Chapter 5
“Anya!”
The door was flung wide open. Elaine, who had come down from Alice’s arms, greeted her lively.
“Yes, hello.”
“You are cute today as well, Princess.”
“Hehe.”
The servants and maids who were passing by had noticed Elaine and approached her with wide grins.
Their steady stream of greetings worked. They quickly opened their hearts to Elaine, who greeted them awkwardly at first.
They came up to her hurriedly, talking to her as they rummaged around.
“Princess, this is a newly launched jam cookie from Bebe Bakery. I’ll give you one.”
“Well, this is candy made by my mother. There are only a few left, but I’m going to give them to you, princess.”
“Princess, eat this too!”
“Mine too!”
The people were very eager to give Elaine all kinds of snacks.
She was in the midst of a crowd of people.
Elaine, who was a bit stiff after receiving so many favours from people she knew, cherished every one of their gifts and cried out with a big smile.
“Wow! Thank you, everyone!”
“Kyaa~! You’re so cute!”
“Ack, I feel recharged.”
Together, they clutched at their hearts and put their hand on their cheek, shaking their heads.
But such an atmosphere did not last for long.
“Now, doesn’t everyone have work to do? If you keep chitter-chattering here, then you won’t be able to finish your work today.”
“Ugh.”
“What? It only lasted for a little while, but I felt like I went to heaven”.
“Yes, reality really is such a ditch.”
Alice stared daggers at their complaints and shouted.
“Really, these people. Can’t you just leave quickly?”
“Hick!”
Scamper.
It seemed that Alice had scared them, for the crew had run away.
Alice, who slowly lowered her raised fist, towered over everyone else. She coughed and tucked a strand of protruding hair behind her ear.
And this time, she turned to look at Elaine, who was hugging a whole armful of snacks?
Feeling anxious under her gaze, Elaine slowly backed away.
“W-Why?”
“Princess. You’re not planning to eat all of them today, right?”
“Yes? There’s not a lot…”
“Goodness! Are you saying that you can finish them? If you eat so much, your teeth will rot.”
“B-But it’s okay to eat a little…”
“Still no. It’s better to feel sad than to have rotted teeth!” Alice explained to Elaine firmly.
Elaine knew she was saying it out of worry, but before her stood ten large piles of sweet heaven.
She had no intention of giving it up.
‘Then it can’t be helped. I’ll have to use that method.’
Elaine, clenching her fists, took a deep breath.
First, step 1.
Elaine placed her finger at the corner of her lips and tilted her head, opening her mouth.
“Oh!”
Then, a reaction sprang from an unexpected place.
‘No, isn’t that surprising?’
From behind Alice, Bailey, who was kept in place under Cathy’s watch, made a dying sound.
Elaine tried to ignore the scene and move onto the second step.
Bailey, whose height did not even reach up to Alice’s nose, shoved her shoulder and began to speak.
“I will do it. Alice, how can you say such a difficult thing to a child?”
“Is that so? How is it difficult for the princess?”
“Of course. I’ll give you a demonstration, so watch carefully and follow along.”
“Wait a minute. Why are you even here…”
“Wow! Ha.”
Bailey quickly brushed aside Alice’s nagging and exhaled.
Twinkling her eyes, she gently grasped Elaine’s hand.
“Our Princess! If you eat something as sweet as this, your teeth will become discoloured. Is Princess still okay with it?”
“U-uh…”
Elaine was flustered.
To be precise, because of Bailey’s skillful silver tongue!
No, she’s not a kid. How can an adult perfectly imitate that tone?
Miraculous.
No, rather, it goes beyond novelty to the point where it’s scary.
Elaine’s shoulders were shaking but she didn’t know why.
Bailey saw that this was her chance and began to rub her cheeks in Elaine’s little hands with a puppy face.
“Our cute princes. Don’t you want to change? If you don’t, bad demons will come and harass our princess all day so you can’t sleep. Is that okay?”
“Ugh…”
No more of this.
Elaine, who was almost persuaded by Bailey’s ‘anti-magic’ powers, straightened her back as if she was getting sick of it.
As she shook her head, Elaine smiled at the change of mind.
“Look. Because you are young, you should do it this way, princess. Young children should have the eyes of young children! Do you understand?”
“Ok, the Princess understands, so get rid of your silver tongue before I hit you.
“Ohoho, are you jealous?”
“What?”
Despite having different statuses and positions, the two of them began to argue carelessly.
Elaine stared at them blankly.
Then Cathy, who was usually quiet, slid next to Elaine and handed her something.
“Princess. Please eat this.”
“Huh? Uh, thank you.”
Elaine took the gift from Cathy.
Although both sides struggled, the final winner was Alice, who has more elegant teeth and a better way with words.
She carried Elaine in her arms with a smug look, leaving Bailey pounding the ground with her fists.
Alice asked Elaine with a triumphant smile, “Now, shall we go see your Majesty the Emperor?”
“Benetti?”
She froze.
Elaine asked, handed an empty cup to Cathy. The triumphant smile that had been on Alice’s face faded, and was replaced with a shocked expression.
“Princess! What did you just say…”
“Benetti.”
“Hick! D-Don’t call Your Majesty’s name so carelessly!”
“I can’t?”
“Yes! Absolutely not!”
The way the baby had called the emperor’s name was adorable, but Alice craned her neck as she started to imagine the situation.
Even if Elaine is just a young child, committing such an imperial crime will end with the emperor pulling out his sword because of his personality.
As Alice shook her head vigorously at the terrifying thought, unbelievable words spewed out of Elaine’s mouth.
“But Benetti told me to call him that?”
“Really? H-His Majesty said to do so?”
Alice, Cathy, and Bailey exchanged glances and opened their mouths as if they couldn’t believe it.
Elaine exclaimed lively as she saw their faces.
“Unnie! Let’s go see Benetti!”
“Ah, yes yes!”
Alice snapped out of her thoughts and walked in a hurry.
The fact that she was sweating while walking was shocking.
‘Is it really such a big deal?’
But Elaine had not known just how serious this was.
Before her regression, the people around her never said anything even after King Astor had carelessly called the emperor’s name.
Besides, Elaine had only called the emperor by his last name and not first, as the daughter of King Astor would.
‘But since the Emperor said it was okay, it’ll probably be okay.’
Elaine paused. Did the emperor of this country lie to her?
Elaine relaxed her stiff body and buried her head comfortably in Alice’s arms.
Soon, Alice said, “Princess, we’ve arrived.”
“Huh? Already?”
Elaine blinked.
“Didn’t you say we were going to see Benetti?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
‘But why did we come here and not the office?’
Elaine stared blankly at the huge doors before her.
When they entered, the Emperor, Douglas Benedict, was sitting on the throne.
“Come here,” the emperor greeted with a smile.
* * *
Emperor of the Benedict Empire.
Douglas Benedict.
Even though he had succeeded the throne not too long ago, his stature was already great.
Ever since he took over, the empire’s prestige has been brought even further. The most recent event, with the rumor that Astor Kingdom had been made a tributary in just one month, fueled the tension between the surrounding kingdoms.
It was a mechanical city located in the west. The Benedict Empire was taking control of the whole continent as quickly as it had caused the dwarves to surrender
And as the center of such rumors, the emperor seemed to be sitting in a very arrogant posture.
‘What can you possibly want more than that?’
However, even now, Elaine had a different perspective of the emperor.
Elaine, who had come down from Alice’s arms, eagerly walked forward. Then, her mouth hung open as she looked at the throne which the emperor was sitting on.
‘Crazy. These are all spirit stones? Somehow I had felt familiar energy!’
Spirit stones!
It is said that there are very few in the world and said to be extremely rare. A miraculous ore that raises one’s abilities to the next level!
However, it is not easy to find, therefore spirit stones are astronomically high in value!
‘No way… It’s really a chair made of spirit stone.’
Usually, thrones are made of gold and other expensive minerals and gems. But the emperor was different from that class.
You can make a duplicate with something more expensive than the Mithril called ‘The Face of a Thousand’. It was such a luxury that you could never even try to get a hold of it without the current emperor.
In Elaine’s eyes, that throne was 100% pure. She didn’t know who made it, but the person who did must be a really significant person.
“Why are you looking like that?”
The tone and question seemed to be directed to her.
Realizing that the emperor was staring at her, she quickly threw on a cute smile in an attempt to overcome the predicament she had been placed in.
When the emperor saw her face, he clicked his tongue.
“Is this really that fascinating?”
“Yes! It’s amazing!”
“Hah, then there must be no such thing in the Astor Kingdom.”
Huh? That remark…
Somehow, it ignited a fire in her heart.
Elaine, who was struggling to keep her emotion in check, pointed to the throne made of spirit stone with an innocent face and said, “Is that really spirit stone?”
“Ho? Unlike the blood in Astor’s veins, your eyes are pretty sharp.”
“I’m not an Astor anymore, so don’t call me that,” Elaine pouted. The emperor sat the child on his lap.
Elaine could feel his warm lap and the function of the spirit stone at work. It was as refreshing as standing in a clear forest that heals the mind and body and fills the lungs with fresh air with one’s mouth open in an obtrude way.
Elaine, who felt a little better, glanced at the emperor and said, “Why did you call me here?”
Why is he, who is busy with work, not in the office but in a place that was distant from reality? The emperor also seemed to have no idea as to why he called Elaine to this place either.
Elaine had been fiddling with her fingers, but the emperor had chicly given a response.
“Just…”
“…”
“I called you here because I was bored while waiting.”
This… Should he be grateful for how she had changed from a mere roadside stone to a slightly more interesting one?
It’s probably fine. Looking at Elaine with a complex yet subtle face, his long fingers tapped at the little nose like water droplets.
“What kind of expression is that?”
“You’re playing with Eray?”
“What?”
“We’re playing dollhouse.”
Elaine, who had a lot of time to play alone in the Astor Kingdom, only knew how to play house games for children.
She flicked her fingers and looked up at his eyes. The emperor smiled with an absurd expression.
“Do as you wish,” his order fell.
Elaine, nodding her head with a triumphant face, shouted as if she had been waiting for those words.
“Then I’m going to be the mother! Benetti should act like a good son and not say anything!”
“Wait. Why am I the son…”
“Your Majesty. Duke Grande of Astor Kingdom has arrived.”
“Haa…”
Elaine’s eyes widened.
‘Are you sighing with relief now? Just because you don’t want to play the role of the son?’
Elaine didn’t know why, but she had felt a sense of humanity from him.
A corner of her heart was excited from an unexpected discovery.
But wait a minute. What did the man just say?
Astor Kingdom? Duke Grande…?
Surprise and amazement spread across Elaine’s face, and the door of reality had opened wide.
The Duke Mobi Grande soon appeared.
He made eye contact with the emperor and tried to greet him, opening his mouth wide open.