Chapter 3. Mabel is Sick?
“What is it? …Is Mabel in pain?
“She suddenly started sweating a lot. I called for the doctor.
“Mabel!”
Oscar quickly tossed his towel aside and ran to the cradle, looking at me wide-eyed.
“Please don’t be in pain, Mabel…”
“Ababu…” (I’m not in pain.)
“…Look at her weak replies… she’s in a lot of pain, nanny…”
“…”
I don’t know what to say. They’ll freely interpret what they hear to their liking, don’t they?
Oscar looked down with empathetic eyes and patted my head.
‘Sigh… fine. Think whatever you want.’
I gave up and turned my head. Oscar’s reaction grew stronger.
“Mabel…! No, Mabel! Don’t lose consciousness!”
“Your Highness, please wait a little bit longer! The doctor will be here soon…!”
“Waaah…”
I felt thoroughly embarrassed to the point of wanting to die… why… why are they like this? Why must I go through this chagrin dilemma? Though thankfully (not really), the doctor arrived quicker than I thought.
‘Okay… I’ll just get quickly checked up and show them that I’m completely fine. That would be the best-case scenario.’
…But as usual, god would not allow things to go as I wished it to.
Slam!
“Mabel!”
The door swung open with a loud bang and the emperor hurried inside with a sense of heavy urgency.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Mabel, are you all right?”
…Did… did he just ignore her…? Yes… he did.
The emperor passed by the nanny who bowed to him. He never once realized her presence as he dashed straight away to the cradle, his hands stretching out towards me.
“!”
I turned my head to the side and shut my eyes tight. A moment later, his hand reached out and touched me softly, his movements cautious, afraid I’d break apart. When I opened my eyes, albeit slowly, I saw the emperor’s face. He was sweating, his hair madly disheveled. A weird feeling went through me.
“Doctor!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
A fairly aged doctor expert examined me, then turned around to face the emperor.
“After examining her-“
“Well, what is it?”
“Her Highness is-“
“Is she sick? Go on, tell me.”
“…”
Because the emperor kept cutting off the doctor before he could finish his words, even he lost the energy to reply. Even I felt tired from their sorry exchange.
‘Just let him talk.’
In this suffocating and tense moment, the person who broke the ice was Oscar who stood at the corner without showing signs of his presence.
“Royal Father, please calm down first and listen to what the doctor has to say.”
“Why are you here?”
“…Ah…!”
Oscar let out a surprised gasp realizing that he was not supposed to be here.
‘…Dummy.’
The emperor dominated over Oscar with a simple glare, then turned around to face the doctor.
“Well, go on. Speak.”
“Your Majesty, after examining Her Highness, the conclusive result I found was that she’s very healthy. According to reports, it was stated that she was having cold sweats, but it seems to be from a sudden rise in temperature than anything else.”
Yes, that’s right. It was hot. The doctor’s examination was spot on, but the emperor’s eyes filled with suspicion did not stop.
“Why would she suddenly feel a heated temperature? You know well the inside of the palace has its temperature controlled by magic.”
“I-I’m not sure the reason why, but since she’s no longer sweating, Her Highness will do just fine.”
At the doctor’s assurance, the emperor’s tense mood quickly subsided.
“…Then that’s good.”
He put his hands on my underarm and lifted me, pulling me into his chest and patting my back with better finesse this time.
‘Huh…’
A strange feeling swelled over me this time as well. His comforting pats that were annoying at first caught me off guard and for a slight moment gave me a feeling of assurance and comfort…
10 minutes before Esteban had plans to see Mabel, he was caught amid a periodical conference meeting. The atmosphere was calm and quiet. The servants, as well as Igurni and Esteban who sat at the top seat all wore a severe expression on their faces.
“More than 10 were injured among the guards instructed with transportation, Your Majesty.”
“How were you able to know beforehand, Your Majesty, that the Devil of Devlin was simply a young boy?!”
The topic at hand was the man, no, youth commonly nicknamed the Devil of Devlin.
‘The Devil of Devlin.’
The youth had caused him a trouble of headaches and problems to the Ermano Empire as of recent. The Devil of Deblin was famous for his complete black dressing without proper armor or weapons on hand. He’d oftentimes go on a merciless one-sided murder rampage before disappearing completely into the shadows. As the soldiers of the Great Ermano looked on, helplessly watching their allies brutally cut down without any semblance and chance of retaliation, the youth was dubbed the Devil of Deblin. The youth had no other information of his past other than his birth origin, Deblin, and that his gender was male.
The servants yelped in shock.
“To think he was caught!”
Less than a month ago had passed since the soldiers of the Ermano Empire successfully captured the Devil of Deblin alive.
Esteban tried to recall the details of the report of his capture.
‘He was in the midst of brutally cutting up the flesh of a soldier before ceasing all actions suddenly. Huh…’
After the Devil of Deblin took off the black robe covering his body whole, the nearby onlookers were shocked to the core that he was simply a small child. None had noticed his small frame due to his extremely sharp and quick movements and moving around from one target to another so fast that no eye could match his movements.
“How close is he?”
“We predict his arrival within a few days. However, if he goes crazy, his arrival will be delayed.”
“…..Huh.”
“We believe that he has no semblance of logic and rationality.”
“We’ll find out once he’s here. Make sure to keep security high and a lock on him so he does not escape. See to it that this does not occur.”
As the tense conference continued, a servant quietly walked in and shyly sauntered to the emperor and whispered a grave matter to his ear…
“What?! Mabel is in pain…?!”
He slammed the conference with a crashing thump and hurriedly stepped foot out of the conference room.
“…..?”
Losing the presence of the Emperor, the vassals looked at one another in a momentary sense of confusion.
Murmur, murmur…
The periodical conference room became noisy suddenly.
“If it’s Mabel…”
“Is that not the princess who was born not too long ago?”
“I’m sure the holy capital of Abelardo aimed to take her and raise the princess in the holy city.”
A while had passed that they’d forgotten the grave discussion regarding the scuffle that occurred at the border of the Deblin Empire as the vassals began sharing information about their precious princess, Mabel, to each other.
“I heard that her hair has the color of cherry blossoms, like the late Empress herself.”
“And that she inherited her blue eyes as well.”
“I heard that she was a lovely existence.”
“So cute that you could just to take a bite of her…”
They all came to the conclusion that the princess was cute. As she was too young to be placed in the public light, many rumors about her circulated en masse.
The topic quickly moved onto a different route.
“But didn’t His Majesty said the princess was unwell before leaving?”
“…What terrible news.”
“Indeed…”
The vassals began worrying about Mabel’s health. When the death of their late Empress was announced, tension and uneasiness rose throughout the empire, but thanks to Mabel’s existence, the higher-ups were able to stop the empire from experiencing a possibly troubling time. This fact made the vassals quite fond of the princess’ existence in many ways.
“She’s our future’s only hope.”
…On that night, many servants from affluent families lined up to Mabel’s building palace bearing rare and precious medicine from all over the world.
‘Please grow up healthy and well, so that you may be able to one day suppress the Emperor’s fiery personality!’
The servant’s repeated their master’s wishes, but unfortunately, their wishes did not reach Mabel who, at this time, slept soundly without a single idea of what was happening outside.
Through this incident, I learned a very special and important lesson.
‘From now on, I’ll only exercise while everyone’s sleeping.’
To think the world turned upside down in a colossal commotion over my supposedly cold sweat. After that incident, the emperor tirelessly checked up on my well-being often. Though if he came to visit me often, would it not actually be a regressive move as it’ll only stress me out to the point of pain?
“Ababa…”
But all I could muster were weak sounds that had no words or meaning.
Oscar, this older brother of mine, did not care whether he’d be scolded for seeing me and visited the room as often as he could – didn’t matter whether the Emperor’s presence was here or not.
It was a leisurely afternoon when Oscar visited me as usual. This older brother of mine hanged onto the cradle as he studied me.
“Nanny, how long will it take for Mabel to speak?”
“Hmm… I think it would take at least 2 years. Though that’s a bit too fast as well.”
“2 years…?! In 2 years?”
Oscar’s eyes widened in surprise, though it lasted only a moment as he looked back at me and smiled cheekily while poking my chubby cheek.
“Ah, well, that kind of time will pass on by in the blink of an eye.”
“…?”
‘Excuse me, you’re only 6 years old, you know? Why are you acting so old?’
I was in disbelief.
The nanny smiled, finding my expression cute. But… two years… and that’s if I develop quickly. Though honestly, if only I had teeth then I’d be able to speak properly, but I need not hurry myself and attract unnecessary attention. I only hoped to grow up normally so I could escape the burdensome stares of everyone heavily invested in me.
‘In any case, he’ll grow bored with me sooner or later and not visit me anymore, so I guess it doesn’t matter.’
“Your Highness, please stop touching Her Highness’ face.”
“Okay.”
With the nanny’s words, Oscar put his hand away from my cheek that was hot with warmth.
‘I wonder when he’ll leave?’
I turned my head and looked out the window. Dinner time was far as the sun still hung high up in the sky.
“Mabel, are you bored?”
“Au.” (No.)
“Nanny, it seems that Mabel is bored.”
‘…I said no.’
But the nanny showed signs of disapproval.
“The problem is that Her Highness doesn’t show any interest in toys.”
It’s not like I had the mind of a baby to begin with. If you whimsically shook those toys in me, I would show no interest in them, though I had to wonder whether to fake my interest to play the part of a normal baby.
Then, Oscar suddenly stood up.
“Let’s go out!”
“Nuwaa!” (Don’t want to!)
I strongly declined, but of course, my pleas were wrongly misinterpreted.
“What? You want to as well, Mabel? Nanny, Mabel said she wants to go out as well.”
‘I said no…!’
I sent pleading eyes towards the nanny. I was desperate, really desperate as our eyes met.
‘Nanny, you know my feelings, right?’
The nanny gave a warm smile.
“Then let’s take a stroll outside.”
…Is there no one in this world who understands me?
***
Despite my fervent opposition, the grand plan of my first stroll outside proceeded hastily.
“A stroll? Go on then.”
After an approval from the father who made no sounds of hesitation, Oscar squealed in delight silently.
“Since the weather is a bit cold, we’ll leave when the day becomes warmer.”
Every day, the nanny checked the day’s temperature before focusing back on her knitting. It looked like she was knitting a hat for me to wear.
A few days passed and on the 54th day, the exact day I was born, would be one of the highlights of my baby life. Nanny, who fed me from the baby bottle, looked outside.
“Let’s go out today, shall we?”
The long-awaited day had finally come. I was frozen in place attempting my best act to show my vehement dislike to venture the outside. But of course, like always, everything I did was misinterpreted.
“It looks like Her Highness is looking forward to the stroll very much.”
“Of course she would. It would be her first time out.”
For once, Lalima and Xavier’s conversation were in sync.
‘Sigh… fine. Do whatever you want, I guess.’
Since they were going to continue with their plans no matter what I did, I stopped all thoughts of going against their made plans and went with the flow. The nanny pulled out a thick garment, as well as the hat she knit herself.
…I was dying from hotness even if I stood still.
“Oh my, Her Highness is calm indeed. Xavier, bring the pram from the room next door and Lalima, pack the things we need to go.”
“Yes, madam.”
The two attendants split off to prepare for my outside stroll. Meanwhile, Oscar heard the news and came running to my room madly. He was breathing heavily.
“I’m here, Mabel…!”
“Oh my, Your Highness, aren’t you supposed to be training?”
“I heard that Mabel was going out for a stroll today, so I finished as early as I could.”
The nanny smiled as if he were cute and wiped Oscar’s sweat with a handkerchief.
“If you go around sweating in the winter, you’ll catch a cold. There can be another walk, so don’t push yourself too hard, Your Highness.”
“But it’s Mabel’s first walk, I can’t miss it.”
Oscar smiled brightly and held my hand. I felt a cool chill.
“It’s the first time Mabel goes outside, I want to be with her. I’m her older brother.”
Oscar’ who called himself ‘brother’ so naturally, left me blank.
I never thought of the Emperor and Oscar as family for even a single moment. They are just strangers. I just happened to be born here, so I didn’t know how to treat these people.
Whether I wanted it or not, it is correct that I was born as their family… it’s not their fault.
After a moment, Xavier, who went to get a stroller, returned. The stroller was very brilliant. What kind of national treasure was smashed into it? Why are there so many jewels and decorations on a baby stroller?
Apparently, it was a magical object.
I opened my mouth wide, and the nanny placed me in the stroller. The nanny seemed satisfied only after opening the shades to prevent the wind from blowing in and covering my neck with a blanket.
‘It’s, it’s hot…’
“Shall we go now?”
I was carried out into the hallway in the stroller armed with clothes and blankets. The hallway I saw for the first time was much wider than I imagined.
Is it because I’m still a baby, or is this Palace very wide?
“Mabel. Is the hallway interesting?”
“Au…”
I was only rolling my eyes and looking around, but I couldn’t answer Oscar’s question.
‘Yeah, I was actually a little curious.’
I couldn’t go out since I was born…
“Isn’t it fun?”
“Abu.” (No.)
“I knew you would like it.”
‘Yeah, think however you want…’
We left the building before I knew it.
The temperature is maintained by magic, so as soon as we passed a certain point, I felt a tremendous chill
“Auu!” (It’s cold!)
I take back what I said about it being hot!
“The Princess must be very cold.”
Xavier was worried about me. Then, Oscar took off his jacket and covered me.
“?”
As I was staring at Oscar, Xavier suddenly took off his jacket and covered me. Lalima covered me too. Even the nanny, who I trusted, took off her jacket.
‘I… can’t see.’
‘Abubu…” (I can’t see.)
“It’s warm? That’s a relief.”
Oscar’s voice came dimly beyond the four layers of outerwear that covered me. Obviously, it wasn’t as cold now, but is it meaningful for me to go out if I can’t see anything?
I thought I was going to go out to look around…
As soon as I was confused frozen, the stroller stopped suddenly.
“I greet His Majesty, the Emperor.”
“What about Mabel?”
“She is in the stroller.”
As soon as the nanny finished talking, a big hand squeezed the outer garment. The Emperor, who put his hand under my armpits, lifted me up. the outer clothes covering me fell to the ground, but the Emperor didn’t care at all.
“Have fun, Mabel.”
The blue eyes I encountered were bent gently. I stared blankly at the Emperor.
The Emperor put me back in the stroller and took off his jacket suddenly.
“…Your Majesty?”
The aide who followed the Emperor cried in a frightened voice.
The Emperor didn’t care at all and covered me with a black coat.
“Let’s go.”
The Emperor patted my head and walked away. When the Emperor’s appearance completely disappeared, Lalima, who was holding in her breath, spoke.
“Madame, Madame. Isn’t all of His Majesty’s clothes made of magic fabric.’
“Yes… it’s a very precious fabric. I didn’t know His majesty would give them to Her Highness.”
‘Give…? I think he just threw it away.’
I stared blankly at the clothes covering me. The black outer garments were covered with gold thread.
It wasn’t that thick, but I couldn’t feel the cold at all. It was warmer than the outer clothes that the other four people covered me together.
I thought of the four people who covered me.
You weren’t jealous like a child of them covering me, were you…?
‘Well, it is warm…’
***
The surface of the lake in the sun shone as if jewels were scattered. The flowers have not bloomed yet, but the frosted buds fluttered in the wind. The nanny set me down on a mat.
Oscar put me down on his lap as I kept lying down with my head tilted up.
“Mabel, it’s nice out here, isn’t it?”
Oscar asked and I blinked silently.
‘Um, it’s not good or bad.’
Lalima sat next to Oscar and watched us while the nanny organized things.
The nanny glanced at Lalima with an uneasy face.
“Lalima, don’t look away.”
“Don’t worry, Madame. Because I’m watching well! By the way, your head seems to be heavy. Ahhh. Isn’t she so cute!”
Xavier, who was organizing the stroller, spoke as Lalima made a fuss over my cheek.
“You’re going to get in trouble like that.”
“You think I’m you?”
These two are on good terms today too. I yawned and looked up at the sky, leaning in Oscar’s arms.
‘It’s blue.’
The sky I saw last was a black night with few stars. The sky I saw as I fell from the roof. Even though it was not long ago, it felt like a long time. But I could never forget.
Oscar whispered in a sentimental voice.
“Mabel must be sleepy.”
“Euaang…”
I’m not sleepy, I’m depressed! Sigh. You don’t even give me time to be depressed. There was nothing else to do, so I busily observed, moving my eyes to Xavier, who was cleaning up the surrounding area.
Suddenly, there was a scream near the entrance of the forest.
“…ohhh!”
What is it?
“It’s a divine beast!”
Divine beast?
I remembered Lalima and Xavier arguing that a golden divine beast was born in the northern forest of the Imperial palace.
What the hell is a divine beast? Apparently it looks like a cat.
‘I want to see it too!’
I stretched out my arms and expressed my desires to see it too. But Oscar didn’t care about me and Lalima had a war of nerves with Xavier.
“Really? Don’t lie, Xavier. I won’t be fooled!”
“It’s true. It’s over there! Go see it yourself!”
“You’ll die if it’s not there!”
The threatening Lalima scrambled to her feet.
“Prince, let’s go see it together!”
“Yeah, well.”
With that, the Nanny reached out to and held me in her arms. I waved my arms and refused to be hugged by the nanny.
“Your Highness, how about staying with me for a moment? His Highness will go see the kitty for a bit.”
“Hiing.”
The nanny smiled softly and hugged me, but I struggled and violently refused.
‘Me too! Kitty! I want to see the divine beast!‘
“Kiwwy-!”
No matter how hard I struggled, she wouldn’t let me go, so I screamed. Of course, my pronunciation t 2 months old was quite immature.
Suddenly, I realized that my surroundings were quiet. Oscar was the first person to speak.
“…Mabel?”
Chapter 3. Mabel is Sick?
“What is it? …Is Mabel in pain?
“She suddenly started sweating a lot. I called for the doctor.
“Mabel!”
Oscar quickly tossed his towel aside and ran to the cradle, looking at me wide-eyed.
“Please don’t be in pain, Mabel…”
“Ababu…” (I’m not in pain.)
“…Look at her weak replies… she’s in a lot of pain, nanny…”
“…”
I don’t know what to say. They’ll freely interpret what they hear to their liking, don’t they?
Oscar looked down with empathetic eyes and patted my head.
‘Sigh… fine. Think whatever you want.’
I gave up and turned my head. Oscar’s reaction grew stronger.
“Mabel…! No, Mabel! Don’t lose consciousness!”
“Your Highness, please wait a little bit longer! The doctor will be here soon…!”
“Waaah…”
I felt thoroughly embarrassed to the point of wanting to die… why… why are they like this? Why must I go through this chagrin dilemma? Though thankfully (not really), the doctor arrived quicker than I thought.
‘Okay… I’ll just get quickly checked up and show them that I’m completely fine. That would be the best-case scenario.’
…But as usual, god would not allow things to go as I wished it to.
Slam!
“Mabel!”
The door swung open with a loud bang and the emperor hurried inside with a sense of heavy urgency.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Mabel, are you all right?”
…Did… did he just ignore her…? Yes… he did.
The emperor passed by the nanny who bowed to him. He never once realized her presence as he dashed straight away to the cradle, his hands stretching out towards me.
“!”
I turned my head to the side and shut my eyes tight. A moment later, his hand reached out and touched me softly, his movements cautious, afraid I’d break apart. When I opened my eyes, albeit slowly, I saw the emperor’s face. He was sweating, his hair madly disheveled. A weird feeling went through me.
“Doctor!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
A fairly aged doctor expert examined me, then turned around to face the emperor.
“After examining her-“
“Well, what is it?”
“Her Highness is-“
“Is she sick? Go on, tell me.”
“…”
Because the emperor kept cutting off the doctor before he could finish his words, even he lost the energy to reply. Even I felt tired from their sorry exchange.
‘Just let him talk.’
In this suffocating and tense moment, the person who broke the ice was Oscar who stood at the corner without showing signs of his presence.
“Royal Father, please calm down first and listen to what the doctor has to say.”
“Why are you here?”
“…Ah…!”
Oscar let out a surprised gasp realizing that he was not supposed to be here.
‘…Dummy.’
The emperor dominated over Oscar with a simple glare, then turned around to face the doctor.
“Well, go on. Speak.”
“Your Majesty, after examining Her Highness, the conclusive result I found was that she’s very healthy. According to reports, it was stated that she was having cold sweats, but it seems to be from a sudden rise in temperature than anything else.”
Yes, that’s right. It was hot. The doctor’s examination was spot on, but the emperor’s eyes filled with suspicion did not stop.
“Why would she suddenly feel a heated temperature? You know well the inside of the palace has its temperature controlled by magic.”
“I-I’m not sure the reason why, but since she’s no longer sweating, Her Highness will do just fine.”
At the doctor’s assurance, the emperor’s tense mood quickly subsided.
“…Then that’s good.”
He put his hands on my underarm and lifted me, pulling me into his chest and patting my back with better finesse this time.
‘Huh…’
A strange feeling swelled over me this time as well. His comforting pats that were annoying at first caught me off guard and for a slight moment gave me a feeling of assurance and comfort…
10 minutes before Esteban had plans to see Mabel, he was caught amid a periodical conference meeting. The atmosphere was calm and quiet. The servants, as well as Igurni and Esteban who sat at the top seat all wore a severe expression on their faces.
“More than 10 were injured among the guards instructed with transportation, Your Majesty.”
“How were you able to know beforehand, Your Majesty, that the Devil of Devlin was simply a young boy?!”
The topic at hand was the man, no, youth commonly nicknamed the Devil of Devlin.
‘The Devil of Devlin.’
The youth had caused him a trouble of headaches and problems to the Ermano Empire as of recent. The Devil of Deblin was famous for his complete black dressing without proper armor or weapons on hand. He’d oftentimes go on a merciless one-sided murder rampage before disappearing completely into the shadows. As the soldiers of the Great Ermano looked on, helplessly watching their allies brutally cut down without any semblance and chance of retaliation, the youth was dubbed the Devil of Deblin. The youth had no other information of his past other than his birth origin, Deblin, and that his gender was male.
The servants yelped in shock.
“To think he was caught!”
Less than a month ago had passed since the soldiers of the Ermano Empire successfully captured the Devil of Deblin alive.
Esteban tried to recall the details of the report of his capture.
‘He was in the midst of brutally cutting up the flesh of a soldier before ceasing all actions suddenly. Huh…’
After the Devil of Deblin took off the black robe covering his body whole, the nearby onlookers were shocked to the core that he was simply a small child. None had noticed his small frame due to his extremely sharp and quick movements and moving around from one target to another so fast that no eye could match his movements.
“How close is he?”
“We predict his arrival within a few days. However, if he goes crazy, his arrival will be delayed.”
“…..Huh.”
“We believe that he has no semblance of logic and rationality.”
“We’ll find out once he’s here. Make sure to keep security high and a lock on him so he does not escape. See to it that this does not occur.”
As the tense conference continued, a servant quietly walked in and shyly sauntered to the emperor and whispered a grave matter to his ear…
“What?! Mabel is in pain…?!”
He slammed the conference with a crashing thump and hurriedly stepped foot out of the conference room.
“…..?”
Losing the presence of the Emperor, the vassals looked at one another in a momentary sense of confusion.
Murmur, murmur…
The periodical conference room became noisy suddenly.
“If it’s Mabel…”
“Is that not the princess who was born not too long ago?”
“I’m sure the holy capital of Abelardo aimed to take her and raise the princess in the holy city.”
A while had passed that they’d forgotten the grave discussion regarding the scuffle that occurred at the border of the Deblin Empire as the vassals began sharing information about their precious princess, Mabel, to each other.
“I heard that her hair has the color of cherry blossoms, like the late Empress herself.”
“And that she inherited her blue eyes as well.”
“I heard that she was a lovely existence.”
“So cute that you could just to take a bite of her…”
They all came to the conclusion that the princess was cute. As she was too young to be placed in the public light, many rumors about her circulated en masse.
The topic quickly moved onto a different route.
“But didn’t His Majesty said the princess was unwell before leaving?”
“…What terrible news.”
“Indeed…”
The vassals began worrying about Mabel’s health. When the death of their late Empress was announced, tension and uneasiness rose throughout the empire, but thanks to Mabel’s existence, the higher-ups were able to stop the empire from experiencing a possibly troubling time. This fact made the vassals quite fond of the princess’ existence in many ways.
“She’s our future’s only hope.”
…On that night, many servants from affluent families lined up to Mabel’s building palace bearing rare and precious medicine from all over the world.
‘Please grow up healthy and well, so that you may be able to one day suppress the Emperor’s fiery personality!’
The servant’s repeated their master’s wishes, but unfortunately, their wishes did not reach Mabel who, at this time, slept soundly without a single idea of what was happening outside.
Through this incident, I learned a very special and important lesson.
‘From now on, I’ll only exercise while everyone’s sleeping.’
To think the world turned upside down in a colossal commotion over my supposedly cold sweat. After that incident, the emperor tirelessly checked up on my well-being often. Though if he came to visit me often, would it not actually be a regressive move as it’ll only stress me out to the point of pain?
“Ababa…”
But all I could muster were weak sounds that had no words or meaning.
Oscar, this older brother of mine, did not care whether he’d be scolded for seeing me and visited the room as often as he could – didn’t matter whether the Emperor’s presence was here or not.
It was a leisurely afternoon when Oscar visited me as usual. This older brother of mine hanged onto the cradle as he studied me.
“Nanny, how long will it take for Mabel to speak?”
“Hmm… I think it would take at least 2 years. Though that’s a bit too fast as well.”
“2 years…?! In 2 years?”
Oscar’s eyes widened in surprise, though it lasted only a moment as he looked back at me and smiled cheekily while poking my chubby cheek.
“Ah, well, that kind of time will pass on by in the blink of an eye.”
“…?”
‘Excuse me, you’re only 6 years old, you know? Why are you acting so old?’
I was in disbelief.
The nanny smiled, finding my expression cute. But… two years… and that’s if I develop quickly. Though honestly, if only I had teeth then I’d be able to speak properly, but I need not hurry myself and attract unnecessary attention. I only hoped to grow up normally so I could escape the burdensome stares of everyone heavily invested in me.
‘In any case, he’ll grow bored with me sooner or later and not visit me anymore, so I guess it doesn’t matter.’
“Your Highness, please stop touching Her Highness’ face.”
“Okay.”
With the nanny’s words, Oscar put his hand away from my cheek that was hot with warmth.
‘I wonder when he’ll leave?’
I turned my head and looked out the window. Dinner time was far as the sun still hung high up in the sky.
“Mabel, are you bored?”
“Au.” (No.)
“Nanny, it seems that Mabel is bored.”
‘…I said no.’
But the nanny showed signs of disapproval.
“The problem is that Her Highness doesn’t show any interest in toys.”
It’s not like I had the mind of a baby to begin with. If you whimsically shook those toys in me, I would show no interest in them, though I had to wonder whether to fake my interest to play the part of a normal baby.
Then, Oscar suddenly stood up.
“Let’s go out!”
“Nuwaa!” (Don’t want to!)
I strongly declined, but of course, my pleas were wrongly misinterpreted.
“What? You want to as well, Mabel? Nanny, Mabel said she wants to go out as well.”
‘I said no…!’
I sent pleading eyes towards the nanny. I was desperate, really desperate as our eyes met.
‘Nanny, you know my feelings, right?’
The nanny gave a warm smile.
“Then let’s take a stroll outside.”
…Is there no one in this world who understands me?
***
Despite my fervent opposition, the grand plan of my first stroll outside proceeded hastily.
“A stroll? Go on then.”
After an approval from the father who made no sounds of hesitation, Oscar squealed in delight silently.
“Since the weather is a bit cold, we’ll leave when the day becomes warmer.”
Every day, the nanny checked the day’s temperature before focusing back on her knitting. It looked like she was knitting a hat for me to wear.
A few days passed and on the 54th day, the exact day I was born, would be one of the highlights of my baby life. Nanny, who fed me from the baby bottle, looked outside.
“Let’s go out today, shall we?”
The long-awaited day had finally come. I was frozen in place attempting my best act to show my vehement dislike to venture the outside. But of course, like always, everything I did was misinterpreted.
“It looks like Her Highness is looking forward to the stroll very much.”
“Of course she would. It would be her first time out.”
For once, Lalima and Xavier’s conversation were in sync.
‘Sigh… fine. Do whatever you want, I guess.’
Since they were going to continue with their plans no matter what I did, I stopped all thoughts of going against their made plans and went with the flow. The nanny pulled out a thick garment, as well as the hat she knit herself.
…I was dying from hotness even if I stood still.
“Oh my, Her Highness is calm indeed. Xavier, bring the pram from the room next door and Lalima, pack the things we need to go.”
“Yes, madam.”
The two attendants split off to prepare for my outside stroll. Meanwhile, Oscar heard the news and came running to my room madly. He was breathing heavily.
“I’m here, Mabel…!”
“Oh my, Your Highness, aren’t you supposed to be training?”
“I heard that Mabel was going out for a stroll today, so I finished as early as I could.”
The nanny smiled as if he were cute and wiped Oscar’s sweat with a handkerchief.
“If you go around sweating in the winter, you’ll catch a cold. There can be another walk, so don’t push yourself too hard, Your Highness.”
“But it’s Mabel’s first walk, I can’t miss it.”
Oscar smiled brightly and held my hand. I felt a cool chill.
“It’s the first time Mabel goes outside, I want to be with her. I’m her older brother.”
Oscar’ who called himself ‘brother’ so naturally, left me blank.
I never thought of the Emperor and Oscar as family for even a single moment. They are just strangers. I just happened to be born here, so I didn’t know how to treat these people.
Whether I wanted it or not, it is correct that I was born as their family… it’s not their fault.
After a moment, Xavier, who went to get a stroller, returned. The stroller was very brilliant. What kind of national treasure was smashed into it? Why are there so many jewels and decorations on a baby stroller?
Apparently, it was a magical object.
I opened my mouth wide, and the nanny placed me in the stroller. The nanny seemed satisfied only after opening the shades to prevent the wind from blowing in and covering my neck with a blanket.
‘It’s, it’s hot…’
“Shall we go now?”
I was carried out into the hallway in the stroller armed with clothes and blankets. The hallway I saw for the first time was much wider than I imagined.
Is it because I’m still a baby, or is this Palace very wide?
“Mabel. Is the hallway interesting?”
“Au…”
I was only rolling my eyes and looking around, but I couldn’t answer Oscar’s question.
‘Yeah, I was actually a little curious.’
I couldn’t go out since I was born…
“Isn’t it fun?”
“Abu.” (No.)
“I knew you would like it.”
‘Yeah, think however you want…’
We left the building before I knew it.
The temperature is maintained by magic, so as soon as we passed a certain point, I felt a tremendous chill
“Auu!” (It’s cold!)
I take back what I said about it being hot!
“The Princess must be very cold.”
Xavier was worried about me. Then, Oscar took off his jacket and covered me.
“?”
As I was staring at Oscar, Xavier suddenly took off his jacket and covered me. Lalima covered me too. Even the nanny, who I trusted, took off her jacket.
‘I… can’t see.’
‘Abubu…” (I can’t see.)
“It’s warm? That’s a relief.”
Oscar’s voice came dimly beyond the four layers of outerwear that covered me. Obviously, it wasn’t as cold now, but is it meaningful for me to go out if I can’t see anything?
I thought I was going to go out to look around…
As soon as I was confused frozen, the stroller stopped suddenly.
“I greet His Majesty, the Emperor.”
“What about Mabel?”
“She is in the stroller.”
As soon as the nanny finished talking, a big hand squeezed the outer garment. The Emperor, who put his hand under my armpits, lifted me up. the outer clothes covering me fell to the ground, but the Emperor didn’t care at all.
“Have fun, Mabel.”
The blue eyes I encountered were bent gently. I stared blankly at the Emperor.
The Emperor put me back in the stroller and took off his jacket suddenly.
“…Your Majesty?”
The aide who followed the Emperor cried in a frightened voice.
The Emperor didn’t care at all and covered me with a black coat.
“Let’s go.”
The Emperor patted my head and walked away. When the Emperor’s appearance completely disappeared, Lalima, who was holding in her breath, spoke.
“Madame, Madame. Isn’t all of His Majesty’s clothes made of magic fabric.’
“Yes… it’s a very precious fabric. I didn’t know His majesty would give them to Her Highness.”
‘Give…? I think he just threw it away.’
I stared blankly at the clothes covering me. The black outer garments were covered with gold thread.
It wasn’t that thick, but I couldn’t feel the cold at all. It was warmer than the outer clothes that the other four people covered me together.
I thought of the four people who covered me.
You weren’t jealous like a child of them covering me, were you…?
‘Well, it is warm…’
***
The surface of the lake in the sun shone as if jewels were scattered. The flowers have not bloomed yet, but the frosted buds fluttered in the wind. The nanny set me down on a mat.
Oscar put me down on his lap as I kept lying down with my head tilted up.
“Mabel, it’s nice out here, isn’t it?”
Oscar asked and I blinked silently.
‘Um, it’s not good or bad.’
Lalima sat next to Oscar and watched us while the nanny organized things.
The nanny glanced at Lalima with an uneasy face.
“Lalima, don’t look away.”
“Don’t worry, Madame. Because I’m watching well! By the way, your head seems to be heavy. Ahhh. Isn’t she so cute!”
Xavier, who was organizing the stroller, spoke as Lalima made a fuss over my cheek.
“You’re going to get in trouble like that.”
“You think I’m you?”
These two are on good terms today too. I yawned and looked up at the sky, leaning in Oscar’s arms.
‘It’s blue.’
The sky I saw last was a black night with few stars. The sky I saw as I fell from the roof. Even though it was not long ago, it felt like a long time. But I could never forget.
Oscar whispered in a sentimental voice.
“Mabel must be sleepy.”
“Euaang…”
I’m not sleepy, I’m depressed! Sigh. You don’t even give me time to be depressed. There was nothing else to do, so I busily observed, moving my eyes to Xavier, who was cleaning up the surrounding area.
Suddenly, there was a scream near the entrance of the forest.
“…ohhh!”
What is it?
“It’s a divine beast!”
Divine beast?
I remembered Lalima and Xavier arguing that a golden divine beast was born in the northern forest of the Imperial palace.
What the hell is a divine beast? Apparently it looks like a cat.
‘I want to see it too!’
I stretched out my arms and expressed my desires to see it too. But Oscar didn’t care about me and Lalima had a war of nerves with Xavier.
“Really? Don’t lie, Xavier. I won’t be fooled!”
“It’s true. It’s over there! Go see it yourself!”
“You’ll die if it’s not there!”
The threatening Lalima scrambled to her feet.
“Prince, let’s go see it together!”
“Yeah, well.”
With that, the Nanny reached out to and held me in her arms. I waved my arms and refused to be hugged by the nanny.
“Your Highness, how about staying with me for a moment? His Highness will go see the kitty for a bit.”
“Hiing.”
The nanny smiled softly and hugged me, but I struggled and violently refused.
‘Me too! Kitty! I want to see the divine beast!‘
“Kiwwy-!”
No matter how hard I struggled, she wouldn’t let me go, so I screamed. Of course, my pronunciation t 2 months old was quite immature.
Suddenly, I realized that my surroundings were quiet. Oscar was the first person to speak.
“…Mabel?”
