I Don’t Want A Prince In My Life - Chapter 19. What's Coming Next

“Cecilia.”

“Cesilia,” Hepatica said.

“Cecilia.”

No matter how many times I taught him, Hepatica could not say my name properly.

He looked about twelve years old, so I thought this was a problem.

“Leili, is this going to go away? I don’t think he’s going to stay like this forever…”

The witch, who was elegantly having tea, spoke and laughed when I asked her what she thought.

“Hahahaha! It’s cute.”

“If you don’t help him, Hepatica will have a hard time.”

I was annoyed by Leili’s irresponsibility.

Even though he was a griffin, if Hepatica was going to stay with me all the time, he must at least learn human language and customs.

Otherwise, we would have to stay together in a remote forest.

(No, that might not be so bad if you think about it.)

I considered the outlandish idea in my head.

However, I soon ran into a food problem and shook my head.

It would be impossible for a single woman to be self-sufficient.

I was once a seamstress, so I could handle mending, but building a farm and producing food would be difficult.

In addition, as I recently found out, Hepatica could eat a lot.

If we weren’t under the protection of Albert, the next king of Theophilus, we might starve to death in no time.

Yes, I was brought back to Theophilus’ castle by Leili while I was unconscious from the strong winds.

The large bed I had awakened on was that of a guest room in the castle.

I didn’t know how Leili carried me with her slender arms, but anyway, I had returned to civilized life for the first time in a month.

I was now in charge of Hepatica from the moment he woke up until the moment he fell asleep, teaching him how to live as a human being.

This beast was just like a baby who didn’t even know the common sense that should be natural for his level of knowledge.

I was frustrated with him many times, but still, when I saw him following me around like a baby bird, I couldn’t give up on him.

“Do all these guardian spirits that protect witches have to go through all this trouble?”

I asked Leili, and she gave me an unfriendly look.

“Hepatica is special. Usually, the guardian spirits stay with the witch from birth and complement each other as they grow, but our master witch was so insensitive that she didn’t even notice his existence until this year.”

I was surprised to hear her say this.

“So you think it’s normal for a guardian spirit to be visible from birth?”

“Well, I can’t say that’s the case in general. The number of witches is so small that you can count them on two hands. It’s not going to be helpful to separate the normal from the exceptional in those few cases.”

I didn’t say anything, but she answered ahead of time, and I fell silent.

She was right, it was too small a sample to make comparisons.

If there was no precedent, then we have to go by hand and assume that this was normal.

I looked at Hepatica’s face.

His eyes, the same light purple as mine, were round and staring at me.

Even though he was in human form, I could see his tail behind him.

He was like a dog that’s been left to his own devices, and I felt like I had to give it some kind of praise.

Just as I was about to reach out to pet his head, there was a knock on the door.

A newly appointed maid of honor appeared.

Just by looking at her face, I had an idea of what she wanted.

“Lady Cecilia. His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, is here. He would like to see you.”

Normally, when a nobleman asks for a meeting, it is customary to contact him in advance, but he was the Crown Prince, and I was his guest staying at the castle.

There was no way I could refuse, so I nodded reluctantly.

Besides, it was not the first time that Albert had paid me a surprise visit.

Ever since I moved here from the hunting lodge, that is to say, every day since I came back to the castle, he has been coming to me at tea time.

I didn’t think the Crown Prince had that much free time on his hands, but Serge didn’t seem to be in trouble, so he must get things done properly.

“Well, it’s a beautiful day, so let’s have tea on the terrace. Can you set it up for me?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

As the maid of honor closed the door, I straightened my back for no particular reason.

I would normally change into an afternoon tea dress for my meeting with Albert, but since I was no longer a Lady, it would not be a problem to dress as I was now.

The dress I changed into in the morning was bluish purple, the same color as my eyes, and it had a pretty design with white lace accents.

It was a little too pretty for me, but I liked it because it was easy to move around in because it didn’t use the crinoline that had just come into fashion.

As a person who had once left the social scene and lived a life without fancy dresses, I really didn’t want to wear an overstuffed dress again.

“We’re ready. The Crown Prince is waiting for you.”

I was lost in thought, and before I knew it, everything seemed to be ready.

As expected of a castle servant, she worked quickly.

“I’m coming.”

When I said that, I took Hepatica and Leili to the terrace.

Albert’s business must be about Percival anyway.

So, if Leili was here, we could have a proper discussion about witches.

I was finally at the point where I had to think about what Angelica was going to do about the country of Percival, which was under her spell.

I have always believed that I don’t want to have anything to do with him again, but I feel like Albert kept trying to keep me around.

If that’s the case, perhaps I should consider using Albert even more to get a shot at Angelica.