The Kids Have Changed - Chapter 23

“If I lose Duke Gratoni’s protection, I’ll become a bird without wings. I’m the prince of the Empire and the third son of the Emperor. If I slip, I won’t go to the throne—I’ll head to the guillotine.”

“Why are you talking like that? Julien, listen to me carefully. There’s no way that you’ll die, but… If you die, I die too. The Gratoni duchy is in the same boat as you. Even if it’s just out of consideration for Carol or me, you shouldn’t say such things.”

“There’s no way I’d die? Do you believe in civilian rumors that the Imperial family is immortal? And… is Duke Gratoni really on my side?”

There was no way I’d believe that.

Most of the superstitions about the Imperial family were intentionally circulated by the Imperial family.

It was meant to instill a sense of reverence for the Imperial family, but it would never work on a learned child like me.

“No. I just believe it. Don’t they say things will happen if you believe in it? Because God is watching from heaven.”

I tried to appeal to him with a religion I didn’t even believe in.

“…Your god must be kind to you. My god is unkind and has never granted me a single wish.”

“Ah. Fine. Stop being so glum. I’ll grant you your wish. Of course… Only if it’s something I can actually do. Yup. I will be your god.”

Now, she was even pretending to be God. This is why it’s difficult to handle children.

Becoming Santa or becoming a god—the difference is a thin sheet of paper.

“How?”

“…Why? Are you going to wish for something strange? You can’t ask for something ridiculous, like ‘Please buy me a house!’ or ‘Please buy me everything!’”

Julien stared at me blankly, before bursting into a youthful laugh.

“Puhahaha!”

Julien laughed until he doubled over. He no longer looked arrogant, but was refreshing and childlike.

“That’s right. Smile prettily just like that. Julien. And Carol, at least, won’t abandon you. And Duke Gratoni will, too.”

“…How are you so certain?”

I tilted my head. If he asked like that, I had nothing to say. I laughed hard.

“Because I’m smart?”

“Let go of your groundless confidence,” Julien replied with a laugh.

But I felt relieved. He looked better now.

“By the way, Sharon. You promised.”

Julien’s eyes twinkled like stars.

“What?”

“To be my god. You have to keep your promise to make my wish come true.”

“Certainly. I won’t say something that I don’t mean!”

At my boast, the prince’s eyes turned sharp before becoming soft again.

I witnessed that moment, but I thought I was wrong and moved on.

“Of course, I believe you.”

It was because I was fascinated by Julien that he was able to grasp my hand kindly and tenderly, as he had in our childhood. I cringed and withdrew my hand.

It was so embarrassing… Why, why was he doing this?

“I have to return early today. Since Carol is sick…”

“Eat dinner before you go.”

“Huh?”

“Eat before you go. The chefs prepared something delicious.”

Julien crinkled his eyes and smiled like a flower.

Oh, I was weak for beautiful people.

“How about it?”

At his prodding, I nodded.

“All right.”

In the end, I could only go back when the sun began to set. Julien and I read a book together while snacking.

Now that he was 14 years old, he also enjoyed doing activities while being still.

However, when I was about to return, Julien asked, as was his habit, “Will you come again next week?”

After Julien grew up, the Empress no longer hit him as much. So, as long as nothing special was planned, we saw each other every week.

But anyway, we would see each other tomorrow.

“Of course.”

It seemed that the habit that began when he was young have solidified. At some point, Julien began to ask this when it was time for me and Carol to return.

“Will you come again next week?”

‘Please come. Okay?’

They may have been phrased differently, but in the end, the purpose of his questions were to acquire a promise of our next meeting.

It seemed like it certainly was a habit, seeing as he asked even though Carol wasn’t here.

By the way, what was going on with Carol?

I would have to talk with her as soon as I got home.

***

“She was just grumpy.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know why you’re looking for Carol, milady.”

Carol didn’t come out, but Madame DeJoue appeared instead. And Madame DeJoue knew the answer I was looking for.

“What is it? Why did she do this?”

“The Duchess became ill-tempered. You know how she is, snapping off at Lady Carol.”

“…I know.”

Something was still off. When I looked at Madame DeJoue in doubt, she scratched her head.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“…Where is Carol? Why didn’t she come out when I entered?”

I thought something was strange. It was that my puppy didn’t come to greet me.

“…”

Madame DeJoue hesitated for a moment. “This is a private affair…”

“What is it?”

“Didn’t she say she had an upset stomach in the morning? Must you ask more?”

“Is she in a lot of pain?!”

Madame DeJoue rubbed her mouth. It was an obvious sign that she was hesitating.

“…She didn’t come out of the bathroom all day and then fell asleep because she was tired.”

“…Ah.“

Our Carol must have had a lot of diarrhea…

All right. She should continue to rest.

“And you really don’t need to worry. The Duchess was angry, but she couldn’t touch her because there were many eyes on them.”

“…That’s a relief. Please arrange more party invitations for Duchess Gratoni so she won’t look at Carol for a while.”

“Yes, milady.”

***

Madame DeJoue sighed.

She felt a little sorry for Carol, but what could she do?

If she didn’t say this, Sharon would have run to her room right away.

Madame DeJoue gave Carol a medicine with magical powers.

It healed quickly when applied, but it still needed some time. Her wound would be better by tomorrow morning.

There would be no trace that Carol was hit, and Sharon would remain oblivious.

While it was true that she wanted to help Carol, Sharon’s personality was dirty, no matter how much she pretended otherwise.

She may have tried to chase out the Duchess without evidence of her wrongdoings.

“Whew. The two of them are really troublesome people.”

But that was why it was fun.

***

“Ahem. Are you okay? How about there?”

“…I’m okay.”

Carol’s face as she answered seemed haggard. She must have shat a lot.

I took the food off my plate and put it on Carol’s.

“Eat more.”

“…Isn’t your voice too doubtful? I said I’m fine now!”

“…Still, you should eat more.”

Shouldn’t she eat as much as she let out?

If there was output, there should also be input.

“Ah, really!” Carl pouted.

“Oh, by the way. You troublemaker. Why are you suddenly saying you won’t get engaged?”

“No, it’s just… ”

“You really don’t want to?”

“That’s not it.” Carol shook her head. “I didn’t really intend to break the engagement… I just got angry with my mother, so it’s okay now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“If anything happens, you have to tell me right away.”

“Okay!”

I patted Carol’s head as she nodded.

“By the way, Julien wants to see you,” I said while lifting a spoon of soup.

“What? Why?”

“He… I think he got scolded because of your actions. So he’ll probably tell you to be more care—”

It was as I was trying to put the soup in my mouth.

“Sharon! Are you taking Julien’s side now?” Carol yelled.

“No, it’s not that… ” I stopped moving my hand.

“Aren’t you closer to me than him? How could you do this to me? I hate it! Stop getting along with him!”

Oh, let it go. Why was she doing this to me? Couldn’t she see that I was embarrassed?

“…I was going to go to the palace with you, but you can go alone.”

“No! Come with me!”

Why was she going back and forth like this? She was like a reed blowing in the wind.

“Didn’t you just tell me not to get along with him?”

“When did I say that?”

“Is it memory loss?”

Carol looked shocked when she saw my concerned frown.

“N, nevermind. Now that I think about it, it might be fine. You aren’t interested in anyone. Don’t you just look at me and Julien like cute puppies?”

She was quick-witted. They say in agricultural schools that one reaps a good harvest every three years. This was just like that.

Eh, but she didn’t know how fond I was of them.

“I’m not that bad.”

Carl laughed brightly at my denial.

“Hehehe. Sharon, you still like me the best, right?”

…Let’s just say yes. But can I have some food?

It was hard to eat even a spoonful of soup.

***

After eating, Carol and I headed toward Edre Hall in the city to meet Julien.

The charity event held today at Edre Hall was organized by Julien.

He didn’t have the time to bring us there himself, but we accepted his invitation to meet him there.

Julien could also resolve the misunderstanding caused by Carol.

People would speak poorly about Carol, though.

Moreover, now that the story of Carol and Julien breaking their engagement was spreading, it was necessary to convince people that it was not true.

Sure enough. After Carol explained her side of the story, Julien frowned.

“I can’t believe I’m supposed to trust this.”

“Did you just call me ‘this’ right now?”

“Do you know the trouble I got into of you… ”

“What!”

Julien shook his head while gritting his teeth.

“Little kids don’t have to know.”

Black eyes stared at Carol icily for a moment, then lost its strength.

She wasn’t really a bad kid.

Instead, he said, “You look sleepy again today. What time did you go to bed yesterday?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You’re the only one who looks sleepy here.”

It was me that Julien pointed to. He leaned naturally on the chair. It was a familiar scene, right down to how he sat down arrogantly, legs crossed.

But his eyes glanced at me kindly. Obviously, he was worried about me.

“Umm… It was 10 o’clock. I think it was because I couldn’t sleep as much as usual.”

“…Are you that unaware, Sharon? That’s because you aren’t sleeping as well as usual? Just what kind of life are you living? What if your health becomes poor because of it?”

“Idiot. Sleep has a huge impact on your quality of life.”

Actually, I was also aware that I slept a lot.

“…Sharon sleeps too much. She naps every day! She’s just like a cat.”

“Dummy. Sleeping like that isn’t good for your health. And you always say that you’re sleepy!”

Julien pushed the teacup in front of me.

“Drink up. It helps people recover when they’re tired.”

I felt awkward when he laughed at me, as if he had just scored some point.

It seemed like the prince was having fun feeding me each time we met.

“Thank you.” I’ll drink it. That you’ve even prepared something like this… You’re an adult. You’re mature enough to get married.”

At my mischievous words, Julien crinkled his eyes and burst into laughter. The giggling boy’s face was warm like spring, so I started laughing too.

“Don’t be sick. You have to be healthy. That way, you will live with me for a long, long time.”

Despite his mischievous face, it was a sentimental and mature request.

I nodded.

Of course. I have to live with you both for a long time!

“My bones are as strong as Godzilla’s!”[1]

“Sharon, did you know your forearm is half the size of mine? That makes no sense.”

“That’s right! I told her to eat more. Meanwhile, I keep getting fat.”

“You look good like this, Carol.”

“Sharon! You said that to me before I gained weight, too.”

“I’m serious.”

As I lifted the teacup with a giggle, I raised my head. Something was off.

I looked back and forth between Carol and Julien.

What was it? Why weren’t they saying anything?

[1] This has been changed from the original translation, “I’m really strong and healthy!” to be more accurate to the source text. I thought Sharon was just being weird again, oops.