Chapter 32 – The Child the Empire Watches
Marquis Darwin looked at the Empress Dowager with clear disapproval.
She was sitting comfortably, chatting with Sharon Abner as if they were old friends.
‘Since when did those two become so close?’ he thought, frowning.
The Empress Dowager was not someone who mingled with nobles.
Her circle had always been small—limited to a few old handmaidens who had served her for decades.
‘When I heard she was attending a child’s birthday party, I thought maybe she’d finally returned to politics.’
But it turned out… she’d really just come to celebrate a five-year-old’s birthday.
“…Father, what do we do now?”
Behind him, his twelve-year-old son James whispered carefully.
Darwin shook his head.
“Not today. We can’t even get close to her, let alone talk.”
Irritated, he gulped down his cold tea.
Then suddenly—
“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager!”
A young, high-pitched voice rang out from the entrance to the mansion.
Everyone turned.
A small girl was running across the garden, her little feet pattering quickly over the stone path.
Next to her, a boy a head taller followed along, trying to keep pace.
“Oh, that must be the child—the one House Abner is sponsoring.”
And then—
“Oh, my dear little Annelia is here!”
Marquis Darwin’s jaw dropped.
The Empress Dowager had actually stood up—
and was walking toward the girl herself.
He wasn’t the only one shocked.
Every noble nearby froze, wide-eyed, watching the ruler of the Empire smile so warmly.
“What a lovely dress! Have you been sleeping well and eating properly?”
“Yes!”
“No fussing about vegetables or side dishes?”
“No! Ria doesn’t fuss! I’m five years o—”
“She mostly ate bread for a while,” Sharon Abner cut in smoothly.
The little girl’s face instantly fell.
“Oh dear,” the Empress Dowager said. “Is that true? Did you only eat bread?”
Annelia waved her small maple-leaf-shaped hands wildly.
“N-no! That was just for a little while because my stomach hurt—!”
“A child who lies to the Empress Dowager might get scolded, you know.”
“It’s true! It was just that time! Now I eat vegetables, even spinach, lots and lots!”
The Empress Dowager burst into laughter and gently cupped the girl’s cheeks.
“Alright, alright. I believe you.”
Then she signaled to a servant, who quickly brought over a small chair—
one sized perfectly for a child.
“Come, sit here for a while.”
Annelia looked at the chair, then back at the Empress Dowager, clearly unsure.
“It won’t take long,” the Empress said kindly.
“Tian will be here soon. Keep me company until then, and afterward, you can go play with your friends.”
Then she looked at the boy standing behind Annelia.
“And what about your friend? Should he sit next to you?”
The boy smiled politely and bowed.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty. I’m Arwin, younger brother of Baron Dennis.”
Sharon Abner added from behind,
“Baron Dennis serves as one of our research heads at House Abner. This young man is his sibling.”
The Empress Dowager’s eyes brightened with interest.
“My, my! So many young faces in the Abner estate now!”
Then she clapped her hands.
“We must send Tian here more often. He’s been so lonely since losing his mother. Friends his own age will be such a blessing!”
The nobles around them exchanged looks.
Their gazes—curious, calculating—slowly turned toward Annelia.
Marquis Darwin was no exception.
“…It’s not the Empress Dowager,” he whispered.
His son blinked. “Sir?”
“The one we should approach isn’t her.”
Excitement flickered in Darwin’s eyes.
“James, when those children leave, follow them.”
“Follow them?”
“Yes. Don’t lose sight of them—get close, make friends.”
Then he glanced around at the other nobles,
many of whom were wearing the same greedy expression as he was.
“See that? They’re all thinking the same thing. So you must act first.”
James frowned in confusion.
“But Father, didn’t you say that girl came from an orphanage?”
Darwin clicked his tongue sharply.
“You fool. Do you really think background matters right now? Look around! Look at this party! Look at the Empress Dowager!”
The Empress Dowager was still smiling warmly, chatting gently with the child.
“Even if that little brat has no bloodline, she’s the Empress Dowager’s favorite! That means we must get close.”
“But…”
“Children like that—those who’ve never known real affection—
you just treat them kindly once or twice, and they’ll hand over their heart completely.”
He patted his son’s shoulder meaningfully.
“Do this right, and we might gain connections to both the royal family and the Abners.”
Reluctantly, James nodded.
***
“So you’re saying you helped develop the reagent used for the mine reinspection, and also made the mana stone purification formula yourself?”
“Um, that’s not exactly—”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Arwin cut in smoothly. “Ria’s a genius. Even my older brother, who graduated top of his class from the Imperial Alchemy Academy, admits it.”
I glanced at Arwin in panic.
“Th-that’s not true! I just helped a little!”
“She is exceptionally bright—far beyond her age,” Sharon Abner added calmly.
“Surely Your Majesty has noticed that as well.”
Both of them were making me sound like some kind of prodigy.
I gawked at them helplessly until the Empress Dowager spoke again.
“Oh my, I didn’t know that! Then tell me, dear—would you like to work at the Imperial Alchemy Academy someday?”
The moment she said Imperial Alchemy Academy, my head snapped toward her.
I nodded quickly.
“Hmm… maybe the Academy! Or… or the International Magic Tower!”
“The Magic Tower, too?”
“Or both!”
“Both?”
Now everyone—Arwin, Sharon, and the Empress Dowager—was staring at me.
I raised my arms confidently.
“The storybooks say to dream big!”
Arwin chuckled softly. “You’ll definitely make it, Annelia.”
I nodded proudly, while the Empress Dowager and Sharon exchanged amused, half-shocked looks.
The Empress Dowager finally said to Sharon,
“I never realized your eye for talent was this good.”
“I’m honored that Your Majesty noticed,” Sharon replied politely.
The Empress Dowager burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
At once, the nobles around us joined in awkwardly.
“Still,” she said, smiling at Arwin, “this young man is quite clever too. Tell me, since when has the Abner family had researchers?”
Sensing the conversation shifting toward boring adult talk, I quickly tugged on Arwin’s sleeve.
“Arwin, should we go say hello to the others?”
“If you’d like to,” he said warmly.
The Empress Dowager noticed and waved a hand.
“Yes, yes. I’ve kept you too long. You may go, dear.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
A servant carefully set me down from my chair.
I bent at the waist to bow—
but then the Empress Dowager called out again.
“My dear.”
“Yes?”
“The title ‘Your Majesty’ sounds too stiff coming from you.”
“Too… stiff?”
“Yes. Try calling me Grandmother instead.”
I blinked.
“Go on—Grandmother.”
I could feel every noble in the garden freezing in place.
“M-me? Call the Empress Dowager… Grandmother?”
She put on a mock stern face.
“Oh? Are you refusing a direct command from the Empress Dowager?”
I flailed my hands. “N-no!”
Then, hesitantly, I whispered,
“Y-Your Majesty… Grandma…”
The Empress Dowager pressed her lips together—
and then burst out laughing.
“Wonderful! That’s the spirit! Tian always says ‘Grandmama, Grandmama’ so stiffly—it’s boring!”
“…”
“When you reach my age, you get tired of all that formal nonsense, don’t you agree, Sharon?”
Sharon Abner said nothing.
Her expression was hard to read—
somewhere between discomfort and resignation—as she glanced between us.
“Well then,” the Empress Dowager said briskly, changing the subject.
“Let’s talk about this research department of yours, Sharon.”
As soon as she said that, I bowed again quickly and took Arwin’s hand.
Together, we slipped away from the table.
I didn’t notice Sharon Abner’s sharp, uneasy gaze following me as we left.
