Chapter 14
14
===
During the lesson, Peep-peep was miraculously well-behaved, and Ms. Silvia seemed greatly impressed, glancing at him several times.
"Well, shall we stop here for today?"
Finally, when the lesson was over, the teacher struggled to carry the thick book and went outside first.
As if he had been waiting, Peep-peep fluttered up.
He almost touched the chandelier while flapping his wings, and I was so dumbfounded that I shouted.
"Hey, be careful!"
He was so quiet in front of the teacher, he's completely two-faced.
'No, not a two-faced person.'
Chuckling, I held him and remembered the picture in the book from earlier.
I giggled and whispered to Peep-peep.
"Are you such a good bird? Will you bring me a good seed?"
Then, surprisingly, Peep-peep nodded.
'...Could it be?'
I glanced around the empty study room for no reason, and then tested Peep-peep again.
"You're lying, right? Actually, something weird will grow from that seed, and you're going to bother me, aren't you?"
This time, he shook his head wildly.
'Oh my god, does he really understand?'
I was so shocked by the truth that I almost dropped him, but I barely managed to stop myself before that happened.
'Whether the bird understands or is lying, he's hurt, so I shouldn't drop him...'
I scanned Peep-peep with new eyes, but I still couldn't believe it.
'I suddenly became younger the moment I was stabbed with a knife, and the bird I accidentally rescued from the greenhouse understands me...?'
Am I having a really long dream?
I was curious again for the first time in a while.
* * *
"Greetings to Your Highness Rostel."
In the afternoon, the Hestia siblings came to visit as promised.
Gray called my middle name, which Rosa and I both used, and knelt on one knee, while Victory stood beside him, awkwardly imitating her brother.
"Hello."
When I held out my hand, Gray kissed the back of it first.
I smiled pleasantly as I watched Victory imitate him again, but Peep-peep, who was sitting on my shoulder, cried out loudly.
—Peep! Peep-peep!
The children's gazes quickly turned to my shoulder.
Gray seemed to want to ask about the bird, but he held back and finished the greeting he had prepared.
"I wanted to come see you again soon... but Father is going on a royal hunting trip with the King."
"Yes, I know. Thank you for the chocolate."
As soon as I answered, Victory pointed at Peep-peep.
"What's that?"
I chuckled and put Peep-peep on my finger, taking him off my shoulder.
"It's not 'that,' it's a bird. His name is Squeaky."
"Ooh!"
—Peep, peep, peep!
When Peep-peep chimed in, Victory imitated him.
"Peep, peep, peep!"
—Peeeeep!
Suddenly, the two of them were noisily trying to outdo each other, and I had to cover my ears with both hands for a moment.
Victory held out her hand, and Peep-peep slyly moved over.
He had been desperately avoiding other people's touch until now, so it was unexpected.
'Maybe he's not scared because she's a baby like me...'
As I was thinking this, Gray asked with a smile.
"Your Highness seems to like animals very much. The cat I saw before was quite handsome too."
"Ah, that kitty..."
I didn't know the Hestia siblings had seen the cat too.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say, but fortunately, Gray asked first.
"Yes, you named him Joy, right?"
"Yes, he's... Joy..."
But hearing that name from Gray's voice reminded me of something.
'Joy Terayev!'
How could I have forgotten about him so completely?
Rosa dragged the three of them, the Hestia siblings and Joy Terayev, everywhere.
Especially Joy, since he was from the Temple, he practically lived in the Royal palace because he was supposed to help Rosa's Divinity manifest.
'So, after losing the cat, I met a friend with the same name?'
If that was the case, Rosa would have liked Joy from the start, given her personality.
'Terayev...'
While I was retracing my faint memories, Gray called out as if something was wrong.
"...Your Highness?"
I quickly came to my senses and continued the story.
"Yes, he, Joy, scratched me..."
"Yes, Your Highness?"
Gray asked so loudly that I was startled and hesitated.
"The... the dress was torn too... so..."
"So what happened? Were you hurt? Where?"
His reaction was more agitated than I expected.
I had never been seriously injured, but even if I was, my mother would heal me, so there wasn't much to worry about.
I hesitated and gently rubbed my wrist.
"Here... but only my clothes were torn, and I wasn't really hurt."
"Is that so? What happened to that nasty kitty? His Majesty must not have forgiven him, right?"
"Yes... all the kitties in the garden were kicked out."
When I nodded, Gray finally sighed in relief.
"He must have been fickle. He seemed very smart that day and was very fond of Your Highness."
Was that so?
I had no idea whether he was smart or not, but I just nodded to stop talking about the cat.
'If I keep talking, Gray might realize the difference between me and Rosa.'
Gray carefully asked again.
"Could you perhaps... show me where you were hurt, Your Highness?"
"I wasn't hurt?"
However, Gray stared at my wrist without budging, as if he had to see it with his own eyes.
'Was his personality always this persistent...?'
Well, there's no reason not to show him my perfectly fine wrist.
When I slightly rolled up my sleeve, Gray stubbornly examined my smooth skin.
Then he said quite seriously.
"It looks really fine. But animal bites or scratches can get infected. I've been bitten by a puppy before..."
I looked up at Gray with new eyes.
'Aside from his personality, he's surprisingly considerate for a six-year-old.'
He asked.
"May I ask my father about it? I know the Royal family has excellent Royal physicians and good medicine, but our family's merchant guild also has..."
He just wants to help, but why so many excuses?
I chuckled and cut Gray off.
"Thank you, Gray."
Gray lowered his head shyly and replied.
"You don't have to thank me for everything. As a subject, it's only natural..."
"Still. Still, thank you."
When I answered without giving in, the pearly white cheeks of the boy turned slightly red.
I unknowingly squeezed my eyes shut.
'...He's cute.'
He was completely different from the pathetic unrequited love interest in my memories.
Rosa has a lot to atone for after all.
—Peep! Peep-peep-peep!
Suddenly, it was noisy, and when I turned around, it seemed that Victory had touched Peep-peep while trying to pet him, and touched the injured part of his stomach.
"Ah, no! He's hurt!"
I was horrified and snatched Peep-peep away, and Victory burst into tears.
"Waaaaah!"
The garden quickly became a mess.
The Marquess's servants and Beatrice rushed over to deal with the situation.
'I thought she was crying because she had her bird taken away...'
Unexpectedly, Victory wanted to apologize to Peep-peep.
"S-sorry..."
When Victory apologized with a sniffle, Peep-peep nodded haughtily.
—Peep!
Seeing me shaking my head, Gray apologized several times.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. N-next time, I'll leave Victory behind..."
Of course, that had the opposite effect.
"Victory wants to come too!"
Victory burst into tears again.
'Oh dear...'
I sighed involuntarily, wondering if I should make friends with her.
'Hold on. She's Victory Clotilde, who will become the flower of Ruelle's social circle in the future...'
Only Beatrice watched us and laughed.
* * *
After the Hestia siblings left, I picked a pretty lavender flower in the garden.
Beatrice asked with a bright smile.
"Do you like that flower? The flowers His Majesty the King gave you are still fresh."
"Yes, so I'm going to give a gift too."
"Oh my, to His Majesty the King?"
Beatrice asked, then rejoiced as if the flower was her gift, and lifted me high into the air.
While laughing and playing for a while, I noticed a tall tree with pink flowers hanging from it.
"Um, but that..."
"Do you like that too?"
Beatrice put me down on the ground and reached out to a lower branch while standing on tiptoe.
But the flower didn't reach her fingertips.
"Oh dear!"
Beatrice smiled, panting.
"I think I need to eat a lot and grow taller? I can't reach it, Your Highness."
Just as she was about to give up and step back,
I saw a gardener putting a ladder against a tree near the rose bushes and working.
Beatrice seemed to have noticed him too.
"I should ask him to help."
Beatrice went over and said something, and the middle-aged gardener hurriedly approached me.
"It's nice to see you again, Princess Your Highness."
I was nervous and took a step back.
It was definitely someone I was seeing for the first time.
'It looks like he's met Rosa before.'
The gardener didn't mind that I didn't accept his greeting and turned to Beatrice.
"Should I pick a flower from that tree for you?"
