Chapter 16:
The white ferret, Pio, whom I had sent to Karus at the herb garden the day before yesterday, still hadn’t returned.
Ferrets normally roamed freely outdoors, but since this was something I had tasked him with, I felt responsible.
So today’s outing had two purposes: to meet Karus and to bring Pio back to our palace.
Kino tilted his head and squeaked at my words.
The spotted ferret in my arms sniffed around briefly.
“Eek!”
Then Kino suddenly pointed somewhere with his tiny paws.
Destination located!
“Margaret, over there!”
I grabbed Margaret and headed in the direction Kino indicated.
“What do you think you’re doing right now!”
“I-I’m really sorry!”
That must have been the correct answer!
Not long after, a sharp child’s voice and a flustered adult male’s voice reached us.
My eyes immediately snapped open.
“Ah, Princess! Let’s go together!”
Ignoring Margaret’s shouts, I dashed forward, Pio’s tail streaming behind me as he ran.
Soon, familiar faces came into view.
“Oh! Found you, Karus! But… what’s going on? Getting scolded again?”
Karus, whom I had seen at the herb garden, was now flustered in front of two young boys.
“Where on earth were your eyes while running carelessly through the palace? Didn’t you learn any proper royal etiquette? Truly outrageous.”
“That’s right! Apologize to Rubell properly immediately!”
Before Karus stood a beautiful young boy with long pink hair and pale purple eyes, and a chubby boy with teal short hair and pink eyes.
“I-I never did it on purpose…”
“Does it matter if it was a mistake? My clothes and shoes got dirty because of you, and I am extremely upset!”
“Yes, whether intentional or not, kneel and apologize properly to Rubell right now!”
The one scolding Karus was the son of Kuncha I had seen the day before yesterday: the Second Prince, Rubellio.
The boy shouting, “Apologize to Karus!” with teal hair was Heliman, the Third Prince and Rubellio’s equally foolish peer.
“I-I’m really sorry…”
“I don’t understand why you keep repeating that boring apology as if it has any value.”
“Right, even the apology is tedious…”
“Shut up!”
“Uh… okay…”
At Rubellio’s sharp words, Heliman immediately shut his mouth and shrank back.
See? Shrink, I said.
Despite being siblings with the Second Princess Alexia and sharing the same father, their appearances and personalities were completely different.
The little one had a huge appetite and during my birthday banquet, he had disappeared into the table stacked with snacks, eating alone without appearing in the crowd.
“Hmph, if you’re really sorry, at least clean my shoes yourself.”
In Rubellio’s eyes, Karus looked pathetic.
“Ah, understood! Just a moment!”
Karus hurriedly bent his knees in front of Rubellio.
I couldn’t help but be a little taken aback.
I mean, seriously, kneeling there?
“What are you all doing?”
Seeing the scene, I relaxed my frown and approached the three of them, pretending not to know anything.
“Th-Third Princess?”
“You are…”
“Oh? It’s Asphodel.”
Karus and Heliman froze, eyes wide at my sudden appearance.
Rubellio scowled like someone forced to eat something unpleasant.
“I greet the stars of Rozantina.”
The attendants of the two princes bowed to me.
“And I greet the moon and stars of Rozantina.”
My attendants bowed back to the three royals.
As a common metaphor, in greetings to royalty, the sun represents the emperor, the moon the emperor’s spouse, and the stars the princesses and princes.
“Kii-kii!”
Pio, the white ferret, who had been hiding behind a pillar, leapt happily into my arms.
‘Ugh, what’s going on? How did you get so heavy in just two days?’
Of course, I’d never worried that this little one would starve while wandering around, but his belly was definitely plump now.
At this rate, I suspected he had practically raided the Karus Palace dining hall.
I held the now heavy Pio and moved closer to assess the situation with the three boys.
Next to kneeling Karus lay a small glass bottle, about the size of a small vase.
It seemed that Karus had been carrying it hastily, bumped into Rubellio, and spilled its contents.
The yellow-stained clothes of Rubellio emitted a foul odor.
The smell was really unpleasant.
Not that I planned to take sides, but I could understand why the neat-freak Second Prince would get irritated like a foal stepping on a tail.
Karus was again without any attendants behind him.
“Karus Father, why are you kneeling there?”
I asked, though I could already guess the situation, pretending to be ignorant.
“Th-That’s because…”
“This person dirtied my shoes, and he was about to clean them for me.”
Rubellio straightened his frown and smiled on his pretty face.
Although the smile carried a hint of malice, his angelic appearance was undeniable.
In the future, he would compete fiercely for the title of “most handsome man in Rozantina,” following in our father Roxan’s footsteps.
Even now, he was beautiful, and ten years from now, he would possess dangerously striking looks.
Yet, as if proving God is fair, Rubellio’s stunning beauty came with an extremely difficult personality.
With that pretty face, he could deliver cruel barbs effortlessly, and even the First Prince would often avoid him in disgust.
“This isn’t the first time, is it? You seem used to kneeling.”
He looked down at Karus and spoke with a sneer.
Typical villain behavior—mock everyone and make trouble wherever possible.
Still, his father Kuncha took care of Karus behind the scenes.
“Indeed, one could say you fit right in with the commoners’ work.”
Already accustomed to belittling Karus, I realized Rubellio’s personality had been terrible from a very young age.
“What are you doing? Clean it quickly.”
“Yes, yes! I’ll clean it!”
Rubellio intended to make Karus clean his shoes and even urged him to do so.
Heliman watched silently, eyes gleaming with curiosity, eager to see what would happen.
Karus, foolish as ever, reached out to the shoes.
I clicked my tongue in disapproval and clapped my hands.
“I see! Karus Father is kindly cleaning your shoes for you.”
Hearing that, everyone’s gaze turned to me.
Feigning innocence, I said to Rubellio:
“Then you should thank Karus Father.”
“What?”
Rubellio furrowed his brow in confusion.
“This is something that should have been done by the people behind you, but no one did, so Karus Father is doing it instead, right?”
Regardless, I added casually, as if it were obvious.
The attendants of Rubellio twitched but didn’t act immediately, probably reflecting their master’s attitude—or because I was only five years old and they disregarded me.
“Karus Father is doing it kindly, so thank him quickly.”
The young Rubellio could only give me an incredulous look.
Heliman wasn’t much different.
“What are you talking about? Are you stupid?”
“Y-Yeah! Are you stupid? What are you saying to Rubell?”
The fidgety Heliman jumped in, but both Rubellio and I ignored him.
I said to Rubellio:
“You’re the stupid one, not me.”
“Wha-! But who were you again? I’m older than you, you know?”
I ignored that and looked at Rubellio’s attendants, saying the same thing.
“What are you doing? First, you should say ‘Thank you, Fifth Lord.’ Karus Father is doing your work for you.”
Even though I was just five, I had to directly instruct them to prevent their disregard. The attendants of Rubellio reluctantly opened their mouths.
“Th-Thank you, Fifth Lord.”
It was obvious they were just humoring me.
But no—wrong. Idiots. You weren’t supposed to thank; you should have been bowing your heads in apology.
“By the way, are you all new to the palace?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“Because Karus Father was kneeling, and you were all just standing there.”
According to Rozantina Imperial Law, when royalty bows or kneels, non-royals may not look down on them or place their heads higher than the royal.
