Matchmaking Baby Sister - Chapter 5
Chapter 5 – I thought it would be a flower road* if we enter the palace
TL: Zimming
*TL Note:A korean idiom meaning everything will be better than before.
Lucinda, who was nervous, bit her nails and asked Mrs. Fenrir.
“So, when does Ariel’s education start?”
“It is now against the law to call her by her nickname. Because the princess is now a royal before your niece.”
In response, Mrs. Fenrir grabbed Lucinda’s wrist and lowered it. Biting your nails during conversation was also an expression of disrespect. Lucinda’s face turned white as a sheet. Looking at the two of us who couldn’t hide our surprise, Mrs. Fenrir said in a stern tone.
“The official date for the princess’ coronation ceremony has not been decided yet. You can think of it as a period of adaptation until then.”
In short, she said that Lucinda would be kicked out of the Imperial Palace after the official date of the coronation ceremony was decided.
* * *
Having said that, Mrs. Fenrir went out. There was only silence in the room for a moment. I leaned back on the cushion and sighed.
‘This is not what I was thinking.’
My head hurt at the unexpected situation.
‘If I breathe fresh air, I will feel better.’
I pulled the hem of my aunt’s clothes.
“Mama, Abuabu.”
My aunt, who had been stiff after hearing Mrs. Fenrir’s words, looked at me and smiled slightly. It was a smile that didn’t have any energy, so my heart felt painful seeing it.
“What, Ariel?”
“Mama, Abuabu…….”
With a soft babble, I pointed my finger out to the window. My aunt understood me and nodded her head.
“Ah, you want to go for a walk? That’s a good idea. I also wanted to get some wind.”
My aunt carried me gently. Then we went out to the beautiful garden attached to the Pen Orchid Palace. Befitting a palace called Pen Orchid, there were many orchids with large flower buds in the front yard of the palace.
“Gyaa!”
Seeing the pretty flowers made me feel a little bit better. As I squeaked with a bright smile, my aunt smiled slightly as well.
“You like it? Shall we practice walking as well?”
“Uh!”
Recently, I was practicing by holding my aunt’s hand.
‘As long as I can walk, I can go anywhere I want to go!’
But contrary to my expectation, my feet couldn’t always coordinate with my head. Getting up alone was hard unless my aunt held my hand.
‘I can do this!’
I will make my aunt walk in a flower path in the future. With that in mind, I put on an ambitious expression on my face. My aunt put her hand in my armpit and gently made me stand up. My feet that were wrapped in soft leather shoes touched the floor. It was obviously much better than the wooden shoes or rough cotton shoes I had worn before, but somehow my feet felt heavy.
“One, two. One, two.”
Taking my hand, my aunt helped me walk slowly. I waddled like a baby penguin, trying to keep up with my aunt. The voice of my aunt, who was counting the numbers calmly, was full of affection. As we lightly circled the place, Lucinda carried me again in her arms. After I was in her arms, I glanced at her and called her.
“Mama.”
“Ariel.”
My aunt who responded to me smiled, she unconsciously called my nickname ,then quickly took back her words.
“Ah! Amelia…….”
I grimaced and looked at her.
‘Why are you calling me that? To my aunt, I will always be the lovely Ariel.’
However, the only thing that came out of my mouth was a short babble.
“Mamama.”
“Are you comforting me?”
Aunt Lucinda’s face became sad, she made an eye contact with me and said in a friendly and sweet voice,
“Mrs. Fenrir is absolutely right. Now you’re not just my niece, you’re the only princess. I have to be careful.”
‘What kind of rule is that?’ I swelled my cheeks in dissatisfaction. My aunt burst into laughter and poked my cheek with her index finger.
“Don’t be so sullen. Aunt is happy if you are happy. You don’t have to be hungry anymore, and your closet is full of pretty clothes. I’m sure my sister is happy too.”
Aunt Lucinda was right. I used to eat that bland oatmeal every time, and now I can eat delicious food like this.
‘But I didn’t think it would be like this.’
I pouted like a duck as I leaned my heavy head against Aunt Lucinda’s chest.
This really wasn’t what I thought would be like as I contacted Tessa. Why did I contact the palace when I was afraid of Tessa in the first place? It was to free Aunt Lucinda from poverty and violence.
‘But Lucinda is not happy at all.’
I don’t know why things are so messed up. Now they want Lucinda out of the palace.
‘I don’t want to be away from her.’
I was nervous, so my thumb came into my mouth by itself. As I was sucking my fingers, Lucinda gave me a warm smile and swept my hair.
“Ariel needs to be happier than me.”
When I saw my aunt smiling sadly,
I could hear some voices.
“Right now, no one likes the baby, but I don’t know what Mrs. Fenrir is thinking.”
…I immediately listened to it.
* * *
Tessa Illuminas.
In the original story, he was the trashiest male lead I ever knew.bHe’s called a tyrant, but he’s actually a little different from the tyrants who’ve gone down in history. Because unlike them, he doesn’t care about luxuries, alcohol, or women and keeps his poker face all the time.
“The only thing I believe in in this world is myself.”
Even in the original story, Tessa said those to Lucinda, who was trying to help him. After I think about it again, I understand why Tessa acted so.
The reason was simple, everyone, even the servants hated him because Tessa is an illegitimate child.
‘Those people value bloodline more than anything, but still, even though I’m my father’s child, I would be treated no different from Tessa.’
I pouted my lips.
Here, it is the mother’s bloodline that determines the children’s identity.
And my mother is a commoner. Those people won’t give me the throne.
If it was like the original story, Tessa would have killed anyone who looked down at me.
‘It’s a pity at times like this that my uncle hasn’t become a tyrant yet.’
However, I think it would be uncomfortable if a tragedy were to happen because of me.
I stopped thinking to myself and listened to them. Not knowing that I was eavesdropping, the maids gossiped.
“Mrs. Fenrir doesn’t want to lose to Mrs. Riccardo, so she must hold onto the child.”
“Then, if the child gets kicked out, she would lose the fight?”
‘Mrs. Ricardo.’ It seems that there are fights among women that I do not know about within the Imperial Palace.
I thought Mrs. Ricardo would come in contact with me at any time, so I’ll remember her name.
Just then, the topic changed.
“About the princess’s aunt…”
‘Aunt?’ Unknowingly, I looked at Aunt Lucinda, who was also holding her breath next to me.
Perhaps because she was nervous, my aunt’s hand, which was holding the hem of her skirt, was full of strength.
Not knowing we were listening, the maids burst out laughing after pouring out cruel words.
“Honestly, didn’t Mrs. Fenrir gives her too much respect?”
“Right, how can a hillbilly like her miggle with us?”
“She was still thick skinned just because she caught the emperor’s eyes.”
“Well, it’s an advantage to be pretty.”
After those words, the topic of conversation between the two of them went on to talk about appearance and their social circles.
My aunt gently hugged me as I was still stiff.
“You’ll catch a cold if you stay outside for too long, Ariel.”
A voice, lower than usual, rang in my ears. I tried to look at my aunt’s expression, but my aunt buried her head in my shoulder.I couldn’t see my aunt’s face because of that.
‘Did she cry?’
In fact, it seemed like it would also be difficult for me to maintain my composure if I heard such gossip in front of me too.
‘It was said that all the maids working in the Imperial Palace were women from noble families.
The servants working in the Imperial Palace are divided into two categories.
A person from a noble family who entered the palace as a maid in order to find a groom or to bootlick the upper classes. And only the commoners really do the chores.
All of my attendants must be the former.
‘But I didn’t know they could ignore my aunt like this.’
That was something I really hadn’t thought of.
I thought that if it was revealed that I was a princess, a big reward would be given to my aunt who took care of me with utmost sincerity, and I thought that we could escape poverty and live happily ever after.
‘But I didn’t know too much about the society!’
Living in this world as a commoner, I should’ve expected such a reaction!
‘Maybe it’s because I hold no power yet. If my treatment changes, the way they treat my aunt will change.’
If my position were to be consolidated, at least they wouldn’t be able to treat my aunt badly. With that in mind, I rubbed her face on her aunt’s shoulder.
After walking through the garden for a while, we were able to arrive at the Pen Orchid Palace.
Mrs. Fenrir was waiting for us to return with a stiff face.
“Where have you been?”
“Ta, taking a walk…”
My aunt answered in a mumbled tone to the lady who was standing in an upright position. Mrs. Fenrir spoke in a stern tone, without even looking at my aunt.
“The princess must be accompanied by at least five attendants. At any place.”
At Mrs. Fenrir’s words, my aunt bowed her head and offered an apology.
“It is all due to my negligence.”
“Of course it’s your fault.”
“…….”
The answer that came back was cold.
As Mrs. Fenryl beckoned, the maids, after serving the bath, rushed to us.
One of them reached out to my aunt. She gestured to hand me over.
“It is better to take a bath with warm water and rest.”
What is she saying now?
I hugged my aunt’s neck tighter and shook my head.
“Mama.”
I looked at my aunt as she lowered her head helplessly.
“Go on, Ariel.”
I bit my lips as tears welled up in the corners of my eyes.
* * *
When I came out of the bath, I could hear Mrs. Fenrir and my aunt’s conversation.
“Now you can sleep alone.”
“But, Ariel is still young…”
“Oho. What do you know about parenting?”
Mrs. Fenrir even forbade my aunt to sleep with me.
‘Wow, I didn’t want to do this, but I can’t help it.’
For the first time since I entered the palace, I cried embarrassingly.
“Abu! Huwaaa! Huwa!!”
To be honest, it was a feat that was hard to do, especially when I was aware that I am an adult. But I continued doing it for my aunt.
‘I am only one year old here. I am a baby.’
Yes. She’s trying to get my aunt away from me right now, shame is out of question!
“T, then, I’ll just allow it this time…”
Not knowing that I would cry, Mrs. Fenrir took a step back with a visibly bewildered expression on her face.
That way, Lucinda and I in our one-piece pajamas were able to lay in bed together.
Through the wide window, I could see the beautiful sky and the bright moon.
‘The sky hasn’t changed, but the situation we are in right now has changed.’
I definitely want to help Lucinda. Because Lucinda was always suffering because of me.
‘But why did this happen?’
I turned my head slightly and looked to the side to see Lucinda with a pale face lying next to me.
‘Even though she was clearly eating good things and wearing good things, Lucinda’s health kept declining.’
And the reason is…….
I hardened. Now I had no choice but to admit it.
‘I should never have come to the palace.’