CH 21

Askari, who had done something terrible and passed out, was moved to the bedroom under Mir’s command.

He was diagnosed with a simple fainting by the royal doctor who examined him.

After that, the atmosphere in the banquet hall became as cluttered as when Licht first brought me.

‘Ah, I’m tired.’

I tried so hard to act crying, I felt a foreign sensation in my throat and eyes.

I was so exhausted that I wanted to go back to my bedroom and go to sleep as soon as possible.

“Yernian.”

Licht, who had been patting me on the back with a slow touch, suddenly opened his mouth with a low voice.

“Yesh.”

“Why did you do that?”

Noticing what Licht’s interrogation meant, I muttered avoiding his gaze.

“…It’sh jusht. I hawte rabbits.” (…It’s just. I hate rabbits.)

As my mental and physical fatigue increased, my pronunciation began to be slurred again.

Licht’s hand that had been patting me on the back stopped.

“Hoaam.”

I purposely yawned droopingly, reaching out my hand and hugging Licht’s neck tightly.

I did this clumsy play because I didn’t want to see the evil intentions of the Second Prince provoking me outright, but it was true that Licht’s intervention made things easier.

“…Thank yew again today, Lichth.” (…Thank you again today, Licht.)

I rubbed my cheek on Licht’s shoulder, enjoying the fact that I was still four years old.

I could vividly feel Licht bursting into laughter above my head, but I pretended not to notice.

‘It must have been Askari’s own resistance.’

Askari, who was busy running away when he ran into the 2nd Prince, chose to resist for the first time.

Before returning to time, Askari had done what I had never done because of the fear that engulfed his reason.

Just seeing it in front of my eyes gave me a sense of relief that can’t be expressed in words.

‘Somehow me too.’

Even if I run into them again in this life, I wonder if I will have the courage to do it once like Askari.

I yawned, rubbing my half-closed eyes with my hand.

“Ah. I have to give him a gifht.” (Ah. I have to give him a gift.)

As the main character of the banquet, Askari, fainted, the gift presentation ceremony was over.

Licht, who had slowly rubbed the corners of my eyes with his fingertips, opened his mouth.

“Me.”

“…?”

“Give me a gift too.”

Sometimes it’s really strange that he’s a beastman who has passed the age of majority… .

Rather, Noha, who is now six years old, seemed more mature than Licht.

I, who generously expressed the sincerity I couldn’t bear to convey with my eyes, mumbled as I buried my face in Licht’s broad shoulders.

“I don’th know. I’m going to shleep.” (I don’t know. I’m going to sleep.)

“Cheeky Yernian.”

I fell into a deep sleep with Licht’s murmuring as a lullaby.

***

As soon as Yernian fell into a deep sleep, the smile that was barely hanging on Licht’s lips disappeared.

“Mir.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Come to know what happened between Askari and Ignis.”

Currently, Ignis has disappeared somewhere along with the chocolate-stuffed rabbit doll.

Licht recalled some of his memories that he had identified through the clone he had pasted on Yernian.

Askari’s unexpected reaction when she ran into Ignis in the hallway. And today’s situation.

“I understand.”

Mir, promptly realizing that Licht wasn’t feeling better than usual, quickly ran away.

“Yeni, you’re sleeping?”

Noha, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Yernian the whole time, snooped around the throne.

“Don’t wake the kid up and go away.”

“No. I’ll put her to sleep.”

“Can you hold Yernian?”

Noha’s eyebrows twitched at Licht’s glare

“… I can do it when I get taller like you.”

“You can’t do it now.”

“I’m still a little taller than Yeni.”

He doesn’t know why the sound of ‘Yeni’ Noha uttered is so annoying.

Licht, who held Yernian straight so that she wouldn’t be uncomfortable, looked down at Noha with a proud posture.

“You can’t have a little. And what if Yernian gets hurt?”

Noha, who had been hesitating, bit his lip with an angry expression.

“…How much bigger do I have to grow from here?”

“I don’t know. About this much?”

Licht estimated a position similar to his height and pointed with his hand.

Noha, who knew it would be difficult to grow that much until he started his second growth, was sullen.

“Good night, Yeni.”

Noha, unable to hide his disappointment, stepped back after properly putting on the shoes that were dangling from Yernian’s small feet.

Licht, grimacing his eyes, began to tap the throne’s armrest with the tip of his fingernail as usual.

After returning to the main palace, he felt that his shortened nails felt awkward again.

“…Annoying things keep happening since you came, Yernian.”

To be precise, things that he normally didn’t pay much attention to were starting to come to his attention.

Licht, who wasn’t very happy with this change, just stared at Yernian, who had been sleeping for a long time.

“If you keep doing this, I might change my mind.”

The meaningful self-talk that Yernian hadn’t heard vanished, buried in the elegant tune played by the band.

***

I unintentionally slept deeply in Licht’s arms and woke up feeling refreshed.

Perhaps the sun hadn’t yet risen, and the outside was immersed in bluish darkness.

‘This is my bedroom.’

Will Askari be okay?

Rubbing my face in the soft duvet and dazed in thought, I found the gift box placed by the bedside and let out a heavy sigh.

‘It shouldn’t be a big deal.’

I fell asleep in the middle, so I had no idea how the banquet ended.

After staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, I quickly got up. It was because of the familiar energy I felt on the terrace.

“Askari!”

As I rolled, I headed towards the terrace and opened the door.

The flower that Askari, who was in the form of a cat, was holding in his mouth fell to the floor of the terrace.

“…”

“…”

After a moment of silence, I poked out the gift box I had been hiding behind my back.

The last time I couldn’t give a fishing rod, I was so upset that I prepared it with a large butterfly attached to it.

“Mm. A little late, but happy birthday.”

“Meow, meoww?”

“Ish your body okay?” (Is your body okay?)

The gift box I was holding and the cat, unable to hide its trembling pupils looking at me alternately, moved its little head up and down.

Even under the moonlight, his red fur looked like a flowing flame.

“Can I come closer?”

Askari, who seemed hesitant, nodded her head again.

“Meow.”

I squatted in front of Askari, making eye contact and smiling.

“You did really well today.”

“…!”

Askari’s pupils, who were looking at me as if he was wary, widened.

I reached out and gently stroked the cat’s stiff head.

“Don’t hold it in from now on. Because the only one that can protect you is you. Don’t let the Second Prince treat you badly anymore.”

I could feel Askari’s hair stand on its own as I added my words.

I stared blankly at the red hair that was slipping through my fingers, and whispered in a locked voice.

“You’ve worked hard to endure it, Askari.”

Maybe that’s what I wanted to hear at the end of a harsh experiment.

In the comfortable silence, I looked up at the sky that had just begun to dawn.

I could feel Askari’s gaze following me, but I didn’t turn my head.

How much time has passed, I wonder.

I felt a soft cotton ball gently wrapping my legs.

It was a soft texture, like a foxtail that I accidentally found in the garden one day.

As I looked down, I noticed a bright red tail wrapped around my leg.

It felt like a vague consolation, so I laughed out loud, not drowning in the emptiness.

“Yesh. I’ll do my best, Askari.”

“Meow, meow!”

The cat, who had an unusually warm body temperature, has secretly attached itself to me, even though it’s angry, saying, “What are you talking about?”

We looked up at the sky dyed with light, relying on each other’s body temperature, silently for a long time until the darkness surrounding us completely disappeared.

And after that day, Askari’s attitude toward me began to change noticeably.

***

Shortly after Askari’s birthday banquet was over, news came that the Second Prince had left the main palace.

According to a source at the main palace, Alice, she felt like she had been called away by Licht because of what happened at Askari’s birthday banquet

Alice tilted her head as she was pulling out a white baby dress from the dressing room.

“But where does the Second Prince go every time?”

“Well. After His Majesty took the throne, the main palace was often empty.”

In response to Alice’s curious question, the nanny split my hair on both sides and rolled them up one by one, and responded with a carefree voice.

‘It seems that Licht has told the Second Prince to do something.’

He told him to look for traces that could be used clearly.

I closed my eyes to shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

In any case, it was welcome news for me, who was perfectly defeated by the Second Prince, starting with Askari’s birthday banquet.

“You are getting more and more like a fairy every day, Princess.”

“Ah really! You are fatally cute today.”

It was all because of the nanny curling my hair up on both sides.

The nanny, who put on a pale pink color similar to my hair, hugged me tightly.

“How can you be so lovely?”

“Nannyy… Can’t you just do something else for my hair?”

Although I was only four years old on the outside, my hair felt very shameful for me, who had passed the age of majority.

Moreover, today was the day I decided to visit the Grand Temple with Noha. No matter what Noha did, Licht readily allowed us to go out.

The nanny and the maids were adamant despite my protest that I had to be formal as it was such a place.

“Who would dare impose a formality on the Princess?”

“It’s never too late to put on such complex things when you’re a little older.”

Even Loen, who showed the standard of a maid of honor, showed an attitude that it was insignificant.

“At this point, why don’t we call the court painter and leave a portrait?”

Alice, who gently waved the tail that had suddenly protruded, asked in a warm voice.

Loen nodded her head in agreement.

“It’s a great idea, Alice.”

Loen, why are you like this…

The nanny who heard the two of them was about to call the court painter right away, so I hurriedly left the bedroom.

“Noha!”

Noha, who was squatting in the waterway at the main palace entrance, turned his head.

Every time I saw him, a soft smile spread with his beautiful facial features.

“Yeni.”

“Have you waited long?”

“I just got here, too.”

Behind Noha, who responded in a slow tone, there was a carriage with the Persian royal design on it.

Beastmen in white uniforms with swords around their waists surrounded the carriage.

‘Did Licht send them?’

Noha escorted me to the carriage with his skillful demeanor.

“My name is Catherine Avicinian, who will escort Your Highness the Prince and Your Highness the Princess today.”

Uh, that beastman…

A tall, slender woman I had seen at my first birthday banquet bowed her head in a modest motion towards us.

“Then let’s go to the Grand Temple.”

The beastman, whom Licht once called Duchess Avicinian, closed the door of the carriage.

“She’s the leader of the Persian Knights.”

“Is the leader supposed to escort you herself?”

“No. Duchess Avicinian only works on the orders of Brother.”

In the end, it was said that she was a special manpower Licht sent to escort us.

[Don’t cry because I’m not there.]

[I won’t cry!]

[Remember, Yernian. Every time you get a scratch on your body, the heads of the beastmen who failed to protect you will be blown away.]

‘I should never get hurt.’

For some reason, I had a bad feeling that Licht might actually put his words into practice.

The carriage began to move slowly. Feeling a little excited about the first proper outing, I shook my leg.

‘What does the Myo World look like?’

I’ve never been out of the main palace yet.

While Licht was away, it was because of reducing the flow to a minimum in case of an unexpected attack.

On the other hand, Noha, who was sitting opposite me, looked out the window with an expressionless expression as if he was used to going out like this.

“Noah. Is it the Grand Temple far away?”

“No. It takes only 30 minutes by carriage.”

As I listened to Noha’s explanation, I leaned against the solid wall.

The familiar scenery of the main palace, which I got used to for four years, gradually moved away from behind the carriage.

Noha, who had been staring at me for a while, suddenly opened his mouth.