Chapter 31

“First of all, I will order a maid to take care of the poor bird and heal it’s injury.”

It was a generous but arrogant, aristocratic answer.

It wasn’t 100 points, but it was okay.

“Oh, I see.”

The reaction of the nobles was just so normal. I continued speaking.

“And after taking care of that pretty and beautiful bird, I will put it in a cage and present it to my parents who adopted me.”

“…Why?”

Beautiful and pretty birds were precious, but you must be wondering why I would give it to them as a gift.

I replied with a bright smile.

“It resembles the affection that my parents who adopted me gave me… Because they are the people who brought me here when I was alone and lost. I want to repay them in some way.”

I lowered my eyes to stimulate the emotions of adults, and the effect was amazing.

The nobles exclaimed softly.

“Oh my goodness…!”

“…Annette, you have such a commendable idea.”

“She’s a really smart, pure, lovely kid.”

“How can you give me such a touching answer…”

A middle-aged man who had reached menopause was moved and dabbed his tears with a handkerchief.(TL/N: based on my experience with this author’s other novel, this sentence is what it is. Well, I guess she wrote it this way because feelings of sadness are one of the most common emotional symptoms of menopause, and yes, men can get it too.)

Next to him, his wife whispered, “What a fool!” Paak! She lightly hit the top of his balding head, but he couldn’t stop crying.

“Then, please excuse me.”

‘I think I’ve gotten enough points.’

I apologized to everyone and got away from the nobles for a while.

‘Whoa.’

‘How many times have there been a crisis?’

It was like stepping into a minefield, step by step. It was really tiring, this socialization training.

It was when I was barely breathing.

“……?”

A certain gaze was felt from beyond the small table.

Rather than an unpleasant gaze, it seemed like I suddenly felt the gaze of a baby squirrel while I was hiking.

‘Who is that kid?’

The moment our eyes met, he hid so quickly that only his plump cheeks were visible.

I became a little curious about the identity of the boy with those cheeks as sticky as glutinous rice, so I got up and walked towards it.

“……!”

Then the child suddenly turned around and went inside.

“Oh, wait!”

I followed the boy.

He stared at me like he had something to say, but why was he running away!

Judging by the silhouette, it was clearly a boy.

I couldn’t seem to catch him, so I increased my pace and chased after the child.

Then I found the child behind the banquet hall.

‘…Hey, I can see everything.’

‘Is that supposed to be hiding?’

This time, he hid behind the stone statue, and only his soft, milky ‘chestnut hair’ was seen.

“Hi?”

When I raised my hand to say hello, the child hurriedly jumped and went inside.

“Excuse me! Chestnut!”

I urgently tried to call him, but he ran so fast that he completely disappeared from view.

It was then.

There was something stuck to my feet.

“…What?”

‘I think the chestnut dropped it.’

It was a card.

Without hesitation, I picked up the card and opened it. Inside, there was a very cute puppy brooch.

“Oh.”

But it was full of diamonds, so the price would not be cute at all.

On the card it was written:

「 Dogs are smart pets, Annette. 」

“……?”

‘Does he know me? Did he drop this on purpose to give it to me?’

‘Dogs are, of course, smart animals.’

I really like cute things, like kids, squirrels and cats. And all the other animal friends.

Among them, I definitely love dogs. 

‘What the hell does this message mean?’

I flipped the card over to see if there was any other thing written on it, but that was all the message of the boy with the chestnut hair.

But it was then. A loud noise was heard from the banquet hall, enough to take away my nerves about the dog and chestnut at once.

“Shit! Don’t touch me!”

“……!”

‘It’s Heinrich’s voice.’

Something must have happened!

I hurriedly ran into the banquet hall.

***

“Damn it, let me go!”

Quite a shocking situation was taking place in the banquet hall.

Heinrich was being caught by a nobleman and struggling.

“You, this guy, what kind of habit is that!”

The nobleman’s swallow-like mustache was shaking, his entire face expressing the shock of being cursed by a cute yet ferocious child.

“I don’t like being touched.”

The boy’s bold purple eyes were filled with annoyance.

‘A wound on the cheek!’

It was then that I understood the situation.

Come to think of it, that nobleman has been stroking Heinrich since before.

I mean, it was because he was so cute. But it wasn’t enough, so he even touched his cheek.

‘Then he would have been scratched by the ring.’

In the beginning, Heinrich, who hated being touched by others, seemed to be enduring it. But he eventually exploded.

Just as expected.

“I’m just doing it because you’re cute…! You’re such a rude guy. I cut your cheek by accident!”

“Why are you squealing like that? Knock it off.”

Heinrich glared and gnawed at him like a kitten who was driven into a corner, uttering harsh words.

What he really wanted to say was, ‘Please don’t touch me. I don’t like it. And my cheek that was scratched by the ring hurt!’

–It would have been something like that.

But the screwed up chihuahua was a defensive, immature and twisted child, so he could only express his temper in that way.

“I’m sorry, Viscount! I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

“You, get out of here!”

As I blocked his way, the viscount pushed my shoulder harshly as if in anger.

However, I politely apologized to him again without a single scream.

“It’s because Heinrich is afraid of being touched. Viscount, please be generous with the child’s mistakes.”

“Sister…”

When I appeared, Heinrich’s sharpness softened and his face returned to that of an 11-year-old.

It was an expression of belated regret that something happened because of him, which caused me to get involved.

“You’re like a wild foal!”

However, the viscount glared at us with his eyes wide open, there was no sign of his anger easing. Then he furrowed his brows and scratched his head.

“No matter how well you receive the education of a noble and wear precious clothes like a noble…”

What I felt in those cold eyes.

“You can’t mask the humble origin and blood flowing through your body.”

It was outright contempt.

“……!”

I stiffened as I was holding Heinrich.

It was the first time.

To be despised by adults like this.

‘Ah, Heinrich… Sislin.’

All this while, they must have lived while enduring these eyes and words.

For the first time, I vaguely realized how hard life must have been for the boys.

It was only now that I understood Heinrich’s dislike of socialization training to the point of death.

‘…I’m sorry, Heinrich.’

I didn’t know, and whenever he complained that he didn’t want to go to socialization training, I scolded him…

It felt like my body and mind became as small as a mouse hole in an instant in front of the cold adult eyes.

It was at the time when one part of my heart was gradually falling apart.

“I won’t leave you alone if you talk to my sister like that!”

The chihuahua rushed in, grabbed the viscount arm, and bit him!

“Argh!”

It was when the viscount was trying to shake Heinrich off, flailing his arms unsightly.

There was a quiet, low voice that cut through the commotion.

“I hear loud noises on a fun banquet day. What kind of noise is that?”

For a moment, the surrounding crowd turned their heads all at once and looked back towards the voice.

Soon, the nobles gathered around the commotion moved, and the man’s body was clearly revealed.

His silver-gray hair, shining calmly under the light, gave him a sense of dignity, while his red eyes exuded a sense of intimidation.

Although he had a smile on his lips, he exuded a strange coolness as if he had a thick snake wrapped around the nape of his neck.

“…Prince!”

The viscount immediately bowed in great respect.

***

Gerard von Axelferion.

He was the first prince of the El Dorado Empire, and although he had not yet been appointed as crown prince, he was called the next emperor in name and reality.

It was because the ability and talent he had were qualitatively different from other princes. The most extraordinary thing was ‘presence’.

With his appearance, the banquet hall, which had been so noisy, became quiet without a single click.

It wasn’t just an illusion. Even the symphony that played in the banquet hall was no longer heard by everyone.

The nobles all lowered themselves in unison and bowed down to the prince.

‘Red eyes!’

I felt faint and bowed down.

Maybe it was because he had a different mother from Sislin, but he had a strangely different feeling.

‘It’s amazing.’

Gerard came close and said, looking down at us with long eyes. 

“They’re so cute.”

His eyes, which were overwhelming as if weighing on his opponent, unexpectedly felt warm when he looked at us children. 

Even his voice was sweet.

“Oh, my. How did he hurt his cheek?”

Gerard noticed Heinrich’s wound and asked.

At that time, the viscount intervened with a face full of resentment. 

“Dear Prince, please punish this spoiled little foal severely!”

“……”

The prince looked down at Heinrich with a stiff face.