Home/The Prince died, so we're starting over!/ch13

Episode 13

'Well, it's not like I don't understand how the little one feels.'

The Third Prince must have wanted to stay aloof and not fall for a mere face.

But Hariella was just too overwhelmingly pretty for that.

I'd had a similar experience myself.

When I'd first possessed this body, I'd pinched Hariella's cheeks a dozen times a day.

If I could have, I'd have wanted to bite those chubby cheeks, but physically, that was impossible. So I settled for pinching them instead.

"By any chance, do you also want to bite my cheeks?"

Perhaps the Third Prince...?

"No! I swear, I have never once entertained such a shameless thought!"

"Oh, is that so?"

Ah, I guess that wasn't it. His vehement denial made it a bit awkward.

I'd thought wanting to nibble on cute little children was a universal human desire.

I scratched my cheek in embarrassment.

The Third Prince frantically stammered out excuses, and when it seemed I wasn't listening, he raised his voice even more.

"I-I did think Lady Lulupel looked like an angel who had descended from the heavens, but I absolutely never had the shameful thought of wanting to bite your cheeks!"

The Third Prince shouted so loudly that the dining room echoed.

"...Pardon?"

I leaned back slightly with a rather put-off expression.

I needed to stay calm.

To my eyes, the Third Prince's thoughts seemed far stranger, but in this romance novel world, maybe it was different.

"...Gasp!"

Hmm, seems that thought was wrong too.

The Third Prince flinched so hard his rear end lifted off the chair, then buried his face in his tiny palms.

Even for a character in a romance novel, calling someone a fallen angel was apparently quite embarrassing.

"Oh my..."

Somewhere, a small gasp of admiration reached my ears.

I followed the sound with my gaze. At the entrance of the dining room, servants had gathered in small clusters, whispering among themselves.

They must have rushed over at the sound of breaking teacups, only to stop at the door upon hearing the Third Prince's ill-timed praise of Hariella's beauty.

"...Hmm, we'd better move somewhere else."

I wasn't keen on becoming a spectacle for the servants.

Rumors spread especially fast among the help—footless words travel a thousand miles, as they say.

Getting down from my chair, I trotted over to the Third Prince, who was frozen in place without moving a muscle.

Standing beside him, I poked his arm repeatedly.

The Third Prince's arm was soft and plump, as a child's should be, but its owner was as unyielding as a stone statue.

"Your Highness, are you planning to stay here forever? Don't you want to play with an angel like me?"

His shyness was cute, so I teased him lightly.

The Third Prince only shrugged his shoulders in silence.

Surely he wasn't...

"...Are you crying?"

"I am not!"

Oh my. He is. He's crying.

I'd only teased him a little because I was annoyed he'd stirred up the Count and Countess behind my back, but now the Third Prince was sobbing pitifully, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Oh dear. I hadn't meant to make him cry... Now I feel bad for no reason.

I was flustered. It seemed I really did have a talent for villainy.

Come to think of it, I'd always been good at everything since I was a child. Talent was truly fearsome.

"...Yes, you're not crying. That's very impressive. Now, shall we go somewhere else before you get a reputation as a crybaby?"

"I'm really not crying!"

"Of course. If you're not crying, then you can walk just fine, right?"

I spoke in the gentlest tone possible, coaxing the Third Prince as I took his hand.

He wiped his tears diligently but didn't refuse my hand.

He obediently rose like a well-behaved child.

Carefully guiding him so he wouldn't step on the broken teacup shards, I led him out of the dining room.

As we entered the corridor, someone called out to us. An unfamiliar man.

"Good day, Lady Lulupel. I'll take His Highness from here. Please hand him over."

"Who are you?"

The man wore a uniform distinctly different from the Rüdebekia Court attendants. Nor was he a servant of the Lulupel household.

I immediately recognized him as the Third Prince's personal attendant, but I deliberately asked for his name.

The attendant, frowning, bowed reluctantly.

"Forgive me. I am Andrew, His Highness's direct attendant."

Hmm, Anthony. That's a very short first name. Definitely an extra.

The attendant then informed me he was the second son of the Viscount So-and-so.

That didn't seem like important information, so I let it go in one ear and out the other.

"Then may I take His Highness now? He has other engagements."

"Really? What engagements?"

"I don't see that it's my duty to inform you, my lady."

Was the Viscount So-and-so's house particularly distinguished?

The attendant's attitude was so rude that I had to wonder.

Of course, being a prince's attendant, he probably had decent backing and high pride.

But even considering all that, the Third Prince's attendant was inexplicably insolent.

Where did this anachronistic extra suddenly pop out from?

"Why wouldn't I need to know? You seem to be unaware, but I have a prior engagement with His Highness."

"You, my lady? What prior engagement?"

"Well, I don't see that it's my duty to tell you."

As I was wasting my time in a pointless verbal spar with the attendant, a sudden question made me glance at the Third Prince.

The Third Prince, who should have been rebuking his disrespectful attendant, was hiding behind me, trembling.

'Huh? Is he scared right now?'

Suddenly, I remembered that in the original story, the Third Prince was a powerless puppet.

Come to think of it, I'd never once considered why the Third Prince was so powerless.

Could it be that this little one was like that? Some kind of neglected prince?

"Anyway, how long are you going to block my way?"

"Once you release His Highness's hand, I shall—"

"I told you, we have a prior engagement! Why do you make me say the same thing twice?"

Anderson—no, was it Anchovy?

Whatever his name was—Andy-something—the attendant looked down at me with an amused smirk.

He was insufferable.

"If you haven't received proper attendant training, I could lend you one of our spare hands! It's only been three months on the job, but at least they'd be better than you!"

True to my role as the villainess of a third-rate romance novel, I openly rebuked the attendant.

I didn't know the intricate, roundabout noble speech, nor did I care to use it.

Because I'd never once set foot outside the territory since possessing this body.

I felt a bit like a spoiled rich girl who thought nothing of disrespecting adults.

It didn't sit entirely well with me, but in this world, being looked down upon by one's inferiors brought nothing good.

I'd heard that a lord's daughter had slapped a servant just for blocking her path.

Comparatively speaking, I was quite modern and ladylike.

"Now, Your Highness. Shall we go play? You promised to play with this angel, remember?"

The Third Prince looked back and forth between me and the attendant, trembling, then squeezed his eyes shut and buried his head behind my back.

It was like a three-year-old thinking that if only their head was hidden, the rest of them was too. So adorable.

Clutching the Third Prince's hand firmly, I decided to ignore the attendant and continue on my way.

Even as I started walking, the attendant didn't move aside.

Nor did I change course, so we inevitably collided.

I put as much strength as I could into my shoulder and shoved him.

The size difference between us was like a wild boar and a sparrow, yet oddly, he was pushed back easily.

He must have let his guard down, thinking I was just a child.

Hmph.

I stuck my tongue out at the attendant and climbed one step.

Then I entered the nearest room.

I was the only daughter of this court's highest administrator, and the one beside me was the owner of this court.

There was no place we couldn't enter freely.

"Good! We found the right room!"

Taking the frightened Third Prince too far away would have been a hassle, so I'd picked a room nearby. Lucky for us, it turned out to be a playroom.

There was no better place for two eight-year-olds to go alone.

"Now then, shall we... um... play with blocks?"

Enunciating the words "play with blocks" with emphasis before closing the door, I slammed it shut.

And of course, I didn't forget to carefully lock it.

With this, no one in the Rüdebekia Court would imagine that the Third Prince and I had held a secret meeting alone together.

Well, how many people would suspect such a thing when seeing two eight-year-old children together anyway...

But you never knew.

That An—whatever his name was—that anchovy-like attendant we'd just encountered was suspicious enough. It never hurt to be cautious.

Walking further into the room, I approached the cabinet that had been visible as soon as we entered.

Inside the cabinet were three boxes filled with colorful blocks.

"Who was that guy just now?"

I asked the Third Prince about the attendant while pulling out a block box from the cabinet.

The Third Prince, who had been trembling ever since we entered the playroom, calmed down with surprising speed.

But he didn't answer my question. He just smiled weakly.

It was clear from every angle that there was a lot of backstory there.

But while I was curious, I also didn't really want to know.

The secret backstory of a romance novel's sub-male lead—just the thought of it seemed like a tremendous hassle.

I didn't need to get involved in such complicated affairs.

The female lead would sort it all out on her own anyway.

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