CH 92

“Aren’t you busy these days?”

“I’m busy. I have to go to the mine again tomorrow. I won’t return for a few days.”

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: I’m going to miss you, so I’ll look at you a lot today.

…I need to take care of Damian tomorrow as well.

“Ah……”

Siervian understood the situation after seeing his thoughts and scratched at her cheek again.

Karmen had been thinking about that a lot lately. The mining problem was originally her brother’s job, but he sent Karmen instead.

“Give me that. I’ll do it for you.”

“Hmm…”

She needed to do homework herself.

However Siervian, who had already been stabbed by the needles many times, was in agony.

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: I came all the way here. I can’t let her focus on that piece of cloth throughout our conversation. I need to get rid of it quickly.

Still, Karmen looked upset.

But Siervian, reading his thoughts, eventually held out her embroidered cloth as if she could not win.

‘Well, the mine is too far away to send a magic message.’

There was a distance limit to magic messages.

The limit could increase when the two of them matured, but right now, they had to be together in the imperial palace to reach each other.

“You want to embroider Cassia?”

“Yes.”

“…How about the worms that move between Cassia flowers?”

“Karmen!”

Siervian shouted at him as he deliberately teased her.

Nevertheless, Karmen snorted once and quickly moved his hand.

He had a different level of speed and ability from her.

“You’re good at sewing.”

“Oh, my younger siblings often tore their clothing. I couldn’t afford to buy them new clothes, so I worked hard to… Hmm, I fixed it.”

“Oh…”

Karmen’s younger siblings had moved into Siervian’s Welfare Foundation.

Before that, they lived in a slum with Karmen. She had heard that his younger siblings weren’t related by blood to each other.

Her eyes turned again to Karmen’s status window.

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: Well, it’s pretty cute for a worm when I look at it again. I shouldn’t have teased her. What if she gets upset?

‘Hmm, can I ask him about this?’

Siervian kept looking at his last name in the status window and ignored his thoughts about the worm.

‘Is he related to Kasselov the Great?’

When she first met Karmen, she felt a sense of déjà vu hearing that last name.

Don’t tell me it was felt because of what she had read in a history book.

“Karmen.”

“What?”

“When did you start living with your younger siblings?”

As a child, she withheld the question for a long time. Because he was just a child, she had borne the curiosity for a long time.

Unlike before, she could ask the sensitive question now.

Karmen looked at the embroidery cloth and answered the sudden question.

His slightly furrowed brows seemed like his expression when something didn’t go as he wanted.

“I don’t know. I’ve lived in the slums from my earliest memory, and my younger siblings gathered before I knew it. We have to stick together to survive.”

“Ah…”

Just in case, Siervian had already checked the last names of all nobles in the empire.

Of course, there was no noble with the last name Kasselov.

So she wondered if Karmen came from a distant kingdom.

“Why do you suddenly ask that?”

“Just because. I suddenly got curious while talking about your younger siblings.”

“Ahh…”

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: Hmm, she had a bad teacher. Should I help her and take this class together with her?

There seemed to be no reason for Karmen to deceive her about his origin.

If he wanted to deceive her, she thought it would have been obvious.

Siervian didn’t pursue it any further, because she felt she was opening her friend’s wounds for no reason.

‘They said Elves weren’t much different from humans on the surface. But I’m not sure.’

Siervian was troubled by the secret of his birth, which Karmen himself did not know.

She hoped she could help him one day though.

“Okay, this is enough.”

“Wow!”

Surprisingly, the embroidery cloth, which used to be crawling with worms, now held the shapes of flowers.

It was the same color as Cassia.

“…I’ll outline another flower.”

“Yes!”

The two agreed with a mischievous look on their faces.

“Aren’t you going to eat the cake?”

“Should we start eating?”

“Yes”

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: I haven’t eaten anything I like for quite a while now, so I should eat it and go play.

Siervian smiled as she looked at his displeased expression and thoughts.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason.”

“Hurry and eat, I’m busy!”

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: Well, just sitting and laughing with her is not bad either.

“Yes, yes.”

Siervian smiled again and lifted her fork.

Then suddenly, she remembered the thing he mentioned earlier.

“How many days will you be at the mine?”

“Well, about a week?”

“Why?”

Karmen had been dispatched to the place where a large vein of Kurchad ore was buried.

Kurchad ore was classified as a very important resource because it increases mana conductivity.

That didn’t mean the mages dug the ore themselves, so she was a bit curious about it.

“I need to do some things. I think there’s some monster hanging around.”

“Monster?!”

There were, of course, monsters in the snowy mountains outside the palace.

But she didn’t think her friend had something to do with those monsters, so Siervian was surprised and stopped eating.

“No, well, it appeared once. Just once.”

“Really?”

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: There were more monsters than I thought, but I shouldn’t tell her because she’ll worry.

Liar!

She was surprised, but she couldn’t bear to question him, so Siervian agonized inside.

Of course Karmen will become a great mage in the future. He was already a very good mage.

‘But he is still young now.’

He was taller than Siervian, but he was young. Especially to her, a grown-up adult inside.

[Karmen Kasselov]

Thoughts: It would have been easier if it wasn’t for the mage who was dispatched with me. That person looks suspicious, how can I find out?

‘Who?’

It would be nice to see for herself the person dispatched with him.

Planning to see him to find out, Siervian kept an eye on Karmen’s expression.

His beautiful silver eyes turned toward her.

“It’s true. And even if a monster comes out, it’s no match for me.”

“Yes.”

She believed in his skills, but she was worried because there were many monsters.

In her previous life, the Kurchad mine had been closed after a monster attack.

‘That was because of Count Mirccino, wasn’t it?’

So, if Count Mirccino used some magic tool and wasn’t discovered, it wouldn’t happen this time.

He had employed it far away from the monster habitat. Because of this, the mine, which was near the habitat, was attacked.

“But still, be careful. Got it?”

“Don’t worry about useless things.”

Strangely, she kept worrying. She was afraid Karmen would be hurt.

“Promise me you’ll be careful.”

Siervian held out her pinky finger to him. Karmen held out his hand for a moment then reluctantly intertwined his fingers with hers.

“Yes, alright.”

[Karmen Kasselov]

Mood: Excited

Thoughts: It’s true. I should be a little more careful.

Siervian smiled as she looked at his ears, which turned slightly red when he was embarrassed.

“Right, the teacher…”

Siervian eventually parted ways with Karmen after chatting in the drawing room.

Their brief conversation continued until the sun set.

Karmen left, but he didn’t actually want to leave.

“Oh, did you do it?”

Ellie had appeared to clean the drawing room and asked in surprise seeing the embroidery cloth on the table.

“…Karmen helped me.”

“Oh.”

Ellie coughed for a moment and rushed to make excuses.

“No, of course, you’re good…”

“It’s okay. I guess I’m not good at embroidery.”

Hearing her calm voice, Ellie and Jane exchanged gazes.

Then they began to console her in a hurry.

“It’s alright, you’re good at magic even if you’re not good at this, and you’re pretty!”

“Of course. Considering the princess’ cuteness, it’ll be a problem if you’re good at this as well.”

“….”

The direction of their consolation was strange, but Siervian decided to nod.

She knew they wanted to console her anyway.

“Shall we take a bath now?”

“Yes!”

They talked nonstop as they went up to the bedroom carrying the embroidery stuff.

Since some time ago, the Princess Palace has been filled with lively conversations.

“By the way, our princess has already grown enough to embroider herself…”

Suddenly, Ellie looked out the window and spoke.

Siervian also felt strange because she could understand why Ellie said that.

“I thought so too. At first, I was worried because the princess was too thin, but these days, you’re full of energy so it’s nice.”

As Jane said, Siervian was thin, and now she had such a busy schedule. Especially after establishing the welfare foundation. She needed to head there once a week.

“By the way, Princess. Do you know about Cassia flowers?”

“Yes!”

“Madeleine said she’s working on a study. Are you planning to publicize the results when it’s done?”

“Probably. What’s wrong?”