Chapter 81
After Oscar left,
I hugged Half-Sweet Potato (Banguma) and slowly tried to calm myself down.
‘How could Oscar remember things wrong?’
The answer was simple.
The Bluebell family is a famous noble house of powerful mages. The Count of Bluebell was once the royal court magician.
Yudis often said, with a sigh, that she had no magical talent and had been “sold off” to marry into the Rohia family.
So, this meant that Oscar’s memory was probably changed by magic from the Bluebell family.
But it was strange…
Why would the Bluebell family change Joseph’s actions to look like they were Boris’s fault?
I didn’t know the reason yet.
So, I went straight to see the emperor.
He glanced at me—and the Half-Sweet Potato I was holding.
“That thing amazes me every time. Its hair keeps growing little by little. Are you sure it’s really a spirit?”
“Doesn’t it seem like the only explanation is that it’s a magical creature or a spirit?”
“That’s a clever answer. But you wouldn’t like it if I called a magician to examine it, would you?”
I shook my head quickly and hugged Banguma tighter.
The emperor sighed softly.
Then he turned his chair slightly—he wanted me to sit on his lap.
I ran over and sat comfortably, as I always did now.
He leaned back and raised the papers in his hand.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
He stroked my head with his free hand and let out a tired sigh.
“If it’s about what happened during the day, you don’t have to worry about it.”
But if I don’t do anything about it now, something terrible could happen.
I sighed softly, not loud enough for him to really notice.
“You seem really bothered.”
He nodded to himself and suddenly muttered in an annoyed voice.
“You finally started gaining some weight, but if you lose it again because of those two, I’ll send them both to do community service in Elahi.”
I decided to speak politely.
“May I offer a small, humble opinion?”
“Go ahead.”
“To the people of Elahi, those two would be more of a burden than help. All they’d do is eat and poop.”
“You’re really clever. Now that I think about it, you’re too good for Oscar Tradi. I’ll start looking for a better candidate. Be patient, okay?”
Please don’t. I really don’t need that.
I patted the sleepy Banguma in my arms.
“I’m thinking of visiting Boris tomorrow at the Rohia House.”
As soon as I said that, the emperor slammed the papers down.
He frowned and looked at me with a sharp gaze.
“Because he’s your brother by blood, I didn’t want to say this… but I think I need to tell you a few things.”
“I know what you’re going to say. Boris is a muscle-brain, dummy, sea cucumber, jellyfish, and a bad-tempered monkey.”
“…I didn’t say anything yet.”
The emperor looked away awkwardly.
I pouted and shrugged.
“I know him best. So you don’t have to worry—I’m not relying on Boris emotionally or anything like that.”
I said confidently.
The emperor sighed again.
“If you know him so well, then why do you want to visit him? Why not just call him here?”
“Well… I have something to ask him.”
I wanted to ask Boris the same question I asked Oscar.
Why did Joseph’s mistake get turned into Boris’s fault?
To understand the truth, I had to hear each person’s side separately.
And if the misunderstanding between them could be solved, maybe they wouldn’t need to fight at all.
But since they would only stay in the capital for 5 more days, I had to act quickly.
“I’ll call him here. Don’t go to the house yourself.”
“But… I kind of want to see Yubel too. It’s been a while.”
“I said I’ll call them.”
If I wanted to question stubborn Boris properly, it was better to go to his place.
If the emperor forced him to come here, Boris would shut his mouth and refuse to talk honestly.
But the emperor didn’t know my plan and kept trying to stop me.
“Yubel is just a baby. As her big sister, don’t you think it makes sense for me to visit her?”
“[Materia] is getting spoiled by that maid so much that I’m starting to worry. That kid needs to feel the cold wind of the real world too.”
I stepped in front of him and his papers with my hands clasped together.
“Your Majesty is a wise and noble ruler. You’ll surely assign me plenty of bodyguards to protect me from any danger. So why should I be afraid of visiting the Rohia family?”
The emperor ignored me and kept looking at the papers.
So, I leaned in closer to get in his way, messing with his work.
Finally, he leaned back and sighed deeply.
“Haa… Fine, fine! You’re more stubborn than iron!”
“Your Majesty is so―”
“Put that thumb down!”
The emperor looked down at me as I smiled sweetly, and he finally gave in with a small chuckle.
“I’ll let you go… if you call me Dad.”
I stuffed four pieces of bread in my mouth and replied.
“Aa…phwoomphph.”
One of the emperor’s eyebrows twitched with irritation.
But I kept chewing, pretending not to notice.
***
The Next Day
“Mmmgh… Waaaah!”
Banguma suddenly got sick.
It happened in the middle of the night, while I was having a nightmare about something awful from my past life.
I woke up to the sound of a flower vase shattering.
Banguma’s roots were suddenly growing super fast.
I was shocked. I gave him water and tried to soothe him, but the roots became so heavy I couldn’t hold him properly anymore.
“What’s going on? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?!”
I panicked, especially because it looked like the roots were going to break through the marble floor.
Then I noticed something.
Banguma was desperately pointing somewhere with his sweet potato arms.
He was pointing at the snacks I had stacked nearby.
“You want this?”
I gave him a cookie, and just like that, his roots started shrinking back just as quickly as they had grown.
That’s when I realized—Banguma was growing teeth!
‘What… is this kid?’
What is he even turning into?
He was trying to bite the cookie with tiny hamster-like teeth, but he wasn’t doing well and started crying again.
I could only sweat nervously.
Because of all that chaos, I decided to take Banguma with me today.
“Water bottle, milk, a pack of cookies… Miss, just tell the truth. You’re going on a fun trip without us, aren’t you?”
“Actually… yes.”
“That’s just mean!”
Loti was clearly upset, but I left her behind and ran to the training grounds.
As planned last night, I was supposed to meet a temporary bodyguard and then head to the Rohia House.
But I could hear loud noises from the training grounds even from far away.
When I arrived, I saw a crowd gathering.
They surrounded someone, whispering in shock, but no one dared to approach.
And that someone was a person I knew very well…
Maybe someone the whole continent knew.
“The Grand Duke?!”
It was Winter—the one who had disappeared after being kicked out!
He stood tall and graceful like a fallen angel, his silver hair sparkling like star dust.
I was so shocked that I didn’t even notice the knights gasping in panic around me. I ran straight to him.
Winter gave me a mysterious smile and nodded.
“Nice to meet you, my lady. I’m Baron Torman Illin from Efren.”
“Baron… Illin?”
I acted like I didn’t know who that was, but I did.
“Baron Illin” was one of Winter’s fake identities.
He had multiple names and ranks to use in different countries when traveling secretly.
This one, Baron Illin, was a title he got while staying in the Western Empire, and he had even received a knight’s oath from a local lord.
I caught on to Winter’s little act and smiled.
I gave him a light curtsy.
“Nice to meet you, Baron Illin. I’m Izana Monica Rohia.”
Clang!
Suddenly, something long and sharp flew between us and struck the ground.
It was a very fancy sword—and it looked very familiar.
“You really do know how to surprise me, Baron. Il. Lin.”
Of course, the one who threw the sword was the emperor—known as the wise ruler of this age.
He was grinding his teeth, and behind him, Count Hester and the knights who had gone to get him were panicking.
Yay! Winter is here!