Chapter 5

‘Ah. Now that I think about it, the knight.’

I looked around with a belated thought. A knight with violet eyes. However, Michael was already invisible in the crowd.

‘I have a question I’d like to ask.’

Last night, I tried to visit Michael, but unable to do it because of Sarina’s words. Sarina. Does that mean she likes the Duke?

‘You cared about me because you liked him.’

The Duke lost something by becoming my dad. I could understand even if Sarina hated me.

“Princess, it’s time for breakfast.”

“Ah.”

I was surprised because Sarina spoke to me. The red hair catches the eye with its flamboyance. I faced the expression of Sarina, who was blunt, but somewhere sullen. The paleness was probably due to the Duke’s life.

“Yes.”

Sarina likes the Duke alone. I had a quick look at it. It may be because I grew up in an orphanage. Based on what she said yesterday, she thought she had a chance because someone disappeared. Does my dad have a feeling for someone who was gone? Does Sarina dream of being a Duchess?

“I will take you there.”

I followed Sarina who walked first. Unrequited love. I was scared of Sarina, but I still thought she was human.

And I wanted to tell her.

‘I won’t be here long.’

….so don’t be so hard on me.

As I walked along the long corridor, a mysterious-looking room soon emerged. Sarina opened the door for me. Our eyes met for a moment. Perhaps because of her high ambition, her eyes were intense.

‘How old is Sarina?’

She looks 17 years old at most.

‘Why Daddy?’

I know the Duke is handsome. Still, my dad is 25 years old.

Something feels strange. It’s wrong.

‘Sarina is such a waste.’

The moment I thought so, I naturally sat in a chair on the lead of Sarina. Sarina stepped back.

I felt strange sitting alone at a long table.

The door on the other side opened and my nerves were automatically taken away. The person who came in with a bright smile was a chef with a white hat on his head. My eyes widened at the incredibly delicious smell.

“Wow….”

I was admiring it without realizing it. The chef opened the lid and I saw the meat and bread.

“It’s a steak of lean meat. I also served pineapple, which I think you’ll particularly like.”

“Lean meat?”

“It’s beef, Princess.” Sarina explained next to me.

Food disappears if I don’t eat while there is. I learned it at the orphanage.

I’ve seen a nobleman who uses a knife to cut meat in a picture book. I imitated it awkwardly. I was happy when I put the meat in my mouth.

Delicious. It was soft. After I ate three more pieces, I realized that many people watched me.

‘Are real nobles being watched while they are eating?’

Something is a little weird…..

I slowly put my fork down. People who watched me eating with a dismal face were strikingly puzzled.

“I’m full.”

“….?”

“But, Princess, you ate less….? It’s only five pieces of meat.”

“If we don’t give the best nourishment to the Princess, to everyone who served you here, His Grace will … eub.”

The servant who was talking couldn’t speak more because his mouth was blocked by another servant. I tilted my head. The servants smiled awkwardly when they met my eyes.

Everyone was just staring at me, but Sarina, who was behind me, suddenly spoke.

“Princess, what about the bell pepper?”

“…what is a bell pepper?”

“It’s the cut-off green food.”

Green. It was a vegetable spread beside the meat. It’s fuzzy.

“It doesn’t look good.”

“Please eat it.”

“But I haven’t eaten all the meat yet.…”

“Eating evenly is good for your body.”

Sarina was scary. Maybe if someone else said that, I will just pretend I didn’t know, but….

I ate the grgeen bell pepper slowly. People opened their eyes wide and looked at Sarina and me alternately.

‘As expected.’

It tastes awful. I don’t like bell peppers.

Perhaps he noticed my sullen heart, the chef in a white hat smiled brightly and comforted me.

“It’s nice to see you eat well. Princess.”

‘…that’s a compliment, right?’

Praise is good. Simply, I felt better right away. I smiled, swallowing green peppers without much chewing.

“The chef has a lot of hair.”

‘I should compliment you because you complimented me too.’

Unthinkable, the chef was taken aback for a moment. He wore a white hat, but if you see his hair, it must be a lot of hair. The director had no hair.

“I-Is it?”

“It’s great.”

“Hohoho.”

I was also happy because the chef liked it very much with half the joy of emotion. It’s basic to be seen well by the person who will feed you.

“…”

Those who was watching made strange faces. Sarina, in particular, had a complicated face, but when I put green peppers in my mouth again, she stepped back.

Everyone was anxious that I would put the fork down again. I don’t know why, but…

‘I should be a healthy child.’

Still, the meat was better than the bell peppers.

***

“Hello, Princess. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hello.”

“I’m Ehin, and I’m in charge of the Princess’ education for the next month.”

Ehin has a sweet scarlet hair. He looked younger than Sarina. When I turned my head to stare at Sarina, she explained.

“He is the student president of the Academy who breaks the records every year. Royal Peace Academy.”

Royal … Peace?

I suddenly thought of a story my friend Madeleine had told me.

[ Adele, you know what? There’s an academy where the Crown Prince also attends. My wish is to go to the academy. The name is also pretty, Royal Peace Academy. ]

“Ah…”

“I can’t help but run to you because you’re the baby of propechy. I’ve heard all the requests I’ve never done before from the Duke.”

Ehin was a good impression. His softly curved eyes were honey-brown. Even if he didn’t try to relax my vigilance, I wasn’t scared of Ehin from the beginning.

‘You look like a nice person.’

He was energetic and cheerful. As I looked up, Ehin sat across from me and said.

“All my income will go to the Duke’s ears. What did the Princess learn, what class she took, and how fast she was progressing. Do you agree?”

To the Duke’s ear?

That means the Duke is interested in me. He wouldn’t care if he wasn’t interested.

My throat tickles.

“Yes.”

“You can call me teacher from now on.”

“….Teacher.”

I got a teacher, too.

“I’m going to ask you a few questions, but it’s not a test, so if you don’t know, tell me you don’t know. You have to answer honestly as you know. As your teacher, I need to know it if I want to do well in teaching.”

At Ehin’s kind explanation I nodded understandingly.

“First question, does Adele know what the baby of prophecy is?”

It was difficult from the first question. I answered with an effort not to stutter.

“Just … he asked me if I could hear the spirit, and I said yes, and then he suddenly said I was the baby of prophecy. And I came here.”

“I see. Yes, Adele is the baby of prophecy that appeared in hundreds of years. Do you happen to know anything else?”

“…no.”

Ehin wrote something on a piece of paper and raised his head again.

“Then Adele, Adele is the baby of prophecy, but now you are the only princess of the Duke of Alcibiades. Do you happen to know your rights and obligations?”

I answered with a blink of an eye.

“….eating well?”

“Eating well…?”

Ehin must have been surprised, so he copied what I said. I answered eagerly.

“Eat bell peppers well, go to bed early, it’s better if I eat a lot, and I have to study hard, too.”

“…Umh, that’s very desirable. It’s a very good learning attitude.”

Did I do well?

I turned my head to see Sarina, but she avoided my eyes.

“…then this is the last question. What does the Princess know about the Haspelt Imperial Family?”

Imperial family. It is also the Imperial family.

The Imperial family and I, who were in the orphanage until I was eight years old, were people from a completely different world. But I’ve been listening to it every day since I came here.

I answered slowly.

“…my friend told me. His Highness the Crown Prince is attending the Royal Peace Academy.”

“Oh, it’s very important information. You have a good friend.”

Ehin carefully wrote down the words, but I was surprised to hear the pleasant words.

“That’s right. Madeleine is a dear friend. How nice of her.”

“…”

Ehin stopped writing and looked up at me. He, who had been silent for a moment, soon smiled kindly.

“I see. She seems to be a really good friend to the Princess.”

Ehin put the pen down. I beamed at his sympathy. Ehin pondered for a moment, then he took out a book with a gold frame. The gold sparkled. The thick book had no picture unlike the picture book I had seen. There were only letters.

But I wasn’t scared. Now I have a teacher.

“I’m sure Adele will get to know a lot with teacher. It’s my first time today, so I’ll tell you the most important thing. Can you see this last sentence?”

“Yes.”

“Can you read it for me?”

“I don’t know the writing.”

Ehin wasn’t surprised. He was quiet just for a moment thinking about another way.

“Then, shall we repeat what teacher said? First of all, remember the name. You can do that.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Okay, then. Born in 2708 of the Imperial Calendar,”

“….Born in 2708 of the Imperial Calendar.”

Four years older than me. Ehin continued, making eye contact with me.

“Kasmahan.”

“Kasmahan,”

“Sugar.”

“Sugar,”

“Haspelt.”

“Haspelt.”

Kasmahan Sugar Haspelt, I recalled the name. I wanted to memorize the first thing the teacher told me as best as I could.

But can Haspelt be included in a name?

‘I heard that only the Imperial Family who allowed to use it.’

Kasmahan Sugar Haspelt. The name looked sweet and pretty.

“Your name is beautiful.”

“This is the Crown Prince’s.”

“..yes…?”

“So far … I mean that he’s going to become the Emperor soon. The Crown Prince is still 12 years old, but it’s not like there is no case in history when they crowned a 10 years old as the Emperor.”

I was surprised by the unforeseen identity and forgot what to say.

I opened my eyes wide, but the explanation was all that. As if it wasn’t time for him to tell me more, Ehin looked like he was holding back his words.

He told me the most important thing.

‘Why is the first lesson the Crown Prince’s name?’

I didn’t know the reason at that time, but, later, I could understand when I look back on the past day

Because it was my future husband’s name. The most important information was correct.

Prince Kasmahan Sugar Haspelt.

Kasmahan Sugar Haspelt.

The boy who will be called the Emperor from the age of 14. The next sun to rise gloriously, the legitimate successor of the Empire. The boy who will compete with the Duke and claim himself as my guardian.

But as an eight-years-old, I did not know the details, I only memorized the boy’s name hard.

T/N: DO NOT ASK ME WHY HIS MIDDLE NAME IS SUGAR. IN THE RAW, IT WAS EVEN WRITTEN IN ALPHABETS.

anyway, which one do you like more for the MC to call the Duke, Dad or Daddy? I can’t decide.