Chapter 03
Serden washed his hands and sat in the chair.
His face carried a lazy smile, calm and relaxed. As if what had just happened and what was happening now meant nothing.
He was very different from the angry aides, who didn’t know what to do. Finally, one aide, unable to hold back, spoke.
He had just witnessed all the ridiculous behavior of the woman called the Crown Princess.
“Are you going to let this continue?”
Serden raised his head and met the aide’s eyes. With the sunlight behind him, a cold, intimidating aura radiated from Serden.
Only then could they understand. Serden was not calm at all. Serden was quietly angry.
“What’s the problem? The girl really seems to know nothing. This should keep Duke Spellman quiet for a while.”
“…Are you really going to keep that woman as the Crown Princess?”
“That woman? Watch your words.”
The aide bowed and apologized at Serden’s sharp remark.
Serden rubbed his mouth.
At first, he had thought that when Duke Spellman sent the princess, it was a substitute for his sick daughter.
But when he saw the princess with her mouth open, drooling, he changed his mind.
Duke Spellman had not sent a substitute. He really made his sick daughter the Crown Princess.
‘He must have some plan.’
He still couldn’t tell what it was.
This royal family, still controlled by Spellman, unable to protect even one child, was frustrating.
At the same time, it was a little amusing. Spellman, who already had everything, was still struggling.
A childlike girl pushed forward by the snake-like Duke Spellman.
He remembered the red candy that had rolled from her mouth. Wasn’t his own situation just as ridiculous?
Duke Spellman must have thought of Serden like that candy—something to put in his mouth and spit out whenever he wanted.
The aide asked carefully.
“…Then what will you do about Miss Roselina? Originally, weren’t you supposed to marry her as soon as you returned?”
“Let’s wait and see. Maybe we can use the Crown Princess to strike at Spellman.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
“And have Roselina enter the palace tomorrow.”
The aide’s expression brightened.
“She will surely have a new purpose.”
“Yes, Your Highness! She’s smart, so having her nearby will definitely help!”
Serden smiled, unreadable. He never revealed everything, even to the aides.
‘The smarter someone is, the more secrets they have.’
Moreover, Serden trusted no one. Even loyal servants who might risk their lives for him.
Perhaps this was a chance to understand Roselina’s true thoughts.
Serden planned to keep Roselina and Evelyn together.
Serden thought of Evelyn and chuckled. He also remembered her stupid-looking expressions. She had stared at the candy the entire time he left the room.
“Ah. And send Evelyn a glass jar full of candy.”
The aide reluctantly agreed.
An hour later, Evelyn received a gift—a glass jar full of colorful candy.
She hugged it and, alone in the room, covered her mouth and screamed.
‘Ahhh! They’re trying to fatten me up!!’
A pink blanket, the kind little girls liked, collapsed. Pillows with frills rolled across the thick rug.
In the gentle moonlight, the gifts on the table calmly displayed their presence.
Clatter, clatter.
The jar of candy rolled to the floor. Evelyn jumped up with her messy, newly styled hair, snorting, and looked around the room.
“I will survive. Absolutely survive! That’s all I’ll think about!”
The next day.
At Duke Spellman’s house, two girls of my age were sent as maids to take care of me. They were the ones I knew—the only friends left in Evelyn’s memories. At least she had friends among the maids.
It showed how Spellman had treated Evelyn. He might have decorated things nicely on the surface, but he was indifferent to her. Her little brother often ignored her.
Only the maids paid attention to her, so she probably thought of them as friends.
They hadn’t been near me for days because they were learning royal etiquette.
I knew Spellman. Those few days weren’t for learning etiquette—they were probably training on how to kill the Crown Prince efficiently.
I could never be close to them. If I were Evelyn, I might have been happy to see them. But now I knew their intentions, how could I be friendly?
Parallel lines, far apart.
Should I drive them away or keep them near? To understand Spellman’s true intentions, it was better to keep them close.
I made my decision.
Keep them close and make them pay. I’ll punish them for all the abuse they gave Evelyn.
One of the maids spoke shamelessly.
“Hello, Your Highness, Crown Princess. Long time no see.”
“It’s not really long. I saw Evelyn three days ago.”
Three days ago was before the marriage.
Thanks to my past acting experience, pretending to be five years old was nothing. I could show them what a “pissed-off third person” looks like, smiling broadly.
“…You’ve become smarter. You remember everything.”
The maid forced a smile, hiding annoyance. It was clever enough that Evelyn wouldn’t notice. Not enough to hide it from adults completely, though.
“That’s right. Evelyn is smart!”
I was serious. I memorized every script entirely, even the other characters’ lines.
That’s why I remembered so much about this novel. Now, they’d experience my “K-social life.”
Let’s see how annoying it is to be served with a smile.
“…Yes, she’s smart.”
“Cherina, what are you doing? …No matter what she says, who cares? We just do our own thing.”
They whispered, but I heard everything. Stupid? Evelyn wouldn’t have known. She was a naive little girl. She would just smile if treated well.
The maids whispered casually.
“But it’s fun, isn’t it?”
I interrupted.
“What’s fun? I don’t find any of this fun.”
The maids froze and shut their mouths.
I deliberately made a sulky expression. This was my mimicry technique. Kids copy adults’ words quickly.
“Evelyn isn’t stupid.”
“H-Hear that?”
“Evelyn is not stupid! Ah, so the stupid one is you?”
The maid turned pale and trembled. Couldn’t control her emotions.
It was unnecessary anyway.
Even if I treated them nicely, Evelyn would have been happy. I was exploiting the innocence of children.
“What did you just say?”
“Hold it, Rosy! Don’t answer. She probably doesn’t even know what she’s saying!”
I quickly interrupted, catching their words.
“Wow… Cherina, do you even know what you’re saying?”
“It’s not me, it’s the Crown Princess!”
“Evelyn is smart, so she knows what she’s saying. You two are the stupid ones. Huh.”
I exaggeratedly slumped my shoulders.
So their names were Cherina and Rosy. Thanks to them, I knew their names.
They trembled in anger, fooled by me. Judging by their behavior, they probably didn’t take good care of Evelyn before either.
Also, they seemed to have a purpose for entering the palace.
Keeping them close was the right choice.
“It must be nice to be smart, Your Highness.”
“Yeah, it’s good. Being stupid isn’t good. Cherina is stupid, poor thing.”
“…Argh!!!”
They didn’t even consider me important. Evelyn remembered everything, so it made sense. Evelyn had lived in her own world.
It was extremely rude. Cherina stomped her foot, eyes flashing.
She probably showed the same temper to Evelyn.
Now that I knew the truth, I hated them even more.
