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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Cringy Form of Address
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The nanny giggled as if she'd just heard something adorable from a child.
“Our young lady wanted to become popular, did she?”
“That's not it.”
It wasn't that she wanted to be popular—she was worried about actually becoming popular.
“To become popular, you'll have to work at it tirelessly.”
The nanny kept missing my real point.
“Aigoo, I told you, no. Having too much popularity is tiring.”
With three husbands, how exhausting would it be to spread her affection evenly among them?
“Ah, young lady... Pfft...”
The nanny, who'd been trembling, finally burst into loud laughter.
It wasn't enough—she clutched her stomach and roared with laughter.
Tears welled up in her eyes; she really seemed delighted.
I'd only spoken the plain truth while thinking of the future.
Yet the nanny laughed at me.
‘Tch, just wait until I actually get popular—don't faint in shock.’
I pouted and turned my head away with a huff. The nanny barely managed to stifle her laughter.
“So you're already worrying about becoming too popular? That's, ahem, why you're feeling down?”
The nanny spoke in a sweet, soothing tone, but I caught her suppressing another laugh at the end.
I shot her a glare, and she reached out again to cup my cheeks.
She rolled her hands gently, as if to cheer me up.
Once more, my soft cheeks yielded like squishy rice cakes.
I was always weak to gestures like this from the nanny.
Strangely enough, it melted my heart.
She was laughing like that because she found me so cute.
‘Generous me will just have to put up with it.’
“That's not the reason. Maybe it's because I didn't accomplish what I came for today—I'm feeling unsettled.”
“Come to think of it, you said you'd definitely find out what harm the prince caused you. Didn't you hear?”
“Yeah. Somehow the conversation shifted, and I missed it.”
That had been the whole point of accepting the invitation today, but I'd been so shocked by his friend declaration that it slipped right by.
Was I the idiot, or was Prince Luciano the cunning one?
“So you're feeling down because of that?”
Seemingly satisfied that my mood had lifted, the nanny let go of my cheeks.
They felt warm now, and my frayed nerves had settled.
“It's not entirely that.”
‘Somehow, it just nags at me.’
I wriggled closer, nestling into the nanny's waist.
She opened her arms familiarly and stroked my hair.
My heart grew languid—her hands really were magic.
“But, young lady...”
“Yeah?”
“I've been thinking. Do you really need to know?”
The nanny said something eerily similar to Prince Luciano.
Startled, I pulled away from where I'd been clinging to her.
“Why would you say that? It's about me—how could I just let it go without knowing?”
At my sulky tone, the nanny grabbed my hand, as if to calm me.
“If what the prince said is true, the issue happened anyway, and you let it pass without knowing.”
“Exactly. But it happened to me.”
“If it's the kind of thing where not knowing means it's nothing—but finding out could hurt—then I wish nothing like that would ever touch you.”
Her bitter expression hit me like a slap to the back of the head.
I'd never considered it that way before.
But now, hearing her, I realized it was a valid perspective.
There was no need for me to dig up something unpleasant myself.
‘Did Prince Luciano realize that too, which is why he kept steering the conversation away?’
The nanny gently stroked my hair.
Her touch, full of worry, conveyed her sincere affection.
“Got it. I won't be curious anymore.”
I decided to heed her words without protest.
“Really?”
The nanny had been the one looking after me all this time, ever since I possessed this body and felt awkward acting the part.
My parents cared for me, of course, but not like the nanny, who was by my side every day.
Over the past year, I'd felt it in every fiber of my being: she genuinely cared.
I didn't want to worry someone who was on my side.
“Yeah. Hearing you say it like that, I realize there's no real need to know.”
The worry faded from the nanny's face.
Her pleased gaze toward me made me feel a little awkward and shy.
“And it's truly fortunate.”
“What is?”
“You finally have a friend! This nanny was so worried that you didn't have even one...”
“Nanny!”
Ally status revoked!
“And now you're worrying about becoming too popular on top of that.”
“I'm telling you, that's actually going to happen!”
At my vehement protest, the nanny laughed and pulled me into a hug.
“What if our young lady gets mad? This nanny would be terrified.”
“I'm going to sulk!”
“Aigoo, how scary.”
Her voice held zero fear as she cried out—then her hands dove for my sides, tickling mercilessly.
“Eek!”
The sneak attack had me bursting into helpless laughter.
I twisted away, but her fingers were relentless.
We spent ages like that, attacking and defending amid peals of laughter and shrieks.
“Ha, I surrender! Stop, stop!”
“My victory.”
Only when I was too winded to laugh anymore did I cry uncle. The nanny withdrew her hands with a smug grin.
After laughing ourselves silly, we were both wiped out.
We played like this every day, and honestly, the nanny felt more like my friend.
I couldn't imagine roughhousing like this with Prince Luciano.
“But calling him a friend—is he really?”
“Why not?”
“He's royalty. It just feels... distant.”
The nanny brushed off my musing.
“What's distant about it? You've already shown him your worst sides. There's nothing left to hide—might as well be comfortable.”
Huh. When she put it that way...
I'd already shown him my absolute rock bottom, so what was left to be embarrassed about?
That thought sparked a sudden realization.
‘Ah! That's why this whole thing happened!’
I'd subjected him to such a shocking spectacle that he couldn't possibly devote his full affection to me!
‘No protagonist buff could overcome a situation that traumatizing.’
Our relationship hadn't reached romance levels—just a moderate level of favor.
Now I understood why Prince Luciano's attitude felt so lukewarm.
With that conclusion, an odd peace settled over me.
Romance was off the table, but maybe we could actually become real friends?
Sure, that blunder would be mortifying between lovers.
But childhood friends saw all the good and the bad—no big deal.
Wouldn't the embarrassment fade a bit too?
One thought led to another, and becoming friends with Prince Luciano didn't seem so bad.
But...
“I still don't like it!”
I'd seemed on the verge of agreeing, only to refuse outright. The nanny looked baffled.
“What is it that our young lady keeps hating so much?”
“He made me suffer for a whole year. No way I'm jumping into friendship that fast!”
The nanny looked exasperated, but I couldn't help it.
I had my pride too.
* * *
By now, serving tea had become our standard routine.
Every time I visited, Prince Luciano appeared carrying a tea set himself.
I accepted the cup without the shock I used to feel and sipped naturally.
He drank in silence across from me.
He sat ramrod straight, passing the time as if tea-drinking were his sole purpose.
......This went on for a good long while.
A really long while.
‘What is even the point of this?’
Ever since Prince Luciano's friend declaration...
I'd considered trying to become genuine friends, but I lacked the drive I'd had before.
So on days I didn't visit the palace, I lounged around at home.
I'd play with the nanny, eat delicious things, and enjoyed two peaceful weeks—until another invitation arrived from Prince Luciano.
He'd summoned me, only to subject me to this punitive silent tea time.
I knew he was the quiet type, but he hadn't uttered a single word first.
‘Is there even a point to meeting like this?’
“What should we do for fun?”
In the end, I spoke up first.
“What would you like?”
“......Why did you invite me, then?”
“Is there anything you want to do?”
He answered tough questions with questions of his own.
I'd learned one thing about Prince Luciano's personality.
“Nothing in particular for me.”
He shot me a look that said, *Then why'd you ask?*
“You're not saying we should just keep sitting here in silence, sipping tea?”
Was this normal?
“If this time feels uncomfortable, then pick something you want to do.”
It sounded so condescending—it irritated me.
“If I pick, you'll go along with everything?”
“As much as possible.”
Prince Luciano agreed readily.
“Even doll play?”
I had no real intention of playing dolls.
I'd just chosen something that felt burdensome.
Prince Luciano paused as if considering, then gave a slightly troubled look.
“I don't have any dolls. How about something else?”
He was actually entertaining it?
I'd sensed it last time too—Prince Luciano's demeanor had softened remarkably.
‘Maybe I should make the most of this?’
“Let's change how we address each other.”
First, I'd tackle the most grating issue.
It felt perfectly logical to me, but it seemed out of left field to him.
“What's wrong with how we address each other?”
“That whole ‘you’ thing. I hate it.”
“Why?”
Asking *that* was the weird part.
“It feels too distant.”
He'd been answering promptly until then, but now he fell silent.
His face stiffened, as if ambushed.
His red eyes fixed on me with a strange intensity.
Was I overreaching?
Did he hate the idea and need time to think?
His stoic expression gave nothing away.
Truth be told, when he'd first switched to that form of address, I'd been shocked he'd changed at all—but the cheesy phrasing had embarrassed me too.
A ten-year-old going around saying “you, you” like that—wouldn't anyone cringe?
Even if it was the custom here, my modern memories made it feel burdensome.
This *had* to change.
“And it feels cringy every time I hear it.”
I added softly, and Prince Luciano's eyes widened.
He blinked slowly, as if he'd never heard such a thing in his life.
“Cringy... *cringy*...”
He was so shocked, he even muttered it to himself.
I Thought I Was the Protagonist
