The Kids Have Changed - Chapter 22

I had to lose by a moderate amount.

Children only study when they can feel a sense of accomplishment.

Furthermore, Carol would soon be 15 years old. She would be a lady, not a young miss, and she would bloom like a flower in the social field.

So she was pulling at her reins more these days.

But I refused to let Carol be told that she is not good enough nor made fun of for being ignorant.

In the original, Carol often said dumb things.

For example, she said such nonsense like:

‘What is this? I said to bring fruit alcohol! This is fruit wine!’

Oh, how my head hurt when I read it in the novel… I thought she was brainless.

“Ugh. Sharon! Why’d you hit me!“

“Don’t doze off.”

“Hehe. You noticed?”

Do I look stupid? This puppy.

***

“Why did you wake up so early?” Carol asked, rubbing her eyes.

I patted her head. “Go back to sleep.”

She usually slept like she wouldn’t wake up even if the world collapsed, but today, I woke her up with my twisting and turning.

“U-um… It’s nothing. Let’s sleep together, Sharon.”

I brushed my hand against Carol’s cheeks, who shook her head like a puppy.

“Go to sleep first.”

“What about you?”

I wasn’t in the mood to sleep right now. Yet again, I just woke up from the terrible nightmare in which I killed someone.

It transcended reality to bring me to a blood-soaked scene.

“I should sleep too.”

“Huh? Sharon, are you crying?”

“Me?”

I shook my head.

“It’s because I yawned.”

With a clichéd excuse, I wiped away the tears I shed during my sleep.

“Mm… You’re sleepy too, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Scooch over. I’ll lie down too.”

I purposely pushed Carol off to the side and lay down. Only then could I breathe again, watching Carol lie down with an easy mind. I pretended to be asleep for a long time until I heard Carol breathing softly.

“I’m scared… Nara Lee. It’s okay. Snap out of it. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

I comforted myself.

“Look at this. Isn’t this okay?”

I buried my head in my knees. Subconsciously, I muttered, “…Nara Lee. I want to see it. Korea… I want to see it. Can’t I go back?”

It was only after Carol, who woke up when she heard me talking to myself, shook me that I snapped back to reality.

“Sharon… Sharon, I’m sleepy… What’s wrong? What do you want to see? Are you going somewhere?”

“Huh? Did I say that? It’s nothing. I must have been sleep talking. Let’s go to bed.”

I hugged Carol tightly and closed my eyes.

This was something that happened whenever I had a nightmare, so I quickly stabilized myself.

I often felt out of place, like a black dot on a white sheet of paper.

Maybe this world didn’t accept me, and so it kept showing me an ominous future. Was it urging me to go back quickly?

Soothing my bitter heart, I closed my eyes. I turned away to hide my flowing tears from even the moonlight.

***

On the prince’s side, Julien became a little more mature than Carol. The impact of his environment was definitely strong.

The prince became harder and colder. His eyes were like a sharp blade, which suited him well, though they weren’t suitable for a 14-year-old.

“So. Where is Carol? Why are you alone today?”

Hearing the prince talk so sullenly from the get-go reminded me of old memories.

That was right. In the beginning, Carol was just as bratty.

“Are you saying you don’t like it? That I came alone?”

“Actually, I like that part. What I’m curious about is what the hell is Carol thinking.”

“She said that her stomach hurts since this morning.”

“Haa… She’s planning something naughty again.”

“I think so too.”

The prince, who brushed his hand through his hair nervously, stared at me with annoyed eyes.

“What is she dissatisfied with this time? Seriously, ever since she was young… Whatever.”

“What’s wrong?”

Julien’s reaction this time was a little sharper. Usually, it wasn’t this bad. His eyes drooped back down. His glare at the teacup was surprisingly cold, so I wondered what he would say.

“…Carol said she didn’t want to get engaged.”

“Carol did?”

The prince’s young face was darkly stained with fatigue.

“Huu… I don’t know why she’s bringing it up now. Of course, I also don’t want to…”

The prince bit his lips. The words were getting quieter and quieter, like a fading flame, so I couldn’t hear them properly.

“What?”

“It’s nothing. Carol’s just causing trouble for me. I don’t think my mother will leave me alone.”

Seeing the thick despair on the young face of the prince, I took a sharp breath.

“Breaking the engagement isn’t the problem. The problem is that my mother heard the story, Sharon. Not even I know what she’s going to do.”

If it was the Empress, there was no way she would let Julien escape from her cage.

“Tell the little princess Carol not to worry about getting the perfect groom. The prince will be a loving husband and will apologize for offending her. Of course, this probably isn’t enough to cover it.”

What was this dog shit?

Carol hadn’t told me anything about the upcoming engagement.

It was dangerous to stop the engagement between Carol and Julien now.

That would break the relationship between the Empress and the duchess, and Julien would lose his support base. And that’s not all.

The duchess… She won’t let Carol go against her own interests. She would find someone new and attach them to Carol.

We were still young. We were in a position where we had to use whatever we could.

So after listening to Julien’s words, I also became uneasy. What was this kid thinking?

***

“I wish you could act a little shocked. ”

“What do you mean by that?”

Madame DeJoue treated Madame Berna and Carol, who came to find her, with sincerity, but she could not hide her skepticism. Carol, who hated being apart from Sharon, was staying back in the duchy by herself.

In addition, she excused herself by saying she had a stomachache and pushed Sharon to leave, saying that she could not suddenly break her promise with the Imperial family.

In the end, Sharon went to the palace alone.

However, after Sharon had left, Carol immediately came to Madame DeJoue.

“Hmm… I just played a prank. ”

That ‘prank’ led her to be slapped in the cheek by the duchess, but that part was a secret.

There was a meeting with parents and children at a tea party that the Empress did not attend. It was the last meeting before Carol would turn 15 years old, when she would make her debut.

It was because they were no longer children.

The young miss will be a “lady,” and young masters will become “sirs.”

There, Carol said she did not want to be engaged, and the duchess couldn’t hide what she had said in front of everyone.

The duchess returned home, hit Carol, and locked her in the room. Fortunately, it was night, so Sharon didn’t see it.

Then, at sunrise, she ran to the imperial palace.

‘My amazing mother probably did not break my engagement, but solidified it.’

Carol didn’t need to see it to know what happened.

Her mother had struck her across the cheek, yelling, ‘Did you think you could do whatever you want? How foolish. You are from the duchy! You must do as I say if you want to eat.’

Carol shook the memory out of her head.

‘No. I can’t think about such things.’

Carol took a deep breath.

“What kind of prank is it? Why would you do such a thing?”

“……It was a prank, but it wasn’t a joke. I just wanted to try.“

“Try? Please tell me in detail.”

Carol laughed, at ease.

“I thought my mother or father would listen to me if I did that. But I guess I didn’t know much about my parents.“

It was hard to look at the face of the duchess, who talked about Carol’s engagement without any care for her daughter’s own opinions.

Carol felt embarrassed hearing her mother’s artificial laugh as she said ‘my daughter’ and ‘my son-in-law.’ She didn’t even know what Carol liked.

So Carol acted on impulse.

She asked if she could pass over the engagement to Sharon, then was hit twice.

‘Damn it.’

Carol poked the inside of her tingling cheek with her tongue.

“…So, that’s how your face ended up like that? That’s why you didn’t even show your face to Lady Sharon today.”

“Well… That’s how it went. ”

“You oughtn’t smile while saying something so grim. It’s not very childish.”

But Carol did not stop smiling.

“It is what it is. I’ll be an adult soon.”

“Well, then, Miss Sharon won’t like it, so don’t smile with a bloodstained face.”

“You have a point.”

Carol sighed and stopped smiling.

Even if she married Julien, there will be only darkness between the two. There had to be.

After all, Julien loved Sharon. Surprisingly, Julien was extremely faithful, and he would never look at anyone other than Sharon. Ever.

Also, Carol was cheering for them.

A foxy, scheming smile replaced Carol’s pretty smile.

“Wouldn’t the picture be really pretty if Julien and Sharon got married?”

“What are you saying? ”

“…It’s nothing. ”

Carol was intimidated. In fact, Carol naturally noticed.

There was something about Sharon that seemed different, like she would float away.

‘Sharon always seems like a person who can just leave…’

The emotions that came about because of puberty made Carol sensitive and anxious.

‘I will never let this end like that.’

If Julien could become the empire’s supreme power, he would somehow be able to hold on to Sharon.

If he became the emperor, he would have access to the library where only the emperor can enter… He could find a way to cope with any situation. That was because the emperor’s library was a repository of information and knowledge.

To beat the enemy, you need to know it first. Carol and Julien defined ‘enemies’ as anything that might take Sharon away.

Though, they still didn’t know what the enemy was. There was only one thing Carol and Julien were certain of. Sharon was not an ordinary person of this world.

And starting from that thought, doubts and speculations branched out.

Julien said that ‘magical power’ may be involved.

Carol decided that Julien’s speculation probably wasn’t wrong.

However… Magic was an area that Carol and Julien could not block. But, an emperor could make use of magic, and so it was a card that Julien could get.

And Julien would be able to love Sharon as he wished to, and Carol would be with her forever.

“Madame DeJoue, I actually came here with a request.”

“What is it?”

“Let’s team up.”

For Carol, it was a conclusion that she came to after thinking hard. In fact, she heard Sharon’s crying voice yesterday, asking if she couldn’t go back.

Carol, who did not know Sharon’s inner thoughts, focused on ‘going back’ and did not know that this was the starting point of the misunderstanding.

So, she thought they could combine their decks. If anyone could learn what Sharon meant, it was Madame DeJoue and Julien.

Madame DeJoue put the teacup down with a clink.

“…You’re talking about dangerous things.“

“I just… I just want you to find me if you need me someday. ”

Madame DeJoue stared at Carol.

‘When did she grow up?’

Sharon worked so hard to help Carol grow up into a mature and lovely young lady.

And Carol grew up smarter than Sharon expected.

The clever girl seemed to have noticed what Madame DeJoue was feeling.

However, Madame DeJoue replied quietly, hiding everything.

“…I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I thought you would say that.”

Carol instinctively knew that Madame DeJoue would remember her words.

After all, Madame DeJoue was also one of the people who loved Sharon, so she must have listened to her.