The scene
“Okay, I’ll forgive this time, even though you refused to tell Leah the story of Amira and left early last night. I don’t know what kept you awake, but that’s okay.”
Edwin pursed his lips and waved his hand as if he were pretending to be indifferent.
“I'll be fine without you.”
Did he take my words yesterday seriously? He seems to be more sensitive than he suggests.
“Then I'll just rest for a bit and then come back.”
I obediently bowed my head before the prince and retreated.
"Katherine! Leah wants more of this!"
“Oh my God, our little princesses eat so deliciously! You will grow up so fast, Princess Emilia!”
“I want more, too.”
“Wow, even Prince Edwin loves food too! This really makes me happy!”
Catherine looked at them with sincere happiness as they ate the food with appetite.
She is undoubtedly more suitable for the role of nanny than I am.
I laughed secretly as I quietly left the dining hall.
I did not know at the time that my absence would be a cause of long regret.
Catherine wallpaper
Catherine Weil, butler of the Third Prince's palace.
She is the eldest of four sons and three daughters of Viscount Vale. Thanks to the large age difference between her and her brothers, she was confident in her ability to take care of the children. She always took care of her younger siblings instead of her busy parents.
But one thing was completely missing.
“Huh…Huh…Her Highness Princess Emilia, don’t you think it would be better to go back to your room now?”
“No, no! Why does the horse talk?”
“Heeeeeing!”
Princess Emilia was much more eccentric than her brothers.
Catherine crawls on her hands and knees in the garden, while the little princess rides on her back. She never thought that she would end up being the “horse” in the princess’s favorite game.
"Come on! Hurry!"
Emilia was shaking Catherine's hair as if it were a bridle.
“Heeeeeing!”
Katherine gasped with teary eyes.
“S-Your Highness, shouldn’t we play another game instead of this one?”
Carrying the princess on her back as she crawled was tiring. How could the nanny put up with this for hours?
“Another game?”
“Yes! Prince Edwin looks bored sitting alone!”
"Hmm? Brother?"
Emilia turned to see her brother, and found him sitting on the grass, fiddling with him with obvious boredom.
She tilted her head in amazement. "Really? So what game do you want us to play?"
“Well, um...”
Catherine took the opportunity to put the princess on the ground and get up. But at that moment Edwin suddenly stood up.
“I'm thirsty.”
"Oh my God, it must be time for a snack. Shall we go to the annex? I'll bake you both a delicious apple pie."
“I want to eat it here. Bring it to us when it’s done.”
“Here? Ah…”
Catherine hesitated a little at the prince's insistence. She didn't want to leave the prince and princess alone, especially with Rachel away.
But Edwin added in a commanding tone:
“Leia and I will wait here, so hurry up and get her.”
“S-Your Highness, perhaps it would be best if you two waited inside...”
“You dare to disobey the prince’s orders?”
“No, of course not! I’ll bring her right away! Wait a minute!”
Finally, under the prince's firm tone, Catherine gave in and ran towards the annex, her hair flying with every step.
Edwin looked at her turned away back with a sly smile.
Unlike that woman who doesn't hesitate to say a word, this butler is extremely loyal...which makes it easy to deceive her.
He turned to his sister happily: “Leia, let’s go outside.”
"Hmm? Can we?"
“Yes. You remember that you wanted to visit Central Park again?”
"Yes! Leia wants it!"
The prince and princess grabbed each other's hands and ran, heading towards the wall behind the annex.
Alarm
“N-Nannyyy—!”
Catherine's shrill scream woke me from my nap. She rushed in without knocking, her face streaked with tears.
Anxiety gripped my chest, and I quickly got up.
“What happened?”
“Your Highness... Your Highness has disappeared!”
"What?!"
The news struck me like a thunderbolt.
In the garden
“Brother, the butterfly does not fly.”
"butterfly?"
Edwin looked where his sister pointed. What she was seeing was not a butterfly, but a flower.
“Is she injured?”
Emilia stared at the flower with worried eyes. Edwin laughed without meaning to.
“Leah, this is not a butterfly, it is a flower.”
"flower?"
“Yes, it's a purple flower, but it looks a bit like a butterfly.”
“Ah, it's a flower! So beautiful!”
Emilia reached out her hand to pick it up. Edwin quickly stopped her.
“Don't pick it, Emilia. It'll hurt.”
"Huh? How would it hurt? Did she tell you that?"
The prince was confused by her innocent, sharp question. He had only heard from Emma before not to pick flowers.
“N-No, not quite.”
“Then Leah will take her home and befriend her.”
“Wait!”
"they?"
Edwin took his little sister's hand and said:
“Emilia, do you like the palace we live in now?”
"Yes! My brother, Achille, and Catherine are here, so I love it!"
“So the flower must also like staying here with her friends. If Leia takes her away, she might not like it.”
“Hmm…really?”
“And flowers wither when they are picked. Wouldn’t it be sad for such a beautiful flower to wither?”
After his continued persuasion, Emilia frowned and then nodded.
"Good."
"I did well." The prince smiled and patted his sister on the head.
The princess yawned and laughed: “Ha-ha.”
“Is Leah sleepy?”
“Yes. When I pat my head, I get sleepy.”
This was her usual nap time.
“Should we take a nap here then?”
"Good."
"Come here."
Edwin took off his jacket and covered his sister, who lay next to him. Then he also stretched, and his eyelids began to grow heavy.
Catherine must have discovered our disappearance by now and is going crazy...
He laughed lightly as he put his hands behind his head.
This place, where Emma used to come when she was alive, was his only refuge. Being the most secluded corner of the Central Park, hardly anyone enters it.
Maybe that's why he felt so comfortable that he fell asleep quickly.
Emilia's disappearance
Emilia was the first to wake up.
She stretched, then looked at her brother sleeping next to her.
As she looked around, something caught her attention.
A white cat with yellow stripes, waving its tail as if calling to her, before disappearing into the bushes.
“Qoooo!”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. She couldn't resist the cat.
“Qatoo! Qatoo—!”
I jumped up and ran after him into the bushes.
It all happened in an instant.
When Edwin turned in his sleep to open his eyes, the space next to him was empty.
“…Emilia?”
He called her name in confusion. No response came.
"Leia? Emilia!"
He sensed a foreboding of evil, so he stood up.
"Emilia! Where are you!"
The little prince's voice was more desperate than ever.
In the heart of the jungle
“Katoo, where are you?”
The princess was crawling on her knees and hands, searching through the grass. The Empire's First Daughter was put on Earth—all for a cat.
“Kato, come and play with Leia.”
She called him in a soft voice, but no answer came.
“I'm sure he passed by...”
She said with a frown as she got up.
And suddenly—
“Meow!”
A sharp, pain-filled meow sounded from somewhere nearby.
“It's the cat!”
Her eyes shone with joy, and she ran towards the sound.
But when she broke through the dense bushes and reached the source... the cat was not the only one waiting for her.
“Quto...”
Her smile gradually faded.
There was a group of well-dressed boys standing around him.
“Hahaha! You idiot, you haven’t hit him yet?”
"Shut up! He's moving too much!"
One of them, with orange hair and scowling eyes, bent down to pick up a stone from the ground.
His eyes were fixed on the cat hanging upside down from a tree branch—the same cat that the princess was chasing.