Chapter 11: 11

“By the way.”

“Yes?” 

Fletta replied, tilting her head.

“Why did the Grand Duke mistake me for a princess?”

Hearing Fletta’s words, Cezanne also thought it was strange.

“I know. Did he get confused because Fletta is so pretty?”

At that, Fletta laughed and shook her head.

“No way!”

But it was true that Fletta was a princess. Cezanne wanted to make Fletta recognized as a princess again one day.

To do that, there was one gateway through.

Fletta asked, looking into Cezanne’s eyes and tilting her head in curiosity.

“Princess? What are you thinking?”

“Hmm? It’s nothing. Let’s play today without thinking about anything. Shall we go boating now?”

Fletta nodded continuously at Cezanne’s words.

“Yes.” 

A white boat floated over the blue lake. It was a small, cozy white gondola decorated with flowers.

Cezanne took the boatman’s hand first and climbed onto the boat before grabbing Fletta into the boat, lifting her up.

Fletta, who boarded the boat for the first time in her life, was so hunched that she couldn’t balance herself and tilted.

“Ack…?! S, Sorry!”

Cezanne grabbed Fletta’s small body, which almost fell.

“Are you okay?”

When Cezanne asked affectionately, Fletta nodded. Cezanne reached out her hand.

“It’s dangerous, so let’s hold hands.”

Fletta nodded.

Fletta felt relieved by the soft, warm touch that touched her.

Soon the mighty boatman rowed, and the boat began to move forward. As soon as they watched the waves spread, Fletta and Cezanne seemed to feel at ease.

* * *

That night, Cezanne quietly asked Pletta.

“Fletta.”

“Yes?” 

“Have you ever met the Emperor…?”

Fletta’s tiny head shook.

“His Majesty’s face … Do you know?”

This time, she nodded.

“Yes, Mrs. Milla showed me a picture book. I also saw the face of Princess Cezanne there.”

“I see.”

Cezanne smiled bitterly.

“You’re much prettier in person than in a picture book.”

As Fletta said so with sparkling eyes, Cezanne stroked the child’s side hair.

“His Majesty should know that. I have to go paint another portrait tomorrow. It’s an annual event.”

“Oh… Will I be alone tomorrow?”

Fletta asked in a slightly depressed voice.

“Yes, it won’t take long. But even without me, Fletta can do well, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I can do well even if the princess isn’t present. But you have to come quickly.”

Fletta laughed, sticking out her tongue. Cezanne also seemed to be getting attached to Fletta’s cuteness, which grew day by day.

“Of course.”

Cezanne bent her eyes beautifully and then spoke again cautiously.

“…What if I met His Majesty?”

Fletta didn’t say anything for a long time as if she had never thought about it. He tilted her head to and fro, and was in agony.

“Is it difficult?”

“Um, I think so.”

“Why?”

“Because His Majesty has never found me before.”

Thud.

Cezanne felt her heart sink.

“So I never thought I’d see His Majesty, but …”

“But?”

“I’m a little curious. I wondered how much he resembled the Princess. Like the rumors, if I cry because I;m scared, I think it would be better not to meet them. I really don’t know.” 

Fletta said as she rubbed her hands onto her pajamas constantly to see if her hands were sweaty.

“I see. You’ve had a hard time answering difficult questions.”

“No, it just took time because it never happened.”

“Well, it’s late. Good night, Fletta.”

“Good night, Princess Cezanne.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” 

Fletta closed her eyes as soon as she pulled the quilt.

Cezanne smiled at her and walked out of her room in her nightgown.

She fell asleep to Mel walking by and climbing the stairs. Yawning, Cezanne went back to her room and went to sleep.

* * * 

“King of Westin? Prince of Fioren? It’s not going to work.”

Charles sat down at his office desk with a ferocious look on his face, throwing the letters to the floor one by one.

Thwack! 

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The prime minister, Marquis Montes, went around to pick them up one by one.

The chores were naturally the Marquis’ responsibility, as they even sent out the servants during their morning meeting.

“Do you think this makes sense?”

“…I, It’s not that absurd, Your Majesty.”

The prime minister, Marquis Montes, gave a detailed account of the national benefits of marriage.

However, he only faced the burning eyes of the emperor. Charles banged the table.

“If we lose Cezanne, we don’t need any of that. Besides, she doesn’t even care about marriage. Her sister, Vivian, doesn’t have a fiance yet, so the order doesn’t match.”

“T, That’s right, Your Majesty. If not, I think I’ll have to coax them into marrying the First Princess.”

“That’d be great.”

Seeing Charles smiling wickedly, the Prime Minister, Marquis Montes, somehow felt uneasy.

He was  an emperor who dealt with everything coldly, except when it came to matters related to Princess Cezanne.

Then, outside, the butler, Bael, spoke.

“Your Majesty, it is said that the 2nd Princess is coming to the main palace as a portrait model.”

“What a slow painter! You still haven’t completed the portrait of Cezanne?

“Yes. Should I rush them?”

“No.” 

“Oh, and after the portrait painting session, the 2nd Princess asked for a separate audience.”

“Really? Then, I should go now before I wait until it’s over. I’ll have to see how they draw my daughter!”

“Yes, I’ll tell her that.”

At the conclusion of the butler’s words, Charles spoke up.

“Sir Montes, if you have nothing more to say, go away.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When Karl noticed, the Marquis’ hands quickened to tidy up the paperwork before bowing and leaving.

At that time, Cezanne had been forced to smile, clad in a heavy golden fur and jewels for the portrait to hang in the Hall of Fame.

It was torture to have to sit down for two hours in such thick clothes.Sweat seemed to flow all over her body, so she kept fanning her hands.

“Don’t move yet, Princess!”

“Does it make sense that people don’t move? I hope Sir Pierre will take care of it and draw it well.”

Cezanne shot back indifferently, and then approached Charles who had just entered with a pleased face.

“Father.”

Charles’ eyes, as he looked at Cezanne, shone brighter than any gold or jewelry.

“Our Cezanne is getting prettier and prettier. That’s a big deal. Should I draw more portraits? I need to record my daughter’s beauty every month.”

Cezanne sighed for a moment at the sight of Charles shaking his head at his own words.

Painting once a year almost killed her, but painting a portrait twelve times a year… She wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“Ugh. Father, there are already a lot of portraits. Anyway, the painting is…”

“Well, painting is such a clichéd way of expression that it cannot capture all of my daughter’s artistic beauty! If that’s the case, I’ll have to capture your image vividly in the magic sphere that records the video. Why didn’t I think of that sooner!”

Charles tapped my forehead and ordered the servant immediately.

“Hey, call the mages right now and tell them to bring some recording magic sphere!”

It seemed like it would be another struggle.

“Now, hold on a second, Father. Shouldn’t we do that on anniversaries like my birthday banquet? There’s something else I’d like to say. Can you give me a minute…please? Actually, I have a favor to ask of you, Father.”

Cezanne asked for a conversation as she looked at her father with bright green eyes like a deer. Following the friendly eye attack, using the lethal move to her father meant that Cezanne wanted something firmly.

Above all, it was very rare to directly bring up the word ‘please’.

“Come to think of it, you asked for an audience separately, didn’t you? Let’s hear what it is about.”

“Yes.”

One look from Charles’ eyes moved the butler Bael, giving the painter a hint to leave.

As the disturbances disappeared, Charles approached Cezanne and spoke with a more friendly look.

“Go ahead and tell me, Cezanne. What’s your request?”

He was a warm father in front of her, but she knew well that he had a fiery disposition. Cezanne tried to bring up Fletta’s story very carefully.

“First of all, don’t be angry and listen to me until the end.”

“I promise.”

Cezanne licked her lips and spoke cautiously, staring at the same green eyes as hers.

“…I’ve been taking care of a child for a while.”

Charles green eyes rolled for a moment at Cezanne’s words.

“…a child?”

Cezanne nodded slowly and spoke again cautiously.

“Yes… the child was dying in a room that looked like a storage room in the maid’s palace, which was not even a proper room. I couldn’t possibly leave her behind… so I brought her in.”

When Cezanne spoke up to that point, Charles’ expression gradually hardened as if he had expected it.

“Cezanne, it was unnecessary to take care of her.”

“Father… Did you already know?”

Charles nodded quietly.

“There’s no way I don’t know what’s going on in the Imperial Palace. Moreover, it’s things related to you…”

My father wasn’t as angry as I thought. No, there was no agitation. Should I say, I couldn’t believe he, with his usual fiery temper, responded with such a casual reaction.

“You’ve never met her properly, have you?”

“Why should I meet her?”

The icy response was not unexpected, but Cezanne calmed down and spoke.

“You should meet her. She was not a cursed child of darkness, as rumored.”

“…Cezanne.”

“I beg you, father. Fletta is a child who inherited father’s blood. She’s a sweet, kind and lovely child.”

Even though Cezanne said so, the cold eyes of the emperor remained the same. However, his lips moved.

“Only once.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll meet her just once. Because you’re asking for it.”

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