CHAPTER 01
Ariel was a goddess born two hundred years ago from the first rose that bloomed that year.
Brilliant golden hair that shone like the sun, pale green eyes reminiscent of peridot, and a delicate flush adorning her chubby cheeks.
The adorable little goddess, lovely enough to rival the Goddess of Beauty herself, attracted the attention of many gods from the moment she was born.
And it wasn’t merely because of her appearance.
The divine power she was born with surpassed even that of Achelone, the King of the Gods.
The gods instinctively realized it. The long-standing era of Achelone had come to an end that very day. And their new king had been born.
They treated the newborn goddess with the utmost care, but it didn’t last long.
It was discovered that Ariel had a flaw—a fatal flaw.
She couldn’t use divine power.
Just as humans didn’t need to learn how to breathe, the gods were the same. Being able to wield divine power was simply a natural part of being a god.
The gods’ interest in Ariel soon turned into disappointment, and that disappointment eventually became mockery.
“If you can’t use divine power, how are you any different from a human?”
“She’s nothing but a halfwit.”
The gods mocked Ariel whenever they got the chance. Anyone else might have been discouraged by that, but Ariel wasn’t.
“Shut up, you ugly thing! You call yourself the Goddess of Beauty with a face like that? Do the humans who worship you not have eyes?”
“Don’t get so full of yourself just because you can use a little divine power. You’re still nothing more than Achelone’s errand girl!”
Though she had no power to fight back, Ariel fearlessly picked fights with the gods.
Even though she had now become the object of ridicule, it was the last bit of pride left to the little goddess who had once been hailed as the future king.
“Listen to this little runt talking!”
“Ow! Why did you hit me, you ugly thing?!”
Of course, it always ended with Ariel getting a knock on the head.
Regardless, Ariel ignored all the criticism and trained diligently.
Thanks to her efforts, the amount of divine power she could use gradually increased. But her progress was extremely slow, and she still wasn’t particularly impressive, so the gods continued to look down on her.
Today was no different.
Ariel had intended to show off the divine power she had accumulated over the years at the banquet Achelone had hosted. Instead, she returned to her quarters after receiving nothing but ridicule once again.
It hadn’t exactly been a failure.
After all, she had made the thousands of flowers decorating the banquet hall bloom.
A few years ago, she had needed to stay up all night just to make ten flowers bloom, so she had certainly improved.
But to gods who could move the heavens and overturn the earth with a single gesture, such an ability was insignificant.
“Lady Ariel, how did it go?”
“The other gods must have been astonished, right?”
“Of course they were! Lady Ariel has grown so much!”
“Be quiet, you little chirping birds!”
Ariel brushed off the little angels who kept flying around her and chattering before locking herself in her bedroom.
“Why am I like this?”
Self-reproach escaped her lips.
It was miserable being born with stronger divine power than anyone else, only to become the object of ridicule.
And despite being two hundred years old, she still hadn’t awakened and continued to look like a child. She found that pathetic as well.
Ariel desperately tried to hold back the tears that kept forcing their way past her eyelids.
She couldn’t possibly cry over something this trivial when she was supposed to become the next king.
“Tch. I should just sleep.”
This sort of sadness would surely disappear after getting a good night’s sleep.
Pressing her little hands against her eyes, Ariel lay down on the bed. Before long, she drifted off to sleep with soft, sleepy breaths.
Yes, that was definitely what happened.
She fell into a deep sleep in a place where no one could disturb her.
And yet, why?
How?
“Oh my, what is a child doing lying in the middle of the road?”
“Could she be dead? Maybe she froze to death…”
“What? Surely not. It’s spring right now.”
“Even though it’s spring, it’s still cold at night. A child that small wouldn’t have been able to endure it.”
Why was it so noisy?
“Mmm… so noisy…”
Ariel murmured sleepily, twisting her curled-up body from side to side.
“Oh, did you hear that? She just spoke! She isn’t dead!”
“Oh my goodness, what a relief! I suppose she was simply asleep.”
“But why is she sleeping in a place like this?”
Despite her attempt to warn them, the noise didn’t die down at all.
These people, seriously!
There was no way other gods would come to her lonely quarters, so the source of this noise had to be the little angels.
How dare they make a commotion in their master’s bedroom? This was surely an act of disrespect toward her.
Ariel irritably lifted her eyelids, intending to give these insolent little chirpers a proper scolding.
But then—
“…Huh?”
What in the world was going on?
The ones greeting Ariel when she opened her eyes weren’t the little angels.
It was a carriage speeding past, kicking up clouds of dust; a stone-paved road covered with countless small pebbles; and several humans surrounding her.
Could this place possibly be—
…The mortal world?
Yes. There was no mistaking it.
She had once come here with Achelone.
But why am I here?
Why had she ended up in the middle of a street in the mortal world when she had fallen asleep peacefully in her quarters in the divine realm?
Ariel was still blinking in disbelief at the impossible reality when—
“Little girl, are you all right?”
A stout middle-aged woman approached Ariel.
“Are you conscious? How many fingers is this?”
She held up two fingers in front of Ariel’s eyes and waved them.
Ariel unconsciously followed them with her eyes. Her head suddenly spun, and her body tilted sharply to one side.
“Oh my!”
The woman hurriedly grabbed Ariel by the shoulders and shook her.
She shook her so vigorously that Ariel felt sick.
“S-Stop…”
“Hm? What did you say?”
Ariel barely managed to squeeze out a warning, but apparently the woman hadn’t heard her.
As the shaking grew more violent, Ariel’s brows twisted in discomfort.
Stop it, you human!
She wanted to yell at her, but her stomach kept churning and she felt increasingly nauseous, making it impossible to open her mouth.
She was being helplessly shaken without even managing a proper protest when, all of a sudden, the surroundings fell silent.
The shaking that seemed as though it would never stop abruptly ceased as well.
“What is going on?”
A deep, heavy voice rang out.
Ariel, who had been gasping for breath, reflexively turned her head.
And an astonishing sight unfolded before her.
All the humans who had been surrounding her and chattering were bowing their heads.
Why are they suddenly doing that?
Ariel stared at them in bewilderment when two men emerged from the crowd.
One was a tall man with dazzling blond hair and pale green eyes. Beside him stood a man with dark brown hair, positioned close enough to serve as his escort.
Who are those two?
While Ariel tilted her head in confusion, the brown-haired man questioned the people around them.
“Did His Highness not ask what happened?”
The middle-aged woman who had been shaking Ariel hurriedly spoke up.
“We found this child collapsed in the middle of the road, so we were checking on her.”
“That child?”
“Yes, Your Highness. She only just woke up, and seeing her collapse again, I believe she must be in rather poor condition.”
Ariel had collapsed solely because of the woman’s rough handling, but the woman didn’t know that and looked extremely concerned.
“Hmm.”
The blond man quietly examined Ariel from head to toe, his gaze as though he were assessing her.
“Judging by her clothes, she appears to be the daughter of a noble family. Why is she alone in a place like this? Has she gotten lost?”
Noble family? What’s that?
Ariel had spent all her time secluded in her quarters, training. She had never had much opportunity to interact with humans.
Naturally, she didn’t understand the words they used either.
Ariel merely widened her eyes and tilted her head. The man let out a quiet sigh before speaking.
“Ren, take this child to the nearest administrative office. If her family has lost her, they will surely contact the authorities there.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The brown-haired man accepted his order without question.
Judging by the way everyone around them obediently lowered their heads, the man must have held an extremely high position.
Ariel hurriedly began thinking.
She didn’t know how this had happened, but this was the mortal world. She had no idea how to return to the divine realm.
In other words, she would have to stay here for the time being.
And if she was going to stay, she needed somewhere to live—but she didn’t know a single human.
Then…
Wouldn’t it be wise to entrust herself to the richest and most capable person in the mortal world?
Before she could even finish answering her own question, her body moved on its own.
Ariel suddenly grabbed the man’s trouser leg.
“Wait!”
“…?”
The man, who had been about to turn away, looked down at Ariel with a bewildered expression.
The people around them also stared at Ariel in shock.
Naturally.
The man was the empire’s one and only Grand Duke, as well as the younger brother whom the Emperor cherished dearly.
Who would dare grab hold of his trouser leg and cling to him?
It was such a rare sight that the people witnessing it for the first time could only stare with their mouths agape.
What is that little girl thinking?
Could she be trying to beg for money?
Or perhaps she’s simply trying to thank him?
As everyone watched Ariel in tense silence, her tiny lips slowly parted.
And then she uttered words that no one could possibly have expected.
“Take me with you.”
The air around them instantly turned cold.
But only for a moment.
“H-How dare she speak so disrespectfully to His Highness!”
“She really must not be right in the head!”
The people who had been too stunned to speak began whispering again.
“L-Little girl, how dare you be so rude to the Grand Duke? Come over here immediately!”
“Yes, that’s a good girl. Come over here.”
They hurriedly tried to pull Ariel away.
They were worried that the ignorant child might offend the Grand Duke and suffer for it.
But—
“L-Let go of me, humans! How dare you lay your hands on me?!”
The more they tried to pull her away, the more tightly Ariel clung to the Grand Duke.
“Goodness, where does a child get this much strength?”
“Please let go, little girl. Come on?”
They were breaking into a sweat trying to pry Ariel loose, as she had wrapped not only both arms but even her legs around him, when—
“Leave her.”
“But, Your Highness…”
Perhaps worried that the child might get herself into serious trouble, one of the women who had been trying to restrain Ariel stepped forward.
The Grand Duke raised a hand to stop her, then turned toward the brown-haired man and gave an order.
“Ren, put the child in the carriage.”
His voice was gentler than expected, and sighs of relief escaped from several people nearby.
Thank goodness.
The child won’t get into trouble.
But problems that aren’t properly resolved have a way of surfacing again.
A tiny hand caught hold of the Grand Duke’s clothes as he was about to climb into the carriage.
“What are you waiting for? Pick her up already.”
The atmosphere, which had only just softened, turned cold once again.
