“Aah.”
“Be careful, Your Highness.”
The youngest, Shumel, entered in a fluster and almost tripped after stepping on her dress. Fortunately, the peach-blond knight escorting Shumel caught her in time, preventing any mishap.
Shumel, who usually wore her hair in twin braids, had her caramel-colored hair flowing freely today. Perhaps due to a lack of preparation time, even her chambermaid followed her into the banquet hall and began tying her hair on the spot.
Styling oneself in the middle of a banquet hall—this was unheard of. I sighed at the youngest’s recklessness, but then Shumel started heading toward me. It was no coincidence; I happened to be the closest person to her.
“Si-Sister Sasha!”
“You’re here, Shushu.”
“Yes!”
Shumel rolled her green eyes dramatically and began making excuses loud enough for everyone to hear. “I ended up being a little late. You see, Shushu has been so busy with my studies lately. Especially the imperial studies class Shushu is taking—it’s such a difficult subject for ordinary people to keep up with…”
“That’s a class every princess takes, though.”
“…”
Shumel stammered, clearly flustered. While I had no intention of embarrassing her further, one of our other sisters decided this was the perfect opportunity to correct our youngest sibling’s self-centered way of thinking.
“Oh my, is imperial studies that difficult? Or is it just our little sister who is a slow learner?”
“Eek.”
Nanaen arrived, flanked by her entourage. She looked less like the golden deer of the plains and more like a lioness.
With a deliberately feigned sweet smile, Nanaen teased Shumel. “It’s okay. After all, what people expect from Shushu isn’t your brains but your cute bunny hairstyle tied into twin braids. But really, how late did you sleep in that you couldn’t even manage to do your hair properly?”
“Hiik…”
“You should’ve woken up earlier. Sleeping on the day of a banquet when you’re supposed to be all dressed up? It just makes you look bad compared to your older sisters, doesn’t it?”
“S-Shushu is!” Shumel snapped, startling the maid who was tying her hair so much that she dropped the ribbon. “Shushu is cute and pretty, so I only need a little dressing up!”
“Oh my, are you bragging about your looks in front of me?”
“Soon, Shushu’s beauty will surpass Sister Nanaen’s! Because! Shushu’s mother was a renowned beauty from the Shervin Kingdom!”
Nanaen smiled as if Shumel’s outburst was cute and responded with just one sentence. “Who isn’t?”
“Huh…?”
As if she couldn’t understand, her green eyes blinked repeatedly, and soft laughter echoed throughout the banquet hall. Unable to bear it any longer, a maid whispered to her mistress.
“Your Highness… There’s not a single princess here whose mother wasn’t a renowned beauty…”
“…”
Only the most beautiful women, looted from various nations by the mad emperor, were allowed into the harem. Every princess here was born from those stunning women and managed to survive. Realizing this, Shumel’s face turned bright red.
“Yo-Your Highness! The drinks over there look delicious. Let’s go have some!”
The young knight, sweating nervously, escorted Shumel away. He earnestly tried to soothe her, offering various colorful and flavorful drinks made from fruits. It was a touching sight.
“That kid really needs to grow up a bit.”
“So do you, Nana.”
“What did I do?” Nanaen pouted and walked away.
I sighed as I watched her leave. Suddenly, a craving for something sweet arose.
On the table, there were small, bite-sized cube cakes. The dessert was made by layering chocolate and raspberry jam on a sponge base, topped with a delicate white chocolate bird as a garnish. I tasted it, rolling it on my tongue. The bittersweet flavor of the chocolate was delightful.
I thought of offering some to Regen, but he was watching Shumel. Having been comforted by her personal knight, Shumel had cheered up and started mingling with the nobles from a distance.
“That’s the eighth one… With this, I’ve seen all the princesses of the empire.” The low voice sounded as if it was meant for no one but himself.
Regen’s gaze never left Shumel the entire time I was watching. The lingering taste of chocolate on my tongue started to feel bitter.
Could he possibly be interested in Shumel? Isn’t he staring a bit too much? Why? Because she’s cute? Is he into younger girls?
My mind was a mess, and an unnecessary sense of anxiety made my throat dry. By the time I had emptied two glasses of my drink, I ended up blurting out something I had thought about at least ten times in my head.
“Shumel is eighteen years old.”
“…”
It wasn’t until I met his golden eyes, staring at me intently, that I realized my mistake. Wasn’t it too blatant to imply that she was too young to be seen as a woman? Embarrassed, I wanted to hide somewhere.
“This is alcohol.”
“…”
“Your cheeks are already turning red. Please stop drinking.”
“Ah.”
“Here, have this instead.”
It seemed what I thought was juice was actually alcohol. He replaced it with a non-alcoholic drink and continued the conversation he hadn’t finished earlier.
“Eighteen, huh. Then it wouldn’t be her. She should be around twenty by now.”
“…”
My heart started pounding.
“Are you looking… for someone?”
“A long time ago, I met a princess of the empire.”
“…”
So he remembered.
I knew very well in my head that I had to hide the fact that I had any connection with him. But my heart, contradictorily, wished he would remember me.
“What kind of princess was she?”
“Hmm…” He fell into thought.
Sipping my drink, I secretly hoped for his answer. I wanted him to remember me in a good light if possible. If he said I was a young but elegant and resolute princess, I wouldn’t ask for anything more. If not that, then a precocious and bold princess would be fine, too. No, even if he just remembered me as small and pretty, I’d be satisfied…
“A scruffy little chick-like princess.”
“…”
What? What did he just say?
“S-Scruffy…?”
He took the empty glass from my hand and delivered the final blow. “Yes.”
“…”
I was in shock. Never in my life has anyone called me scruffy. I mean… I’m still a princess of the empire… and my mother is a renowned beauty… Realizing I was thinking like Shumel made the shock even worse.
I took a deep breath as if trying to fill my entire chest. Calm down. It was just a failed first love, anyway. Whether he remembered me as a scruffy little chick or not, what difference did it make…
What… difference… did it make…
“Your Highness?”
“…”
“Sasha?”
I couldn’t hold it in.
“There’s no such princess.”
“…”
“In the Magnarod imperial family, if you’re not pretty, you won’t survive. All the princesses who live past the age of ten are pretty.”
“…”
“Regen must have been mistaken, or that person was pretending to be a princess.” I turned the fork around and shoved the dessert into my mouth.
I had acted so unlike myself that I wanted to hide under the tablecloth, but at the same time, I felt so upset. It made me even start hating being scruffy, hating chicks, and even hating chickens.
✦
Why is the princess angry? Had I said something to upset her?
To Regen, Sasha was undoubtedly a princess who must have been perfect and beautiful from the moment she was born. He couldn’t understand why someone like her would react as if she were being teased over being called a scruffy chick.
Suddenly, a possibility flashed through his mind.
“Sasha, by any chance, could the princess I met back then—”
Before he could finish, she cut him off.
“When I was young, people teased me with similar words. It brought back bad memories for a moment, so I got a bit worked up. I apologize.”
Before Regen’s suspicion could even leave his lips, it was neatly denied. Whether he had been secretly hoping for it or not, a faint sense of disappointment lingered in his chest before fading away.
In any case, Sasha’s reaction made sense. The mad emperor was someone obsessed with appearances, so it was likely the princess had been fixated on her looks from a young age. Even if she was a strong adult now, childhood wounds had a way of staying with you, turning into traumas.
Regen wanted to comfort Sasha.
“Regen?”
