Chapter 93

The winter night is long, and morning begins late.

"Get up, Princess."

Breen opened the curtains and said. In the pale winter sunlight, Lirika slowly got up.

"Ugh..."

"Today is the day you go to the office."

"Ah!"

Lirika's spirit was instantly revived by those words. She quickly got out of bed and started getting ready.

Though not as often as before, going to the office regularly was still a joy for Lirika.

After finishing breakfast and entering the office, as usual, His Majesty and Lat were already working.

I wonder when they get up.

"What, the brat's here?"

Atil tapped Lirika's head with a document from behind.

"Is Atil here today too?"

"Yeah."

Atil smiled and glanced at Lat, who was dressed warmly, with a look of pity before submitting the document.

Lat glanced at the document and said,

"I won't be responsible for whatever happens later."

"Well, it's not a bad thing, right?"

"What's going on?"

Lirika tilted her head, and Atil answered for her.

"Her Majesty is providing relief to the poor areas this winter due to the cold snap. I'm in charge, along with John Whale."

"Ah."

"Don't even think about coming along."

"I won't."

Lirika sighed deeply.

"Because Haya gave me too much homework..."

Atil grinned.

"If you get frustrated, just say so. I'll throw a cod onto that guy's bed."

"A fish?"

"Yeah."

Why?

Seeing her puzzled face, Atil clicked his tongue.

"I need to teach you the first, second, and third levels of tormenting a tutor. You're not ready yet."

Lat chuckled.

"Stop it. Thinking about the tutors who were chased away by His Majesty still makes me cry."

"Eh, they were all just weaklings."

Atil said this casually and glanced at Altears.

"Why?"

Altears, resting his chin on his hand, asked. Atil said, "Well..." and leaned in to whisper something to Altears. Lirika watched them with a warm smile.

Atil has become quite close to Father.

When Atil finished talking, Altears clicked his tongue.

"I understand your thoughts, but don't make too many enemies among the nobles."

"Yes, and I plan to seek cooperation from Lirika and Her Majesty."

"That's not bad."

Nodding, Altears waved him off. Hearing her name, Lirika's ears perked up.

"Why? My help?"

"Ah, I'll show you a few people later, and you can tell me what you think."

"Ah, I understand."

Lirika nodded seriously. Atil laughed, ruffled her hair, and left the office.

Lirika smoothed her hair and approached Altears with quick steps to see if he needed anything.

The papers were neatly stacked, and the inkwell was full.

"Do you need anything?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Lirika's eyes sparkled, and Altears chuckled.

"Why don't you go get some snacks?"

"I'll be right back."

Lirika left the office with a light step.

"It's cold."

The air was crisp as soon as she stepped into the corridor. Lirika felt sorry for Laub.

"Laub should come inside too."

"I'm fine."

Despite Laub's words, Lirika said, "Still..." with a regretful expression and started walking.

"It's an errand for snacks."

"Again, huh?"

"Again, yeah."

Smiling, Lirika headed to the kitchen. When the snacks were made and beautifully arranged, by the time a maid brought them, they would be completely cold in this weather.

But when the princess brings freshly made snacks in a rough basket and runs back, they are still warm.

The kitchen staff can't do anything about the princess's whims, even if they are ordered by His Majesty.

Thus, Lirika returned to the office with a snack basket, walking like a baby goat.

Today's office snacks were soup with bacon and cabbage, and bread. It was more like a light meal than a snack.

In winter, people usually eat two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, so the snacks tend to be more substantial to help them last until the next meal.

For Lirika, there was a fried bread sprinkled with sugar and tea.

"Hot soup, it's really good."

Lat praised, "We can have such hot soup thanks to the princess."

Lirika shook her head. The crispy fried bread was surprisingly delicious.

After eating the snacks, she greeted the people passing by, was petted by Father once, and returned to her room.

* * *

Crack.

"~!!"

Now even a scream couldn't come out. Lirika flinched and fell over. On the desk lay the shattered pieces of the peridot.

"What a waste..."

It wasn't the failure of the magic that was more harmful to her mental health, but the fact that the expensive gemstone had broken.

Sighing, Lirika picked up the next gemstone with trembling hands. She cleared away the peridot fragments and placed a new peridot on the paper with the magic circle drawn on it.

'This time, for sure!'

Holding the pendant, Lirika focused. The magic circle began to glow faintly, becoming brighter and brighter until it floated up.

It shrank and seeped into the gemstone, spinning and rotating until the light faded.

"Done!"

Lirika cheered. This was the first time she had tried to create such a complex magic circle with all her strength.

'This is how it grows, one by one.'

She couldn't help but smile at her first success. Chuckling, Lirika rolled up her sleeves.

'Let's keep this momentum!'

But two more gemstones broke in a row, and the last one succeeded. Though she felt drained, it was still a relief to have succeeded once more.

She carefully placed the successful gemstones in a jewelry box. When she stepped out of the study, Diara was sitting there.

"Diara? When did you come?"

"A little while ago."

"Why didn't you say you were here?"

"You seemed focused inside. I didn't want to disturb you."

"What's up?"

In response to Lirika's question, Diara smiled mischievously.

"I brought sleds!"

"Huh?"

"You said you've never ridden a sled before. So I brought two sleds. Let's go down the hill at the back."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Diara's words brightened Lirika's face. With Breen's help, she quickly got dressed and went outside with Diara.

The sleds Diara brought were handmade, with well-polished wood elegantly curved. The sides were painted with rather ornate colors.

"Amazing. Did you really make these, Diara?"

"Yeah, well. The other siblings helped a bit."

"Thank you, Diara."

The two chattered as they climbed the hill. Midway, Diara even carried Lirika's sled.

In the poor areas, when it snowed, they only had snowball fights, so Lirika had never heard of or seen a sled that people rode down hills, not one pulled by horses.

So, following Diara's instructions, Lirika sat on the sled and leaned this way and that—

"—!!"

A long "Wooaaah—" echoed behind her as she tumbled down the hill and buried herself in the snow.

"Princess!"

Laub, who ran over, quickly pulled her out of the snow. Lirika, wide-eyed, shouted,

"It's so much fun!"

They went up and down, up and down, repeatedly.

Eventually, her knees were so wobbly she couldn't climb the hill anymore.

Laub carried her and the sled to the top, but Lirika shook her head.

"I don't think I should borrow Sir Laub's strength for play."

In the end, the sled riding ended when she couldn't take a single step. Lirika was completely exhausted, panting in the snow, while Diara looked fresh. Concerned, he asked,

"Princess, are you okay? You didn't overdo it, did you?"

"Diara, how can you, like, huff, huff."

"Eh, I run dozens of laps on days like this. This is just a warm-up."

"Amazing."

"It's not that amazing in Ulph."

"Still, to me, it's amazing, Diara. You're cool."

Lirika's words made Diara's cheeks turn red. He chuckled.

"Right, Princess, you too."

"Come on, let's go inside before you get cold, take a bath, and have dinner."

At Breen's words, Lirika nodded. But she couldn't get up at all, so she finally reached out to Laub.

Laub smiled and carried her.

The fact that Laub was naturally smiling more was Lirika's pride.

After a thorough bath, they ate a massive amount of dinner. They devoured several hot chicken pot pies, bread soaked in butter, and enjoyed hot baked beans. The mashed potatoes and salad with eggs were also delicious.

They ate until they were both satisfied, and Diara said, "I really enjoyed it," and left with a smile.

Lirika, exhausted, stretched out and fell asleep.

Winter passed busily like this.

When she visited her mother, she could always sit in the warmest spot. Her mother seemed very busy these days.

Still, tea time was always enjoyable. Rudia, watching Lirika eat cookies, asked,

"Lirika, are you really okay?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, with His Majesty. You