Did he not like the snack?
But it looked similar to the cookies he was eating in the kitchen earlier. The cookies sent to the training ground were also baked in that same kitchen.
Who was near that knight before the nanny and I arrived?
‘…A servant from the main household.’
I recalled the face of the person who had been pretending to clean the cupboard nearby. They had flinched when they saw us.
It could have been a coincidence, but if something feels this off, it’s best to keep a closer watch.
Should I keep an eye on both the knight and the servant for a while?
Lost in thought, I absentmindedly chewed on the small piece of cookie Dietrich had fed me. The overwhelming sweetness made my tongue sting, snapping me back to reality.
“Baby, eat more.”
“It’s too sweet.”
“Then is there somewhere we can hide it? If the nanny finds out, she’ll take it all away.”
Of course.
But my room is meticulously managed by the adults, as expected of a baby’s room. It’s not a good place to hide anything.
Especially something like a cookie with such a strong, sweet scent—it would be discovered immediately.
I can’t eat it all right now, and I can’t hide it either. Hmm…
“Oh! Dietrich, do you know? There’s a guest in Erich’s room.”
“Huh? In Brother Erich’s room? Who is it?”
I should keep the fact that he’s a prince a secret for now.
“I don’t really know either. Should we take these cookies and share them?”
That kid didn’t seem to touch any of the food provided by the mansion.
At a glance, he looked as thin as a sheet of paper.
‘It bothers me.’
In my past life, I grew up in an orphanage.
There were all sorts of children who came through, some of whom had been neglected by adults before arriving.
‘That prince kid… he seems just like them.’
He was wary of everyone. His body was frail, his bones protruding.
He looked far too much like some of the kids I had known.
‘What would the orphanage director have done?’
From what I remembered, the director always made sure those kids had the best meals available, fed them on time, and gave them a warm, soft bed to sleep in.
At first, they would refuse the food and blankets. But eventually, after being hugged by the director once a day, they would slowly melt.
I know I can’t compare to her, but still—I have these incredibly sweet and delicious chocolate cookies.
No matter how guarded he is, wouldn’t he at least accept a cookie?
‘…Thinking about my old friends from the orphanage is making me even more concerned about him.’
And then there’s that strange energy he gives off—it reminds me of the imperial family’s protective blessing.
I want to look into this more.
Curious as always, Dietrich immediately agreed to my plan, and we snuck up to the third floor without any adults noticing.
“This is Erich’s room, right?”
Dietrich and I exchanged glances as we stood in front of Erich’s door.
At times like this, the proper way is to knock three times.
If it were winter, I would have asked if he wanted to build a snowman with me.
“Fairy, do you want to eat cookies with us?”
We even knocked politely and asked, but there was no response from inside.
Dietrich looked slightly disappointed.
“Are you sure he’s in this room?”
“Yes!”
There was no answer, but we had knocked, so we had done our part.
I carefully pushed the door open and peeked inside.
Both Dietrich and I stuck our heads in at the same time, and our eyes landed on the back of a child lying on the bed.
The cup from earlier…
I spotted an empty cup sitting on the bedside table and furrowed my brows.
‘So he drank it after all?’
He doesn’t even trust the water provided by our house?
He would rather drink rainwater.
“Hey, are you asleep?”
At that moment—
The child, who had ignored us the entire time since we knocked, suddenly bolted upright the moment he heard Dietrich’s voice.
Had he been pretending to sleep this whole time?
A wave of heat suddenly surged toward us, and Dietrich barely managed to reach out and block it.
“Whoa! Whoa, that’s hot!”
…Why is he doing the exact same thing I did earlier?
Does that mean I act just like Dietrich?
I appreciated him pulling me back and blocking the heat, but for some reason, the thought left me feeling a bit uneasy.
‘Me… acting the same as Dietrich?!’
While I was still in shock, Dietrich gritted his teeth and shook his hand in the air a few times to get rid of the lingering heat.
“This bastard…!”
“We brought cookies! We’re here to give you cookies!”
Our goal wasn’t to pick a fight with the royal kid.
To stop Dietrich, I quickly stretched out my arms and unfolded the cloth-wrapped cookies in front of us.
But since Dietrich had pulled me back so suddenly, I had accidentally dropped them earlier, leaving them crumbled on the floor.
The child wrinkled his nose at the sight of the chocolate-stained cloth.
“I don’t need it. Take it away.”
“But it’s filled with chocolate! It’s super sweet and delicious…”
“Ella, forget it. That bastard doesn’t want it. Let’s go.”
If we stayed any longer, Dietrich was going to throw a punch, or that kid was going to throw a fireball.
Or maybe both.
As I slowly stepped out of the room, Dietrich slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
It was so forceful that I thought I heard something break inside. Hopefully, it wasn’t the doorknob.
Dietrich looked furious, but at least we had confirmed everything we needed.
‘That power is definitely a protective blessing.’
When my dad uses his blessing, a bluish light surrounds him. And I had clearly seen a reddish glow appear around that kid.
When it happened to me earlier, I was too dazed to notice, only feeling the heatwave. But watching it happen to Dietrich just now, I could see how it worked.
A thin wall of flames had quickly risen beneath our feet before disappearing, leaving only the heat behind.
If he could use the blessing of fire, then he was definitely a royal.
‘But why is he in our house?’
And more importantly—
‘Why does he look like that when he’s royalty?’
It really bothered me.
“Ugh, what a waste. All the cookies got crushed.”
“Then let’s eat them all right now!”
“If the nanny catches us, we’ll get scolded… Come here, Ella.”
We sat side by side on the small steps leading out of the kitchen and nibbled on the broken cookies.
“Ugh, it’s too sweet but delicious.”
“You’re lucky to have an older brother like me. The moment I saw these cookies, I immediately thought of you and secretly took them!”
Maybe it was because of the sweetness of the cookies, but for once, even Dietrich’s exaggerated storytelling was bearable.
***
“Ugh, you little chicks! Get out of the way!”
After breakfast, I was taking a walk around the mansion to help with digestion when I suddenly heard Ralph’s frustrated voice.
What’s going on?
As I approached the kitchen, I saw Ralph balancing two large sacks of flour on one shoulder, awkwardly trying not to step on the tiny chicks swarming at his feet.
Those chicks looked like the ones raised behind our mansion.
“Why are all the little birds gathered here?”
“Oh! Good morning, young miss. I have no idea. They usually play over there, but today, they’re all crowding around these steps…”
Wait a minute.
Aren’t these the steps where Dietrich and I sat yesterday, dropping cookie crumbs everywhere while we ate?
I crouched down to match my eye level with the chicks, and just as I expected, I spotted scattered cookie crumbs near the steps.
Sweet cookie crumbs attract ants, and where there are cookies and ants, there will be chicks.
Watching the little birds pecking at the crumbs—unknowingly maintaining a balance of carbs and protein—I sighed and straightened up.
“Ralph, I’m sorry…”
“Huh? Why?”
“I just… feel really guilty all of a sudden.”
Ralph looked confused, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that Dietrich and I were the ones who had left all those crumbs there.
Once the chicks ate their fill, they would probably leave.
“You little troublemakers! I said, go away!”
I glanced back at Ralph, who was still struggling with the chicks, then turned around and walked away.
For someone built like a mountain, he was completely helpless against tiny chicks.
It just proved what a good-natured person he was.
With that thought in mind, I turned a corner—when suddenly, I heard the sound of a bird crying.
