SUPER SIDE STORY 12………………………………………….
The swing that Selene pushed was thrilling.
Arsene always said it was dangerous and wouldn’t push very hard, so it had been a little boring. But Selene pushed it exactly as hard as they asked, which made it much more fun.
The cheerful laughter of children echoed throughout the garden.
Seeing Roselia and Ruamin giggling so happily made Selene happy as well, and she played with them without even noticing how tired she was getting.
Feeling sorry that Selene had been the only one pushing the swing, the children eventually told her to sit on it. Then they struggled together, grunting as they pushed the swing for her.
Compared to her strength, their pushes were very weak, but Selene still enjoyed it.
After getting off, she didn’t forget to say it was fun.
At her words, the children beamed with bright smiles.
After riding the swing to their hearts’ content, they moved to another part of the garden filled with flowers.
Seeing the ground covered with colorful blossoms, Selene wore a dazed expression.
“It’s really beautiful…”
She murmured unconsciously.
The flowers swayed gently in the breeze, and the sight was lovely.
At that moment, something caught her eye among the flowers.
“Oh, there’s clover here.”
“Clover?”
The children had only ever gone to pick bright flowers for making flower crowns or rings, so this plain-looking plant was new to them.
Selene crouched down and plucked one.
“Yes. Because it has three leaves, it’s also called a clover.”
“Clover… like the one on playing cards?”
“Correct.”
Selene nodded at Ruamin’s words.
She hadn’t meant it as a quiz, but Ruamin jumped up and down happily when he heard he was right.
“And sometimes, very rarely, there are four-leaf clovers mixed in.”
“Four-leaf clovers?”
At the word rare, Roselia’s eyes sparkled, and she quickly sat down beside Selene.
Selene paused when she saw the girl sit right on the dirt without hesitation, but soon she sat down as well.
Ruamin hesitated a little before carefully sitting beside Selene.
Selene rummaged through the clover patch as she spoke.
“Four-leaf clovers are very rare. In the Kingdom of Astina, people say that if you find one, it brings good luck.”
“Good luck…?”
Roselia’s eyes burned with determination.
“Are they hard to find?”
“They’re not easy. Among countless clovers, there might only be one or two with four leaves.”
Those words ignited Roselia’s competitive spirit.
From that moment on, she began searching intensely for a four-leaf clover.
But as expected, it wasn’t easy.
A long time passed, and every clover they found had only three leaves.
The first person to give up was Selene.
Her back hurt, and she was the kind of person who didn’t mind whether she found one or not.
Since Roselia and Ruamin showed no signs of quitting, Selene flopped down on her back.
Even though it was dirt, the flowers covering the ground made it feel soft.
“Yaaawn…”
After playing on the swings earlier, she felt sleepy.
She knew she shouldn’t fall asleep here, but her eyes kept drooping.
Still, the children wouldn’t just leave her behind. Once they gave up searching, they would surely wake her.
Eventually, Selene’s slowly blinking eyes closed completely.
How much time had passed?
Selene suddenly opened her eyes when she felt someone shaking her.
She quickly sat up, and Roselia and Ruamin stared at her with wide eyes, clearly startled.
Selene smiled awkwardly.
“Sorry. I must have dozed off.”
“That’s okay! But look at this!”
Roselia grinned and suddenly held something in front of Selene’s face.
Selene narrowed her eyes to look.
It was a four-leaf clover.
Selene’s eyes widened as she looked at Roselia.
“You found one?”
“Yes! Hehe.”
Roselia’s hands were covered in dirt from searching so much, but she didn’t seem to mind.
Ruamin had even found two four-leaf clovers.
Selene clicked her tongue in amazement at their persistence.
Ruamin held one out to her.
“I found this one for you, Your Majesty.”
“Oh…”
Selene accepted it without thinking.
She cleared her throat before speaking.
“Thank you.”
Ruamin grinned, his face a little dirty.
He must have wiped his face with his muddy hands.
Without a word, Selene took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Ruamin’s face clean.
She also wiped Roselia’s face just as carefully.
Then she roughly cleaned their hands too.
She couldn’t do anything about the dirt under their nails, but they were cleaner than before.
Selene stared blankly at the four-leaf clover in her hand.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she had received a gift without strings attached.
Ever since she had been chosen as the next ruler when she was very young, people constantly sent her gifts to win her favor.
Every one of them expected something in return.
But these little children wouldn’t have given this to her expecting anything.
If they wanted something, they would have offered gold instead.
Selene carefully tucked the four-leaf clover into her clothes so it wouldn’t be damaged.
“Shall we head back now?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Roselia and Ruamin replied together as they stood up.
They brushed the dirt off their clothes and headed toward the mansion.
The four-leaf clovers in the children’s hands were surely meant for Ivelina and Arsene.
Noah spotted them and paused.
Seeing how dirty they were, he didn’t even look surprised and simply called for a maid.
It must have been a common occurrence.
Selene returned to her room and quickly took off her clothes.
The four-leaf clover Ruamin had given her had already been placed somewhere safe.
She entered the bathroom and soaked in the hot bath.
Her body was tired, but her mind felt refreshed.
Probably because she had played without thinking about anything.
“Ahh…”
Since Selene disliked having attendants nearby, she always bathed alone. The bathroom was quiet.
She liked that they hadn’t forced anyone to assist her just because she was a guest.
“That was fun…”
She murmured absentmindedly.
To be honest, she had initially found coming to the Empire bothersome.
Of course, the visit was necessary to renegotiate the treaty, but that didn’t make it less troublesome.
She had almost sent a representative instead—until she remembered that Ivelina was in the Empire.
If Ivelina hadn’t been there, she definitely would have sent someone else.
In any case, not sending a representative had turned out to be the right decision.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had experiences like this.
After soaking for a long time, Selene slowly got out of the bath, washed herself, and stepped outside.
She dried her own hair and dressed herself.
Everything was done quickly out of habit.
“I wonder if they’ve given the four-leaf clovers to them by now.”
To be honest, Selene had been a little surprised earlier.
Most people would have given up after searching for so long without finding anything, but Roselia and Ruamin had kept going until they finally found one.
“I wish my ministers would learn something from them.”
Selene muttered quietly, clicking her tongue.
She almost wished she could bring her ministers there and tell them to learn from the children.
With a sigh of regret, she opened the door.
Standing there awkwardly with her hand raised was Ivelina.
“Ivelina?”
“Ah… I came to say something, but I didn’t expect to run into you like this.”
Ivelina smiled and lowered her hand.
Selene stepped aside.
“What did you want to say?”
“I wanted to thank you for playing with the children.”
Selene snorted lightly.
“I should be the one thanking them. I can’t even remember the last time I played without thinking about anything.”
“But it must have been troublesome…”
“Not at all. So you don’t need to worry.”
Ivelina studied her expression and nodded.
“The children said you told them about four-leaf clovers.”
“Oh, yes. I saw clover and mentioned it. Did I do something wrong?”
At Selene’s cautious question, Ivelina’s eyes widened and she waved her hands.
“No, nothing like that. The children said they learned something new. I was wondering if you could tell them stories about the Kingdom of Astina.”
Selene immediately nodded.
“That’s easy.”
“Then please do it until you return home.”
Ivelina bowed her head slightly.
Then she started to leave, but suddenly stopped.
“Oh—by the way, what’s your schedule tomorrow?”
“Hm… Tomorrow morning I’m going to the imperial palace to adjust the treaty and have lunch with the Emperor. Why?”
“Well… there’s a big lake behind the mansion, and I promised the children we’d go boating. I thought it would be nice if you joined us.”
“What? Really? I’d love to!”
Selene broke into a wide smile.
“Not tomorrow—how about the day after?”
“That sounds good. I’ll tell Arsene and the children.”
Ivelina told her to rest well until dinner and left the room.
Left alone, Selene smiled again and flopped onto the bed.
Boating—she was already excited about how fun it would be.
Although the Kingdom of Astina was active in maritime trade and located near the sea, Selene had never gone boating.
She preferred swimming in the ocean.
She was truly glad she had become friends with Ivelina.
If not for her, she never would have experienced things like this.
Thinking about going to the imperial palace tomorrow felt bothersome, but she decided she could endure it by looking forward to the boating trip.
“Ah… I already don’t want to go back.”
She wished she could stay here forever.
If she hadn’t been a queen, she might have defected and bought a mansion nearby to live in.
Selene clicked her tongue regretfully—then began thinking about the treaty negotiations scheduled for tomorrow.
