And the dining room fell into a chilly silence.

The remaining maids who stayed to serve stood still, pretending not to have heard.

‘Well, would you look at this guy?’

I stared intently at Sasha, who suddenly called me sister.

‘Acting cute, aren’t we?’

I wiped the childlike smile off my face and momentarily wore the expression of someone who had seen something they shouldn’t have.

It was strange that this little one and I were meeting for the first time, yet as soon as Jeff left the dining room, he called me sister so familiarly. I couldn’t understand why he was acting this way.

“Sister?”

I was already dumbfounded by the unexpected form of address, and Sasha called me sister once again.

This time, he even tilted his head and gave a faint smile.

‘He clearly looks older than me, yet he’s calling me sister?’

The way he was smiling so brightly, why did he seem so devilish?

“Why are you pretending to be close? I’m seeing you for the first time.”

I kept my guard up against Sasha internally while maintaining a sullen expression.

“Well, His Majesty told me to be close with Your Highness.”

Sasha responded politely and elegantly, regardless of my cold reaction. I even had the illusion that a golden light flashed around the little one for a moment before fading away.

‘I don’t think he ever said that.’

Recalling Jeff’s warning to Sasha moments ago, I became even more puzzled.

“Hey, are you good at studying?”

I finally asked, resting my chin on one hand.

“Although I am infinitely lacking compared to Your intelligent Highness, I have learned many disciplines to be of help to you.”

To return to the polite attitude of a noble addressing royalty. Sasha had stopped using informal speech and switched to formal language.

‘What’s with this kid?’

His way of addressing me changed back to “Your Highness.”

‘First he called me sister, and now he’s saying Your Highness…’

Why was he acting like this? I felt my head filling with question marks.

‘By the way, I have a strange feeling like I’ve met him somewhere before.’

The thought of finishing my meal disappeared, and I placed both hands on my knees, clenching my fists. Even as I stared at Sasha with suspicion, he maintained his smiling face. That made me feel even more uncomfortable.

‘He’s clearly just a kid, so there’s no way I could have met him when I was the emperor.’

Sasha looked only a few years older than the princess. At most, he would be the same age as Carlyle or perhaps a year older.

In other words, this means he wasn’t even born when I was emperor.

‘Why do I have this feeling?’

That’s why it was even more confusing.

“Ah, right. Dad only called you by your name, so…”

I adjusted my posture and changed the subject.

“Which family do you belong to?”

I felt the need to know more about Sasha for now.

“My family is Vladimir.”

Sasha revealed his origins without a hint of hesitation.

‘If it’s the Vladimir family, that’s a long-standing house that has produced numerous advisors.’

I was inwardly surprised that Sasha was a child of the Vladimir family.

‘They’re known to be quite prideful even among the so-called blue bloods.’

But… did that family have red hair?

If my memory serves me right, many in the Vladimir family had brown hair.

“I see. So what are you going to do when you come for education?”

“I suppose we’ll study together, Your Highness.”

Looking at Sasha who answered with a laugh, I guessed Jeff’s intention.

‘So the Fleur kids are simply playmates, and this one is to be kept close for political purposes?’

Early education may be the trend, but to start teaching state affairs already.

‘That Jeff, he’s not completely crazy after all.’

I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

“What kind of children are these Fleur kids that His Majesty the Emperor mentioned earlier?”

Soon after, Sasha asked again.

“Those kids should be finished eating and resting by now. I’ll introduce you.”

Seeing his interest in the Fleur children, I couldn’t gauge how much noisier it would get. Still, if these rascals start acting up without knowing their limits, having one more person to act as a sedative could be considered a gain.

“Bring Carlyle and Enge… no, Ronowe and Berith to the garden.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I soon gestured for the standing maids to come closer and gave the order.

“Let’s go to the garden.”

I got down from my chair and told Sasha to go to the garden right away. The meal was just finished, and there was no reason to stay in the dining room any longer.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Sasha followed me with a gentle smile.

* * *

The garden where we were all to meet was beautifully landscaped, befitting a garden in the imperial palace.

In the center was a small pond with an arched bridge crossing over it, and here and there, gorgeous rose bushes and installations further enhanced its splendor.

Swoosh-

The place where I was to meet the rascals was a glass-roofed pavilion at the end of the garden’s pond, and it was very beautiful with colorful flower beds and a fountain nearby.

“Kyaa~”

As soon as they arrived, Ronowe and Berith started running around, while Carlyle sat down in the pavilion, stacking a few books beside him and concentrating on reading.

I watched that scene from afar as I walked side by side with Sasha.

“Princess!”

“It’s the Princess!”

Ronowe, who was the first to see me coming, rushed to hug me, and soon after, Carlyle hurriedly left his seat and walked behind Berith.

Everyone looked happy to see me again.

“This is Ronowe, Berith, and Carlyle.”

I glanced at Carlyle and Sasha standing face to face and introduced them.

“My companions. They all came from the Fleur family.”

“Nice to meet you!”

The Fleur siblings greeted Sasha with bright smiles.

“I’m Ronowe Marsha Fleur!”

Ronowe greeted elegantly and cutely, lifting the hem of her dress.

“I’m Carlyle Facinelli Bergamot.”

Berith, being shy, hid behind Ronowe, while Carlyle placed his hand on one side of his chest, observing formalities.

“I am Sasha Dave Vladimir of the Vladimir family, here to assist in Your Highness’s studies.”

Sasha introduced himself with a grin.

“Princess! We were playing hide-and-seek!”

“Let’s play together!”

No sooner had they introduced themselves than the Fleur siblings rushed to me, begging to play.

“Let’s play together~ Brother, let’s continue our hide-and-seek.”

Feeling that clinging to me alone wasn’t enough, Berith also asked Carlyle to play together.

“Alright.”

Unable to refuse the earnest request, Carlyle agreed.

“You’ll play too, won’t you, Princess?”

Meanwhile, Ronowe asked me to join the hide-and-seek game with sparkling eyes, and I hesitated to answer.

“Do I have to be ‘it’ again?”

But before the game started, Berith whimpered, saying he was tired of being ‘it’.

“Then I’ll be the first seeker.”

Sasha offered to be ‘it’ instead of Berith, who didn’t want to be the seeker.

“Start!”

At that moment, as if they had been waiting for this, the Fleur siblings announced the start of the game with loud voices and quickly hid themselves.

‘I didn’t say I was playing…’

I wondered how it had come to this, but having inadvertently started, I decided to hide anyway.

With that, I diligently searched for a hiding place and came behind a large bush.

Worried that someone might be following, I poked my face out slightly and looked around, but fortunately, no one was coming after me.

“Phew…”

Just as I was sighing in relief…

“Shh.”

“!”

Carlyle, whom I didn’t know was hiding in the same place, came close and put his index finger on his lips. He gestured for me to be quiet.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes.”

Watching Carlyle ask in a lowered voice, I thought,

‘That startled me.’

I almost screamed.

“Let’s hide together. Sasha won’t come this far.”

“Okay.”

I sat down on the ground with a thud, praying for it to end quickly.

“Your Highness.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Carlyle spoke softly.

“I can teach you academics too. I’ll learn and teach you.”

I was taken aback.

‘What is he suddenly talking about?’

I pondered why he was bringing up academics out of nowhere.

‘Ah, maybe he likes teaching children?’

Thinking of Ronowe and Berith who love to hop around, I figured it wasn’t unreasonable.

‘Carlyle must be overseeing the studies of those troublemakers.’

I smiled, resting my chin on my hand.

‘This kid, how admirable~’

Then I gave a positive answer.

“Alright, thank you.”

Finding it endearing, I tried to smile as brightly as I could.

“Waaah~! I’ve been found!”

At that moment, Ronowe’s voice was heard from a distance along with a rustling sound.

“Haha, I found you.”

“Tch.”

Sasha, who was excellently fulfilling his role as the seeker, laughed cheerfully, but Ronowe was displeased about being caught.

“Berith is here too!”

Subsequently, perhaps upset about being caught first, Ronowe dragged out Berith who had been hiding nearby.

“Sister, that’s not fair!”

“What’s not fair!”

Because of this, the Fleur siblings bickered for a while, and Sasha spoke loudly, as if intentionally for us to hear.

“Then the remaining people are… Her Highness and Young Master Carlyle. I wonder where they could be?”

I tried to stay as still as possible to avoid being caught.

However, my legs were hurting, and I inadvertently made a rustling sound while trying to change my position.

‘Don’t come, don’t come!’

Soon after, I tensed up hearing footsteps approaching from afar.

Ironically, I had been wishing for the game to end quickly, but now that I was in danger of being caught, my mind changed. I pressed my lips tightly with both hands, fearing even my breathing might be heard.

My gaze kept turning towards the back of the bush.

“Could they be here…?”

Just as Sasha came very close.

Grab!

Just before being discovered, I grabbed Carlyle’s wrist and ran without thinking.

“Y-Your Highness?”

Carlyle, surprised by the sudden action, looked at me as if asking why I was doing this.

“We can’t be caught like this!”

I answered very urgently while moving my legs with all my might.

“Run!”

At the end, I shouted loudly.