Chapter 17

After Arnulf's confrontation, Rupert's walls towards me had clearly crumbled. He hasn't truly accepted me as his own and still doesn't like me around, but to quote him, he's 'letting me follow him like a puppy' without saying anything.

Without Rupert holding me back, I just followed Tori and him around like it was natural, and soon I was with them every day.

His palace is eerily quiet except at night when he's asleep and early morning before waking up in the morning.

He dislikes people, so they usually leave before his glance goes over the tips of their noses to avoid waking the wrath of the great Rupert. Even though there are a lot of helpers around, only Tori and I help him personally.

I find it a little silly for thinking like that. It makes me want to grab someone and say, 'Do you know how hard it is to follow that little boy?'

Rupert doesn't fully trust me, but that's to be expected. After the fight with Arnulf, it was to be expected that his boundaries would be a little bit broken. When I turned down Arnulf's offer before Rupert's, it showed that I wasn't on the Queen's side.

Arnulf was angry when I refused him, so he often had his maids torment me. Rupert saw this abuse taking place, but he wasn't doing anything about it. I could have also avoided it, but I let him see me like that so he'll take my desperation a little more seriously and have no choice but to trust me a little bit.

Aside from that, I don't know why I care about him.

I chose Rupert because it just seemed natural.

No matter where the Empress came from or what Rupert's current position is in the Imperial Family, he will become the Crown Prince in less than a year and will eventually become the Emperor.

When Arnulf and Rupert fight, there's no need to play that game of tug-of-war because I know how the future will unfold. Arnulf was an old and weak rope painted with gold shimmer to attract people to hold it. But the nobles who sided with that rope and persecuted Rupert will be purged later on because they held onto the wrong one.

I closed my eyes to the soft spring breeze and thought about how many nobles Rupert would have to eliminate. It felt nice when the wind brushed my cheeks, and the spring sun warmed my body. Even though my mind is busy, the afternoon is peacefully quiet.

"Y/n."

I looked up at Tori when she called.

She was putting out her hand to give me the raccoon. I'd never seen an animal with such a clear expression before, and the raccoon's frown told me he didn't want to get close to me. It wasn't a big animal person, to begin with, so I just stared at the animal that was clearly rejecting me by waving its front paws that looked like human hands.

"Yes?"

"Please look after the raccoon for a minute."

"But why me…."

"Because Her Highness is sleeping right now."

I looked over at Rupert.

Under the shade of a big zelkova tree, he is lying down with his arms and legs spread out. He's in such a deep sleep and unmoving. I laughed a little when I saw how carefree he was.

If someone like Arnulf and the Queen hate him so much, how can he lie comfortably like that and not feel threatened?

I'm not sure, but maybe, it's because he trusted us around him.

"No, why is she sleeping again."

"Her Highness can't sleep at all because the days are getting warmer."

"Ah… I see."

Tori said she had to go to the bathroom. I grabbed the struggling raccoon and gave him a tight hug.

The raccoon is a wild animal and is not being tamed by the Imperial Palace, and it is no joke that Rupert is able to raise it while the raccoon is also living in the forest. The raccoon is fussing and whining in my arms, though. He didn't like me that much. I furrowed my brows and poked at the animal that made a hissing sound as it was trying to scratch my shoulder.

"Ya, Guri… don't be so fussy."

Hik Hik.

The animal fought back a lot. It seemed like it didn't like the name I called him.

After that, I added,

"You smell musty, so I called you Guri… not because you're a raccoon." (2)

EEK!

"Ohyuu! You're so loud!"

The raccoon just looked at me like it didn't know what I was saying.

Why doesn't it like me?

I walked over to Rupert because I was afraid the raccoon would hurt me. I didn't expect him to jump up and grab the raccoon, but I did want him to see where his raccoon scratched me.

"Guri. Your master is now asleep. Will you be quiet now?"

Hik Hee!

The stupid raccoon couldn't understand what I was saying, so he kept struggling with his body. I was careful and hugged it, but it was still annoying.

"Aish!"

The raccoon landed on the ground with its body wide open as if it had been running through the air. It ran to the ground and sat down on Rupert's sleeping belly.

"...What."

Rupert got up slowly because the heavy weight on his stomach bothered him. His blonde hair, which had become dry from sleeping on the ground, falls forward. He doesn't care about being pretty when he dresses up as a girl. Even so, his fine, shiny blonde hair hadn't been cut for a long time and covered his small face like a thick curtain.

He was angry, so he ruffled his hair and turned his head toward me.

"Wanna die?"

"Yes?"

"How dare you wake me up?"

Hey! That raccoon woke you up, not me! Why are you getting mad at me? I just licked my lips because of his shamelessness.

"Your Highness! I wouldn't be able to get married because of your raccoon!"

I wasn't even going to bring up the topic of marriage, but I needed him to hear my pleas.

It surprised me now that I said it out loud. I never even thought about marriage in reality.

Rupert glanced at my reddened cheek and smirked.

"Even without those wounds, you won't even get the knot tied."

"Why!… why… but why?"

"Because you look like dumplings."

This stupid jackass!

Rupert, who just woke up, was so miserably beautiful that I couldn't object. I didn't dare say anything, so I just cursed to myself. He was a pretty girl with an attractively fresh face, and he said I looked like a dumpling because my cheeks were full.

"Come here."

I couldn't even complain and just kept it all to myself, but Rupert beckoned me to come with his finger.

I stood in front of him with a submissive, sloppy smile.

"I said don't laugh."

His brows furrowed in irritation. His smile quickly disappeared at his annoyance. I think he felt bad about it, so he looked around, made a 'tsk' sound, and took out his tiger balm.

He doesn't seem to get hurt very often. Even though it might not look like it, he sure does take an awful lot of care of his body. He always had some medicine on him, just in case. He just gave me the ointment without saying anything, and I just took it and opened it without saying anything.

"You're not even saying your thanks now."

Rupert laughed as if my shameless lack of appreciation was funny.

"Aigoo, Her Highness's mercy is immeasurable!"

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No, I'm not! Really! I swear! Thank you, Your Highness!"

"We need to keep the dumpling filling inside."

I put the ointment on my cheek and tried not to hear his horrible voice. It's a product that works well whenever you use it. I was happy with how well the ointment worked, so I gave Rupert half of it back.

"How can I use something you've already used?"

"I'm clean, though…."

Rupert, who likes to roll around in the dirt, would be dirtier than me. Rupert was a little annoyed that he didn't know about my strict hygiene standards. He asked me a direct question and shook his head as if he couldn't believe what I said.

"What does that clean crap even mean… you have it."

It costs a lot, but it's better to receive than to give. I shook my head and grabbed the balm.

I also don't mind sitting on the ground.

I looked at Rupert, who was messing around with the leftover ointment, even though he said that I used it and it's now dirty. He sat up halfway, and the raccoon hugged him tight. The animal purrs and stretches its front legs as if it doesn't want to get away from him at all.

Rupert liked raccoons a lot, even though he wasn't very good at taking care of them. Tori and I have to feed, wash, and build a nest for the raccoon in the forest's sunniest spot, but it only likes Rupert and smiles at him. The raccoon's raised corners on both sides of its mouth look like a human smile, but I found it very strange that an animal can laugh.

The raccoon does the weirdest things when it's with Rupert, and I'm here, watching them. That raccoon has no sense of thankfulness. It's a scary beast, and it always stinks. Rupert put an indifferent hand on the raccoon's head and patted it as if the raccoon was a lamb. The animal let out a small cry as if it were happy.

"Your Highness is very kind to the raccoon."

"Because he's mine."

Rupert gave a confident answer. He liked the raccoon because it was only docile to him. He liked Tori the most out of all the people in the Detached Palace, and the raccoon, a unique animal, came in second.

I had no place in his list.