Berith’s expression changed upon seeing the paper boat.

As if shocked, he mumbled softly, “Ah…”

“Your Highness, the boat… Why is it like this? It’s strange.”

Berith approached the table and tilted his head.

And for good reason – compared to what the others had made, my paper boat was terrible.

It was crumpled all over and looked shabby to anyone who saw it.

“It’s rude to say that.”

Meanwhile, Ronowe intervened between Berith and me.

“Even if the boat looks like a shipwreck, you shouldn’t say that. Her Highness worked hard to make it.”

Ronowe informed Berith that he had made a mistake.

‘What? Shipwreck isn’t a word a young child would easily say.’

I flinched, then realizing that I too currently had the appearance of a 3-year-old, decided to quietly observe the situation for now.

“But… the boat… is all ruined.”

However, Berith didn’t change his mind.

With an innocent face, he emphasized how messy the paper boat I made was.

“Stop it!”

Ronowe finally turned to look at Berith.

“Her Highness must know the boat is broken too!”

Ronowe raised her voice to stop Berith, who showed no signs of stopping.

‘Both of you, stop it. I know, you idiots.’

Watching the scene made me feel embarrassed and conflicted.

Far from appreciating Ronowe’s defense, it only made me more acutely aware of my poor craftsmanship.

“It’s difficult because it’s your first time.”

That’s when it happened.

“The Marquis said everyone is clumsy at first.”

Just as I was becoming discouraged by my poor skills, Carlyle spoke up. He took the paper boat in front of me and gently caressed it.

“Thank you for saying that.”

As expected of a future general, he was the best of them. I looked at Carlyle and conveyed my gratitude.

“Next time, I’ll teach you more easily.”

Carlyle met my eyes and gave a faint smile.

“I don’t want to do origami anymore. It’s boring.”

Meanwhile, Berith, one of the Fleur siblings who had been playing nicely with paper just moments ago, grew tired of it.

“I’m hungry.”

Ronowe suddenly sat down on the floor, clutching her hungry stomach.

“Me too.”

Berith dropped the paper on the floor and said he was hungry.

“I want to eat something.”

Soon, he picked up a fallen paper boat and put it in his mouth, chewing.

“Ah~ Don’t. That’s not for eating.”

Startled, Carlyle quickly ran over and pulled the paper boat out of Berith’s mouth.

Not expecting someone to try eating paper no matter how hungry they were, Carlyle looked bewildered.

“If you’re hungry, let’s clean up and go out.”

Soon returning to a calm face, he told the seemingly dazed Berith to clean up the messy place and go eat.

“I’m too hungry to clean up!”

Dissatisfied with something, Berith puffed up his cheeks and ran away.

“Ah…”

Carlyle hesitated at the sudden turn of events, while Ronowe stared blankly at Berith’s retreating figure before standing up.

“Meat~”

“It’s meat~ Meat~”

Soon, the Fleur siblings were in the arms of a waiting maid nearby.

I watched Berith and their behavior, then started picking up the scattered papers on the floor.

“Your Highness, please go ahead and eat. I’ll clean this up and come.”

Carlyle said he could do it all alone and told me to go, but I couldn’t leave him to work alone, so I decided to clean up together.

“No, let’s do it together.”

As we were diligently picking up papers, our hands accidentally overlapped.

“Your Highness!”

Carlyle was startled and opened his eyes wide.

“You could cut your hand on the paper.”

I was also surprised by his reaction, but Carlyle, far from removing his hand, expressed concern and carefully wrapped my hand that had touched his with both of his hands.

“I’m sorry…!”

Then, with a face that said “oops,” he quickly let go of my hand and apologized.

Afterwards, in an awkward silence, we gathered the scattered papers and cleaned up perfectly.

“Good job.”

After looking around at the tidy surroundings, I handed Carlyle the paper boat I had folded.

“Keep this. I noticed earlier that you seemed to like boats.”

Although it was still a crumpled and ugly paper boat, Carlyle received it respectfully with both hands.

“Thank you.”

I thought it wasn’t something to be so happy about to the point of blushing slightly, but I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Let’s go then.”

Finally, with my dedicated maid behind me, I left the library escorted by Carlyle.

* * *

Shortly after, contrary to expectations, I was separated from the riffraff and Carlyle only during mealtime. This was because I ended up having a meal with Jeff and someone else.

The dining room we gathered in had recently changed to high-quality brown curtains that sparkled with golden powder. The chandelier installed on the ceiling also looked more splendid as it received sunlight through the windows, and all sorts of rare dishes were placed on the table.

There were meat dishes with appetizing juices flowing, salads, seafood dishes, and even beautiful food that seemed almost too pretty to touch.

With such diverse and visually appealing foods shining like a halo, my appetite bubbled like boiling water, and I salivated.

‘It was worth being picky in selecting the chef.’

Wanting to eat a variety of foods evenly, I put a little of each type on my plate and rolled the noodles with my fork.

Next, I carefully opened my mouth and lifted the fork, but the noodles slipped off the fork instead of sticking to it.

‘What’s the use of talking like an adult!’

I frowned in frustration.

“My daughter~”

As I was glaring at the innocent plate, feeling pathetic about myself, Jeff called out to me.

“Would you look over here? I’ve brought someone to help with Darjeeling’s studies.”

I was wondering why we were eating quietly with a stranger without any introductions, but Jeff finally talked about the red-haired boy sitting across from me.

“I thought Sasha would be better at helping you learn and study since the children from the Fleur family are young.”

“Yes.”

The riffraff certainly weren’t suitable for taking on roles beyond being companions.

Anyway, Jeff called the red-haired boy Sasha and had us greet each other.

‘I’m hungry.’

As I was starting to feel hungry, I answered half-heartedly. Right now, food was a priority over a new friend.

Meanwhile, the boy called Sasha greeted politely with one hand on his chest and focused on his meal.

I stared at the red-haired boy eating for a while, then picked up my fork again, unable to resist my hunger.

‘But what’s this about suddenly helping with education?’

I wondered why there was a child at the lunch table, but there was a reason for everything.

‘It’s tiring enough to play with those incompetent ones.’

From Jeff’s perspective, as a father, he wanted to make many friends for his only daughter, but honestly, I wasn’t happy about it. It was bothersome.

‘I need time to adjust to this body, and there’s so much to worry about.’

I organized my thoughts and rolled the noodles on my fork again, only to drop them.

‘Dropped it again.’

I had no choice but to give up on the noodles and tried other food.

“Our Darjeeling eats so well~”

Then Jeff stared at me with twinkling eyes.

‘Ah, why is he being so burdensome?’

I gripped the fork tightly in one hand and grumbled inwardly.

“Daddy feels full just watching our Darjeeling eat. Eat a lot.”

Not knowing what I was thinking as I looked back at him, Jeff stared intently and smiled a pleased fatherly smile.

He was the perfect daddy’s girl.

‘I’ll starve to death soon.’

How could I eat properly when he was staring like that? It was too burdensome. I put the fork in my mouth and took it out, poking at the food on the plate.

“There’s still a little left.”

“Potatoes…”

With only some potato dish and salad left on the plate, for some reason only the potatoes caught my eye and made me feel queasy.

“You seem to dislike potatoes.”

Sasha, who had been quietly eating for a while, blurted out.

“Don’t you like them? Are the potatoes not tasty?”

“I don’t like them.”

Jeff asked worriedly when I didn’t eat the potato dish left on my plate.

‘I’m going to turn into a potato at this rate.’

I reluctantly stabbed a broken piece of potato with my fork and hesitated.

‘Why does he like potatoes so much?’

Suddenly, I thought of the past.

‘He used to steal a sack of potatoes, and even during the war, he only ate potatoes…’

The image of young Jeff munching on a large boiled potato flashed through my mind.

“No~ Even if you don’t like potatoes, you have to eat them. The wet nurse said Darjeeling is a picky eater, so she should eat a variety of foods.”

When I completely took my hands off the table and placed them neatly on my lap, Jeff said with a worried face that picky eating wasn’t allowed.

“Darjeeling, ah~”

Soon, Jeff personally brought a fork with finely chopped potato pieces. I shook my head vigorously left and right, horrified. It was dreadful.

‘I can’t not eat this either…’

It was troublesome. As I kept refusing, Jeff looked upset and teared up slightly. But I couldn’t eat it readily either, so I kept hesitating, dragging out the time, and reluctantly ate the potato Jeff was feeding me.

‘I once died after being accused of being a witch for acting inappropriately for my age.’

After painfully eating the potato, an old memory came to mind.

‘I can’t act carelessly.’

I recalled the last moments of that time when I was brutally slaughtered.

‘I want to grow up quickly and live as I please.’

I blamed the slow passage of time and picked up the fork again.

“I’ll eat by myself.”

I really don’t like being forced to eat.

“Look at our Darjeeling.”

But Jeff marveled at my attitude.

“Already trying to do it alone.”

He immediately stood up and looked around at those nearby, saying with a proud face.

“How smart and admirable is this?”

Jeff, who had entered doting father mode, even changed his speech and spoke like an actor performing in a play.

“It’s not because she’s my daughter, but Darjeeling is truly a genius. The other day she drew a picture, and it was so well done.”

Why are you blabbering about such things to Sasha!

‘It was just a rough sketch…’

At Jeff’s words, I recalled the picture I had completed before. It was a study where I had painted over blue and green in places and drawn potato-like creatures.

“Indeed, the Princess is as brilliant as His Majesty the Emperor.”

Sasha, who had been quiet, praised me after Jeff finished speaking.

“Your Majesty, it’s time for your duties now.”

“I see. I suppose we’ll have to end the meal here.”

When a nearby attendant informed Jeff that it was time to leave, he immediately stood up.

“Then have a nice chat with my daughter.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Jeff told Sasha to play well with me.

“But if you try to make a move on my daughter… I won’t let it slide.”

Then, immediately changing his expression to a cold one, he warned Sasha not to develop romantic feelings or approach me.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sasha answered politely without any particular reaction.

“Daddy will go work and come back, my cute Darjeeling.”

Afterwards, Jeff came to where I was sitting, hugged me, and kissed me on the cheek. I gave up on thinking anymore. I emptied my mind as if sinking into a state of no thought. With that, Jeff left the dining room with his attendant.

“…”

“…”

And in the quiet dining room with Sasha, we stared at each other intently without any conversation.

“Noona.”

After being silent for who knows how long, Sasha, who broke the silence first, smiled with his eyes.