drew the first blood anyway.”
The person he’s talking with was a man I had never seen before. The man with pale blond hair was talking with dark clouds over his head as he continued on with the conversation.
“No.”
On the other hand, Ferdel’s face was full of laughter. Of course, his smiles were the same when he looked at me, but now, his laughter was something different.
I meant, yeah, he had something sharp.
“It was a bloodstained throne, to begin with. There was not a single honor in it.”
What was on Ferdel’s face was contempt. It was the same feeling I had once seen in my father’s.
Maybe it’s called disgust, that’s it.
The other side could not add anything. I was suffocated by his cold expression, and how stifled the opponent who faced it himself must have been. I was sorry to peek, but I guessed it was unnecessary.
I came out looking for a ball. What’s with this situation?