***
The children invited to the imperial palace picnic today ranged from those around my age to those who seemed six or seven years older.
It appeared that families wanting to build connections with me had pushed their children into this event.
As soon as the children saw me, each of them greeted me.
“Your Highness, I’m Bella Shanen,”
She’s a cute and pretty child who looked a year or two older than me.
The children of similar ages greeted me first, followed by older ones.
“I am Zaynan from the Duke of Syaf family.”
Zaynan, who looked about seven years older than me, with a neat appearance and a relaxed smile.
The others standing next to him followed suit.
“I am Miller from the Viscount of Ander family.”
“And I’m Derek Flint.”
Observing these greetings, I noticed there were eight children present today.
If today’s gathering turned out to be productive, I would likely spend more time with these children in the future.
However, I didn’t find today’s event very enjoyable.
“This must be the first time the princess has spent time like this, so we’ll play with you.”
They start to speak first, trying to engage me in conversation.
But as I remained unresponsive and indifferent, their enthusiasm gradually waned.
Then, Bella, who had been smiling all along, suddenly looked distressed.
“Oh, what is this?”
“Bella, what’s wrong?”
“I’m bored. I came to the palace with high expectations, but this is truly disappointing.”
Bella showing her frustration and disappointment.
“We’re all trying to help the princess, but she doesn’t seem interested. My mother even had a new dress made for today…”
As Bella’s sorrow grew, she began to sob.
“Bella, let’s play together. We don’t all have to stay by the princess’s side.”
Another child who had been by Bella’s side, trying to cheer her up.
“I want to play with the toy kitchen set over there,”
Bella pointed to a set of toys prepared for today’s event.
“I’ll bring it!”
“Let’s do it together!”
Soon, other children gathered around Bella, making her smile again.
They quickly shifted their focus away from me, leaving no one around me.
Honestly, I felt more comfortable this way.
‘Great, let’s move,’
I thought. On such a beautiful day, I couldn’t afford to waste time being bored.
I got up and started walking along the wooded path.
‘What should I do in the future?’
Delight’s expectations for me only grew with each passing day.
Whenever I said something remotely resembling ‘dad,’ he would light up like an eagle spotting its prey.
Moreover, having ears, I couldn’t help but overhear the whispers of others speculating why I hadn’t spoken yet.
I knew I couldn’t pretend to be mute forever.
As I was lost in thought, I noticed there was really no one around. I quickly scanned my surroundings.
“Haa. Finally, some peace.”
I muttered, feeling a sense of relief.
Pretending not to understand while knowing everything was harder than I thought.
In reality, I could speak quite well, though my words were still a bit slurred.
The moment I first spoke a proper word was incredibly liberating.
I had been waiting for this day for so long!
Not being able to speak, trying to communicate through gestures—it had been truly difficult.
I can finally speak!
Being able to talk also made using magic easier. You never know when a situation requiring magic might arise.
For a mage, physical growth and completion meant being able to use magic freely.
Especially, being able to chant spells allowed for more complete magic and efficient use of mana.
However, there was something to be cautious about.
During this period, when pronunciation was still unclear, there was a risk of casting the wrong spell due to similar-sounding words.
‘I only recently learned this myself.’
In the past, when I discovered my abilities as a mage, I had already grown enough to not have any pronunciation issues. So, I didn’t know about this risk.
Then, just before Monia arrived a while ago, I chanted a spell to tidy up the mess using my own method.
“Back to your place!”
But what came out of my mouth was quite different from my intention.
“Bag do yoour pwace!”
At that moment, instead of the objects returning to their places, the snacks I had on the table were dumped on my head.
I still vividly remember Monia’s shocked face when she saw the snacks all over me.
“Princess, you need to eat snacks properly. Look at all the crumbs in your hair. We need to get you cleaned up right away.”
I really wanted to hold onto Monia, who was nagging me, and explain everything until I felt better.
But I had to hold back because I was still a child who couldn’t speak properly.
It was all because of that damned guy!
“Diligh dumb (Delight dumb)”
Interestingly, my pronunciation was accurate when it came to insults. The power of curses was indeed remarkable.
…Should I try some more?
I pursed my lips and spat out forcefully.
“Idiot. Fool. Dumbhead.”
I earnestly spat out every insult I could think of. The effect was definite.
From now on, practicing pronunciation with insults seemed like a good idea. As I laughed with satisfaction while making new plans,
“Princess?”
Suddenly, I heard someone calling me.
“Ahh!”
I was so startled! Who sneaked up on me without making a sound?
Even though I felt like I had grown a lot, my short legs still made me stumble sometimes.
“A, Ahh!”
Startled, I lost my balance and fell backward.
“Be careful.”
Just before my head hit the ground, I felt a strong grip supporting me.
“You could get seriously hurt if you fall wrong.”
A low voice warned me as it helped me regain my balance.
As I looked at the person who caught me, I saw black hair and red eyes that resembled a scattering of stars at night.
None of the children invited today looked like this.
It was Serdin, who had grown taller since the last time I saw him.
Holding me securely, Serdin spoke.
“Why are you here alone?”
I wanted to ask him the same thing.
Then, Serdin looked at me intently and said,
“Right, they said the princess couldn’t speak yet.”
“Aah!”
There’s a reason for that!
Hearing this from an unexpected source made me feel wronged, as if I had been misunderstood.
Seeing my reaction, Serdin chuckled and asked,
“Princess, do you remember me?”
Well, you might not remember. Serdin muttered to himself.
Then he took his hand off my arm and greet me.
“Let me introduce myself properly. Hello, I’m Serdin. You might not remember, but we’ve met before.”
The last time I saw Serdin was in the garden, before I had even learned to walk.
So, Serdin assumed I wouldn’t remember him.
But in truth, I had seen him from afar a few times while walking around the garden.
Wait a moment…
I took a closer look at Serdin from head to toe. He seemed to be about ten years old now.
Back then, I hadn’t noticed since I saw him from a distance, but he had grown a lot.
I thought I had grown a lot too, but seeing Serdin made me realize I still had a long way to go.
“You’ve grown a lot. Last time I saw you, you were crawling, but now you’re walking around on your own.”
Serdin seemed to be thinking something similar about me.
It had been quite a while since we last saw each other, so of course, things had changed!
As I smiled confidently, he spoke again.
“I heard there are kids visiting the palace today to spend time with the princess.”
Serdin even knew my schedule for the day.
Well, the preparations had been quite noisy, so it wasn’t surprising that someone in the palace would know.
“Come on, I’ll take you there.”
Serdin took my hand and matched his steps to mine.
“I didn’t expect to run into you here. Waiting was worth it.”
His muttering made me realize something.
‘How long have you been here? Could it be…?’
Serdin had been watching me closely from a distance. Had he heard everything I said?
‘…No way, right?’
I hoped he hadn’t heard me. He probably didn’t.
I tried to act innocent, but his persistent gaze followed me.
I suddenly realized that my behavior might seem suspicious.
No, don’t panic. Panicking will make me look more suspicious.
Even if he heard something, he should think it was just baby talk.
I pulled myself together and opened my mouth, then closed it again.
At times like this, it’s best to act nonchalantly.
I have the experience; handling a kid like this should be easy.
Hmph. No matter how hard you look at me, you won’t figure anything out.
When I looked Serdin straight in the eyes, he smiled back at me.
