The White Stoat Princess - Chapter 22

I got down from Hadel’s hand and settled into my comfortable bed. Hadel took off his wet robe. The butler wiped the moisture from his body with a towel, helped him put on his shirt, and spoke of today’s agenda.

“All preparations to welcome Prince Saedel are complete. If he’s quick, he’ll likely arrive this afternoon.”

“I see.”

Hadel’s face, as he nodded, looked somewhat dark. I poked my head out a little from the bed.

‘Prince Saedel.’

A man with silver hair and blue eyes, looking exactly like Espen.

Hadel’s younger brother.

I listened intently to their conversation, but as if they noticed me eavesdropping, they shut their mouths.

‘I’m curious, but they’re not telling me more.’

I pricked my ears, but eventually crawled out of the bed again. Even though his back was turned to me, Hadel, who sensed my movements like a ghost, called out to me.

“Qyu Qyu, where are you going?”

“Qyu.”

I’m going somewhere that can tell me who Prince Saedel is.

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The informants who could provide information about Prince Saedel were none other than the maids of this castle.

“Qyu Qyu, you’re here?”

“Qyu Qyu, you’re cute today too.”

As I poked my head out, the maids who were cleaning smiled brightly and greeted me. Feeling the hand stroking the back of my neck, I showed a look of enlightenment.

‘Phew, I’d rather be called Lady Weasel.’

What kind of name is Qyu Qyu, not even Baduki or Meong Meong? It absolutely doesn’t mean I like Baduki or Meong Meong. It’s just that they’re better than Qyu Qyu.

‘Hadel, your naming sense is really the worst.’

I shook my head, recalling Hadel calling out ‘Qyu Qyu’ in his unique heavy voice. His voice is perfect, his profound atmosphere is perfect, so in the end, the problem is the name Qyu Qyu.

‘Hadel’s physique is also very splendid. ……Oh my, what am I thinking right now?’

Unconsciously thinking about Hadel, I shook my head. Perhaps because we kissed, whenever I let my guard down a little, my thoughts kept drifting to strange places.

Anyway, I was wagging my tail, receiving the maids’ cuteness all over my body. When they pet me, their hearts relax, and when their hearts relax, the words contained within naturally spill out.

As expected, the maid who was fiddling with the back of my neck began to speak.

“Even if the prince is coming soon, don’t you think they’re making us clean too strictly?”

“They probably don’t want to be caught off guard in the capital.”

“What off guard? That we’re neglecting to serve His Highness Hadel?”

“As if they’d care about people like us? It’s about the higher-ups.”

I nodded at that point. Those who find fault are focused not on the subordinates, but on Hadel. They’ll surely say that Hadel disrespects Prince Saedel, so the subordinates also treat Prince Saedel carelessly.

At those words, another maid chimed in and said,

“But I heard Prince Saedel is a very kind and caring person. In the capital, he’s called the Prince of Spring.”

The Prince of Spring.

Hearing the nickname for the first time, I widened my eyes. Another maid murmured with an enraptured expression,

“The Prince of Spring. I wonder how magnificent he is.”

“He’ll be like a real prince.”

“What are you saying? His Highness the Grand Duke is also a real prince?”

“I’m just saying.”

Listening to the girls’ giggling, I organized the small amount of information I had just gathered.

‘It seems his reputation among the people is good.’

The Prince of Spring, the nickname is even embarrassingly warm.

He has the same face as Espen, but his temperament seems to be completely opposite. Espen had a cold and blunt personality that perfectly suited his ice attribute.

‘It’s natural to be different since they’re different people.’

It was funny how I kept being captivated by memories of my past life. I shook my head to shake off thoughts of Espen. A long time had passed since I died, and Espen and I would never meet again. I thought about Prince Saedel again.

‘Judging by the butler’s tension, he doesn’t seem ordinary. In this case, there’s only one conclusion. He doesn’t get along well with Hadel.’

I recalled Hadel’s face, which stiffened at the mere mention of Saedel’s name. I clicked my tongue, worrying about Hadel.

‘There shouldn’t be anything that hurts Hadel.’

I prayed deep in my heart that he would be a prince with a good personality, as rumored.

And the storm that everyone in the castle had been waiting for arrived in the late afternoon before dinner, just as the butler said.

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‘Oh my, my baby. When you dress up prettily, you really shine.’

To greet Saedel, Hadel wore a stylish jacket and shirt with sharp angles that princes would wear for the first time in a long time. When he neatly swept his hair back with pomade, his clean forehead was revealed.

I enjoyed admiring Hadel with delighted eyes.

‘But I think it suits you better and makes you look younger when you let your hair down roughly rather than revealing your forehead. Your impression is so neat that when you style your hair neatly too, it feels difficult to approach.’

This is my cold evaluation, and Hadel with his hair swept back is also very handsome. I wagged my tail.

‘Hadel would absolutely hate things like earrings, right? Does he not wear things like mufflers or gloves? Since the base is cool, it’s fun to dress him up too.’

Perhaps because I thought of Hadel as my distant descendant, it was as enjoyable as dressing up my own child. Even so, there’s hardly anything I can choose.

‘You’re cool, my baby. No matter how much of a prince raised preciously in the capital, Saedel or whoever won’t be cooler than our Hadel.’

Prince of Spring or whatever, bring it on.

As I was looking at him, I rose from where I was sitting. Hadel, who was grooming the ends of his hair with his gaze opposite mine, somehow noticed me moving and spoke to me.

“Where are you going?”

“Qyu.”

“You’re not going to stay by my side today?”

“Qyu qyu.”

Winter was approaching. The castle, made of large stones, was dropping in temperature day by day.

I like being by Hadel’s side. But.

‘If I’m by Hadel’s side, the people from the capital will look down on him as a country bumpkin prince.’

There are royalty who keep large parrots, hawks, or tigers close by, but none who raise small and adorable weasels like this.

‘All for the sake of Hadel’s authority.’

If Hadel becomes a laughingstock because of me, it would truly break my heart.

‘So let’s stay far away from each other while Prince Saedel is here.’

I have already decided where to be. The two places in this castle that are warm every day.

Namely, the kitchen and Hadel’s study.

If the temperature in the study changes greatly, the condition of the stored books deteriorates. That’s why Hadel’s study maintains the same temperature in summer and winter.

‘It’s convenient for me to stay alone in the study since no one comes looking.’

When it’s cold, I should lie on top of the kitchen hearth.

“Qyu Qyu, stay here.”

Hadel called for me, but I coolly wagged my tail and left Hadel’s room.

Still, I didn’t intend to completely hole up there and not even see the tip of the guest’s head.

‘I should at least see how great this prince is.’

And I must also see how he falls over in surprise at our Hadel’s handsome face.

Having spent a long time in the Grand Duke’s castle, I had already figured out where the prime spots were to keep an eye on the front entrance at a glance.

Passing through the bustling servants carrying food and doing final checks, I crouched down on the stairway overlooking the front entrance.

‘Ah, it’s cold.’

It hadn’t been long since I left Hadel’s side, but my front paws were already numb from the cold.

‘Why isn’t he coming?’

I want to see him quickly and go inside.

How long had I been sitting there rubbing my front paws while thinking such thoughts?

Without much commotion, Prince Saedel and his entourage quietly arrived at the castle.

I widened my eyes at the shining silver hair that glimmered even from a distance.

‘Ah, that person must be Prince Saedel.’

There was no need to look for who it was. He looked exactly like the portrait.

‘In person, he looks even more similar to Espen.’

In the portrait, he was a young prince, but the man before my eyes now was around the same age as when Espen caused a mana rampage.

Perhaps that’s why he seemed to resemble Espen more.

‘It’s funny that he’s nicknamed the Prince of Spring with a face like that.’

I thought he might have gotten that nickname because he smiles brightly a lot, but the face walking into the castle was as cold as can be. As I tilted my head in puzzlement, it happened.

‘Hadel!’

Hadel also came out to the front entrance, leading his important subordinates. I excitedly tapped the floor with my tail.

‘Handsome, Hadel! You shine brightly even from afar!’

It was just as I expected. Hadel was far more dashing than Prince Saedel.

Hadel, who had walked over solemnly, delivered a greeting in his characteristically heavy and atmospheric voice.

“Welcome to the North.”

It was a short greeting, but it sounded all the more profound. Hadel’s imposing appearance and voice combined to form a picturesque scene. I was so thrilled that I bounced up and down.

‘How is it? Isn’t he cool?’

Hurry up and say he’s cool. Bow down and say thank you for welcoming you. Encourage him, saying, “Prince, you have grown up well and solemnly alone in the North.”

‘If you say you’ve missed your elder brother, Hadel might faint from joy.’

Thinking that, I finally realized why I had been constantly watching Hadel’s reactions and worrying about whether their relationship was good or bad.

Only I, who was always by Hadel’s side, knew.

That Hadel was lonely.

So I wished for him not to know. For his long-lost younger brother to treat Hadel kindly, and for Hadel to realize that his family didn’t hate him.

‘I hope Hadel can be happy.’

I had no idea when I had grown so fond of Hadel.