The Empire’s Only Princess - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

***

 

A week has already passed since Dad and Nanuk left.

 

An hour had passed since the butler said that if I wrote a letter, he could send it to them, but the letter still only had one word, ‘To Dad’.

 

My head was in a muddle. It was even more so because I had time to think about something.

 

I tapped the table and straightened my sitting position. Then, I drew a line over the ‘To Dad’, covered it in black, and next to it, I wrote ‘What to do in the future’.

 

It was because I had a sudden thought that it would be safer to organize the future properly as long as I lived here.

 

“As for the letter…..Well, I can write it later.”

 

First, the 1st [Prince!] series is the story of Nanuk.

 

The story unfolds around the time he was 17, which means there is a year left. It was also the fastest starting point of the original work I could know.

 

Well, if you think about it, this world is the real world and it’s just that there were few people who saw this place, so calling it the original work would be awkward, I guess I should call it the future.

 

“Hmm….”

 

I put the tip of the pen in my mouth and pondered. Truthfully, since it was a novel focused on the romance of the princes, there were only a handful of risk factors I knew.

 

The things that would be a great worry would be limited to three?

 

[tn— she’s saying that the things she knows would be a great worry/bother that is limited to 3]

 

Among them, the most worrisome is the “Rosiane Adoption” incident, which will take place a year later at a hunting competition.

 

A girl resembling the deceased princess eventually enters the Imperial Family carrying the princess’s name and becomes the culprit behind numerous incidents.

 

“Wouldn’t she not appear since I’m here now………?”

 

I wrote [Fake Princess Incident – 》 might not happen.] on the piece of paper and wrote down the other incidents.

 

The next thing that worries me, together with the fake princess, was the Young Lady of Duke Abdrach, and the “Dethroned Prince Incident” which involves  the heroine of the [Prince!] first prince series.

 

[Dethroned Prince Incident – since it’s the same as the fake princess manipulating the young lady of the duke, if the fake princess doesn’t appear, won’t it not happen?]

 

I wrote up to this point and for me to further recall the details, I immersed myself in my thoughts.

 

The incident had enough ripple effect to the point that Nanuk *later stepped down from the crown prince’s position and even left the Imperial family.

 

[tn— later as in after the incident]

 

What else was there. Only after two hours had passed as I sat on the chair for a while, that I was able to complete a table of the general summary.

 

[tn— as in summary of the future]

 

Now, where to hide this. As I diligently rolled my eyes, a thought came to mind and I looked at the desk.

 

[tn— rolled her eyes, in here doesn’t mean she’s annoyed or sth, more like she’s looking around w/ her eyes.]

 

“How do I do this?”

 

I pressed the desk here and there and when I pressed a corner on the bottom of the desk, a space hidden under the desk appeared with a ‘click’.

 

It was discovered by the adopted Rosiane, yet I’m using it like this. I hid the folded summary table in it.

 

With a clicking and interlocking sound, the secret space seamlessly disappeared.

 

Only then did I take out a new piece of paper and began writing a letter.

 

* * *

 

My lower tooth fell out. It looks like the permanent tooth is about to come out.

 

I’m nine years old, so I’m indeed at that age. My appearance with a missing tooth seen through the mirror was unfamiliar.

 

When Eryte saw my appearance, he broke into a fit of laughter and rolled around the room as if he had become a duster. I rebuked Eryte with a slightly sharp tone.

 

“Is it that funny?”

 

“No, it’s because you’re so~ cute!”

 

Eryte pressed both of my cheeks flat. It has already been a month since my father and Nanuk left, and summer has completely come to the palace.

 

“Oh, right, Rosiane. How about you bring in a cat?”

 

What gets on my nerves these days is the family of mice that appeared in my palace. I don’t know when it started, but I found them several times in a room that looked like a warehouse while exploring the palace after Erdos and Nanuk left.

 

Eryte, who knew of that fact, finally came up with a solution after days of contemplation.

 

A cat! When I saw one before, I was reluctant to raise it because I didn’t know when I would die, but now that I know the truth and have decided to live, I can raise them.

 

When my eyes twinkled, Eryte proudly put his hand on his waist and spread his shoulders wide. Is there a place here where they sell pets?

 

“But where will we get a cat?”

 

“We can just catch one of course!”

 

I shut my mouth for a moment at his unexpected method.

 

“……Catch one? Where?”

 

“If we go out to the square, there will probably be a lot of cats?”

 

Hmm, going out.

 

I’m a little worried, but Lora, whom my father gave me as a maid, is actually an elite of Zion, so it’ll be fine if we’re together. Now that Sir Boyd left with my father, I have Lora instead as my escort.

 

“Okay, let’s go.”

 

Eryte, who hurrah-ed at the pleasant consent, took my hand and guided me. Lora followed suit. Like last time, we wore disguised clothes and lenses and moved through a secret passage.

 

“So there was a place like this.”

 

Lora swept through the wall with surprised eyes. It was a small sound, but it echoed in the space so it sounded quite loud.

 

“It even has a space distortion magic!”

 

Eryte proudly said. This must have been the reason why the time to walk through the secret passage was shorter than the distance by carriage from the palace to the capital.

 

After walking for a while, Eryte turned the lighting that shone brightly to the right direction like last time, and a passage appeared with a small sound.

 

The three of us walked out into the light. Lora looked at the disappearing passage with interest in her eyes. On the way to the market, Lora asked as if trying to confirm.

 

“So, you just need to catch a cat for the mice, right?”

 

“Yeah. But I have a cat that I want to raise.”

 

At my words, Eryte and Lora looked at me with an expression filled with curiosity

 

“What kind?”

 

“It’s a black cat. I saw it when we came out last time, and if possible, I want to take that child.”

 

[tn— i think she’s referring to the cat when she says ‘child’.]

 

Of course, if the cat doesn’t like it, I’m thinking of letting it go, but it was my first conversation partner and I kept on remembering his bun-like appearance on my leg, so if possible, I’d like to bring it with me.

 

“Okay, I’ll look for it. Does it have any other features?”

 

I remembered the cat’s yellow eyes shining like jewels.

 

“Um, It’s eyes are yellow.”

 

“Yellow huh”, Lora mumbled.

 

“Oh, cotton candy!”

 

After walking further into the entrance of the market, Eryte ran straight ahead and bought cotton candy. The pink cotton candy quickly disappeared into his mouth.

 

At that moment, that appearance reminded me of Young Master Vanitas. His pink hair looked like it was being eaten by Eryte.

 

“Now that I think about it, is Lora friends with Sir Boyd?”

 

I asked as I stared at Eryte—hinting at him, who had started eating his second cotton candy. Lora’s brown eyes sank low.

 

“Um, to call us ‘friends’ wouldn’t be correct. Should I say we’re comrades?”

 

“Comrades?”

 

“Yes, comrades.”

 

Lora beamed at me and turned her head. Her warm brown eyes flickered through the air for a moment.

 

“Rosiane!”

 

As soon as I was about to ask something more, Eryte appeared with the third cotton candy.

 

“Here eat! It’s soft, so even if you don’t have teeth you’ll be able to eat it easily!”

 

No, one missing lower tooth won’t interfere with eating or anything.……. He didn’t care even when I looked at him with an exasperated gaze.

 

Being grumpy for no reason, as I took about half of the cotton candy, crumpled it into small pieces and put it in my mouth, Eryte *laughed on the other side of his face.

 

[tn— *meaning he stopped being happy/pleased due to a situation changing]

 

“Mm, It’s really good to eat even without a tooth.”

 

Eryte, who quickly ate up the remaining cotton candy because he was afraid I would eat it all due to my mischievous laugh, was about to go buy cotton candy for the fourth time.

 

Something warm touched my ankle. Dry and warm heat. As I looked down, a yellow cat that looked like it came out of the alley was rubbing its forehead against my ankle.

 

“Oh, kitty!”

 

I immediately squatted down and stroked the cat’s chin. How cute. The cat let out a purring sound as if it was in a good mood.

 

“Oh my, the cat seems to like Your Highness the Princess.”

 

Lora said as if she was amazed. Is this the so called *being chosen as a steward? For some reason, a corner of my heart felt ticklish.

 

[tn— she’s talking about that experience when a cat chooses you as their owner]

 

“Wow, what’s with this one?”

 

And then, Eryte suddenly picked up the cat. The cat’s body stretched out like glutinous rice cake.

 

“Ack!”

 

In an instant, the cat scratched the back of Eryte’s hand and ran away.

 

“That punk!”

 

Eryte chased such a cat into the alley in the blink of an eye. As a result, only Lora and I remained in front of the alley.

 

We sighed at the same time as if we had planned it, and as soon as we noticed it, we looked at each other and burst into laughter.

 

“Shall we go?”

 

With a still smiling voice, Lora casually said without looking in the alley. After all, Eryte alone is enough to protect his own body.

 

After nodding, We walked to the place where I saw the cat last time. Lora followed me while diligently looking at my surroundings.

 

However, even after quite some time, the black cat had no intention of showing up. Tired, I was sitting on a bench under the shade of a tree and drinking orange juice then,

 

“Meow—”

 

Then I heard a cat’s voice from the back alley. Mine and Lora’s eyes turned to that place at the same time.

 

“Oh my.”

 

Lora, who was standing opposite me, opened her eyes round and pointed into the alley.

 

“It looks like the cat Your Highness the Princess is looking for!”

 

I immediately got up at that sound and looked into the alley. It is said that important opportunities come when you give up, and as soon as I took a break because I was tired, the cat appeared in front of me.

 

The shiny black hair and yellow eyes that look like melted citrine. It was definitely the cat I saw then.

 

I walked slowly and arrived in front of the cat.

 

“Hi?”

 

My face was reflected in the cat’s large eyes. I carefully pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket.

 

The carefully unfolded handkerchief contained dried fish. I stopped by the kitchen and packed it earlier before coming out.

 

I picked one of those up and brought it to the cat’s mouth, and it started sniffing. Lora softly screamed at that cute appearance.

 

But at that moment, the cat lifted its front paw which was like a cotton ball and tossed the dried fish away.

 

The dried fish rolled on the floor with a sound. While staring at the dried fish that fell on the floor with a forlorn look, the cat in the incident was calmly licking the back of my hand.

 

“That won’t do. We can’t use it because it’s rude.”

 

With a snort, Lora firmly said. I shook my head.

 

“You shouldn’t say that. They can understand everything.”

 

Cats are smart. They just ignore what people say.

 

Interestingly, at my words, the cat stopped cleaning its fur and looked at me.

 

“You must not like fish? How about chicken? Pork? Beef? There’s also turkey. I’ll give you everything you want, okay?”

 

I don’t know if it really understands me, but Lora laughed behind me at my appearance that was almost begging the cat.

 

“There’s a mouse in my palace, if you just help me catch it, I’ll do anything you want. Let’s go together, okay?”

 

When I gently reached out my hand to the cat, the cat carefully rubbed its head.

 

[tn— against her hand]

 

At the clear consent, I looked back at Lora with a bright smile. She too, was smiling as if she was satisfied.