Chapter 27

Although I have gained weight these past few days because I ate well and slept well, I didn’t think about getting bigger. Should I say I had the body of a three-year-old?

When I was born, I grew up steadily, but when I was a few years old, I wasn’t able to eat much and didn’t grow.

“Is this real…..?”

The figure in the mirror was still a child, but it looked like a normal five-year-old. There was no scarring on the body and the complexion was good. Although the pronunciation of words that burst out of my mouth was weak, the volume increased.

Although I had a small voice and body of a 5-year-old child, compared to what it had been like in a 3-year-old body, I was at least grateful.

“Why?”

I took one step forward to get out of bed. The me in the mirror moved and the silky soft hair swayed smoothly without tangling.

I approached the mirror with an awkward body and touched the smooth surface with both hands. There were fingerprints on the mirror, but I didn’t care.

Haha~ I laughed awkwardly.

“…..Arien?”

Behind my reflection in the mirror, Argen awkwardly got up and called me. I turned my head with trembling eyes to make eye contact.

As if Argen couldn’t figure out the situation, he looked around several times with trembling eyes and buried his face in his hand.

Our body got bigger.

It was a three to five years old body, like the body we should have.

“…… haah?”

Argen jumped to his feet in shock, but sank back down.

I already felt like my body wasn’t my body, so when I looked at him in understanding, Argen wrinkled his brow and pointed at me.

“What’s that?”

“…… Are you talking about my height or my hair?”

“Both.”

“You’ll know when you see it.”

“…… What is this?”

When Argen asked what I was seriously talking about, he grabbed his hair as if he was trying to yank it off. Staring at the long blond hair, he opened his eyes wide.

“What is this?”

The moment Argen realized the long blond hair on the floor wasn’t just my hair, he asked in a perplexed voice.

But if I knew, I wouldn’t even act like this. Argen must have known that it was a meaningless question, so he slowly got up after rubbing his leg a few times .

“Ugh…….”

Unlike me, he felt a lot of pain here and there and instead of getting up, he touched his back and made a sound.

Considering Argen’s agony just before he lost consciousness, I understood his pain.

I was thinking of going and helping him, but with long hair like Rapunzel wrapped all over my body, I just waited for Argen while leaning on the mirror

With tight-fitting linen pajamas like mine, Argen stood in front of the mirror, twisting his eyes back and forth between me and himself in the mirror.

“…… I think I’m bigger.”

“It’s not the same, it’s bigger…….”

When I undisputedly hit the nail on the head, Argen looked at himself in the mirror with eyes full of satisfaction. His bright red eyes glistened. (T/N: hit the nail = confirm that it is right so there is no denial)

“This…..”

“This?”

“This isn’t a manifestation, is it?.”

The remark was plausible, so I shook my head shortly after expanding my pupils greatly.

“It is said that the other princes manifested around the age of 8 to 10. And everyone manifests to adult age.”

“……. Mmm.”

“And we…….”

We’re also illegitimate children who can’t manifest. I swallowed those words inside. However, Argen, who must have understood enough, looked into the mirror again with a convinced expression.

“But what is this flower scent? Roses? It smells like honey.…?”

“I don’t know what scent it is, but it smells really sweet.”

Maybe he wanted to change the subject since he turned around and pointed out the sweet scent flowing through the room.

The words made me wonder, so I closed my eyes and sniffed the scent around be.

“And why did our body suddenly get bigger?”

Even a little movement dragged the hair. Argen tripped over his hair and fell as he tried to get closer to the door. Of course, he didn’t get hurt because of the soft carpet that filled the floor at some point.

He shrugged his shoulders while full of doubts.

“Oh, our scars are all gone too.”

“…… Really?”

“Really.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Argen quickly unbuttoned and removed his top instead of getting up. The exposed upper body was shiny white because it was cleared.  I already checked once, so I was able to sympathize with the surprise.

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“I don’t know…….”

Before finishing the words, the door clicked open, and a man entered through it.

Argen suddenly held his breath, and I quickly loosened my grip on my hair.

“It’s been a week or so…”

“Yes, it’s like his highness the Second Prince.”

********

The Emperor came in. After that, several servants and maids came in. The emperor looked down at us while muttering meaningful words, and the attendant nodded in response.

In the meantime, there was a mixture of surprise and astonishment on the face of the attendant, who looked at us.

“Tidy them up and send them over.”

As always, he spoke brusquely. He turned around as if it didn’t matter to him if we understood the situation or not and when he left, the servants and maids took charge of us.

They didn’t care about what we said or asked and acted as if the emperor’s order to tidy us up was enough.

They cut my hair to the same length as before and dressed me in new clothes that fit my body. It was clear that I had to meet the emperor as I looked at the heavy color.

I quietly bit my lips and endured the process of washing and drying my scarless body.

Why didn’t he think we’re going to be surprised or scared after we got bigger overnight?

I was quite dissatisfied with the way the doctors treated us like dolls without questions at the emperor’s command. From some point in time, Argen shut his mouth.

‘Are you okay?’

‘…….’

The answer came a long time later. Wearing a short-sleeved beige uniform over his small body, Argen grumbled in a voice full of complaints.

‘You can’t be okay.’

‘…… Yes..….’

‘You don’t even know why you’re so big, and you’re just…….’

‘I don’t know why my body has grown, and he’s just…..’

Argen muttered, repeating the same thoughts as me.

********

When the door opened, it was delicious.

The place where the attendant led us was the dinner hall in the emperor’s palace. When the door opened, I smelled delicious food and I saw several men with blond hair. It was the royal family’s signature blonde hair.

Argen grabbed me by the wrist and approached the chair where the attendant would sit us.

The emperor was at the head seat, on the left and right sides sat the first prince and the second prince, and next to the second prince was the third prince.

The attendant briefly hugged me and sat me next to the First Prince, while Argen sat next to the Third Prince.

After a long time, the third prince with a blush ordered a maid to give a strange gift box to Argen.

It seemed like he wanted to give it to me too, but he quickly settled down when the emperor quietly called his name.

I blinked my eyes as the maid gently tied the bib around me. When my eyes met the second prince, who was diagonally across from me, I started to hiccup.

He gazed at me with a sweet look in his eyes, but I secretly avoided his eyes.

The emperor looked at us without saying anything and belatedly opened his mouth.

“You haven’t grown up much.”

“…….??”

“..……..”

Neither I nor Argen,

Neither I nor Argen understood the meaning behind those words, so I swallowed the word in my mouth without answering anything.

Then the second prince spoke as if he were adding an explanation.

“Congratulations on growing.”

“Uh….. Um…..”

“No, congratulations on your manifestation.”

At that moment, he stopped all the accidents and his hands stopped touching his head. Argen also stiffened its hands as it looked over the surface of the glass.

All my thoughts stopped for a moment, and the hand that was fiddling with my hair froze. Argen’s hands stiffened while glancing at the glass of water in front of him.

“There aren’t any scars on your body?”

“…… yes.”

It’s a manifestation, my head was spinning. I quietly responded to the situation and exchanged glances with Argen.

“The scar on your body was healed for you by our father.”

“…… yes?”

I could only reply ‘yes’ to questions. Like a pet dog, I hoped that he would keep explaining it quickly, stamping his feet that didn’t even touch the floor.

I hoped that he would continue to quickly explain, I restlessly moved my feet that couldn’t even touch the floor like a puppy needing to pee.

Then the emperor suddenly took the lead over the Second Prince and spoke.

“Lospere Flower.”

“……?”

“Flower made of Dragon’s blood.”

The emperor was drinking coffee without properly eating. A very strong aroma of coffee spread mildly.

Only then did the second prince quickly continue to explain as if he had taken the chance.

He didn’t say any more as if that was the end of the explanation. Only then did the second prince have a chance to quickly continue to explain.

“Excellent resilience and healing power to restore the royal family. Of course, you can enjoy many other effects. It’s also a flower that is valuable enough to buy a small country with ten flowers.”

The second prince smiled languidly. I looked down at my white skin, touching the hem of my clothes. I felt strange looking down at the clear skin.

A murmur down upon the white skin. It felt strange to look down at my skin that had become clean.

“For your sake, father used as many as a hundred.”

Argen took a breath and involuntarily coughed.

“Are you surprised?”

The Second Prince asked kindly. I nodded cautiously at the remark. Every time I was surprised, I never failed to be surprised to the point of being amazed . I thought it was scars that I had to take with me forever.….

The Second Prince smiled again.

I was wondering why…….

There was always a double aspect to his smile. Although he seemed to conceal his inner feelings, he revealed it to us and didn’t beat around the bush. Even now, he added the words ‘for your sake.’

The Second Prince seemed to be acting like a good brother to us. It was as if he was acting to let us know he wasn’t a bad person.

If it had been the third prince, Eiji, would he have said that?……I could bet it was absolutely no.

The Second Prince lifted the glass in front of him and twirled the liquid around.

I held my skirt tightly while looking at him and carefully asked.

“……What was the manifestation talk from earlier……About?”

Carefully and delicately, I made a gesture that if it’s bothersome you don’t have to answer. When asked the untimely question, the Second Prince folded his eyes into half-moons making me shudder with fright.

Then the second prince looked at me and wrinkled his forehead, but soon smiled as if nothing had happened.

“Manifestation is a privilege and talent for the royal family and at the same a matter of further growth. It’s not about gaining a new body. It could take a week, a month or even a year to grow while sleeping.”

…… Growing from a 3-year-old to a 5-year-old…Did they……

‘……Then we didn’t grow up, did we?’

I agreed with Argen’s serious question.

‘Since we’re 5 year olds who grew up to a 5 years old body, we didn’t grow up.’

‘…… Right.’

‘…… Yeah…….’

Of course, it’s much better than a 3-year-old body, but if it’s still a manifestation……. Shouldn’t we grow up to be adults like other princes?