The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

＜ Scary Child ＞

* * *

Buradov covered the sunlight with his palm and looked at the child.

I thought that he would be dull because he couldn’t eat, but surprisingly, he has a good complexion.

The child moved his small body tactfully and pushed the weeds aside as he walked.

Suddenly, Buradov’s gaze fell upon the child’s hand.

“huh?”

There is a rolled parchment in the child’s hand.

There is no reason for this child to be holding the parchment, but while I was thinking about what that was, the little boy ran up to me and laughed.

“Hello Mr. Buradov!”

The child’s golden hair glistened in the sunlight. The green eyes that received the light shined transparently.

He lost his gaze for a moment without realizing it.

‘What a pretty child.’

There were beautiful children in the imperial palace, but I had never seen a case with such outstanding beauty.

In the future, when the Kingdom of Cania calms down, it might be okay to put this child’s blood into the royal family.

The fact that the Duke of Watlingu possesses many strong magical powers is a story so famous that it even spreads throughout the empire.

Well, I don’t know if he really belongs to the Duke of Watoring, but if he can acquire magic power, even a lowly status is worth it.

Who knows. I wonder if I can get a truly outstanding magician from this child.

At first, I thought it was a way to calm Nadiagra Mama’s mind, but surprisingly, it might be a more correct way to use it.

Buradov smiled, hiding his feelings.

“Okay, how are you?”

“yes.”

The child moved his entire face and smiled broadly.

When I first saw him, his expression didn’t move well and he had a calm impression, but a lot has changed in a few days. When I was smiling, it looked like a flower was blooming.

Maybe it’s because he’s still young, but rather than a boy, he feels closer to neutral.

The appearance is delicate and beautiful, but the eyes of the child looking at him are like the cool moon.

‘It’s not like a child. It’s just like the eyes of an adult.’

Age and eyes don’t match.

For some reason, my heart was agitated.

Buradov was a little taken aback when he noticed that his heart had contracted involuntarily.

‘Am I crazy? What can I do with such a young child…’

As if not noticing Buradov, the child held out the parchment and smiled brightly.

“I wrote down the necessary items.”

“You knew how to write.”

this is also surprising Even if that’s the case, to think that such a young child can even write letters.

Buradov unfolded the rolled parchment.

It was the imperial language, not the child’s mother tongue. The letters in the first part are a bit crooked and clumsy, but they get smaller and more proficient as they go later. It didn’t seem like there were a few of them.

“···uh!”

what’s this.

Buradov’s mouth fell open as he read the parchment.

Sugar, salt, honey, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, onion, raisins, salted vegetables, wheat flour, buckwheat flour, barley flour, granulated grains (barley, oats, wheat, beans), one or more storable bags of bread, Cheese, five slices of bacon, a cask of cider, figs, corned lamb, pork, salted fish, a cask of fine wine, four chickens, four ducks, four geese, a pair of goats, two rabbits pair, raw linen, hatchet, awl, five buckets, three picks, rope, three saws, three shovels, ten wax candles, thirty candles, a cask of lamp oil, two men’s boots, Five women’s shoes, five children’s shoes, ten women’s linen undergarments, fifteen tunics, fifteen shirts, ten fleece blankets, one fine straw mattress, a padlock, five pillows, twenty linen bed sheets, and towels. Thirty sheets, ten sheets of parchment, fine paper, five bottles of ink, a book of myths and history, treated wool, two easy-to-work leathers…

The parchment was filled with unfamiliar words.

Besides, the list is endless.

Buradov stopped reading the list and looked at the child’s face.

“What is all this?”

“It is a necessary item. I didn’t know what I needed, so I asked the nanny, and she gave me a heads up.”

The child answered without embarrassment.

“…”

It’s a lie.

I might have asked the nanny a bit, but she didn’t know anything about pickaxes or hatchets.

Nadia Gravi’s nanny, of course, comes from an aristocratic family. I heard that after losing her husband at a young age, she became a nanny to the royal family.

A woman who has been raising only princes and princesses in the palace cannot know the tools commoners use. This kid is lying.

‘But can a child this small think for himself and ask for such a tool?’

I knew he was a smart kid.

However, these tools are not something you can claim just by looking at them.

They were things that you might think you need only when you know what you can do with them.

‘Has this kid ever used something like that? But if you look at his behavior and knowledge, he’s definitely a noble.’

No, before that, in the imperial palace, these tools and… what? ducks and goats? Why do you need this?

Buradov checked the list again and asked the child.

“Son, I can understand things like flour and meat, but why do you need anything else?”

The child lowered his eyes sadly.

“At this rate, Bhimama will die. Food comes once a day, but you don’t like it. You can only eat a mouthful of soup…”

The child came up to Buradov and tugged at his sleeve.

“Mr. Buradov! If Bhimama can’t stay like that, her body will be so broken that she can’t even give birth to a child. My nanny said that if you don’t grow up once, you won’t want to have children later.”

“…”

it knows

The imperial palace doctor had said such a thing about Nadia Gravi’s health before.

So pay attention and bring extra food from time to time.

But Nadiagra doesn’t seem to be interested in food at all.

There was a reason for bringing this child. When Prince Enrico was around, she also enjoyed eating quite a bit.

“If you have fresh eggs and meat, Mama can do whatever she wants, right? If you have a goat, you can get milk… and Bimama and Princess will be strong. But at this rate, the princess will die.”

The child looked up at him and burst into tears.

“If I stay by your side and recommend it, you will also eat a lot of Bimama.”

The child glanced at him with a face full of tears. And sadly he says

“······But when Bhimama sees the princess, she loses her mind again.”

Her small lips twisted as if they were being distorted, then spoke in a whisper. The child lowered his head slightly, but his eyes were looking at him as if searching.

“If the princess dies, it won’t hurt.”

The child’s face looking at him was innocent, but the content of his words and his eyes gave me goosebumps.

At first glance, the words before and after are not so strange.

But this child knows exactly what the words mean. The child’s eyes said so.

Buradov involuntarily waved his arm and dropped the child’s hand.

“you···!”

it got creepy It feels like you are facing an unknown monster in front of you.

The child blinked his eyes in a strange way.

“…”

Suddenly, this child became frightened.

The chamberlain wants Nadiagrabi to give birth to more children.

Among the children born to the queen in the imperial palace, there was no prince with as much magical power as Prince Enrico. It is natural to wish for just a few more.

But at the same time, the chamberlain hoped that Nadiagra would not influence the child to be born.

It is undesirable for a concubine from a small country to threaten the status of an empress or crown prince. There was a risk of unreasonably shaking the inside of the empire.

Thinking of when the emperor favored Nadiagra, she herself was a bit reluctant.

So, the head chamberlain wants Nadiabi to be healthy when she gives birth and to be a bit distracted after that.

And that’s what this kid said right now.

Even if you are sane, you will become strange when you see your daughter, so you must not kill the princess.

It was not a child’s idea.

“What are you…”

What.

Buradov hid behind his back and kept his mouth shut.

“···uh.”

The child widened his eyes in embarrassment.

* * *

may have failed

Rudy was taken aback when he saw Buradov backing away.

Looking at the situation before and after, he was right up to guessing the intentions of the chief chamberlain or Buradov.

Buradov’s reaction is unmistakable.

These people intend to take advantage of only Bibi Naida’s child, and then abandon Nadia like a tosagupaeng.

All Rudy wanted to say was that he had to save the princess too, so give him something on the list so he can eat and live.

These people must also know Nadia’s state of going crazy when she sees the princess, so they don’t listen to me if I insinuate it.

In fact, I figured it out right away.

‘But what’s wrong?’

What he said wasn’t too strange, but the color of Buradov’s face was as white as if he had seen a ghost.

‘Wasn’t it too appropriate for a child’s behavior?’

But wasn’t it like that from the first time he came to the imperial palace?

I thought it didn’t matter because this person was fully aware of his unchildlike behavior.

No, looking back, there would be no major problems with today’s actions. It was childlike enough.

“…”

Rudy widened his eyes and giggled.

But… maybe it’s good.

Rudy hesitated for a moment, but he couldn’t help it. In this situation, it’s best to pretend you don’t know anything and just move on.

Rudy held his hands tightly and hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Mr. Buradov! The items on the list are…”

“…Yes, I’ll ask the Chief Chamberlain about that.”

Buradov smiled awkwardly, as if deceiving.

“thank you!”

Rudy smiled broadly like an innocent child.

“…”

Buradov hurriedly unloaded the luggage from the carriage and left as if running away.

Looking blankly at his back, Rudy saw a bag of flour lying on the floor.

I was a little angry.

There are only an old woman with a broken back and a four-year-old child. Who is leaving this luggage here to be moved?

“Damn it!”

That day was hard all day.

It was good until I found the cart bobbing around in the mansion, but I couldn’t bring it to the place where the flour was because of weeds.

But it is impossible to drag the flour all the way there.

In the end, I had no choice but to put the empty bag on the cart and move the flour one by one.

The problem was after that.

It’s flour. Rats won’t steal it, so even if you put it little by little and move it, what will you do with the dried meat?

After putting the cloth on the floor and putting the meat on it, Rudy and the nanny worked together to drag it along.

It was also a problem that the princess left in the mansion crawled around on her own.

When my whole body was tied up, I lay still all day, but now my limbs seem to have regained some strength.

It wasn’t moving very fast, but if I looked away for a moment, it would quietly go from one side to the other.

On the one hand, it’s a pleasure, but on the other hand, it’s difficult and annoying.

Carrying things, carrying babies, even with ten bodies was not enough.

Moving things from outside the mansion to the inside was barely finished by the time the sky turned red in the afternoon.

Rudy fell asleep without even eating, sagging without the strength to lift a finger.

When he woke up, it was dark outside the window.

I lie on my back and blink my eyes slowly when something wiggles beside me.

When he turned his head, the princess was sitting next to him.

Seems like it’s been like that for a while.

Around the princess were two small pieces of cloth that seemed to have been abandoned somewhere, a wooden ball of unknown purpose, a pair of women’s shoes, and two strands of string.

It seems that he has been crawling and picking up things on the floor.

Seeing the dirty string tied around the princess’s mouth, she reached out.

“Ugh!”

The arm that was about to be raised slightly went down to the floor.

My whole body hurts no matter where I go. It was as if someone had beaten it with a hammer while I was sleeping.

The princess looked at him with the string in her mouth and blinked.

“… Ah… Ayer…”

He mumbles something, but I don’t know what he is saying.

But maybe I’m worried about him.

“Foot!”

Rudy smiled involuntarily.

The princess with a frown on her face looks like a doll of the three ugly brothers.

The princess patted Rudy’s cheek with her small hand, as if concerned.

“Princess, it hurts.”

At Rudy’s words, the princess opened her mouth. Seeing that the princess’s mouth was full of string, Rudy reached out again.

“It’s dirty. If you eat that, you will get sick.”

“…Eh…ah…”

When I pulled it lightly, the string came out little by little with saliva. There is surprisingly a lot in that small mouth.

The princess shut her mouth, probably thinking that her string was being taken away.

“… that… uh…”

There was a lot of power in the princess’s eyes.

Rudy managed to get his wobbly body up and sat down, then looked into the princess’s face.

“No. It’s a bad move.”

I don’t seem to understand.

“Now I can sit alone for a long time. It’s great.”

Considering how difficult it was not long ago to even get up on your own, this is a huge step forward.

Did he know that what Rudy said was a compliment?

The princess’ cheeks collapsed and her mouth opened slightly.

When the string was pulled out without missing a moment, the princess reached out and grabbed Rudy’s clothes as if she was angry.

Lips protrude sharply.

be cute

As Rudy stroked her hair, the princess blinked her eyes wide and then slammed her head into his chest with a sudden thump.

“Ugh!”

I thought I had broken my breastbone.

“Princess, if you behave so violently, I will not marry you.”

“… milk… milk… meh…”

Familiar words came out of the princess’ mouth as she tried to answer something.

“Oh, did you say nanny?”

Rudy’s eyes widened.

I thought that she didn’t know the language at all because few people came into contact with the princess, but it seems that’s not the case.

Maybe it was because she didn’t talk to her, and the princess might remember all the words she heard.

“My name is Rudy.”

“…neu…i…”

The nanny doesn’t seem to have gone to bed.

If you see that Bhimama is also quiet, it must be sleeping.

I don’t know how long it’s been, but it’s probably late at night, and nobody’s awake.

There were only two people, the princess and Rudy.

Seeing those round eyes, Rudy impulsively opened his mouth. He lowered his voice and spoke into the princess’s ear.

“Jeong Jin-young…that’s my real name. Call me once, Princess.”

“…Before…Ji…Yeon…”

“…”

Names that no one would call in this world spread in the air.

My eyes grew hot.

Rudy closed his eyes and slowly opened them.

Rudy gave a small smile as he said goodbye to the name no one would ever call him again.

It’s really over now.

Let’s say goodbye to the previous life completely.

If someone called you one last time, that’s it.

Burying the lingering regrets in one place in his chest, Rudy placed his head on the princess’s forehead.

“Thank you, Princess.”

The soft light of the light fixture created a blurry shadow between the two.

＜ Scary Child ＞ End