Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Whispers of the Imperial Prince
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I smoothly shifted the topic to the other families as naturally as I could.
"What about the other dukes'?"
"The east has earth, the west wind, the south lightning... You know how the sky flashes during a storm? They wield that kind of power."
The knight counted off on his fingers, folding down the last one.
"And the imperial family uses the blessing of fire."
Fire? That word hit me like a thunderclap.
I reflexively recalled the suspicious reddish glow that child had used earlier.
No flames were visible, but anyone would call it the blessing of fire. Could that kid be...?
"Miss, why the sudden interest in blessings?"
The knight's probing question reached my ears as I pondered deeply.
A knight brought by Father should be trustworthy enough.
Still, his attitude felt like he was testing me, so instead of answering honestly, I just flashed a grin.
"Daddy got mad, so ice all half-freezy. Then suddenly blessing~ got curious."
No way I'd give him the answer he wanted so easily.
As I traded glares with the knight, a sweat-drenched maid emerged from the back of the kitchen.
Her face was familiar—she'd been working in our house for a long time.
She bobbed her head toward me, then grabbed the main family servant who was lingering by pretending to wipe the cupboard over and over.
"The soup's done. Get over here and work."
"Did you steam all the other veggies? The meat?"
"Boiled and shredded it into easy-to-digest pieces, just like the master said."
With no more excuses to dawdle, the servant smacked his lips and reluctantly lowered his hand from the cupboard.
"Right. Now we just need to bake some soft bread to go with the meal."
Easy-to-digest form? Why would our house need that?
Dad and Dietrich looked like they could chew rocks, and even I, the youngest, had a sturdy constitution that digested just about anything without issue.
Was Dad hiding some illness?
He'd been away at war for so long... Maybe he'd been injured and was still recovering?
"Why make it so easy to digest? Who's sick?"
As my thoughts veered toward the negative, my mouth turned down. The knight sitting beside me burst out laughing.
He'd been butting into our conversation without permission all along.
I shot him a glare, but he waved the servant off, then leaned toward me and whispered softly.
"The general isn't injured. Don't worry."
"Really?"
"The general picked up something interesting on his way back. His Imperial Highness's son."
The prince? He'd picked up the prince?
The words conjured the image of a pale-faced silver-haired boy standing by the window.
'What in the world is going on?'
My head throbbed with confusion, and I scowled. The knight, watching my face, chuckled lightly and carelessly.
"...Isn't that classified? Is it really okay to tell a young lady like me so casually?"
The nurse pulled my chair back to put distance between me and the knight as she questioned him sharply. He finally stopped laughing.
Right?
I'd been so focused on why a prince was in our house that I'd overlooked it, but this was hardly a place to blab with so many ears around. What if I, acting like a real three-year-old, ran around grabbing people and shouting, 'We have a prince at our house!'?
"What's the harm? You're the general's daughter."
"There must be a reason the master hasn't told his daughter himself, Knight Stipe."
The nurse didn't yield an inch, replying stiffly. Knight Stipe shrugged nonchalantly.
"Yes, my apologies. I'll be more careful."
The man flashed an easy smile and turned to me.
"Miss, you can't tell anyone outside, okay? If word gets back to the main family, it could put the general in a tough spot."
"Hey."
"Yes, yes, I get it. Can't even speak freely."
Muttering half to himself in informal speech, Stipe dragged his chair noisily and stormed out.
I silently watched the anger settling on the nurse's face.
She never tolerated even the slightest rudeness toward me.
It hadn't been long since she'd heard about Yasmin and the butler's insolence either.
'...Stipe's in for a scolding from Dad later.'
I hoped he'd learn to watch his mouth this time.
I was lost in thought the whole way back to my room after my ice-water massage.
That kitchen servant who'd stuck to us while pretending to clean the cupboard, straining to eavesdrop every word—it seemed he'd overheard Knight Stipe.
I'd seen his shoulders twitch the moment he heard about the prince in our house.
And he'd seemed overly startled by the sight of me or the nurse before that.
'Before we came in, he'd been glued to loose-lipped Stipe. Was he fishing for information?'
Main family. Intelligence. Messenger birds.
Putting together all the keywords I'd gathered so far...
'The only conclusion is that the main family servants are spying on us, gathering info, and sending it back via messenger birds?'
Even trying to bribe Dietrich with snacks at first—probably to pry out our house's secrets that way?
Was it okay for the fact that we had a prince here to leak out too?
"Wah!"
Deep in thought, I reflexively punched at the figure charging at me with arms raised.
"Oof!"
Whoa, that startled me.
Once my pounding heart calmed, I closely examined the person clutching his nose and sitting on the floor.
"Dietrich?"
"Ugh, how could you just swing without even asking who it was?"
"Then why yell 'wah!'? You scared me."
"It was just a prank! I figured you'd be down from studying letters, so I came to cheer you up, and nearly got my nose broken."
No nosebleed, yet what a drama king.
He must have just finished morning training and bathed—Dietrich smelled fresh and fragrant.
Lucky him. I wished I could ignore all the complicated stuff happening in the house and just focus on sword training, living carefree!
Life sure wasn't easy. I let out a deep sigh, and Dietrich laughed, ruffling my hair wildly.
"Nurse, can I play with the baby?"
"The miss hasn't finished today's lessons yet."
"Aw, just until lunch! Not even that?"
The nurse looked back and forth between us, then nodded as if she couldn't resist.
The moment she gave permission, Dietrich pushed my back into the room and slammed the door shut with a thud.
What was this?
'Super suspicious.'
Dietrich meticulously checked that the door was fully closed before carefully placing a cloth-wrapped bundle on the table.
What could he be hiding in his clothes like that?
"What's that?"
"Shh. Eat it without the nurse knowing. You know Dad came back with the knights, right?"
"Yeah."
Dietrich untied the string, revealing cookies inside.
"These are special snacks they give out at the training grounds after morning sessions. I got a few too."
"That tough?"
"Don't even ask. Later they made us hold wooden swords, and my arms were shaking like crazy. Bet that wooden sword weighs more than you."
"No way."
"For real! The knights said the northern training swords have iron cores inside, making them way heavier than what other families use."
No wonder Dad opposed starting my sword training at my age—it really was too soon?
Dietrich chattered on about the day's training, picked up a cookie, snapped it in half, and handed me the bigger piece.
It looked like an ordinary cookie from the outside, but inside was packed with thick, chewy chocolate.
'Carbs after intense activity prevent sudden exhaustion.'
That's why they recommend packing high-calorie snacks like chocolate bars for calorie-burning hikes.
It was so sweet my tongue tingled, and I winced a little, but Dietrich devoured his half in seconds.
Morning training must've been brutal.
'...But that's weird?'
They provided snacks at the training grounds, so why was that knight in the kitchen scavenging for food?