“… I am delighted to make your acquaintance. I am Tylenia of Andurs.”


  However, the woman wasn’t stupid. She quickly greeted me with a big smile.

  Well, I was only guessing, but she was probably a real princess living in Caitel’s harem. I felt a little strange while looking at her. I thought all the princesses in the harem were like Leila.

  “What a lovely princess.”


  She was smiling outside, but something’s bothering me. I could feel the loathing in her glare. Did this princess really like my dad? I couldn’t believe it, but… I could feel it from the way she glared at me. A veiled hostility. It’s like I was facing my stepmother. Am I feeling an indirect hostility from the way her eyes growled at me? So this was the first obstacle every princess faced. The mean stepmother.

  “She looks just like you, your Majesty. If it’s all right, may I hold her for a moment, Your Majesty?”


  It’s not me who couldn’t recognize that fake sweet smile. Although she did not openly show hostility like another princess, she did not feel right either. I didn’t feel good about this. Oh, daddy, I hope this man wouldn’t dare hand me over to her. I feel like once she held me in her arms, she would drop me and I would die.

  My dad laughed when I shrunk back to his chest.

  “No, that won’t do.”


  I was afraid that he would throw me into her arms, but fortunately, Caitel held me even tighter. Caitel’s cheek touched my forehead.

  “As you can see, my daughter is pretty shy.”


  Dad, that’s not true. I liked people very much. I was a very friendly lady.

  Her golden eyes, which might have felt hurt after hearing his cruel treatment, were wet with tears as she stared at Caitel. However, my father’s eyes, facing that teary eyes of hers, were as quiet and calm as it usually were.

  What’s the relationship between these two, anyway?

  “Th, then, I look forward to seeing you some other time.”


  Like the heroine of an abandoned ruin, she suddenly disappeared. I bent my head. Was she Caitel’s ex-lover or something? His first love, perhaps? Were they childhood lovers who broke up after a while?

  “Who is she?”


  “A woman.”


  Did he think that I didn’t know that?

  He smiled as I stared up at him while his hand was still on my head.

  “You need not mind her”


  He then gave me a little kiss on my forehead.

  “She’s a flower that will wither someday.”