TPNSIA-10

Chapter 10. Tearful Hide-and-Seek (2)

“Please stop crying.”

I sighed as I looked at Edwin, who showed absolutely no sign of stopping.

“I’m sorry I was late, but I did find Your Highness in the end, didn’t I?”

“Hnnngh—!”

I hadn’t intended to let him go so far as to blow his nose, but the brat wiped it right on my sleeve.

Seeing the sticky trail of snot clinging to the fabric made my face twist involuntarily.

I quickly hid my sleeve behind my back and continued.

“Please stop crying. I couldn’t help being late because the head maid stopped me on the way.”

On my way here, the head maid had scolded me, demanding to know why I was leisurely wandering around while leaving the prince unattended somewhere.

I could still remember the incredulous look she had given me when I told her I was playing hide-and-seek with him.

Meanwhile, after hearing my explanation, Edwin looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

“…Why did you look for me?”

Why did I look for him?

Wasn’t hide-and-seek supposed to end when the seeker found the person hiding?

It was a truly incomprehensible question.

“Because the game wouldn’t end unless I found Your Highness.”

When I answered as if it were obvious, Edwin pursed his lips.

Just what kind of answer had this brat wanted to hear?

I set Edwin on his feet, stood up, and gently patted Emilia on the bottom.

Unlike her crybaby brother, Emilia had stopped crying quite easily.

“Anyway, since I won, Your Highness will be eating all of your vegetables.”

At that moment, Edwin’s face, which had finally begun to settle, turned white as a sheet.

“They’re all cold now! How am I supposed to eat this?! Vegetables taste even worse when they’re cold!”

Back in the dining room, Edwin stared miserably at the mountain of vegetables piled on his plate.

“I’ll have them reheated.”

“Ugh! Forget it!”

After glaring at his plate for a long while, he scooped up a piece of vegetable with his spoon and shoved it into Emilia’s mouth.

Unlike her brother, the little princess had a healthy appetite and happily munched away.

“A bet is a bet, Your Highness.”

I moved Emilia farther away from him.

Edwin glared at me.

“Do you enjoy bullying me?”

“Bullying you? Vegetables are good for your health.”

“Who cares if they’re healthy?! They taste awful!”

“Your Highness, the world of competition is always merciless. If the loser promised to eat something, then the loser must eat it no matter how terrible it tastes.”

His face crumpled at the word loser, but eventually he put the vegetables into his mouth.

“Uuuugh—!”

And the poor thing trembled from head to toe as he did so.

After finally finishing the meal through considerable hardship, the prince ran straight into the rear garden without so much as looking back.

“Big Brother! Wait for Lia! Lia wants to come too!”

Watching Edwin race across the green lawn with his younger sister, he looked so lively that it was difficult to believe he had been crying only a short while ago.

As I stood beneath the shade of a tree with my arms folded, I remembered what he had said that morning.

—She died.

Edwin had clearly told me that his previous nanny was dead.

Considering how reluctant the servants are to talk about the former nanny, it probably wasn’t a particularly honorable death.

I tilted my head as I watched the prince running around the garden.

From the way he talks about her, he seems to have been quite close to his previous nanny.

And yet, despite experiencing the death of someone close to him, he could still smile so brightly.

Is he naturally like that, or does he simply not think very deeply about things?

Just then, something caught my eye on Edwin’s raised wrist.

It was the bracelet I had recovered for him from those insolent servants.

Even under the sunlight, the pale pearl bracelet looked strangely familiar.

Why had it been bothering me ever since I first saw it?

It’s the sort of accessory you could find anywhere.

That was right.

It was nothing more than a cheap piece of jewelry that could be found anywhere.

The real question was why a prince of an entire empire carried around such an ordinary trinket as though it were a protective charm.

Unable to suppress my curiosity, I did something unlike myself and approached him first.

“Your Highness, I have a question.”

When I came closer, Edwin turned toward me with a thoroughly sulky expression.

Apparently, he was still bitter about being forced to eat those vegetables.

“What question?”

“That bracelet. Is it precious to Your Highness?”

Edwin froze for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

“Why are you curious about that?”

“You seemed very protective of it before, and you always keep it close.”

He remained silent.

Instead, Emilia answered for him.

“Big Brother’s bracelet used to belong to Emma! Emma gave it to Big Brother!”

“Lia! You don’t have to tell that woman things like that.”

Edwin hurriedly scolded his sister.

But the little princess merely put on an innocent expression that practically screamed, I don’t know anything.

Edwin sighed at his sister before turning back to me.

After staring at me for a moment, he spoke in a prickly voice.

“Yeah. It’s very important to me. It’s something Emma left behind.”

Edwin fiddled with the bracelet around his wrist.

“She said this was her final wish.”

“Her wish?”

“Yeah. Emma said she wanted me to be happy. I guess that was her last wish.”

To spend the final moments of one’s life wishing for the happiness of someone else’s child…

…Even the way she thought sounds just like that woman.

Just then, someone tapped my hand.

It was Edwin.

“Here. A present.”

He held out his closed right fist toward me.

He had looked angry only moments ago, yet now he was suddenly giving me a gift.

Perhaps he was a more admirable child than I had thought, one who at least knew how to respect his elders.

“Thank you.”

The moment I reached out to accept it, Edwin’s lips suddenly curled into a mischievous grin.

“Pwahaha! Revenge!”

Edwin dropped a large green object into my palm.

Long and slender, the identity of the creature was…

A grasshopper.

“……”

Edwin stared at me with barely contained excitement.

Apparently, he expected me to shriek or faint in terror.

Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of giving him the reaction he wanted.

“I’m not particularly fond of insects. I’ll return it to you.”

Politely grabbing the grasshopper by its hind legs, I gently placed it on top of Edwin’s head.

For a moment, both Edwin and the grasshopper stared blankly at me as if equally confused.

“AAH! What are you doing?!”

Only after finally realizing what had happened did Edwin violently shake his head and fume.

“You’re no fun at all! I’m going back to my room!”

“Very well.”

“Emilia, come on! Let’s go play inside!”

Edwin grabbed his little sister and headed back into the palace.

I was just about to follow them when—

I felt an uncomfortable prickling sensation against the back of my head.

Someone was watching me.

I quietly turned around.

Behind me were only a long wall, trees, and thick bushes.

Even a worthless prince has someone keeping an eye on him, huh?

Royal families really did deserve recognition for being needlessly suspicious.

I stared toward a distant tree, the corner of my mouth stretching into a faint smile.

Though whoever it is doesn’t seem particularly skilled.

I kept my gaze fixed there for another moment before a sharp shout reached my ears.

“Hey! Why aren’t you following us?! Hurry up!”

Edwin and Emilia.

Two pairs of innocent eyes were staring at me.

“I’m coming.”

I wouldn’t be staying here for long anyway.

There was no reason to concern myself with every little thing.

Straightening my clothes, I casually turned away.

Am I having bad luck today?

While walking with the imperial siblings, I happened to run into the head maid.

The head maid seemed to have no interest in my presence whatsoever.

She looked at Edwin, gave him a slight bow, then swept a sharp gaze over him.

“Your Highness, did you leave the Prince’s Palace yesterday?”

Edwin visibly shrank at the question.

He looked like a frightened fawn.

He called her an old hag so confidently when he was talking to me.

After hesitating for quite some time, Edwin finally answered in a tiny voice.

“N-No. I didn’t go out…”

“Please tell me the truth. Are you certain you didn’t leave?”

At the head maid’s icy tone, Edwin’s face filled with fear.

“Lying is wrong, Your Highness.”

“W-Well…”

“One of the maids attending Your Highness clearly reported that you visited the stables yesterday. Is that not true?”

Ah.

Was it the maid who had brought his wash water?

Come to think of it, I had mentioned the stables in front of her.

She ran off and tattled that quickly? What remarkable loyalty.

I was almost impressed by the nameless maid’s devotion to the head maid.

“I’ll ask you one more time, Your Highness. Did you truly not go outside yesterday?”

“I just…”

“If that is the case, then I suppose I’ll have to punish the maid for making a false report.”

Edwin hurriedly opened his mouth.

“I-I only went out for a little while! I just went for a walk!”

Why was he so frightened?

I couldn’t understand his reaction.

This was the same brat who had fearlessly challenged those huge stable hands.

Why was he acting like this now?

Meanwhile, after hearing Edwin’s answer, the head maid’s expression became even harsher.

“A walk? I’m certain I told Your Highness not to wander around without my permission.”

“He went out with me.”

When I suddenly intervened, the head maid’s brow furrowed.

Edwin reacted the same way.

The brat looked utterly stunned that I had taken his side.

“What do you mean by that, Lady Brown?”

“His Highness said he was feeling stifled from staying inside the Prince’s Palace all the time, so I accompanied him outside for a walk.”

Good.

That sounded quite convincingly like something a nanny would say.

I was rather pleased with my own answer, but the head maid’s expression only twisted further.

She looked even more displeased than she had on the day I first woke up here and she came looking for me.

“How ridiculous.”

The head maid narrowed her eyes and sneered.

“Lady Brown, what right do you have to take His Highness outside without permission?”