Chapter 5

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Mary, who had become a lady-in-waiting from a maid, was bewildered by Elizabeth's changes but eventually thought that this must have been the real Elizabeth. She was probably lonely and wanted attention. After all, she was only five years old.

Fortunately, the five-year-old Elizabeth had not yet done anything decisively harmful to others. Everything was seen as the actions of a spoiled child, and she was recognized as being naturally temperamental.

--- I'm glad I'm back to being five years old. If I were ten, I would already be bullying the servants. Ah, but I did a bad thing to Mary. She was supposed to become lovers with the cook at the capital mansion, but I took that opportunity away from her. No, no, they might not have met yet. I had her attacked by a thug when I was fifteen. Yes, I think it's probably fine.

By the way, that cook who was my fiancé didn't seek revenge on me. I heard he married the daughter of a supplier within half a year of Mary's death. He was quite heartless, wasn't he? I, who drove Mary to suicide, shouldn't be saying this, but...

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To observe the children, Elizabeth decided to take a stroll in the nearby area. She asked Mary to prepare as inconspicuous and simple clothes as possible. However, as a marquis's daughter, all her clothes were of high quality.

"Miss, how about this dress?"

The dress Mary picked up was made of light pink lawn. It had many pleats at the waist, making it fluffy, and delicate lace was applied to the sleeves and collar.

"Hmm, no, that won't do. I need something that looks like what commoners wear. I don't want to stand out."

"But, Miss, we don't have such clothes."

"Then, I'll have to wear this today. I'll drape a rag over it. Have a dress made for me soon that looks like what commoner children wear."

Mary had no idea what Elizabeth was thinking, but she felt that her attitude was better than when she was in the capital. Since it was impossible to drape a rag over her, she wrapped a large cotton shawl around her like a cloak and fastened it with a brooch.

"Let's go then!"

"Miss, are you sure you don't want to go by carriage?"

"The carriage would be too noticeable."

Mary still couldn't understand what Elizabeth wanted to do.

With two guards following, Mary and Elizabeth walked for a while and came across a wheat field. The afternoon sun and breeze felt pleasant. At the edge of the village, on a fallow field, a few children who had finished school were playing. They were around 7 or 8 years old.

Elizabeth immediately started observing the children. At first, the children glanced at her, but soon they became engrossed in their play.

"Alright! Let's play knights today! I'll be the knight, and you guys will be my subordinates and bandits!"

A boy who seemed to be the leader was waving a branch.

"No way. I always end up being the bandit and getting hit. Let's play hide-and-seek instead."

"I want to be the princess! Hey, John, you be the prince!"

"Let's go catch crayfish in that stream instead."

"Let's go pick chestnuts."

--- They're all asserting their own preferences. How will they resolve this?

After a while, the boy with the branch started chasing the other children.

"Mary, what are they doing? Are they bullying each other?"

"Probably playing tag."

"Why did they start playing tag?"

"I'm not sure. They probably just started playing tag spontaneously."

"None of their opinions are being followed, are they?"

"Hehe, that's true. But they're all having fun."

--- I see, only asserting oneself is just like my old self. The difference is not pushing through and being flexible. Still, I don't think those kids are thinking about such complicated things. For now, it seems that as long as they're having fun, that's all that matters. I should also assert my whims appropriately to act more like a child. It's a delicate balance, but as long as I don't push through, it should be fine.

Elizabeth decided to continue observing the children to act more childlike in the future.