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‘It’s so obvious that I’m acting!’
Even Siervian could feel the irony in this situation. Her heart dropped.
Maybe it was because the tongue of this young body was sensitive, but the bitter taste seemed to be even more pronounced. How could she ignore that and lie?
She was having a hard time.
‘It’s so hard to say the opposite of what my body’s feeling.’
She sounded so awkward, but it was something she had no control over. But she was feeling bad for the doctor because he was taking care of his patient with all his heart. It would be a shame for him to get kicked out just for this.
“Is that true, Siervy?”
“Yees.”
To cover up the awkward acting, Siervian nodded deliberately as she replied.
More than that, she knew that this doctor was famous for having great skills in her previous life, and he was a straight-laced individual who wasn’t easily swayed by power and ambition.
Though she never had the chance to meet him often because she had a separate palace doctor assigned to her by the Empress.
“Oh my! I guess Your Highness is already feeling energized.”
Ellie welcomed just this small movement of Siervian because she had gotten so depressed from the day Siervian fainted.
“Then that’s good. …I was suspicious of your skills.”
Siervian’s older brother, who was next to her, looked suspiciously towards the doctor as he said this.
Truthfully, this wasn’t a situation to make a fuss about. Siervian was just lying down here without any energy because she kept thinking about the past.
She was worried that the doctor, who was proud of his skills, might have been troubled. He must be thinking that this was happening because of him.
[ Hanta Mandersang ]
Favorability: +50
Thoughts: How can Your Highness be so thoughtful…! I knew it, all the rumors were true!
However, a huge misunderstanding could be seen as she habitually checked the status window.
‘Why are you thinking like that again…?’
The palace doctor, who was sitting closest to her, inevitably noticed that she didn’t like the medicine.
But he thought that she drank it for him.
Of course, he wasn’t exactly wrong, but why did he immediately think that all the rumors were true?!
“I see.”
“Yees…?”
Still, Siervian thought that her father would have noticed her blatant acting.
Hearing this blunt answer, Siervian’s thoughts swirled. But in the end, she didn’t want the palace doctor to be kicked out.
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: I’m so proud that my young daughter is taking her medicine well. Isn’t she the shining example that must be followed by all the children in the Empire?
However, the misunderstandings sprouted not in just one person.
Was there really no one who noticed her ridiculous acting?
“Oh my, our Princess, you’re so good at drinking your medicine…!”
[ Damian Erveldote ]
Thoughts: Even if she likes the taste, she must hate drinking medicine… Siervian is really amazing.
And there was one more.
“Continue like this from now on. I’ll be watching.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The doctor stepped away from the princess’ side with a look of gratitude. He was being so thankful that it could be seen in both his body language and his status window.
“Here, Your Majesty.”
When the doctor stepped back, Ellie approached.
And she carefully held out what she’d been holding all this time.
“Mm. Go ahead and give it to Siervy.”
Was there more medicine that she needed to take?
Siervian timidly looked at what’s in Ellie’s hand.
And what Ellie gave her resolutely was a bowl of soft chocolates.
“…Choco?”
“Yes. Go ahead and eat this, Siervian. No matter how delicious it is, medicine is still medicine, so I asked them to prepare it.”
“Okaay.”
After bitter medicine, there followed a good reward.
She carefully scooped up with a spoon a chocolate piece that was as small as a fingernail.
Still with a bitter aftertaste, the sweetness of the chocolate immediately surfaced.
“I was the one who had it prepared.”
At that time, her brother patted her head and repeated the same words.
Ah, did he think that she didn’t hear him before?
Siervian, who was instantly taken by the sudden sweetness, didn’t think much about the prince’s words.
“Okaay, thank yew.”
“Okay… From now on, I’ll show you only good things.”
Chocolate was something good to look forward to.
Since good was good, Siervian just nodded.
The chocolates were very sweet.
* * *
After the bustling preparation of the medicine—
Lying alone in the dark bedroom, Siervian stared blankly at the bed’s canopy.
Ellie stayed by her side for a long time, but Siervian was now alone. She was still very worried about the little princess who only said repeatedly that she was fine.
‘What will happen to me in the future?’
The people who warmly embraced her definitely had high favorability points.
At first, she focused only on the numbers because there was one fact that Siervian was desperately trying to turn a blind eye to.
The people in her previous life. They must have felt like this, too.
‘Even so, I think I need to prepare for it.’
At that time, her father must have had a great deal of affection for her during this time.
However, it was clear that by the time of her execution, his affection towards her had lessened until it disappeared.
The situation could change any time. Siervian realized this painfully.
‘I wish it would always be like this, but life won’t go my way.’
In the end, nothing was absolute.
Antonio’s face, the mage who once hovered around her, suddenly came to mind.
So there must be more people who antagonized her in her previous life.
‘It would have been better if I knew all the details of what happened.’
If that was the case, then she could more comfortably make a plan for her to stay here.
She didn’t know what kind of changes would happen in the future that might ruin this track.
So she belatedly thought that she should prepare for it.
She’ll do her best. But if something would go wrong, she’d be ready to leave and go somewhere far away.
“Hiic.”
A little bit of sadness rose within her. It was good that it wasn’t enough to make her cry.
Even though she was preparing like this, she didn’t want to leave—to the extent that, if her father would allow it, she wanted to stay near the Imperial Palace if he were to kick her out.
She wasn’t interested in marriage either. She just wanted to stay here.
‘I can’t cry too loudly.’
Ellie was standing right outside the room, and she would stop doing what she was supposed to be doing because she’d be worried if she saw Siervian like this.
For a few days, everyone hadn’t been able to work properly because of her.
‘Money is important. I at least know this.’
If she was going to live outside the palace, money was important.
The budget in the Princess’ Palace was properly being given again, but that was money that she wouldn’t be able to touch.
And noticeable jewelry would only be inconvenient to use.
‘And if things from the palace will be found outside, I might be put under investigation.’
All Siervian was thinking about now was escaping. Therefore, it was good to have things that were as common as possible and could be exchanged for money as soon as she could.
The problem here though… She didn’t know exactly what kind of value were placed on jewels.
‘Since this is small, maybe it’s okay?’
Not too long ago, she picked up a small gem from another room in the Princess’ Palace. She had been hiding it under her pillow all this time.
Maybe it fell off from where it was attached when the servants were busy moving furniture.
“Here… hiic, like this…”
She fumbled with her doll’s belly, wiggling her small fingers that didn’t listen to her properly.
There was a small gap there.
“Ah.”
Wait no, she has to be quiet.
She barely found the gap where her small finger went.
Then, she quickly put the gem into the doll.
‘I carry this around every day, so they won’t be suspicious.’
These days, she’d been taking the doll with her even during meals. This was because whenever she hugged it, she immediately felt calmer.
Therefore, it was the perfect hiding place for her possible escape funds.
“Hiic…”
For quite a while, Siervian hid away small items little by little in the doll’s tummy.
Hoping that she wouldn’t need to use them.
* * *
“It’s such a shame. It would have been better if it ended before the storm season.”
Two days later, Ellie expressed her disappointment.
“Noo, it’s okayy.”
It was busy around the Princess’ Palace because the interior was being redesigned.
All the old, mismatched pieces of furniture were changed and refurbished. And the garden was finally looking green.
“If there was more time, it would have been even prettier, Princess.”
“Yeah.”
However, it was taking longer for the redesigning of her bedroom. This was what Ellie’s been worried about because it’s the room that Siervian used the most.
Her concerns continued until today.
[ Ellie ]
Thoughts: I hope that it can be redesigned soon so the Princess can always feel comfortable.
The storm season had come, so the priority for manpower went elsewhere.
Some materials were also brought from outside the empire, so redesigning the bedroom was delayed for now.
“Princess, please look here. Ta-da!”
Instead, Ellie brought out a furniture catalogue.
While waiting for the storm season to pass, Ellie discussed with the princess and collected these ideas.
“Wah!”
In comparison, Siervian only looked at a clothes catalogue once in her previous life.
Even then, she couldn’t touch it and just peeked behind the Empress’ shoulder.
‘This seems more interesting than that.’
First, this catalogue had rough sketches of the furniture.
If she chose what she liked, the maid waiting outside would bring in a small model figure of the furniture.
‘It’s like playing with a dollhouse.’
Ellie noticed that the princess couldn’t easily choose one, so she had several models brought in first.
Though they were small, the cute furniture model figures soon went into Siervian’s hands and increased in number.
“We decided to have a cabinet with engraved blue gems, so why don’t we match the other furniture to that, Princess?”
“Blue!”
Siervian had been looking at a small drawer just then, but she responded to Ellie.
There was a fine blue velvet inlay in the small drawer, which could barely be pulled out with someone’s fingers.
“Yes, Princess. I think Your Highness’ pretty eyes match this color, so it would be nice.”
Was the color of her eyes really pretty?
Nodding carefully, Siervian puffed out her cheeks in embarrassment. She thought that she would definitely smile if she didn’t do this.
Of course, Ellie caught the big smile that couldn’t be hidden on that cute face.
‘Come to think of it, I didn’t see any blue decorations in my previous life.’
The blue jewelry cabinet was the only one she had, but there was a misunderstanding that the princess broke it when she was eight years old.
At that time, Siervian thought that it was Sarah who was leading them to think this, but it was probably the Empress’ influence.
‘Oh? She hated my ribbon because it was blue last time, too.’
She remembered the first time she went to see the Empress after returning back in time. Eventually, the Empress had crumpled the ribbon that Ellie tied for Siervian beautifully.
Blue was the color of the Imperial Family. Therefore, the Empress was also someone who could use the color blue.
But why did it seem like she hated it?