“Does the tea taste good?”
“Yes, it’s nice.”
“Here, have some macarons too. Is there anything you can’t eat?”
“No, not weally… (not really…)”
“Oh my, how commendable.”
Blanche’s plan had succeeded brilliantly, even exceeding expectations by piquing the Empress’s curiosity just like the first time.
Riana loved children and animals, but she had never been able to dote on children as much as she wanted to because they would cry upon her approach, and animals would faint.
So far, there were only two ‘children’ who hadn’t cried upon meeting the Empress: her husband, Berken, who had an emperor’s demeanor from birth, and Melchizedek, shaken his rattle with a cynical look in his eyes since birth.
But since Berken was her age, the only child Riana could truly dote on was Melchizedek, who had the eyes of a world-weary old man.
Now, in front of Riana stood a pretty, gentle, well-behaved girl who didn’t cry.
It was only natural that Riana would be smitten.
“Dhe garten is beautfol. Tank you fo infiting me. (The garden is beautiful. Thank you for inviting me.)”
So smitten that upon hearing such a polite greeting, the mighty Empress herself stood up to pick a flower.
“Oh my. The white zinnia suits your moon-like silver hair beautifully.”
Blanche… or rather, Yi Baek-ryeon, was flustered. In the Jin Empire, receiving a flower from the emperor or empress was a significant honor, typically given only after passing the imperial exams.
Moreover, during Yi Baek-ryeon’s time, the imperial exam system did not exist, so she had never received a real flower, only ones carved from jade.
Receiving a real flower just for saying the garden was pretty left Yi Baek-ryeon taken aback.
Whenever Yi Baek-ryeon was flustered, her already smooth tongue became even more eloquent.
“Your Mashestys beauty is so adiant dat flowes and dhe moon wood hide deir faces in same. (Your Majesty’s beauty is so radiant that flowers and the moon would hide their faces in shame.)”
Had a ten-year-old said this, it might have raised eyebrows for being too eloquent for a child. But Blanche was only three years old, and her pronunciation made it hard for even the maid pouring tea to understand anything beyond that it was a compliment.
Riana was enchanted by the adorable girl’s shy smile and sweet words.
There was no issue, and as the still-imposing Empress blushed and smiled, respect for Blanche increased.
Indeed, Blanche, who had captured the emperor’s attention in a three-minute audience, was now set to become the social star with this hours-long tea party.
It was an incredible achievement, something even Yi Baek-ryeon in her previous life had never accomplished.
* * *
It was widely known within the Retail Empire that the Emperor and Empress cherished the Grand Duke, who was almost as young as their own child. As such, unless there were special engagements, the Emperor, Empress, and Grand Duke always dined together in the evenings. That evening, the Empress appeared particularly cheerful as she joined the Emperor and the Grand Duke, who had been waiting for her.
Did something good happen during your day? wondered Melchizedek, though it was the Emperor who spoke up.
“Did something good happen today?”
For the sake of a cozy family moment, all the palace attendants had been dismissed. Therefore, Riana responded in an informal tone, matching Berken’s casual speech.
“Yes! I met an incredibly adorable child at today’s tea party.”
A child who could hold a conversation. Perhaps a prodigy with exceptional talent in knighthood…
Riana confidently declared to her husband and Melchizedek, who were both thinking along the same lines,
“There’s a princess from the Kingdom of Lamore named Blanche Roa Vandaluin, and she is just so cute and lovely!”
Both were surprised, but Berken, who knew who Blanche was, was even more astonished than Melchizedek, who had no idea.
No way. I knew that princess was extraordinary, but she caught Riana’s eye the very next day after catching mine? And she’s only three years old?
While Berken was contemplating whether he had discovered a more exceptional talent than he had initially thought, Riana delivered another shock.
“She’s only three, but she’s so precocious and smart. Don’t you think she could be good friends with you, Melchizedek?”
This was exactly what Berken had been thinking.
“…Three years old?”
Melchizedek, being a dignified and intelligent five-year-old, was well aware of how much Riana lamented her nature that made children and animals avoid her.
So he suppressed the urge to ask, ‘Are you saying a three-year-old didn’t cry and actually conversed with my sister-in-law?’
“Haha. Precocious and smart or not, she’s still three. What am I supposed to do with someone nearly half my age?”
Describing a two-year difference in this way was quite a fresh approach. If the listener didn’t know Melchizedek was five, it might have sounded like a reasonable excuse.
But unfortunately, Riana knew his age.
“She’s also very beautiful! She has moonlight-like silver hair and obsidian-like black eyes, like an expensive doll made by a master craftsman!”
From Melchizedek’s perspective, he would rather play with an expensive doll than with a three-year-old who looked like one.
At least dolls don’t cause problems if you leave them alone.
However, Blanche had gripped Riana’s fingers with her tiny, soft hand and said, ‘If you invite me again, it will be the honor of my life.’ indicating a promise of future meetings. This left Riana thrilled, clearly not sharing Melchizedek’s sentiments.
Regardless, Melchizedek had no intention of dampening his sister-in-law’s joy over her first pleasant interaction with a young girl. He quietly nodded while Berken echoed her sentiments.
“Really? She said that? She must have liked you a lot.”
“Exactly. Ah, should we invite her for a meal next time? It would be nice for Melchi to see her too!”
Just as Melchizedek was about to voice his thoughts, Berken intervened first. With a glance, he signaled Melchizedek to stay quiet and smiled warmly.
“Of course, it’s fine. Ah, but having dinner together might be too much pressure. Let’s make it lunch.”
“Lunch? That will take too long to schedule.”
Riana’s lunch schedule was fully booked for the next month, unlike her evening schedule which was kept free for family dinners.
Berken comforted Riana, who seemed disappointed at the thought of not seeing Blanche for a month.
“It might take a while to reschedule, but we could have lunch in the greenhouse. Inviting her to the main palace for just the second meeting might be a bit overwhelming, in many ways.”
“That’s true.”
Melchizedek quickly agreed with Berken’s suggestion, feeling relieved. He was concerned that a three-year-old might end up at the family dinner table as soon as the next day.
“Oh, I suppose that makes sense. Now that I think about it, she did seem to like the greenhouse today─”
Fortunately, Riana changed her mind. With the meeting with Blanche postponed by a month, Melchizedek waited until after dinner, when Riana left, having accomplished no paperwork due to the unexpectedly long tea party, to voice his true feelings.
“I don’t want to.”
Berken smiled gently.
“Why are you telling me?”
“You encouraged it!”
“I didn’t encourage anything, just changed dinner to lunch.”
It was obvious, especially to Melchizedek, that Berken had also taken a liking to this Princess Blanche, not just Riana.
“Anyway, I don’t like it. I don’t care if it’s a meal or whatever, just count me out.”
He didn’t actually expect Berken to agree. And indeed, Berken showed no sign of considering his request, though he did look a bit amused.
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“You haven’t even met Princess Blanche. Why do you dislike her so much already?”
“Because none of the women you’ve introduced to me have been decent!”
If Melchizedek were ten years older, his statement might have been more complex. However, at five years old, the only “women” Berken had introduced to him were nannies.
The children he had been encouraged to play with previously weren’t directly chosen by Berken.
“Where on earth do you even hear such talk?”
Even though Melchizedek wasn’t an ordinary five-year-old, it was hard to take his words seriously. Berken burst out laughing and just patted his cute little brother on the head.
“Oh, I need to tell everyone to watch their words. Our esteemed Grand Duke here is talking like a commoner.”
“Ah, brother! I’m not joking─”
Well, five was the age when children start finding it more fun to play with those of the same gender rather than the opposite. That’s probably what it was. Berken was sure Melchizedek’s opinion would change once he actually met Blanche.
* * * *
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