Previously
Cecilia reflects on her rapid development and the recurring dreams she has about a dying female knight and a red-eyed baby. Crown Princess Grace returns from a bloody campaign at the Sea of No Return, visibly burdened by the heavy casualties.
“…Cecil?”
“No?”
Both mother and daughter turned their eyes toward me. I tightened my grip on the fork and darted my gaze back and forth.
‘It just slipped out.’
Should I let them think it was merely a toddler’s babble?
‘No. If I do, they might not listen to me in the future, either.’
Having sensible words ignored simply because I was in a child’s body… had become intolerable to my adult mind.
‘…Fine, leaning into the child-prodigy persona won’t hurt this time. It’ll save me from playing dumb for no reason, too.’
I hadn’t planned it, but I decided to make good use of the opportunity.
Wasn’t a clever child adored all the more?
Banking on the affection and trust they had shown me, I resolved to take the gamble.
Since I lacked Holy Power, I had to carve out some other distinction for myself.
“That’s… unfair. Bad!”
“…Unfair?”
Grace struggled back to her senses, beginning to pick up on what I meant.
“The knights… got so few.”
“…That is true. In this battle, we lost more than half of our Holy Knights.”
Grace’s face remained dazed… It was no easy task to process that the little sister she had seen as just a baby was expressing such mature thoughts.
“…Goodness, Cecil.”
I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to lay my adult thoughts bare like this…
“Must… earn trust back.”
“Earn back… trust…?”
Instead of adding more words, I nodded firmly.
There was plenty more I wanted to say, but the mere thought of fumbling through an elaborate explanation in this voice made me cringe.
‘Grown-ups will connect the dots themselves.’
To someone like me, who came from a modern world in my past life, dividing the dead into nobles and commoners was unfathomable.
Not to mention that commoners and the lower classes had families waiting for them, too…
Perhaps because I had been an ordinary commoner in my previous life, my heart naturally leaned toward them.
“If treated bad… won’t come back.”
“If they’re treated badly… the order will never recover…”
Grace murmured, mulling over my words.
“Indeed. After this battle, we must replenish more than half our ranks… and if there is discrimination in how the fallen are honored, those gifted with Holy Power may no longer wish to enlist.”
“…They could easily make a living as mercenaries instead, rather than endure discrimination within the knights’ ranks.”
Mother caught on to the point and built on Grace’s reasoning.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed my message had gotten through reasonably well.
‘Will they see me as a useful Cecil now?’
Hiding my nerves, I pretended to focus on the sliced fruit before me, acting every bit the toddler.
After watching me for a moment, Grace slowly spoke.
“…You’ve grown so much, Cecil.”
“Indeed. Children at this age develop quickly… but really…”
“Yes, really…”
I felt both pairs of eyes pinned on me. Swallowing the piece of mango I had been chewing, I offered a faint smile.
“From the moment she started rolling over, we knew she was different…”
“Right, even her nodding made remarkably good sense…”
“Cecil certainly stands out…”
“Yes, she seems exceptionally bright.”
“True. If she were this clever and possessed Holy Power as well, it might have been an unbearable burden for such a little child.”
“Perhaps she would have threatened my position too.”
I doubt that…
‘Either way, it looks like I pulled it off!’
Listening to Mother and Grace, a warm wave of relief washed over me.
I had shown my mature thinking and managed to look useful—killing two birds with one stone.
‘…Still, what happened to that knight’s body? I hope she found peace at least. And that the baby found a family to care for him…’
“Cecil, you look like an angel today too.”
“Brother, you’re here!”
“Did you enjoy your lessons today?”
“Yes! Today Baroness Rentil taught me about ancient kingdoms.”
“And was it fun?”
“Yes, it was fascinating how that kingdom traded with the northern continent since ancient times.”
“I’m glad Baroness Rentil suits you as a teacher.”
Theodore smiled warmly, then cupped my face in both hands and kissed my forehead.
Time flew like an arrow, and I turned four.
And my gamble that day had brought unexpected results.
Even before I turned three, a private tutor was appointed for me at Grace’s request.
“I read books to her every night, and she grasps even difficult subjects with ease. Cecil is a talent who will serve my reign well in the future, so I wish to nurture her properly from an early age.”
“Haha, Crown Princess, are you writing off your father already?”
Despite his quip, Father looked delighted, promptly summoning Baroness Rentil, a scholar from the Tower of Sages who had once taught Rebecca and Theodore.
‘The look on her face when she first saw me was unforgettable.’
I could tell she felt much the same as the eight knights assigned to guard a one-year-old baby.
A quiet grief at having fallen victim to the imperial family’s overprotectiveness.
After all, Rebecca and Theodore hadn’t begun their studies until they were five.
‘Once she realized I could converse properly, though, she began to take me seriously.’
True to her standing as a scholar from the Tower of Sages, she treated me without bias, viewing me as an earnest student.
Because I lacked Holy Power, I poured twice the effort into excelling at everything else, which only earned more of her approval day by day.
‘And now I’ve even started learning court etiquette…’
Remembering my reincarnation—carrying an adult’s mind—proved immensely helpful in my life as a princess.
Rather than running from studies, I took them in stride, enjoying the process.
‘If I were truly my physical age, I wouldn’t have lasted minutes focusing on a picture book…’
And so, fitting for a princess, I matured early.
‘Besides, there’s no denying the imperial family’s superior genes contributed to Cecilia’s intellect.’
Thanks to all this, I grew into a poised, clever four-year-old, lavished with the imperial family’s overflowing love despite possessing no Holy Power.
Even during the age when toddlers rebel against their mothers, sisters, and everything in sight, I obediently drank the bitter tonic that served as a badge of their helicopter parenting.
“Theo, at Cecil’s age you couldn’t even read yet. Don’t try hiding behind her.”
“Isn’t Cecil just too smart? Sister, you’re always picking on me alone.”
“Shh, it’s time for Cecil’s nap.”
As Rebecca and Theodore bickered in their usual fashion, Mother noticed my drooping eyelids and carried me off to bed.
In her emerald eyes, so like my own, affection brimmed again today.
“Cecil, my sweet darling. Once you wake from a deep sleep, the chef will prepare the duck leg dish you love so much.”
“Whoa, duck…”
My mouth parted and my eyes lit up before I could catch myself. Mother smiled softly, pillowing my head on her arm as she stroked my cheek.
Ah, after taxing my brain studying inside an inefficient toddler’s body, drowsiness claimed me the second I lay down.
“Good night, my precious little one…”
Mother’s gentle lullaby drifted into my ears. With the steady patting on my shoulder, I drifted off to sleep.
‘So this is the warmth of a mother’s touch… It’s so warm…’
The imperial family’s love for Cecilia felt like the law of gravity. Even if Newton didn’t exist here.
‘Maybe I’ll publish the theory myself later.’
Not just my parents, but my siblings and the maids as well overflowed with affection no matter what I did.
There were plenty of reasons, of course, but Cecilia’s fairy-like appearance—noted even in the original story—was the decisive one.
‘Maybe I didn’t even need to play the prodigy card in the first place.’
Seriously… even to my own eyes, Cecilia’s features, firmly in the “child” category now, were irresistibly adorable.
I inherited the finest traits from both my parents, looking lovely enough to make anyone in the world do a double take.
Golden-flecked green eyes that seemed ready to spill over, and squishy cheeks that practically begged hands to reach out—they had become practically palace landmarks these days.
‘If I’d been born with this face in my past life, I would’ve starred on reality TV and become the nation’s sweetheart daughter online.’
So all I needed was to grow up quietly as a lovely, well-mannered youngest daughter.
Whenever the anxieties from my past life crept in, I deliberately tackled difficult books and put on even sweeter smiles.
Surely that would be enough, so long as I didn’t stray onto the wrong path and excelled in everything else.
“Cecil, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
During our siblings’ dinner hosted by Grace, she asked from the head of the table.
After her marriage last year, Grace had moved with her husband, Duke Edel, to the Pomegranate Palace reserved for the Crown Princess’s family, and ever since, she invited us once a month to spend time together.
At twenty-three, Grace already had the aura of a future empress.
Her dark blue eyes always glinted with sharp resolve, and her once-readable face had gained an undeniable dignity.
If majesty were ever given human form, it would look like her.
I felt grateful for her expectations of me, yet slightly bashful, dangling my legs from the high chair as I answered.
“I want to be a commander who wipes out the northern sea pirates.”
Having heard about trade with the northern continent during today’s lesson with Baroness Rentil, the words had slipped out thoughtlessly.
My siblings, however, froze and stared at me in stunned silence, as if their gears had ground to a halt.
A brief stillness fell over the table.
“Y-You want to become a soldier?”
Grace managed to break the silence.
“Cecil is so bright, it would be far better for you to serve as my minister.”
“You don’t have to join the military to deal with pirates.”
“You could also pray for the northern people who suffer because of them.”
“Or what if we established a charitable foundation together to support the North?”
Without waiting for one another, my siblings chimed in with their own suggestions for my future path.
Ah, since I lacked Holy Power, I had no combat capability either—hence this reaction.
Chewing on the piece of meat Rebecca had cut for me, I shifted my eyes slowly.
“I… I just wanted to be useful to Sister…”
When I mumbled that with teary eyes and trembling lips, soft smiles spread across my siblings’ faces.
Had I trained them to melt over my charms? Not that they needed any training—they were completely smitten with Cecilia already.
Having them indulge every bit of my shameless cuteness was addictive, so I occasionally gave in to acting like a spoiled child.
Truly, it was all thanks to Cecilia’s fairy-like looks.
Could sheer cuteness really be this advantageous?
To think I had spent over twenty years in my past life without ever realizing it.
‘So I…’
Mm, an old shadow of sorrow crept in.
There was no wide river here to swallow my sadness, no riverside park where everyone laughed without me.
For some reason, the taste of the dessert felt suddenly dull.
“Cecil, we ordered the brownie you like so much today.”
“Yay! Brownie!”
Hah, as if sweets could ever lose their taste.
“Careful, the syrup on top is hot.”
“Yes!”
At times like these, my family in this life was the greatest cure.
When I looked up and gave a bright smile, Grace smiled back, radiant and warm.
‘Right… I have to hold on to this child-prodigy role and never let them down. A love this immense… I cannot afford to lose.’