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Chapter 23




His crimson eyes shook fiercely. It’s a common occurrence that little kids don’t want to be called as a child.
“My little groom. Go to sleep.”
“I’m not a kid!”
Blake was even more enraged, although I corrected it for him in consideration.
However, it is common for a kid to hate being called a child or a baby. I have a rough idea of what he wants to hear, but I shouldn’t spoil him too much.
“You’re a kid.”
“Huh…”
Blake widened his eyes wide as though he was surprised.
No, is this such a surprise?
***
It must have been a surprise.
Blake has been sighing every since. Now he was standing still on the largest tree in the palace.
The beautiful tree marked me, Blake, and Diana’s height. We measured it last year and early this year, I am the tallest, followed by Diana and Blake.
“Your Highness, please eat first.”
“I don’t have a good appetite…”
He spoke in a morose voice.
“Why? Do you feel sick?”
“I won’t grow tall even if I eat it…”
“You’ll be taller when you eat.”
“I am not taller than you, even though I eat a lot…”
“It’s okay. You’re just growing up late.”
There was no specific potrayal of Blake being short in the original story. Richard was about 185, and the author says Blake’s a little shorter than him, so he’ll be as tall as 170s later.
“I cooked today, aren’t you going to eat?”
“Ancia made it?”
Blake glistened his eyes. I liked cooking. And it was better to see Blake enjoying my food.
“Yes, please taste it!”
“Yes!”
He ran straight to the dining room.
“Come on, try it.”
“Huh, what is this?”
Blake halted when he saw the soup in front of him.
“It’s bean sprout soup.”
Blake, who usually ate everything I made well, hesitated and stared at the bean sprout soup.
“This is like a ‘Macul’….”
‘Macul’ is a one-eyed demon that lived in the valley of Chaos.
Tenstheon took the bean sprout from the ‘Chang’ empire in the East, planted it in the field, and harvested it a while ago. I didn’t notice at all before but listening to Blake’s words. It indeed looks similar to that ‘Macul.’
But if he says so, it means he won’t eat it.
“What do you mean like a ‘Macul’? This is made from the beans we harvested.”
“Beans?”
“Yes. The beans are this long. If you eat this, you’ll grow tall like a bean sprout.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s true.”
Blake carefully picked up a bean sprout with chopsticks. Now he was also good at using chopsticks.
“Macul…”
As if Macul’s image was still in his head, he looked so sick, and just in time closed his eyes and put bean sprouts in his mouth.
“What do you think?”
“It, it’s like a hair. Tickling my tongue…”
His face turned pale. I never dreamed that he would not like it because he even enjoyed the strong taste of soybean paste soup.
“Huh.”
But Blake didn’t spit it out and chewed it until the end.
“How is it?”
“Ummm… I don’t know what it tastes like. It’s not sweet, and it’s not salty, it’s also not sour.”
“The charm of bean sprouts is that they tasted unique.”
“Ahh…”
Blake nodded, but I don’t think he understood me exactly.
He carefully dipped the soup with a spoon. From the look in his face, it was clear that he was reminded of the high ground where the ‘Macul’ lives.
Blake closed his eyes and drank the transparent soup again. Soon he widened his eyes.
“Oh! Delicious!”
“Right? Delicious?”
“Yes!”
Blake once again ate the bean sprout soup.
“You can’t just eat the soup. Bean sprouts are nutritious, so eat it together.”
“Yes…”
Blake ate bean sprouts as I said. At first, he seemed reluctant, but by the time he tried the soup, he began to eat without hesitation.
My stomach was full because of the meal. Then Diana came running towards me.
“Sister!!”
“You’re early today.”
“Because I missed you! Hey, who made the clothes you’re wearing now?”
“Huh? Why? Do you want it?”
“No, that’s not it, I’m going to say thank you to the designer that made this dress! Peridot color! It’s perfect for my sister!”
She’s starting again.
“My wife looks pretty no matter what she wears!”
Even Blake, who was eating quietly, joined the praising wagon. I don’t hate to hear it, but I was a little embarrassed. I quickly changed the subject.
“Diana, did you eat? If you didn’t, let’s eat together.”
Diana, who was constantly making silly comments, gazed at the table.
“What’s that? Is that Macul?”
Blake, who had forgotten the existence of the monster and was deliciously eating, shuddered.
***
“One, two!”
Diana wielded her sword with all her might and practiced the moves she had learned from Edon today.
Count Bellacian taught her many things. However, etiquette, social dance, ballet, piano, embroidery, and so on, are all aimed at enhancing her value in the marriage trade, and it was not something Diana wanted.
Thanks to Ancia, she learned swordsmanship.
She felt a great happiness when she swung a sword like this.
The cut from left to right did not go smoothly.
Diana clenched the wooden sword again.
Then the door opened and Gilbert, her father, came in. Diana was startled and reflexively hid her sword behind her.
“What are you hiding?”
Gilbert glared at her.
“Nothing.”
Diana shook her head in a hurry. But Gilbert pulled her hand violently.
“Ah!”
Diana screamed at the pain, but he didn’t care. Gilbert of the past wouldn’t have acted this way.
But in two years, Gilbert’s mind has changed.
He was ashamed of his first marriage. He wanted to erase the fact that he married a baroness for money.
Whenever he saw Ancia, he was distressed because he remembered his shameful past, and he sincerely hoped that she would rather die.
He was proud of his second wife, a countess like him, and loved Diana, the fruit of their marriage.
But after the emperor favored Ancia, his feelings changed little by little.
Maybe his real gem was Ancia.
Although she was only twelve years old, Ancia’s reputation was well known throughout the empire. Diana’s reputation is excellent too, but she was no match for Ancia.
He thought Diana with a noble bloodline is similar to him, but the more he looked at her, the more he thought Ancia resembled him more.
It’s not just appearance.
Ancia became a socialite with an unbelievable powerful and gentle charisma even though she was only 12 years old. She also invented the “Sapoje” farming method, which alternates between human crops and livestock feed.
The emperor tested this method in the south, referring to her invention, and as a result, he saw the effect of increasing yields and increasing livestock.
Sapoje expanded throughout the country, and this year the empire had an unprecedented good harvest. The popularity of the Crown Princess among the people of the Empire soared into the sky.
The nobles were not much different.
Those who were reluctant to be the companion of the cursed crown prince, and who could not understand the emperor who was pampering such a girl, gradually disappeared. Now everyone was busy praising Ancia as a true blessing for the empire.
For the first time, the nobility doubted the innermost thoughts of the emperor who cared for the crown prince and feared that he might be trying to empower the crown prince under the pretext of caring for Ancia.
But when Ancia revealed her capabilities in many ways, such doubts faded away naturally.
Tenstheon was a monarch who valued ability over status and background. It was only natural to care for such a talented girl like Ancia.
As Ancia’s position became stronger, so did her father Gilbert’s popularity. All of them, no matter a noble or merchant, is working hard to impress him. But it didn’t last long.
People soon noticed that Ancia and Gilbert had a bad relationship. Gilbert’s status in society has plummeted in a short period of time, as Emperor Tenstheon also did not honor him as his in-laws.
Gilbert hurriedly sent a present to Ancia and tried to win her heart. But Ancia didn’t even look at it.
Gilbert clenched his teeth. He vowed to take revenge on Ancia and the people who dared to ignore him.
If Diana married the eldest son of Duke Cassil and became a real empress, he would be able to wash all this disgrace away at once.
He sent Diana to the Crown Prince’s palace. Ancia ungratefully turned away from her birth father, who raised her, but she often looked for her younger sister.
Gilbert ordered Diana to do what the Duke of Cassil had secretly ordered.
“Ask Ancia to pick a maid named Beth.”
“Tell me what happened at the Crown Prince’s palace today.”
If Diana did well in this work, she could also be firmly sealed to the Duke of Cassil. In the long run, it was a hundred times better than being the monstrous prince’s companion.
But things didn’t go as Gilbert wanted.