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Chapter 36
“The Empire’s Little Light… Ah. That’s not the proper greeting anymore. Greetings, Grand Duke.”
Leah, who had been watching Kylen and April with a warm smile, lowered her head and greeted Kylen. She was carrying two heavy bags.
“Caspian.”
At Kylen’s call, Caspian quickly walked over to Leah and took her bags from her. Leah bowed in thanks, her face filled with exhaustion.
“Let’s head to the carriage first.”
After leaving the train station and boarding the waiting carriage, April tightly clasped Kylen’s middle and ring fingers.
Overjoyed to see Kylen again after so long, April chattered away nonstop. But before long, worn out from the long journey, her little head began to nod as she drifted off to sleep.
When Leah reached out to hold her, April whined in her sleep and clung even more tightly to Kylen.
“Just leave her.”
Kylen raised a hand to stop the apologetic Leah and gently laid April’s head on his lap. She quickly fell into a deep sleep.
“Now tell me. Why did April end up coming all the way here alone with you?”
Leah folded her hands together on her lap. Picking at the skin around her fingers, she hesitated before finally speaking.
“Her Imperial Highness happened to overhear the palace attendants talking.”
“What were they talking about?”
“They were saying that His Highness the Prince… no, Your Grace… had gotten married and gone to the cold northern lands. They also said that perhaps you would never return to the capital.”
At Leah’s words, Kylen let out a quiet curse and laughed bitterly.
Leah shrank back slightly at the sound of his laughter.
“Continue.”
“After hearing that, Her Highness asked me about it. I told her you would be coming back soon, but she didn’t believe me.”
People believed that April’s development was delayed, but that wasn’t actually true. Her speech was slower than other children her age, but she was observant and intelligent.
The clever April had realized Leah was lying.
After that day, April fell ill and would only ask for Kylen. Neglected by everyone, the princess couldn’t even receive proper treatment from the imperial physicians. Burning with fever, she kept calling for Kylen, and eventually Leah made her a promise.
“If your fever goes down, we’ll go see Kylen.”
Even in her delirious state, April understood those words and nodded.
Miraculously, her fever began to subside the very next day.
And because of that, Leah had no choice but to keep her promise.
“Let’s go! L-let’s go see B-big Brother!”
As soon as she recovered, April constantly repeated the word “go.”
Leah delayed and made excuses for as long as she could before finally seeking an audience with the Empress.
“Hm? Go see whom?”
“G-Grand Duke Kylen…”
“What a ridiculous child. Let her go. She may have come from my womb, but I truly can’t understand her.”
The Empress said those words while exhaling cigarette smoke.
And so, despite being an Imperial Princess, April came all the way here without a single escort knight.
Kylen clenched his teeth.
The hand that wasn’t stroking April’s hair trembled faintly with rage.
“I deeply apologize.”
“What do you have to apologize for, Leah? Though if you had informed me earlier, I would have sent escort knights to the capital in advance.”
“I never imagined they wouldn’t assign any escort knights, even on the day we left the Imperial Palace.”
Of course.
No matter how neglected she was by the Emperor and Empress, she was still royalty.
No one would have imagined they would send such a young princess away like that.
Smiling bitterly, Kylen brushed April’s messy hair back.
The carriage rolled steadily toward Winterford Castle.
Because April was sleeping so peacefully, it traveled more slowly than usual, taking over four hours before finally arriving at Winterford.
“Wow!”
April woke up about thirty minutes before they arrived. After doodling on the fogged-up carriage window, she spotted Winterford Castle and formed a perfect little “O” with her mouth.
“Big Bwother’s house?”
“That’s right. It’s your big brother’s home.”
“It’s wike a pwincess castle fwom a fairy tale!”
April clapped her tiny hands in delight.
Watching an Imperial Princess marvel at the castle of the poorest territory in the Empire left a bitter feeling in Kylen’s heart.
As soon as the carriage stopped, April tried to jump out immediately, but Kylen caught her.
“It’s cold outside. If you don’t dress warmly, you’ll catch a cold.”
“But… it’s stuffy.”
“You still have to wear it.”
Although she pouted, April obediently let Kylen bundle her up.
Chuckling softly, Kylen lightly pinched her tiny cherry-like lips.
“Owie!”
Covering her mouth with both hands, April glared at him.
Kylen kissed her forehead before opening the carriage door.
Outside the castle, the servants were waiting.
Standing at the very front was the Grand Duchess, Eliana.
She had apparently been waiting outside for quite some time, as her cheeks and nose had turned bright red from the cold.
Kylen hurriedly carried April out of the carriage.
The waiting servants of Winterford, along with Eliana and Isaiah, all bowed.
“We greet the Empire’s Little Moon.”
Just then—
“H-Hic…”
April suddenly burst into tears.
W-What?
Did I do something wrong?
I blinked rapidly.
It didn’t seem like I was the only one caught off guard.
Isaiah beside me, Greta and Benjamin standing behind me, and every single person in Winterford Castle looked completely bewildered.
The only one who wasn’t surprised was Kylen.
As he gently patted the Imperial Princess’s back and whispered something into her ear, he looked completely accustomed to situations like this.
But… why is he so good at holding a child?
Watching Kylen naturally cradle Princess April, I narrowed my eyes.
For a brief moment, I wondered if he had a secret child hidden away somewhere.
Then I shook my head.
That couldn’t possibly be true.
Lately, I often forgot that I had transmigrated into a novel.
There’s no way the male lead would have a hidden child!
I lightly bonked my own head several times when Kylen, still carrying April, walked toward me.
“The princess isn’t in a condition to receive formal greetings. We’ll dismiss everyone for today.”
Looking more closely, I saw that April’s little body was trembling violently as she clung to Kylen’s neck.
Kylen led the way into the castle.
As I watched his retreating figure with concern, Isaiah spoke.
“She’s probably just shy around strangers. I’ve met Her Highness a few times before, and whenever unfamiliar people were around, she’d cling tightly to Kylen and cry just like this.”
My sister-in-law is shy around strangers.
Damn it.
The difficulty level of dealing with my in-law had suddenly increased by another level.
Following behind Kylen, I wondered how I could win Princess April’s heart.
Princess April had only appeared a handful of times in the original novel.
Everything I knew about her came from Isaiah.
Unfortunately, the information he’d given me wasn’t particularly useful.
Although she was the Empress’s daughter, she had suffered a serious illness as a child, remained smaller than other children her age, and was considered developmentally delayed. Because of that, both of her parents had completely neglected her.
The only person who had ever truly cared for her was Kylen.
That was all.
I knew nothing about what Princess April liked or disliked, nor what kind of personality she had.
I looked at the little princess burying her face against Kylen’s shoulder as he walked ahead.
His long, silky black hair flowed down over his shoulders, and as I followed behind him, a scene from the original novel suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Y-Your Majesty… Princess April is still inside the Imperial Palace.”
“So what if she is?!”
“B-But in all this chaos, if she’s left alone in the palace and something happens to her…”
“Then that’s simply her fate! I’m not dying because of one worthless, defective child!”
It was from the ending of the original novel.
After Kylen overthrew the Crown Prince and seized the Imperial Palace, the Empress fled, abandoning everything behind.
Her favorite concubines.
The jewels she treasured.
Her dresses.
The countless attendants who served her.
And even Princess April.
“What is it?”
Kylen, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned around.
Only then did I realize that I had stopped walking.
When I came to a halt, all the servants following behind me also froze awkwardly.
“It’s nothing.”
I shook my head lightly and started walking again.
But unlike before, every step felt unbearably heavy.
As soon as I resumed walking, Kylen also continued forward.
I noticed the small, pale hand gripping his shoulder tightly.
I still didn’t know the full reason why Princess April had come all the way to this harsh and distant land.
But considering she had traveled with only her nanny and without a single escort knight, it wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of life she had been living.
I had to swallow the string of curses rising in my throat.
Since it was already mealtime, we headed straight to the dining room.
Because the princess was shy around strangers, only the minimum number of servants remained to serve the meal.
Fortunately, April had stopped crying by the time they reached the dining room.
Only after Kylen seated her in the specially prepared child’s chair did I finally get a proper look at Princess April’s face.
And for a moment…
I fell into deep contemplation.
