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Chapter 16. A Grown Child and a Real Child
Located in the vast eastern grounds of the Imperial Palace stood the Ruby Palace—small, yet lavish.
It was a palace traditionally reserved for unmarried imperial princesses.
Into the largest and most splendid room among them, a maid rushed in breathlessly.
“Your Highness!”
The woman seated before the mirror turned her head with a haughty air.
She had radiant golden hair—symbolic of imperial blood—flowing all the way down past her waist.
Seirian Alicé Croiten.
The empire’s only imperial princess, who had just come of age this year.
She looked at the flustered maid and asked at once,
“What is it? …Have you heard any news about Duke Teion?”
Ever since she had seen Teion Roderick by chance at a party a year ago and fallen in love at first sight, the princess had been following him around to the point of obsession.
“Yes, Your Highness! Today I heard some very valuable information!”
The maid replied excitedly to Seirian’s question.
“They say His Grace is desperately looking for someone… a person—specifically, a woman!”
At the word woman, Seirian’s previously coy expression froze over in an instant.
“…A woman?”
At the icy question from the princess, the maid finally realized her mistake and gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth.
Cotton dolls and pink ribbons were scattered everywhere.
The princess’s room was decorated so extravagantly that it felt almost out of place—like a child’s playroom.
And it wasn’t just her room.
Seirian herself, despite having come of age, wore oversized ribbons and dressed like a little girl.
Her personality, too, was childish.
At times she would smile sweetly and treat even her maids kindly, but if something displeased her, she would whip them mercilessly or pour scalding water over their faces.
Yet she felt not a shred of guilt.
With an innocent face—like a child tearing the wings off a bug—she would say:
“I am a chosen child.”
She was the empire’s only imperial princess, born with the most noble bloodline in the land.
That was who she was!
Moreover, the current empress—her mother, Carlotta—was the sister of the King of Venetia.
Her middle name, Alicé, was inherited from her mother, who hailed from the Duchy of Venetia.
Alicé was also the surname of the reigning king of Venetia.
Seirian took great pride in the fact that her name contained not one, but two royal bloodlines—imperial and royal.
That was also why she left her melted-gold hair unbound, cascading down past her waist.
That dazzling gold was a symbol of her noble lineage.
“I think it was related to the coffee business His Grace has been preparing lately!”
Fearing she might anger the princess, the maid hurried to add this.
Only then did Seirian’s frown ease.
So he wasn’t looking for a lover.
“…Of course. As if any woman other than me would ever catch his eye.”
“Exactly, exactly, Your Highness!”
The maid laughed obsequiously, trying her best to flatter her.
“But then, what does a coffee business have to do with looking for a woman?”
“Well, um… They say His Grace ordered someone to find a woman who passed by the coffee product development headquarters this afternoon.”
“Passed by the building?”
“Yes. According to one of the spies we planted, that woman brewed the coffee exceptionally well. That’s why His Grace is searching for her…”
“….”
“She was wearing a cloak, so they couldn’t see her face.”
At those words, Seirian’s face lit up brightly.
“See? Duke Teion is actually looking for me!”
The Duchy of Venetia was currently the largest coffee exporter on the Yuslo Continent.
Although it wasn’t a coffee-producing nation, most beans grown in the southern continent passed through the duchy before being imported into Yuslo.
Thanks to that, Venetia’s coffee industry was as developed as that of the Muslan region in the south.
Her mother, too, enjoyed coffee every morning instead of black tea.
Of course, she hid that fact carefully in public to avoid the scorn of the empire’s people.
Because of that, Seirian was fairly knowledgeable about coffee herself.
She had already known that the duke was interested in the coffee business and had been looking for a chance to strike up a conversation with him.
But he was notoriously hard to approach. Even when Empress Carlotta had subtly offered her help, he had firmly refused.
The reason was simple—he had already realized that she was trying to recruit him to the Crown Prince’s faction.
In retaliation, the empress used her homeland, the Duchy of Venetia, to block the Roderick Trading Company from importing coffee.
Even so, the duke personally traveled to the southern continent to bring back beans himself.
Still, the Muslan people were so closed-off that he apparently hadn’t been able to learn how to brew coffee properly.
“And yet things have turned out like this. We’re bound together by a destiny we can’t refuse… Well, of course!”
Seirian exclaimed with the same expression she wore while reading her favorite romance novels.
“There is no bloodline more noble than ours in this empire!”
Lineage, family, wealth, ability, appearance—there was nothing lacking in him.
There was no man more suited to her than Teion Roderick.
And, of course, there was no woman more suited to him than the empire’s only imperial princess!
With a blissful expression, Seirian spun around once on the spot.
Then she faced the maid again and snapped sharply, her expression once more prim and haughty.
“Hey! Where was I this afternoon?”
“Pardon? You were in the palace all day—ah!”
The quick-witted maid raised the corners of her lips and replied,
“…Your Highness just happened to pass near the Roderick Trading Company’s product development headquarters today.”
“Ho ho. And?”
“You went on an inspection tour to look after the commoners. To conceal your noble identity, you wore a cloak!”
Seirian smiled brightly, thoroughly satisfied.
“That’s right. My golden hair stands out far too much, after all!”
Encouraged by the maid’s flattery, her mood lifted even further.
She plopped back down in front of the mirror and hummed as she brushed her hair.
“Oh, right!”
Midway through brushing, she beamed and exclaimed,
“At the upcoming Imperial Palace party, I’ll reveal that I’m the woman he was looking for!”
Her mind was already filled with the certainty that she had to be that woman.
There was no way anyone else could be his match.
She had already learned that Duke Teion would be attending the upcoming party.
At that moment, she would capture everyone’s attention and say,
I was the woman you were searching for.
How shocked he would be by such a fated revelation.
Seirian laughed softly to herself, gazing at her reflection with rapture.
* * *
“I have to go to the Imperial Palace party!”
In a small, shabby room, I cried out quietly.
According to the information I’d heard at the tea house, the palace party that Duke Teion would attend was scheduled for about two months later.
Since it was an event held only twice a year, it was said to be an exceptionally grand and extravagant affair.
The problem was that there was no way the people of the Morgans family would allow me to attend.
No matter how deeply I searched through Aileen’s memories, she had not attended a palace party even once in the past ten years.
And that made sense.
Not every noble was allowed to attend a palace party.
For nobles, such parties weren’t mere entertainment—they were silent battlefields where information was exchanged and each side measured the other’s strength.
To survive there, you needed expensive dresses to wear like armor, and a social ally to wield like a weapon.
“But right now, I have neither money nor connections…”
I sprang up and opened the door of the old wardrobe.
Inside were a few dresses meant for outings.
They were relatively high-quality, befitting a noble household’s dignity—but far from sufficient for a grand party.
Everything else was indoor wear—clothes so shabby it would be embarrassing to call myself a noble in them.
Still, I refused to be discouraged.
I slammed the wardrobe shut and planted my hands on my hips, declaring confidently,
“Fine. Since I’m not even allowed to go out right now, I’ll start by finding my ally!”
There was someone I clearly remembered from the original story.
If it was her, she would surely be able to help me survive this ruthless social world.
Life isn’t a fairy tale, so if I want a fairy godmother to take me to the palace party, I’ll have to go find her myself.
Just as I was steeling my resolve—
“Hey! What the hell are you doing in here?!”
A young boy’s voice—one that hadn’t yet broken—rang out.
Startled, I turned around to see a boy burst into the room without knocking.
I recognized him immediately.
Kale Morgans.
The son said to have been born between Deffel and her.
Yet neither I—nor even Aileen—had any memory of giving birth to him…
I studied the child closely.
Blue eyes, the same as Aileen’s.
Brown hair that resembled neither Deffel’s nor Aileen’s.
In most noble families, it was customary to send children to a boarding academy once they turned eleven.
So he must have come home for the weekend.
As I faced him directly, Aileen’s memories related to him slowly surfaced.
‘…Huh? Wait a second. That child…’
As confusion swirled in my mind—
“Why aren’t you answering?! I’m home, and you didn’t even come to greet me—what are you doing?!”
The boy snapped angrily.
