After all, it was right to remove or seal an object possessed by ominous power as soon as it was found, for the future’s sake.

It was not that I was worried that someone else would be harmed.

“Sister~~ Your Highness~~~.”

The oncesilent imperial library was filled with Beris’s crying. I thought about how to comfort him again and relaxed as I walked side by side with Ronowe.

Because, Calleil had patted Beris’s head to comfort him, and he stopped crying soon.

“Why are you making such a fuss?”

I spoke as I felt already tired, just as usual.

“When I opened my eyes, Your Highness was gone… I was scared!”

But the sorrow hadn’t gone yet; Beris, seen up close, kept wiping his eyes with both hands as he sobbed and answered.

“Your Highness, why did you go out secretly without me and my brother?”

Damn, it wasn’t over. I was startled by Beris’s sudden accusation.

“Do you hate Beris?”

Stop, please stop! I was alarmed at the sight of his face about to cry again.

“I’m not sleepy now! So don’t abandon me!”

“Okay, I understand.”

I was not some ugly duckling. Though I was at a loss, I had to somehow manage the situation, so I hurriedly replied.

“Your Majesty, lunchtime is still far off.”

I heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the finally calmed Beris, while the waiting maid licked her lips.

“So may I prepare another game?”

She added that it would surely be fun, and I was curious how she could be so confident.

“Is it fun?”

“I’m curious~.”

They must be siblings. The two of them showed intense interest in the maid’s story, worthy of the great kings of curiosity.

“Now, shall we go to the playroom? I’ll prepare quickly and bring it with me.”

Meanwhile, the maid left us with the other maids and disappeared in the opposite direction, presumably to fetch the play tools.

‘It must be childishly amusing.’

I made a sulky face as we headed to the playroom.

Honestly, the ‘fun’ the maid spoke of was obviously something that would be interesting from a child’s perspective.

“Tada! Now we’re going to make cookies.”

“Wow!”

And my expectation was not wrong.

“If you nicely make the flour dough here, I’ll bake it into cookies.”

Suddenly, there was a new cloth laid on the playroom carpet, and the handson experience of kneading dough to make cookies began.

‘They’re going to make cookies with those kids? Can they eat that?’

Boppi, Ronowe, and Beris jumped with joy, but my mind was complicated.

I didn’t know what the frantic children would do with the dough, and the fact that she was willing to bake the end product made me hesitant.

In short, it would be fortunate if they didn’t eat it and die.

Stretch[Dash].

“Sister! Look at this!”

Moreover, the extraordinary children were already chatting bizarrely with the dough.

“It’s like Boppi’s butt!”

No, even if Boppi is a chubby doll, it doesn’t have an elastic butt that stretches like flour dough.

“Smells like delicious butter!”

I couldn’t understand how they could imagine that, let alone evaluate it.

“Brother, what are you going to make?”
Meanwhile, unlike me who was standing at a distance, Carlisle strode towards the children.

“I’m going to make the tastiest cookies!”

Lonowe chuckled and shouted to Carlisle, and Beris wanted to know what Carlisle would make with the dough.

“No, kids, don’t just try to make cookies.”

All that’s in your heads is food. I wished the children would think of something more creative.

“You can make whatever you want.”

Since we’re making cookies, the confident game the maid spoke of will ultimately become a tactile game.

‘I’ve read in books that it’s good for children’s emotional development, but….’

Somehow, the thought of eating the dough kneaded by dirty little hands made me lose my appetite.

‘I feel nauseous thinking about eating that later.’

It may sound cruel, but that’s how I felt. It would have been better to ask the chef to make proper cookies.

‘Besides, flour is a staple, to use it like this.’

Playing with food when there are starving people…. I really wanted to scold them for being thoughtless.

“You should make it too, Your Highness! It’s fun!”

“Yeah, yeah….”

Sigh, I couldn’t complain like this with the body of a threeyearold. I took the dough Lonowe handed me with a chubby face.

“I’m making Poppy!”

How much time had passed since then?

‘Is that… supposed to be Poppy?’

I was amazed to see the dough running down, with only the eyes, nose, and mouth barely attached.

“I made Your Highness’s face.”

“Let me see.”

I was astonished, thinking that’s not even art, when my attention went to Carlisle, who said he had made my face. Carlisle was the smartest of the three, so I thought his skill might be passable.

But…

‘How does that look like me?’

Carlisle’s dough wasn’t dripping like Beris’s, but the result did not resemble my face at all.

“You have… the skill that would make the great sculptor Pygmalion weep.”