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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: The Snow Princess
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Chapter 8. The Snow Princess
Ella’s personal attendant cleared his throat in front of her bedroom.
As he knocked twice on the door, just as he was supposed to, another attendant with the same purple hair stood beside him, trembling uncontrollably.
“Compose yourself.”
The attendant said to the other.
His name was Kai Gerda. He wasn’t actually an attendant, but a prisoner of war.
From what had been uncovered so far, he was the second son of Duke Gerda and seemed to have fled from the Duke’s expeditionary force.
*I was told I’d be killed if I didn’t go into battle.*
According to the one who could interpret the Northern tongue, Kai’s reason for leaving the expedition was simple.
*But I don’t like killing people, even if they are of a different race.*
He hated taking lives.
Ella had chuckled upon seeing the note and said.
‘Tell everyone I’ve hired a new attendant and say he’s a distant relative of yours. I’ll need to keep him by my side for now.’
The attendant found Ella’s command puzzling. Kai Gerda possessed little information, and keeping him around would only become a nuisance if they were to cross Duke Gerda.
‘Her Highness is truly unfathomable…’
But how could a mere attendant presume to know the princess’s mind?
He existed not to fathom her heart, but to follow her commands.
The attendant glanced uneasily at Kai, who was still trembling beside him.
He was still an untrustworthy fellow. Why did he tremble so much just standing there?
The attendant recalled how Kai had shivered even when he was dyeing his hair.
Just then, a rustling sound came from within, followed by the princess’s voice.
“Come in.”
When he opened the door, the air inside was filled with cotton and feathers that had clearly escaped from the duvet and pillows.
Kai froze at the sight. The attendant, however, acted as if nothing were amiss, placing the tray he carried on a table and opening the window.
A gentle breeze wafted in, sending more feathers fluttering through the air. Amidst the scene, which looked as if it were snowing, Kai watched as Ella rose from the bed, her hair tousled.
Sticking out from beneath the bed was a single leg, clearly belonging to a man.
Ella glanced at the attendant and Kai, then casually swept back her disheveled hair.
“The newspaper.”
Kai remained dazed for a moment, but when Ella stared intently at him, he quickly handed her the paper.
It was Ella’s habit to read the newspaper every morning. She enjoyed various other reading activities as well, but had cut back due to business and other duties.
As Ella unfolded the paper, a man with equally messy hair sat up in the bed.
“P-Princess…?”
He clutched the duvet to his chest, staring at the attendants’ intrusion with wide, startled eyes. Kai couldn’t bring himself to meet the man’s gaze, but Ella replied nonchalantly.
“You’re awake? You should have slept longer.”
While the flustered man got up and hastily gathered his clothes, the attendant addressed Ella.
“Your Highness, Young Lord Eric has arrived to assist with the royal knights’ training.”
“He’s already at the palace? That man never sleeps…”
Ella yawned widely and shook her head. Meanwhile, Kai entered the bathroom as he had been previously instructed. He had to prepare her bath.
As soon as Kai disappeared into the bathroom, the man got out of bed and sat demurely on the sofa opposite Ella.
With an eager expression, he asked Ella, who was focused solely on the newspaper.
“Th-Then, Your Highness… when should I come again?”
Ella, who was reading an article about the temple expressing its displeasure with Eric and Imeline’s marriage, asked without looking up.
“Again?”
“Yes. When should I next enter the palace…”
Feeling her concentration broken by the man’s words, Ella furrowed her brow and lowered the newspaper.
“Ah, the palace… well… I suppose you could come when His Majesty invites the Cullin family to a royal party, couldn’t you?”
The face of the young scion of House Cullin, seated on the sofa, hardened.
“What? But your birthday party is in a week…”
Ella tilted her head.
*Is my birthday already a week away? Time certainly flies.*
Her face soured at the thought of the rather unwelcome birthday party, and she noticed the young man’s face had turned bright red.
‘What’s this? Don’t tell me…’
An amused smile escaped Ella’s lips.
“…?”
The young man’s expression grew even stiffer.
“Ah, my party… as you know… invitations are sent to a very exclusive list of families…”
Ella scratched her chin with a troubled look.
“D-Does that mean…”
“It would be difficult for the Cullin family to be included on that list, wouldn’t it?”
“B-But yesterday, you clearly said you liked me…”
Ella barely suppressed a laugh as she looked at the young man’s pitiful face.
*To think he treasured the words spoken during such a shameless act in bed. Maybe I should see him one more time? He’s rather cute.*
But that thought quickly vanished.
She remembered she would have to placate the disappointed Madam Margaret at the party.
Ella spoke to the young man coolly.
“I like many things. I’m a person who dislikes very little.”
As if that were the final blow, the young man shot up from his seat, his eyes welling with tears.
*He is cute,* Ella thought, watching his retreating back before speaking to her attendant.
“Cute… very cute, but he lacks a certain sharp bite.”
The rumor that Ella was so jealous she couldn’t stand other women approaching a man she had taken to her bed was nothing but baseless gossip. In the first place, she never gave her affection to anyone more than once.
The attendant cleared his throat.
“House Cullin…”
“House Cullin has no business dealings with the Duchy. So they were planning to build their steel mill in the south after all. They must have thought they could start mining magic stones from the Mermaids’ Tomb right away.”
She had struggled to hold back her laughter as he’d spilled everything in bed.
The attendant, with a look of understanding, closed the door the young scion had left open.
Ella massaged the back of her neck and walked into the bathroom. Then she let her gown slide to the floor.
“…?”
Just then, she felt a piercing gaze.
It was only then that she saw the rabbit-like boy… no, Kai, sitting on the edge of the tub, filling it with water.
Kai’s face was as red as if it might burst, and he was frozen like a statue.
Ella tilted her head.
“What are you doing? Move.”
Kai stood up and stepped aside with the creaking movements of a broken machine. Ella slipped into the water Kai had prepared.
Kai remained frozen, unable to look back at Ella or leave the room.
Seeing this, Ella’s face soured.
“What, want to join me?”
Only then did Kai shake his head frantically. He was about to bolt out of the bathroom door.
But Ella called out to him.
“Do you wonder why I’m keeping you?”
She spoke in the Northern tongue.
Although phonetically not so different from the capital’s language, the vocabulary and pronunciation were so perfect that Kai turned around in surprise. But the sight of Ella’s smooth shoulders immediately made him slump to the floor and turn his head away.
Ella chuckled at the sight.
“I studied it diligently for a day, and it just came to me.”
“…”
Kai’s face was one of astonishment.
He didn’t know that Ella could speak over ten languages, including dialects with linguistic systems almost entirely different from the national language.
“…It’s because I’m curious to see when your father will come looking for you.”
Ella said languidly, leaning her neck against the rim of the tub.
“…”
Kai bit his lip.
“The royal physician said your tongue was cut out? Who did that?”
Ella gazed silently at Kai’s profile as he sat on the floor.
‘They say he’s treated as little more than an outcast son. The reason being that he is not manly enough for a Northerner.’
Ella recalled the information her attendant had gathered.
‘They even seem reluctant to publicly search for their second son.’
Because they knew he had run away.
Ella extended a water-slicked hand. Kai stared at her palm before slowly, with a flushed face, writing on it.
*Father…*
Ella smiled as if she understood.
Then, her smile vanished in an instant. With the same hand he had written on, she grasped his chin. Kai looked at her with startled eyes.
*He’s ashamed, I imagine. A son who fled because he hated expeditions and killing.*
Ella met Kai’s eyes and spoke.
“You can’t speak with your mouth, but you speak with your face.”
Ella lightly brushed Kai’s red cheek with her finger, then pulled it away.
A gentle curve formed on her lips.
“Beautiful.”
“…!”
“That’s what you were thinking, weren’t you?”
Ella turned her head. Kai gave no reply, but Ella added.
“I know.”
“…”
“You are, too.”
“…”
“You can go now. And from now on, make the water temperature cooler than this.”
But despite the princess’s dismissal, Kai didn’t leave. His legs seemed to have given out, and he simply remained collapsed on the floor.
✵ ✵ ✵
After sending the scion of House Cullin from her bedroom in a manner akin to chasing him out, Ella headed for the royal knights’ training grounds.
The training grounds were located where they could be seen at a glance from the third floor of the Princess’s Palace, where Ella resided.
Instead of going directly to the grounds, Ella deliberately went up to the third floor to observe them through a window.
Kai, who was escorting her, looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“…?”
Ella murmured.
“Ah, truly… beautiful… a feast for the eyes. My eyes…”
Kai stepped a little closer to the window. He could see many knights standing on the training grounds.
Most of them were shirtless, either watching the sparring matches, drinking water, or otherwise cooling down.
The muscles of their brawny torsos glistened, slick with stray droplets of water and beads of sweat.
Ella watched them with a satisfied smile.
Kai’s expression hardened.
Ella glanced at Kai and asked.
“See, the one over there helping the knights train is Eric Orleans. Remember him. He’s one of my people, just like you.”
*My people.*
At those words, Kai’s expression softened like snow melting in spring.
Ella smirked.
‘It’s written all over his face…’
✵ ✵ ✵
The second day at the ducal residence.
After being examined by the physician Eric had already bribed, I was in the dining hall eating a salmon fillet steak for breakfast when I felt a bit of a shock.
‘The taste… isn’t moving!’
On my first day at the ducal residence.
Though I was a little depressed because of the butler’s rigorous lessons, every meal I had in this mansion had been sublime.
I had eaten about four meals, including a late-night snack, and had marveled inwardly each time.
But after a mere five meals, it seemed my palate had perfectly adapted to the mansion’s cuisine.
‘It’s delicious, but…’
It didn’t inspire the same awe as yesterday.
‘…They say human greed knows no bounds…’
A pauper who had instantly adapted to a rich person’s palate. I was astonished by the shamelessness of my own tongue.
‘Remember the days you ate tree roots, Imeline… my dear tongue…’
But the horrible texture of tree roots and the tingling sensation on the tip of my tongue when I ate a slightly rotten part felt like something from a past life, hazy and distant.
I couldn’t seem to recreate that memory in my head at all. Instead, thoughts like the salmon steak being slightly under-seasoned or the plating of the accompanying salad being a bit dull…
‘Oh, I really hate this side of myself.’
“…Is the food not to your liking?”
Nina asked worriedly, noticing my dark expression.
“No… it’s not that, but I wish the skin were a bit crispier…”
I flinched, realizing my words sounded just like something Eric would say. A little more of this, and I might start sounding like Princess Ella—
‘Olive oil with a natural fragrance would have been better than rosemary here. I shall acknowledge the courage it took to serve me such a dish.’
I felt like I could say something just like that.
Such is the class consciousness that naturally flows from being spoiled by luxury.
‘I never knew a warm back and a full stomach could be so terrifying!’
