Chapter 29

“I couldn’t believe you could even write my name, princess.”

As Noel seemed to be teasing her, Rieta unwaveringly wrote “Noel Mayer” on a corner of her paper.

“You wrote it nicely.”

“I always good.”

Rieta replied, puffing up a little. She might not have had much else, but she could boast of her beautiful handwriting.

“And this is how to write ‘Noel Mayer’ in kingdom language.”

“Why is it longer?”

“Well, maybe it’s because I’m stretching the ‘l.’”

She pronounced Noel’s name in the language of the kingdom.

This time again, he laughed.

“It’s flat!”

However, she excitedly practiced her handwriting, thinking it was fun to translate names.

After their impromptu snack break, they marched to the garden.

Of course, everything was included in Rieta’s test.

They had struggled for quite a while because the sticky notes just wouldn’t stick to the “fountain.” Feeling it was wrong to attach something to a “bird’s nest,”  they just stuck it next to the “tree.” Rieta also drew a small picture on “bird’s nest” to prevent confusion of it and the tree.

Noel took away the pen and drew it again, because the one she made was terrible. However, his own was not any better..

Rieta smiled and laughed wildly at him.

Afterwards, they visited the stable and the guard posts used by the Duke’s soldiers.

By the end, every corner of the place was filled with notes left by the two.

The Duke’s people were all in favor of the two children going around and giving them name tags.

They were absorbed in their work until sunset.

They enjoyed it enough to forget that they were hungry.

Then suddenly-

“Huh.”

One of the soldiers working at the guard post heard a wondering voice.

“Isn’t it a little too strong…”

When the children took off the paper attached to the window, the remaining white adhesive marks remained the same.

“Oh my God! you must be careful, Princess,Young Master. It’s going to terrible if you put it on something precious.”

“……a precious thing?”

When Rieta asked again, the soldier smiled and kindly informed.

“Yes, precious things. Like the Duke’s vase or his portrait.”

Rieta, of course, knew very well what the words, ‘vase’ and ‘portraits’, meant.

She could write them down even if he had told her to do it without looking.

Noel was the authority on effective studying methods.

“Oh…”

Noel and Rieta faced each other for a moment.

And then, they sprang all the way to the house without saying anything else.

The soldiers who watched them laughed happily and admired, ‘Those two are very healthy.’

The two went straight up to the second floor of the mansion.

There, they held their breath and snuck up.

“This is a big problem.”

They could hear the old butler’s concerned voice from far down the hallway.

“Does it leave marks too?”

“Yes, it’s been stuck with the best glue for a long time.”

“Oh my God, where are Noel and the Princess?”

“Shall we find them?”

“No, I’ll go by myself.”

The Duke’s voice was so cold, that Rieta and Noel trembled unconsciously.

Of course, the two knew, ‘If you are a good child, you should go right now and admit your faults.’

However, the Duke’s voice was so scary that they didn’t have the courage to tell the truth right away.

They were even more scared when they recalled how much they had been scolded after the ‘Sugar Hand-Dipping Incident’.

Therefore, the two of them slowly retreated unconsciously.

Their pace grew faster and faster and soon, they were hurrying into the study.

After crawling up to the corner of the window frame, they covered their bodies with the red curtains.

“Ah what do I do?! Wow, princess why did you have to put the vase and the portrait on the test?!”

“This is what Noel wanted to do in the first place!”

They continuously blamed each other,while knowing  it would be pointless.

The Duke was a fair man, so both of them would be in trouble. And they’d probably get punished.

“We’re screwed. We’re going to have the worst weekend.”

Noel tore the note that said, “Great gentleman and genius” from his clothes with a frustrated face.

The white paper mark was left on his clothes.

It was awful to think that this would also remain on that portrait —on grandfather’s nose and on the first Emperor’s forehead.