The Kids Have Changed - Chapter 6

His eyes were really like glass beads… I couldn’t make out his pupils because they were so dark. His face, as lifeless as a doll’s, somehow had a cold beauty to it that reminded me of winter. He was classically handsome.

3D really was so much better than 2D.

While I was dazed by this thought, Carol started to talk again. “Come on, say hello. Julien, this is my friend, Sharon. I told you about her, right?”

Carol linked her arm in mine and smiled smugly. She stared at the prince through narrowed eyes.

It was obvious what she was thinking. ‘You’re to~tally jealous, huh?’

I smiled awkwardly at the prince and dropped into a polite curtsy. The prince may be used to Carol’s antics, being childhood friends, but I had no excuse to be so rude.

I greeted him calmly as Madame DeJoue taught me. “Your royal highness, Sharon of Atrina greets you.”

Hohoho, Madame DeJoue! I did it! Our special training paid off.

The crown prince looked at me without enthusiasm. I didn’t tremble under his gaze.

I couldn’t be like the Sharon of the original novel, so desperate for his attention and love. In the story, Carol had manipulated Sharon to do as she wished by telling her that it would make the prince notice her.

So, since I didn’t fall in love, I considered this to be a successful first meeting.

***

Carol couldn’t hide her excitement when we returned home.

What was there to be so excited about?

“Julien’s going to get a stomachache and die of jealousy!”

“Why,” I said flatly.

I cut the steak into slices and placed it in front of Carol, who was bouncing her legs. Well, it was the butler who actually put the plate in front of her.

“Thank you,” I said.

“It was nothing, young miss.”

I felt this every single time, but this dining room was uselessly large. “Hm…”

“Sharon! Sharon!”

Just why was she calling me so anxiously?

“What?”

“I want you to listen to me!”

“Okay, okay. What is it?”

“Since last time, I’ve been bragging to Julien that I have a Sharon!”

…She really needed to pay attention to nuances. What does she mean, she ‘has a Sharon’? But I wasn’t so fussy as to argue about this with a child.

I cut a part of my own steak and ate it as I nodded at Carol to go ahead.

“Hehehe. Yup… I told him that we went on a picnic together and sleep in the same bed! And… Yeah! That you tie my hair for me and you read books to me, too!”

Wait, wasn’t she inserting something weird in there? I narrowed my eyes at her, but she looked unaffected.

Eventually, she said sheepishly, “Won’t you tie my hair for me? Katrina says her older sister ties her hair for her every day…”

Oh, I couldn’t bring myself to turn her down.

“All right. I’m not good at it, but I can try.”

Carol’s face lit up at my words. “Yay! It’s a promise!”

“But in exchange, you have to eat all of the carrots and onions on your plate.”

Carol flinched. Then, she looked down at her plate contemplatively. I could see Madame DeJoue and Madame Berna trying hard not to smile.

It was obvious what Carol would choose.

“My lady, you don’t even know how to tie your own hair,” whispered Madame DeJoue.

“You just need to teach me how,” I said.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“So you make a promise and I’m the one to fulfill it, is what you’re saying.”

I blinked innocently. “I’m only eight years old,” I said.

“You certainly don’t act like you’re eight. But I’ll let this pass for now,” said Madame DeJoue.

Carol looked up just as Madame DeJoue and I finished our whispered conversation. “Okay! I just have to eat all this, right?”

Carol stared down her plate decisively, then put all the carrots and onions into her mouth at once. Eyes shut tightly, she swallowed, then took a large drink of water.

“There!” Carol opened her mouth, saying ‘Ah—” to show me it was empty.

I nodded. “Okay, I’ll tie your hair for you.”

“Yay! I’m really happy!”

Carol swung her legs beneath her seat and started to eat again.

But how did we end up talking about this again?

“Oh, yeah. So why would Julien be jealous? Does he want someone to tie his hair too?”

“What are you talking about, Sharon? He’s a boy!”

I knew that, but Carol was talking so incoherently that I got confused. I looked askance at Carol, who bit her lip and started to mumble.

“Um. Julien is alone, too, so that’s why. Well, he’s a mean kid, so it’s obvious why he’s alone… But anyway, I have a Sharon now.”

She doesn’t ‘have’ me, though.

“So Julien was jealous of me. He didn’t say so, but every time I talked about you, his eyes went like this!”
Carol pulled down the outside corners of her eyes to make them look droopy.

“His stomach will probably hurt a lot because he’s so jealous!”

As expected, none of the characters of the novel were in good shape right now—not Carol nor the crown prince nor the female lead, whom we will meet in the future. All of them had their own troubles. The three of them were my favorite characters.

“Sharon, Sharon, I have a request…”

I was grateful that she phrased it as a request. Carol had grown a lot from the girl who gave orders so imperiously.

“Tell me,” I said. I’d at least listen to her.

Carol hesitated before she spoke. “Hehehe. From now on, come with me to the palace.”

“Why would I?” I said. “I’m busy. I have to take naps… And I get tired if I move too much.”

“No!”

Why are you shouting?

“I want to go with Sharon!”

I sighed. Carol was pouting again.

Why was she like this?

“I don’t want to go,” I said.

“Eeek!” Carol puffed out her cheeks. Then, she saw my unimpressed look and slowly changed her expression.

She was acting again. She was giving me kicked-puppy looks, stabbing her fork aimlessly onto her plate.

“You know… There’s a scary lady at the palace. It’s Julien’s mother… She keeps looking at me with scary eyes. Julien is also really scared of her, too.”

“Ah…”

“Julien said that his mom is the most pitiful and hurt person in the world, so he has to be understanding. But it’s scary to watch. She always gets so angry.”

I didn’t answer. Carol’s shoulders drooped.

She was acting. It was obviously an act, right? Carol wasn’t the sort who would be discouraged by something like that.

“I’m scared… Really scared. She’s scarier than my mom…”

“Fine! I’ll go with you!”

Carol’s face lit up. Why was I so weak-willed?

Ignoring her for a moment, I turned to Madame DeJoue. “Will the duchess mind if I go?”

“No,” she replied. “The duchess has not accompanied Lady Carol to these excursions for quite a while.”

Madame DeJoue’s answer gave me pause.

Honestly, that woman… She was too busy chasing after luxury and pleasure that she wholly neglected Carol. But there may be trouble on Prince Julien’s end, as well.

“What about the empress? Won’t she mind?”

“She most likely will not mind. Rather, she might be pleased at the opportunity to forge more bonds with Duke Gratoni.”

“…?”

I had asked without any expectations, but Madame DeJoue responded with no hesitation. We stared blankly at each other.

How did she know all this?

“Ahem. I happen to know somebody at the palace…”

“…I see.”

I was afraid that Madame DeJoue may be too capable to stay by my side. She skillfully took charge of the Gratoni mansion at my request and investigated the crown prince and the empress as soon as she learned I would meet him without me saying a word.

For some reason, I suddenly recalled how Madame DeJoue told me, repeatedly, that I should not treat the crown prince as a child when I met him.

Carol smiled brightly as she listened in on my conversation with Madame DeJoue. “So, we can go together!”

“We can,” I agreed.

At my words, Carol finished off her plate.

The child was getting cuter and cuter. She was also becoming more crafty, but still.

***

“Madame DeJoue, I think the dining room is too large.”

“Yes?”

Carol had gone to sleep first. Madame DeJoue was doing some needlework, and I had been reading a book. Madame DeJoue had prepared me some warm milk with honey, and we were discussing what decorations to put in the hallway and what sort of picture frame we should get.

But I felt I had to say something about the dining room.

“There’s only four people eating in there, at most, but the room is so big that I can’t help but feel desolate in there.”

“…Are you sure you’re only eight years old?”

“Probably?”

“I’m not sure what caused you to change like this, but I’ll just accept that you’ve matured.” Madame DeJoue’s eyes glistened sharply and looked upon me with suspicion.

Ah, how scary.

“Anyway, you were saying the dining room is too spacious. What would you like to do?”

“Well… The terraces here are all blocked up, right?”

“Yes. Each terrace has a glass door and is blocked.”

“Then, could we have our meals there? Where do the duke and duchess eat?”

I had never seen them in the dining room during my whole stay here. It had gotten to the point that I would feel awkward if they did show up.

“They eat separately in either their bedroom or the office.”

“I see.”

Madame DeJoue knew so much, it was suspicious. Though, she had plenty of reason to be suspicious of me, too.

“Wh-what is it, my lady?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s stop being suspicious of each other from now.”

“…you’re eight years old…”

“Things like that! Let’s stop it.”

“Yes, all right. We’ll keep our own secrets,” said Madame DeJoue.

Madame DeJoue and I made an agreement to no longer doubt each other and to stand against our enemies together. Employees and employers should get along.

Also, how would I have explained things to her? That I was Sharon, but not really? It wouldn’t have made any sense.

***

“Wow. Are we eating here from now on?”

Yes. I was also surprised that this happened today. Madame DeJoue granted my wish as soon as I brought it up. She was as efficient as Santa Claus or a fairy godmother. It seemed there was no reason to doubt her abilities any more.

“Why? Do you not like it?”

“No, I love it!”

Carol had a guilty look on her face as she bounced her legs. “I used to eat alone in the other place. So I didn’t really like it there.”

At her murmured words, my hand, which was applying marmalade onto bread, paused for a moment.

“Well. I’m glad that you like it here,” I answered, before my silence became too strange.

In response, Carol smiled at me and stretched out her hand.

What? What do you want me to do?

I watched as Carol took away my bread.

“Ehehehe. It’s tasty! I’ll make one for you too!”

I wanted to refuse.

“You can just eat that. I’ll make my own…”

But before I finished speaking, Carol stuffed her bread into my mouth. The bread that she’d been playing around with with her hands.

I don’t know why the bread was salty—it was only supposed to be covered in strawberry jam—but I swallowed it.

“It’s tasty because I made it for you!”

If by tasty you mean it’s been seasoned, then, yes. You put a lot of feelings into it.

“Should I make another?”

“No, I’m full.”

I lied to myself and to my still-hungry stomach and ignored Carol, who looked disappointed.

I apologized to my stomach. I promise I would eat more at lunch.