Bébé impératrice - Chapitre 4

The Imperial family.

It’s the word that I keep hearing lately. What does my adoption have to do with the Imperial family?

C'était trop difficile. All I said was that I could hear the spirits. Avec ce mot, everything suddenly changed.

Should I have told a lie that I couldn’t hear the spirits when the nobleman came? But just as I heard the whisper of the wind spirit, I hear it very clearly. The Spirit’s voice.

‘I am not a welcome presence here.’

There was no tears. I just shut my mouth. The wind spirit was watching my expression. I wanted to smile at the spirit not to worry, mais je ne pouvais pas.

“….What’s a shot?"

< It means marriage. >

“They said that the Duke’s shot was blocked, So he can’t get married?"

< Ce n'est pas vrai, Adèle. >>

Mais….

I didn’t know much so I couldn’t think well.

De toute façon, he was said to be in an extremely high position in the aristocracy society. The Dukr was said to be a really, really high person among such aristocrats. But then I became the Duke’s daughter and he seemed to lose something.

D'abord, an aristocrat needs a successor. Donc bien sur, they should get married. Par conséquent, the Duke must have a Duchess. De cette façon, he will have a son and a daughter.

I wanted to have a mom. So I was disappointed that the Duke had no wife. Mais maintenant que j'y pense, I don’t know if my mom will like me even if I have a mom.

‘Will the future Duchess hate me?'

Suddenly I murmured.

“I want to be loved.”

< Of course everyone will love you. >

It was the strongest word the Spirit had ever said. I can feel some sense of significance.

Mais à cette époque, I was too young to recognize the beauty.

After standing absentmindedly for a long time, I slowly took my hand off the knob. There was a mark on my hand as I held it hard.

The carpet on the floor is black. And it’s beautiful. Toujours, the moonlight was elegant, and the lights were subtle. I felt like I was the only one who was lacking among all these precious things.

I walked cautiously. Then I went up on the bed. The light was so soft that I felt like crying, but I suppressed the sobs.

‘I can’t cry.’

I cry only once a day. A good child does not cry.

j'ai fermé les yeux. Quand j'ai ouvert les yeux, my eyes were cold and I felt like I was going to cry again and again.

***

My cheek was warm. Something is shining. Qu'est-ce que c'est? It’s warm….

‘Sunshine.’

Ensoleillement?

"Es-tu réveillé, Princesse?"

Où est cet endroit? There won’t be any windows in the orphanage bedroom. I slowly lifted my eyelids at the sound of that voice. I didn’t know who it was even after seeing it for a moment, but then I came to my senses in an instant.

It was Sarina.

"Ah, bonjour."

“……the Duke is coming home soon. Let’s change your clothes and give your morning greeting.”

I was afraid of Sarina. But I didn’t know what to do, so I just did what Sarina told me.

‘….the Duke.’

What Sarina said came to me belatedly. The Duke arrives soon.

'Papa?'

I was nervous for a moment because he was a family I had never seen before when I was adopted.

En un rien de temps, I changed into a new dress, different from the one I wore yesterday. Sarina’s touch was softer than yesterday, but last night’s conversation made me wary.

Other maids helped Sarina in the room. I wiped my face, brushed my teeth, and brushed my hair. As soon as I woke up, I was frantic.

The dress is yellow. It was similar to the color of fresh forsythia or chicks.

"Oh, how do I do morning greeting?"

“Just stand in front of me first, Princesse."

Sarina and the other maids were busy guiding me. There was also the head maid Noel, who greeted me yesterday.

I went down the stairs carefully and walked for a long time to reach a big gate.

I was gently pushed forward by someone.

‘They told me to just stand in front.’

Above the pointed iron thorn-like gate, a flag with two swords facing each other was blowing in the wind. There was also a black eagle pattern with pearls next to it.

The morning sun was strong. I inadvertently clasped my hand hard. Many of the people I saw yesterday came out behind me.

‘When the Duke returns home, this is how you greet him.’

I remembered the red carpet I walked last night.

Soon a crowd was seen from a distance. Ten knights and horses appeared through the wide green forest. The man at the front was wearing a helmet resembling a lion. His gaze reached me. The unknown energy stiffened me.

The man stopped talking for a moment. His black horse saw its way in place.

The hush fell over. The smoke came out of a thick layer of dust.

"..."

The man looked at me for a while, then took off his helmet. The most obvious thing was blood-red eyes. And it was a black hair that sucked in and trapped all the sunlight.

Duke Alcibiades. Depuis hier, he was an unmarried man named my father.

"Ah."

As if he had finally noticed my presence, the Duke opened his mouth and breathed briefly.

From the black horse the Duke was riding on, the muscles and tendons were clearly visible. The smell of iron carried by the wind tickled my nose. I knew this smell by faith.

‘The smell of blood.’

The Duke leapt lightly over his horse. The fur wrapped around the broad shoulders was neatly cruel, like a trace of hunting.

The remaining nine knights also jumped along with the Duke. Everyone was tall.

They left their horses behind and began to walk towards me. It was a quick and big step. I drew my toes away unintentionally. My lower abdomen has become rigid.

“You’ve been back, Votre Grâce.

Par derrière, all the servants shouted at once and bowed. Debout seul, I stared blankly ahead. It was because I missed the greetings, but I really didn’t know what to do.

Avant que je le sache, tu as dit sors d'ici, who had come close to the iron gate, was looking down at me. He showed his palm and said,

"Mouchoir."

Michael put out his handkerchief to him right away. The Duke wiped the blood from his cheeks like a nobleman, or with a careless touch. Blood smeared long on the handkerchief.

I couldn’t even blink properly because my body was hardened. His blood scent was even stronger as the distance approached.

But I didn’t feel the same way when I first met him.

“….I have a daughter, que devrais-je faire?"

“You just have to be good to her.”

The knight answered. The Duke spoke to me in eye contact.

“Would you like to fight with me?"

I stiffened my shoulders. Did he just talk to me?

"T'es en colère, Votre Grâce? I’m telling you to be nice to her. What do you mean asking a sword fight to the Princess.”

"Êtes-vous fou? Your tone is disrespectful. And what’s wrong with a sword fight. There was a mountain of knights who wanted a sword fight with me.”

“The Princess is weak.”

“How fragile is she?"

Un.

The Duke contemplated for a moment and then, without notice, knelt with one knee in front of me. J'ai été surpris. It wasn’t just me that was surprised. Everyone paid attention to me as if it was a surprise.

C'était trop proche. Toujours, he’s my Dad.

‘You’re my dad for a while.’

I stared at the Duke without avoiding his eyes. The Duke moved his eyebrows for a while, as if it were quite good. A faint smile hung on his red lips.

The height I stood and the seated height of the Duke were similar, so the eye level was matched.

“…are you sleeping well?"

A gentle tone. It was awkward as if he felt itchy during the day.

“….no.”

"Pourquoi?"

"…."

“It’s her first day, so the Princess seems to have lost some sleep.”

On my order, Michael answered instead.

Alors que la distance se rapprochait, I could see a scratch on the Duke’s cheek. L'odeur du sang, a deep wound somewhere. Blood-soaked handkerchief. Blood droplets that have not been wiped off the black hair.

I didn’t ask what happened.

‘It must be the matter of adults.’

Often when my curiosity was too much, the director would answer me like that. I was just worried about the Duke’s wound.

“…did you get hurt?"

“…oh? Un, C'est vrai."

This is not the first time I have ever met the Duke, but it was the first time I have ever spoken with him.

So I hesitated for a moment, but eventually I put my hands together. I blew my breath on my palm. Et,

“Adele’s breath is medicine. Get rid of the painful wounds.”

J'ai dit, taking the breath I had collected with my hands on the Duke’s cheek.

Plus tard, I could see the Duke’s expression was dazed.

***

When I often fell down while playing, my sister would do this to me on my bleeding knees. The point is to repeat the short phrase like a song.

Si elle fait ça, the pain disappears and it gets better. I remember smiling brightly instead of crying.

The Duke’s expression was a bit strange. It was a strange face with flickering eyebrows.

“….now. I’m getting better.”

"..."

j'ai hoché la tête.

"Une, Merci."

The Duke spoke with some clumsiness. With a glance at a child. I’m a child, but that’s how I looked.

The Duke will tell me in the later days, he said he was embarrassed because I was so pure and shiny at that moment. I thought it was a faded color, but I was so brilliant back then.

He came back from a battle where a lot of people were dying, and he didn’t expect to see something cute and small.

“Are there any more wounds?"

"Oh? I’ve just got better.”

"Vraiment?"

"Oh, vraiment."

“You’re bleeding.”

I pointed to the back of the Duke’s hand and said that as if I was half-possessed.

“It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Finalement, some of the knights couldn’t stand it, and I heard a loud laughter.

pourtant, as if only the knights was allowed to laugh, all the servants looked at me in astonishment. It was not a common sight.

But the Duke kept focusing on me, and my Dad made an unknown face.

“How old were you?"

“8 years old.”

"Quel est ton nom?"

“Adele … what about the Duke?"

« …? … Eisen.”

The Duke replied with a face that he had never seen someone ask his name.

It seemed that the person named my Dad had forgotten my age and name, but I decided not to be sad. I paid attention to the new fact I learned rather than that.

‘Daddy’s name is Eisen.’

Eisen Alcibiades. It’s a cool name that goes well with his handsome face.

Malheureusement, the short conversation ended there because the Duke got up.

Dans un instant, Dad grew so big that he covered the sky.

As if to say that it was a moment that loosened up, he stood up and returned with a cold look. Like a man who regained his reason. The Duke’s face looked firm.

When he reached me again, the Duke’s eyes had turned as cold as a blade.

‘I’ve seen this face before.’

It was similar to the face that the children of the orphanage often used to hunt rabbits. The eyes that persistently observe even if you can’t do anything.

The face you make when you think about whether to kill it or not. À la fin, the rabbit always died.

j'ai retenu mon souffle. The joy that the Duke had given me his name had already gone.

He slowly drew his eyes from me. I secretly breathed hard. The Duke looked at the servants and spoke to himself.

“8 years old … someone might think she’s 5 La princesse est méchante. N'est-ce pas vrai?"

"Oui, Votre Grâce.

The Duke sharpened his eyebrows and raised his head. The servants tried not to make eye contact with the Duke. Vivre. I realized it belatedly.

He kept me out of reach, but it was sprinkled on the servants to live. The knights seemed to be used to it, but the servants were different. All were destroyed.

Voir une telle réaction à chaque fois, I’ll take a rest.”

The servants quickly split from side to side with their heads bowed. The Duke walked in the middle. Chaque pas qu'il a fait, bloodstains remained like traces.

I only saw the back of the Duke, but he didn’t turn around.

T/N: I wanted to change ‘shot‘ with ‘wedding‘ , but what kind of 8 years old didn’t know the word ‘wedding’. English sometimes is frustrating that way.

Oh perhaps you already familiar with it, but I’ll write it here just in case.

She was called “Princess” not like a Princess of royal family, but a Duke’s daughter. It was 공녀 (gongnyeo), means a daughter of Gong. Gong is how they called the Duke.

A princess would be called 공주 (Gongju), daughter of the king. But if it’s Imperial family, usually she would be called 황녀 (Hwangnyeo), daughter of the emperor. The difference is lost in english translation….