The Empire’s Only Princess - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

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After last night, Sir Boyd and I seemed to have gotten a little closer. In the aftermath of a cold, I rolled around in bed and talked to Sir Boyd.

 

“Sir Boyd, what is the hottest fruit in the world?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“It’s a Peach.”

 

“………”

 

[tn– the raw is “천도복숭아.” and 천도= 1,000 degrees and the 복숭아 means peach so i used ‘peach’ but the direct tl is actually ‘nectarine’ but both are quite similar so..]

 

His closed mouth slightly twitched and he stared down at me.

 

It’s the facial expression he essentially makes whenever I talk nonsense, it was so funny that I keep joking around.

 

At least, it was good that he’s not ignoring it like he did when he first saw it. As I happily watched him stare down at me with a subtle expression, I heard a knock.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Rosiane, it’s me.”

 

“Yes, come on in.”

 

Bernique, who opened the door and came in, dragged a chair by the bed where I was leaning. After a long pause, he grabbed my hand and opened his mouth.

 

“Um, Rosiane.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m very sorry…”

 

I closed the book I was reading, pushing it aside and looked at Bernique.

 

“For what?”

 

“It’s… it’s all my fault. No matter how much brother provoked me, I shouldn’t have fell for it foolishly, and hurt your feelings.”

 

I guess the bet on the passementrie has been bothering you. That’s why you were so self-conscious even last night.

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“Really? Are you forgiving me?”

 

Even asking for forgiveness. When I nodded a couple of times, A smile bloomed on Bernique’s face which was about to cry.

 

I have no idea why he thought I was angry.

 

‘There are times when it’s hard to know what you’re thinking because you don’t change your expression.’

 

Jiwoo’s usual words suddenly crossed my mind. Have I been making a bad expression the whole time?

 

Since Rosiane’s face is like a cat’s, people might misunderstand that she’s in a bad mood if she has no expression on her face.

 

“Oh, come to think of it, Rosiane.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Bernique looked up and said,

 

“Is your dance practice going well?”

 

I recently started learning how to dance from Marchioness Foseinta.

 

She, who constantly complimented me in the etiquette class, strangely became solemn in the dance class. Am I that bad?

 

“Kind of…?”

 

I had never danced before and had no sense of rhythm, so it was a mess, but I didn’t want to talk about it because it was embarrassing, so I answered vaguely.

 

At a good timing, a knock was heard. It was Jean, who left the room to bring in new flowers after the flower in the side table vase wilted.

 

As she stumbled in with a basket of flowers about the size of me, she glanced over the basket to confirm Bernique’s presence, and said a quick greeting.

 

“What’s the flower basket for?”

 

“Mr. Mill brought in a new flower, it was sent together with a gift from the flower farm. It’s a flower I’ve never seen in the garden, so I got it right away.”

 

Mr. Mill was a long-time gardener of the Imperial Palace. It seems that he’s going to refurbish the garden for the National Foundation Festival.

 

She put the basket down on the side table.

 

I came close and looked at it. The finely woven vase-shaped rattan basket was full of unnamed white flowers.

 

“Pretty. What flower is it?”

 

At first glance, it looks like a lily, but it doesn’t look like a lily with it’s round petals… I tapped the soft petal with my finger for no reason.

 

“That’s, I don’t know too. I just got it because it’s pretty. Hehe.”

 

Jean said, rubbing her long braided hair.

 

“Bernique do you know?”

 

“Um, it’s similar to a lily…… isn’t it a plant in the lily family?”

 

“That’s what I thought too, I’ll ask when I see Mill next time. Good work, Jean.”

 

Bernique didn’t seem to know either.

 

After that, Bernique and I talked about the national festival, and I yawned out of drowsiness, perhaps because of the medicine.

 

“Rosie, are you sleepy?”

 

“Yes, I’m a little sleepy because I took medicine. Bernique, aren’t you sleepy?”

 

“I’m a little sleepy, too.”

 

I felt that I should take a nap, so I dug into the blanket. I could see Bernique slowly rising from his seat, so I grabbed his sleeve.

 

“Sleep here.”

 

“……?”

 

“You’re going to take a nap anyway, aren’t you? You don’t need to go all the way to the Nyx Palace, you can just sleep here right?”

 

At my words, Bernique’s body quickly crumpled into the blanket. I felt sorry for him, seeing his urgent behavior, he must’ve been so sleepy. I guess you couldn’t sleep thinking about the passementrie.

 

“That’s a great idea, Rosie. Thanks to you, I don’t need to go back, what a relief right?

 

“Yeah, let’s go to sleep now.”

 

“Sleep well, Rosie.”

 

Bernique kissed me briefly on the cheek and lay down looking in my direction. Melissa turned off the lights and drew the curtains, and it quickly darkened inside. It was a perfect light for sleeping.

 

“Sister.”

 

Half asleep, Leav appeared with a knock.

 

He spoke quietly as he faced me, who was buried in the soft blanket, with his almost closed eyes.

 

“Oh, if you’re sleeping, I can come back again later……Brother?”

 

At that moment, his gaze fell on Bernique, who was lying in the window side of the bed.

 

“Why is Brother…..?”

 

“Bernique needed to take a nap too.”

 

“Huh? Since when did Brother start taking a nap?”

 

Bernique’s eyes remained closed, even as his voice swelled up.

 

“Shh. Bernique must be sleeping. Let’s be quiet.”

 

Leav’s gaze wandered aimlessly.

 

“That…..”

 

He hesitated as if he couldn’t find anything to say. Is Leav sleepy too?

 

“Do you want to sleep with us?”

 

There is a lot of space left because the bed is wide anyway.

 

Maybe he was very tired, Leav reached in front of the bed, sticking out his arms and legs like a broken robot.

 

“Then excuse me. Sister.”

 

Leav lifted the blanket then went inside and I was caught in the middle. Leav turned to me and made eye contact. The glittering jewels caught my eye even in the dark.

 

“Sweet dreams.”

 

“Yeah, Leav too.”

 

He kissed me on the cheek and slowly pulled the blanket. This time, I really closed my eyes to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Bernique was very displeased. Because he lost his cozy time with Rosiane to his enemy-like little brother.

 

As Rosiane fell asleep, Bernique spoke in a soft voice.

 

“Since when did my little brother start taking a nap?”

 

“Brother’s lies are a little ridiculous. And I can’t miss this great opportunity.”

 

“Well, same here.”

 

Bernique replied with a low smile. Rosiane’s immaculate side profile was visible in his sight.

 

And beyond that, he made eye contact with Leav, who looked at him with blazing eyes.

 

Then, Leav sneakily moved closer to Rosiane. Bernique didn’t just watch him, but also moved closer to Rosiane’s side.

 

As they gradually got closer to Rosiane, they occupied less than half of the space in the spacious bed.

 

The competition didn’t end until the three were almost like one. Each of their limbs wrapped around Rosiane.

 

Rosiane groaned as she tried to sleep without knowing that she was completely like rice inside a seaweed.

 

[tn– like the gimbap in Korea, implying that she’s completely wrapped or smth like that]

 

Then Deus, who stood in front of the door, looking at the mess, secretly shook his head.

 

* * *

 

[tn– back to Rosie’s pov]

 

After Leav and Bernique woke up from their sleep and left, there was nothing to do after reading the book I borrowed to the end.

 

All classes had been canceled to take care of my body, as I was rolling around in bed again, I couldn’t bear it and got up.

 

“Let’s go to the library.”

 

“Yes.”

 

I should return the book and borrow a new one. As I lifted the heavy book with a whimper, Sir Boyd quietly approached and snatched it away.

 

“I’ll hold it.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Unlike me, he easily took the book and we  walked side by side, as he matched with my steps. We passed by the garden and quickly arrived at the Imperial Central Library.

 

The library was empty again today because a pass was required except for the royal family.

 

With the quiet atmosphere and warm sunshine shining through the big window, I thought it would be good to read books here today without borrowing them.

 

I returned the book to the librarian and looked back at Sir Boyd.

 

“I’m going to read a book now.”

 

“I’ll come with you.”

 

I thought so. I nodded and looked through the bookshelf.

 

What book should I read today. Oh, should I find out about the flowers that Mill received? I walked around in search of a bookshelf that might have a book about plants.

 

“I see the Glory of the Empire.”

 

I stopped and looked at the place where I heard greetings. There stood Young Master Vanitas. I feel it every time I see it, but his pink hair that looked soft was like cotton candy.

 

“Oh, it’s been a while.”

 

I roughly said hello and moved forward. However, Young Master Vanitas quickly caught up with me.

 

He tilted his head slightly and smiled softly. His scarlet eyes stared at me.

 

“Is there a book you’re looking for?”

 

“Yes.”

 

This is philosophy.

 

“May I help you?”

 

“It’s okay, I can find it.”

 

This is art,

 

“I know all the books here. If you tell me, I can find it for you, what book are you looking for?”

 

I stopped walking and made eye contact with him.

 

“Young Master seems to be curious about many things?”

 

When we met at the birthday party, he kept asking questions, today was no different too.

 

“If you think so, then yes.”

 

He grinned.

 

The only thing that I can be sure of from my 25 years of life is that no one is kind to others without a reason. Unless he’s a terrible altruist.

 

But from my point of view, this boy is not that great of a person to be like that.

 

Of course, from a modern point of view, he might be doing this because I’m the daughter of his father’s boss….I thought I should just deal with him and let him go, so I asked him.

 

“Then, do you know where the books about plants are?”

 

“Yes, come this way.”

 

I walked a little further inside, following him.

 

“I think you can find it over here.”

 

He gave a smile that could only be expressed with words like freshness.

 

“Okay, thank you.”

 

I thanked him and pulled out a thick dictionary of plants that was placed right in front of me at eye level.

 

“Rather than that, it’s better to look at this with pictures.”

 

Young Master Vanitas said, pulling out the next book. It certainly looked better so I put back the book I picked.

 

When I reached out my hand to ask for the book, he gently lowered his eyes and asked. The scarlet eyes shone darkly as a shade was cast by his thick eyelashes.

 

“If you don’t mind, can I take it to your seat? It’s really heavy.”

 

“Okay, then.”

 

I agreed thinking that he’ll go once he brings it but Young Master Vanitas sat on the chair opposite me.