Chapter 4
“Wait.”
“Why? Didn’t you tell me to eat?”
Just moments earlier he insisted he didn’t want it, and now he was offended that Alina stopped him. His wide eyes flashed up at her.
Cute.
He looked exactly like a puppy told to “stay” just when food was placed in front of it, and Alina couldn’t help but laugh.
“You have to eat with clean hands.”
She pulled out a spare handkerchief from her apron pocket and wiped the dirt off the boy’s hands.
His hands were quite large for his small frame, a bit unbalanced.
But someday, when he grew into them, they would look impressive.
“And… sorry again.”
Alina sighed softly at the faint pink bite mark she had left on the back of his hand.
“Kids have sensitive skin. I acted too fast.”
The boy stared blankly as she carefully cleaned each finger, then gently brushed over the mark on his hand.
“Um…”
“Hmm?”
“I’m not a kid.”
“Sure you’re not. Anyway, go ahead and eat.”
The boy looked like he wanted to say something more, but the moment she gave permission, he dove into the pancake, stuffing his mouth so quickly his cheeks swelled up like a chipmunk.
“Is it good? Slow down.”
Nod, nod!
His cheeks bulged round with pancake, and he nodded vigorously as he chewed and swallowed.
“Mm—huff!”
Tears welled in his eyes as he devoured the pancake like it was the most important thing in the world. When he pounded his chest with a small fist, Alina hurriedly patted his back.
“Did it get stuck? See? I told you to eat slowly.”
“…Because it’s good.”
“Hm?”
“‘S good…”
He could hardly speak because his mouth was stuffed full, but he smiled widely through it.
“You…”
Looking at his thin face, the hollows under his eyes, Alina bit her lip.
She had been like this once.
In her first life after reincarnating—she was always hungry.
She fled the Cold Palace to pretend to be a maid just so she could work in the kitchen for leftover broth.
Her old self, eating anything she could to survive, overlapped with this boy—who tried to eat a poisonous plant without knowing.
Her eyes stung as she continued patting his back.
“Wait here. I’ll bring you something to drink.”
“Okay.”
The boy nodded obediently, as if he had never been wary of her at all.
“Stay right here, okay?”
As she ran back toward the kitchen building, she turned and saw the boy straighten his posture immediately, sitting perfectly still.
He even looked like his tail might wag behind him.
Alina couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
✧ ✧ ✧
“Risse, did you already deliver lunch to the training grounds? Where are the dishes?”
Marika asked as Risse burst into the prep room. Alina was busy grabbing a water jug as she answered:
“That’s not important. Where’s the pumpkin soup we made for dinner tonight?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I need it. Where did you put it?”
“In that red pot, over there.”
Before Marika even finished speaking, Alina was already filling a large bowl with the thick orange soup.
‘He probably hasn’t eaten properly in days. Anything else will be too heavy.’
She filled the bowl with the warm, cinnamon-scented pumpkin soup and wrapped soft white bread to dip inside it.
It was enough for a full meal. Marika blinked in confusion.
“What, were you hungry?”
“No, it’s for a dog.”
“A dog? In the imperial palace—?”
“I’ll explain later!”
Leaving a baffled Marika behind, Alina rushed out. She wanted to explain, but she was terrified the boy would disappear.
There!
When she returned to the garden, the boy was sitting exactly where she had left him, hands neatly folded, waiting.
“Here!”
He jumped to his feet the moment he saw her, waving both arms. With a bright, innocent expression, he shouted loudly:
“Here, crazy woman!”
“…What?”
Alina’s steps halted mid-stride.
His words echoed inside her head.
“Crazy woman, are you okay?”
When she didn’t respond, the boy rushed over and began circling her anxiously.
It made her head spin even more.
“H-hold still.”
“Huh?”
Alina grabbed his arm and shut her eyes tightly.
“Why am I ‘crazy woman’?”
“I don’t know your name.”
Still, calling her “crazy woman” was…
Alina opened her eyes sharply.
“I am not a crazy woman.”
“Then tell me your name. What is it?”
Her green eyes trembled for a moment.
In this palace, she lived under the name Risse Kruger, Marika’s cousin.
But for some reason… she didn’t want to lie to this boy.
“It’s Alina.”
She smiled softly.
“My name is Alina.”
The boy repeated it with a nod.
“Alina.”
“That’s right. Now, eat.”
She placed a wooden spoon in his hand. He gripped it like a fist and shoveled the pumpkin soup into his mouth.
“Slowly.”
“…’kay.”
He stuffed bread dipped in soup into his mouth and tapped his chest again before swallowing.
“This is the first time… having something like this.”
It’s good.
His honest, heartfelt words made Alina’s chest tighten.
She spoke gently:
“If you make a promise, I’ll give you things like this often.”
“What promise?”
Alina held out her pinky.
“No eating random plants.
And don’t accept food from strangers.”
The boy stared at her pinky.
“What’s wrong?”
“People I know only give me hard bread.
People I don’t know don’t give me anything.”
His voice sank low as he stared at the now-empty soup bowl.
“They give me bread so hard I feel like my teeth will break…
Or this.”
He pulled moldy bread out of his pocket — blue with fungus.
“Grass is the softest. And it tastes better… So I thought it was okay.
But I’m not supposed to eat it?”
Alina’s pinky slowly folded back.
Then she leaned forward and hugged him tightly before even realizing she was doing it.
“Let’s make another promise.
You will NEVER eat food from the people you know.”
In Xenotat palace, Alina had been given such food too.
Dry scraps. Moldy leftovers thrown at her as if they were a favor.
She never imagined she’d see such food again — held gently by a child who treasured it because it was all he had.
Malerhark’s emperor was cruel, yes.
But not petty.
So why was a child being treated like this inside the imperial palace?
“What’s your name?”
Alina froze with her hand still in his hair.
Could he be… the prince?
The one who killed me?
The second prince had said he needed to kill a Xenotat princess to gain achievements against the crown prince… meaning he had been pushed aside in the palace.
So maybe, when he was young, he was also neglected like this…
Her heart pounded.
If this boy was that prince, then she had just met the past of the man who killed her.
Maybe she needed to run away again.
But the boy, unaware of her panic, mumbled shyly:
“…Rihardt.”
“Rihardt…”
Alina let out a long breath of relief.
The prince’s name had been Maximilian, a much grander name.
She didn’t remember every detail from her past lives, but she would never forget the name of the man who killed her.
Relaxing, she asked:
“Where do you live, Rihardt?”
“I live there…”
He pointed with his thin hand to a pale ivory building beside the Princess Palace.
Alina frowned.
“That’s a storage building.”
“It’s NOT a storage building!”
Offended, Rihardt shoved her so hard she toppled backward onto her butt.
“Ow…”
The moment she winced and rubbed her backside, Rihardt’s face turned pale.
He stammered:
“S-sorry…”
“Risse! Risse!”
Just then, Marika’s voice came from the kitchen direction.
Rihardt froze, glancing between Alina and the approaching Marika.
Then he clenched his jaw, turned his back, and sprinted toward the ivory building — as if terrified of being discovered.
“Rihardt, wait!”
“Risse!”
Marika grabbed Alina’s sleeve, panting.
Alina looked desperately at Rihardt’s small figure disappearing into the distance.
“Geez, why didn’t you answer me sooner?”
Marika caught her breath and spoke quickly.
“Greta is furious you haven’t delivered the lunch yet! The knight commander is asking what happened to today’s meal!”
“Oh no, is it that late already? Sorry. I was trying to pick some strawberries.”
“What about the soup and bread you brought earlier?”
Alina glanced at the empty bowl on the ground.
“Well… about that…”
“So there was a dog?”
Alina nodded vaguely.
“Yeah. A puppy was here.”
✧ ✧ ✧
Inside a tent adorned with the emblem of a roaring blue lion.
The knights’ training grounds echoed with shouts of effort.
The Blue Lion Knight Commander, Klaus Froeve, stared disapprovingly at the kitchen maid who arrived after lunch was already late.
“You took your time. And you brought us cold pancakes and lukewarm cabbage soup. After training this hard, we should be eating something restorative — what is this?”
Alina bowed deeply before the golden-haired knight.
“I’m truly sorry.”
When she lowered her head, Klaus’s eyebrow twitched.
She was at least a head shorter than him, small and shrinking like a scolded kitten — and seeing that made him feel like the bad guy.
But duty was duty. He couldn’t let the kitchen off the hook.
Klaus schooled his expression back to sternness and spoke coldly:
