"You look good." It wasn't long, but it was a welcome greeting from Maribel.

Vera took Phoebe's hands silently and gave her a pat.

"It's very nice to see you again, Miss Phoebe." Manny stood at Phoebe's feet to greet her.

"Manny, you are a fluent speaker! I've heard the rumor and knew about it, but it's amazing. And you've grown so much!"

Phoebe stroked its head in surprise, and Manny cleared its throat.

"You should call it Sir Manny." Vera held back her laughter and corrected its t.i.tle.

"Oh! You've been given a t.i.tle. Oh, I'm sorry. Sir Manny, I made a mistake."

"It's all right. Ahem!"

Manny accepted her apology, putting on airs, and then approached Julietta's feet and fell on its stomach. Julietta took Philip from Maribel and presented him to Phoebe.

"You're a Prince." Phoebe gazed affectionately at Philip, who was grinning. "h.e.l.lo, Your Highness. I really wanted to see you."

Phoebe's hand carefully stroked Philip's cheek and his little finger clasped hers. Julietta laughed at Philip, who burst out laughing, shaking the prize in his hand with joy.

"I think he likes Phoebe. But it's very hard to take Philip because of Maribel. She likes having an implicit fight with Vera every time." Julietta poked her mouth at Maribel, who was taking Philip back.

"I'm afraid it's going to be hard for you. Even if you were in a stable period, it was too much for you."

At Maribel's words, Phoebe looked anxiously at Julietta's belly, which had lightly bulged. "Did you overdo it because of me?"

Julietta shook her head at Phoebe's concern. "No, I had other things to do. It's hard to move when I get heavier, so I wanted to bring you back before that."

"Will this fight subside if the second baby is born? When His Majesty takes care of the Prince, it is very hard to see the face of the Prince." Maribel smiled and looked at Philip, who was ma.s.saging her face with his curled hands.

Looking at Maribel, so different from what she used to be, Phoebe found her unfamiliar. "You've changed a lot."

Maribel replied to Phoebe's surprise, "I didn't know that I would do this. But he is so lovely that it is natural."

Philip smiled breathlessly and found herself liking Maribel as she nibbled on the Prince's little hands.

As she looked at Maribel watching the baby happily, Phoebe felt relieved and happy to enter this group. It was a safe and warmer nest than anywhere else.

Seeing Phoebe looking relieved and happy, Julietta thought it was really all over.

Then, the thought that she would like to see Killian occupied her. For a while that she felt a sense of freedom when she left the Imperial Castle. Now, she wanted to go back home. She wanted to fall asleep in Killian's arms as soon as possible.

She leaned her head gently on the sofa, looking at the people around her. Stroking her slightly swollen belly, she smiled contentedly.

----------------------

A New Business

Julietta and Killian's second child, Luar, have already turned one year old. Luar was playing with Manny on the floor.

"Second Prince, look here. Do you like this handsome Oswald, or do you like the plain Marquis Rhodius here?"

Oswald stopped by the Imperial Castle for the first time in a while due to the opening of a branch of Raefany's, and raised his energy for a fight of popularity. The first Prince Philip had already chosen the familiar Rhodius, who he had often seen, so Oswald decided to target the young Luar.

"I'm going to stop by the Imperial Castle when I commute every day. The opening preparation of Raefany's branch in Bertino is now nearly done."

Oswald, full of an unyielding spirit, drew Luar's attention with applause. "Come on, Prince Luar. Come to this Oswald. What's this? It's amazing!"

Thanks to living in Bertino for a while, he was able to ask for a toy from Magician Coupe, which sounded when he pressed it. He dazzled Luar, waving a little ball of gla.s.s.

"Give it to me."

When Luar began crawling to him on hands and knees with silver eyes glistening, Killian returned and took the toy from Oswald's hand.

"No, Your Majesty!"

"You wanted this. Oh, my G.o.d. Is that so good?"

Tee-hee! When Killian pressed the ball and made it chime, Luar drooled and screamed in delight.

"I, I was going to give it to him, but..." Killian neatly ignored Oswald's protests with an unfair eye.

Oswald grumbled, "Are you still angry? How did I know you were thinking about that?"

The origin of the incident was that Julietta asked about the new mineral found in Bertino. In fact, Killian wanted to make the mineral into accessories and give it to Julietta with grat.i.tude for her hard work after Luar was born. But Oswald talked too much, so Julietta found out about the existence of the mineral and his plan to give it to her as a secret gift failed.

"Did Her Majesty the Empress go to the cafe?"

These days, Julietta was working under disguise to test a business of selling tea or drinks that people could carry around at the first cafe right next to Chartreu, wearing a wig and gla.s.ses that Killian had brought from Coupe.

Oswald's question raised Killian's eyebrows.

Next to him, Rhodius whispered about the reason why Killian felt bad. "He took one, but lost the other. Her Majesty the Empress also planned to sell wigs in Chartreu, but he didn't object to her working at the cafe because he was afraid she would come out as a model herself."