Translated by Yonnee
Doah brought the card over to a drawer and stored it there.
After that, she recalled what Angelus just said.
‘Classes after a month?’
Doah recalled the man who had been in charge of Bunny’s education for two years.
She decided to read some of the books that had been assigned to her.
「 Basic social etiquette 」
「 History of the Continent 」
「 Art during the Period of Decline 」
「 The Warring Period and Literary Ideology 」
As she read through the books, much of the content was different from what Bunny’s tutor had taught her.
It was either of the two.
First, perhaps her tutor wasn’t good at his job. Second, he intentionally taught her wrong information.
‘Will he be the same tutor again, I wonder.’
If he was, then that would be great.
Doah’s eyes glinted red. Then, at that moment,
Knock, knock—
A short rapping sound came from the door, and soon after, a familiar maid stuck her head through the small opening.
“Princess, I have gathered a group of maids who have volunteered to take care of you temporarily…”
It was that foolish maid.
* * *
She was walking around well enough, so why on earth were they here to ‘take care’ of her?
She was going to decline them.
“Princess, say ah—”
“……”
And as it could be seen, she had failed to do that.
Doah looked down at the spoon of soup that the maid had briefly blown on.
It was so suffocating because of the excessively affectionate gazes directed at her.
This maid’s name was Ruby.
She was the maid that day when Salvier had ordered a lot of food to be cooked, and she was the one who distributed it to the other servants.
‘What the hell have you been saying about me?’
That’s all Doah wanted to ask.
Just what did she say to the others that there was not just one, but an entire group of servants who had volunteered to take care of Doah?
“My arm is going to fall off, Princess.”
“I’ll… I’ll eat by myself.”
“No, it’s too heavy!”
She had never heard of a spoon being heavy before.
But Ruby was being serious.
“The doctor said that you’re malnourished, Princess.”
At this, the other maids were moved to tears.
“Malnourished… That just can’t be. How sick must have the Princess been that she couldn’t even eat properly…”
A few days ago, the grand duchy’s family doctor had given her a check-up and henceforth diagnosed Bunny with malnutrition.
But did it even make sense that the princess of House Credel had been abused and was malnourished?
She should have been able to eat exotic delicacies any time she wanted.
The maids had misunderstood on their own, that Ophelia had been so ill that she couldn’t eat food properly all this time.
Thanks to this, Doah couldn’t even have any peace during her mealtimes.
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“Have just one spoon, please. Our Princess, it’ll be really big trouble if you don’t. Please?”
“Please, Princess. Now, say ah—”
If she were to be touched, she would break. If a gust of wind were to blow, she would scatter away. That’s what they thought.
And although it’s publicly known that she had been suffering from a severe case of the epidemic until now, they had no qualms about being near her.
It was their first time seeing Ophelia, who Doah was posing as, and they were treating her as if they’d been loyally serving her for decades.
‘I’m sure it’s because they volunteered.’
She didn’t expect such a good response after she had only passed on the food that Salvier had given on his own.
‘It’s probably because Ophelia is the symbol of peace who is loved by all.’
Doah thought that as she glanced back at the maid’s desperate urging.
‘I’m reminded of Grandma.’
She was the one who raised Park Doah when Doah herself had just been waiting for death to come to her.
Of course, her grandmother didn’t flatter her like this to the point that she was babied.
“Eat. Those who live must continue to live.”
“Even if I’m alive, what’s the point of living though?”
“Don’t say that. If you treat yourself like dog shit even when you’re born with such a great name, then you really will live like dog shit.”
Even so, she was more affectionate and more gentle to Doah more than anyone else.
“My Doah, you are a spring tree. Spring is the time when flowers bloom on a spring tree. With your fate, you will have many spring trees, enough to form a forest. Wouldn’t it be nice if you can just wait for winter to pass for now?”
“Will I be able to live until then?”
“The spring tree is a symbol for strong vitality. It has taken root in the frozen soil and overcame the harsh frost of the winter. If you try to cut down a spring tree, it’s the axe that would chip away.”
Don’t worry. You’ll be stronger than anyone else.
That’s what her grandmother said.
With a conviction as though she was saying something obvious without not one shadow of doubt, Doah’s grandmother told her that she would bloom in the spring.
And so, Doah had been left waiting for the terribly long, harsh winter to pass.
She learned how to survive through the winter.
Thanks to her grandmother, Doah learned that even though it was a miserable life, there could still be a candle there that could brighten up the darkness.
‘I died before that spring came though.’
Ah, but wasn’t she alive now? And, more tenaciously than anyone else.
Fate would follow the individual’s soul¹, and even now as she was in a different body, Doah’s fate remained to be that of a spring tree.
‘Right, I must eat. I need to eat so I can live.’
She would have to survive so that she could greet the new spring—on the day that the flowers would finally bloom.
With this thought in mind, Doah slowly opened her lips.
“Oh, what a good girl. Please eat a lot.”
“Have another bite, Princess.”
“Does your stomach hurt?”
Of course though, she still couldn’t get used to this babying treatment.
While she chewed on her food, Doah nodded.
Because of the soft, ticklish atmosphere, her every move felt stiff as though she was an ungreased machine that creaked every time.
‘Why am I being so stiff?’
Perhaps because she had no immunity towards pure kindness that did now ask for anything in return.
As she was thinking about this, it was at that moment.
Knock, knock—
Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the door.
Knock, knock, knock—
Far from what’s customarily courteous, it was a sound that exuded a sharp temperament.
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¹ Instead of ‘soul’, the actual phrasing of it is the ‘ego’, which consciously acts and gives the body agency. But for the sake of brevity, the word ‘soul’ was used.