episode_0061

[Episode 61] – My first friend (2)

After touring the mansion and hearing that the adults were leaving for a while, Titania had no choice but to stay with Viola. Viola looked at the empty restaurant and tilted her head, making a ‘huh?’ sound as if she hadn’t expected this situation.

“Where has everyone gone?!”

“Ah… The Count, his wife, and Her Majesty the Queen said they would go into the room for a while and have a chat among adults. “Princess, how about you stay with Lady Viola for a while?”

When I returned to the room, my mother was not there, and for some reason, there was no Ainsel on the necklace. Titania, who was completely awake and bored while looking around the mansion, began to worry about the maid’s words. Viola, who was looking at that scene, asked Titania hesitantly with a very nervous expression.

“Okay, princess… then would you like to hang out in my room for a while…? There are some delicious snacks… and some fun ones too. And I want to become closer to the princess…”

Delicious snacks and fun things to eat. There was no bait better than this for Titania, who was bored. And… since Titania already knew that her mother would prefer going in a situation like this rather than not going, there was no reason to refuse.

“By any chance… do you have egg tarts?”

*

“Princess, what are your hobbies? It’s not a lot, but I think I have everything I need in my room! “There are toys… social games…”

“huh? hobby…?”

Immediately after entering the room, Titania was momentarily dazed by Viola’s sudden question. Now that I think about it, I’ve never had a hobby or anything like that before. Because I didn’t have time to have hobbies in the first place.

I had classes every day, and I stayed with my mother when there were no classes. I couldn’t remember ever doing anything that could be called a hobby. ‘Isn’t there something there?’ I thought about it a lot, but it wasn’t there either.

“Hmm… I don’t think there is one.”

“yes?! really?!”

Wow! Titania took a slight step back due to Viola’s rushing momentum. Surprised by her own strength, Viola hesitated, thought for a moment, and then headed to the bookshelf filled with books.

“Hmm… then how about picking up a hobby now? First of all, read a book…?”

“You read books every day…?”

“Not the boring books that are only used in those classes. It’s been a while since I read it, so I can’t really recommend it, but…! “Grunt!”

Viola jumped up in her place and began taking out books one by one that were barely within reach of her height. Then, he took out another book hidden behind the book and held it out to Titania. What kind of book is this that they keep it so tightly hidden…?

“This is a book that a young lady I met told me about when I held my first children’s tea party last year. “Now this book is the sweet substance and driving force of my life!!”

“I don’t believe in religion…”

“I’m not evangelizing!!”

Viola, startled, quickly held out a book to Titania. Titania looked at the book she was handed, but the title of the book was not written on the cover, so she couldn’t tell what the content was.

“I guarantee that once you read it, the princess, you will be just as captivated as I am! This is a really fun book! “Because of this book, I even joined the social club that young lady joined!!”

“…It’s not like a strange religious doctrine, is it?”

“Because it’s not!!”

I asked Viola to at least explain what the book was, but Viola refused to explain, saying that it wouldn’t be as impressive as when she first read it. For this reason, Titania could not erase her suspicions.

Seeing Viola’s eyes sparkling and urging her to read it quickly, Titania let out a small sigh and opened the book from the middle. I opened the book thinking I had to read what it was all about –

[I felt his hand on the tip of my chin and at the same time our lips overlapped. His large hand, which had been holding her shoulder, slowly came down and stroked her back. Soft lips that gently suck -]

“…?!?! “What is this?!”

Titania, whose face was red, looked at Viola with wide eyes. Although Titania had no knowledge of sex, she still knew. This isn’t a book for young children like yourself to read.

Titania quickly closed the book and threw it on the bed and looked at Viola with a huff. Viola was busy looking at Titania, giggling as if the reaction was amusing.

“Hehe, how do you feel? Isn’t it fun? When I first read it, I reacted like a princess. “I was so shocked that I threw the book in the face of the lady who introduced it to me.”

“Not funny!! “You shouldn’t read things like that!!”

Viola approached the bed and picked up the book Titania had thrown, then returned to her original position and looked at the book in her hand. He then continued explaining the small book in front of Titania.

“calm down. princess. This is a simple romance novel. “Have you never read a book like this before?”

“Uh, none…! And books like that are not allowed in the royal palace! “Quickly get it out of my face!!”

“No, I’m confident that the library in the palace also has this book. That’s right, this book is a novel that can be called a must-read for young ladies!”

“A must-read for young ladies…?”

Viola lifted the book above her head. The figure was similar to a picture of a person in mythology who lifted a stone slab and parted the sea, so Titania stared at the figure blankly with her mouth open.

“yes! This is a must-read book that is passed down secretly among young ladies! “It is no exaggeration to think that both my mother and Her Majesty the Queen have grown up reading books like this since they were children!”

“Uh, your mother too…?”

Titania’s ears perked up when she heard that her mother had also read it. Has your mother really ever read a book like this…? Thinking she would ask her mother later, Titania raised her head and looked at Viola.

“really…? “Your mother also read bad books like that…?”

“I can’t give you a definite answer about this book, but… they say that all young ladies fall in love by reading romance novels. They even say that the author of this novel is a noblewoman whose age is not much different from ours.”

Titania felt as if she had been hit on the head with a hammer. My head hurt when I thought that the person who wrote such a strange article was my age. What fun can there be in a book with such vulgar writing…!

Viola, who was looking at Titania with a frown, placed the book she had lifted above her head in front of her once again. Then he smiled and continued speaking calmly.

“The young lady who introduced me to this book said this to me… Young children need to learn love by reading books like this.”

“love…?”

“Yes, love. Since our love is always predetermined, we should learn about other loves by reading books like this. “I confidently said, ‘Shouldn’t I at least dream of the life of being born as a daughter and the love in a book?’”

“W-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Titania honestly had no idea what Viola was talking about. Until now, I had never thought deeply about love, nor had I ever shared such a story with anyone else.

“If you want to understand what I said… I recommend you read this book. And, if you don’t like this book, I won’t recommend it to you anymore. But please know. “The fact is that most young ladies enjoy novels like this as a hobby.”

“Uh, uhm….”

Titania nodded, embarrassed. When he spoke with such a serious expression, I couldn’t refuse because I felt like I was becoming a bad person if I refused any further. And it was only a book, or even a thin book, less than half the size of a textbook.

“Okay… then I’ll just read it once. However, if you really don’t enjoy it, don’t ever recommend a book like this to me again. Understand?”

“sure! lol! Instead, after reading it once, we talk about what we didn’t like?!”

Well… if that’s the case…

Titania pouted her lips and opened the book Viola gave her once again. This time, not from the middle, but from the first page. Titania was curious about why novels like this were popular among young girls, and when Viola said that even her mother would have read books like these, Titania began to wonder about books called romance novels.

So, I opened the first page and started reading the first paragraph of the novel. The story was quite interesting. It was her first time reading a novel like this, and the fact that she could learn the story of a noble other than a princess stimulated Titania’s curiosity.

One page, one page. As Titania read the book, Titania’s expression began to gradually change.

[The daughter of a family that is in ruins. The head of the household is a bastard, and the only family members are ugly people who only increase debt.]

“Hmm-”

[A young lady trying to repay her family’s debt. I met Yeong-sik from a prosperous family by chance.]

“hmm…”

[At first, the two people were not interested in each other, but as time went on, they became entangled in coincidences and encounters more and more times, and as the more events they experienced, their understanding of each other increased.]

“Hey-”

Although more than half the pages of the book had been turned, there was still a lot of content I did not understand. However, for a ten-year-old to read, the provocative scenes and the emotional descriptions that appear at the same time as each other’s hardships are resolved were enough to stimulate Titania’s interest.

I read the entire book without even understanding half of it, but for some reason, I felt a tickle in my heart. And it seemed that this book did not end with this one volume, but had a sequel.

Titania hesitated and looked at Viola, who was reading a book intently next to her. For some reason, I felt embarrassed to ask for a sequel. Titania was anxious about what to do, and eventually-

“Uh, Viola… Is there a next book…?”

“…sure. “Did you like the book?”

I just answered with a smile, but I felt that Viola’s smile was somehow sinister. Titania felt embarrassed for some reason to be looking at him with that expression, so she blushed and nodded her head carefully.

“Can you give me the next book…?”