Chapter 04…
As her head began to cool down, the tears that had been welling up disappeared.
“Princess, it is now time to say your final farewell.”
When Ellie just stood there for a long time, staring silently at the corpses of the king and queen, Lady Laval carefully approached and whispered to her.
“…Okay.”
She couldn’t just cry out, “This is a crime!”
She still didn’t fully understand how the palace functioned, nor what she should do next. If she recklessly shouted, the culprit might instead turn around and attack her.
I need to figure this out slowly.
The culprit was surely here somewhere, perhaps hiding among the people.
What Princess Ellia didn’t know, Ellie also didn’t know.
There were people who outwardly appeared to be on the princess’s side but were, in truth, enemies.
Instead of exposing the incident, Ellie carefully imprinted the image of their wounds in her mind and left her last farewell.
“I will live diligently in your place and make this a good kingdom.”
In Princess Ellia’s stead.
“I’ll become a truly great ruler. I’ll build a kingdom where everyone can be happy. I won’t cry for no reason, or throw tantrums, or be picky with food, and I’ll study hard.”
Her goal was to survive until her brother came to get her. But more than that, she would work hard to make the kingdom a better place.
Until the real Princess Ellia returned.
Ellie finished her vow as if in prayer and stepped away from the coffins.
The knights surrounded the coffins and saluted. Clang! The sound rang out.
The choir began their song.
The solemn hymn, sung in an ancient tongue, filled the funeral hall.
Ellie stepped back a few paces and waited for the rites to end.
“Sob…”
“Your Majesty…!”
Some people broke down into tears.
But Ellie, her mind in turmoil, even forgot to cry.
Which one of these people is it?
Ellie scanned the faces of the people one by one.
Her gaze froze on someone.
Huh?
It was the boy whose eyes had briefly met hers earlier. He was staring at her again.
But just before their eyes met a second time, his gaze snapped away to somewhere else.
He avoided me?!
Not only did he give her a piercing glare—he ignored her, too.
Why?!
In Princess Ellia’s memories, nothing like this existed.
No one had ever disliked her.
Everyone clung to her, endlessly calling her “Princess, Princess.”
But that boy’s cold demeanor showed no trace of fondness.
This was undeniably resentment.
What on earth did you do, Princess?!
And Ellia hadn’t even noticed. No, she hadn’t even been aware.
To not even recognize such a deep grudge…
Princess… you really didn’t care about others, did you?
It was one of Princess Ellia’s greatest flaws.
Ellie felt this acutely.
But there was still a chance to change.
If you made mistakes, you could apologize, reflect, and do better moving forward.
Besides, everyone else around was an adult—only this boy was her age. She wanted to be friends with him if possible.
If we at least make eye contact, maybe we can slowly get closer?
But after that, the boy never looked at Ellie again.
Ugh…
It was a complete rejection.
As if warning her not to show any more interest.
But she couldn’t help herself. Her gaze kept drifting toward him.
Thanks to being ignored, she had the chance to study his face in detail.
The boy’s features were delicate, almost beautiful, far beyond what a child’s should be.
Though smaller than the adults, he was tall for his age.
His skin was pale, his hair a light blond as fair as his skin.
His eyes were always squeezed shut or lowered, so she couldn’t tell their color.
What color are they, I wonder?
She had never gotten a good look when their eyes briefly met before. And since he was sitting quite far away, no matter how hard she stared, she couldn’t make it out.
* * *
While Ellie was staring at the boy’s face, the funeral ended.
The king and queen’s bodies were entombed in the underground crypt of the temple where generations of royals rested.
Ellie did not need to accompany them that far.
The procedure ended once she watched the knights close the glass casket lid and carry it below.
“You’ve endured so much, Your Highness.”
“You carried yourself with dignity.”
“It must have been hard, but you did well.”
No sooner had the funeral ended than people rushed toward Ellie.
Among them were not only those she had seen in her bedroom earlier but also new faces.
Ellie looked at them warily, and the people responded by acting even more kindly.
“Would you like some sweet cake and cocoa?”
“Some fruit tart will surely lift your spirits.”
Honestly, she couldn’t help but be tempted.
Just hearing the names was enough to make her mouth water; to imagine them melting sweetly in her mouth… how delicious it would be.
As Ellie unconsciously thought of that sweet taste, her brother’s stern voice rang in her head.
“If you eat too many sweets, your teeth will rot!”
Her brother only ever allowed one piece of dessert after meals.
And this was not after a meal.
“N-no…”
The refusal slipped out of her mouth before she realized it.
Her brother’s training was effective!
“Then how about chocolate?”
“Or fruit preserved in honey?”
But the problem wasn’t the menu!
The adults pressed on relentlessly.
It was almost impossible for little Ellie to resist their temptations.
Still, she remembered her brother’s words.
If your teeth all rot, you won’t be able to eat anything and could starve to death.
That must never happen.
The desserts were so tempting, but she couldn’t risk starving.
She had to survive until her brother came for her.
“N-no! I don’t want to die!”
“…Pardon?”
The princess’s scream—“I don’t want to die!”—rang through the hall.
A deadly silence fell.
Even those who had been leaving stopped in their tracks.
“Your Highness! What has happened?!”
“Her Highness just screamed that she doesn’t want to die!”
“Protect the Princess!”
The guards rushed over with blazing eyes.
“Step away from Her Highness!”
One of the guards, who gave off the sharpest aura, stepped in front of Ellie.
It was a young woman with short brown hair.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
She knelt and urgently checked on Ellie.
“Uh, y-yes.”
Caught in the commotion she hadn’t intended to cause, Ellie stammered.
Then the guard abruptly lifted her up.
“For now, I will escort you somewhere safe.”
“Uh… wh-what?”
It happened so quickly that Ellie could only dangle like a doll in her arms.
Is this a kidnapping?
But when she saw the others rushing after them, it didn’t seem so.
The funeral hall was far from her room, but the guard didn’t go all the way there—she brought Ellie to a nearby chamber instead.
“Double the security, close off palace access for now, and investigate everyone who was present.”
“Yes, Captain!”
The guards moved swiftly at her command.
With a stern, humorless expression, she looked impressive as she gave orders.
Wowww…
Ellie felt like she might fall in love at first sight.
But wait—guard… captain…
Ah! She remembered.
Even without introductions, Ellie knew who she was.
The captain of the guard, the one who had died protecting Princess Ellia from an assassin.
A true ally!
Someone who, until her last breath, had worried for the princess. Someone Ellie absolutely had to keep close.
But Princess Ellia hadn’t liked her—because of her short hair, because she wore no makeup, because she never wore dresses.
Ellia had ignored her, brushed her aside, and gone out to play instead.
As a result, the captain had given her life for Ellia, and afterward, there was no one who guarded the princess with such devotion again.
Ellia had regretted it deeply later on.
She had been afraid and sorry, wandering the wilderness without anyone to protect her.
Whenever she struggled, she remembered her and whispered her name.
Her name was…
Lilcia.
“Captain, our princess has not yet recovered in body or mind from the recent accident. If you keep acting so recklessly, it will cause trouble!”
Lady Laval burst into the room, shouting angrily after finally catching up.
But Captain Lilcia didn’t so much as blink.
“It was a necessary precaution for Her Highness’s safety.”
“And how is offering dessert dangerous?”
“Her Highness felt her life was threatened.”
“And this kind of sudden action is even more threatening!”
Ahhh! The adults are fighting!
Ellie panicked between them.
The two who were supposed to be helping her shouldn’t be fighting!
“U-um!”
Ellie urgently spoke up.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Yes, our princess.”
The two adults, who had been fiercely arguing, stopped at once and turned to Ellie.
