“Your Highness, then please alternate between carrying me and Miranda!”

In the midst of grumbling to himself, the brown-haired maid Hailey pretended to be mortified.

‘Why are they like this?’

He must’ve also wanted to be carried by me.

‘I’m too smart, they can’t treat me like a baby and it’s problematic.’

This is tricky.

‘I knew they were peculiar, but they’re no different from Jeff and Hecate.’

What’s the big deal about being carried? Suddenly, the image of Jeff crawling on the floor and carrying me on his back flashed in my mind.

They were all severely fixated.

“Fine. But figure out the order yourselves. It’s too bothersome for me to direct every little thing just for the sake of fairness.”

I decided to let things take their course.

“Yes!”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

They beamed as if pleased I didn’t want to micromanage.

‘Darn, I forgot and used a difficult word.’

Damn, I had used the word ‘fairness’, and I worried the maids would find me odd.

‘I needlessly worried. No one cares but me.’

Yet, no one had any objections. Maybe they were too happy about getting to carry me. I had been too sensitive.

‘Well, they see me as a genius, so maybe it’s natural?’

I thought to myself with relief.

‘But those two… Anyone would think they haven’t touched a hair on me.’

I’m the Empire’s only princess, so I should be well taken care of, but I felt more than a sense of obligation from them.

If I didn’t have my past life’s memories, I would’ve been an arrogant, ill-mannered, and frequently sickly person.

“Your Highness, shall we go meet Prince Sasha now?”

“Alright.”

“Then let’s go~.”

Did they think I would clap because I was happy?

I saw the maids playfully mimicking a trumpet with their hands and nodded with a bored expression.

Squeak—.

And the reception room where Sasha was waiting could be reached in about 10 minutes.

“Your Highness! I’m so glad you’re well!”

Sasha, on the other hand, greeted me with tears in his eyes.

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

To be honest, Sasha hadn’t done anything terrible to me, but seeing him switch from smiling to crying didn’t make me feel glad.

Of course, it would be best for the maids to see me in good spirits, even if I had to act.

“Sit back down, we can’t talk like this.”

He had sent gifts and letters while I was sick, so I shouldn’t dislike him for no reason.

Still, it was hard to get used to this Sasha.

Clatter—.

“Your Highness, we’ll take our leave now.”

A moment later, a maid set down some tea and snacks, bowed politely, and said,

“If you need anything, just ring this bell.”

“Got it.”

I pretended not to care, but my face heated up at the word ‘bell.’

‘Why did they bring that?’

I already disliked being treated like a toddler, and this made it worse. I wanted to tell them to take it back.

Thud!

“Was that tearful expression just an act?”

“About half of it was genuine.”

Wow, Sasha’s expression changed as soon as the maids left the room. I bluntly responded.

‘Is he a two-faced guy or what? He’s a true acting genius.’
If revealing my true feelings had been a mistake, I would have either panicked or tried to cover it up with plausible words. But Sasha acted as if everything was natural and he had done nothing wrong.

“What’s more, may I share something fascinating I saw at the Imperial Palace today?”

“What is it?”

I feigned interest.

Sasha was subtly shifting the topic, so he wasn’t entirely stupid.

“While Father was talking with His Majesty the Emperor, I took some time to wander alone.”

Right, of course. I inwardly rejoiced, knowing that no matter how smart he was, Sasha couldn’t participate in serious matters like meetings.

I couldn’t pinpoint why, but what Sasha just said seemed to prove that he was still just a child at best.

“Then, I happened to see a blonde maid with blue eyes wandering around outside the window.”

Sasha grew serious, his chin propped up as if he were a detective piecing together clues, and added that it seemed like she was up to no good, almost like a thief.

“Soon after, she handed a letter to a man in a shady area.”

“Isn’t that just lovers exchanging secret letters?”

I cynically retorted, thinking he had blown a trivial matter out of proportion.

“Your Highness is wise; you even know about that.”

Then Sasha paused, clutching his belly with both hands and letting out a hearty laugh.

“Stop laughing! If I’m wrong, just tell me the correct answer!”

“Very well, Your Highness.”

Annoyed, I let out a loud “pfft,” and Sasha wiped the corner of his eye before resuming his story.

“I suspect those two might be spies. Any guesses why?”

“How would I know? I wasn’t there.”

He said he’d share something fascinating but sat there giving me a quiz instead. I pouted, and Sasha claimed there was no romantic vibe between the two.

“And my family’s informants have given me information that added confidence to my theory.”

“…What?”

I was about to give a harsh critique to his nonsensical story when I held back.

“What’s the point of you knowing this? Does Duke Vladimir think it’s fine for you to know secrets?”