Chapter 14
Elonia sighed heavily, put the book down on the desk, and sat facing Llewellyn.
“……You don’t have to study?”
“Taking a little break.”
Despite her indifferent reply, Llewellyn seemed to find something great about it and regained his energy.
“Then listen to my story, Elon! The other day at the Academy!”
Llewellyn munched on the cake Sarah had brought and began grumbling to Elonia, his cousin six years younger, about what had happened at the Academy.
Elonia chuckled.
At this rate, who was the older and who was the younger?
‘He’s really a kid.’
Over the past month, Elonia and Llewellyn had become close enough to allow each other to use first names instead of calling each other “hey” or “you”.
Elonia quite liked Llewellyn, contrary to their bad first meeting.
The fact that Llewellyn told her stories about the Academy was the second reason.
The biggest reason she liked him was that since Llewellyn came as her playmate, the frequency of Artius’s unauthorized visits to the Imperial Princess Palace had noticeably decreased.
However, at first, while Elonia gradually took a liking to Llewellyn, Llewellyn was busy being wary of Elonia.
Then one time, when Llewellyn was feeling down after being severely scolded by the Duchess of Asta, Elonia had given up her share of cake.
“Hey, stop sulking and eat this.”
“……Really?”
“What, you think it’s fake?”
“You… no. Princess, you’re a good kid. Can I call you Elon?”
“……I told you not to speak casually.”
That’s what she said, but she didn’t actually mind.
Not only had Llewellyn’s presence reduced Artius’s invasions of the Imperial Princess Palace, but seeing that innocent child also reminded her of her young siblings she had left behind in Heilan.
He especially resembled Olivia a lot.
Even though it was just a slice of cake, Llewellyn must have been touched, because after that, he began wagging his tail like a dog, no, a puppy, at Elonia.
“So you know what that ill-mannered jerk said to me? It’s because your personality is like that, that’s why you have no friends! He has no friends himself! That hostage!”
“Seems like you two are already friends.”
“What!? How so!”
“You both have no manners and no friends?”
“That’s too much! Elon, you’re my cousin! You should be on my side! And what do you mean I have no friends, I have you!”
“First I am your cousin, then your friend. Pick one. And you want to be friends with a cousin 6 years younger than you? Just get along nicely with boys your age.”
“That’s really too much……!”
Sarah and the maids couldn’t hide their motherly smiles as they listened to the children’s conversation.
‘I wonder who our princess takes after to be so sharp.’
‘The princess is so cute.’
‘Our princess is the best. A genius of the century.’
Whenever the little princess spoke so sharply with her short pronunciation, they couldn’t handle how cute it was.
Sometimes, Elonia acted like an old man who had been through all the ups and downs of life and was tired.
Her excessively mature side worried the maids, but Elonia occasionally laughed like a child when having trivial arguments with Llewellyn.
At first, they were worried the two wouldn’t get along well, but now Sarah and the maids thought it was fortunate they had become friends.
Llewellyn, putting the strawberry Elon had given him in his mouth, asked, “By the way, Elon. Why did you choose me as your playmate?”
“Dummy. What do I gain from playing with a kid to make them my playmate?”
“……Hey, watch your words. Are you really a princess?”
“Then are you really a prince?”
“Tsk. Anyway, why was I called then?”
“I don’t know. I never asked for it in the first place, but one day, His Majesty suddenly threw you into my palace.”
Elonia cut a small piece of strawberry-less cake and put it in her mouth.
Llewellyn felt something was off.
“Elon, now that I think about it, you always call His Majesty ‘His Majesty’. I know you’re an old soul, but can’t you call him Dad in private?”
The maids flinched at Llewellyn’s question.
But Elonia herself had a peaceful expression, as if it didn’t matter.
“Why do I have to call him that?”
“Well, still. You and His Majesty have a father-daughter relationship. But it seems like you’ve never called him that, and well……”
“Doesn’t seem close?”
“……Yeah.”
Llewellyn nodded, carefully watching Elonia’s reaction.
Elonia smirked.
‘Looks like that rumor has finally reached Llewellyn’s ears.’
The fact that the emperor, missing the empress who died in childbirth, treated the princess harshly and didn’t give her affection was something everyone in the palace knew but kept quiet about.
The reason they at least didn’t show it outwardly was simple.
First, Elonia was the child of the official empress.
Second, Elonia was the only heir to the throne.
Of course, there were naturally people who treated Elonia like a wretch, but it was much better treatment than when she was Cheron, a real wretch.
After all, no one would dare openly mock the empire’s successor acknowledged by the emperor to her face that she wasn’t loved as a daughter.
“You’re right, we’re not close.”
“……What?”
“I said we’re not close. A long time ago, His Majesty and I agreed not to treat each other as parent and child.”
“What!? No, what are you saying!”
When Elonia calmly affirmed it, Llewellyn jumped up from his seat.
Elonia suddenly looked towards the maids.
Sarah’s expression was not good, though she wasn’t showing it.
There was no need to let them hear this for no reason.
“Sarah. Take everyone and leave for a bit.”
“Yes, Princess.”
Sarah didn’t ask for a reason or talk back, and immediately withdrew from her spot with the maids.
‘See, see. At least here, there’s even one person who respects and loves me.’
Even when Cheron was active as the Great Sword Mage, there were so many people who had to be told two or three times with violence to understand.
Compared to then, this was a lucky life.
‘Well, not completely lucky since I’ll leave the palace later.’
For a moment, the thought of having no way to make a living made her future seem bleak.
Her hair color was too noticeable, and being a mercenary wasn’t a good choice either.
No matter how much she hid, if she let her guard down even a little, there would definitely be people who would recognize her as the princess who killed the emperor and left home.
Anyway, it was still a distant story, so she pushed it aside for now and calmed Llewellyn down.
“Sit down, Llewellyn.”
“No, you! How can you say that so nonchalantly! I… I hurt you again without thinking—”
“Don’t be so full of yourself, Llewellyn. Do I look like I’d be hurt by this? How lowly do you think of the imperial princess?”
Llewellyn’s golden eyes wavered at Elonia’s cold words.
His expression seemed to ask how she could be so calm.
‘If it were me, I absolutely couldn’t endure it.’
Llewellyn thought of his mother.
His mother, who was much smarter, cooler, and the strongest in the world.
Well, he had an older brother too, but Llewellyn disliked him.
Because sometimes, his brother monopolized their mother’s trust just for being the firstborn.
Anyway, to Llewellyn, his mother was his everything.
So if his beloved mother treated him like air, the mere thought was horrifying.
But Elonia’s attitude was as if to say the mountains are mountains and the waters are waters.
Llewellyn couldn’t grasp what Elonia was thinking at all.
Sometimes, Elonia really didn’t seem like a younger sibling.
She seemed like a tired adult who had lived much longer than his old-soul brother. No, much longer than that.
Even though he knew it wouldn’t be okay, Llewellyn couldn’t help but ask.
“……Doesn’t it bother you at all?”
“I never had any expectations of His Majesty in the first place.”
It had been a while since her hopes of building an ideal father-daughter relationship had been shattered, so why now?
After thinking that for a moment, she regretted being too honest with Llewellyn, seeing how shocked he was.
‘But somehow, it made me feel bad.’
It reminded her of her foolish self when she had just been reincarnated, trying to get along with Artius, making her feel disgusted.
Thinking of that time still made her grit her teeth.
If he had done well from the beginning, Elonia wouldn’t have come to harbor thoughts of killing her blood-related father and leaving home.
That immature ducal prince who had only received love while growing up would never understand her feelings.
“If you have nothing more to say, can you please leave?”
There was no change in Elonia’s expression.
That foolish Llewellyn probably wouldn’t notice Elonia’s true feelings.
* * *
“Mother?”
“You’re here, Llewellyn.”
“Mother! What brings you here?”
Llewellyn ran into the Duchess of Asta as soon as he was practically kicked out of the Imperial Princess Palace.
Llewellyn wagged his invisible tail and ran to the Duchess of Asta, but soon stopped in his tracks when he noticed the large man standing next to her.
“Gre-greetings to Your Majesty.”
“……It’s been a while, Prince Asta.”
What on earth was His Majesty doing here?
Could it be that he overheard Llewellyn and Elonia gossiping about him earlier?
Llewellyn’s legs went numb, not knowing what to do.
The Duchess of Asta asked the emperor, “Your Majesty. Didn’t you say you had something to ask my son?”
“I did. By the way, your son calls you Mother.”
“……That’s usually the case. I told you before on the battlefield.”
“Does the firstborn call you that too?”
“Yes, but……”
The Duchess of Asta, who had been Artius’s parenting mentor in the past, had no idea what Artius was trying to ask.
‘Come to think of it, the reason for calling me so suddenly is strange too.’
The Duchess of Asta had been summoned in front of the Imperial Princess Palace for the first time in a very long while.
Artius had forbidden even himself from entering the Imperial Princess Palace after that incident.
‘What is he scheming?’
Could the rumor about him neglecting Princess Elonia really be true?
If he treated his daughter that way after all that fuss when that incident happened and blocked her from entering the Imperial Princess Palace, she would never forgive that bastard.
While the Duchess was trying to figure out Artius’s intentions with those thoughts, Artius stared intently at Llewellyn with cold lilac eyes.
‘Scary!’
Even Llewellyn, who talked back to the princess, was helpless in front of the tyrant.
He was on the verge of fainting from fear right now.
They said they didn’t treat each other as family, but those lilac eyes glaring at people as if to kill them were exactly the same, proving they were father and daughter.
Llewellyn was trembling for a long time, unable to even lift his head, when Artius asked, “Didn’t the princess talk about me?”
Llewellyn was so surprised that he raised his head.
The Duchess also doubted her ears and grasped his intentions.
‘So that rumor is true. And now he wants to be treated as a father by the princess?’
Dream on.
Philemia, that fragile thing, sacrificed her life to barely save that child, and he neglected her like that.
The Duchess showed the same reaction as Aaron a few days ago.
If only she could have brought a sword, she would have immediately challenged him to a duel after taking off her rank insignia.
Unlike Artius, who had petty intentions, Llewellyn, an innocent young child, interpreted the emperor’s question differently.
‘His Majesty actually wants to get along with Elon!’
Right, that must be it.
He suddenly asked if the princess didn’t talk about him, so Llewellyn thought they had been overheard gossiping, but he recalled his aunt, who still remained faintly in his memory.
‘Right, Aunt Philemia also said His Majesty isn’t honest! She said he’s actually a very kind person!’
His gentle aunt had a very accurate eye for people.
Moreover, his mother always had a saying she repeated like a habit.
The bond between parents and children cannot be easily severed even if one tries.
Llewellyn was also sad when his mother scolded him harshly sometimes, but that was all because his mother loved him.
‘So His Majesty was just sad at first because he lost Aunt, but he must actually love Elon a lot!’
Perhaps he could soon deliver good news to Elonia, Llewellyn lost himself in his delusions.
Then maybe Elonia would call him “oppa” and say, “Llewellyn oppa is the best after all!”
‘Yeah, it’s a perfect future.’
Finishing his delusion that could never happen in reality, Llewellyn innocently opened his mouth.
“Yes! She did!”
Artius, with his arms crossed and a strange expectation in his heart, asked Llewellyn, whose face was beaming.
“And what did she say?”