My father looked at me with an emotionless gaze.
“If you can truly understand what I’m saying, blink.”
His voice was cold as ice.
At that moment, Sir Viaton stepped forward.
He knelt on one knee and spoke respectfully.
“Your Majesty ordered me to show proof. If you entrust this task to me, I’ll take full responsibility and prove it to you.”
“You have my permission.”
Still kneeling, Sir Viaton turned halfway to face me and locked eyes.
It felt like sunlight was pouring down on me.
Beautiful people were always right.
He spoke to me in a warm, playful voice.
“Pya pya pya pya, Princess! Can you blink for me?”
His tone shot up several octaves.
“Bliiink~!”
It was the perfect example of how adults should handle babies—ideal, textbook behavior.
Before I knew it, I burst into laughter.
I opened my eyes wide.
“Blink-blink!”
And I blinked.
Viaton blinked at the same time.
It looked as if he was copying me.
I felt like a magician.
Giggle.
More laughter burst from me.
“Now, Princess, let’s do it twice this time. Twice. You understand?”
Viaton covered his face with his hands.
His hands were so big, or maybe his face was so small—it completely disappeared behind them.
My heart began to race.
‘Is… is this what they call peekaboo?’
When would that beautiful face pop back out?
When would he go, “Peekaboo!”?
As a baby, I was instinctively thrilled.
“Blink~! Blink~!”
“Kyahaha!”
I laughed loudly again and focused my gaze.
I blinked twice.
“Blink-blink!”
It was so fun it bruised my pride.
And the fact that I was excited by it bruised my pride even more.
Still, it was just too much fun.
“Your Majesty. The Princess has now blinked twice. Will this suffice as proof?”
“……”
My father looked down at me for a long moment, then finally opened his mouth.
“What is your name?”
“Isabel!”
I gave a slight bow and spoke clearly and politely.
“I-sa-bel, I am.”
Oh, oh.
Because my head was too heavy and unbalanced, I lost my center of gravity and fell—wait, no, I didn’t.
‘He caught me?’
There was no stereotypical romantic fantasy “princess carry.”
Instead, Father lifted me like a pitiful fish that couldn’t even hold its own body upright.
Using only his thumb and forefinger, it looked more like he was picking up something filthy.
I dangled in the air like a fish caught on a hook.
‘Aaack! What is this pose!’
Being lifted like this was ridiculous, but I could tolerate it.
What truly hurt my pride was how fun it actually was.
‘This… this is the humiliation of flying through the air?’
That sounded a bit lame, so I decided to call it the “humiliation of soaring.”
It was a strange experience—feeling joy and embarrassment all at once.
“Then what is my name?”
“Ron! Ron Bilotian, sir.”
“You really did choose me?”
“Yes, sir!”
“You truly understand what I’m saying and can respond.”
“Yes, sir!”
Viaton chimed in.
“And it’s true that Your Majesty is the sharpest sword in the empire, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir!”
“……”
“Was it because the sword looked the coolest?”
“Yes, sir!”
My father continued speaking with a disinterested expression, as if my answers didn’t matter.
“The princess has chosen a sword.”
He turned to ask Sir Viaton.
“What sword did the princess choose?”
“She chose Ron Bilotian, the final sword of the Empire of Swords—Your Majesty himself.”
No one had expected this development.
Silence fell.
Even the swordmasters seemed stunned.
“Then the scribe shall record it. The princess’s choice, made today.”
In the end, the assassin didn’t show up.
Judging from the atmosphere, it seemed my choice hadn’t been a bad one.
‘I’ve successfully twisted the original story.’
That “original plot preservation law,” or whatever it was called—it didn’t seem to exist.
‘Hm?’
Suddenly, dizziness hit me.
It was the same sensation I always felt right before losing consciousness.
Whenever this happened, the nurses used to rush around, and I wouldn’t open my eyes again until long after.
‘I’m scared.’
The fear I had momentarily forgotten came flooding back.
Was this punishment for deviating from the original story?
‘No…’
If I lost consciousness now, I feared I’d wake up in the hospital again.
In that sterile, medicine-scented place with no Mom, no Dad… back to where I came from.
‘I don’t want to go back!’
I didn’t want to faint.
I didn’t want to go back to that pain.
‘Please. I’ll be good.’
Someone once said I was born like this because of sins in my past life.
‘I won’t sin. Just let me live to 21. I’ll live really, really well.’
I didn’t want to return.
So I pleaded to someone, anyone.
‘I’ll protect everyone here. I won’t even ask to be loved. I’ll just live hard for 21 years. I’ll leave behind precious things. Just let me live that long. Please.’
I felt like this dreamlike time was about to shatter.
So I desperately clung to my fading consciousness.
‘No…!’
And then, I blacked out.
When I opened my eyes again, something felt different.
Unfamiliar.
No—something I had never felt before.
‘Warm.’
I was being held in someone’s arms.
Shockingly, my father was still holding me.
‘He’s holding me.’
That someone could be there to hold me. That it was my father.
For others, that might be ordinary, but for me—it was a miracle.
His arms, something I never felt in my past life, were broad and warm.
It was a comfort I had never experienced in the hospital.
“Waaahh!”
Tears burst out without my will.
I gripped the front of his shirt tightly.
As if I’d never let go.
“Waaaah! Mine!”
Then suddenly, I felt a chill on my neck.
‘I have to hold it in.’
The Bilotian imperial family was known to be a cold and bloodless house of iron.
Even if I had a baby’s body, a whiny child would be cast out.
‘I don’t want to be abandoned again.’
I tried to hold back my tears with all my might—but the tears kept flowing.
Father muttered, annoyed.
“Such a noisy child.”
I suddenly missed my mom.
They say babies instinctively cry for their mothers—it must be true.
The ceremony must’ve ended, because only Father and Sir Viaton remained in the room.
“She’s quite a handful. I’ll take her, then.”
“Do so.”
Sir Viaton took me into his arms.
Just then, I was able to stop crying.
“She stopped crying the moment I held her.”
I peeked up.
Sir Viaton was smiling slyly.
“Looks like my embrace is more comfortable, Your Majesty.”
“Probably because your muscles are too soft.”
Holding me gently, Sir Viaton patted my back with a tender touch.
That cautious, affectionate hand made my heart feel fluffy and my body melt with ease.
“Yes, let’s blame my weak muscles.”
Before I knew it, I snuggled into his chest.
Sir Viaton’s arms—those of a childcare master—were truly comfortable.
“For the sake of our baby princess, my muscles can be as soft as needed.”
“……”
“I’ll carry her back to her room.”
With me in his arms, Sir Viaton walked carefully.
It felt like floating on clouds.
He walked down the corridor still holding me.
Then he whispered softly,
“I think His Majesty’s expression changed a little today. That makes me happy.”
His dazzling smile sparkled.
He looked at me with such warmth and love.
“Well, if even I find the princess this cute, how could His Majesty not smile? If he didn’t, he’d be a beetle, not a man.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Biaton-kyung, wike.” (I like Sir Viaton)
How could anyone not like him?
That someone as sweet and attentive as him was once an assassin and swordmaster? Impossible.
Clearly the author made a mistake.
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.”
Sir Viaton, overwhelmed, rubbed his cheek against mine.
Though he was a grown man, his cheek wasn’t rough at all—it felt soft, like dough.
He laid me gently on the baby bed.
Then gave a light kiss on my forehead.
It felt like a soft jelly had touched me.
‘He’ll probably bow in the Bilotian style and leave now.’
“To upright cuteness, radiant love.”
If anyone else had said that, I’d cringe.
But from Sir Viaton, it felt completely natural.
Indeed, a beautiful face completes every sentence.
‘Ugh… sleepy.’
I couldn’t resist the sleep.
I fell asleep before I could even thank Sir Viaton.
I slept when I was tired, woke up to eat, ate and pooped—and repeated that on loop.
A few months passed.
During that time, my vocabulary grew rapidly.
“Mom-mama! Up please!”
When I asked to be picked up, my mom beamed like she had the whole world.
“How does she speak so well? Is she a genius? Even among the palace scholars, they’ve never seen such quick language development.”
“It’s not just language. The way she expresses emotions is mature and rich. She’s so adorable, yet somehow already grown-up—it’s amazing.”
Luluka praised me passionately.
And praise made babies dance.
Wiggle, wiggle.
My little bottom moved on its own.
“And she can even chant innate spells. I heard only 0.1% of children in the Mirotel Magic Federation can do that.”
“Really?”
“Yes! The princess must be a genius.”
Mother and my nanny always looked at me with loving eyes.
And I didn’t dislike the attention.
No, I’ll be honest.
It wasn’t just that I didn’t dislike it—I loved it.
‘Who knew I was such an attention-seeker.’
And finally, the long-awaited day arrived…
