Chapter 5
‘It’s a useless delusion, a fantasy.’
Keeping the person I need to be most careful around right by my side? Not a smart move, Levisia.
Suppressing a sigh, I held up the cover of the book to Siaphil.
“Surviving in the Desert, huh…”
He murmured the title, then fell silent. The boy’s face looked unusually serious as he sank deep into thought.
“That’s a rather… unique choice of reading material, Sister.”
“You never know what might happen in life.”
My answer only made his expression grow even more profound, but I meant it sincerely. What if I left, and the rest of them got into a fight, turning the world into a barren desert?
Considering it was a battle between overpowered beings, that wasn’t entirely impossible.
Siaphil muttered to himself as he exited Levisia’s palace.
“Why would she read a book like that…?”
It was the kind of book he never even considered reading. No, more accurately, it was one he never needed to read.
As he walked along, lost in thought, his sharp senses picked up something the moment he stepped onto the garden path that led out of the palace.
Looking up, he frowned instinctively as he met someone’s gaze. The other person immediately lowered their eyes and gave a silent bow.
‘A servant?’
Come to think of it, Levisia White’s palace didn’t seem to have many attendants. The only one he’d seen on occasion was a middle-aged woman.
‘Sheila, was it?’
While digging through his memory, the servant began walking toward him, head bowed and body shrunken.
‘Is this the one who supposedly handles all the dirty work in the palace?’
Levisia often mentioned this servant—the only one she ever talked about, in fact. But the eyes that met his earlier… those eyes were far too insolent for a mere servant. Siaphil glanced sideways at the passing attendant, then resumed walking.
‘Smells like blood…’
The stench tickling his nose was even stronger than before.
After Siaphil left, I was suddenly face-to-face with Pell, who stormed into my room.
“That guy just now—”
“Pell. Knock.”
I cut him off and pointedly reminded him. He froze, frowning.
“Ah.”
“Go back out and come in properly.”
He sighed heavily and turned around. A moment later, there was a sharp knock knock. I calmly set the book on the table.
“You may enter.”
“…”
“That guy, what about him?”
Did he run into Siaphil on his way out? I had mentioned Siaphil to both Pell and Sheila before. But unlike Sheila, Pell had never met him face-to-face.
“There’s no point asking who he is now, is there?”
“Mm-hmm, that was Siaphil Bear Crayden.”
“Haa… How long does he plan to keep coming here?”
He referred to Siaphil as that guy—an irreverent term, but I didn’t correct him. I knew this was Pell at his most polite.
Pell hated Siaphil. It was different from my wanting to keep some distance. Pell downright loathed him. A strange thing, really, considering no one in the imperial palace disliked Siaphil.
“Why do you hate Siaphil—no, His Highness the Prince—so much?”
Pell bit his lip before replying.
“He’s… unsettling. And perceptive.”
Well, the perceptive part was true, but still—why was that a problem?
Before I could ask, Pell spoke again.
“Anyway, if he’s here, you won’t see me in this palace.”
But I’m the one who’s trying to avoid him. Why are you the one running away…?
Leaving that line behind, Pell abruptly stormed out, saying he had something to do.
Seriously, who’s the master and who’s the servant around here?
Two weeks had passed since my brush with death. I’d finally regained my freedom of movement—though only after pestering Pell endlessly. Still, it was a small victory that meant a lot to me.
“If anything happens, call me immediately. Or you can blow this.”
Pell waved a necklace with a tiny horn-shaped whistle.
“I got it, I got it.”
I lazily nodded at the gesture I’d seen at least twenty times. Pell’s tone turned sharp.
“What did I just say?”
“Call you if anything happens. If I can’t, blow the whistle. You’ve said it like, twenty times already. Give it a rest.”
“Say it one more time, just to be sure.”
“I just said it.”
“Again.”
“…Do you really think I’d forget something that simple?”
“Then say it again.”
“It’s not like I’m going far. I’m just staying within the palace.”
“If you hadn’t collapsed out of nowhere last time, I wouldn’t be doing this.”
I mean, I don’t remember collapsing! But apparently, that didn’t matter. I had to recite that two-line sentence like a chant before Pell would finally let me go.
“Is it supposed to be this hard to step into a garden?”
Sheila greeted me with a smile.
“Pell only acts that way because he’s worried about you.”
“I know, but still…”
I trailed off and glanced behind me. Pell was frowning, burdened with a pile of gear.
“He came with us anyway, so what was the point of all that fuss?”
“Now that you’re here, why don’t you get to work?”
“You’re even ordering me around now?”
Seriously, I have no idea who’s the servant and who’s the master anymore.
Still grumbling, I rolled up my sleeves. Today was garden work day—more precisely, farming.
Yes, yes, I’m a princess doing farm work. What of it? I had no choice. It was all for survival.
It was Pell who first plowed this awkward patch of dirt that we now called a garden. He claimed we needed to grow enough food for three people. That was several years ago now, when Sheila and I eventually joined him.
The rations from the capital kept decreasing every year, while our mouths stayed the same. We had to do something to feed ourselves.
“Let’s start with the seedlings.”
Pell handed me a tray of seedlings, and I carried them to the garden he had already tilled. Sheila, waiting with water, planted them skillfully in the moist earth.
These seedlings would grow into something like potatoes. After years of doing this, I could at least recognize that much.
“What’s next?”
“I’ll take care of it. You should step aside.”
Pell pointed to the edge of the garden with a dusty hand. I decided not to argue. I didn’t want to waste energy fighting him while he was already sweating buckets.
Kneeling outside the garden, I idly watched the two work and fiddled with the horn-shaped whistle.
“By the way, where did you get this?”
The whistle Pell gave me had a unique shape, twisted like a small horn. No matter how hard I blew, it made no sound. Yet Pell always came running when I used it, even from far away. Strange, since no sound came out.
“It’s a rare item. You can’t get them anymore.”
“So where did you get it?”
He glanced at me and replied,
“My mother left it for me.”
Left it, not gave it?
Something felt off. I fumbled and nearly dropped the whistle. Thankfully, it stayed around my neck.
“Wait, it’s a keepsake?”
“…”
Pell didn’t answer, which basically meant yes. My face turned pale, and I quickly unclasped the necklace.
“Why would you give me something so precious? Take it back.”
“Keep it. I’ve got no one else to give it to anyway.”
“What do you mean? You should be the one holding onto it.”
“It’s useless to me. Better that you have it.”
Useless? Thinking back, I realized Sheila had never responded to the whistle. Only Pell could hear it.
I didn’t understand how it worked, but that seemed to be why he said he couldn’t use it.
“And you, Your Highness…”
Pell straightened, having worked hunched over for a long time. I glanced at his dusty face and met his golden eyes. For a moment, they deepened like the sea before vanishing beneath his lids.
“Never mind. Just keep it.”
His expression looked oddly weary, and I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more.
How much time passed after that?
By the time the sun was high overhead, Pell suddenly lifted his head with a scowl.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just remembered something I forgot to do.”
“Forgot?”
“I’ll go take care of it first.”
“Wait, you’re just leaving like that?”
Sheila had already left to prepare lunch. Now it was just me and Pell in the field. If he left, I’d be stuck here alone, sweating and working.
“Can’t it wait? Let’s finish this first—”
“Sister?”
I froze at the voice behind me. That harmless, sweet voice—oh no…
“Then I’ll be off. Call me if anything happens.”
Pell stood up first, gave a short bow, and vanished in a flash.
“Sister, it’s me.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow and turned around slowly. Sure enough, there stood Siaphil, eyes wide.
I glanced toward where Pell had disappeared, shaking with betrayal. That coward totally ran away after seeing Siaphil!
“Ah, Your Highness. You’ve arrived…”
Pell, how could you flee alone? Take me with you!
“You weren’t in your room, so I searched everywhere. Turns out you were here.”
Siaphil looked me over, clearly noting my appearance was different from usual.
“So, um… what are you doing?”
He asked in a voice tinged with shock. That bright child, so intelligent, was at a loss for words.
I looked around at the barely passable garden and answered calmly.
“As you can see, I’m tending the garden.”
