LLTEEFM 09

#009. Kids These Days, Honestly!

“The aroma of this tea is truly delightful. As expected of Dranaus, famous for its tea culture.”

“The dessert Prince Delure brought is excellent as well. Orma really lives up to its reputation for gourmet food.”

As I listened to their conversation, I sipped the tea brewed from Dranaus tea leaves and placed a piece of traditional Orman dessert in my mouth. This was one of the nice things about active diplomacy between nations.

You could cherry-pick the best of each country and enjoy it all in one place.

“Princess Blanche, which macaron is your favorite?”

Without a word, I pointed at the green one. Unless absolutely necessary, I didn’t want to expose my babyish lisp to everyone.

“Have you tried the strawberry one? You might change your mind—”

“What’s wrong with pistachio? I like pistachio best too!”

And then, when there are enough people around, there’s the added benefit that I barely have to participate in the conversation.

I let them launch into a debate about which macaron was the best and disappeared into my own world.

Making everyone in the Emerald Palace obey me means I’m the one leading them.

That would effectively form a faction, and I didn’t want to be that deeply involved with these people. So, instead of following the emperor’s original request, I proved my ability by going much bigger with my plans.

I drew in all the hostages—no, the peace envoys—and built my own social circle.

Well, it wasn’t that hard. Everyone was already dying to meet me.

I just noted people’s hobbies and interests, then matched up those who seemed like they’d get along. I introduced them, and from there, small groups started forming. Those groups then brought in their own personal acquaintances.

That’s how a social scene pops up like magic.

As long as you can read people, it’s easy. And when it comes to reading people, well—that’s where I shine.

So in just one month, I managed to build a new ecosystem inside the imperial palace. A social circle where people gathered based on common interests and hobbies—a very high satisfaction ecosystem, I might add.

Originally, I had planned to be ruthless and only benefit myself. But after things unfolded, everyone ended up happy, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly stunned.

Maybe it’s the remnants of those days when I lived solely thinking about the safety and happiness of the people.

“Princess Blanche? What’s got you so deep in thought?”

As I was lost in my musings, the woman beside me spoke up. Was I too obviously zoning out? Or maybe my facial muscles still weren’t developed enough to hide my expressions well.

Either way, I couldn’t let it be known that I had zero interest in the current social scene. So, to quickly recover, I swallowed my pride.

“Eberything ish sho yummy, but my tummy ish full, sho I’m wond’ring whach to eat next.” (Everything is so delicious, but I’m full, so I’m wondering what to eat next.)

I blinked excessively and lifted the corners of my mouth, giving up entirely on proper pronunciation.

My sacrifice paid off, as gasps of adoration erupted from all directions.

“Adorable,” “So sweet,” “She speaks so clearly!”—every kind of compliment you could possibly throw at a child.

Being in a child’s body meant I couldn’t showcase my full abilities, but I got perks like this in return. If I were even just fifteen, I would’ve been laughed at for saying such things.

“Then shall we share mine?”

“No, share with me!”

“Here, have this. Say ‘ah~’!”

Of course, having macarons cut into bite-sized pieces and pushed at me from all sides just because I said I wanted to try different flavors… maybe that’s a perk too?

Honestly, I was so startled that I nearly blurted out, “What kind of table manners is this?! Everyone take responsibility for their own food!” But I was too shocked to speak, which actually helped the moment pass.

“Oh dear, are you shy? That’s okay, Princess Blanche. It was my fault for bringing such large portions. Next time, I’ll make them bite-sized.”

I was half-hoping someone else would point out how rude this was, but no one did.

So… this isn’t considered bad manners here? Or is it just forgivable because I’m a child?

Is it really okay to spoil a three-year-old like this? Seriously, kids these days!

Still, agonizing over the manners of modern youth wouldn’t make the macarons disappear. And rejecting them would only ruin the mood.

So I shut my eyes and accepted the incoming macarons.

“Th… thank oo…” (Thank you…)

Once again, collective sighs of adoration filled the room.

They probably thought they were being kind, but for me, this became the moment I vowed once more to meet with the emperor as soon as possible.

Luckily, that moment came sooner than expected. The empress sent another invitation. And this time, it wasn’t just for tea—it was to dine with the imperial family.

Not just the empress. The imperial family.

The empress, at least on the surface, pretended to be fond of me, so it made sense. But I had no reason to meet with the rest of the royal family.

Unless…

They were trying to arrange a meeting between me and the Archduke?

If the emperor had something to say, he’d come to me directly. So this could only mean I was meant to meet the Archduke—or the emperor’s younger brother.

That solidified it for me. The emperor and empress are clearly working together.

“What did the message say?”

Tula, who was brushing my hair, asked kindly.

“They wanna show me da greenhouse.”

At least I had a week to prepare this time. That’s some breathing room. Tula stayed quiet for a moment, tying a ribbon, then opened her mouth again.

“Oh, that beautiful place?”

“Yeah.”

It was beautiful. I remembered the flower I had Tula press into a bookmark last time.

Maybe I could get another flower this time. I knew the situation was different from the time I had to publicly display how favored I was… but still. It was beautiful.

“Whatchu wearin’?”

“Just as you requested—everything’s in the works.”

“Can it be ready in fibe days?”

Since we never know what might go wrong, it’s always better to aim for an earlier deadline.

“I’ll go check.”

“Okay.”

After sending Tula off, I sat in thought, nibbling on the corner of the invitation.

That genius-level younger brother of the emperor… the one the emperor was worried might turn out to be a knife hidden in his own pocket—what kind of kid was he?

What came to mind was a quiet boy with his eyes demurely lowered.

Soft-spoken, harmless smile, never outwardly rude, always speaking formally even to younger girls. The kind of child who could stay perfectly calm in the middle of hostile glares.

But—once made an enemy, would be a real pain to deal with.

Somehow, I had the feeling Melchizedek Georges Pendleton, the Archduke… the boy I had to win over… was exactly that kind of kid.

And my instincts rarely failed me.

So I started picking a few tactics for dealing with a hyper-cautious five-year-old who rarely revealed any cracks.

“No biggie.”

I didn’t know how to handle children, but I did know how to handle people who thought they were clever and mature.

So I looked ahead with confidence.

The timing was too perfect, so Blanche’s misunderstanding was inevitable—but in truth, the empress hadn’t been waiting to see her results.

It was just that the emperor and empress’s schedules were always booked a month in advance. They’d tried to fit her in as soon as possible, and that just happened to be a month later.

“Oh, by the way, we’ll be having lunch with Princess Blanche next week.”

Berken, who got this news on the same day as Blanche, widened his eyes.

“Huh?”

“Princess Blanche. From the Kingdom of Lamore. You said you’d have lunch with her, remember? Or did you forget?”

Of course he hadn’t. Berken had a special compartment in his brain for remembering important things.

But he hoped Liana didn’t know. He didn’t want her to find out that he was trying to connect Blanche and Melchi.

That’s why he’d played dumb, and Liana had fallen for it. Not because she was naive—but because she trusted Berken too much.

“Was it just talk? Should we cancel?”

He hadn’t meant to break the promise—he just didn’t want to get caught. So Berken shook his head quickly.

“No, no, I meant it. I just forgot because it’s been a while. Next week, right? Got it. I’ll tell Melchi.”

“Oh, right. I guess Melchi forgot too.”

“Probably.”

Though based on Melchi’s reaction back then, it was hard to believe he’d forget. Still, Berken went along with it. Whether Melchi remembered Blanche or not didn’t really change anything now