Chapter 43

The room was filled with all sorts of luxurious jewels.

At first glance, they seemed to be of very high value.

This is the money I earned by secretly selling the precious stones from the underground storage.

Of course, the transaction was handled by Han Ji-hyuk.

Even the tiniest precious stones are traded at an exorbitant price.

Thanks to that, I earned an amount that would make Lady Gonralong's jaw drop, even though I didn't sell many.

"Are you giving it? Why would Youngae do that?"

"I don't really like Empress Ocelia."

"Isn't Lady Astra allied with the Empress?"

To the extent that she sent Lady Gonralong, the Empress's closest confidante, as a etiquette teacher.

"Perhaps, but once the First Prince becomes Emperor, things will be different."

It seemed unbelievable to Lady Gonralong that a child was saying such things, and she let out a hollow laugh.

"Do you not think you won't be able to stay with the Empress for long?"

"..."

"Astra will be a suitable replacement for the Empress."

"Are you saying you'll give me a chance?"

Lady Gonralong raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you trust me? If I tell the Empress that you're this kind of person..."

I chuckled.

Lady Gonralong's expression twisted.

"Who would believe such a story?"

"..."

"I'm only three years old."

In a month, I'll be four, but for now, I look very young.

Lady Gonralong alternated her gaze between me and the bag, as if in conflict.

Then she sighed and massaged her temples.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"Tell them the hidden prince has been dealt with."

"No way! If that's discovered, I'll..."

"It won't be discovered. The prince is in my hands, and he won't be revealed."

"..."

Lady Gonralong bit her lip several times.

'I knew she would accept my offer.'

After all, if she couldn't find Alexis this time, she would be abandoned.

She's smart enough to know that.

So, it would be much more advantageous for her to take my hand.

"Alright."

Lady Gonralong picked up the bag.

"And?"

"What more...!"

I smiled brightly and propped my chin on my hands.

"Arrange a meeting with the Empress Dowager."

I finally found the painting.

* * *

I went to the door to see Lady Gonralong off.

She looked almost dazed.

"Is this really reality..."

She muttered, looking as if she had just had a dream.

"Have a good night!"

As I waved my hand with a cheerful voice, she shook her head and let out a hollow laugh.

"Have a good night, Youngae."

As soon as Lady Gonralong left, Han Ji-hyuk came into the room.

He was tilting his head.

"Why?"

"Just now, the lady looked like she had seen a ghost."

"Uh. I paid her to keep quiet."

"What?!"

He gasped and clamped his mouth shut.

Then he turned his head to make sure no one was around and whispered.

"Is that okay? You'll be revealing that you're not an ordinary three-year-old."

"Uh. What about the painting?"

"Next month on the 4th, they said to come to the place they'll tell you."

I nodded.

At that moment, the maids entered the room.

"Miss, the fairy tea party is about to start."

I went into the room and quickly gathered what I needed.

The maids put a coat on me, saying it would be cold at night.

"Did you buy the tea leaves from the shop district?"

"Big sisters gave them to me."

When we first arrived at the castle, I met Dione and Lianthe.

Dione asked if I had bought the tea leaves, and I made some excuses, saying I had forgotten because I was busy.

"Then you don't have any tea leaves?"

"I can ask the servants."

"Idiot, to meet the fairies, you need fresh tea leaves."

"Then I'll share Erilott's."

Dione opened the envelope and shared some of her tea leaves.

Lianthe, who looked very conflicted, also gave me some tea leaves.

"Oh, Lady Lianthe?"

Lianthe's fussiness was well-known, so it was surprising that she shared her tea leaves.

'I know, I was surprised too.'

"Miss is a good child, so the fairies will come to see you."

Hilda and Greta hung a handbag on me and said affectionately.

I said "Yes!" brightly and left the room.

The winter fairy tea party is held in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was already bustling with many children.

It wasn't just the direct-line girls; close collateral-line children were also there.

The collateral-line children considered being invited to the direct-line's fairy tea party a great honor.

The collateral-line children all had flushed faces.

'What? They're here.'

Most of them were faces I had seen at the 12th Tower.

After all, it's a place where the better collateral-line children go.

I was in the youngest class, but they were over 10 years old and in different classes, so I didn't know them well.

But every time we met, they would gather and giggle at me.

"Juliana, how are your tea leaves? My father bought them for today, and if you like, I can share them with you."

"Sure, the scent is good."

Juliana fanned herself with a fan.

It was very cold, but there was no great black dragon.

"Dione, you really have luscious and beautiful hair. It's alluring... Oh, my name is Cassandra. Will you remember me?"

"Oh! Lianthe, it's an honor to meet you."

The collateral-line children were making a big fuss to get close to the direct-line children.

Even though I had entered, none of the collateral-line children greeted me.

Instead, when our eyes met, they quickly looked away.

'They're still kids, so that's how it is.'

If they were adults, they would have rushed over.

Because my father's position is vastly different from before, and I'm a child in the main family's ranking.

But by ignoring me,

'They used to be worse than me.'

—This is where the frustration starts.

They feel annoyed because a child they used to look down on has suddenly changed.

'I've seen this before when I was Yoo Hye-min.'

In middle school, there was a boy who was subtly ostracized by the class.

I remember all the boys used to bully him.

But at a class reunion after we all grew up, the boy who was ostracized had become incredibly successful.

Everyone was congratulating him loudly at first, but as the atmosphere relaxed, it changed quickly.

A boy who was a bully in school joked,

"Man, you have to work hard in life. In middle school, I couldn't even look at you. You used to buy me a lot of bread, didn't you?"

"Hey, what are you saying?"

"No, it's good to see you. Do you remember? Your mom bought me sneakers and stuff to get along with you."

'Even adults can't stand it when a familiar person suddenly becomes successful, let alone kids.'

The collateral-line children ignored me and talked to Lianthe.

"Lianthe, this lemon pie is really delicious."

Lianthe, who was constantly being talked to by the collateral-line children, looked very annoyed and crossed her arms.

Suddenly, she turned her head and our eyes met.

"Erilott, come here."

'But there's no seat?'

Lianthe's side was tightly occupied by collateral-line children.

Lianthe pointed to the child in a yellow dress on her right.

A child who always looked at me with disdain at the 12th Tower.

"Move."

"Excuse me?"

"It's Erilott's seat, so move."

The child in the yellow dress turned red and didn't know what to do.

She half-rose, and when she met the eyes of the black dragon Juliana, she said in a choked voice,

"Juliana..."

It was a plea for help.

Juliana folded her fan and spoke.

"What are you doing? Move."

The intermediate class children added their own comments.

"The direct-line is standing."

"How many times do I have to say it?"

The atmosphere turned cold instantly.

The child in the yellow dress bit her lip and moved from her seat.

The atmosphere among the collateral-line children looking at me was strange.

A cousin from the intermediate class crossed her arms and sighed, looking annoyed.

"That's why I didn't want to call the collateral-line. They don't know their place."

The black dragon fanned herself and said,

"They must be too stupid to learn etiquette."

The cousin, who had her arms crossed, frowned and looked around at the collateral-line children.

"Don't you know that when a direct-line comes, you should stand and greet them?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The collateral-line children fell silent like mice.

The collateral-line children were also very discriminatory and dismissive based on bloodline.

But if the collateral-line children were kittens, the direct-line children were fully grown leopards.

They were deeply rooted in the superiority of the main family.

It seemed even more shameful to them to receive double the treatment they had given.

Lianthe gestured to me.

"Come on, quickly."

I quickly sat next to Lianthe.

"Sister, are you jealous?"

"No! Eat the lemon pie."

Why did she cut the lemon pie if she didn't like it?

Dione laughed and said,

"No, Lianthe likes Erilott."

"When did I?"

"You said you want to compete again."

"Stop making things up!"

I chuckled inside.

After a while, the tea party began.

Servants brought in trolleys filled with luxurious desserts.

Decorated with edible flowers, it felt like a real fairy party.

The maids made milk tea with the tea leaves the children brought.

The collateral-line children, who had been disheartened by the earlier incident, seemed to forget and exclaimed in delight.

Such a luxurious tea party was not something they could easily experience.

Trees were even moved into the greenhouse for the occasion.

Dione also enjoyed the milk tea.

"Delicious, right?"

"The chef of the Astra Dukedom is always the best."

Lianthe said in a haughty voice.

Desserts and delicious milk tea.

Beautiful trees and flowers.

The transparent glass dome above the greenhouse was filled with stars.

'It feels like real fairies will appear.'

As I thought this, boxes started to come in one by one.

"The fairies have sent gifts to the good girls."

The priestess maid said with a kind expression.

'Ah, these are gifts from my parents.'

The maids handed the boxes to the children based on the name tags.

Lianthe, who received the first gift, quickly opened the box.

It was a white teddy bear with a pink lace ribbon.

"It's the series I wanted. Dad remembered!"

Dione also opened her box. It was a regular teddy bear, but it was patchy, as if it was handmade.

"Mother must have made it..."

The black dragon, other intermediate class cousins, and the collateral-line children also received gifts.

"Here, the last box... is for Lady Carolin."

The child in the yellow dress exclaimed and ran to the box.

When she opened it, there was a very large brown teddy bear.

The child in the yellow dress, hugging the bear happily, glanced at me.

"Oh, but... Miss Erilott didn't receive a gift, did she?"

That's right.

There was no box for me.

It couldn't be helped.

'My father probably doesn't know about such events.'

But I thought the twins had prepared something, was I mistaken?

Dione hesitated and said,

"Want to play with this together?"

"..."

Lianthe silently looked at me, who was sitting quietly.

Suddenly, the greenhouse became quiet.

The staff looked at the children's reactions, trying to liven up the party.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"If you're cold, we can bring you a blanket."

Thanks to the staff's efforts, the conversation started again.

The child in the yellow dress passed by me, hugging the bear.

A "phut" sound came from behind.

I felt the sharp gazes of the collateral-line children on my back.

But then,

Screams—!!

The children screamed and ran in all directions.

The servants also fell over.

Because a bear was entering through the door.

'A bear?'

The person carrying the bear was...

"Abba?!"

It was my father, who said he would come with melon and blueberry.

Father put the bear down when he saw me.

It made a "thud" sound as it was very heavy, and the ground seemed to shake a bit.

"Today is the day to give a bear to my daughter."

Father kicked the bear with his foot and said,

"I caught the biggest one."

The bear, which was alive, moved, and the children screamed and scattered, making the party even more chaotic.

The servants were at a loss.

The greenhouse was completely overturned.

I looked at my father with a cloudy expression and said,

"...Hello."

"Hmm?"

"Bear, hello!"

* * *

The bear was moved back to its original habitat.

It was said that since it was a bear from the Pendeore Mountains of Astra, it wouldn't take long to move.

Father was emitting a terrifyingly dark aura.

Enzo rushed into the greenhouse.

Father glared at Enzo as if he wanted to tear him apart and said,

"Today is the day to give a bear."

"I said, 'On the day of the fairy tea party, the daughter receives a gift from her parents. And the gift is a bear'—and then you ran off..."

The greenhouse fell silent like a graveyard.

Both direct-line and collateral-line children were frozen, unable to say a word.

Everyone was rolling their eyes, watching Daemond's reaction.

Then, the twins ran in.

"I found it, I found it! Baby, I found it!"

"I found it."

They were also carrying a bear.

'A baby bear?'

It was a cute baby bear with white fur like snow.

Balzac hugged the baby bear and gave it to me.

I ended up holding it, and the baby bear, which seemed to have been born not long ago, was very soft.

Joshua smiled and said,

"It took some time to find. Sorry for being late."

"Huh?"

"It's a Snowbear. A monster. It doesn't grow taller than 100 centimeters. It's too weak to survive in the wild, so it's an endangered species."

Balzac said loudly and proudly,

"It's very tame and easy to raise! I took it from the Rancestone Baron—"

"Shut up."

"Oops."

Balzac covered his mouth with both hands.

I looked down at the small bear in my arms.

It yawned and rubbed its eyes, looking sleepy.

'Wow—!'

It's so cute!

The other children also seemed to think so, their eyes sparkling.

"So cute..."

The black dragon dropped her fan and covered her mouth with both hands.

Dione and Lianthe also stuck close to me, watching the bear.

"So cute!"

"So cute..."

The collateral-line children looked at me with very envious