Chapter 10
Grrr.
Once again, a loud growling sound echoed from my stomach. Deciding that I needed to fill my stomach first before doing anything else, I closed my eyes tightly and took the man’s hand.
“…Okay.”
We were inside the imperial palace—what could possibly go wrong?
Blinded by hunger, I couldn’t think of anything else.
I had no idea that something serious was happening in a place I knew nothing about.
As soon as I grabbed his hand, the scenery before my eyes changed in an instant, and we arrived in front of an old door.
“Woooah!”
“Let’s go inside.”
As I widened my eyes in surprise, the man shrugged casually.
He pushed the old door open, and unlike how it looked, it opened smoothly without making any sound.
“This is amazing! Where is this? How did we get here?”
I tilted my head, looking at the place revealed beyond the opening door.
“The very top of the West Tower. It’s also my research lab.”
“West Tower? Lab…?”
“You’ll understand once you go in.”
Nodding at his words, I stepped inside.
The interior revealed a surprisingly spacious area.
In the center of the room was a large horizontal table, but papers were scattered messily across it. Along the walls stood rows of bookshelves tightly packed with books.
There were also many sheets of paper on the floor, covered in strange drawings.
“There are sooo many books!”
I hopped excitedly and ran toward the bookshelves filled to the brim.
“I’m conducting research here, and those books are reference materials to help with it.”
“I see.”
In front of the bookshelves stood a desk, but it was buried under stacks of documents, as if it had forgotten its original purpose.
Since I had enjoyed reading even in my past life, I looked through the books with interest.
Some were written in languages I had never seen before, which made them even more intriguing.
At that moment, I felt a sharp gaze from behind me. Turning around, I met the eyes of the man, who was looking at me with amusement.
“Do you like those books?”
The man approached me as he asked, seemingly curious that I was showing interest in books.
Well, it wasn’t common for a child my age to be interested in such thick books.
“I like books, Eirin.”
“Eirin?”
“Aileen! That’s my name. Eirin.”
“Hmm. I see. That’s a very nice name.”
The man nodded and gently patted my head.
‘Wait… does he really not know who I am?’
How could he not recognize me after seeing me? I felt like anyone could figure it out just by looking at my eyes.
“Come here and sit for now. You can look at the books later.”
However, the man didn’t seem interested in questioning me further. Instead, he brought out a variety of desserts that looked like they had been moved straight from a dessert shop.
“Waaah!”
Normally, at the princess’s palace, sweets were rarely given, as they were said to ruin one’s teeth. But seeing the desserts in front of me made me feel like I was doing something mischievous, somewhere the palace staff couldn’t see.
But how could I not eat them when they were right in front of me?
Driven by hunger, I lost all sense of restraint, abandoning royal dignity entirely. My eyes sparkled as I grabbed desserts with both hands and shoved them into my mouth.
Munch, munch.
“….”
“….”
Gulp.
“Delicious!”
I chewed, not even sure whether the food was going into my mouth or my nose.
“Hey, you should eat too—huh?”
Feeling a bit guilty about eating all the desserts alone, I looked at the man sitting in front of me.
“Th-this place is really amazing…”
After removing his robe, the man’s face was revealed—he was a handsome man comparable to Sir Bauman.
His pale silver hair, almost as if it had been washed of color, his skin as white as milk, and his refined appearance suggested he had indeed been living in the tower.
I couldn’t help but wonder why I hadn’t known there were so many handsome men in the imperial palace in my past life.
It almost felt like I had been missing out all this time.
“Little one.”
Gulp.
“I’m not a little one. I’m Eirin.”
“Hahaha. Yes, Eirin.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Is there something on my face?”
“No.”
“Then why do you keep staring at me?”
“Well, that is….”
My nose tingled.
For some reason, I was reminded of the time I had met Sir Bauman as a baby.
But I couldn’t be embarrassed again here.
“Well… you’re… really handsome….”
I avoided his gaze and answered in a small, whisper-like voice.
“What?”
“I said you’re really, really handsome!”
“Pfft—k-kahaha!”
The man paused in surprise at my words, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“Why are you laughing!”
I shouted in embarrassment.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard something like that.”
“A long time?”
The man wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes as he continued speaking.
“I’ve been living in this tower for a long time.”
“Really?”
I tilted my head.
Come to think of it… why hadn’t I known about him in my past life?
If he had been living inside the imperial palace for so long, I should have at least heard of him or met him once.
“Hmm.”
While I was lost in thought, the man seemed to consider something as well, then smiled lightly and said,
“Perhaps I’ve been in this tower since before you were born.”
“…Wow.”
To think such a valuable face had been locked away in this tower.
What a national waste.
‘But how old does he think I am to say that?’
As I looked at him suspiciously, he suddenly opened a spatial pocket wide.
“Our little lady has been smiling happily thanks to me. In that case, I should make her even happier, shouldn’t I?”
“Happier? How?”
The man reached into the spatial space and pulled out a large assortment of delicious-looking desserts.
“Would you be happier if I gave you more snacks?”
“Wow! Yes!”
I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth and cheered.
I devoured every dessert he brought out without leaving a single one behind.
With such a handsome man sitting in front of me, my appetite seemed even better than usual.
“Are you full now?”
As I patted my round stomach, the man smiled warmly and cleaned up the crumbs I had left behind.
Watching him made me suddenly realize how wildly I had just been eating desserts.
“Why is that?”
“Ah….”
My face turned red, and he looked at me with concern.
“W-well… I’m usually more polite than this, but I was just too hungry….”
After saying it out loud, I felt even more embarrassed.
‘Idiot. I’m just a fool driven by food!’
I scolded myself internally and cautiously glanced at him. When I was hungry, the more “adult” version of my thinking seemed to disappear.
At times like this, I wondered if I might just end up turning into a real child.
“By the way… who are you really?”
I changed the subject and asked.
“Me?”
“Yes. Do you really live here?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Alone?”
“Hmm… it seems the little lady came here knowing nothing. How did you end up here?”
He seemed unaware that I was the princess. How should I answer without raising suspicion?
“I got lost earlier. Even though I kept walking, the same paths kept appearing, and I got scared… and I was hungry too….”
Following his lead in conversation, I answered in a childlike manner—then suddenly stopped.
“Why did you stop talking?”
As I trailed off mid-sentence, he asked.
“I… haven’t finished eating yet.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“Um….”
“Why are you acting like that all of a sudden?”
“…!”
At that moment, we both heard approaching footsteps.
“It seems someone is looking for the little lady.”
“…I think I should go now.”
“Shall we meet again for snacks next time?”
The man proposed it, noticing the reluctance in my eyes.
“R-really?”
I replied happily, then quickly added with a slightly reserved tone,
“Can I come anytime?”
“Of course. You can come whenever you want snacks.”
I pretended to think for a moment, but it was unnecessary hesitation.
“Then I’ll come every day!”
There was no child who would refuse snacks, so I readily agreed.
“I should really go now.”
“Alright. I’ll take you outside the forest.”
As I stood up from the sofa, he also stood, brushing off his clothes.
“I can go out on my own.”
“Do you even know where you got lost?”
“Hmm… where was it?”
I stopped in place, frowning as I tried to remember.
“Hahaha. This place isn’t somewhere just anyone can enter.”
He laughed as he spoke.
“Then how did I get here?”
“Well… perhaps it was fate bringing the two of us together.”
“…Huh?”
Even though I was a child, brushing it off like that seemed too vague.
I snorted softly, then looked at his face again—and suddenly blushed.
“…Wow… he’s really handsome…”
“What? Ahahaha!”
“…!”
Hearing his laughter, I snapped back to my senses.
My thoughts must have slipped out of my mouth without me realizing.
‘Tch. I’ll just ask him properly next time.’
“I’ll go now!”
“Here, take my hand.”
The man laughed for a long while, then extended his hand toward me just as he had when we entered the tower.
The moment I took his hand, the scenery shifted again, and the forest where I had been wandering appeared.
“Eirin! Where are you!”
“Answer us!”
“If you can’t answer, throw a rock nearby!”
“Why are they treating me like this!”
Embarrassed, I glanced at the man, then turned toward the voices.
“Then I’ll be going now!”
“Alright, just follow this path.”
“Yes! Thank you for the snacks. Bye!”
“See you again, little princess.”
I started running in the direction he pointed—
—but when I turned back at the last moment, the man had already vanished.
