People Aren't Meant to Be Fixed! - Chapter 15

I stared at the food in a daze, feeling my mouth water uncontrollably at the sight of the meat dish.

At this moment, I felt like I had lived until today just to eat that meat, and I wanted to start eating as soon as possible. The effect of the meat was truly remarkable.

“The weather is cold. Go and bring a blanket.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Meanwhile, as the day darkened and the temperature dropped, Jeff said we should keep our body temperature warm to avoid catching a cold, and gave various orders to the maid.

The fellow didn’t put me down on the chair right away, but walked around holding me, and during all this, I kept my gaze fixed on the meat dish on the table.

“Your Majesty, as you ordered, I have brought something to keep the Princess warm.”

A little while later. The maid who had quickly moved to find something to cover me, wrapped a blanket around my body in front of Jeff.

To prevent the blanket from slipping off while moving during the meal, she even secured it with a cute yellow ribbon pin around the neck, creating an effect that looked like a matching set with the dress.

“Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion that way.”

“Yes!”

Since I had been thinking about eating meat for a long time, I ate frantically when the meal started. Of course, being aware of the many eyes watching and having been an emperor in my past life, I was mindful of my appearance and didn’t eat greedily.

Still, the fact that I ended up eating voraciously was because I was so hungry. However, being only 3 years old and still cute, it wasn’t seen as particularly unseemly in others’ eyes.

And Jeff watched me eating heartily, worried that I might get an upset stomach.

“Would you like to try this honey-glazed potato too? It’s very sweet and delicious.”

Wanting me to eat a balanced meal, Jeff asked me to try a potato dish among the other foods. His eyes shone eagerly, as if desperately hoping I would eat the dish he had pointed out.

I reluctantly shifted my gaze at Jeff’s words, but the potato dish didn’t appeal to me.

‘What a potato-head.’

Since I didn’t like it enough to reach for it immediately, I slightly pressed my lips with the fork. I was planning to show my refusal through action.

Swoosh-.

But at that moment, taking advantage of my hesitation to eat the potato dish, Poppy, who had been still until now, moved and reached out towards the potato.

Tup!

“No. You can’t eat, you’re a doll.”

Hey, I said I didn’t want to eat it, not that I’d give it to someone else. I quickly reached out to stop Poppy.

“Kueek…”

Making a strange sound and flapping about, Poppy then looked up at me with desperate eyes full of sorrow. It was a look that seemed to ask if I really wouldn’t give it even after seeing this.

‘Why are you reminding me of those weirdos?’

I inwardly exclaimed in shock.

“Here, eat it. I won’t be responsible if you get sick later.”

Grumbling that I was just granting its wish and wouldn’t take responsibility, I stabbed the smallest roasted potato with the fork and passed it to Poppy, thinking let whatever happens happen.

“Kwak!”

‘From now on, potatoes are your share, Poppy.’

If Poppy had no problems today, I decided to pass the potatoes to it every time Jeff had a meal from now on.

Pook!

Finally, thinking I should fill my stomach a bit too, I picked up a piece of meat cut into bite-sized pieces with my fork.

“Daddy is happiest when watching our daughter eat.”

Jeff then rested his chin on one hand and made a pleased face.

“Especially when you taste the meat and make an expression as if you’ve got the whole world, it reminds me of your mother.”

“Mother?”

“Yes. Your mother loved to eat meat while looking at the stars.”

I had thought that mother was already dead since she hadn’t shown herself until now, so I tilted my head in confusion, wondering what this was about at the dinner table.

“Wasn’t mother dead? Is she perhaps alive?”

“She’s alive. Daddy was planning to tell you when you grew up a bit more.”

After that, Jeff suddenly lost his words and froze, then shed tears, and I was dumbfounded by this unexpected fact.

‘For the past 3 years, I haven’t seen the Empress, or even the attendants serving her.’

That’s why I naturally thought the Empress had died.

‘But if the Empress is alive as Jeff says, there’s a high chance she’s somewhere other than the Imperial Palace.’

However, it was strange that the Empress hadn’t shown her face even once.

‘Could it be… she ran away?’

Unable to think of any plausible reason no matter how much I thought about it, I assumed the worst case scenario.

“Soon… you’ll be able to meet your mother, so please wait.”

It was then. Jeff moved his tightly closed lips with a distant look in his eyes.

“It won’t take long. It’s already been 3 years.”

Judging by what he said, it doesn’t seem like she ran away either. I thought of other possibilities as my prediction went off the mark.

‘Being the Empress of the Empire, she couldn’t have been kidnapped.’

Well, I’ll find out soon enough.

‘It’s not like my life is affected by the absence of the Empress anyway.’

Deciding there was no need to know, it was good that my head didn’t get complicated. I watched the sauce dripping from the tip of the fork while organizing my thoughts.

“The weather is cold. Let’s go back now.”

A little while later. As more time passed and the plates were almost empty and I felt full, Jeff signaled the end of the meal.

“Our Darjeeling~ Daddy will read you a storybook before bed today!”

Then, as I was about to get down from the chair by myself, Jeff suddenly picked me up and hugged me tightly, showing a bright smile.

‘Ugh, I don’t like it!’

I frowned and tightened my grip on Poppy in my hand.

“Kweep…”

As a result, I ended up precariously grabbing Poppy’s hair with one hand, and it made a pained face throughout the entire move as if it could feel pain.

* * *

Three days later.

“I’m bored.”

I lay on the bed with Poppy, looking up at the ceiling.

“A young princess has nothing to do. At least in my past life, I handled state affairs.”

Next, with an expression that looked like I would die of boredom, I recalled past events.

The moment I was startled by the sight of a mosquito, Poppy, who fired a beam considering it a hostile target.

‘Even though Jeff knew Poppy’s power, he spent a lot of money to install mosquito removal devices throughout the empire in just three days.’

As I reminisced about the chilling moment, Jeff’s response came to mind as well.

At the time, Jeff, who was pressuring the alchemists to proceed quickly, paid enormous costs without hesitation. I still can’t forget the face of that guy sitting at his desk in the office with the solemn face of an emperor, ordering the quick production of mosquito removal devices.

It wasn’t like they came in swarms, it was just one mosquito, and I couldn’t understand why he went to such lengths for a mere mosquito.

Ding-

Just as I was thinking how pathetic Jeff was, my attention shifted to a small sound ringing in my ear.

“Kweep!”

At the end of it was Poppy, holding a bell with a calling function in its mouth, which I didn’t know when it had brought.

“Did you bring that for me?”

I made a face as if asking why. Poppy then shook its body back and forth with the bell in its mouth, as if telling me to take it quickly.

“Kweek!”

Poppy, making a loud noise as if to say yes, stopped moving and stayed still.

“How thoughtful.”

After praising it once, I marveled at the usefulness of Poppy, who was acting quite intelligently in its own way.

‘This fellow, not only for self-defense, but it could be used as an errand runner too.’

Thinking that it would work if trained well, I took the bell from Poppy’s mouth and looked the object over.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never used this before.”

While staring blankly, Poppy suddenly started humming with smiling eyes, for some reason pleased.

‘Did Poppy give this to me knowing that if I just shake it, a maid will come running?’

I looked at Poppy making cheerful kweek sounds, then looked up again.

“A peaceful life is nice, but it’s too boring.”

Poppy, not understanding its owner’s lament, happily jumped around in circles by itself.

“I should go out and draw some pictures.”

Thinking it would be better to say something, I grabbed the noisily circling Poppy with one hand and shook the bell with my free hand.

Ding, ding-

Finally, I shook the bell with my free hand to summon a maid.

Knock, knock-

Soon after, the maids who arrived knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

I immediately granted permission to enter, and the maids bowed politely as the door opened.

“Your Highness, do you need anything?”

Since I hadn’t called them to ask for anything in particular, I shook my head, and the maids came closer to check on my condition first.

“You don’t look well. Did you have a bad dream last night?”

“No. It’s not that. What’s my schedule for today?”

Deciding to escape the palace if it was something trivial again, I pressed down on poor Poppy with both hands while waiting for an answer.

“Today, Marchioness Fleur will be visiting the palace. She’s planning to bring lots of toys made from trees native to the northern region.”

I felt a headache at the gentle words that came back. It wasn’t the maid’s fault, it was just a reflexive reaction to hearing the word ‘Fleur’.

‘Damn it.’

Because Marchioness Fleur coming meant that those weirdos would be coming too.

‘I’ll be tormented again.’

I inwardly screamed, pulling at my hair until the maids were alarmed and calmed me down, and only then did I prepare to receive the guests.

Finally, the children who met again in the familiar playroom hadn’t changed at all.

“Princess~ Long time no see!”

“Oh, yeah.”

No sooner had I awkwardly smiled than Ronowe and Berith took their seats on either side of me, and I felt a cloud descending in my mind.

“Princess, are you fully recovered now? I heard you were bedridden for a while.”

Just as I was feeling annoyed, Carlyle, sitting across from me, asked after my health.

“As you can see, I’m fine.”

It seems that Jeff guy used a strange excuse to quickly install the mosquito removal devices.

‘I should play along a bit.’

I grumbled inwardly that I couldn’t live like this.

“After the mosquito removal devices were installed in each territory, the number of people with stomach aches has decreased.”

Moreover, I was surprised by the news Carlyle shared.

‘Did the water quality improve thanks to those devices?’

It was because Jeff’s actions, which I thought were just reckless, had yielded unexpected results.

“Princess~.”

Meanwhile, Ronowe, with a disgruntled face, waved her arms and legs.

“Play with us too!”

“It’s not fair to only talk to elder brother!”

Berith also joined in and caused a commotion, and I felt like I was going to die caught in the middle.

Pol pol-

At that moment, Poppy, who had quietly disappeared and then suddenly appeared, wandered around on the carpet.

“The white bread is moving!”

Berith was the first to show interest.

“Where?”

Ronowe also reacted immediately, her eyes sparkling.

“Kweep?”

Startled, Poppy stopped in its tracks, and the Fleur siblings were fascinated by Poppy crawling on the floor. It was an innocence like that of a newborn baby encountering pristine snow for the first time in the world.

“Princess, can I bite this?”

“That’s not for eating. It’s a doll my dad gave me as a gift.”

I hurriedly explained to clear up Berith’s misunderstanding, and the siblings soon grabbed Poppy’s body and dangled it.

Poppy remained still despite such bullying, perhaps because the opponents were children.

“But it eats potatoes too.”

“Wow~.”

“That’s amazing~.”

Later, Ronowe and Berith started playing by throwing Poppy around like a ball.

‘Those fools. If they knew it shoots beams from its mouth, they’d definitely ask to see it.’

I must never tell them. Seeing the siblings who were very fond of Poppy, I decided to keep just one fact absolutely secret.

Waa-.

Waa- Waaaa-.

Some time later. Cheers could be heard coming into the room where we were spending time leisurely, and everyone’s attention naturally turned to the window.

“What’s that cheering?”

Is something happening outside? I turned my head to check for myself.

Male lead is a Divorced Husband

She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”

Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.

After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.

She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.

But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…

Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!

――

This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!

The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.

That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”

Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”

The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”

That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”

Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”

The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.

Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.

“She was originally a ‘she’!”

At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.

The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”

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