I naturally steered the conversation toward the noble families.
“What about the other noble families?”
“The East controls the earth, the West commands the wind, and the South wields lightning… You know how the sky flashes during a storm, right? They use that kind of power.”
The knight, counting on his fingers, folded the last one.
“And the Imperial Family wields the protective blessing of fire.”
Fire? That word struck me deeply.
I instinctively recalled the suspicious child from earlier—the one who had emitted a reddish heat.
There were no visible flames, but anyone could tell it was the power of fire’s protective blessing. Could that child really be…?
“Young Miss, why are you suddenly so curious about the protective blessing?”
The knight’s subtle question reached my ears as I was lost in thought.
Since he was a knight brought in by my dad, he was likely trustworthy.
Still, his probing attitude made me hesitate, so instead of answering truthfully, I simply grinned.
“Because when Daddy gets angry, the air turns all frosty. I saw it and thought, ‘Oh, is that a protective blessing?’ So, I got curious.”
As if I’d just hand over the answer he wanted so easily.
While I was locked in a silent staring contest with the knight, a maid, drenched in sweat, appeared from the kitchen.
She seemed familiar—likely someone who had worked in our household for a long time.
She gave me a slight nod before grabbing another maid, who had been unnecessarily wiping the same cupboard over and over.
“The soup is ready. Get to work.”
“Did you steam all the other vegetables? What about the meat?”
“As per the master’s orders, I boiled it until it was easy to digest and then shredded it.”
Having run out of excuses, the reluctant maid clicked her tongue before finally lowering the cloth she had been using to wipe the cupboard.
“Alright, then all that’s left is to bake some soft bread to go with the meal.”
Easy to digest? Why would that be necessary in our household?
My dad and Dietrich both looked like they could chew through rocks. Even I, despite my young age, was quite sturdy and could swallow most foods without issue.
Could it be… Is my dad unwell?
He was away at war for a long time… Did he get injured and is now recovering?
“Why does the food need to be easy to digest? Is someone sick?”
As my thoughts spiraled into negativity, my lips curved downward as I asked.
The knight sitting beside me suddenly burst into laughter.
He had been rudely butting into our conversation from the beginning.
I frowned at him, but instead of answering, he gestured for the maid to leave. Then, leaning toward me, he whispered quietly…
“The Captain isn’t injured. You don’t need to worry.”
“Oh?”
“The Captain picked up something interesting… The Emperor’s son.”
A prince? He brought home a prince?
As soon as I heard those words, the first thing that came to mind was the pale-faced, silver-haired child standing by the window.
‘What on earth is happening here?’
My head felt like it was going to explode from how complicated everything was, and I furrowed my brows. Seeing my expression, the knight let out a lighthearted chuckle.
“…That seems like confidential information. Are you sure it’s okay to tell a young miss something like this so carelessly?”
My nanny pulled my chair back slightly, increasing the distance between me and the knight as she questioned him sharply. That finally made him stop laughing.
Come to think of it, I had been so focused on wondering why a prince was in our house that I completely overlooked how inappropriate it was to discuss this so openly.
What if I, acting like an excited three-year-old, ran around telling everyone, ‘We have a prince in our house!’?
“What does it matter? The young miss is the Captain’s daughter.”
“If the Master hasn’t told her himself, there must be a reason for it, Sir Steve.”
The knight, now identified as Sir Steve, shrugged in response to my nanny’s firm retort.
“Yes, my apologies. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Still smiling, he turned his head toward me.
“Young miss, you mustn’t mention this to anyone. If word spreads to the main house, it could put the Captain in a difficult position.”
“Hey.”
“Yes, yes, I understand. So strict.”
Muttering to himself, Sir Steve noisily pushed back his chair and left the room.
Left behind, I quietly observed the anger visible on my nanny’s face.
If there was one thing she absolutely wouldn’t tolerate, it was someone being rude to me.
Especially since it hadn’t been long since she found out about Yasmin and the butler’s disrespect toward me.
…Sir Steve is going to get an earful from my dad later.
I hoped he would learn to be more careful with his words after this.
***
All throughout my walk back to my room after finishing my ice water massage, my mind was preoccupied.
A kitchen servant had been pretending to clean the cupboards while lingering around, clearly trying to eavesdrop on our conversation.
And judging by the way their shoulders flinched when they heard the word prince, they had overheard Sir Steve’s careless remark.
Before that, their exaggerated reaction upon seeing my nanny and me was also suspicious.
Before we entered, they were practically glued to Steve, who has a loose tongue. Were they trying to extract information?
Main house, information, messenger birds…
After piecing together all the clues I had gathered so far…
The servants from the main house are spying on us, extracting information, and sending it back via messenger birds. That’s the only logical conclusion.
Wasn’t their attempt to bribe Dietrich with snacks just another tactic to uncover our household’s secrets?
And now, the fact that a prince was in our house… Was it really okay for that information to be out there?
“Wah!”
I had been so deep in thought that, when someone suddenly raised their arms and lunged at me, I reflexively threw a punch.
“Ugh!”
Whoa, that startled me.
With my heart pounding wildly, I looked down at the person now sitting on the floor, clutching their nose.
“…Dietrich?”
“Ow! How can you just punch someone without even asking who they are?!”
“Then why’d you go ‘Wah!’ at me? You scared me.”
“I was just messing around! I figured you’d be all gloomy from studying letters, so I came to cheer you up… and almost ended up with a broken nose instead.”
Not even a drop of blood, and yet he was acting so dramatic.
Dietrich smelled fresh, probably having showered after his morning training.
Must be nice. I wished I could ignore all the complicated affairs of this household and just focus on sword training, living a simple life.
I sighed deeply, and Dietrich, smiling, ruffled my hair.
“Nanny, can I play with the baby for a bit?”
“The young miss hasn’t finished today’s studies yet.”
“Aw, just for a little while before lunch? Please?”
The nanny looked between me and Dietrich before finally sighing in defeat and nodding.
The moment she gave her permission, Dietrich pushed me into my room and shut the door with a loud thud.
…What’s going on?
‘This feels suspicious.’
Dietrich made sure the door was completely closed before carefully placing a small bundle, wrapped in cloth, onto the table.
He had hidden it inside his clothes and was handling it so cautiously—what could it be?
“What is that?”
“Shh. Eat this secretly, away from the nanny. You know that Father came back with the knights, right?”
“Yeah.”
Dietrich untied the cloth bundle, revealing a handful of cookies inside.
“These are snacks given separately to the knights after training. I got a few after finishing my morning session.”
“Was it really tough?”
“Don’t even get me started. By the end, my arms were shaking just from holding a wooden sword! That thing is probably heavier than you.”
“No way, that doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m serious! The knights told me that the training swords used in the North have iron cores inside, making them way heavier than the ones other noble houses use.”
If that was true, then it made sense why Dad would oppose me starting sword training at my age. It was probably way too early.
Dietrich chattered on about his training while grabbing a cookie. He split it in half, handing me the bigger piece.
It looked like an ordinary cookie on the outside, but the inside was packed with thick, chewy chocolate.
Carbs after intense activity help prevent sudden exhaustion.
That’s why high-calorie snacks like chocolate bars are recommended for activities like hiking, where energy depletion is rapid.
The cookie was so sweet that my tongue stung a little, but Dietrich devoured his half in seconds. He must have been really exhausted from training.
‘…But something doesn’t add up.’
If the training ground provided snacks separately, then why was that knight earlier sneaking around the kitchen looking for food?
