34. A Promise with the Princess (2)
34. A Promise with the Princess (2)
[Chapter 34] - A Promise with the Princess (2)
It was late at night, when even the maids were asleep.
Since it was a bit awkward to wake a maid and order them to bring snacks at this hour, the princess and I tiptoed through the hallway toward the royal kitchen. I had originally intended to eat the snacks that were usually piled up like a mountain outside my room, but...
Once I actually stepped out, the snacks that had been piled up like a mountain had long since been cleared away. It was quite late, and I thought about just going to sleep and eating later, but—
Thanks to the loud kkoreureuk (stomach rumble) echoing from the princess's belly, the princess and I decided to attempt an infiltration of the kitchen. Since it was the royal kitchen, I thought, wouldn't there be something to eat even in the middle of the night? And so, the mission began—
"Princess, we must not get caught going to the kitchen in the middle of the night. What should we do to get to the kitchen without being caught?"
"Tiptoe...!"
And so, the 'Late Night Kitchen Infiltration Operation' of the princess and me began.
The princess and I stood on our tiptoes and headed toward the royal kitchen without making a sound.
We did run into the knights on guard duty, but when I signaled them by putting a finger to my lips, the quite perceptive royal knights saw the princess and me heading to raid the kitchen and closed their eyes as if they hadn't seen anything.
They even acted out a little, heightening the princess's sense of tension. If we hid behind a wall, a knight would stomp his feet loudly, then come to a sudden stop right in front of us.
To avoid being caught by the knight, the princess held her breath, covering her nose and mouth with both hands, not even breathing until her face turned red. Only when the knight's footsteps faded away did the princess let out a Puha-!
As we enjoyed such a thrilling game, we eventually arrived at the dark, empty royal kitchen. As we tiptoed into the kitchen, we were finally able to discover our target.
Perhaps they had moved the cakes and snacks that were in front of the princess's room to this place; seeing the mountain of cakes and egg tarts, the princess's eyes lit up, and she gulped, swallowing her saliva.
I covered my mouth with my finger and whispered to the princess, "Shh."
"It's not good to eat too much at night... so, which one do you want to eat, the cake or the egg tart?"
The princess also covered her mouth with both hands and whispered back.
"Can't I eat both...?"
"No. You have to pick one. If you eat two snacks at night, you'll get fat like that cat we drew the other day."
With a kkeueung (groan), the princess agonized between the cake and the egg tart in front of her, and eventually, she grabbed both snacks, holding the egg tart out to me and the cake to herself.
"Can't the Queen and I share and eat one bite each? Then we can eat both...!"
"Pu-hut."
Should I call it cunning, or should I call it smart? The princess, with sparkling eyes, held the cake out to me and urged me to take it quickly.
When I didn't take the cake and just stared at the princess as if to say no, the princess looked between the cake and the egg tart in her hands with a sullen expression. And then—
"Th-then, I'll eat the cake... would you like to eat the egg tart, Queen...? Then you can eat more of the egg tart... And it tastes better when we share it..."
The princess held out the egg tart she had wanted to eat to me, and with a sullen expression, lifted the plate with the cake on it. Does she think I refused because I wanted to hog the egg tart?
I burst into laughter at the sight of the princess holding out the egg tart to me with a sullen expression. When I took the egg tart the princess had offered, the princess let out a deep sigh, as if the world were ending, looking truly disappointed.
I stroked the princess's hair and accepted her proposal.
"Fufu, alright. Like you said, if we share and eat one bite each, we can eat both the cake and the egg tart. Shall we go back to the room and share them?"
At the mention of sharing the snacks, the princess beamed.
"Yes!"
Having tiptoed back to the room, we sat on the bed and began to share the snacks. Usually, if people saw us eating snacks on the bed like this, they would say it's a bad habit or something...
But right now, it was the middle of the night when everyone was asleep.
And, there was no one in the room but the princess and me. Couldn't we afford this much deviation at such an hour? I skewered an egg tart with a fork and popped it into the princess's mouth, which she had opened wide with an Ah~.
One bite for the princess sitting between my legs, one bite for me. We shared our snacks using only one fork. It was the result of forgetting to bring cutlery in our haste to grab the snacks.
"Is it that delicious?"
"Yes!"
The princess smiled brightly, as if it were unbelievable that she was the same child who had been crying her eyes out just a while ago, and accepted the snack I offered in one bite.
By the time we finished the egg tart, the princess snatched the fork I was holding and scooped up a bite-sized piece of the cake on her lap, holding it out to me.
"You try some too, Queen."
As the princess pushed the fork toward my mouth as if to say Ah-ang~, I had no choice but to open my mouth wide and eat the cake she offered.
It was a scene that looked like a baby bird feeding its mother bird. I felt a strange sense of embarrassment and told the princess she could eat it all by herself, but the princess insisted on one bite for you, one bite for me.
As we quickly polished off the cake and egg tart, the princess seemed sleepy from being full; she placed her hands on her bulging belly and blinked her sleepy eyes.
It was very late, and she had been crying until now, so she must be sleepy.
"If you want to wake up early in the morning, let's go to sleep quickly."
"Umm... I don't want to..."
I tried to lay the sleepy, blinking princess down on the bed to sleep, but the princess grabbed my hand tightly and whined that she didn't want to sleep yet.
I had no choice but to lie down next to her and pat her belly diligently, and the princess glanced over and looked up at me. Still seeming anxious, the princess mumbled in a sleepy voice.
"Don't go... sleep here... okay?"
A child who grabbed my hand tightly and begged me not to go. Even though I had said I would always be by her side, she seemed anxious, as if my words alone weren't enough, and she begged me to sleep here while holding my hand tightly.
"Don't worry."
I smoothed out the princess's messy bangs and smiled bitterly. We had made a promise, but she must still be very anxious. She must be worried about what would happen if she woke up and I wasn't there.
The wounds from not receiving love from her parents would be hard to heal, but at least until this child became an adult, no, at least until she graduated from the academy, I wanted to help those wounds heal.
"I will always be by your side."
I looked at the princess and told another 'lie'.
So that the princess could be at ease, so that she could sleep a little more comfortably.
Perhaps feeling better because of my 'lie', the princess smiled bashfully and burrowed into my arms. I also gently stroked the hair of the princess who had burrowed into my arms, and slowly closed my eyes to go to sleep.
...And that day, I had a dream.
A dream where the adult princess looked at me with eyes full of disgust.
In the dream, for some reason, I couldn't move. It was as if my hands and feet were tied by guilt, unable to even run away. In the dream, the princess shouted something at me, but I couldn't hear it.
The princess just looked at me and made various expressions.
Laughing, getting angry, shouting.
And, she even made a face that looked like she was really going to cry.
It was just a dream, but for some reason, my heart was pounding violently. Feeling the heartbeat of someone who seemed both scared and sad, I woke up with a start, as if I had had a nightmare.
"A dream...?"
When I woke up, I saw the princess who had burrowed into my arms and fallen asleep. Unlike the adult princess I saw in the dream, she was fast asleep with a bashful smile, as if she were truly happy.
It was just a nightmare born from guilt, surely, it must be—
Thinking that, I slowly shook the princess's shoulder to wake her up.
"Princess, wake up. It's already morning."
*
That day, in the afternoon.
It was on the way to my room with the princess after her dance practice. Last night, ever since the princess made a promise with me, she wouldn't leave my side, like a shadow.
Because she held out her hand to hold mine whenever she had the chance, it felt like I had spent more than half of today holding hands with the princess. Naturally, that was bound to draw attention from those around us.
The passing maids, the nobles working in the royal palace, and even Vin Chaud, who had come to check on the state of her lessons, all looked at the princess and me with surprised expressions and smiled with satisfaction.
Vin Chaud, who had been genuinely worried about the princess's seclusion incident, was even shedding tears, saying he was truly relieved. Honestly, even I felt my heart drop the moment I heard the princess was secluding herself.
'Where did she learn such bad habits...'
When I turned my head and glanced down at the princess holding my hand, she seemed to feel my gaze, looked up, and made eye contact with me. Then, the princess immediately beamed at me. It was quite different from yesterday.
It doesn't seem like she'll seclude herself anymore, but...
I wondered what I would do if she hit puberty later and said, 'I'm going to seclude myself!' Shouldn't the King make a law that forbids seclusion? I thought, but... what use is that when royalty is above the law?
As I was having such trivial thoughts, the princess and I arrived at my room. As I subconsciously turned the doorknob and entered the room—
-Agaya!
"Silphy?!"
Silphy, who flew in like the wind, crashed into my chest and buried herself there. Silphy, who had disappeared for nearly a month, flew to me and shed tears, saying she was happy to see me.
"Why are you so late...? Did something happen?"
At my worried question, Silphy shook her head. Then, she fluttered up and flew toward the window, which was wide open for some reason, even though I had definitely closed it.
It was hard to see because of the curtains and the backlight, but someone was standing where Silphy had flown. It was a small girl wearing a maid outfit, not the royal palace maid outfit, but one similar to it.
The girl's first impression was that of a 'doll'.
She was a girl with silver hair that looked like it had been finely spun from silver, and clear, transparent blue eyes like the clear autumn sky.
Her skin looked as white as snow, and since she even had silver hair, even her eyebrows were snow-white, and only her lips had a slight reddish tint, so it really made me think she was a well-made 'doll'.
Silphy, who had landed softly on the shoulder of the small girl, began to introduce her while tapping the cheek of the 'doll'-like girl.
-I'm very late because of some work. Still, this 'Witch' who read Agaya's letter has come to help Agaya, you know? This 'Witch' is—
As Silphy tried to introduce the 'Witch' on her behalf, the girl raised her hand and covered Silphy's mouth. As if to say she would introduce herself, the girl stepped forward and bowed her head.
"Nice to meet you. Vivian."
As she bowed, her straight, neat bangs swayed. The girl who raised her head again stared at me with a completely expressionless face, then slowly opened her mouth.
"I read the letter well. As written in the letter, I have come to help your friend, Ainsel. And, I would like to hear more specifically about the 'incident' you experienced."
"Then, you are..."
"Yes, that is correct."
The doll-like girl proudly puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips. Then, she began to introduce herself in a loud voice as if she were proud, but her expression remained expressionless.
"My name is Frankenstein. I am one of the 'Witches of the Coven',
the biological daughter of the legendary genius scientist 'Victor Frankenstein',
and the only 'Doctor who treats fairies' in this world."
That is... that 'Witch' Frankenstein?
As I was quite surprised by Frankenstein's appearance, which was so different from what I had imagined, Frankenstein, who had suddenly become sullen, continued in a sullen voice.
"However, as a human, I am a third-rate 'artificial human'..."