CH 5

“How about this, miss?”

When the nanny pulled out a white dress for me to wear outside, complete with a large pink ribbon, I scrunched up my face in disgust. Who on earth would like a white dress with such a big pink ribbon?

“I don’t like it.”

“Really? That’s strange. They said it’s the most popular design for girls your age in the dressing room these days.”

My hands aren’t fully developed yet and I tend to spill things, so a white dress is not a good idea. If our mother saw me, she would definitely scold me. Children are supposed to wear clothes that are not easily noticeable when stained with childish patterns. Plus, today, I planned to play the lead and beat up the sub, so I needed something that wouldn’t be too noticeable even if I rolled around in the dirt.

“How about this one?”

“It’s too childish.”

After struggling with the nanny, she finally pulled out a purple velvet dress. Although the ruffles around the neck looked a bit awkward, it was more to my taste and didn’t seem like it would come off easily.

“I’ll just wear whatever you usually give me.”

After putting on my clothes, I grabbed my rabbit doll and tried to leave, but Yumo stopped me and put a hat on my head. The dark purple hat, which clearly matched the dress, was nothing more than a decorative item.

Yumo tied a ribbon under my chin and put the same hat on the rabbit’s ears. I didn’t understand why she was just putting on hats without putting on clothes, but Yumo kissed my cheek without saying anything to comfort the bare rabbit.

“Have a good time, Miss.”

“I will.”

It was my second official outing since I was able to walk. When I went downstairs, Roxana and Yurian were waiting for me. When Yurian saw me, he lifted me up and spun around.

“Oh my god! Our goddess, why are you so pretty? Whose daughter are you?”

I answered in a low voice, tired of his constant question.

“I’m Mom’s daughter.”

“Your dad’s daughter, right? That’s right?”

Because of Yurian, who didn’t even listen to my words, I had to spin in the air several times.

“Ugh, I feel dizzy.”

“Okay, okay. That’s enough.”

translate to english please

Lately, I’ve been on the verge of saying something unpleasant to Urien’s handsome face, which feels unnecessary, but at the perfect timing, Roxana rescued me.

“Tilly’s struggling.”

As I shook my head for a moment, dizzy, I soon regained my composure and glared at Urien, who seemed to realize that his actions were too much and apologized to me.

“Sorry, Tilly. I was too dizzy.”

“…….”

“Tilly?”

“I hate you.”

It was the most effective phrase for Urien. I turned my head and didn’t meet Urien’s gaze all the way to the palace. Roxana, who was so calm, knew that I would make peace with Urien by casually saying, “Dad, what are you doing?” before long. Unlike Roxana, who was so calm, Urien watched me with a hint of when my anger would subside.

“We’re here, Tilly. It’s the palace.”

Roxana opened the window and showed me the outside. The tall palace was exactly as I had imagined it to be.

“Well, it’s just the appearance though.”

“Talayiah.”

“Yeah?”

I turned my head immediately at Rosanna’s call, who rarely addressed me by my name instead of a nickname.

“Did you learn how to greet the Empress properly?”

“Ah, is that why you called me?”

“Yeah, your governess taught you, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll do well because I’m smart!”

Charles didn’t mind if his young son didn’t follow the proper etiquette, as he always found his daughter adorable despite wanting a daughter because his son was too mature from a young age. Since he didn’t have any children after his second son, Charles thought of Royina as his daughter.

“Talayiah.”

Urien helped me down from the carriage and as I set foot on the ground, I clung onto Roksana. Although my anger had dissipated, I felt the need to rein in Urien’s excessive behavior. To be honest, if I had turned around again, I would have surely vomited what I had eaten that morning.

“Tilly, do you still hate Daddy?”

I could feel the sincerity in Urien’s expression and he seemed to be waiting for my answer with trepidation. I smiled brightly and firmly replied to him.

“Yeah, I hate you!”

I took Roksana’s hand and shook it as we walked into the palace. I could hear Urien sniffling behind us, but I knew he would stop crying if I turned around, so I kept looking straight ahead.

****

“I am Talaea of Remetio.”

As I followed Roxana and Urien, I took hold of the edge of my skirt and bowed in greeting, lifting my head to meet two pairs of eyes that looked burdened. One pair belonged to Urien, who was familiar enough to ignore, but the Empress’s gaze was disconcerting.

Charlotte looked down at me, clasping her hands together. When I hesitated, her expression changed for the worse. Her hand with the ring moved toward me as if to capture me, causing me to unconsciously step back.

“What, what’s this?”

“Oh my goodness.”

When the sub-lead, Aegis, called out to Charlotte, she finally came to her senses and quickly withdrew her hands, apologizing to me.

“Oh, goodness. I’m sorry, Lady. You’re so small, adorable, cute, and lovely that I just couldn’t help myself.”

Did Charlotte react this way when she first met Royina? When writing, I had only expressed that Charlotte had thought Royina was pretty from a young age, so I hadn’t expected her to act like this.

“Shall we sit down for now?”

The garden of the palace was adorned with beautiful lavender flowers, which bloomed in a lovely purple color and gave off a pleasant aroma.

“Do you like the garden?”

I nodded my head as Charlotte spoke to me, still staring absent-mindedly at the garden. While I had become more composed since we first met, she still looked at me with the same intensity.

Ignoring her uneasy gaze, I focused on the desserts on the table. They all looked so delicious. Charlotte smiled at me and personally placed a strawberry cream cake on my plate.

As the cakes were passed around to everyone, I didn’t hesitate to pick up my fork and take a bite of the strawberry on top first. After all, you should always eat the best part first. I quickly devoured the strawberry and licked the cream off my lips. That’s when Julian asked me,

“Is the strawberry good?”

“Yeah, it’s mine, Dad.”

I said, naturally reaching over and stealing a strawberry from Julian’s plate. He laughed and pushed his plate towards me. As I ate my second strawberry, a new one rolled onto my plate. It was quietly given to me by Aegis, who was eating his cake in silence.

“Wow…”

How can someone’s eyes be so blue? I didn’t like the typical prince charming type, but As was insanely beautiful, penetrating my taste. If Urien had a divine beauty, As had a doll-like beauty. It felt like an expensive ball-jointed doll? I stared at him blankly for a moment before coming to my senses.

“Thank you.”

As smiled broadly in response to my gratitude.

“Eat a lot.”

‘Wow, a doll is smiling.’

He’s going to grow up to be a 190-pound big dog later? That’s impossible. With a strange sense of dissonance, I shook my head and put the third strawberry in my mouth. As was still grinning at me. He didn’t care about my cake at all.

‘What?’

Shallote, who was looking back and forth between me and As, let out a small sigh and brought up the topic.

“I heard from Philias last time that he mentioned engagement to both of you.”

“…Yes.”

“I’m sorry. I did say that I wanted the two of us to be friends first, but I didn’t know Phileas was going to propose so suddenly.”

Upon hearing this, Julian smirked. It was the expression of someone who had expected it.

“I thought it might happen. Russ is that kind of guy. The Empress Dowager is not at fault. And Russ doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously yet.”

“But…”

“It’s still far off. For now, I hope they can just be good friends. They’re both lonely because they don’t have many friends.”

“Oh, Julian.”

A polite and clean response, very good. When Julian drew a clear line, Charlotte also looked relieved. On the other hand, As looked at the adults with a bewildered expression.

“Am I going to marry with Talia?”

I heard a creaking sound in my throat at the mention of marriage. Wait, when did the discussion progress to marriage? Julian patted my back and looked at As with a subtle expression. It was his way of expressing his displeasure as much as possible without making the little kid upset since he couldn’t blame the clueless kid for anything.

“Sometime, if His Royal Highness the prince meets someone he truly loves, he should marry her.”

“But Abamama said it would be good if the royal family and the Duke of Lemetrio were to merge.”

I looked up and saw As staring at me. The words coming out of the doll-like prince’s mouth were somewhat pure, but not at all childish.

“What is he saying?”

“That’s right, As. You should only marry someone you truly love. But if you’re too concerned with things like your family, you might not be able to meet someone you really love.”

“But what about what other people say…?”

“As.”

When Sharlotte called As’s name affectionately, he seemed to ponder for a moment before changing the direction of his question.

“Then, if I love Taleia, can I marry her?”

“No. Only if the Duchess also loves you can you marry her.”

At Sharlotte’s answer, As looked at me with hopeful eyes. Because of the strange discomfort I had been feeling for a while, I could only respond sharply.

” You’re not my type.”

With one short sentence, everyone fell silent, but I didn’t really know what was going on. What I sell is a black-haired male lead. Even if he looks like a doll, he’s not a prince character.

“So I will never marry you.”

Shocked by my stubborn refusal, As looked at me with a sad expression and spoke in a small, hesitant voice.

“I even gave you strawberries…”

Were they proposal strawberries? Crazy.

“Can you plow the road?”