Chapter 7

“Are you awake, Your Highness?”

Feeling the dazzling morning sunlight all over my body, I opened my eyes slightly. As always, the nanny was looking at me with a warm smile.

“You haven’t woken up once since yesterday. You must have slept very soundly.”

Did I? I tilted my head. But since I had no recollection of waking up, maybe the nanny was right.

I blinked. For some reason, the afterimage of a bright full moon fluttered before my eyes.

Was it just my imagination?

Maybe that was what I’d dreamed briefly as I fell asleep.

Oh, come to think of it…

I frowned as I remembered what I had heard during the outing yesterday.

The emperor declared that he would hold my birthday banquet for a month…

Just then, the nanny brought up the topic.

“Our adorable princess, guess what?” the nanny exclaimed cheerfully. “His Majesty the Emperor has called all the artists and designers in the country for Your Highness’s birthday banquet!”

The nanny always talked a lot, but she was especially chatty while getting me ready today.

“I heard that he wants a very large portrait of you. And a lot of artworks and beautiful accessories for you, Your Highness.”

“How wonderful,” one of the maids standing next to her chimed in. There was excitement on all their faces.

“I can understand why His Majesty wants a grand banquet. Princess Aisha is just so lovely.”

Pretending not to be interested, I lowered my eyes.

However, the emperor’s declaration wasn’t just an empty promise. From that very day on, preparations for the birthday banquet began at the Princess’s Palace.

The attendants were incredibly busy, and new personnel were recruited from other palaces. Through the crowds of people, my mother, the head maid, and the nanny moved about quickly, as if leading troops on a battlefield.

But even though my birthday banquet was approaching, there wasn’t anything in particular for me to do. The servants were occupied, but all I had to do was move the way they asked me to, and to remain still while they dressed and accessorized me.

During the whole process, I was always carried in people’s arms like a precious golden artifact, so I rarely got tired.

People who came to make my clothes and accessories praised me tirelessly. They told me how adorable and lovely I was. It was to the point where I wondered if I was being bombarded with all the praise I would ever receive in my life.

Finally, I yawned from boredom.

The nanny next to me looked at me with her eyes wide and said, “Oh my, Your Highness!”

Surprised by the sudden exclamation, I blinked, forgetting to close my mouth.

“You’ve got a new tooth!”

The nanny closely examined my face.

A new tooth?

One side of my gum had been feeling itchy and painful for a few days. Apparently another tooth had grown.

When the people preparing for the banquet heard, they rushed over to me.

“Oh, how adorable.”

Now I was getting praised for growing a new tooth. I blushed a little out of embarrassment.

But just then, a maid said, “It’s about time she starts speaking, no?”

Some people visibly grew tense at those words.

“...”

The empress had been happily watching me from the side, but her face fell slightly. It seemed like she had been worrying about the fact that I hadn’t said anything yet.

It was a fairly well-known fact within the Princess’s Palace that I was a baby who expressed little emotion. I was always quiet and never whined.

That made me easier to handle, but on the other hand, people secretly wondered if there was something wrong with the princess. Otherwise, why would the baby show no emotion?

All this time, I had never even babbled like normal children would have done by now. I was at an age when I should have been saying things like “mama” or “dada.”

However, talking about my slow development in this aspect was silently forbidden in the palace. This particular maid was newly recruited to prepare for the banquet, so it seemed like she was unaware of this unspoken rule.

Perhaps for the sake of the empress, the nanny spoke in a bright tone, “I know, right? She just got a new tooth, so I’m sure she’ll start speaking soon as well.”

The empress smiled softly. “You think so?”

“Of course. She’s our wonderful princess who has inherited the blood of Her Majesty the Empress and His Majesty the Emperor. I’m sure she’ll soon start talking and chattering incessantly.”

The nanny was desperately trying to comfort my mother.

Feeling a bit sad, I lowered my eyes. Closing my heart to people wasn’t entirely comfortable to me.

People always looked at me with worry because I didn’t babble and was extremely shy. The affection reflected on their faces was sincere.

I knew why the empress was anxious. Nevertheless, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t speak.

It wasn’t because my body hadn’t developed yet. If I put my mind to it, I could easily do it.

But…

I was scared of taking that leap. Every time I opened my mouth to speak, I felt my heart constrict. The fear was too great. I just didn’t want to do it.

The betrayal of my family in my previous life had traumatized me so badly, it still maintained a strong hold over me. I was still in so much pain.

My surroundings went quiet. I tried to ignore it, but a part of my heart ached.

Just then, a warm hand came toward me. I flinched instinctively, almost avoiding the touch—it was so gentle and so tender.

“Aisha will start talking soon,” the empress said softly. “Until then, I can wait as long as she needs.”

I looked blankly into the empress’s eyes. Her violet eyes contained emotion stronger than sadness.

It was her love for me. That was what shone in her eyes.

And yet, I still couldn’t speak.

The maid who first brought it up kept her mouth tightly shut. It seemed like she realized that she shouldn’t have said anything. Eventually, the empress got up from her seat.

“Alright, Aisha. Would you like to try walking again?”

The attendants hastily prepared the area for me to walk on. In the empress’s arms, I was moved to a softly padded area.

This was a new activity for me these days: practicing walking in front of the empress.

Although I was indifferent to everything else, I put all my effort into this walking practice session. I wanted to walk without any help from others as soon as possible.

It was perhaps just in my mind, but I felt more free every time I took a step.

“One, two. One, two.”

I slowly took my steps in tune with the empress’s counting. My legs weren’t fully developed, so walking was very challenging.

From a distance, the empress waited for me with her arms stretched out.

Suddenly, memories of the past came flooding back to me. I thought of my mother from my previous life. I had said that the empress of Edenverre never held me, but after combing my memories, I realized there were a few times.

However, those were political moves staged to create an amicable atmosphere during official events. Still, I was happy. Because it was very warm within my mother’s arms.

I forced my legs to take one step, two steps, and three steps. I faintly heard people cheering around me.

Haa…

Even though I had only taken three steps, my legs were shaking. So far, I had never taken more than three steps, but somehow I felt like I could walk further today.

A little bit more.

I pushed myself.

Let’s go a little further.

But maybe I pushed myself too hard? I plopped and fell down on the carpet. The people watching me exclaimed in disappointment.

“Oh, just a little bit more and she would’ve had her fourth step. How disappointing.”

“But still, you did very well, Your Highness.”

I had fallen on the soft floor and my face was buried on the carpet.

“Are you okay, Aisha?” the empress called.

Ergh.

I mustered up all the strength I had to stand up again. My legs were a little shaky, but I wanted to try some more.

“I’m so proud of you!”

Smiling, people praised me when they saw me get up to try again. But I didn’t have the presence of mind to pay attention to their cheering.

Looking straight ahead, I gathered my strength.

My goal was to reach my target, the empress. To reach her, I would have to take at least ten more steps. But I didn’t want to give up.

If I take one step at a time…

Will I be able to walk into her arms without hesitation someday?

I tried walking again. Without showing any signs of tiredness, the empress kept her arms spread wide for me.

* * *

Because my birthday banquet was approaching, the palace was more crowded than before. However, it had been quite a while since Ysis came to visit me.

My source, the chatty nanny, said he had just returned from a spring hunting trip.

“Aisha!”

Maybe that was why he was holding a special gift in his hands today.

When I saw it, I was a little taken aback. Normally, he would have brought a child’s toy or a pretty flower, but today what he had in his hand was unique.

“It’s a bear skin. I caught a bear during the hunting trip.”

It was a sturdy-looking bear pelt. He smiled innocently.

What? He caught a bear?

I was astonished and forgot to ignore him.

He was only 9 years old. How did he manage to knock down a bear? I knew he had great martial arts skills, but this went beyond my imagination.

But Ysis didn’t stop there. He continued to speak, sounding excited. “And that’s not all. Aisha, I’m preparing a special birthday present for you!”

What could it be? Unable to guess, I blinked. The next moment, Ysis lifted his finger and made a shushing gesture.

“But it’s going to be a secret until your birthday!”

He smiled brightly, as if he were having fun. I was flustered, but I had no choice but to wait until my birthday banquet.

And, a few days later, important guests arrived at the imperial palace.

With the banquet just around the corner, my maternal grandfather and grandmother of House Lucell arrived.

When the empress heard the news, she ran out to greet them enthusiastically. That was against the royal palace rules, but that was how happy she was.

The same was true of Marquess Lucell and his wife. As soon as they saw each other, the three of them shared a warm hug.

“How are you, sweetie?”

Marquess Lucell was a man with blue eyes and silver hair. And the marchioness had purple eyes and hazel hair.

I only had faint memories from my birth, but I remembered meeting them before. Even so, meeting them again that day felt quite new to me.