Chapter 23

The next day, I found Xavier as soon as I finished breakfast.

Jabie!

Yes, Your Majesty.

lets gwo owtthide. (Lets go outside.)

Outside? Do you want to go to the garden?

Nwot dat owtthide, de obal obbice. (Not that outside, the Oval Office.)

Xavier, who was confused with my Obal Obbice, nodded as soon as he understood me.

Aha. Are you trying to see your aide? Ill call him for you.

I shook my head firmly.

Im gwonna gwo. (Im gonna go.)

S-shall we?

Since I would never be allowed to wander around the Imperial Palace by myself, it was better to be carried around.

I arrived at the Oval Office last night, holding Xaviers hand with a bag I had secretly packed.

It was the Emperors office, but I had never been here before.

Its more like Gustavs office rather than mine.

With that in mind, I knocked before going in. Its polite to knock when you enter someones room.

Who is it?

Me!

Click!

Beyond the door that was wide open, I saw Gustavs startled face.

I gave him a smile.

W-why are you no, this

is

the Emperors Oval Office.?

Ids Gustabs. (Its Gustavs.)

I looked back at Xavier over the bewildered Gustav.

Jabie, get me a dwoll. (Xavier, get me a doll.)

Yes? What doll?

Bubb, no, bunny doll. (Pupp, no, bunny doll.)

For a moment, I remembered I didnt have a puppy doll, so I quickly corrected myself.

Xavier, who was pacing his head, bowed to Gustav and disappeared to get the doll.

Ive gotten rid of one for now.

I had to deal with the other one now.

I looked up. Gustav adjusted his eye level to mine.

Shall I ask the maids to bring ice cream?

Ithe cweam! ah, no.

I shook my head with my eyes tightly closed. I almost fell for the ice cream.

The nanny didnt give me a lot of snacks, so it wasnt an easy opportunity, but I had to give it up with tears in my eyes.

I sighed deeply, passed Gustav and slipped into the Oval Office.

The Oval Office was a complete mess.

There was a hoard of books on the floor, and the desk was reminiscent of a grave of documents.

Y-Your Majesty!

Just in case I touch something, Gustav rushed in.

Anyway, I went in deeper and deeper, pretending to be looking around the office.

Ids diwrty. (Its dirty.)

Um, this its because Im so busy with work. Im so busy that I dont have time to clean up. Its not that Im lazy.

Ah knwow. Gustav woks a wot. (I know. Gustav works a lot.)

Answering absent-mindedly, I rolled my head furiously.

How can I get Gustav out of here?

I circled around the office and saw his glances. Gustavs eyes never left me.

Sigh, you dont know my willingness to help.

I didnt think it would be easy.

Heuuuum~!

I looked around for no reason and sat down in Gustavs chair. Fortunately, he didnt seem to have felt anything suspicious about me yet.

But will it happen next time too?

I looked at the document Gustav had been handling.

Extremely confidential. And the documents from the Treasury Department that was quite far from here.

Its this.

I picked up the ink bottle with a smile as if I knew nothing.

?

Gustavs face soon turned white.

Y-your Majesty!

Spill

I poured the ink on the document without mercy.

A bluish-faced Gustav walked toward me.

Then he took out his handkerchief and began to wipe the ink.

Youre Majesty

Bwack watar. Ith dak! (Black water. Its dark!)

Yes, thats called ink

Ing.

As I only smiled with black ink on my palm, Gustav only gave a deep sigh and said nothing.

Do wu altho have wed watar? (Do you also have red water?)

Yes, we do.

Wow!

Its hard to pretend to be a real baby.

Gustav tried to resuscitate the documents several times and soon dropped his head.

Haaaaa Your Majesty. Stay right here. Ill bring a wet towel. Okay?

Oong.

Ill be right back.

Gustav left the office with ink-stained papers in his hands. Perhaps you should stop by the Treasury Department before you bring a wet towel.

Gustav, sorry.

I gave an unheard apology.

The reward for this enormous accident depended on what I do in the future. I took actions quickly.

There was not enough time because I had to finish everything before Xavier or Gustav came back.

First, I took out a piece of paper that I had written in advance from my bag.

I was still not good with my hands, so Id taken the lives of many papers by pretending to be an adult.

Be careful. No one knows I can read and write.

At the regular meetings held at fixed times everyday, five days a week, it was four months ago when unreadable documents were placed in front of me like decorations.

That was enough time to learn to read.

If theyre saying I was a genius with talking just this much, itll be chaos if I write.

Its quite possible that there were typos or sentences that didnt fit the context, but in my view, it was perfect.

Gwood. (Good.)

I went to the left of the Emperors desk and took out the seal.

Thud!

After sealing it, I sandwiched the documents I had written between the completed documents.

It was really a close call.

Hee.

With the pride in myself, laughter came out.

When the seal was returned to its original position, it was a perfect crime.

It was when I finished all the work and walked out of the door that was slightly open.

Mabel.

Huk.

The familiar voice that came from above my head made me freeze.

***

Esteban looked down at the hardened Mabel.

She looked scared as if she had done something wrong.

Mabel.

O-Oong?

What brings you to the office?

Mabel, who was wiggling her fingers, stepped back.

Although he was worried, Esteban did not come close because he was afraid that Mabel, who was already far away from him, might hate him more.

Iths notwing (Its nothing)

Esteban frowned at the sight of Mabels scattering gaze.

its too cute.

From her standing with that little body to her fiddling while she answered were extremely lovely.

He tried hard to suppress the urge to kiss Mabels chubby cheeks that had not yet lost its baby fat.

Wait.

Esteban didnt realize something was wrong until now because Mabel was so cute.

Mabels not the kind of kid whos so self-conscious.

Mabel was a determined and straightforward baby.

Usually she would have shouted hwate and then leave.

As Esteban stared at Mabel, the child mumbled her tiny lips.

Gustab

Gustav?

He was wondering about the name of the aide that suddenly popped out-

Ah came two thee him. (I came to see him.)

!!

At Mabels bombshell announcement, Esteban was shocked.

Yeah.

Actually, it always bothered him.

Mabel suddenly started to hug Gustav naturally, not him.

Just in case, there might have been other businesses.

Esteban asked in a tense voice.

Why Gustav?

Gustav? Wike. (Gustav? Like.)

Demotion. Its a demotion.

At Mabels words, Gustavs fate fell into the abyss in an instant.

Mabel, who wasnt even dreaming that Estebans mood was also falling to hell, sighed secretly at the fact that she had escaped from his suspicious eyes.

Phew, I didnt get caught.

At that time, Xavier, who went on an errand that Mabel ordered, came back.

I greet the Emperor.

Where have you been, leaving your lord alone?

The sharp voice was tense.

If you say the wrong thing here, you will die.

Even if he was the nannys, Count Lupe Allielis, nephew, there was no exception.

Xavier stuttered with his head down.

T-that-.

D-dwoll! (D-doll!)

The resonant voice of Mabel interrupted and cut off Xaviers words.

At this rate, someones going to get caught.

(As in someone will be in trouble because of the atmosphere.)

I felt sorry for the shaking Xavier, so I couldnt just sit still.

Mabel laughed and shouted again.

Dwoll! Bubb, no, bunny dwoll! (Doll! Pupp, no bunny doll!)

I almost made a mistake in the dolls again. The Mabel that smiled more brightly on purpose was handed the doll by Xavier and held it tightly in her hands.

Im doomed. I dont have a hobby with dolls.

Hehe.

Dwoll gwood. Tank yu, Jabie. (Doll good. Thank you, Xavier!)

Of course, I just did what I had to do. Haha.

As if she was saying We are this close~, Mabel looked up at Esteban, smiling.

Esteban, unable to get angry with her smiling face, turned a blind eye to Xavier.

Still, he looked upset. Mabel stared at Esteban and held out the doll she was holding.

Ahll gib it two you. (Ill give it to you.)

to me?

Oong.

Esteban received Mabels doll with a bewildered face. He couldnt tell if this was a dream or reality.

It was the first time in months that Mabel had given something to him first.

Mabelgave me a doll. Furthermore, its a doll she values.

She didnt value it.

Mabel handed the doll and waved in a relaxed mood.

Dwen, gwoodbwye. (Then, goodbye.)

My gait was full of energy.

I lost one doll.

As such, the father and daughters different dreams on the same bed only deepened. (T/N: this means they had different views on the same situation.)

Ecstatic with Mabels gift, Esteban forgot his plan to demote his aide.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Gustav was able to escape a demotion.

***

A few days later in the Emperors office.

Gustav, who was reviewing the backlog of documents, found an agenda that had already been approved and put into practice.

-Southern Logul Mine Purchase

Gustav was thrown into confusion.

It was a worthless mine famous for its low-quality iron.

It was an abandoned mine because it didnt have any workers, but it was purchased under the name of the Imperial family.

Who in the world?

First, I didnt do it.

It wasnt just one that was bought. It swept up all the mines in the area.

Gustav was not a man so incapable as to make such a stupid mistake. It was safe to say that someone must have intervened in the middle.

There was a small sentence in the corner of the document that caught his eye.

-High possibility of spirit stones.

Spirit stones?!

Wasnt that the damn magical power source that had recently been rotting peoples heads? Gustav stared at the papers.

Ive never seen this handwriting before

Somehow, the handwriting was crooked. Gustav suspected that the owner of the writing was left-handed.

It doesnt affect the Imperial budget anyway.

It was too small to be a prank, so he couldve just let it go.

Rather, he continued to pay attention to the writing in the corner.

Although it was highly likely to be false information, spirit stones were indeed a seductive bait.

These words often entangle you into a trap. His life experiences told him that, but

Lets go for it!

Gustavs instinct shouted. Lets make a gamble!

.

.

.

A week after the start of the mining, a huge amount of spirit stones was mined in the abandoned mine, which used to contain only low-quality materials.

It was the emergence of a mine that had surpassed the expected reserves than of Duke Javiers mine, which was said to have the continents largest spirit stone mine.

***

Mistew Mole.

I whispered in a small voice whether Lissandro could hear or not.

Then a small muddy head crept up.

[Snort. Sparkly stone. Taken. Humans.]

Dats wight. We nweeded dwat. Tank yu, Mither Mole. (Thats right. We needed that. Thank you, Mistew Mole.

[Keep it. Promise.]

Ah knwow. (I know.)

I nodded gladly. The mole then thumped from side to side with joy and soon disappeared into the ground.

Sigh.

I lost as much as I gained.

In return for the information from the mole, I was to let him roam freely in the fourth garden of the Imperial Palace.

The fourth garden had already been ordered off limits to all, including the gardener.

All the flowers and trees will be ruined, but

This is a bargain.

I grinned.

I was excited for the regular meeting that would be held in three days.