CH 15

It has already been ten days since Roksana left on her business trip, and even one more day has passed. Yesterday, even Yuri stayed late at work and went out again like dawn. Yumo worried that I might feel lonely and tempted me with a lot of toys.

“Miss, what are we going to play today?”

I was staring blankly at the clear sky outside the window when Yumo’s question made me turn around abruptly. Yumo was shaking a doll resembling Alice in Wonderland, and I frowned slightly. Seeing my reaction, Yumo gave an awkward smile.

“D-do you not like it?”

“Where’s the rabbit?”

There was another change when I woke up this morning. The rabbit doll that I had left next to my pillow was gone.

“Oh, right, isn’t it time to wash it soon? I should ask Yumo to fill it up with cotton while washing it.”

“Rabbit said that it will come back clean for you.”

“Yeah, and while you’re at it, ask Rabbit to eat something and come back. It’s not as soft as it used to be these days.”

“Yes, sure. Rabbit will come back to you clean and soft in no time. How about playing with Lily Bell instead today?”

“Her name is Lily Bell?”

“Yes, she’s a popular doll these days… I mean, everyone’s friend Lily Bell.”

I looked at Lily Bell with a sullen face. I didn’t know why, but the doll’s bell dress was a little creepy. Even though I was a horror movie fan, I never thought about having an Alice in Wonderland doll.

“I don’t like her.”

“…Okay.”

Yumo looked disappointed as if she had prepared the doll ambitiously. I looked at Lily Bell that Yumo was holding and lay down on the bed.

“Are you going to sleep again? Let’s play together.”

“Mm, too lazy.”

“If we play together today, I’ll make the brown bread that you like.”

At that sound, I sat up straight. The brown bread that Yumo makes with nuts in it tastes similar to my favorite bread since my past life.

When I approached the food, Yumo smiled as if she couldn’t hold it in.

“Except for raisins.”

“You have to eat everything evenly.”

“…I’m not saying I won’t eat them. But I don’t like putting too many in.”

“I understand. I’ll make it without raisins today.”

“What should we do for fun?”

“Let’s play with Lilibel…”

“I told you I don’t like her.”

I took Lilibel from Yumo’s hand and sealed her at the bottom of the toy box.

Thanks to sealing the cursed Lilibel, Yumo gave up cleanly and asked what we should do for fun.

After thinking for a moment, I took out other dolls from the toy box, excluding Lilibel.

Most of them were animal dolls. I handed Yumo a deer doll and picked up a lion doll.

“Listen carefully. I’m a lion.”

“Yes, Lion Miss.”

“And you’re a deer, Yumo.”

“Are lions and deer friends?”

“What are you talking about? How can a lion be friends with a deer?”

“T-then?”

“The lion hunts the deer. In order for the deer to survive, it has to satisfy the lion. Then the lion won’t bother hunting the deer. And lions like bread.”

In other words, it was a request for bread. Yumo smiled disappointedly and suggested another game.

“Okay, let’s play pirates.”

“You’re the pirate, and I’ll probably be a kind person with bread, right?”

“How did you know?”

“…Were you planning on just not playing and eating bread from the beginning?”

“Of course.”

Yumo sighed as she looked at me and got up from her seat, saying she was going to make bread.

I reminded her again to remove the seeds from the grapes as I watched her leave. Left alone in the playroom, I lay back down and looked up at the ceiling.

I knew I was being difficult. Normally, I would have compromised, but not today.

As I rolled around the playroom, I suddenly stood up at Royina’s crying.

Although my playroom was quite far from Royina’s room, she had a particularly loud cry, and once she started, it would last for at least an hour.

“As expected of Roksa’s daughter, no one can beat her in terms of vocal cords and stamina.”

Forgetting my laziness, I quickly got up and headed towards the baby’s room. The nanny who was taking care of Royina smiled as I walked in.

“Miss.”

“Why is she crying again?”

“She’s just being fussy. Her favorite sister is here to see her. Shall we say hello to her?”

Whether she understood the nanny’s words or not, Royina’s cries gradually subsided. As the nanny laid her down in the cradle and rocked her, I stood beside her and gently shook the cradle while looking at Royina, who was waving her hands and kicking her feet.

“Tell Yumo that we’ll play with Royina here today. She’ll be in the kitchen.”

“What?”

“Since Royina knows I’m watching, hurry up. Also, make sure to check whether or not there are raisins in the bread.”

After dismissing the maid, I played around with Royina by poking her cheek with my finger or shaking her head around in a silly manner.

Although Royina grumbled and expressed annoyance, it only made it more enjoyable for me.

“Ow!”

Royina grabbed my hand with both of hers and held on tight, as if she wouldn’t let go.

However, she slipped on the saliva on my hand. Although Royina desperately tried to grab my hand again, I withdrew my hand with an uncomfortable feeling and wiped the saliva off with a handkerchief.

As her annoyed groaning gradually turned into a whimper, I was surprised and brought a rattle to shake it next to Royina.

After going around the cradle for a while and passionately shaking the rattle, Royina smiled again.

“Ah, don’t make me ugly.”

If Royina cried, it was certain that the maid or nanny would come to comfort her.

So, it was better to dance an incomprehensible dance and comfort her. I watched over Royina without bothering her this time, as I didn’t want to make her cry again.

Feeling the warmth and the scent of milk, I just closed my eyes as I saw Royina slowly blinking.

***

A small and damp something hit my face. It wasn’t too painful, just irritating, so I turned my body and ran away from it.

“Oh dear, little miss. Don’t wake her up, she’s a sleepyhead,” a light presence next to me said.

The presence disappeared, and it was then that I realized it was Roy who had hit my face.

Feeling drowsy and dreamy, I tried to go back to sleep, but the dampness on my cheek woke me up.

“Wait a minute. Did he just wipe his drool on my face?”

I quickly stood up, becoming aware of reality. I wiped my cheek with my sleeve and looked up at the nanny holding Roy.

“When did I fall asleep?”

The problem was my young body. I couldn’t control my sleep. Of course, I liked sleeping, but it was difficult to adapt to falling asleep suddenly after having fun.

I sat there absentmindedly, unable to snap out of it, and the nanny brought up a topic to get my attention.

“Miss, you asked me to make bread for you, but what if you fall asleep here?”

“Bread?”

“I made it without raisins.”

“Give me bread.”

“You should wash your hands first.”

“It’s too much trouble. Just feed me, nanny.”

I opened my mouth, and the nanny pinched my cheek gently to avoid hurting me. She took me out of the crib and told me to wash my hands quickly.

Roy’s crib was a giant one, probably made for the expectation of sleeping together from the beginning. Even when I lay down, there was still plenty of space left.

I washed my hands with the water brought by the maid and ate the bread made by the nanny.

“Miss, do you know? You’ll have a friend to spend time with for a while.”

“I have a friend.”

“Is it the rabbit?”

“No, Azu.”

Because her mouth was full of bread, her pronunciation was distorted. Thanks to that, Yumo found Az’s name cute and smiled brightly.

“This time, it’s a prince.”

“Is it the rabbit prince from the neighboring country?”

As soon as I heard the word prince, I spat out the bread I was halfway eating and asked. Yumo, who didn’t know about my hostage situation, stared blankly at the mention of the rabbit prince.

“He is a prince from the neighboring country, but not a rabbit. He will be staying at the Duke’s residence from today, so you can play with him from now on.”

“Wait, what? Is he coming to our house?”

“Yes, you should treat him kindly.”

I couldn’t understand the situation even more when I heard that the prince was staying at the Duke’s residence.

The main character should stay in the palace and become friends with Az, who is also a sub-male lead, as the only equal friend. That’s why they purposely matched their ages.

Although the fact that he loves Royena is the biggest reason, the main character gives up on destroying the world by joining hands with the demon and not giving up until the end because Az, the only friend, does not give up on him.

Then, by handing over the sovereignty of the Celis Kingdom to Az, he becomes the only lord of the continent, and the main and female characters become dukes and live happily.

“But why is he coming here?”

I put the bread I had spat out back in my mouth and chewed while thinking. The engagement with Az and other events that could have a big impact on the original story kept happening. Why?

“Do you not want to?”

“Umm.”

I couldn’t answer properly because I was eating, but Yumo thought I didn’t want to and looked sad. To reassure her, I quickly gave a positive answer.

“Let’s meet him first.”

My answer made the nanny’s face turn red. She kissed my puffy cheek and poured me some milk, saying that I was so pretty that she couldn’t resist.

At this point, I knew that the nanny had her own agenda, but since she was kissing me and my throat was sore, I drank the milk without saying a word.

“When will mom come?”

“They said she’ll be here soon while the young lady is taking a nap, but it seems like she’s running late.”

“When will dad come?”

“The Duke will be off work on time.”

“Does mom come home early only?”

“Yes.”

“With the Prince Rabbit?”

“The Prince is not a rabbit. Your rabbit will be back tomorrow.”

I took another bite of bread to hide my sigh. Royana, who was sucking her fist instead of bread, was staring at me.

“Come on, the baby needs to eat too. Milk.”

It was a truly peaceful time. While the nanny was feeding Royana, I held bread in both hands and put some in my mouth.

If it were a regular day, I would have been scolded for being impolite, but since it was the norm for the nanny to cause a commotion when she was distracted, I didn’t mind.

At that moment, a maid knocked on the door of the nursery and came in, telling me that the Count had arrived.

“Miss, the Count… Oh my, miss!”

I shoved the bread in my mouth and ran out of the open door.

Since I was holding bread in both hands, it was harder to keep my balance than usual, but I managed to get down the stairs safely.

Next to Rosanna was a boy with black hair and red eyes.

“The male lead.”