Chapter 156
The Imperial Palace was slowly preparing a banquet to announce that the Imperial Princess had returned alive.
Although the Emperor had not yet given a formal order, among the ministers it was already being said that the announcement would be made before the end of the year.
The ministers hoped that Eve would at least participate in a small event so her existence could be made more visible.
“Your Majesty, everyone wishes to see the future of the Empire.”
Though they spoke politely, what they truly wanted was for the Emperor to attend events held at their own estates.
Clois, who knew their intentions well, swallowed a bitter smile and replied,
“Eve is still young. And I don’t want to burden a child who isn’t fully prepared yet.”
However, the ministers did not back down easily.
This time, they even had a reasonable excuse.
“However, Your Majesty. We heard that Lady Eve is still feeling gloomy after the pond incident.”
“……”
At the mention of the pond incident, Clois’s expression hardened.
Honestly, he didn’t think Eve seemed depressed.
After that incident, he had ordered that all her wishes be granted, and whenever he visited, she had looked extremely happy with everything she was given.
Still, separately from that, Clois could sympathize with the shock Eve must have experienced.
‘Even so…’
Since that day, the child he had not seen even once—Evie—kept weighing on his mind.
According to Seraphina’s report, Evie hadn’t been hurt at all and was spending time well with her friends.
But maybe because he hadn’t seen her himself—
Clois wanted to go and check with his own eyes that Evie was truly safe.
More than anything, he wanted to see the child’s smiling face.
As Clois listened half-heartedly to the ministers, one of them cautiously spoke.
“Your Majesty, then how about allowing Lady Eve a light outing?”
“An outing?”
“When I met her this morning, she repeatedly said she wanted to go outside the palace.”
Another minister quickly added,
“It seems Lady Eve—ah, pardon, Eve—wishes to see the people of the Empire with her own eyes.”
“……She already saw plenty when she stayed at Count Aradman’s estate.”
At Clois’s words, the minister forced a desperate smile and continued,
“At that time, she must have been too nervous about meeting Your Majesty to enjoy the capital properly. Now that she is safely under Your Majesty’s protection, wouldn’t allowing her a small outing help ease her heart?”
Clois fell into thought.
‘Come to think of it, Evie also wanted to go out this weekend.’
Through Seraphina, Evie had asked to visit the Ragselve Marquis’s estate over the weekend.
It wasn’t a vacation, but weekend outings didn’t require guardian approval.
Still, Clois felt strangely proud that she naturally asked him first, so he had immediately given permission.
Of course, he also hoped she would comfort her shaken heart with her friends after the pond incident.
“……”
Yet he hesitated so much over Eve, even after approving Evie so easily.
Clois rubbed his face with one hand and finally spoke.
“I will allow Eve to go out. However, Imperial Knights must accompany her at all times, and she must not leave the capital’s vicinity.”
* * *
As soon as the last class ended on Friday, Evie quickly changed her clothes.
Irene came out too, holding her bag with an excited expression.
“Come to think of it, Irene, can you freely go to both their houses now?”
Even during summer vacation, Irene had avoided going to Arcel’s house.
She had come to Luska’s house once, but back then she had at least used the excuse of delivering an invitation for the ‘Sacred Natural Number’ event.
But now, she didn’t seem to care at all.
“Oh, that?”
Irene shrugged.
“Because Eve showed up, the heir issue got settled, right? So now… no one says I’ll become Empress anymore. I don’t really care.”
Because of that, some students at the academy mocked Irene, saying her dream of becoming Empress had vanished.
‘As if I ever wanted that.’
Arcel was one thing, but marrying someone like Luska?!
Just imagining it made her skin crawl and her stomach turn.
‘Still, the priestess’s prophecy was wrong.’
The priestess had said Irene would stand beside the greatest power, but no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine herself wagging her tail beside Eve.
At that moment, the sound of a carriage was heard.
When they turned their heads, Luska was waving from outside the window.
Then a hand suddenly reached out from inside and grabbed Luska by the collar, pulling her back in.
There was no need to ask—it was clearly Arcel’s hand.
Evie and Irene giggled, and as soon as the carriage stopped, they quickly climbed aboard.
“Let’s go, hurry!”
Seeing Evie unusually excited, Irene, Arcel, and Luska all felt relieved inside.
After the pond incident, Evie would sometimes stare blankly toward the Imperial Palace.
She hadn’t met the Emperor again either.
She seemed especially gloomy because of that.
‘I hope Evie can really enjoy herself this weekend.’
Thinking that, they eagerly explained how delicious chestnuts were and how to pick them.
Thanks to that, Evie never got bored until they arrived at the marquis’s estate.
* * *
The Ragselve brothers greeted the four children enthusiastically and immediately handed them work clothes.
They also gave each of them long tongs and shoulder baskets.
“Ready?”
“Yes!”
Evie answered louder than anyone.
“Then today, we harvest chestnuts on this mountain! Begin!”
“Begin!”
The children shouted and excitedly ran under the chestnut trees.
Luska, the most experienced, taught the others how to harvest chestnuts.
“We say ‘picking,’ but really, you step on the fallen burrs like this to get the chestnuts out. Like this.”
Evie followed Luska’s instructions and stepped on the burr.
But because the burr was big and Evie’s foot was small, it wasn’t easy.
“Ah!”
When her foot slipped and she staggered, Arcel caught her from behind.
“Want to try again?”
“Yes!”
Evie naturally leaned on Arcel and stepped again.
After a few tries, the burr split open and the chestnuts inside popped out.
“It’s a chestnut! It was really inside!”
Seeing them in books, she had never believed that fruit could be inside something like a sea urchin.
“Careful not to hurt your hands.”
Arcel bent down, picked up the chestnut, and placed it in Evie’s palm.
Evie stared at the shiny, plump chestnut in disbelief, then quietly put the prettiest one into her pocket.
“Why not put it in the basket?”
When Irene asked, Evie smiled brightly.
“I’m going to give the prettiest one to His Majesty!”
“……”
Irene smiled silently and turned her head away.
Then, where Evie couldn’t see, her fingers moved busily again.
You’re that crazy about His Majesty—are you living well with that unlucky daughter of yours, huh?!
Watching from behind, Luska sighed and clicked her tongue.
‘She’s going to be the best at swearing in the academy.’
No—maybe in the entire capital.
Knowing there was no stopping Irene, Luska at least moved to block her slightly, worried someone might see.
Irene glared at her as if telling her not to interfere.
Luska, who never backed down even before her legendary general father, quietly retreated under Irene’s glare.
Thinking that Irene was the scariest person in the world.
* * *
Evie was always hardworking, but she was even more enthusiastic than usual when it came to chestnut harvesting.
Grunting, she set down her basket, completely filled to the brim.
Though she was the least experienced, Evie’s basket was the fullest of all.
Meanwhile, Arcel’s basket behind her looked pitiful.
It was barely half as full as Evie’s.
“I won!”
Evie jumped up and down, raising both hands in excitement.
“You did. You picked so well that I couldn’t keep up at all.”
Arcel replied calmly, without a hint of frustration.
Hearing that, Luska and Irene looked completely fed up.
“Scary bastard……”
“We saw you secretly putting chestnuts into Evie’s basket……”
Soon after, the Ragselve brothers brought over a large handcart.
When Arcel put Evie’s basket inside, Evie asked cautiously,
“Um… are you really going to send all of this?”
She had worked so hard because they said they’d send it to the orphanage.
She wanted her friends to see and eat chestnuts too.
“Of course. Not just this—everything we picked yesterday will be sent too.”
“What? You don’t have to do that much!”
“It’s fine. This year’s harvest is huge. We have plenty to eat, even after sharing.”
“But you said chestnuts are expensive……”
At that, the eldest brother gently grabbed Evie’s nose and shook it.
“Kids shouldn’t worry about that. There are more than enough this year, even after sharing with friends and neighbors.”
Feeling both sorry and relieved, Evie finally relaxed a little.
* * *
After picking chestnuts until late afternoon, the children ate chestnut desserts Vanessa had prepared and climbed into the carriage.
“They said we’ll stop by three villages to hand them out.”
Because the chestnuts were so good, the marquis’s estate always shared them with nearby villagers.
“They’re going to be so happy!”
“Yeah! That chestnut cake earlier was really good!”
When Evie said she wanted to come along, Arcel and Irene quickly joined the carriage too.
“Why did you suddenly want to come?” Irene asked.
Evie leaned close and whispered,
“I want to buy candy for everyone because I’m grateful. I brought the money I earned in the summer. I’ll buy apple-flavored ones for you, Irene.”
Hearing that Evie remembered her favorite flavor, Irene hugged her tightly.
‘I’m glad we came outside the academy.’
Otherwise, Evie would have spent the whole weekend staring at the palace and sighing.
It was a relief that Evie could forget about the Emperor and Eve, even just a little.
After finishing their errand, the four returned to the carriage in good spirits.
Each of them had candy in their mouths that Evie bought in the village.
As dusk fell, the coachman sped up.
Inside the carriage, Luska spoke seriously.
“When we get back, how about we eat dinner and light a bonfire right away? Roasted chestnuts are the best.”
At those words, Evie’s and Irene’s eyes sparkled.
Boiled chestnuts and chestnut cake had already been delicious—roasted chestnuts sounded even better.
And the memory of playing around a bonfire during summer vacation made them even more excited.
As they plotted to sneak marshmallows, potatoes, or sweet potatoes from the kitchen—
Hiiiiiing!
The carriage suddenly stopped with a horse’s cry.
Another carriage had blocked the road, waiting for them.
