I couldn’t sleep for some reason.
How could it be? Why?
After my constant struggle between waking up, sleeping, waking up, and sleeping, I just got up once morning hit, but my shoulders felt stiff because of my lack of sleep. Perhaps, it was why I had so little energy in the morning.
Damn, I couldn’t stay like this since there would be a lot of paperwork.
The work that the palace would give me was great enough as it was, but the only downside was that there weren’t any holidays.
Ugh, a vacation?
Not at all possible!
Fortunately, however, Silva had come so that I could take a break as an excuse for tea time.
Ha, Sil, my angel.
“Is it good?”
I felt a bit well after drinking the nectar tea. Silvia made the tea, so it was bound to be excellent.
These were no empty words; the tea really did taste like sweet dew.
Who would think that maybe the purpose of my rebirth was to drink the tea of my godmother? In my previous life, I always drank coffee till the day of my death.
It was always coffee or cola, but with the tea in my hand now, I had no complaints about my life.
Most of all, in Agregiant, where the tea culture hadn’t developed much, only Silvia and I were the ones who enjoyed tea in earnest. Oh my, such sweetness.
“Princess.”
“Yes?”
“It was said that you are going to be married to the Emperor of Pretzia soon?”
Puht!
I almost spat out the precious tea.
Calming myself down, I carefully swallowed the tea. Ugh, my throat got so sore after that. But my throat wasn’t the problem here.
“Who said that?”
Silvia picked up her teacup and smiled as she saw my expression.
“Everyone is saying that?”
“Ehhh?”
What did this mean?
It was so embarrassing to even speak about it. Seeing me stiffen, Silvia added some more.
“Rumors are going around that the two of you are pretty close with each other.”
“Oh my!”
I could see how such rumors spread at the speed of light.
What?
I was too embarrassed to even say anything, but then the door opened with a familiar face greeting us.
His red hair shook gently through the breeze.
“Princess!!”
Yes, there was only one person who could barge into my room like this.
I didn’t hear that she was coming in, but it was so surprising for Evelyn to come over to visit me without any notice beforehand; I immediately leaned back on my chair. Talking huge strides to get to me, Evelyn showed a bright smile on her face when she came to a halt. Only when she got close to me could she see that we had another guest.
“Oh my, Miss Silvia!”
“It has been a while, Evelyn.”
As I watched the two of them greet each other, I drank my tea. I wanted to drink some cold water and get myself to relax, but there was no cold water with me, so I put up with the tea. I was glad that I could calm myself down.
If the tea was even a little hotter, I could have burnt my tongue.
Anyhow, drinking something did help my calm nerves.
Meanwhile, I realized that Evelyn wasn’t alone; she stepped in with Graecito and Valer. Looking at them, I frowned. Why did they come over again? Weren’t they supposed to be working?
“Greetings, Miss Silvia.”
“M-mother.”
Unlike Graecito, Valer stopped right after he saw Silvia.
Silvia, too, stared at Valer as if looking at a man who abandoned his home. She had a different smile as she welcomed her son.
“Oh, Cito, hello. But, Valer, what are you doing here at this time?”
“Ah, that is…”
With a smile, she held onto Valer, who was trying to escape.
Right, no matter how stupid Valer was, he was still Silvia’s son.
Not listening to the nagging between the mother and son, I looked on the other side. Graecito went over to Evelyn and handed her a handkerchief.
“This fell from you.”
“Ah.”
Evelyn’s reactions while taking back her handkerchief weren’t too serious, but I could see the way her cheeks fumed red.
It was nice that things were going well between them…
I looked disgusted. After all, there was that energy of a dirty couple surrounding them. Graecito and Evelyn faced each other and smiled. They were in deep shit.
“Uh, Princess!”
Once the nagging ended, Valer placed his hands on my shoulder.
He must be killed.
I couldn’t do anything as I was holding onto my teacup; all I could do was glare at Valer to make him understand.
Valer chuckled.
“Have you got a special relationship with the Emperor of Pretzia?”
“Who said that?”
Even this guy was spewing the same nonsense.
While I shrugged, he began to answer me.
“Who? Rumors are spreading all over the palace.”
“Who is out there spreading such baseless rumors?”
When things got heated, I tried to demonstrate that I was still Caitel’s daughter, but unfortunately, Valer didn’t seem to know where the rumors had originated.
“How should we know! I only came to know about this while someone else was speaking.”
Sil said the same thing; I thought it came from a particular origin, but when Valer gave the same reason, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling nervous.
Could it be that I got too drunk to realize that I was seeing things?
Are there really such rumors going around in the Imperial Palace?
It’s ridiculous, I took another sip of my tea, but Valer was back to questioning me again.
“So, are you going to marry soon? Will Ria become the Empress of Pretzia?”
“…”
“So, will Ria leave for Pretzia soon? Oh. I don’t like that. Can’t that Emperor just live over here?”
I decided to stay calm. Right, luck was on the side of people who learned to endure and hold back.
However, this guy was seriously asking for a beating, and it was getting hard to hold myself back. I couldn’t stand it!
“You should just shut your mouth the next time you think about talking.”
“Ehhh.”
Instead of being flustered, Valer tried to act cute; this time, I wanted to hit him. I wasn’t wearing stilettos, but the heel of my shoes was sharp enough. He seemed to understand what I meant when I stomped on him.
“Ouch!”
It was no gentle stomp, and after a while, I took my foot away from his.
Why did he have to keep prying about those rumors?
I did feel horrible seeing him in pain, but I was too annoyed with him, and it would be a lie if I said that I hated it. I grabbed the teacup when Evelyn asked.
“Princess, those rumors aren’t true, right?”
“Of course not!”
What have they all been hearing?
That was all Evelyn needed to smile. She clasped my hands in hers and spoke.
“Right! You are our princess! Surely you wouldn’t marry the Emperor of the south!”
“… you are mistaking a few things; let go.”
Emperors had great things to consider. Wouldn’t unifying a country be easier if the rumors were true?
Even today, the Emperor’s bright eyes felt so burdensome, which made me want to flee. I just laughed in front of Silvia to act cute. She might have let it go when I was young, but grown-ups acting cute was cringe-worthy.
I just pouted a little when Graecito, who hadn’t said anything, looked at me.
“I am really glad it isn’t true, but.”
Glad? Why do I feel weird?
When I narrowed my eyes, Valer spoke out.
“Right. We aren’t the only people living in the Imperial Palace, after all.”
I could feel a chill run down my spine at his words.
Goosebumps stuck on my hands. I kept rubbing them to calm myself.
No way, no way.
No, this wouldn’t create a problem, right?
Right, what would happen if this creates a problem? I shouldn’t worry. I forced myself to smile.
Right, this wasn’t a huge deal.
