chapter_0630
by fnovelpia630 – Not a Princess
630 – Not a Princess
“Quack quack!”
With a strange tone, Gaeul collapsed in a fit of giggles.
Seeing her like that, Bomi clutched her belly and laughed so hard that she fell backward.
A sound like a “thud” echoed somewhere, but it seemed like Gaeul wasn’t hurt, just kicking her feet in excitement.
“Gaeul is totally a princess!”
“Ikgu mu yak ae yong!”
“Heehee!”
Gaeul’s princess-like speech made everyone in the room laugh.
Even Saebyeok, who usually had a blank expression, had the corners of her mouth slightly lifted.
“Chwiing, Gaeul-yi mu ae yong?”
“That’s because Gaeul ate the princess candy.”
“Princess candy?”
“Yeah. If you eat that, you become a princess? Your speech turns into princess speech.”
“Gaeul-yi gonju wa yong!”
Seemingly pleased to be a princess, Gaeul squealed and jumped up and down in her spot.
Her innocent demeanor truly resembled that of a mischievous princess.
“Gaeul! Say something else! Something different!”
Bomi lightly shook Gaeul’s body, encouraging her to speak.
Gaeul, shaken, tilted her head with a blank expression.
“Thennma?”
“Uh?! Gaeul’s speech went back to normal!”
“Right.”
Despite having just eaten the candy, Gaeul’s speech had returned to its original form.
Perhaps because it was a toy candy, its effect was quite short-lived.
“Gaeul, how does it feel to be a princess?”
“I like it!”
Gaeul smiled brightly and hugged me tightly.
I’m glad she found it fun, I thought, when Bomi approached me with the candy.
“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors, and the loser has to eat this.”
“Hmm… Should we?”
“Gyeoul is banned from using her powers!”
“Okay.”
We sat in a circle in the living room and extended our hands forward.
“Rock… Paper…”
As Bomi slowly mumbled “rock-paper-scissors” to build tension, Levinas rushed in, having gone to show off her dress to our parents, and shouted the final cue.
“Scissors!”
“Ah…!”
I clenched my fist and looked at the kids.
With six of us, there was no clear winner or loser in the first round.
“Scissors!”
“Scissors!”
We continued playing rock-paper-scissors, and perhaps due to the fast pace, Gaeul’s fingers got tangled.
Gaeul threw out a gesture that was somewhere between scissors and a cloth.
Deciding to go with scissors, I looked at the other kids’ gestures.
All the kids showed scissors.
I was the only one with cloth.
I widened my eyes in disbelief at the sudden realization of my defeat.
“No way, how could this happen?”
In contrast to my panic, the kids found the situation amusing and giggled.
Bomi, with a face full of smiles, handed me the candy.
“Gyeoul is the winner.”
“Uh, okay…”
If I eat this, will I start speaking like Gaeul?
It feels a bit embarrassing, but it might be fun…
Despite my hesitation due to embarrassment, a promise is a promise.
After a moment of contemplation, I ate the candy.
Crunch, crunch—
The candy had a regular lemon flavor.
As I bit into the candy, Bomi’s eyes sparkled, and she shook her shoulders.
“Gyeoul, say something!”
“Um… What should I say?”
“Huh? Gyeoul is still the same?”
“Right… Why am I still the same?”
Wasn’t the candy supposed to make me speak like a princess?
Is it blocked because of Mana?
As I was puzzled, for some reason, Levinas confidently struck a pose and cleared her throat.
“This is only natural.”
“Natural?”
“Yes! Wang is originally a princess!”
“Huh?”
Me, a princess from the start?
I was taken aback by Levinas’s words, but the kids nodded in agreement.
“Gyeoul was originally a princess.”
“That’s right…!”
“Huh?”
I had never acted like a princess until now.
Feeling flustered, I asked the kids.
“Hey, don’t I seem more like a… hero than a princess?”
“Yes! Wang is a princess hero!”
“What?”
A princess and a hero?
There weren’t any princesses in the past, so what does that mean?
It’s not that I disliked being a princess, but I wanted to remain a cool figure in the eyes of the kids.
A princess has a delicate vibe, after all.
‘I want to erase the image of being a princess…’
If I show the kids a cool side of myself, maybe I can shed the princess image.
When I think of a cool side, it ultimately comes down to strength and wildness.
I’ve become quite strong recently.
Tomorrow, I decided to show the kids a cool side and shed the princess image.
**
The next day.
When Hanyeoreum came into the living room, she noticed that Gyeoul seemed different from usual.
How should I put it? There was a certain strength in her face?
Unaware of the situation, Hanyeoreum poked Gyeoul’s shoulder.
At that, Gyeoul flashed a bright smile as if to say, “When did that happen?”
“Gyeoul, what was that just now?”
“Ah… Actually, you see…”
Gyeoul explained her situation to Hanyeoreum.
Wanting to show the kids a cool side of herself was exactly the kind of idea that kids her age would have.
‘It seems like it might be tough…’
Every action of hers radiated cuteness.
Just seeing her smile made her seem like a princess from somewhere.
But Hanyeoreum didn’t feel the need to voice that.
There was no need to bring up something that might upset the child.
“Um… If it’s a cool side… how about showing that you’re strong?”
“Th-That might be difficult…?”
Gyeoul hesitated.
Indeed, our Gyeoul was particularly weak.
Hanyeoreum felt that Gyeoul, who was struggling, truly resembled a princess.
‘It’s quite fascinating.’
Sometimes she was braver than an adult, and at other times, more delicate than any child.
Well, that’s Gyeoul’s charm.
Hanyeoreum smiled and patted Gyeoul’s head as she spoke.
“If you want to show a cool side, how about this?”
“Show that you’re not afraid of anything. For example…”
As Hanyeoreum explained, Gyeoul’s tail began to rise slightly.
It certainly felt like a good idea.
**
Gyeoul wasn’t the type to enjoy pretending to be strong.
But she did want to show the kids a cool side.
That way, if something happened, the kids could rely on her.
In Gyeoul’s mind, a princess was something delicate, not a being to rely on.
So today, she decided to show a strong side.
Of course, not an overwhelmingly strong side, but a moderately strong one.
“Hey, kids, I’m going to go down there by myself.”
To a suitable building in the neighborhood.
Gyeoul stood in front of the stairs leading down to the basement.
It was an old building, but not exactly abandoned.
The basement only had a water tank and heating system, but going down there alone required considerable courage for some kids.
The basement of the old building had a rather eerie feel to it.
“Wanga! Are you okay?!”
“Yeah. I thought I should do some courage training recently.”
In truth, she wanted to show the kids a cool side, but she didn’t feel the need to tell the truth.
Gyeoul wanted to pretend to train while showing the kids a cool side.
“Master…! There might be ghosts in the basement…!”
“It’s okay, even ghosts can’t catch up to my running. If there are ghosts, I’ll run back up.”
“Ah…! Okay…!”
Leaving the kids’ worried eyes behind, Gyeoul descended the stairs.
As Saebyeok said to scream if she couldn’t move because she was too scared, Gyeoul wagged her tail and headed into the dark basement.
“That’s our Wang. Levinas could never go down there alone.”
“Gaeul too.”
The kids looked down the basement stairs with a mix of admiration and concern.
Less than a minute after she went down, Gyeoul rushed back up.
“Wanga!”
“Gyeoul, what was down there?”
Saebyeok asked with her fists clenched, her eyes filled with worry.
Gyeoul shook her head at Saebyeok.
“No, there was nothing. I just got a little scared and came back up quickly.”
“I see.”
Saebyeok relaxed her fists, and the other kids applauded, saying it was amazing.
Going to the scary basement for a minute was quite an impressive feat.
Only kids like Bomi or Saebyeok could do that.
“Next… it’s a horror movie.”
“A horror movie?”
“Yeah. I’ll watch a horror movie for courage training, so Saebyeok, do you want to take everyone to watch a fun movie?”
“Is that okay?”
“If it’s scary, you can come out like you did now.”
“Okay…”
Gyeoul moved with the kids to the movie theater.
When she tried to book tickets for a horror movie called “Night of Death” at the counter, the staff member stared at her with an awkward smile.
“Gyeoul, you shouldn’t watch this movie yet.”
“Is that so…?”
“Night of Death” was rated for ages 15 and up.
It was quite a shocking movie for a child, so the staff stopped Gyeoul.
Gyeoul could have asked why it wasn’t allowed, but she didn’t feel the need to.
She simply walked confidently toward the kids.
“Saebyeok, they said I can’t watch that movie yet.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Let’s just watch that animated movie.”
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
After being turned down for the horror movie, Gyeoul let out a sigh of relief.
In truth, she was scared to watch it, so she felt fortunate to have been rejected.
‘But I did try to watch it.’
This was enough to say she had shown a cool side.
She had probably shed a bit of the princess vibe, right?
Gyeoul puffed out her chest and moved to the screening room to watch the movie.
It was a film featuring a princess who cast wonderful magic.
The movie was quite enjoyable.
A word from the author (Author’s note)
Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!
Thank you for the comments and recommendations as well! They always give me strength…!
Gyeoul, the wonderful princess…!
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