I heard Caitel was beautiful and had a high status, many women had been after him. Of course, there were countless powerful men behind them. Even though he was a madman, he was still the emperor. They would do anything if they could sew up that side seat. Many women did not refuse to hide in his room naked or to seduce him for a night like a prostitute. Thanks to it, countless women were impregnated, but none of them birthed their children. They were all trying to pin down Caitel with the baby, but they had a terrible ending.
That was where I frowned.
Ah, crazy! Caitel did not have any love for his family. That was why when the women made demands with their children, he would do unspeakable things to them. I could not imagine it when I did not meet him, but after seeing the man I saw earlier, he would. He would.
“She is sleeping well.”
“Hush, you will wake her up.”
“Phooey.”
Yeah, that was why everyone was so surprised I survived. I would be surprised too.
I woke up and opened my eyes, and the ceiling was dangling in front of my eyes. The sight of a child looking at the light was generally bad, but it was a little surprising because I did not think it was inconvenient. How come there was no difference?
“Are you awake again?”
As soon as I got up, my nanny smiled at me.
Serira was such a pretty girl. By my standards, of course. Unfortunately, unlike me, the aesthetic standards of people in this country were quite high.
“I think she is really cute.”
Next to her, Elene interrupts and pulls her face out.
A round, cute face came into my sight. What a chatterbox with that face. She was someone I literally could recognize through hearing her voice alone, so I was not really welcoming her.
I did not like her.
“Oh, dear.”
Keep your hands off of me. As I frown, the nanny knocked out Elene’s hand. Elene drooped and pulled her hand off me.
“The princess hates me.”
That’s because you are so loud. I wanted to answer, but I could not talk. Oh, it was very uncomfortable to be a baby. I wish I could get a tooth already. I prayed eagerly the day would come that I could say at least a simple word.
“She is pretty though. I envy her.”
“Because she looks like His Majesty.”
“That is true. Who would have known that silver hair would be hereditary?”
Elene looked at me from the back of the nanny. I would like to put that face away, but I would make her cry so I left her alone. Well, it was all because I was being nice.
“Oh, dear. You are so cute.”
“How dare you. She’s a princess.”
“Oh, she is still a baby.”
The nanny frowned as Elene smiled.
Actually, I liked it when she called me cute… You mean I am cute. I am pretty too. I didn’t like the chatterbox, but I liked the praise. When I smiled, Elene smiled.
Yeah, well, I figured out that my father was a madman because of you so I would forgive you even if you’re so noisy.
Still, thinking it was annoying when she touched my cheek, Suddenly, the palace door opened and a few people came in.
Huh?
Even I could feel that a lot of people came in the room even though I was lying down, and I could not imagine how those people barging in surprised Elene and the nanny when they saw it with their own eyes.
They stood in amazement. Of course, the nanny held me in her arms first. Seeing her getting blue was not a good sight.
What is it?
Oh, did my crazy father finally order to kill me?
“What’s going on?”
The voice of Serira was harsh. However, it was buried by the sound of clanging noises. I wanted to raise my head and see who they were. The clanging sounds, were they wearing an armor?
My head went back to the nanny’s arms and I could not tell with my own eyes who had come.
“Majesty’s command.”
“A command?
Oh, it’s not been long since I was born, and my life would end just like that. While I was saddened with frustration, the knight’s voice was clearly in my ears.
“The emperor’s commanded us to move Princess Ariadna to the Palace of Solay.”
The Palace of Solay was, to put it bluntly, the palace of the Emperor.
The palace is a collection of all living quarters, including the emperor’s bedroom and office. In addition, it was a palace where all state affairs took place. People call Solay palace as the imperial palace due to its amazing size and importance, and it seemed quite meaningful for me to move there.
“I think he will accept princess.”
For some reason, Elene spoke in a serious voice.
I looked at her with my eyes open, dressed and wrapped in a sack. The face that was always on the bright side was somehow somber. Although she was only an 18-year-old girl who had been talkative the entire time, she seemed to be afraid of the madman. It was a surprise to me. I felt rather sorry for being seriously frightened.
“Hush, don’t talk like that. This is not Ecelon.”
“Yes, ma’am…”
Elene shushed herself. I closed my eyes again.
Ecelon was the name of the palace where I was previously staying. I didn’t know what the palace was for, but there was one thing I knew about it, it was the scrubby palace in the corner of the imperial palace, the palace where my mother lived.
“I feel sorry for the Lady Jereina.”
“Don’t you dare say such a thing!”
Elene bites her lips. The nanny’s stern look reached her. I watched her and pulled the nanny’s hair. Serira looked down. Her blue eyes cooled my view.
“You will be fine. Don’t be nervous.”
When did I say I was nervous? I pursed my lips with a blank face, but the nanny just smiled affectionately. I thought about it earlier, Serira was such a tragic woman. No matter what she did, it was always pitiful and pathetic. That was somewhat a skill too.
“I am sure His Majesty will never harm you. Yes, of course.”
No, once he laid a finger on me, it would not make him a madman. It would just make him a son of a b*tch. Hurting a baby, such a crazy bastard.
Oh, but there were stories I heard before when he swept up a palace in the north. He drove all the royal family into one palace, both adults and children, and burned them all.
He is a son of a b*tch. A common notorious son of a b*tch.
…my life was ruined.
“Not that room.”
“Sorry? Not this room?”
The knight, who got orders from the emperor, guided us to another place. This surprised the nanny and Elene. I don’t know what was going on, but I was guessing this was the room I had to go to, but the Emperor handed it over to another person.
Oh, anything was fine, just let me go back to the cradle. I want to sleep!
“Are you sleepy?”
“(crying).”
“What’s wrong? She must be sleepy.”
I could feel the knight panic at my whining. The people who were moving in a hurry wandered through my blurred vision.
Oh, my eyes hurt.
Children’s eyes are delicate, and they quickly grew tired. I closed my eyes as I felt my body shake.
Still, it was comfortable because I was in the arms of my nanny.
When I grew up, I cannot be held up like this, right? Even when I was a kid in my previous life, my mother would cradle me in her arms like this. It was sad I could not remember it now.
“My princess, we’re all here.”
When I opened my eyes, Serira was smiling. This seemed to be a new cradle, the unfamiliar touch on my back made it evident. I whined.
Not this one. Not this one. Old one! Bring back the old one!
“Princess, this is better. It’s wider.”
However, the old one is more comfortable!
“Peekaboo, no, This is more comfortable. Okay, is it better if I do this?”
The nanny’s hand must have been a magic hand. The cradle really got comfortable after she did that thing. Wow, that was amazing. Serira laughed as I opened my mouth. I laughed too, looking at her pale cheek.
“How cute.”
Her hands on my forehead were warm. This was what warmth was. I laughed once again and closed my eyes.
I am sleepy. I am falling asleep…
I could not remember what I had dreamed of as I drift to dreamland. It’s just like floating on a cloud. The feeling was vague.
Yes, if one could walk on the clouds, they would feel like this. It felt like a dream, somehow like feeling cotton candy. It felt like something lumpy was tangled with something plumpy touching me and shaking me.
It tickled. I laughed.
However, all of a sudden, the air became heavier. My heart was beating. My heart got stuffy. Somehow it was hard to breathe. I whined and opened my heavy eyes. A hazy view free from darkness. At that moment, I encountered a cold gaze and an eye looking down upon me.
“…”
What a surprise!!
I almost cried it out. I could see the rough pounding of my chest. As I struggled to check the surroundings, it seemed it was evening.
Why are you here?
I looked up at him discontentedly. We had eye contact. Our eyes intertwined in the air.
I thought it was over. Was that eye color truly crimson? The colors of the crimson disturbed my view. It interlocked with his fierce eyes and made me feel uneasy. Was it hostility or murderous intent? It was hard to guess. It seemed the same to Caitel, my father. He smiled like a breeze. It was a smile that perhaps looked flustered.
“I felt it earlier, but…”
A cool cold hand touched my cheek as I laid on the cradle. It was cold. No, it was cool. I felt as if I was submerged in dry water.
“You are not crying.”
A word of affirmation.
He seemed surprised I did not cry after seeing him.
However, that was interesting to me too. I want to cry like normal kids. There was plenty of such desire. The problem was, he would cut my throat without mercy if I did.
Was it because it was loud? Ha, I would have never thought that he would not kill me. He’s a madman.
“The princess is very gentle.”
Oh, the nanny was there. I thought she wasn’t there.
Turning to the place where the voice was heard, Serira stood, holding her hands together. Her previous pale countenance became even paler as if it was bleached. She was nervous. She was scared if the emperor would kill me by any chance. Also, she felt uncomfortable dealing with Caitel’s attention to what she said.
Oh, well, that was too burdensome for me too.
Even I felt uncomfortable; in the case of Serira though, it was obvious.
Fortunately, Caitel seemed to have no more fun thing to ask from Serira. His gaze soon returned to me.
“Even so.”
His cold hands swept my cheeks. To be honest, I felt goosebumps. With that cheek swept down, his hands traveled towards my short, thin neck.
Did he have an interest in strangling? Why did he keep touching my neck?
“She should feel some murderous intent.”
Yeah, I am feeling enough.
I wanted to nod to reassure him that he’s correct, but I could not because his cold hands were holding my neck. Oh, really, if I died, it would be because he strangled me. He smiled as I moaned and groaned.
A smile that seemed like a smile but also not. Yes, it was more of a mockery towards my feebleness.
“This child is too unprotected.”
It’s your daughter, asshole. Stop calling me like I am someone else’s daughter.
He leaned toward me. That cast a shadow over my head. It wasn’t a bright room, but the world was as dark as it was before he covered up the lights. Nevertheless, his red eyes were quite scary, their sharpness felt like a knife.
“Unfortunately, she does not look anything like her mother.”
Did you even remember what my mom looked like? I looked up at him in a sulky way, and suddenly he laughs. He laughed like a madman.
Mom, there’s a madman here!
I looked up at him, I wish to call 211, Caitel just touched my forehead.
“A curse.”
Curse? I opened my eyes wide.
“That is good, too.”
What’s wrong with him? Why was he saying such nonsense?
“I’ll look forward to it. Whatever curse you will bestow upon me.”
Even his lips on my forehead felt cold. At that moment, I saw something twinkling in the scarlet eyes staring down at me.
