Chapter 24
The spirit beasts were masters at sorting beans!
Every spot they passed over, all the toad beans vanished as if by magic.
“Kkweeng!”
Then, from their tiny button-hole mouths, leftover toad beans shot out like someone casually tossing watermelon seeds, though no one could tell when they had eaten them.
I was completely stunned.
I didn’t expect the spirit beasts to be this versatile.
But… they were so competent that I didn’t have much to do myself.
I had intended to help just enough to preserve Joshua’s self-esteem, though.
“Ah, what happened? All the beans are sorted?”
A little later, Joshua returned, dripping with sweat, and was surprised to see the feed already sorted.
“Did someone do this for me?”
His round eyes darted around in confusion.
But all that was there were the baby spirit beasts.
“Kkyak!”
“Kkukkuung!”
The adorable little mochi-like creatures bounced up and down, asserting their presence to Joshua.
“C-could it be that you did this?”
Joshua asked the babies with trembling eyes.
The spirit beasts responded with their little “kkung-kkung!” noises.
Joshua seemed to think it was a joke, and soon gave a small, sheepish laugh, shaking his head.
“No way. What a ridiculous thought.”
The baby spirit beasts protested softly, but Joshua didn’t seem to hear them.
His eyes clouded over, as if he were deep in thought.
“Maybe it’s because I heard last time that the spirit beasts don’t dislike me… but actually like me…”
Ah, he must be thinking of me.
Then it was only natural that I should appear at this moment.
“Hello!”
“Ah, Your Highness?!”
When I appeared, Joshua jumped up like a fish caught on a hook, moving from his crouched position.
“May the blessings of the Sun shine upon the stars of Rozantina!”
He bowed hastily and looked up at me carefully.
Then, with a trembling voice, he asked,
“D-did Your Highness perhaps… sort the beans?”
Huh? How could I have done that?
Perhaps because of my perfect timing, Joshua had the utterly ridiculous idea.
“No, the spirit beasts did it!”
For a moment, I instinctively thought about claiming credit, but…
‘Well, I can’t help it. I’m just an ordinary opportunist.’
But in the end, I told the truth according to my conscience.
After all, it would be cruel to snatch away the fruits of the baby spirit beasts’ painstaking efforts as a fan of adorable little creatures.
“Ah, the spirit beasts…?”
But Joshua looked at me with a subtle, skeptical smile, as if he had just heard a child whispering, “The dolls secretly hold tea parties while their owners sleep.”
“I see… it was the spirit beasts who did it.”
“Really!”
“Of course, yes.”
“I’m telling the truth!”
“Yes, I believe you. After all, it’s Your Highness speaking.”
Well, he really didn’t seem to believe me.
But that was understandable.
Hmm, he’d find out soon enough anyway.
“Here, eat this.”
I untied a pretty little package from my waist and handed it to Joshua.
It was a small snack—madeleines and cookies—that I had prepared before leaving the palace.
“F-for me?”
“Yes. Your rice balls have cooled down, haven’t they?”
Joshua’s eyes immediately welled up.
“Thank you so much, Your Highness. You comforted me last time as well…”
Oh, even his words are like Karus’s.
This character really overlaps too much with Karus!
Someone might think he’s my child.
Joshua would grow into a confident and handsome young man eventually, but now, at a very low point in his self-esteem, every word he spoke seemed timid and withdrawn.
‘I guess in this round, I’ll need to carefully help him build his self-esteem.’
I watched Joshua leave again, called by someone else, with a gentle gaze.
“Huh? Isn’t that Adel over there? Ah!”
“Gah! S-sorry! Sorry! I didn’t see you there!”
Oops. Self-esteem isn’t the issue right now, apparently.
No wonder he was moving carelessly without looking ahead—Joshua had bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction.
The other person was a short child.
“Your Highness, are you all right?! Do you know what you just did?!”
“I-I’ve committed a grave offense! I am truly sorry!”
Joshua quickly bowed low in apology.
It seemed like the situation could escalate, so I wondered if I should step in.
“Stop, I’m fine.”
Fortunately, the fallen blonde child got up casually, brushing off their butt like it was nothing.
“It’s partly my fault for not watching where I was going. You don’t need to worry. You look busy—go ahead.”
The blonde child then turned to look at me.
“Adel!”
Ah, it seems I hadn’t misheard earlier.
The blonde child called me warmly and ran over.
From a distance, the short golden hair and athletic, energetic movements immediately caught my attention.
I recognized her at once.
It was the Second Princess, Alexia, dressed in a simple shirt and pants.
“You were right! I wondered when I saw you from afar. What’s going on at the spirit beast nest?”
Seeing her smiling face, I greeted her in return.
“Hello. I just came to see the baby spirit beasts.”
“I see. I came for training. Lately, I’ve been taming a Lycan.”
I see.
Alexia was active and enjoyed outdoor training.
She had high physical skill in all combat arts and talent in taming spirit beasts.
While the most sacred way to communicate with spirit beasts was through spiritual imprinting, like our father or future Joshua, spending time together and building bonds was also a legitimate way to train them.
Our Emperor La Bellica also had a method of forcing obedience through sheer authority, but… that was impossible for ordinary people.
“Huh? Adel, you have something on you.”
Alexia suddenly noticed something on my face.
“Where? Here?”
“No, not there. I’ll remove it.”
She moved closer and gently held my chin in place.
“Shh. Just stay still for a moment.”
Her low voice rang in my ear.
Beneath her golden lashes, her golden eyes shone brightly, locking onto me.
My heart… well, not just my heart.
Suddenly, visions of scattered rose petals appeared around me, and I felt as if the background music from the classic animation The Rose of Versailles was playing.
Alexia, as an adult, would braid her long hair loosely, and that future image flashed in my mind for a moment.
I guess her cool “girl crush” style was evident even as a child.
“Ah, done.”
Alexia blew on my face to remove whatever was there and smiled satisfied.
“Th-thank you.”
I stammered without realizing it.
Actually, she also had something on her clothes from when she fell earlier.
Well, that’s just her cool personality.
“No, but the baby spirit beasts really like you.”
When I turned to look where Alexia was pointing, the baby spirit beasts were still near me, circling around.
“Being here with you and the little ones is really cute.”
Alexia closed her eyes and smiled sweetly.
I nearly melted right there.
Actually, the Second Princess Alexia was my favorite of Asphodel’s half-siblings in the novel.
Of course, in the story, Asphodel was closest to the First Prince Euclide, but personally, Alexia was my favorite.
She resembled our mother, Emperor La Bellica, the most among all the royal siblings.
In the future, Alexia would lead Rozantina’s First Knights and be known as the “Radiant Sword.”
When her golden hair fluttered and her blade cut the air with precision sharper than lightning, people would be reminded of our emperor, La Bellica.
Even in my two lives, Alexia was immensely popular with the citizens of Rozantina.
Romance novels featuring her as the protagonist were very popular among young ladies.
The most famous novel was probably The Second Princess Was Amazing.
There were countless literary works, plays, and songs about her, including underground stories by anonymous authors: The Second Princess and I, Beloved Knight Princess, Oh! Her Name Is Golden Flame, Bow to the Goddess’s Second Morning Star, and more.
—The reckless life plan of the rogue princess continues.
