CH 17

Roberick grabbed hold of my arm in case I was startled by them. But when I looked at him with a cold look, he let go of his hand awkwardly.

“Daddy, today is the day I meet the Crown Prince, how do I look? I need to look pretty!”

Allea, who had been walking quietly until now, suddenly spoke.

“Of course, our Allea is as pretty as ever.”

At Roberick’s words, the pretty girl with a calm impression smiled shyly, blushing her cheeks.

Roberick looked down at Allea with a smile full of satisfaction.

And added slowly.

“…You don’t have to cling too much to the Crown Prince. If Chastia’s wishes seem burdensome to you, ignore them. I will always respect your will.”

“Hehe, I see. Don’t worry too much, Dad!”

…what a harmonious relationship between a father and daughter.

I stared at Allea and Roberick with a salty look and turned my head.

“That…”

“Oh, Edith, how many days has it been since father told you? His highness the Crown Princess’ name is…”

Allea seemed to be trying to say something more, but Roberick turned his attention to me.

“Valerian Heine Ruairi, the crown prince, is 10 years old this year. The second prince and his highness’ half-brother, Prince Handel Hanal Ruairi, is two years younger than him.”

I answered mechanically.

“…Yes.”

I don’t remember hearing about this at all. Oh well.

Roberick’s pupils trembled slightly.

He somehow stroked my hair with a bitter smile, probably gently in case it might get messed up.

“If you’re scared, rely on me anytime. Your father will always protect you.”

What are you saying?

I was going to shake off Roberick’s hand, but realising there was a new addition to the crowd around me, I put up with it.

“I greet the Grand Duke Haelian. May the protection of light always be with you.”

At that time, an aristocrat who was passing by us spoke.

“The Count of Euphus. Long time no see. Is the Emperor inside?”

The gray-haired old noble, Count Euphus, smiled affectionately.

“He’s been here for an hour. He’s always very thorough with the checking of everything. Oh, this fellow is…”

Then the count’s eyes reached me, who was standing next to Roberick’s.

Somehow, my heart was fluttering at the sight of the old people who looked like my grandfather.

“The rumour must already be spreading.This is my biological daughter, Edith Ronen Haelian.. Soon, she will be officially awarded the title of Grand Princess.”

“Oh, I see…! It’s an honour to meet you, Little Camellia of Haelian.”

I hesitated and slightly overlapped my fingertips on the wrinkled hand handed to me. This was the first time a stranger had greeted me like this since I arrived at the grand palace.

The Count of Euphus spoke, staring at me with a pleased face.

“If she is Haelian’s off-spring, is she also blessed by light?”

“No, Edith is blessed by Ilipia. Her remaining attributes aren’t related to me.”

“I see. But the Spirit King of Life has blessed you, an occurrence I am sure will not happen in the Empire again. Ilipia holds the power to even revive the dead.”

The Count of Euphus looked down at me again with eyes full of something like admiration.

“The blessing of light is so rare that there is a saying that Ilipia only blessed a mortal once an era. It is truly auspicious that the grand princess inherited that attribute from the Grand Duke.” 

…it’s a little burdensome when they’re being so upbeat.

“Father, I think we’ve lost a lot of time.”

At that time, Allea, who had been completely out of their attention, opened her mouth.

Roberick glanced down at Allea and said goodbye to the Count of Euphus.

“Then I’ll meet you again in the ceremony.”

“Yes, your grace. Until then, I wish you peace, young grand princess.”

Count Euphus bid me goodbye with a playful smile.

As my grandfather taught me, I lifted the hem of my skirt slightly and sinked into a low bow.

Originally, the Grand Princess’ title was higher than a count’s, but I have not yet been recognized as one yet, so I had to take appropriate measures.

The count grinned as if I was cute and walked away.

“…”

It was at that moment that Allea’s face, with her tightly shut mouth, came into my vision.

… What?

Come to think of it, that old man…he didn’t say hello to Allea, did he?

“Let’s head in now, Edith.”

I was a little taken aback, but Roberick took my hand and led us on as if he didn’t care much.

Allea, who turned to look back one last time, had a cold and hard expression on her face.

A cold era like a current still flowed around the girl’s soft complexion.

…I felt bad.

I stopped looking at Allea and turned my head.

The door engraved with the same phoenixs that seemed to come alive opened, slowly letting us in.

“Welcome, Roberick.”

The steady voice of a man sitting against a throne comfortably greeted us.

…I’m meeting another major character from the original novel.

I slowly looked up.

Then, I gently bit my lip because of the gaze I immediately encountered.

Unlike his fiery red-colored hair, his dark cobalt-blue eyes were staring at me with an expression of interest.

The hand on his chin wore a black leather gove used to control his powers by the spirit of power. The other hand was the same.

Oswald Tristan Ruairi, Emperor.

He was as described in the novel.

“You are the child in the rumours.”

A handsome man with a fierce, robust, seductive atmosphere at the same time.

When his languid voice referred to me, my body naturally stiffened.

…the man who strongly suggested Chastia’s union with Roberick, and the co-author of my grandfather’s downfall.

He would never be favourable to me.

“Don’t be so nervous. Someone might think I’m trying to eat you.”

“!”

At that moment, Oswald smiled and said as if to tease me.

He smiled deeply, raising the corners of his mouth as if my reaction was interesting.

“She looks just like her mother.”

I couldn’t stop my expression from breaking when the words pierced my ears.

“Stop it, your majesty. My baby is not for you to tease.”

Roberick stepped in between us.

I’m kind of glad he did. If he hadn’t, I would’ve committed high-treason by staring at the eyes.

There was a loud laugh coming from the front obscured by Roberick.

“Can’t you handle a joke? I just said it for the sake of it, and I like her more than I expected. I was a bit sceptical since she’s Mariette’s child, but she resembles her parents greatly. There’s no way to not notice it.”

“…stop talking about it.”

Roberick said with such vigor that it was if he would grab Oswald by the collar right away if they were alone in this space.

“Yes, let’s stop playing around. Come out, my children.”

The situation seemed to be over.

At the voice of the emperor calling for the princes, I peeped out from behind Roberick’s legs.

From the back of the throne, two small human figures were walking out of a place covered by a red insignia.

One child was taller than me, the other child was smaller than me…

“This is the new Grand Princess of Haelian. What do you think, Valerian? This is the first time we’re meeting her.”

Valerian. It was the name of the crown prince.

The main characters’ second generation was not mentioned in the original novel…

I looked at the boy who was supposed to be the young prince, with some uneasiness.

“Oh….”

A small exclamation came from the mouth of the boy standing on the right side of the emperor.

His hair, similar to the emperor, but a lighter shade, reflected the light shining from the ceiling and glowed a soft red. Gentle, drooping eyes filled with green pupils, looked at me with slight tremors.

He was a soft-looking boy who looked more suitable for the expression “pretty” than handsome. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived life looking at an unimaginably good-looking face like mine and Roberick’s, but while the young prince definitely belonged to the axis of good-looking people, he didn’t impress me.

“…….”

However, the prince’s reaction was unusual.

The young boy couldn’t even close his open lips, and his cheeks were red, showing signs of being at a loss.

“Ha ha! Look at his face!”

The emperor burst into laughter, and Roberick subtly frowned at him.

What…why are they getting riled up all of a sudden?

I thought with a stinging look on my face.

“I have a lot of things I want to ask you about, so we better leave the children to themselves and catch up.”

After a laugh, the emperor said to Roberick with a deep smile.

“Yes. Edith, Allea, just wait outside for a bit.”

Roberick replied.

Then the emperor ordered the crown prince.

“Valerian, you take the children with you.”

So I was left between the crown prince, the second prince, and Allea.

It was a very unpleasant development, but it was not an unexpected situation at all.

“I see, Father.”

The crown prince approached this way with a delighted face.

“Nice to meet you, Grand Princess Edith.”

The crown prince seemed a little hesitant, reaching out to me with a light smile.

I turned my eyes slightly to the side and stared at Allea.

“…….”

Allea was looking at the crown prince, who asked me to shake his hand with an expressionless face.

I answered carefully.

“May you shine with a flame that never goes out, Your Highness, the crown prince of the Rpthian Empire. My name is Edith Ronen Haelian.”

“I’ve heard all about you. I’m very happy to be able to meet you like this.”

In response to my greeting, the crown prince turned around and spoke to his brother and Allea.

“Handel, Allea. Let’s go to my palace. Isn’t this the first time that Grand Princess Edith has visited the Imperial Palace? I’ll show you around.”

“Thank you.”

There’s no reason to refuse someone who is kind to me.

I smiled and accepted the crown prince’s favor.

“Have a good time playing with the princes and Allea. I’ll be right back.”

Without hesitation, Roberick’s hand stroked my head.

…I can’t take off his hand here.

“Come on, Your Royal Highness.”

Instead, I turned around and dragged the crown prince’s hand.

The crown prince opened his green eyes wide and smiled with his eyes bent.