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“Siervy.”
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: Why aren’t you answering? Maybe you don’t want me calling you that way? No, our pretty Siervian won’t think like that. I knew it, if it’s a different nickname…
Ah, Siervian’s ears didn’t deceive her. Her father really called her with that nickname.
It sounded awkward on his tongue and it didn’t seem like an affectionate nickname at all. Still, it was leagues different from how the Empress said it pretentiously earlier. Siervian wondered why.
“Yees.”
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Favorability: +100
Favorability: +100
Favorability: +100
In any case, the Emperor called her, so she answered calmly as she clutched the skirt of her dress awkwardly.
Come to think of it, Siervian remembered that Ellie was going to fix her wardrobe today.
“Chamberlain. Bring in what was prepared.”
Siervian was just standing there, not knowing what to do, but as she heard her father’s sudden command, her eyes widened.
The chamberlain appeared as though he had been waiting all this time and placed many snacks at the table in front of where they were sitting.
“Eat first before you go.”
As her father gestured towards the chair, Siervian returned to her seat as if she’d been possessed. It was still a big, very high chair for her.
Whimpering as she reached up, she suddenly found herself lifted into the air.
“Ah…”
“…It looked like you were struggling. Don’t be scared.”
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Favorability: +100
When she was carried to the chair right then, she could finally see the table. The snacks looked different from what she saw in the Emperor’s private garden last time.
‘Is that a pie?’
The savory but not too overwhelming scent flowed into her nose.
The yellow pumpkin pie was shiny because of the caramelized sugar on top. And there was a glass of milk next to it that was a little darker than usual. Was it soy milk?
She expected that she’d eat macarons again today, so when she saw the table, she was gobsmacked.
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: I told them to prioritize nutrition because you’re still a child. You don’t like it?
“I guess you don’t like any of these.”
Siervian realized that her father’s inner thoughts were similar to Ellie’s. That must be why the snacks, which were once full of sugar, had changed.
The Emperor observed Siervian’s small face as she gaped at the table, then he frowned.
“Uh-uh. I don’t diswike anything.”
It’s not that she hated anything, just that she had never tried it before. She picked up a fork that was a little too heavy for her small hand.
“Then, which one is your favorite out of all of these?”
“I haven’t twied them yet.”
“……”
Siervian’s hands wriggled a bit as she looked back at him with a questioning gaze.
She actually didn’t know the names of the other food except for the pie. Perhaps they were different kinds of bread, so should she just eat them? But which one should she choose? All of them were in such big portions that she didn’t think she could eat more than one.
“Which one do you want to eat? I’ll cut it up into small pieces for you.”
“Umm, there’s too many.”
What she meant was that there was too much in front of her. However, the Emperor interpreted this differently and immediately conjured his mana.
“Ah…”
Soon after, each snack had been cut up into pieces and one of each was placed in front of her. They were exactly the size a child could bite.
“From now on, I’ll make sure you can eat whatever you want.”
This was so good to hear. Would Ellie also be able to eat as much as she wanted without worrying about it?
“Even macawons?”
“Yes.”
While she was sleeping, she dreamed about the macarons that she couldn’t eat back then. Her favorite was the chocolate-flavored one that was slightly bitter on the outside, so she’ll be sure to ask if she can eat it later.
“Siervy.”
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: It’s all my fault.
Siervian had been thinking hard about what to eat first, then she looked up.
An unfamiliar sadness from the status window was the first thing she saw. Her father called her by the nickname again, and she purposely looked into his eyes as she answered.
“Yees.”
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Favorability: +100
With a deep gaze, Alderuan looked back at his daughter, then he raised his hand carefully. His big hand caressed her hair very lightly, then let go again.
“Eat a lot.”
It was very warm.
* * *
After sending Siervian back to the Princess’ Palace, Alderuan called Hex to his office. He wanted to hear about the investigation that he directly ordered to be conducted.
‘It wasn’t just a feeling that she’s too thin.’
Alderuan felt a rage of anger—towards no one but himself. How could he have been so foolish as to not notice any of this happening?
He couldn’t say anything to excuse his actions. Siervian was still afraid of him whenever he tried to speak to her.
‘Even after all of this, she isn’t crying. It’s harder to see her like that.’
Back then, he wanted to see for himself if she was doing well, so he would visit her more than once a week. Sometimes, he had called her over for dinner as an excuse, but she often ran away after just seeing the food at the table.
This was all the doing of the previous maid who was raising Siervian.
‘Not only was Siervian scolded for eating a lot, but she was also brainwashed to be afraid of me.’
Ellie, the new head maid in charge of Siervian, was only a temporary measure, but it seemed that Siervian was quite attached to her.
Alderuan thought that she was definitely an accomplice, so he was going to get rid of her as well. However, the maid surprisingly showed how sincerely she cared for the Princess.
‘She recognized who it is that treats her sincerely. Siervian is very smart because she resembles me.’
Siervian had eventually reached out to him first. However, when she said to keep the food she ate a secret, he had only thought of this as cute.
‘I should have looked into it back then. It was strange that she had to say that.’
He couldn’t even guess just how long Siervian had suffered. He made a vow that he would take better care of her from now on.
“Your Majesty.”
“Did you find out?”
It was ominous how flags with the insignia of the Princess’ Palace had popped up in the middle of this incident.
It was still not clear what the hell was being planned with the food waste. However, in any situation, it was suspicious to see the Princess’ flag in a place like that.
Just what kind of dirty scheme was being plotted against Siervian?
“The flag we found was a genuine flag from the Princess’ Palace.”
“There was an accomplice then.”
“It appears to have been done by the previous head maid.”
But there was no way to confirm this decisively.
Sarah, the previous head maid, was imprisoned in the dungeon for neglecting her duties even while the Princess was sick. Then not long after, she was found dead. At first glance, it looked like she took her own life.
“It’s suspicious. The servant named Ahim, who was found with the flag, also committed suicide.”
“Isn’t that the easiest way to get rid of evidence?”
The person scheming against Siervian was clever. And they were doing it right under his nose.
“The problem is that the obvious suspect has no clear motive,” Alderuan added.
The first person he thought of was the Empress, Cybelle Erveldote, a descendant of the only Dukedom of the Empire.
After the long war, they had a political marriage for the sake of stabilizing the country.
This marriage was a series of transactions, to the extent that the Crown Prince was conceived through a magical pregnancy and not a natural pregnancy.
“…Do you suspect that person?”
And Alderuan recalled Siervian’s mother, his only love. Unlike the Crown Prince, Siervian was conceived lovingly between the couple.
He never thought that the Empress would cherish Siervian as her own biological daughter because she was birthed by a royal concubine, but Alderuan thought that the Empress was at least doing the best that she could do.
“But why would Her Majesty…”
“……”
And that was the problem. To anyone who could see, the Empress clearly had no reason to provoke the Emperor by neglecting the Princess so openly.
The Crown Prince, who was the Empress’ offspring, had already been established as the successor to the throne.
Although he was conceived through magic, Alderuan loved Damian as much as he loved Siervian—equally and without discrimination. He held no reservations because they were both his children.
“What shall we do, sire?”
“Let’s continue the investigation for now. Look into the books closely, especially the flow of money.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And increase the escort knights of the Princess. Make sure that she can walk around freely in the Imperial Palace.”
As Alderuan gave these orders, the image of his daughter turning blue when she saw those knights suddenly flashed into his mind.
“…But tell the guards to remain out of her sight.”
“So that the Princess won’t see them?”
“Yes. Siervian is shy to anyone but me, so tell them to be careful.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Well, in Hex’s eyes though, it seemed like the Princess relied more on the head maid.
But Hex was a wise Chancellor, so he didn’t say this aloud. Having been by the Emperor’s side for a long time, he knew that the Emperor talked freely whenever he thought of the Princess.
‘Come to think of it, the Princess isn’t shy in front of me, too, right?’
The covert meeting between the Emperor and the Chancellor of the country ended while they had different thoughts.
* * *
“How about this, Princess?”
“Ooohh, so pwetty.”
Siervian was thinking that Ellie might be hiding some kind of magical abilities. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to turn that wardrobe upside down.
Ellie scoured the closet vigorously, determined to wash away the stigma that Siervian would have to wear the same clothes several times.
“Our Princess is so pretty so you’ll look good in everything, but you look so much better in bright clothes.”
“Okayy.”
Siervian nodded as well because she didn’t think this was wrong.
At this moment, Siervian was eating biscuits that quickly filled her tummy. They weren’t sweet, but they were savory and strangely addictive.
‘A healthy snack, but really delicious…!’
Ellie said that this biscuit was made from grains that were grown through water containing mana. It was a very precious snack, so she was burdened by it at first. But after seeing all the cupboards lined up with lots of food, she ate with a light heart.
“Do you want more milk, Your Highness?”
“No thwanks. I have to make woom for dinner.”
“Our Princess has such a good memory. Oh, our pretty Princess.”
[ Ellie ]
Favorability: 10,010
The other day, the chamberlain of the Princess’ Palace had been punished.
It was the job of the chamberlain to handle the budget of the Princess’ Palace that was allocated by the Empress. However, he said that Sarah had tricked him.
‘It’s a clumsy cover-up, but there’s no way to refute it.’
The Emperor was clearly suspicious of the Empress. Still, no decisive evidence could be found.
Siervian herself wouldn’t have suspected the Empress if not for the status window letting her know her inner thoughts.
“I’m sorry that this is all I could do for you, Princess.”
Siervian didn’t know what Ellie was thinking, but they made eye contact as she said this. Perhaps the maid thought that Siervian didn’t know what was happening around her.
“Nuh-uh. Evewything is nice because Eri’s here.”
[ Ellie ]
Favorability: + 50
Siervian answered with a big smile on her lips.
Many things would be different from her previous life from now on.
* * *
When her father said that he’d take care of her—of everything—himself, Siervian just accepted it in stride and thought that he’d oversee everything from a good distance.
She didn’t think that it meant he’d eat every meal with her now.