episode_0029

The first few weeks were extremely difficult for Katlena as well.

Zero’s slow learning speed and the amount of studying that was much more than I expected.

If she had done it herself, she would have known. Teaching it to others was more difficult for her than she had imagined.

It’s fortunate that I’ve been teaching him letters and other things up until now, otherwise I would have given up a long time ago.

As time went by, she began to feel more and more stressed, and because of this, she became angry at the boy more and more often.

However, his learning speed still did not increase, and Katlena began to feel despair and even thought about giving up.

Then, at some point, she began to realize one fact.

The reason she does this to Zeros.

The purpose of this is fundamentally because she likes the guy.

She did this because she liked him and wanted to be with him a little longer.

Katlena realized that if she got angry because of Zeros’ shortcomings, it would no longer be love, but her own stubbornness.

‘Yeah… I’m not the only one who’s suffering. If you think about it, it was my stubbornness that started this. Zeros didn’t do anything wrong, right?’

Then, Katlena decided to reflect on her actions and change her mind.

‘The kid is doing his best.. It’s amazing that a 9-year-old can sit still for so long. It was a very reckless thing to begin with. Even if he doesn’t succeed right away, there will be many more opportunities in the future..’

Of course, she was concerned about that Arachne girl who was currently being trained by Elios and was out of sight, but even so, Katlena decided not to be impatient.

Despite her outward appearance, she was no longer a little girl.

I knew very well that insisting on something doesn’t make the impossible possible.

For now, all I can do is run as best I can.

She decided not to be too obsessed with bearing fruit, but at the same time to embrace this moment as joyfully as possible.

This moment when you can spend a whole day alone with the man you love, engrossed in something.

Of course, this didn’t go as well as she had thought, and there were times when she felt intense emotions burst out, but she was able to quickly regain her composure because she had already sorted out her thoughts.

Because of this situation, Katlena was able to smile back at Zeros, who was confessing the hopelessness of the situation in front of her.

of course..

“Because I like it.”

‘..Huh?’

“Because I like you. That’s why I’m doing this.”

‘Okay… Wait a minute…

As for the fact that she had poured out her true feelings without realizing it, in a slightly confused state due to the bloody nose, even she had not expected it.

However, even as she was overcome with embarrassment, Katlena could no longer stop talking.

These are bombshell remarks that were blurted out while feeling slightly dizzy and slightly in a state of excitement.

This could have been a pretty fatal story if he had been around the age of puberty. Fortunately, the man in front of him was only a 9-year-old boy.

Then, Katlena, considering that if she stopped talking here, the atmosphere would become even more awkward, continued to talk in a fluent manner about what she wanted to say.

And finally, right after it was over.

Katlena felt her heart pounding like crazy and was unable to look at Zeros straight in the eye.

‘Hawaii… What did I… What did I just say? This… This is… This is just a full-on confession…’

Catlena feels a great sense of shame and her face begins to feel hot.

So she started to try her best to suppress these feelings and started to make excuses for her current situation.

‘It’s… okay… This… This was just something I said to comfort Zeros, who was suffering. Besides, Zeros is only 9 years old, right? This… This is just like an older sister asking her younger sibling if they’ll marry her later, or something like that!’

In this situation where she was the one who had been firing and was taking damage, Katlena’s already dizzy head began to feel even more dizzy.

and..

-thud!-

“! Go… Your Majesty!”

*

The Duchess’ bedroom late at night.

There, the doctor who had rushed in was carefully examining the condition of Katlena, who was lying on the bed.

and..

“Uh.. How is it? Elbapa? Katlena.”

Duchess Rosetta asked with a worried tone.

To her question, the female doctor named Elbafa answered with a look of relief.

“Thank goodness I’m fine. I’m just overworked, so all I have to do is rest for a while.”

“Phew… Well then, that’s fortunate.”

The Duchess had been worried that something like this might happen, as Katlena had already been working quite hard recently.

However, the reason why he couldn’t stop her was because Katlena’s stubbornness was so strong, and furthermore, this was perceived as a kind of compromise related to sending Katlena to the academy.

As a mother, Rosebetta began to feel bitter, feeling that perhaps letting her daughter do what she wanted was the cause of her own troubles.

‘But… I can’t believe that this little girl was pushing herself to the point where she became like this. Our daughter… She really does like that child a lot.’

With such thoughts in mind, Duchess Rosetta prayed silently and sincerely.

I hope that boy named Zeros can enter the academy just as Katlena wishes.

*

“So now that it’s come to that, I think you’ll have to study on your own for a while. I wanted to watch you through to the end, but…”

“Ah.. No. It’s okay. Rather, shouldn’t I be the one to apologize? I’m really.. really sorry. It’s because of me that the princess is like this..’

Katlena speaking to Zeros while lying on the bed.

Her voice was filled with sincere regret, and Zeros apologized with even deeper guilt.

‘Really. Do I really have to go this far? This guy called me…’

I personally thought it was the worst.

A girl with the status of a princess, not an ordinary person.

Zeros was honestly feeling deep regret about his actions that had driven a 9-year-old girl to the point of collapse from overwork.

Even though it was a matter of life and death and there were some things that could not be compromised, at the very least, I had to avoid completely ignoring her efforts.

‘You should have at least kept the line to some extent. If you had shown enough skill to barely pass, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. If you hadn’t trampled on this child’s efforts so blatantly…’

Zeros bows his head while feeling a deep sense of guilt.

Looking at Zeros like that, Katlena hesitated for a moment before carefully opening her mouth.

“I.. but you know, Zeros.”

“Ah, yes, your majesty.”

Zeros quickly raises his head and looks this way at Katlena’s words.

At this, she blushed slightly and asked him in a cautious voice.

“Just in case… Do you remember what I said before I collapsed? I think I said something…”

“!.. Ah.. Um.. Um.. That. That’s..”

Zeros was momentarily taken aback by the sudden time difference attack.

However, Zeros couldn’t bring himself to honestly tell the story of that time.

‘That… That was just something Katlena said while she was in a daze right before she passed out, so it probably doesn’t mean much. So…’

Zeros, who is trying his best to suppress his wavering emotions.

Then he spoke with a slightly trembling voice, trying to hide his flushed face.

“Rice… I don’t think there was any particular story. At that time, I was out of my mind because the princess had just had a nosebleed.”

“Oh.. Really? I see.”

With those words, Catlena smiled brightly, the same smile she had shown earlier when she said she liked him.

At this, Zeros felt his face automatically turn red and quickly averted his gaze.

and..

Watching Zeros’ reaction.

The smile on Katlena’s lips began to deepen even further.

‘That’s fortunate. But it doesn’t seem like he particularly hates it or anything.’