Lately, Caitel suddenly got quite busy. Seems like the war with Prawzia wasn’t going as smoothly as they planned. Normally things should be over by now. Instead, they were simply on hold at the frontline at the moment.
Ferdel was stuck in the chancellor’s residence too. I hadn’t seen that sneaky Dranste these days either.
No wonder I was bored these days.
“Princess, please have some of this!”
Huh? I heard Elene’s voice. However, as soon as I turned my head to her, I saw her running to me quickly. Oh, no she would…
“Fall down!”
Even before I finished my sentence, Elene tripped and fell. Ouch, I turned my head and looked at her again. Ugh, that must have been really painful. Even I felt that pain. I sighted touching my forehead.
How could she fall so well?
“Are you all right?”
I ran and looked at Elene groaning as she stood up. Serira was already coming this way with a cold towel she cooled on the winter tree. Oh, she got a bump in her head. Did she fall off head first? What if she got a serious injury?
“Princess!”
Yeah, I was here. It’s not like I would bite her. However, not as I expected, the first thing she did was handing me the pudding plate she brought.
“The pudding is still fine! Hehe, here!”
It’s not the time to talk about pudding. Oh, this idiot.
I thought she was pathetic to laugh like a fool after tripping, but I still accepted her pudding. It was my favorite custard pudding after all. It was a little crumpled, but it’s good enough. It was even more amazing that she didn’t spill it when she fell.
I stared at the plate and took a bite with a spoon.
“It’s delicious!”
Elene smiled brightly as the same smile spread all over my face. Before I noticed it, Serira put a cold towel on her head.
“Is it delicious?”
“Yeah! Do you want it, too?”
“No, I’m fine. Eat a lot, princess!”
Hmm. I turned my head to Serira to see if she would like to have some, but Serra smiled and turned her head. She didn’t want it too? Then I would eat it all by myself. Why didn’t they wanted to eat this delicious food? I knew they’re all giving it away for me but…Oh, it’s so delicious.
“Go see the doctor.”
“I am okay. It’s just a small bump.”
“Still, just in case.”
“It’s hard for you to take care of the princess alone. It’s okay.”
I was a good kid, so it’s okay for Serira to take care of me alone. I knew it’s because she’s embarrassed to see the doctor. She had been visiting there for at least once a week because of her carelessness.
“Go ahead!”
It’s bad to hold back the pain you got from swiping the floor with her knees. Even I smiled and helped Serira. Elene couldn’t say a word but bite her lip. She’s such a real troublemaker. She told you to go already.
“Then I’ll be right back.”
Oh, she ran again. Her constant need to run was the reason why she’s tripping a lot. I was sucking my spoon while eating pudding when Serira reached my head. As I turned my head up, she smiled.
“Princess, his Majesty will be late again today. Should we return to the palace first?”
“No!”
Even if I get back to the palace, there was nothing to do but wait. Then wouldn’t it be better to stay here in the garden? I held my pudding and sat under the winter tree. The cold energy from the tree was so cool. Oh, it’s really hot elsewhere.
“I want to play more. I like the tree.”
As I begged, she seemed to have no other choice. She shrugged her shoulder and sat next to me. I sat down and put the pudding bowl on my lap. I heaved a sigh.
Daddy, he must be really busy. When I stayed together with him all day long, I seriously wanted him away from me, but now, I felt strange. I thought this was all because of the war with South Praezia. It really didn’t seem to work out the way he thought. Well, that’s life. It should have been over by now, but I heard it’s a really slow progress.
The situation was better because Knight Assisi was there. I heard my dad might have to go and join the war too.
Anyway, Praezia.
“Hmm.”
My mind suddenly grew heavy. That princess… I didn’t even remember her name now. She was the princess of Praezia. Was her name Faylin?
Oh, I couldn’t remember. I didn’t know about it anymore. I felt depressed. The fact that the princess was really dead… she didn’t commit a crime worthy of the fate she got. Come to think of it, she’s dead because of me, shit. Oh, that person died because of me. It wasn’t as if I got hit in the back of my head, but at least it made me control my minor actions. Well, even though it’s the princess’ fault, if I hadn’t cried like that, she wouldn’t have died.
“I don’t know.”
Serira looked back at me. I laughed as if it was nothing. I heard that North Praezia had already yielded to my father’s forces, but the South Prestia was a problem.
Oddly enough, the empire of Praezia was virtually divided into Northerners and Southerners. Similar to how the old Rome had been divided into West Rome and East Roman. If it was the same as Rome, it was bound together by a country called Praezia. They then served the same emperor, but the system and culture are slightly different due to the said division. Even the emperor was almost like a scarecrow.
If they united, they would be stronger than Agregiant. However, it would not happen since the chancellor of the North and the prime minister of the South are busy bickering among one another. The claim had now been confirmed as a war.
There were many complicated stories, but I wanted my country to win since I am now a citizen of Agregiant. I was relieved. That’s such a baby thing to do. There’s no winners or losers in a war after all.
“What’s that?”
As I finish all the pudding and idled around, I suddenly noticed a road I had never seen before. Where did that road lead? I forgot about it since I was always going to Solay Palace. However, this garden where I was playing at the moment was a huge garden in the heart of the palace. It was connected directly to any part of the palace. Well, that’s what everyone said anyway. Of course, Solay Palace was nearest to it.
“That’s the way for Seraglio.”
“Seraglio?”
What was Seraglio? It was the first time I had heard of it. Seraglio?
“It’s a place where all the princesses and ladies from other countries lived together.”
Ah, the harem. When I had come to think of it, the place where I met the princess of Praezia was somewhere around there. Serira added a comment.
“Please don’t try to go there.”
“Why?”
Huh? Oh, I didn’t need to ask. I just asked a question, and it was really thoughtless of me. Why? It’s obvious. By the way, I asked her a difficult question. However, I couldn’t take it back anymore. Well, I couldn’t help it. I would just stare at her while waiting for her answer.
“There’s nothing you couldn’t do, princess.”
“I see.”
Yeah, well, Serira wasn’t saying anything wrong. Surely there was no guarantee that the concubines would be kind to me. All of them tried not to enter in the garden because of me. Perhaps to Caitel, the women in that harem were not recognized as his own. Well, the reason why he put all of them in the place call Harem was…