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Chapter 6
Who in the empire would dare take His Majesty the Emperor lightly?
The fact that there was one more being who fit that description suddenly came back to mind.
I carefully opened my mouth.
“Could you be… His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Instead of answering, the boy turned his head sharply away. That arrogant attitude only confirmed my guess.
Alexei de Veilis Frey Elision.
The owner of this rather grand name was none other than the Crown Prince of the Elision Empire and the protagonist of How to Live as an Immature Crown Prince. Judging by his age, he must be about ten years old now.
Wow, I’m seeing the original protagonist for the first time!
“And who are you, standing here?”
“Oh, I’m Wendy. I came to the palace with His Highness Kaien.”
As we whispered our conversation, the boy raised one eyebrow as if puzzled.
“With my uncle, ah.”
He stared intently at my face, then his eyes widened as if he’d realized something.
“So you’re the guest Father said was coming today.”
“That’s right.”
“Then why are you hiding here eavesdropping on boring talk?”
“I just… didn’t feel like it was my place to go in.”
I scratched my cheek as I answered, and the boy narrowed his eyes at me. Persistently, as if observing me.
Meeting that gaze head-on, I could only smile awkwardly.
If I didn’t have memories of my past life, would I have been a little shocked? My husband, whom I’m supposed to spend my whole life with, openly said he had grievances against me.
But hadn’t he already made that abundantly clear on our first night? There was no reason to be newly surprised.
If anything, this was him showing me the minimum courtesy, just as Kaien had said.
Bang.
Just as I was consoling myself like that, the boy kicked the door wide open with his foot. I was startled by that reckless behavior, but only for a moment—beyond the wide-open door, my eyes met Kaien’s, who wore a surprised expression.
Ah, I’m doomed.
At the loud noise, both the Emperor and Kaien turned to look at the dining room door simultaneously.
Beyond the door flung wide open, the figures of a boy with his chin proudly raised and a woman standing awkwardly came into view.
The moment Kaien saw Wendy staring at him with round eyes, one thought flashed through his mind.
…Did she hear?
“Oh. Come in, Alek. You’re earlier than expected!”
To the Emperor’s welcoming greeting, the boy retorted with irritation.
“It’s Alexei, Father. I’ve told you repeatedly not to call me so casually.”
“What does it matter when it’s just us?”
“Just us? There are other people here.”
An emperor past thirty being nagged by his ten-year-old son. The boy pointed a finger at Wendy, who was blankly watching this rare spectacle.
The Emperor cleared his throat low, as if trying to compose himself, and then Kaien asked in a heavy voice.
“When did you arrive?”
“Oh, I just got here and ran right into this person. Right?”
As Wendy sought his agreement, Alexei looked at her as if she were pathetic and turned his head away instead of answering. The boy walked over to the chair prepared on the Emperor’s left and plopped down on it.
Following suit, Wendy sat beside Kaien, and the Emperor spoke to her in a gentle tone.
“The Crown Prince is a bit taciturn, you see. I ask for your understanding.”
“So it really was His Highness the Crown Prince. I wondered because his eye color was different.”
When Wendy pointed out his deep blue eyes—not the golden eyes symbolizing imperial blood—the boy pressed the blue jewel embedded in the center of the brooch on his chest with an annoyed look.
At once, the blue washed away from the boy’s eyes, and a vivid gold took its place.
“It’s just a little trick.”
“It’s a tool made with magic. Last time he suddenly said he wanted something like this, you see.”
The Emperor added the explanation after the boy’s indifferent remark. Wendy already knew this from reading the original, but she responded calmly.
“Wow, I see!”
“Anyway, the Grand Duchess arrived quite quickly as well.”
“The estate is so vast, I hurried a little in case I committed the rudeness of arriving late. I’m glad I wasn’t late.”
Wendy smoothly deflected the sharp questions that followed, then winked at Kaien sitting beside her.
Seeing the man turn his head away as if disgusted, I thought there was still a long road ahead—but still.
The evening meal proceeded in a relatively warm atmosphere. The Emperor sliced the meat before him with a knife and asked.
“So, I think it would be perfect to introduce the Grand Duchess at the imperial banquet in three days. What do you think?”
“I don’t mind, as long as His Highness the Grand Duke is all right with it.”
Wendy gave Kaien a shy glance, but he responded in the stiffest of tones.
“If it is the imperial command.”
“My, with the imperial command, you’d even pretend to die, wouldn’t you.”
“Are you curious?”
“No thanks! You actually look like you’d go through with it, which is frightening.”
The Emperor looked fed up, Kaien wore a sullen expression, and Alexei ate his meal while thoroughly ignoring them both.
A reptile-like gaze touched me several times, but Wendy stubbornly pretended not to notice and kept moving her fork.
The food is this delicious—it would be a shame not to enjoy it without watching others’ moods.
And so the meal somehow ended without incident. It would have been nice if the day had ended peacefully like that.
“Ugh…”
Having been tired from having so much to attend to, Wendy had fallen fast asleep the moment she laid her head on the bed—but suddenly, a sound made her open her eyes.
The surroundings were dark, proving it was the middle of the night. Wendy hurriedly turned to her right and found Kaien lying there with his brow furrowed.
“Your Highness, Your Highness? Are you all right?”
She carefully shook his shoulder, but the man showed no sign of waking. His handsome face was drenched in cold sweat, and his limbs were stiff.
Right. This person was prone to nightmares.
Wendy clicked her tongue softly, recalling the curse that had been passed down through generations of the imperial family. If it really was that, waking him right now wouldn’t be easy.
After thinking for a moment, Wendy rang the bell on the bedside table and summoned a maid.
“You called.”
“Could you bring me cold water, a towel, and some fresh ash tree flowers if you have them? Right now.”
This is knowledge that only appears in the main story, but it can’t be helped.
Rationalizing that he wouldn’t know anyway since he was asleep, Wendy placed the ash tree flowers the maid brought in a vase by Kaien’s head.
Next, she soaked a towel in ice-cold water and gently wiped his face.
As the bitter, coffee-like floral scent began to waft faintly through the air, the panting man’s breathing gradually calmed. With a sigh of relief, Wendy wrung the water from the towel again.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s so pretty that I’m going through all this trouble.”
He was handsome, sure, but he was blunt and cold, and a man who was always thinking about cutting me loose.
Muttering with a sense of futility, Wendy’s hands still moved without rest.
Knowing the original story and understanding it were separate matters—was there no sense of injustice? It wasn’t as if I married you because I wanted to.
‘Of course, I did think he was a handsome man from the first time I saw him—just a little, a very little bit!’
Anyone could be a bit dazzled by a flashy exterior, after all.
He’s a man no different from a picture of rice cakes. I shouldn’t covet him, and I shouldn’t get entangled with him any further.
Because he has a destined partner in the future.
Repeating that vow to herself, Wendy confirmed that Kaien’s breathing had become peaceful, rubbed her stiff arms, and crawled back into bed.
And then, in the morning when the surroundings began to brighten little by little, Kaien quietly opened his eyes.
He was surprised to have a clear head without a headache for the first time in a while—but only briefly, before he realized he was holding something.
Thinking it couldn’t be, he looked down and saw a silver-haired woman sleeping soundly in his arms.
Kaien’s mind went completely blank in an instant.
‘Why am I holding this woman?’
