Chapter 23
The next day, I found Xavier as soon as I finished breakfast.
“Jabie!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“let’s gwo owtthide.” (Let’s go outside.)
“Outside? Do you want to go to the garden?”
“Nwot dat owtthide, de obal obbice.” (Not that outside, the Oval Office.)
Xavier, who was confused with my ‘Obal Obbice,’ nodded as soon as he understood me.
“Aha. Are you trying to see your aide? I’ll call him for you.”
I shook my head firmly.
“I’m gwonna gwo.” (I’m gonna go.)
“S-shall we?”
Since I would never be allowed to wander around the Imperial Palace by myself, it was better to be carried around.
I arrived at the Oval Office last night, holding Xavier’s hand with a bag I had secretly packed.
It was the Emperor’s office, but I had never been here before.
‘It’s more like Gustav’s office rather than mine.’
With that in mind, I knocked before going in. It’s polite to knock when you enter someone’s room.
“Who is it?”
“Me!”
Click!
Beyond the door that was wide open, I saw Gustav’s startled face.
I gave him a smile.
“W-why are you…… no, this is the Emperor’s Oval Office…….?”
“Id’s Gustab’s.” (It’s Gustav’s.)
I looked back at Xavier over the bewildered Gustav.
“Jabie, get me a dwoll.” (Xavier, get me a doll.)
“Yes? What doll?”
“Bubb, no, bunny doll.” (Pupp, no, bunny doll.)
For a moment, I remembered I didn’t have a puppy doll, so I quickly corrected myself.
Xavier, who was pacing his head, bowed to Gustav and disappeared to get the doll.
‘I’ve gotten rid of one for now.’
I had to deal with the other one now.
I looked up. Gustav adjusted his eye level to mine.
“Shall I ask the maids to bring ice cream?”
“Ithe cweam! ……ah, no.”
I shook my head with my eyes tightly closed. I almost fell for the ice cream.
The nanny didn’t give me a lot of snacks, so it wasn’t an easy opportunity, but I had to give it up with tears in my eyes.
I sighed deeply, passed Gustav and slipped into the Oval Office.
The Oval Office was a complete mess.
There was a hoard of books on the floor, and the desk was reminiscent of a grave of documents.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
Just in case I touch something, Gustav rushed in.
Anyway, I went in deeper and deeper, pretending to be looking around the office.
“Id’s diwrty.” (It’s dirty.)
“Um, this…… it’s because I’m so busy with work. I’m so busy that I don’t have time to clean up. It’s not that I’m lazy.”
“Ah knwow. Gustav woks a wot.” (I know. Gustav works a lot.)
Answering absent-mindedly, I rolled my head furiously.
‘How can I get Gustav out of here?’
I circled around the office and saw his glances. Gustav’s eyes never left me.
Sigh, you don’t know my willingness to help.
I didn’t think it would be easy.
“Heuuuum~!”
I looked around for no reason and sat down in Gustav’s chair. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have felt anything suspicious about me yet.
But will it happen next time too?
I looked at the document Gustav had been handling.
Extremely confidential. And the documents from the Treasury Department that was quite far from here.
‘It’s this.’
I picked up the ink bottle with a smile as if I knew nothing.
“?”
Gustav’s face soon turned white.
“Y-your Majesty……!”
Spill……
I poured the ink on the document without mercy.
A bluish-faced Gustav walked toward me.
Then he took out his handkerchief and began to wipe the ink.
“You’re Majesty……”
“Bwack watar. Ith dak!” (Black water. It’s dark!)
“Yes, that’s called ink……”
“Ing.”
As I only smiled with black ink on my palm, Gustav only gave a deep sigh and said nothing.
“Do wu altho have wed watar?” (Do you also have red water?)
“Yes, we do.”
“Wow!”
It’s hard to pretend to be a real baby.
Gustav tried to resuscitate the documents several times and soon dropped his head.
“Haaaaa…… Your Majesty. Stay right here. I’ll bring a wet towel. Okay?”
“Oong.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Gustav left the office with ink-stained papers in his hands. Perhaps you should stop by the Treasury Department before you bring a wet towel.
‘Gustav, sorry.’
I gave an unheard apology.
The reward for this enormous accident depended on what I do in the future. I took actions quickly.
There was not enough time because I had to finish everything before Xavier or Gustav came back.
First, I took out a piece of paper that I had written in advance from my bag.
I was still not good with my hands, so I’d taken the lives of many papers by pretending to be an adult.
‘Be careful. No one knows I can read and write.’
At the regular meetings held at fixed times everyday, five days a week, it was four months ago when unreadable documents were placed in front of me like decorations.
That was enough time to learn to read.
If they’re saying I was a genius with talking just this much, it’ll be chaos if I write.
It’s quite possible that there were typos or sentences that didn’t fit the context, but in my view, it was perfect.
“Gwood.” (Good.)
I went to the left of the Emperor’s desk and took out the seal.
Thud!
After sealing it, I sandwiched the documents I had written between the completed documents.
It was really a close call.
“Hee.”
With the pride in myself, laughter came out.
When the seal was returned to its original position, it was a perfect crime.
It was when I finished all the work and walked out of the door that was slightly open.
“Mabel.”
“Huk.”
The familiar voice that came from above my head made me freeze.
***
Esteban looked down at the hardened Mabel.
She looked scared as if she had done something wrong.
“Mabel.”
“O-Oong……?”
“What brings you to the office?”
Mabel, who was wiggling her fingers, stepped back.
Although he was worried, Esteban did not come close because he was afraid that Mabel, who was already far away from him, might hate him more.
“Ith’s notwing……” (It’s nothing……)
Esteban frowned at the sight of Mabel’s scattering gaze.
‘……it’s too cute.’
From her standing with that little body to her fiddling while she answered were extremely lovely.
He tried hard to suppress the urge to kiss Mabel’s chubby cheeks that had not yet lost its baby fat.
‘Wait.’
Esteban didn’t realize something was wrong until now because Mabel was so cute.
‘Mabel’s not the kind of kid who’s so self-conscious.’
Mabel was a determined and straightforward baby.
Usually she would have shouted ‘hwate’ and then leave.
As Esteban stared at Mabel, the child mumbled her tiny lips.
“Gustab……”
“Gustav?”
He was wondering about the name of the aide that suddenly popped out-
“Ah came two thee him.” (I came to see him.)
“……!!”
At Mabel’s bombshell announcement, Esteban was shocked.
‘Yeah.’
Actually, it always bothered him.
Mabel suddenly started to hug Gustav naturally, not him.
Just in case, there might have been other businesses.
Esteban asked in a tense voice.
“……Why Gustav?”
“Gustav……? Wike.” (Gustav……? Like.”)
‘Demotion. It’s a demotion.’
At Mabel’s words, Gustav’s fate fell into the abyss in an instant.
Mabel, who wasn’t even dreaming that Esteban’s mood was also falling to hell, sighed secretly at the fact that she had escaped from his suspicious eyes.
‘Phew, I didn’t get caught.’
At that time, Xavier, who went on an errand that Mabel ordered, came back.
“I greet the ‘Emperor’.”
“Where have you been, leaving your lord alone?”
The sharp voice was tense.
If you say the wrong thing here, you will die.
Even if he was the nanny’s, Count Lupe Allieli’s, nephew, there was no exception.
Xavier stuttered with his head down.
“T-that-.”
“D-dwoll!” (D-doll!)
The resonant voice of Mabel interrupted and cut off Xavier’s words.
‘At this rate, someones going to get caught.’
(As in someone will be in trouble because of the atmosphere.)
I felt sorry for the shaking Xavier, so I couldn’t just sit still.
Mabel laughed and shouted again.
“Dwoll! Bubb, no, bunny dwoll!” (Doll! Pupp, no bunny doll!)
I almost made a mistake in the dolls again. The Mabel that smiled more brightly on purpose was handed the doll by Xavier and held it tightly in her hands.
‘I’m doomed. I don’t have a hobby with dolls.’
Hehe.
“Dwoll gwood. Tank yu, Jabie.” (Doll good. Thank you, Xavier!)
“Of course, I just did what I had to do. Haha.”
As if she was saying ‘We are this close~,’ Mabel looked up at Esteban, smiling.
Esteban, unable to get angry with her smiling face, turned a blind eye to Xavier.
Still, he looked upset. Mabel stared at Esteban and held out the doll she was holding.
“Ah’ll gib it two you.’ (I’ll give it to you.)
“……to me?”
“Oong.”
Esteban received Mabel’s doll with a bewildered face. He couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.
It was the first time in months that Mabel had given something to him first.
‘Mabel……gave me a doll. Furthermore, it’s a doll she values.’
She didn’t value it.
Mabel handed the doll and waved in a relaxed mood.
“Dwen, gwoodbwye.” (Then, goodbye.)
My gait was full of energy.
‘I lost one doll.’
As such, the father and daughter’s different dreams on the same bed only deepened. (T/N: this means they had different views on the same situation.)
Ecstatic with Mabel’s gift, Esteban forgot his plan to demote his aide.
Unfortunately or fortunately, Gustav was able to escape a demotion.
***
A few days later in the Emperor’s office.
Gustav, who was reviewing the backlog of documents, found an agenda that had already been approved and put into practice.
-Southern Logul Mine Purchase
Gustav was thrown into confusion.
It was a worthless mine famous for its low-quality iron.
It was an abandoned mine because it didn’t have any workers, but it was purchased under the name of the Imperial family.
Who in the world?
“First, I didn’t do it.”
It wasn’t just one that was bought. It swept up all the mines in the area.
Gustav was not a man so incapable as to make such a stupid mistake. It was safe to say that someone must have intervened in the middle.
There was a small sentence in the corner of the document that caught his eye.
-High possibility of spirit stones.
“Spirit stones?!”
Wasn’t that the damn magical power source that had recently been rotting people’s heads? Gustav stared at the papers.
“I’ve never seen this handwriting before……”
Somehow, the handwriting was crooked. Gustav suspected that the owner of the writing was left-handed.
‘It doesn’t affect the Imperial budget anyway.’
It was too small to be a prank, so he could’ve just let it go.
Rather, he continued to pay attention to the writing in the corner.
Although it was highly likely to be false information, spirit stones were indeed a seductive bait.
These words often entangle you into a trap. His life experiences told him that, but……
‘Let’s go for it!’
Gustav’s instinct shouted. Let’s make a gamble!
.
.
.
A week after the start of the mining, a huge amount of spirit stones was mined in the abandoned mine, which used to contain only low-quality materials.
It was the emergence of a mine that had surpassed the expected reserves than of Duke Javier’s mine, which was said to have the continent’s largest spirit stone mine.
***
“Mistew Mole.”
I whispered in a small voice whether Lissandro could hear or not.
Then a small muddy head crept up.
[Snort. Sparkly stone. Taken. Humans.]
“Dat’s wight. We nweeded dwat. Tank yu, Mither Mole.” (That’s right. We needed that. Thank you, Mistew Mole.”
[Keep it. Promise.]
“Ah knwow.” (I know.)
I nodded gladly. The mole then thumped from side to side with joy and soon disappeared into the ground.
“Sigh.”
I lost as much as I gained.
In return for the information from the mole, I was to let him roam freely in the fourth garden of the Imperial Palace.
The fourth garden had already been ordered off limits to all, including the gardener.
All the flowers and trees will be ruined, but……
‘This is a bargain.’
I grinned.
I was excited for the regular meeting that would be held in three days.
