/
Chapter 4
Siervian, whose attention was now on her brother’s status window, struggled to climb up a chair with her small body, then sat down.
“. . .”
Not long after, they started eating.
It was all too unfortunate for Siervian. Her small hands couldn’t grasp the large, heavy silverware, so the heavy silence was interrupted by her utensils clanking on the plate loudly.
The thing was, she could just eat less if she wanted to avoid making any noises, but even that wasn’t easy.
Because it all looked so delicious.
After she started seeing the status window, she wanted to change the future. She still had some doubts whether her father’s stats really were his true feelings for her, but . . .
Before anything else, she was distracted by all the food before her. On the table were dishes that couldn’t even be compared to the food at the Princess’s Palace, what with the pitiful bread and watery pepper soup.
Here, there were toasted cheese biscuits with coarse salt and honey-pickled fruits as appetizers.
As soon as she took a careful bite, a refreshingly delicious taste exploded in her mouth.
Nyam, nyam.
Right after taking one bite, the main dish was soon brought out.
The entrée was a huge steak, still steaming on its plate as if to announce that it just got off the grill.
Other types of meat and vegetables were also available around it. Siervian took a whiff of the sweet sauce.
Thanks to the gravy and the chandelier’s lighting, the steak gave off a warm glow. Her mouth started watering.
‘I can’t. Today . . . I already ate too much.’
With trembling fingers on her knife and fork, Siervian picked up a piece of meat from the serving plate to her own. There was a bigger piece next to it, but she decided to restrain herself and get the smaller one.
After hesitating for a bit, she eventually brought a small slice to her mouth.
‘Delicious!’
The more she chewed, the more the steak on her plate got smaller. The sauce was as sweet as the scent that filled the air.
When she finally finished her meal, she descended from cloud nine and suddenly came back to her senses. She stared at her empty plate and bowed her head in repentance.
Not only did she make too much noise with her clumsy hands, but she also ate too much food without maintaining dignity. What should she do?
This was why dinner was always suffocating.
“Is the food not to your taste?”
Reflexively flinching from her father’s low voice, Siervian raised her gaze once more.
She forgot to look at the status window because she was so distracted by the tender meat in front of her. When looking at the status window, she needed to look at the other person’s face . . . !
But the Emperor turned away, saying nothing. In an instant, Siervian’s hands turned into ice.
She shouldn’t complain about the food.
Especially her.
‘Rotten food just for you, you damn wench!’
‘The children are starving!’
At that moment, she could hear several shouting voices in that dinner hall. It was loud enough to completely erase the silence.
But then, a status window popped up.
[ Alderuan Erveldotte ]
Mood: Getting – worried – about ♡ My Daughter ♡
Thoughts: I’m concerned. Her complexion isn’t good. Is she sick somewhere?
‘Does my father care about me? Really . . . ?’
Strangely, it felt like something got lodged in her throat. Maybe she needed to drink a lot of water.
After seeing the unexpected text on the status window, Siervian blurted out something equally unpredictable.
“Y-yummy.”
Then what’s more surprising was the response.
“Eat more.”
“More?”
The Empress always told Siervian to watch her weight, sharply like a knife. And because a useless Princess like her didn’t know how to use magic, she was told that she should take good care of her appearance. That’s the only way she could become useful.
That’s why she was supposed to eat only a little at a time, no matter what the food.
“That’s right. Eat a lot.”
After getting permission, Siervian stared at the bewitching steak on the table. But she really should maintain her dignity as a member of the Imperial Family.
At that moment, the meat that Siervian was eyeing abruptly disappeared.
“My meat!”
She shouted without realizing what she just did. Surprised by her own voice, she covered her lips with her small hands. But before she knew it, both the Emperor and the Crown Prince were staring at her.
‘Oops.’
Feeling their gazes on her, Siervian wanted to disappear right this instant, even if she didn’t know how to do that. Even so, the only one who could use magic in front of the Emperor was the Emperor himself, so she couldn’t believe she was being such an idiot.
[ Damian Erveldotte ]
Thoughts: Cute . . . ! So cute!!
But out of the blue, a strange status window popped up in front of her brother, who used to look at her like she was dirt on the ground just because she couldn’t use magic.
“I’ll give you more.”
[ Alderuan Erveldotte ]
Thoughts: ‘My meat,’ she says . . . My Siervian is so cute that her cuteness level simply couldn’t be measured.
Far from berating her for her lack of manners, her father personally gave her another piece of steak. It was the biggest chunk on the serving plate that she gave up earlier, and the juices that it had on the outside looked the absolute best.
“Meat . . .”
The steak on her plate was being cut into smaller pieces—by the finest mage of the Empire.
Was she really allowed to eat it?
‘Maybe this is a test.’
The Empress occasionally ordered the maids to test Siervian. It’s because the Imperial Family should always be on their toes.
Which was why she should decline gracefully and politely right now.
Nyam.
[ Damian Erveldotte ]
Thoughts: Her cheeks are so chubby. Cuuute.
Despite her thoughts, Siervian’s young body remained faithful to its instincts.
Nyam, nyam.
Nyam, nyam, nyam.
The more meat she ate, the more relaxed she became.
[ Alderuan Erveldotte ]
Thoughts: I should praise the chef. It’s been a while since mana came into this palace.
‘Is it fine? Is it really fine?’
The two went back to their own meals again. The silence that wasn’t appropriate for a family dinner came back again, but it’s just that . . .
‘For some reason, I’m not scared.’
But at that moment, the Crown Prince suddenly reached out toward Siervian.
“. . . !”
Siervian cowered immediately despite the steak she was still chewing in her mouth.
“Ah.”
The Crown Prince got surprised, too, but he retracted his arm right away.
What was it?
[ Damian Erveldotte ]
Thoughts: The pepper . . . No, never mind. I’ll just eat without it. Siervian must’ve been surprised.
Ah, was he reaching for the pepper shaker?
Shifting her line of sight, she found the pepper shaker near her, as if saying that she should be having a lot of it.
She was now eating as much delicious food as she could, but she remembered the taste of Sarah’s soup loaded with pepper.
‘I really don’t like pepper!’
Siervian, who was agonizing over the spice for a second, pushed the pepper shaker away.
Being a picky eater was unbecoming for an Imperial Princess. But if somebody else took away what she didn’t like, then there’s nothing she could do about that.
She felt proud for making a plausible excuse for herself.
“Here.”
“. . . You’re giving it to me?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.”
[ Damian Erveldotte ]
Favorability: +100
Thoughts: She talked to me first. And she’s so considerate! I’ll make sure to make a record of what happened today on a magic tome!
No, wait. He shouldn’t do that.
After a few days of observation, it seemed like favorability could only be raised to a maximum of 100 at a time. Because no one else raised their favorability to a hundred other than her father, it had only been a theory.
“Eat a lot, Siervian.”
“Okaay.”
[ Damian Erveldotte ]
Favorability: +100
Favorability: +100
Her brother liked pepper a lot, it seemed.
Okay, then. Please eat a lot of pepper.
* * *
‘I’m so full.’
It had been a long time since she had a real, proper meal. Sarah’s watery pepper soup was never enough to fill her stomach.
As she was being dressed for bed, Siervian could withstand Sarah’s rough touch as she pulled the nightgown down, but then came a menacing voice.
“Did you go and eat two pieces of steak, Your Highness?”
“Yesh.”
“. . . Haa. Haven’t I told you before, my Princess. You should eat less starting at a young age so that you don’t have to suffer later.”
Sarah sighed deeply and left a bruise on Siervian.
But Siervian made sure that she was allowed to eat it. Her father and brother’s favorability kept rising whenever she took a bite.
“His Majesty is very angry with you. Why did you lose control and eat too much?”
“. . . !”
Was it a test after all?
“You’ll have to skip tomorrow’s meal. Do you understand?”
“Okay . . .”
Siervian felt suffocated. She shouldn’t have eaten it. The status window might be saying the truth, but she really shouldn’t have eaten two entire pieces of steak.
‘Moreover, the status window isn’t perfect.’
All it showed were a person’s name, occupation, level, favorability, mood, and their fragmented thoughts. There were still a lot of things she couldn’t see.
Dispirited now, Siervian could only nod obediently. Then, she said one thing on purpose.
“But I feel swick.”
“You’re sick?”
[ Sarah ]
Favorability: -50
Thoughts: Sick children are a pain. It’s so annoying when they whine.
As expected, Sarah’s status window popped up.
Back then, there was a time when Siervian had a very high fever, so she asked Sarah to stay with her.
‘She always smiled before, but when I was sick, she just frowned and never brought it up again.’
Whenever Siervian was sick, she was always left alone in her room. Sarah said it was for her own good so she could rest well, so this time, she’s sure that she’d be left alone again.
“Then I’ll be outside. If you’re in a lot of pain and you can’t stand it anymore, then call me. Understand? Isn’t it more convenient if you rest alone?”
“Uh-huh.”
Just as she predicted, Sarah carelessly left her alone to sleep and quickly left the room. Thanks to this, the nagging that would have continued for a long time was cut short.
‘But I also don’t want to be alone.’
There was a lot of bizarre-looking furniture in the Princess’s Palace. They were all scary to look at in the dark.
After coming back from dinner, Ellie had to leave right away without any break and go to another palace. Sarah assigned her more work because she was mad that Ellie didn’t control Siervian’s meal.
‘Why did I return to the past?’
This was her second life now. And this time, she had the huge advantage of knowing people’s inner thoughts due to the status window.
She thought she could change the future if she carefully observed the status window. This time, she hoped that she could become a child who wasn’t hated.
She now had this ability, but it seemed like nothing changed at all.
‘It feels like my heart is breaking into pieces.’
Saying that she was sick was only an excuse so that she could be alone, but now she really felt ill. Her body felt sore and she was covered with cold sweat.
She groaned, but she didn’t call Sarah outside, convincing herself that she could still endure this much pain.
‘But my heart really, really hurts. Should I call Sarah?’
As if to answer Siervian’s plight, she heard a commotion outside her door.
“Y-your Majesty . . . !”
It was Sarah’s startled voice that called out to the Emperor.
‘Father’s here?’
Siervian quickly pretended to sleep. He might have come here to scold her for what happened at dinner. So if she pretended to sleep, at least her scolding would be moved to tomorrow.
“. . .”
After a while, the door opened soundlessly. Siervian continued pretending to be asleep.
She couldn’t see the status window when her eyes were closed. However, she could clearly feel the large hand that came down gently onto her forehead.
“. . . She has a fever.”
It was still a cold voice. But contrary to Siervian’s expectations, her father’s hand was exceedingly warm.
Forgetting that she only meant to pretend, Siervian soon fell asleep for real.
All without knowing about what was to come the very next day.