I crossed my arms and nodded towards him. Somehow, the more I thought of Sasha, the more he seemed unappetizing, so I spat out for him to do as he pleased or not, and as I looked at Ronowe, I counted numbers in my mind and accidentally fell asleep.

‘This…’

When I came to, the surroundings were too quiet. Furthermore, Sasha was nowhere to be seen, and I realized that he had left while I was asleep.

I then tilted my head and considered calling a maid. Being idle alone was inefficient.

“……Hello, Your Highness.”

Suddenly, a whisper in my ear made my skin crawl, and I shivered all over.

“Why are you here?”

Startled, my eyes widened, and I stuck to the corner of the cushioned chair. I had never anticipated that Lillith would be right in front of me.

“Her Majesty commanded me to check on Your Highness.”

“It’s not me who fainted; it’s that one.”

“Yes, I know.”

What kind of answer was that? I felt my startled emotion evaporate.

“Miss, are you conscious?”

In the midst of this, someone who looked like a knight from the Fleur family approached Ronowe.

“My head hurts too much.”

Ronowe, recognizing a familiar person, managed to smile weakly and then left the bed and blankets where she had been lying, going into the knight’s arms.

“I will escort you directly to the territory.”

The knight of the Fleur family, realizing that Ronowe’s condition was still not good, slightly hardened his face. I thought now that Ronowe too was soon going to leave, and decided to greet her if she came closer.

“Ah, Your Highness…”

However, Ronowe, who had just awakened, discovered me from afar and wore an uncharacteristically unchildlike expression. The child who seemed like wet, sagging laundry now had eyes that sparkled like jewels holding sunlight.

“You’ve been watching over poor Ronowe?”

“No, that’s not it…”

Since I could not say that I had been only arguing politely with Sasha and dozing off, I ended up in an ambiguous situation.

“We are good friends after all.”

Unable to respond properly and hesitating, Ronowe judged on her own and smiled brightly.

Chilling.

Suddenly, for some reason, Ronowe’s eyes flickered red, instigating terror. I shivered down my spine at the terrifying atmosphere she couldn’t have normally conjured.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

Barely regaining my senses, I found Lillith, who had been right next to me, staring intently at Ronowe’s retreating figure.

She looked like a hunter carefully watching, as if to see if there was anything to pick apart.

‘You think Ronowe is a child you can take advantage of?’

Why were the people around me all like this? I clicked my tongue internally and grumbled.

“I was nervous, now I’m tired.”

“I’ll escort you to your bedroom, Princess.”

Thinking I needed time alone to rest, I decided to move. But at that moment, Lillith did not immediately leave, but followed me to the bedroom.
I pretended to be fast asleep as soon as I lay down in bed, fuming at the overly clingy Lilis, who was whining about being able to hug herself. Ignoring those who cling annoyingly even when showing dislike was the cure.

Dinner was always the same.

I sneakily gave a potato to Poppy, listened to Jeff’s and Hecate’s prattle and nagging, strolled through the garden with many trees bearing fresh fruits, and then came into the bedroom.

“I have something to show you before bed.”

As I was doing this and that, the sky had already darkened, and the stars were twinkling.

“Bring the gift that Sasha gave.”

I told the maid, peeking out the window.

“Does our daughter have something to show?”

Then Jeff, seated to my right, leaned towards me, showing interest.

“I want to see it quickly~ I wonder what it is.”

Hecate laughed, her voice rising in pitch.

‘It’s just a toy, what a fuss.’

I clicked my tongue inside and waited for the maid, smirking.

Perhaps the appearance of receiving love and attention from Jeff and Hecate was pleasing, for the maid who appeared shortly after was also smiling.

“This is it.”

Ugh, awkward. I coughed and quickly snatched the toy from the hand that the approaching maid held out.

“Sasha got it from an uncle who lives in a faraway land.”

After telling them the name was Matryoshka, Jeff and Hecate repeated it a few times, finding it intriguing.

“I’ve never seen something like this, Your Majesty.”

“Could you possibly show how to play with it?”

It wasn’t difficult.

‘It’s as easy as eating cold porridge.’

I felt slightly smug at Jeff and Hecate’s applause. Disassembling the Matryoshka and arranging them by size was something I had observed when I had let Beris play with it first.

“How do you clean it up?”

“Just reverse the method we first used.”

It was literal. If you put the smallest one into the slightly larger one’s body, it was done quickly.

“Since the Duke of Vladimir gave such a precious gift, we must thank him.”

Jeff, laughing out loud, suddenly lifted me and sat me on his thigh. He soon stroked my hair, saying,

“Did you forget to nap because you were playing with such an amazing toy?”

“No, it’s because of Ronowe.”