‘Has this child grown so tall?’

More importantly, when did they appear without a sound? I thought they had gone far, but were they purposely lingering nearby? Even if so, I should have heard the sound of running, but I didn’t.

Anyway, I inwardly admired and felt slightly envious of the smoothly extended arms of the one who appeared like a flying arrow to easily retrieve the book, trying to help me as I struggled due to not being tall enough.

This was because the thought crossed my mind: why am I still unable to escape from being short even after 7 years?

During that time, I consistently exercised within the limits of my weak body, diligently drank milk, and even forced myself to eat potatoes, but I was dissatisfied that even the random people I met after a long time seemed to be about two finger joints taller than me.

Jeff and Hecate weren’t dwarfs when they were young, but perhaps the princess’s body had been seriously ill as a newborn, which might have affected her growth.

‘Wait a moment. Then did they watch all of my actions earlier? They must have seen and that’s why they helped, right?’

I belatedly felt embarrassed that they had caught me grunting and trembling my right arm like an aspen leaf, desperately trying to pull out the book with all my might.

In the end, if I couldn’t do it myself, I would have asked a maid or someone else to get it for me, but I felt a little ashamed that my weakness had been exposed.

“I was surprised and rushed over because you were about to step on Poppy and climb up.”

Meanwhile, Carlyle gently caressed the book’s cover with a faint smile. Although not as exuberant as Ronowe, Carlyle also seemed to enjoy encountering rare books that had long been out of print or lost few copies remaining due to wars and such.

“More than that, Your Highness indeed has a high discernment in choosing books. With a title like ‘Excellent Tactics’, it must be full of all sorts of tactical content, right?”

“Yes. Since I’m to become the Emperor, I thought it would be good to look over it if possible.”

The empire had already been unified through conquest wars during the previous emperor’s era, so I already knew all the tactical content. I was merely interested because the book was familiar, but since I couldn’t reveal all that, I packaged it plausibly with a suitable excuse.

“And these kinds of books are originally interesting.”

Honestly, do I look like I’d read fairy tales, coming all the way here? I added indifferently as I received the book from Carlyle.

“Ah, Your Highness.”

“What?”

“May I read this book to Poppy?”

I thought he was going to show me a book he had chosen separately, but what’s this talk about Poppy? That one is smart, but I didn’t think there was a need to read books to it, until I saw the title and understood.

“I read a bit, and it seems this book is full of content that Poppy would like.”

Carlyle opened to a random page and showed me the content briefly, then turned his head to look at Poppy, who was trying to squeeze between us two, with an expression of looking at a cute younger sibling.

“But isn’t that just a book full of talk about food?”

I bent down to poke Poppy’s crown, meaning to stay still, and then straightened up again.

“Yes. It’s a book where a nobleman recorded his impressions of traditional cuisine, travel, and culture from each region while traveling, and I chose it because it has illustrations too.”

“The author must be quite the gourmet.”

I nodded and then asked out of sudden curiosity.

“But why do you want to read to Poppy specifically?”

“I thought Poppy might feel lonely if only we were reading books.”

I had never been that considerate. Because I just thought of Poppy as a doll attached for escort purposes, not exactly a stranger but not quite otherwise.

“Do as you please. There’s no one to say anything anyway.”

But seeing Carlyle treat Poppy more attentively as a person than I do, despite only encountering each other occasionally when visiting the Imperial Palace, gave me an odd feeling.

‘A subtle change in mood that the past me wouldn’t have felt.’

Certainly, there had been an inner change starting from the treasure hunt game Hecate prepared 7 years ago. But that didn’t particularly make me feel sorry for Poppy or think I should put in effort to treat it well. After all, I’ve been paying fair compensation for its labor.

I thought it was enough that I usually gave it plenty of cookies it liked, but I had never considered what situations Poppy might find boring or distressing and done something about it.

“For now, take this book and go with Poppy first.”

I glanced at Poppy, whose eyes were sparkling so brightly at the word ‘food’ that its eyeballs looked like black pearls reflecting light.

“I’ll choose a few more.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Adding that he should hurry and read to Poppy too, I sent Carlyle and Poppy away, then quickly turned around at the presence I felt nearby and the piercing gaze on the back of my head.

“Come out.”

Crossing my arms, I called out to the annoyingly peeking person, and Berith poked just his head out from between the bookshelves, watching cautiously.

“Do you have something to tell me? Why do you keep lurking around?”

Why is he acting like this when he could have just jumped out when Carlyle was here if he had something to say? Since he would have already shouted “Wooaaah!” if his intention was to surprise me for fun, I sighed, unable to understand his intentions.

“Well…”

Berith, who had been fidgeting with his index fingers pressed together, finally opened his mouth when I gave him a look, slightly putting strength in my eyes, telling him not to make me wait long.

“I thought other people like elder brother Carlyle shouldn’t hear this.”

Why is he suddenly acting like this? I tilted my head, looking at Berith who was gesturing me to come closer as if he was going to whisper.

“Your Highness, I think Poppy ate some paper!”

And at that moment, Ronowe’s short scream was heard from afar.

“It’s okay, that one usually picks up and eats anything. Last time it even ate a stone.”

Though it did spit it out and rolled around saying it hurt. I wondered why Poppy hadn’t caused any trouble.

It seems it couldn’t resist after seeing the food illustrations in the old book, but I felt dizzy thinking about how to report this to Jeff and Hecate, as it might be impossible to restore.

Anyway, Poppy is a servant and friend who protects me, and no matter how smart it is, it doesn’t exceed human intelligence, so it can’t think about what results will come from doing this, which means its fault becomes my fault.

“Still, watch it so it doesn’t tear and eat the book’s pages.”

“Yes!”

I shouted loudly in the direction where the children would be, and decided to honestly say that I would like to have dinner with Jeff tonight if possible.

“Now we can talk a bit.”

Hoping that no one else would suddenly chase after us or urgently look for us, I spoke to Berith.

“You said earlier that others shouldn’t hear this, right? It seems you’re being careful about keeping it secret because it’s that important, so tell me quickly. What is it?”

“Well, I feel like something bad might happen. Shouldn’t you be careful for a while?”

Why is he acting like this? I raised one eyebrow and asked back.

“Why do you suddenly think something bad will happen to me?”

I was suspicious because it was so different from when he was grinning and excited while chattering in the pavilion earlier.

“…”

Moreover, Berith, who suddenly seemed at a loss for words, stared at me, so I said I would just go, then he hurriedly moved his lips.

“Something’s been strange since Lady Vladimir came to the Imperial Palace.”

The sky hasn’t darkened, no rain has fallen, and no calamity has occurred, so why would he get such a feeling? I was genuinely surprised that Berith had managed to hide his true feelings and smile despite having such an impression.

Unlike Ronowe, I had just thought he was a naturally silly troublemaker.

“All she’s done is come here and greet people, right? Are you perhaps worried that I’ll pay more attention to her?”

Seeing his sharp side, I thought that not only Ronowe but also Berith could be useful when I become Emperor if taught well, so I pretended not to understand while deciding to examine his information gathering skills or ability to speak with evidence.

“No. You really need to be careful.”

But Berith clenched his fists and showed a slightly indignant attitude, which didn’t seem to be directed at me, but rather at a third party who wasn’t present.

“I’m not jealous, I’m worried about Your Highness.”

Finally, Berith’s face showed the most affectionate expression I’d seen so far, genuinely concerned, and at that sight, I inwardly muttered ‘loyal subject approved’ while recalling.

‘Lady Vladimir had something similar to the energy I felt from father when I was in heaven.’

It wasn’t something visibly obvious, but a very faint and dim thread-like thing, an extraordinary energy.

‘Honestly, I thought she would appear spreading the energy of the dead, but it was unexpected.’

I wondered what on earth she had done, but come to think of it, even Duke Vladimir only spread an evil power once in the past, and I didn’t feel a strong uncomfortable sensation in the Imperial Palace otherwise, so it seemed like there might be something.

‘It’s obvious that only I can see it, so I stayed quiet, but if Berith is just making a fuss based on his intuition of something ominous…’

Could Berith also have a hidden ability, similar to how Ronowe occasionally became a different person with reddened, wide-open eyes?

‘If I tell the truth about this, they’ll think I’m a strange person, so how should I explain?’

No, let’s just not say anything. Considering the possibility that Berith might tell Ronowe, Ronowe might tell Carlyle, and later even Marquis Fleur might know, I answered.

“I don’t know why you’re telling me to be careful of her, but I’ll handle my own affairs.”

Even if danger arises, it’s not like you kids can fight to protect me anyway.

I sighed again, but to avoid the awkward situation of him crying that I don’t understand his sincere concern for me, I decided to pretend to care as a strategy to soothe a future subject.

“Well, since you’re earnestly asking, I have no choice. I’ll remember it.”