episode_0056

[Episode 56] – Children’s social circles (1)

The princess’s first social interactions took place under the direction of ministers. Vinchot, the Minister of Finance, prepared a small tea party in the garden, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Education carefully selected and invited people.

In fact, it was as if the first social world that could not fail even if it tried was prepared. Since the tea party was held in person and the theme was chosen here, wouldn’t the tea party have already been a success?

“First of all, these are people who were carefully selected by me and the Minister of Education. “They are parents with children of similar age to the princess, and at the same time, we selected people who are not politically connected to the royal family or who will not cause any harm.”

I checked the list of people given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. There were not many people on the list, perhaps because they were not politically connected to the royal family and were parents of children the princess’s age.

The noble classes were also mixed up. Starting from the baron to the count. The list even included businessmen with children from other countries. Was it that difficult of a problem?

“Thank you for your hard work. “It seems it was harder to find children who fit the criteria than I thought.”

“I guess so. Most of them were selected as children entering their social circle for the first time. Plus, there are various conditions… If they don’t think they meet the conditions, they won’t keep a pet.”

I thought it might have been too excessive, but I didn’t want the princess to be ignored by other children like in a game. I handed the list back to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and sighed softly.

“By the way, do you know when the puppy the Minister of Education said he would send will arrive?”

“Why are you asking me that? You know very well that I am offended by humans and animals. Well… I guess that person needs his or her own preparation.”

What kind of preparations do you need to make to rent a dog? When I frowned and looked at him as if I had difficulty understanding him, the Minister of Foreign Affairs shook his head and answered that he did not know.

Now that I think about it, it happened a few days ago when I went to see the Queen Mother. While they were drinking in the night breeze, there was a story that the Minister of Education was lending a ‘pet’ to the princess.

The Queen Mother at that time… honestly looked surprised. ‘Is this crazy?’ There was a time when he opened one eye wide as if he wanted to do something, and without saying anything, he just let out a long sigh and spoke to me as if he had given up.

‘Yes, I’m sure you’ll do well.’

‘lol.’

With those last words, the Queen Mother did not talk about ‘pets’ any more. At that time, I was just happy that the Queen Mother believed in me even if she didn’t say anything anymore…

There is less than a month left in children’s social circles. For some reason, I started to feel worried about my ‘pet’, whose hair I had never seen before. Should I get another puppy right now? I wanted to, but…

‘Yes, is he a person who sat in the position of minister for no reason? He must be a person with some common sense. Even as the Minister of Education, you can’t do anything without common sense, right?’

I thought about it and just skipped over it.

There’s never been a time when I was happy to skip something like this…

*

The day a ‘tea party’ was held for Titania’s children’s social circle.

Titania, who was getting dressed for the tea party, pouted her lips. Titania’s face was full of grumpiness, perhaps because she was tired of being rude to those around her for the past few months while saying she was preparing for the social world.

“I didn’t see the dog in the end…”

I waited and believed my mother’s words that she would bring a puppy, but I had never seen the puppy’s face until now. So, the theme of the tea party is ‘the animals you raise’…

Titania didn’t know how to introduce the puppy she was seeing for the first time to others. The animals brought by the other children must have been children who have been together for a long time, but this is the first dog they have met.

Ainsel, who was at a loss as he looked at Titania’s sulking state, asked her if she would like to take a walk in the garden since there was still time until the tea party.

-The weather is nice and Vivian seems busy, so why not go for a short walk? Because there is still time. And, since it’s close to the garden and the gate, you might be able to meet the dog soon.

“…huh. “I will.”

Titania jumped off the chair and started walking towards the garden at a brisk pace. Looking around, I saw maids busy preparing for the tea party, gardeners tending the garden, everyone was busy.

As she was walking around the garden, wondering what on earth to do, Titania noticed a girl squatting beside a babbling stream in a corner of the garden.

Golden hair that looked like it had been melted down and spun into thread, and bright red eyes that looked similar to her own. He even looks a little younger than himself.

Titania couldn’t take her eyes off the girl for a moment. First of all, the subtle feeling he felt because there were almost no people his age in this vast royal palace, and secondly…

“…What’re you doing?”

It was the small turtle in the girl’s hand. Titania watched in a daze as the girl played in the stream, as if she was trying to teach a turtle to swim.

I thought it was strange that there were no adults around, and that a girl was playing alone in the stream in the middle of the castle. Where on earth did it come from?

There was silence for a moment, and the girl hesitated in response to Titania’s question before answering in a very quiet voice. Really, in a voice so low that only Titania could hear.

“Because the weather is nice… the turtle… I want to take it swimming…”

“…swimming?”

Titania glanced at the small fish tank next to the girl. The small fish tank may have been the turtle’s home, but the fish tank was empty and did not contain enough water.

Only then did Titania realize that this child was one of the ladies invited to the tea party, and approached the girl with a grin.

“It’s a cute turtle. “Is it okay if I take a look around for a while?”

The girl looked back and forth between the turtle playing in the stream and Titania who came next to her, then smiled awkwardly and showed the turtle in her hand to Titania.

Unlike other turtles that Titania commonly saw by the stream, Titania had a sharp shell and sharp mouth, which wasn’t all that cute.

Its nails were sharp, and the thorns on its long tail were far from cute. It was smaller than the palm of your hand and looked like a baby turtle…

Titania tilted her head at the appearance of a turtle she had never seen before and asked the girl.

“It looks a little scary… What is this turtle’s name?”

“Ppugiyo.”

“No, what is the species name?”

“Aha, it’s a werewolf turtle. It’s because its tail is as long as a wolf’s or because it’s as fierce as a wolf’s… I heard it when I received a gift last month. lol. ”

Titania slightly moved away from the girl after hearing that the turtle was fierce. It was definitely a turtle that looked not only fierce but also scary.

Since it was a pet-friendly event, Titania thought that ordinary pets such as dogs and cats would come, but this situation became slightly amusing.

Aside from social circles, I thought this would be a place where I could see animals for the first time in my life – while I was closely observing the girl’s tortoise –

“Emily!”

“Ah, sister!”

The girl who heard her name being called put the turtle in the fish tank and started running towards the place where she heard the sound.

Where the girl ran to, there was a red-haired girl standing with her hands on her hips and her cheeks puffed out. Then, he glared disapprovingly at the girl called Emily.

“I told you not to go out alone!”

“But…”

The girl with a lot of fire has red hair and red eyes. Plus, the red-based dress. Even the shoes were red. As Titania was staring blankly at the scene, a girl in red ran up and bowed her head.

“sorry! Did my younger brother be rude or something? “I just turned six and I’m the youngest… so I’m very free-spirited.”

“I’m fine. I also saw a strange turtle. “So, were you invited to this tea party too?”

The girl in red nodded, then shook her head again as if saying no. He then introduced himself, putting Emily in front of him, who was looking at the fish tank blankly next to him.

“I was the one invited to the tea party… But my sister Emily made a fuss, saying she had to come along… I asked her to stay with her mothers… Oh, my name is Caroline Sergio.”

Mothers?

Titania tilted her head, wondering if she hadn’t heard correctly, but missed the moment to ask about it again. Titania couldn’t help but smile and gracefully lifted the hem of her dress and greeted him.

“I am Titania Snow White. Thank you for attending this tea party. “Sergius.”

Caroline’s eyes widened as she realized that the person in front of her was the princess of this country. As Emily and I bowed our heads again and were confused, not knowing what to do, Titania let out a small sigh.

“Shall we go back to the tea party first? “It’s almost time to start, so the others will have arrived too.”

“yes! Emily, shall we go now?”

Emily smiled brightly at Caroline’s question. The corner of Caroline’s mouth twitched as she smiled as if she could go anywhere with her sister.

‘He’s my younger brother…’

Titania, who was looking at this scene, was overcome with envy for some reason. A feeling of loneliness and envy that makes you wish you had a younger brother or sister.

Titania, who suddenly had a bad thought again, shook her head to shake off the bad thought. When I arrived at the tea party with Caroline and Emily, I saw their mother talking to another woman.

Was it because I quickly felt lonely? Titania unconsciously squeezed her chest as it felt like a cold wind was blowing in her chest. The moment I tried to gather my emotions and quietly approach my mother-

“mom!!”

Emily jumped towards the woman next to her mother, shouting “Mom.” A woman like Emily with beautiful blonde hair that looked like it was made of melted gold and eyes as blue as the ocean looked at Emily, who was hugging her legs tightly, and looked embarrassed.

“Emily… I told you not to embarrass your sister too much…”

“I didn’t cause you any trouble!”

The woman, who had a perplexed expression on her face when she saw Emily smiling brightly, eventually smiled as if she had lost and hugged Emily in her arms. Then Caroline sighed as if there was nothing she could do and walked up to them.

They were family, to the point where anyone could feel that the three of them were a family. As Titania was staring blankly at the scene, Vivian approached her and introduced them.

“Titania, I am a businessman from another country who attended this tea party. “They develop or sell items used by children.”

The woman bowed her head at Vivian’s introduction, got down on one knee, met Titania’s gaze, and smiled brightly. Usually, all the businessmen who came to the castle were like old raccoons, so Titania couldn’t help but be surprised.

“My name is Elise Sergius.”

Emily, held in Elise’s arms, smiled brightly. He then patted the head of Caroline, who was standing next to him, and continued the story.

“Originally, ‘Catherine Sergius’, the mother of ‘Caroline Sergius’, was supposed to come… but due to unavoidable circumstances, I, a family member, came here instead.”

“Please take care of me. Mrs. Sergius.”

When Titania nods gracefully, Elise smiles and accepts the greeting. He then continued to introduce Emily, massaging Emily’s cheek in his arms.

“And this is…my daughter, ‘Emily.’ My daughter is the youngest, so she likes her sisters so much…she doesn’t want to be separated from her even for a moment.”

“I’m OK. Take care, Emily.”