“Was I like this, too?”


  When I pointed the belly of Silvia, both Serira and Silvia froze. Huh? Did I say something wrong? What’s with that response?

  “That’s……”


  Serira hesitated to talk. I tilted my head. What’s wrong with both of them? Why did they suddenly become a honeyed mute?

  “Yes, your mother did carry you in her belly, just like this.”


  “Carry?”


  Oh, she’s hesitating about how to explain why I didn’t have a mother. She’s thinking I might ask her why I didn’t have a mother. I already knew what happened to her since I was born, but I guessed to them, it’s not something nice to tell a child. I meant, how could anyone tell a child some thing like that? ‘Yes, your father left your mother to die.’ Then who could guarantee the purity of the said child? Sob Sob. However, I guessed in this case I already lost my purity. Damn it.

  “Princess, look at this.”


  I was still lost in thought, Silvia pointed to a plant in the garden to get my attention. It was a plant that looked just like a Drosera rotundifolia.

  Ugh! Why was she keeping that kind of plant in a greenhouse? Silvia… She’s scarier than I thought! Besides, there was a flytrap next to it.

  “This is ugly!”


  Silvia laughed since I stuck to Serira because of how scared I was of the plant.

  “It is ugly.”


  “I’m scared.”


  No, It was scarier because I knew what the plant was doing. Why do they have them? I looked at Silvia with a strange look, but she didn’t mind.

  “It’s a carnivorous plant. It eats worms. It’s quite effective against pests.”


  So, what did she want to tell me? What does that even mean? Why was she showing that to a 1-year and 18-month-old baby? Was she saying this was good? Maybe she wanted me to raise it? It was fortunate that there was no such thing in the palace garden. Of course, the existence of winter trees did not allow insects to easily access the garden, although it was a special case in many ways.

  “Ew!”


  ‘Ugh. Ugh, don’t pull it out and give it on me!’


  “Eww! stop!”


  A gentle laugh reverberated. It was the laughter of Silvia. Even Serira seemed horrified, Silvia, oh, this scarywoman. I liked her, but I didn’t like that carnivorous plant. They looked horrifying!

  “I’m sure you’ll like this one.”


  ‘I don’t trust her! I don’t want to look!’


  I clasped next to Serira and shook my head. Silvia got up and soon came with a flower. Uh, huh? This looked normal! It’s also pretty!

  “It’s fluffy!”


  A pale blue light caught my eye. The soft petals were thick and round like cotton. It’s amazing. I had never seen a flower like this. There really were so many wonderful things in the world.

  Silvia smiled brightly.

  “This one is called ‘Prina’, the ‘Cloud Flower’.”


  Prina? The name was pretty, too. Cloud flower. The words were just right. The color was so pale that it looked cool, and it was a flower reminiscent of a cloud.

  “A long, long time ago, there was a lazy angel that kept sleeping on clouds, so God decided to punish the angel by taking chunks off the cloud which the angel was sleeping on, and threw them to the earth. This flower is what became of those cloud pieces.”


  “Amazing!”


  I didn’t believe in making up stories with angel or Gods, but this flower was so mystical I actually wanted to believe it. She was simply thrown on the ground, but it turned into a beautiful flower, huh? How lucky.

  “What happened to the angel?”


  When I looked at Silvia with curious eyes, she bent down. It was as if she was telling me a secret story. Serira smiled at the two of us.

  “Apparently, the angel also fell down to the ground and became the king of the Schertogenbosch Empire in the north.”


  “Eh?”


  What? That’s ridiculous. Silvia shruged as I hardened my face. No way. By the way, Scherto… what? Why was the name so complicated and long? Shoot, It must be hard to remember.

  “Princess, it’s time to go back.”


  At Serira’s words, I turned my head with a frown

  “Already?”


  “You should join his Majesty for dinner.”


  Serira noded like it’s obvious, but… I wanted to play a bit more. Time had passed this much already. Time flew. I didn’t want to leave, so I just touched the cloud flower Silvia gave me. She smiled and patted my head.

  “You can visit me again next time, Princess. I’ll show you other prettier flowers next time.”


  “Other flowers?”


  Rose, or something like that? Silvia laughed as I glistened my eyes. Her smile really made people feel comfortable. That’s why Ferdel fell in love with Silvia. He always called her my angel, my sunshine, my sun. I thought I could understand how he felt.

  “This flower is gift for you.”


  Oh, really?

  “Can I have it?”


  “Yes, of course.”


  I liked it so much because it’s a flower I had never seen before in the palace garden. Hehe, it’s like a real cloud. It would come up soon and float in the sky. I touched the petals and sniffed its scent. The scent of the flower was hazy but somehow fresh.

  “Beautiful.”


  I was looking at the flowers, and Silvia took Prina from my hand. Huh? What was she doing? I opened my eyes wide in embarrassment, and Silvia’s hands touched my head.

  “Here, you should wear it like this.”


  Silvia put flowers on my head, though the flower was beautiful everywhere. Wait a minute, this was her saying I was insane? Prina was so pretty, but putting flowers on my hair, it’s kind of…… Of course, I didn’t refuse Silvia’s favor, but even if I’m pretty, I thought having a flower on my hair was a bit too much. What if people thought I was insane!?

  “Look at you! You’re so pretty.”


  However, my reluctant mind was blown away by one of Serira’s words. Y, yeah, it might look like I was insane. However, it’s okay because I was still a baby!

  Well, this should be okay, right? Right, this was okay. It should be.