Chapter 17

Strangely enough, after facing the First Prince, our work has been greatly reduced.

Classes that used to be packed from early morning to late evening have been cut in half.

“It’s the same classes his highness took.”

I liked it because it decreased by half, but Ishina spoiled it. Unlike the other princes, we had to learn twice as much.

As if reading my thoughts, Ishina took out a handkerchief and wiped my mouth, then said.

“But I think I’ve been pushing too hard. I will try to correct it.”

Did you finally realize it now……???

“Since the imperial family members are usually born with an excellent lineage, they are graceful without having to learn etiquette. They can easily memorize dozens of things and apply them, when other people can barely even memorize one.”

That was a fact I didn’t know.

‘…… Our brains aren’t that good.’

We always get scolded for walking weird….’

‘We’re scolded for having bad posture.’

‘We’re scolded for having poor handwriting.’

All they did was scold us. In an instant I became sullen.

I quietly picked up the knife to cut the eggs on the salad inorder to eat it. In the imperial palace, eggs were also cut and eaten with a knife so I had carefully cut them to prevent scratching the plate.

“Their childhood is short, and after reaching adulthood, their aging progresses twice as slow in comparison to others. There’s not a lot of people who can go after their lives because there are ‘guardians’.”

Ishina’s explanation continued. She seemed quite displeased with our classes being reduced.

I was listening to her while eating and had no choice but to tilt my head at the word ‘guardian.’

“What are guardians?”

“……It’s because you haven’t learned the history of the Empire.”

“I’m listening to the country’s founding history now.”

At Argen’s answer, Ishina muttered as if she was quite surprised.

“You’ve been listening, but your class progress is quite slow. Is it too difficult to understand?”

“Um…… that’s not it.”

Was it just enough understanding to make sense of things?

“Well, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go a little faster. May I ask you to speed up your progress as you have less classes?”

Ishina spoke in a way to make it easier for  young children to understand.

However, there was no guarantee that if our class progressed faster as she said, we would be able to follow along because we barely even understand now.

I didn’t inherit excellent intelligence, but only blonde hair that symbolizes the imperial family.

I can give up everything else, but I really wanted superb intelligence.

“Right now……. I like it the way it is.”

If I can progress quickly, I’d move forward in the same manner twice as fast. I opened my eyes and looked up at Ishina as if telling her I absolutely hated the idea.

Ishina nodded in response and exhaled, but I didn’t know whether it was a sigh or not.

“Then I will tell you.”

Finally, our words worked on Ishina. Argen and I high fived in high spirits.

Ishina touched her head at the sudden act of our hands meeting after eating. There was another scolding, but I calmly listened to it while eating because I was already used to it.

“…… For reference, a guardian is a blessing given to the imperial family.”

After chewing the egg, I picked up the salad underneath and listened to Ishina talk. She gave us the answer we wanted when we asked. Ishina was always blunt, but I thought that was really a good thing.

“His Majesty has a green snake and His Highness the Crown Prince has a black leopard.”

Ah…… So that was it.

‘She’s talking about the statues, isn’t she?’

He seemed to be referring to the large living statue erected at each entrance of the princes’ palace.

“The Second Prince has a white wolf, and the Third Prince has a green hawk.”

Ishina recited the guardians of the imperial family one by one. I knew it was a world of magic and spirits, but I didn’t understand exactly what they were. I didn’t even know they were called guardians.

“They risk their lives to protect their owners. They are strong, do not suffer from wounds or diseases, and are immortal until their owner dies.”

“…….”

“…….”

“The first quality of the Imperial family is ‘bloodline.’ As you already know, the symbol of the imperial lineage is blonde hair. That’s why you were recognized as an imperial family even though there is commoner blood mixed in.”

It was difficult when Ishina talked too long. But now that the information is useful to us, we decided to quietly listen.

I pushed the salad into my mouth to fill my stomach.

“The second quality is ‘manifestation.’ It signals the rapid growth and excellence of the Imperial family.”

Ishina calmly continued. The information she quietly gave us was certainly necessary.

“Finally, the third most important quality is the ‘guardians’. They are loyal to their masters for a lifetime, but they are not allowed to be with those who are not the imperial family. The guardian is also said to appear in the form of an animal when an imperial descendant is born.”

Ishina’s eyes narrowed at this. That disrespectful look in his eyes…….

It was as if she was denying that we were an imperial family because we didn’t have a guardian.

Eventually, I managed to calm my burning stomach by drinking the water the maid had poured.

“Your highness, when you raise the glass, don’t raise your head with it, just move your wrist.”

Ishina pointed out while lowering my arm and slightly tilting my wrist.

‘…… I can’t even drink water.’

‘It’s about etiquettes…….’

‘It’s a little more comfortable when we’re alone.’

‘We’re never alone.’

‘…… Yeah…… Your right.’

I couldn’t help but notice how many pairs of eyes were glued to two people who were only having a meal.

Following Ishina’s guidance, I vaguely kept the water flowing into my mouth. Why should I drink water in such an uncomfortable position?

Meals are used to fill the stomach and to please the mouth, and since I have never thought of any other purpose for it, I felt a little uncomfortable every time I ate with courtesy.

“You have to raise your chin slightly while tilting your wrist and your gaze should be straight ahead, not in the air. When you’re sitting at the head of the table, it’s good to look down at the people sitting under you.”

Thinking that she was teaching too much to a five-year-old, I took a sip of water and opened my mouth.

“Ha.”

“I ask you to keep that sound to yourself. Listeners may find it offensive, so please be careful.”

At Ishina’s words, I muttered to Argen .

‘She’s paying too much attention to details.’

When I said it full of anger at the end, Argen, who had a chunk of meat in his mouth, couldn’t hold back and burst into frivolous laughter.

I frowned and looked at Argen, who was slightly smiling while bending over and holding the table with his hands.

Ishina’s expression was not good right now and she was going to scold me soon. I turned my head and ate the meat that Argen had worked hard to cut on his plate with a fork.

Of course, it’s a secret how much I’ve been scolded by Ishina since then.

In fact, she didn’t scold me that much, but it was a big deal that Ishina was angry this time. While Argen was scolded, he began laughing again and got in trouble twice.

******

“Surprisingly, no one cares about us.”

“What?”

“You know, think about it.”

I grabbed and hung on to Argen’s clothes with a blanket wrapped around me, while he was reading a fairy tales book.

Now that I can proficiently read the Imperial language, Argen and I exposed ourselves to the Empire’s culture through books when we had time.

“We’re illegitimate children, illegitimate children of the imperial family.”

“…….”

“Shouldn’t more attention be on us?”

“We may already be getting a lot of attention, only we don’t know.”

“I guess that’s true….”

“Maybe so?”

I thought it might really be the case, so I buried my face in the dark gray blanket and rubbed it. The blanket smelled of soft flowers. It also has a rich scent like warm sunlight.

Argen, who was reading intently, fell over me and complained.

“Sleepy?”

“No.”

“If I sleep now, Ishina will say something.”

The life of the imperial family was very tough, but we had no time to feel it.

After Lulahel died, we came to the Imperial palace and thought that our everyday lives would be suffocating, but contrary to expectations, we were rather comfortable.

Although we were abundant in wealth, we were not allowed to go anywhere beyond for this room and the garden.

In fact, it was comfortable for us to be isolated.

“What book are you reading?”

“It’s about the guardians.”

“What kind of book is that?”

Argen shook the book in his hands. It was too thick, so I thought it could be a specialized textbook, but it was just a fairy tale book with a red cover.

“What does it say?”

Argen flipped a page or two.

I couldn’t stand Argen weight with a thick blanket over me, so I was trying to get up, but stopped at the words I heard.

“God’s gift given only to the Imperial family.”

“Um…”

“The proof of how much God loves the imperial family is a guardian empowered by God. That’s what it says.”

I pored over Argen’s words and narrowed the furrowed my brows.

“Well, why is that? It’s like you want a guardian.”

Soon after, I jumped up and covered Argen with a blanket that had fallen down. I fell over Argen as he did to me.

I took advantage of the time when Argen was pressed down by my body and hurriedly took the book from his hand.

“Why are you suddenly curious about the guardians?”

Argen murmured from inside the blanket. As I slightly opened the blanket because I couldn’t hear him,  Argen answered with a feverish face.

“Because they are unconditionally on our side.”

And when I heard that, I stopped.

The red eyes that resemble mine asked me if I didn’t think the same thing.

No matter what anyone said, I was the only  one who understood my brother best .

We had such a close relationship, so it’s not like I didn’t know the meaning of the word.