Episode 30
“We greet Her Highness, the Imperial Princess.”
The day after Dolce’s punishment was decided, Elonia was finally able to see her knights again.
Elonia helped her kneeling knights to their feet and apologized.
“I’m sorry. You ended up in trouble because of me…”
While Ricardo was an accomplice, Ethan was simply caught in the crossfire and dragged off to prison for no reason.
Ethan’s stoic expression faltered for a moment at Elonia’s apology, then returned to its usual neutral mask.
“It wasn’t Your Highness’s fault. I was imprisoned because I was lacking and failed to earn Your Highness’s trust. Please do not blame yourself.”
“That’s right, Your Highness. It’s all Ethan’s fault for—”
“Silence.”
Ethan glared daggers at Ricardo, effectively silencing him mid-sentence.
It seemed that, for whatever reason, Ricardo had earned Ethan’s ire.
Ethan sighed at Ricardo, then addressed Elonia directly.
“Your Highness, you should be concerned about your own well-being, not us. You didn’t need to defend us that day. You collapsed because you took our punishment, didn’t you?”
“Ethan, it was my duty to protect you.”
“No, it was not your fault in the slightest.”
Ethan’s firm response left Elonia speechless.
Back when she was Chelon, she didn’t have anyone who worried about her, so she didn’t care much for her own safety, and she had the stamina to back it up.
But now, Elonia remembered Sarah’s worried face. She had received countless letters inquiring about her well-being, not just from Llewellyn and Alberich, but even from Duchess Asta himself.
She never expected Ethan to be worried about her as well.
“…I understand. I’ll be careful not to collapse again.”
Elonia understood Ethan’s concern.
In the past, it didn’t matter how injured she was as long as she could still fight, but now, any harm that came to her body was a burden on others.
‘Because I’m the Empire’s one and only Imperial Princess.’
Elonia nodded solemnly, accepting the weight of her position.
However, Ethan and Ricardo still didn’t look happy.
Just as Elonia wondered what was wrong, the door burst open.
“El! I heard you collapsed!”
“Llewellyn?”
“Llewellyn, behave yourself. You are in the presence of Her Highness.”
It was Llewellyn and Alberich.
As Llewellyn rushed towards Elonia, Alberich effortlessly caught him by the collar, stopping him in his tracks.
He then bowed gracefully to Elonia.
“Greetings, Your Highness. I trust you are feeling better?”
“Young Master, what brings you here?”
Elonia blinked, a mixture of surprise and delight on her face.
They were supposed to be confined to their estate as punishment.
Even though Ricardo and Ethan were released thanks to her, she didn’t think her words alone would be enough to lift the confinement order for the Asta young masters, who were students at the academy.
Llewellyn, still dangling from Alberich’s grasp, puffed out his chest proudly.
“I came with Mother!”
“Huh? Lady Asta is here too?”
“Yes. She was summoned by His Majesty.”
“But you two are grounded.”
“That’s because Father…”
Alberich trailed off, and Elonia urged him to continue.
He hesitated, glancing at her nervously before finally revealing the truth.
“…He said that you must be worried about us, and he wanted to put your mind at ease, so he granted us special permission to visit the Imperial Palace.”
‘Wow.’
Look at him, trying to act all tough.
‘To think he would go through the trouble of summoning them to the Imperial Palace just to reassure me.’
This was unthinkable back when Artius was his old self.
Not that she was grateful.
It was Artius himself who had confined them in the first place.
‘What a load of bullcrap, giving with one hand and taking with the other.’
Everyone in the room became acutely aware of Elonia’s displeasure as her expression darkened.
Llewellyn, struggling in Alberich’s grasp, quietly wriggled free.
He approached Elonia, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“S-so, how are you feeling, El? I heard you collapsed.”
Llewellyn’s uncharacteristic concern brought a smile to Elonia’s lips.
Where was his usual mischievous demeanor?
He was clearly worried about her in his own way.
Elonia, feeling a pang of guilt for causing everyone so much worry, replied casually.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It was nothing, really. You worry too much.”
“You still have a lisp.”
“You wanna die?”
Elonia’s attempt at nonchalance prompted Llewellyn to revert back to his usual playful self, teasing her mercilessly. She responded by raising her tiny fist in a mock threat.
She was so small and her lisp made her sound even more adorable, so her threat had the opposite effect. Llewellyn burst into laughter, followed by Ricardo.
Even Ethan, while trying her best to maintain a straight face, couldn’t help but crack a smile.
It was more comfortable for everyone when they treated her as they always had.
‘For what it’s worth, Llewellyn might be a handful, but he’s a good brother.’
She would have hated having male siblings, but after spending the past few months with him, Elonia realized that Llewellyn was a good person at heart.
Elonia called for Sarah and asked her to serve tea and snacks to their guests.
The adults excused themselves, leaving the children to their own devices.
“Here, El! I’ll even give you my strawberry today!”
Llewellyn skewered a strawberry with his fork and offered it to Elonia.
‘He’s even capable of sharing?’
Touched by his gesture, Elonia gladly accepted the strawberry.
‘…?’
She happened to catch Alberich’s eye and noticed that he looked strangely troubled.
Elonia tilted her head, looking at him curiously.
“Young Master, is something bothering you?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“What is it, Brother? This is weird.”
Even Llewellyn noticed his odd behavior, prompting Alberich to avoid their gazes.
To Alberich, Elonia’s behavior was the strange one.
The others had spent far more time with her than he had.
They knew that Elonia didn’t want to talk about Artius, that she wanted to move on.
Alberich couldn’t understand it.
‘Is she truly alright?’
Not only had she been neglected by her father, but she had also suffered a cruel punishment.
She must be hurting, so why was she pretending to be fine?
Alberich recalled his mother’s words before they left for the Imperial Palace.
“Alberich, be mindful of your words, especially in front of Her Highness.”
“Of course, Mother.”
“I’m not talking about etiquette towards the imperial family.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“…I can’t say. You’ll understand once you see her for yourself.”
He had initially thought she was just a mischievous child, like Llewellyn, since she had secretly visited the academy. But she was far too mature for her age.
Perhaps even more mature than him.
‘So that’s what she meant.’
Her Highness would say she was fine, so he shouldn’t pry and force her to relive painful memories.
He shouldn’t inflict more pain on her with his clumsy attempts at comfort.
Elonia, her expression unreadable but her eyes betraying a hint of warmth, spoke to Alberich.
“Young Master, you can tell me if something’s bothering you.”
“I’m truly fine, Your Highness. Please don’t concern yourself.”
“…If you say so.”
Reassured by his insistence, Elonia and Llewellyn finally looked away.
It was only now that Alberich understood why his mother treated the young princess with such tenderness and heartache.
While he and Llewellyn had been happily reunited with their mother after the war, this little princess had been forced to grow up too fast, to hide her pain.
He felt a surge of protectiveness towards her.
Alberich offered Elonia his slice of cake.
“…What is this, Young Master?”
“…It’s a bribe.”
“A bribe?”
“Please, call me by my name.”
Elonia couldn’t hide her amusement.
So that was it… It wasn’t much of a bribe. Besides, she didn’t even like cake that much.
However, she had to admit, her stoic cousin offering her cake in exchange for calling him by his name was kind of endearing.
‘He’s so uptight, it’s almost cute.’
Oblivious to Elonia’s thoughts, Alberich looked at her with a serious expression.
Elonia picked up the plate with her tiny hand.
“Next time, bring me pudding, Alberich.”
“You can’t even pronounce his name properly.”
“Neither can you, Llewellyn.”
Elonia and Llewellyn resumed their bickering.
Alberich watched them quietly, a faint smile gracing his lips.
He had never been particularly interested in his imperial cousin.
When he first became aware of her existence, she was just a helpless baby. And later, he wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of having a noisy little sister like Llewellyn.
But now, he wanted to cherish his neglected cousin, even if it was a little late.
* * *
A few days later, Elonia heard that Dolce was on the verge of death after receiving his punishment.
The Asta brothers, who were visiting the Imperial Princess’s Palace as usual, were outraged on her behalf.
“He should have just died! What was the Emperor thinking, keeping that bastard alive?”
“Don’t get so worked up. I was the one who told them to keep him alive.”
“He dared to harm Your Highness. You don’t need to show him any mercy.”
“She’s right! You’re too kind, El!”
Elonia averted her gaze at Llewellyn’s exclamation.
‘Kind, he says.’
She was planning to kill Dolce tonight.
Didn’t truly kind people usually refrain from such thoughts?
However, she couldn’t exactly tell her young companions that she was planning a murder. Elonia sipped her tea in silence.
Ricardo, who had grown close to the Asta brothers, chimed in with a sly grin.
“That’s right~ Our princess is way too soft-hearted~ If it were me, I would have demanded his head right then and there. Right, Ethan?”
“Sir Ricardo! How dare you use such language in front of Her Highness!”
Ethan, who had been unusually quiet, jumped in, covering Elonia’s ears with her hands.
“Have you no sense of decorum? Such crass language is unbecoming of a knight, especially in the presence of Her Highness and the young masters.”
“You’re just too uptight. Right, Young Masters?”
“I agree. Lèse-majesté is a grave offense punishable by death.”
“Yeah, yeah! How dare he lay a hand on my little sister!”
“Your little sister…? Anyone would think I’m actually your sister.”
Elonia pulled Ethan’s hand away and shot back, her eyes narrowed.
Llewellyn and Alberich sometimes treated her like their real sister.
She didn’t dislike it, but she couldn’t help but draw a line.
‘I’m not used to being treated like a little sister.’
Elonia had always cared for her siblings back in Heilan, but she had never been treated like a little sister herself.
Perhaps that was why their affectionate gestures made her feel strangely embarrassed and shy.
Of course, Llewellyn wasn’t one to back down so easily.
“Aw, come on! Just be my little sister! We’re cousins!” he whined.
“No way. I’d be demoted from a princess to a mere lady.”
“W-well… Brother, what do we do?”
Llewellyn turned to Alberich for help.
Alberich set down his teacup with a soft clink and addressed Elonia, his expression serious.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes?”
“We have a Duchess in our family.”
“…!”
She had to admit, that piqued her interest.
Duchess Asta was a good person.
‘No matter how much Artius has changed, he’s still nothing but dirt beneath Duchess Asta’s feet.’
Besides, she was still curious about his swordsmanship.
‘Maybe if I get close to him, he’ll give me a demonstration?’
Sensing Elonia’s interest, Ricardo quickly decided to switch sides.
“Young Masters, do you think your family provides good pay and accommodation?”