“At this hour?”
It was quite a dark night to take a walk.
But I soon realized that the walk my nanny recommended was not just an ordinary walk.
“Let’s go!”
The nanny held my hand without saying a word and walked towards the garden. It was the path she takes to come and go give flowers to Cardin every day.
The one who arrived first in the garden was him.
The Eldora flower garden, which was shaken by the subtle moonlight under the dark night sky, was beautiful enough to be put in for a while and see.
I slowly approached the owner of the huge back, standing tall among the Eldora flowers.
“…… ”
He was a lot bigger than me, but Cardin’s back, looking at Eldora, looked infinitely small and pitiful.
My heart sank at the sight that seemed to disappear with the fading petals.
As I was staring at him silently for a long time, Cardin’s voice rang quietly in the garden.
“I was afraid to see you.”
“……. ”
“Because if you met me, I thought you’d disappear like her if we got closer. ……..”
Cardin turned and looked at me. He let out a self-helpful laugh. A gentle breeze brushed past his cheeks.
“If I approach you, …….. you will also be unhappy.”
Cardin continued his words with empty eyes.
He looked very tired, bringing up every word.
“Then you’re not going to see me anymore?”
“…….”
“Huh? Are you not going to talk to me from now on?”
“…No.”
Cardin, who gave a sincere answer, bowed his head as if he were a sinner.
I took a step closer to Cardin, who dropped his head.
“Now even talking to Papa made me feel great.”
“…….”
“I hope Papa feels really good when he’s with me.”
“…….”
Cardin had no answer. He was just standing there like a stone statue.
I grabbed Cardin’s hand, which looked empty.
I felt that Cardin flinched, but I didn’t let go.
Cardin’s hand is warm, contrary to his cool impression.
“I’m………sorry.”
I decided not to think deeply about his apology.
I felt my hands getting hot. There was no gap in both our hands held together.
“It’s alright, Papa.”
The calm shining illustration seemed to be seen in Cardin’s blue eyes.
It looked similar to the glow of the calm lake because of the Eldora’s that emit subtle light under the moonlight
That day, I pulled up a scared man who was drowning in the swamp of curses he made.
***
“Hello, Papa!”
“Yes.”
“Take this. Papa.”
“… Coal?”
“I made it. It’s a chocolate cookie.”
“…….”
A few days have passed since the disturbance broke out in the dining hall. In the meantime, there seemed to be a stronger bond between Cardin and me.
First, we ate together every day and spent more time together wherever Cardin was in the mansion.
She also regained all the rights that she had not enjoyed as a princess of a duke household.
Recently, I have a hobby of making snacks myself in the kitchen.
On the first day, almost everything was completed with the help of the chef, but from the day I got the hang of it, I made it by myself except for the hard work that was difficult for a child to do.
The cookies that were completed first were always given as a present to Cardin. It was slightly burnt on the outside, but it tasted good when I tried it.
I felt proud.
“Princess, I’ll prepare some snacks for you.”
“Yes, thank you!”
Another thing that has changed is that the duke’s servants have undergone a major change.
It took several days to find all the servants who had done profanity through thorough investigation by the knights.
Surprisingly, the crimes of the servants who bullied me often included embezzlement.
I don’t know how much they made, but there is a saying that if the tail is long, it will be caught.
I could guess it was the end of the servants, but it was a little disappointing that no one told me exactly how to deal with them.
“Princess, we’ll prepare snacks and tea over here.”
“Yes, Thank you for the food.”
And now, more than half of the duke’s servants, including the maid who brought me delicious snacks to Cardin’s office, are newly hired.
Of course, they were carefully selected people through rigorous preliminary investigation.
In addition, a new butler, who is in charge of the education of the servants, has also come. I think it’s more accurate to say that he’s back rather than new.
More than half of the servants, including butler and Chamberlains, were filled with those who were with Reina when she was alive.
The Chamberlain was a middle-aged woman and the butler was an old grandfather, and both of them greeted me with tears on the first day. At that time, something tickled my neck.
“Papa. What are you doing today?”
“You have a lot to say”
Cardin sat across from me, snorted and said.
“Why don’t you fix that bad habit?”
After working in the garden, Cardin’s attitude toward me has become more familiar.
“You didn’t even answer before.”
However, contrary to his blunt words, he took care of me a lot.
I quickly realized why this appearance was not unfamiliar. It occurred to me that Cardin showed this appearance when he was in the midst of getting along with Raina.
‘Come to think of it, Raina often smiled inside while looking at Cardin, who was not good at expressing herself.’
And now I’m the only one who knows what Cardin looks like.
It was bitter somehow.
Then Cardin, who was fiddling with the cookies I gave him, asked.
“What are you going to do today?”
“Even if I say it, Papa won’t know.”
She smiled brightly at Cardin, who was sitting with a battered face.
It is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Somehow, I felt like I was starting to resemble Cardin’s tone. It shouldn’t be like this.
“I met your nanny the day before yesterday.”
“What about the nanny?”
Why did Cardin and nanny meet to talk about? I put down the snack I was eating.
“You need a teacher to educate you.”
“Education?”
“Yeah. Things like basic history and etiquette education.”
Cardin glanced at my blank face and added a word.
“Of course, I’m not saying let’s do it right now. I think it’s a little early, too.”
“I want to do it! I want to do it!”
I couldn’t even read books as I wanted in the library in the Duke’s house, this is very good news.
I was briefly choked up when I remembered the time when I pretended to be happy reading a book that fits the level of a child that the nanny picked.
‘I’m sorry to the nanny, but pretending to be happy was the hardest.’
However, the opportunity to read difficult books has come as an excuse for education right now.
‘I have to do this!’
“I think it’s a little early……. ”
“No! It’s okay. I like it”
“Let’s look for … a teacher.”
“Wow…”
With excitement, I rushed to learn quickly. Cardin, who had a disheartened look on his face, was indifferent.
Perhaps the source of trouble was that when I went to the library with my nanny last time, I chose a children’s history book called “The Story of the Empire,” not a cute fairy tale book.
Expectations have risen that she will finally be able to live a little less boring life.
‘Come to think of it, the history of the empire wasn’t mentioned properly in the novel.’
It was interesting to be able to actually hear and learn it.
“I’ll do my best to learn!”
“…okay.”
Contrary to Cardin, who has a shivering look, I became very happy.
***
He spent a few days looking for a teacher to come as soon as possible.
And finally, I received the news that teachers in charge of basic etiquette education and history education will come today.
“Hello. My name is Deska Colvin, who will be in charge of history education.”
Deska Colvin, who looked kind, was a prominent scholar when she was young, and she is said to have come here as my history teacher at the recommendation of Cardin while retiring and enjoying her old age.
“Nice to meet you!”
“Please take good care of me.”
When she bowed her head and greeted politely, Deska replied with a friendly look as if she was looking at her grandchildren.
“Now, princess. I heard you’re very interested in history.”
“Yes, I read a book!”
It was a children’s book full of pictures.
Deska smiled happily when she saw me overflowing with motivation and handed over all the textbooks.
As expected, it was a book with a much higher proportion of paintings than the children’s book.
“Today, I’m going to tell you how the Dandelquis Empire was born.”
“Snap.”
“Do you know how long ago the Dandelquis Empire was established?”
“Uhm, 800 years!”
“My my, that’s right. You read the book well.”
This is the content on the first page of the history of the empire children’s book.
There was something else I was curious about rather than this basic content.
“Teacher Deska. I want to know more about the guardian deity of the empire.”
I wanted to know first about those who appear in the history books of the empire.
I was even more curious because the story of this guardian deity was a subject that was dealt with very briefly in the novel’s side story.
“Ho, were you curious about that? Then I’ll let you know about the guardian deity of the empire.”
Deska started drawing something on the blackboard as if she was a little excited.
‘What is that? anchovy? loach?’
“Now, this is the first emperor of Dandelquis, His Majesty Heizek Dandelquis”
She was almost taken away for blasphemy of the imperial family.
