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~Chapter 12~
*Click.*
After a long time, she got out of bed, carefully opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway.
She saw people busily dusting windows and changing the water in vases.
“…”
Feeling awkward standing there alone, Eugene discreetly observed the working people and then went out to the garden she had been looking down at from the window.
*Chirp chirp.*
A bird’s song came from somewhere. It wasn’t a familiar pigeon or sparrow; a white bird with graceful, elegant lines was moving among the trees.
The path visible between the garden trees and trimmed bushes was well-packed but was an earthen path, not asphalt. Seeing a bare dirt path not covered with bricks for the first time in a while made Eugene feel oddly excited.
She walked aimlessly, following the path before her, going wherever her feet took her.
*Tap tap.*
Listening to her own footsteps, she took her time, smelling the scent of grass.
*’How long has it been since I’ve been out during the day?’*
Sunlight filtering through the leaves pleasantly touched her face. It was a warmth different from artificial heat. Eugene fully enjoyed the feeling of the daytime air on her skin.
The plants, feeling good under the sun, were emitting their freshest scents, and the flowers shone with even more vivid, beautiful leaf colors.
“The air is good.”
Every time she took a deep breath, it felt like drinking very clear water. Not like some purified water bought from a convenience store, but the kind of water you’d scoop up with a gourd from a mountain spring in a fairy tale.
As she walked, the sights placed in the garden came into view. Here, a marble statue of some handsome man; there, a golden fountain; beautiful stone lanterns placed along the path.
And upon reaching a large old tree, she saw a beautifully decorated gazebo with vine patterns beside it. Inside the gazebo, covered with a pale sandy stone roof that blended well with the tree, were chairs for comfortable rest.
“Wow.”
As if this place was also always maintained, a faintly scented incense candle was placed on the central table, and several plush cushions were laid on the white marble chairs that seemed one with the gazebo.
*’Shall I rest for a bit?’*
After a long period of lounging, walking outside for the first time in a while made her legs feel a bit tired. Eugene burrowed between the suitably soft-looking cushions and settled in.
“…”
A gentle breeze blew. Warm, pleasant heat from the sunlight tickled between her hair strands.
*’Feels good.’*
Leaning against the cushion and enjoying the daytime scents, Eugene soon drifted off to sleep again.
***
“Your Highness, the business His Majesty instructed will definitely be done in our territory…”
“What nonsense is that, Count? Our family can support Your Highness more faithfully than any other noble.”
Leaving the nobles exchanging unpleasant glances, Crown Prince Michael moved without delay.
“Ah! Your, Your Highness!”
“My goodness. It’s because of your unnecessary talk delaying time that His Highness left!”
The nobles who had been arguing, finding him gone, ended up looking like fools and bickered even more.
As Crown Prince Michael exited the conference room with a cold expression, his attendants, watching their master’s mood, followed him quietly without a word.
Accompanied by his constant entourage for service and protection, Crown Prince Michael left the main palace and headed towards his own Crown Prince’s palace.
*’Causing trouble again and pushing it onto me.’*
Michael, though his expressionless face didn’t show it, was thoroughly irritated.
Because his father, who started work on some trivial pretext, had once again dumped the massively increased workload onto him.
Moreover, the voices of the nobles who, throughout the meeting, noisily chattered only about their own interests were grating on his nerves.
*’This one and that one.’*
All of them are useless and utterly incompetent. He might need to replace the meeting participants soon. The Crown Prince’s eyes shone coldly as he thought about whose head to chop off.
*Halt.*
But then, something caught Crown Prince Michael’s eye on his way back from the main palace to his own. As he suddenly stopped walking, the attendants following behind asked in a puzzled voice.
“Your Highness?”
“…”
Michael’s silent gaze was fixed on a gazebo in a corner of the garden. Beyond the railing of the gazebo, standing neat as usual, was something different from normal.
Disheveled white hair, like a pony’s tail, spilled over soft navy-blue cushions.
“Your, Your Highness!”
Ignoring the flustered calls from behind, Crown Prince Michael strode towards that spot.
As the Crown Prince suddenly moved off his usual route, the panicked attendants quickly followed behind.
With his long legs, Crown Prince Michael soon reached the gazebo he had been looking at.
Entering the shade blocking the harsh sunlight, the inside of the gazebo became clearly visible.
“Hu, huff!”
And the attendants who saw the scene inside the gazebo gasped in surprise.
This gazebo, hidden behind a large tree and not easily exposed to people’s sight, was a space the Crown Prince frequented.
He, who often sank into contemplation here, did not like others setting foot in his personal space.
Therefore, the many servants of the imperial palace never even came near this area except when maintaining the inside of the gazebo so His Highness could use it at any time.
*’Usually, His Highness’s mood is displeased on the way back from meetings. Of all times…!’*
The Crown Prince’s attendants never imagined they would encounter the culprit who had trespassed into the Crown Prince’s implicitly off-limits space and disturbed its interior.
“Mmm.”
Perhaps bothered by the sudden shadow of people arriving, the nose bridge of the sleeping Eugene twitched slightly.
*’Eek!’*
The attendants anxiously wondered what kind of rebuke would fall upon the girl sprawled asleep inside the gazebo and whether the backlash would reach them.
“…”
Michael silently gazed at the scene.
Eugene, who frowned briefly as if sensing presence even in her sleep, didn’t wake up and fell back into deep slumber. Her shoulders rose and fell with each breath.
Her two eyes, visible through the white hair that had flowed freely over her forehead, were peacefully closed.
From her slightly parted lips, soft, rhythmic breathing sounds leaked.
The warm afternoon sunlight streamed through the lush leaves of the tree beside the gazebo, flowing over her face.
The face with peacefully closed eyes under the sunlit scenery strangely drew one’s gaze.
*’She looks carefree.’*
Looking quietly at that face, his taut nerves strangely settled.
Clearly, that carefree appearance wasn’t meant to welcome him, but why…
*’Really like a puppy.’*
Interpreting it favorably, as if a puppy fell asleep waiting for its master.
Unknowingly, Crown Prince Michael looked at Eugene breathing softly with softened eyes.
The two peacefully closed eyes were different from the eyes he had faced endlessly until now—eyes filled with observation, evaluation, or any kind of intention.
When open, they held a tickling trust; when closed, they conveyed an inexplicable comfort. Those eyes were truly intriguing.
*’Why is His Highness so unsettlingly quiet? Is he so angry he can’t speak?’*
Unconcerned with the attendants fidgeting anxiously behind him, Michael stood there for a long time, his gaze lingering on Eugene’s peacefully sleeping face for some reason.
“Achoo!”
Then, as she sniffled in her sleep.
*Flinch.*
The Crown Prince’s cold gaze, having twitched his hand, fell upon the attendants behind him.
“What are you doing?”
“Y-yes, Your Highness?”
As the suddenly addressed attendant stammered a reply, Michael looked at their flustered appearance with dissatisfaction and commanded in a low voice.
“Bring a blanket.”
“Ah, yes! Your Highness, we will do so immediately.”
*Tsk.*
“Quietly.”
At the Crown Prince’s click of the tongue, all the attendants held their breath with a *gulp*.
Leaving the spot quickly to avoid offending His Highness’s mood, the attendants went into the palace and relayed the instructions to a servant.
Though Eugene, who woke up later and returned to the palace, didn’t know it. From that day on, word spread quietly among the people of the Crown Prince’s palace that an instruction had been given: His Highness was showing interest in the newly acquired pet, so they must pay particular attention when caring for His Highness’s puppy.
***
“Mm-hmm!”
Eugene, having slept in late again today, woke up and stretched with a big yawn.
*A refreshing morning!*
She never imagined she could attach such a positive adjective to mornings before.
‘Reluctantly waking up,’ ‘Dreadfully hateful,’ ‘Wishing it would never come’—these disgraceful expressions about mornings were now goodbye.
She thought she understood why mornings were depicted as so joyful and hopeful in various media.
*Chirp chirp.*
Although now it seemed more like noon than morning. Eugene smiled frivolously at the alarm clock bird diligently doing its job.
*’Where shall I go today?’*
She happily bit into her still-warm breakfast and thought.
There was nothing fixed. Since starting her life as His Highness the Crown Prince’s pet, she had no schedule.
A daily life without fixed repetitive tasks, piled-up projects, or damn weekly reports was truly worth living.
*Life is beautiful!*
