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Chapter 22




[Let's go to the forest. Hoot. Let's eat the rabbit.]
[Sure. Sounds good.]
[Let's go.]
The owls, who had been cooing, flew away with a flapping of their wings. I watched them disappear, feeling the wind created by their flapping, and then returned to my bed and lay down.
‘Well, even if a talking owl is added to a world where cats can speak, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?’
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the owls. The next day, while being carried by Xavier for a walk, I ended up hearing the voice of a hunting dog kept at the palace.
[Should I bite, or not? Should I bite, or not? Should I bite, or not...]
The dog, with a fierce mutter, was staring intently at the soldier holding its leash. The hunting dog, lying down obediently, had a look of hunger in its eyes. A passing sparrow, spotting the finance minister, cried out.
[Chirp! He’s bald. Let’s poop on him! Chirp!]
“Ah!”
A moment later, the finance minister’s scream echoed down the street. After that, I kept hearing the voices of animals.
[This is so heavy, hee-haw! Damn it!]
A horse, carrying a fat noble, grumbled and swore.
[Grass, yummy. Nom nom.]
A rabbit, leisurely nibbling on grass, perked up its ears. With the endless stream of animal voices, I couldn’t deny it anymore.
‘I can hear animals...’
*** After getting down from Xavier’s arms, I immediately looked for Yangi.
“Yangi!”
[What is it? I was sleeping...]
‘Now is not the time for a nap.’
[Nothing is more important than my sleep.]
Yangi, grooming his face with his front paws, pouted. I ignored him and got straight to the point.
‘I can hear the voices of animals.’
[Oh, so your abilities are finally starting to manifest, huh.]
‘Huh?’
Unlike my excitement, Yangi was incredibly calm, as if he had known this would happen.
‘Did you know?’
[Yeah, I did.]
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
[Well, I didn’t know exactly when Mabel’s abilities would manifest.]
With that, I couldn’t press Yangi any further. Instead, I asked other questions.
‘Why did you give me the ability to hear animals? What am I supposed to do with it?’
[It’s not just about hearing voices, and it’s not limited to animals. It’s the ability to communicate with living natural objects.]
Communicate with natural objects. I thought about what falls under the category of natural objects. Animals, of course, and plants like trees and grass.
‘Can I communicate with plants too?’
[Of course.]
‘What? ...That’s cool, right?’
With this ability, I could probably support myself even after leaving the palace.
“Hehe...”
I chuckled, turning my back to Xavier, who was looking at me curiously, and continued to giggle.
‘I hit the jackpot.’
Yangi shook his head at my behavior. *** It had been four months since I became emperor. Despite the busy time, I was growing steadily.
“Oh, you’re eating well.”
“Mmm.” (Delicious.)
“How can you eat so well without being picky? You’re so cute.”
As my diet shifted from baby food to toddler food, my appetite reached its peak. Just baby food, and it’s this delicious! Plus, not having to worry about meals was the best part.
‘I love having three meals a day...’
In my previous life, I mostly relied on instant noodles and convenience store rice rolls for meals, so even though it’s baby food, this proper meal is like a feast.
“Delicious.” (I ate well.)
“You’re so polite. Our Majesty is so smart, what can we do?”
The nanny, whose eyes turned into hearts, kissed my cheek and wiped my mouth. Nannies are really hard to handle. I’ve gotten used to this level of affectionate expression. At first, people were surprised by how well I spoke, but now they take it for granted. They seem to believe I’m a genius.
‘Second life, you know.’
Thanks to that, I’ve moved beyond single-word conversations and can now form sentences, though my pronunciation is still poor.
‘Today was delicious too.’
Feeling satisfied, I stretched out on the bed when someone knocked.
“Majesty. It’s Gustav.”
“Hmm.”
Despite my obvious displeasure, the door opened. Today, Gustav, with his pale face, smiled weakly.
“It’s almost time for the meeting, Majesty.”
“Sigh...”
When I stretched out my arms, Gustav naturally picked me up. One of my achievements over the past four months was getting closer to Gustav. At first, I didn’t plan to get close, but the more I was around Gustav, the more I enjoyed provoking him, and we ended up becoming friends.
“Did you enjoy your meal?”
“Mm-hm. Delicious.” (Yes, it was delicious.)
“That’s good. You need to eat well today.”
“Why?”
“Because Duke Javier is attending.”
“Hmm.”
Duke Javier. That middle-aged man is the main reason I dislike meetings. I made the mistake of letting my guard down because of his kind and gentle appearance. He’s devious inside, despite his outward appearance. I dislike the other ministers who excessively dote on me and ignore what I say, but Duke Javier is the worst! Seeing me shudder, Gustav laughed.
“Do you dislike Duke Javier?”
“Mm-hm. I hate him. He’s a pain.” (Yes, I hate him. He’s a pain.)
“Where did you learn such words...”
Before Gustav could finish, a familiar voice called out.
“Mabel.”
The clear features, more distinct than my future, greeted me again today.
“Mabel, come here.”
The situation emperor smiled and reached out his hand, but I shook my head and clung to Gustav.
“No, I won’t go.” (No, I won’t go.)
“Mabel.”
“Hmph.”
The situation emperor’s gaze, fixed on Gustav, turned cold. Gustav broke a sweat between me and the situation emperor.
‘Gustav is going to get scolded again.’
I tugged at Gustav’s clothes.
“Put me down.” (Put me down.)
Then I walked past the emperor toward the conference room. I heard the two of them slowly following behind me.
“Sigh...”
‘This is harder than I thought.’
With four months of experience as an emperor, I understood the current situation. That’s why I also knew the clear reason the situation emperor made me emperor.
‘To prevent me from being handed over to the Holy Kingdom of Abellar.’
Honestly, I couldn’t understand why the situation emperor was going to such lengths. He could have just sent me to the Holy Kingdom. To me, the palace and the Holy Empire were the same.
‘They call me the seed of the gods, so they’ll probably feed me well there too.’
Even though I’m the emperor now, I don’t think I’ll be the emperor forever. Besides, the situation emperor handles all the actual work, so my role isn’t important at all. I still don’t want to be an emperor. I don’t want power that’s given to me. Therefore, my dream of being deposed remains. Treating the situation emperor coldly is part of that great dream. If I keep this up, he’ll gradually lose interest in me, and eventually, I’ll be a thorn in his side as the emperor.
‘...That’s how I planned to be deposed.’
But no matter how coldly I treated him, the situation emperor’s attitude never changed. He gave me everything good and visited me every day, always making sure to see my face before leaving. Even on busy days or late at night when I was asleep, he would always stop by. As a result, I had accumulated a lot of wealth by the time I was one and a half years old.
“This way, the palace will all be mine...” (This way, the palace will all be mine...)
Most of the palace, except for a few buildings and gardens, was now under my actual ownership. Although I can’t really sell them, it’s still something. After walking hard with my short legs, I found myself at the conference room. Suppressing my reluctance to enter, I stepped inside, and many eyes turned to me.
“Hail the hope of the empire, His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Your Majesty, your health is a great blessing to the empire today!”
“You’ve tied your hair in two braids today! You look very dignified and cute!”
As soon as I entered, the flattery of the ministers, who jumped to their feet, filled the air. I waved my hand once and headed for my designated seat, the imperial throne. Being the most prestigious, the throne was on a high dais at the top of a staircase. The staircase was too high for me to climb.
“Mabel, I’ll help