'…..What did I just hear him say?'
I could not believe what I was hearing nor did I know how to react.
Instead of wiping the stains off his face, he opted to clean my mouth as I stared at him wide-eyed, my breath taken away. Only after he finished his duty did he wipe off the stain on his face.
"In any case, I'm happy my Mabel is eating well."
As he smiled, his cheeks turned a rosy color as flowers bloomed and the surrounding air sparkled. Was this the handsome man effect…?
"….."
He rubbed my cheeks softly before lifting me and patting my back. I was caught in his grasp and I stared at the nanny with pleading eyes.
'…..Please, someone, save me…!'
But the nanny looked at us lovingly, her head tilted slightly and palms pressed against her cheek. She loved the view the father and daughter laid.
Oscar stood on the sidelines and became the backup in this drama. A look of jealousy crossed his face as he looked at the emperor. He clenched his fist and moved a step forward.
"Your Majesty."
"What?"
"Could I hold her… no, nevermind… you won't let me…"
"It's good that you know."
The king smiled slightly, coddling me over and over again while Oscar stared with jealous eyes.
I felt like my whole world was spinning. Can… can everyone stop paying attention to me? I'm sure God does not exist. If he did, he'd not ignore my poor current situation.
I pleaded and begged with large eyes that they stop, but each attempt to do so was futile. Their infatuation towards me grew worse.
There was not a day that the king and Oscar did not visit me. Each morning and night, the king would visit me without fail while Oscar snuck in at random times. It seemed that the king did not allow Oscar to see me without permission, so I'm sure he'd sneak in whenever the opportunity presented itself as much as possible.
"Ugh."
Their visits grew tiresome at times. I wish they would stop. I prayed and prayed knowing it won't be answered.
Above me, the baby mobile spun around slowly. I was disinterested at first, finding it unexciting at first, but I grew to like it over time. I think the servants said that it was made out of materials from the palace treasures… yes… treasures…
The king exclaimed that beautiful things would help me grow to be healthy. And so he threw the treasures away and had it broken down. And broken down it was. The baby mobile shone and sparkled brightly as if it was made out of precious metal.
"Ubehbeh" (He's absolutely crazy…)
I glanced to the side. The nanny was there concentrating on her knits while her two other attendants were busy having small fights over nothing.
"Lalima, did you hear? Did you hear about the egg that Divine Beast of the North Forest laid? They said it hatched. On top of that, it was on the day Her Highness was born!"
"What are you saying? Wasn't this news made false? You're just talking nonsense again."
"If you don't believe me, go out there and see for yourself. The place was chaotic! The king had even sent knights there and all! And what hatched was a cat. Its fur was golden-colored!"
"How would a cat have golden fur? In any case, you're too gullible. You know how harsh this world is, right? How can you survive at this rate?"
"…..It's true…"
While Lalima and Xavier conversed, I licked my lips.
'A divine beast's eggs huh… sounds delicious. I want boiled eggs.'