Carlyle Facinelli Bergamot is originally a quiet child who takes good care of those around him. So he must have simply extended a helping hand to Prairie who was in an awkward situation, but Prairie talked as if she had known him for a long time instead of just saying thank you.

‘Suspicious.’

Anyone could see it was strange. I heard it clearly with my own two ears, and Ronowe Marsha Fleur and Berith also tilted their heads. Given this, it was natural for Carlyle to hesitate with an expression full of questions.

Moreover, Sasha Dave Vladimir glared at him for a while with eyes filled with not-so-good emotions as Carlyle looked at Prairie with a face that said ‘What did I just hear?’

I don’t understand why he’s acting like that when staring won’t make Prairie sick again or make her disappear from wear and tear.

“I seem to have misspoken.”

Meanwhile, Prairie cupped one cheek with her left hand and said she was embarrassed.

“I meant that you are kind.”

Prairie laughed with a ‘hehe’ sound and then said:

“Since I’ve only had long conversations with family for a long time, I’m not used to talking with others. My words come out wrong sometimes.”

‘A simple slip of the tongue?’

I felt my suspicion amplify like an inflating balloon.

‘It didn’t feel that way at all. The phrasing was completely different.’

Is she taking us for fools, or is she acting?

‘The one who said it directly would know better than anyone else.’

It was clearly visible – deliberately blurting it out, packaging it as a mistake, and pretending it wasn’t so. I strongly felt she might be in the same class as Sasha.

“Young lady, I’ll prepare new tea for you.”

“Yes.”

Amidst all this, I witnessed a rare scene.

‘What’s that about?’

While it’s understandable for Sasha to be attentive to Prairie since she was so severely ill, this was… unexpected.

‘Is Sasha now keeping his mouth shut to be mindful of Prairie?’

Looking at her face once, staring, then seeming to have something to say but pressing his lips tightly and enduring – it didn’t seem like simply gauging the other person’s mood to act accordingly, but properly being cautious.

“Quack!”

Just as I was reaching for a cookie, thinking this was quite unusual, I heard Poppy crying from below.

“What? Do you want a snack?”

“Quack, quaaack!”

When I turned my head to look for him, he had somehow waddled to a spot close to me and was jumping up and down with both arms raised high in the air.

Finding it amusing how his gaze followed my hand holding the cookie, moving north, south, east and west, I played around for a while before tossing him a cookie.

“Here, eat it.”

“Quack, quaaaack!”

As if showing acrobatics reminiscent of a dog I raised in some past life, Poppy leaped impressively high for such a small body, caught the cookie firmly in his little beak, spun in the air a few times while falling, and landed gracefully.

“Wow, Poppy! How did you do that just now?”

“Amazing!”

Ronowe and Berith couldn’t close their mouths, pursing their lips like goldfish opening and closing their mouths, clapping continuously with ridiculous expressions of admiration.

“Your Highness truly has an amazing duck by your side.”

“He does perform tricks sometimes when eating snacks.”

“I see.”

While Sasha remained still, Prairie smiled brightly and enjoyed watching Poppy perfectly leap up to catch all the cookies thrown later by Ronowe and Berith as well.

“Ah, Your Highness. May I make a small request of you?”

“Tell me first and I’ll decide.”

I acted nonchalantly, thinking I’d hear it out before deciding.

“I’d like to go to the Imperial Archive later.”

“The Imperial Archive? Why there?”

The Imperial Archive is similar to the Imperial Library in that only members of the imperial family and those with imperial permission can enter, but it operates under stricter regulations.

This is because unlike the Imperial Archive, in some cases any noble from any family who could enter and exit the palace could enter the Imperial Library by simply filling out an ‘entry form’.

In fact, being a noble who could enter and exit the palace was already proof of tremendous influence, so several librarians were put in charge of managing the library.

On the contrary, in principle, only the imperial family and archive managers can enter the Imperial Archive.

As the heir to the throne, I can go anytime 24 hours a day, but non-imperial family members must obtain prior approval from the Emperor or Empress or be accompanied by a member of the imperial family.

“I heard the Imperial Archive is full of ancient documents.”

“Do you like reading books?”

While thinking it was better than running around playing, I asked to gather information since I didn’t know much about Prairie.

“I do like it. Above all, since I spent a lot of time lying down, Sasha or my mother would read books to me.”

Prairie briefly made a shy face, then covered her collarbone with both hands gently folded, saying her chest was swelling with excitement.

“So I always just listened and imagined. I couldn’t help but be curious about what kind of place it really was. I really want to see it.”

When we stopped by the Vladimir domain last time, I felt the scale of the duke’s residence was no less than the imperial palace, so at that scale the duke’s archive would be enormous too. I contemplated for 3 seconds whether to tell her to wake up from her fantasy lest she get too caught up in it and end up disappointed when she actually sees it.

“Hmm…”

Whatever. It’s bothersome to deliberately pour cold water and think deeply about it, so I decided to ask the children who were still clapping and throwing cookies to Poppy one by one in a loud voice.

“Kids, Prairie says she wants to go to the Imperial Archive. Do you want to go too?”

“Ah, the Imperial Archive?”

Ronowe reacted at the speed of light.

“Yes! I’ve never been to the Imperial Archive so I’m curious!”

As expected of someone obsessed with books, Ronowe cheered first.

“And books are my absolute, absolute, absolute favorite thing in the world!”

Seeing her then smile brightly and ask Prairie where she heard about the Imperial Archive, I couldn’t help but grin.

“Can we fold paper boats to play with?”

“You can’t tear up the books. I’ll bring you leftover paper.”

Wondering if the mischievous Berith planned to repeat what he did at age 3, I thoughtlessly imagined the child tearing up ancient books stored in the Imperial Archive and was horrified.

“I’m fine with it, Your Highness.”

“I’ll go along with the majority.”

Meanwhile, Carlyle and Sasha each expressed their willingness to go to the Imperial Archive, so I decided we would go since the majority of the group agreed.

“Alright, let’s finish eating this and go right away.”

After that, I quickly instructed a court lady to urgently send word for everyone to be allowed entry to the Imperial Archive, then happily munched on desserts until my cheeks were bulging.

‘I’ll obviously be exhausted by those kids today, so I need to eat heartily.’

As a rule, you need ample stamina to play with children. I brazenly rationalized as I pushed even the small sandwiches with whipped cream and strawberries into my stomach without leaving any, then ate small and cute digestive pills out of worry about later consequences.

Thud, thud-.

‘What Prairie said earlier keeps bothering me.’

Walking leisurely at the very back, I looked at the backs of the children who had gone ahead.

Coincidentally, Carlyle was right in front of me and Prairie was in front of him, so the doubt I had forgotten while eating delicious desserts naturally swirled persistently in my mind, poking here and there.

It felt like a small hedgehog was running all over my body with its quills raised, so after holding back for a while, I decided to directly ask Carlyle if he knew.

“!”

Of course, not being a fool, I discreetly tugged on Carlyle’s clothes after watching for Prairie who might be sensitive to the matter.

“Your Highness?”

“Shh, lower your voice.”

Ah right, you must have something to say.

Anyway, I almost got caught, so I briefly sighed and gazed at Carlyle as if scolding him, then shook my head and gestured.

“Come closer with your ear for now.”

“Ah, yes.”

Next I asked in a hushed whisper, but not knowing how serious I was, I inwardly smacked my forehead with one hand and groaned when I saw Carlyle’s cheeks slightly flushed.

“Do you know her by any chance?”

“Well… I’m not sure either.”

Judging by his reaction, it really doesn’t seem like they know each other. There’s no way Carlyle would lie to me. If the Fleur family and Vladimir family had a private gathering, he would spill everything about why he knew Prairie as a future candidate for a strong loyal subject.

“I see, alright.”

Still, unable to shake off the thought that it was insipid, I gave a perfunctory answer and fell into thought.

Thud, thud-.

‘Then how does Prairie know Carlyle?’

As I filtered out several of the hypotheses I had formed while heading to the Imperial Archive, only doubts grew in size.

‘Judging by the words and vocabulary she uses when speaking, she seems like a child who thinks quite a bit. Was it really just a slip of the tongue?’

Prairie, who on the surface gives the impression of a fragile princess who should be protected.

‘It can’t be.’

I rested my chin on my hand and recalled the relationship structure between the Fleur viscounty and Vladimir duchy in my mind.

‘Even if they’re both close to the imperial family, the Fleur and Vladimir houses are essentially political rivals.’

Although both families were close to the imperial family, there wasn’t particularly any impression that they were friendly with each other.

At age 3, I thought they might pretend to be on good terms formally from a business perspective since they were close to the imperial family, but it was the opposite.

Since they were counted as representative families publicly supporting the imperial family, they exchanged greetings with smiles when they happened to meet at official events, but inside they each harbored different plans.

They were truly beasts hiding thorns behind invisible masks, watching their prey’s movements from their dens.

‘Did I needlessly leave room for possibility? As expected, there’s no reason for Carlyle, taken in by the Fleur family, and Prairie, the young lady of the Vladimir family, to be close.’

It hit me in a complex way that the Fleur family is closer to Hecate, a member of the imperial family, while the Vladimir family is closer to Jeff, the emperor.

“Your Highness, did I perhaps make a mistake?”

Sigh, he’s digging his own grave again. I sighed as I looked at Carlyle, who had misunderstood and made a serious expression beside me.

“No. I was just thinking about something the kids don’t need to know about.”