Chapter 11

This maid could be eliminated if she did something wrong, but she was one of Mirina's people, so it's difficult to put any blame. I took a deep breath because I'm in a situation where I need to stay quiet and not catch the emperor's attention. Either way, these things will probably happen often in the future.

I shouldn't leave my palace as much as possible, and since I'm sick once a month, I'll have to figure out what to do for this week. In that case, the other concubines won't need to call me. After walking for a while, the view of the pavilion became closer. The maid proudly took my arm and looked up.

It was where Mirina was standing. As the arm that was dragging my body loosened, my body shivered naturally. I lowered my head and rubbed my arm.

"Sanya meets Your Highness. I'm sorry I came late -"

"Your Highness! I brought Sanya Yeoran!"

I bit my lips firmly when she interrupted me. Wouldn't it be a crime to be that stupid?

Receiving the imperial surname was only possible with permission from the emperor herself, so most concubines were only called by their first names. But just now, the maid just proudly called me 'Sanya Yeoran'. It was very clear that she meant she brought the concubine of the Yeoran family whom she hated so much.

I can't believe you're bothering me so openly. As expected, I started hearing the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Because of Mirina's personality, she probably won't be punished much.

"Ah ah!"

I was surprised at the scream that followed and looked up. What I expected was a soft voice like a spring breeze, not a teary scream. Mirina was grabbing the maid's hair.

"I'm sure I told you… to bring her here safely."

He said this in a soft voice, but unlike last time, it sounded more venomous. I could tell after reading the original that the look on Mirina's face right now is him being extremely angry. It turns out he forgot his dignity and grabbed the maid's hair himself. However, I was confused because there seemed to be more to it.

Her neck began to bend backwards while having her hair held and her face began to turn blue.

"Your, Your Highness, save, save me…"

The corner of Mirina's mouth went up strangely when he saw her trembling. He just stood still and smiled with a porcelain face as if he forgot already that he just tried to kill someone. But I don't understand why he was so angry. I continued to look at the situation.

Mirina, who didn't even notice my gaze, whispered like a snake and said,

"Can you tell me why she was dragged here by your hands like a dog?"

I opened my mouth like a fool when he said that.

Uh. What?

At that moment, a woman who was watching from a distance walked towards us silently. She is one of Mirina's real court ladies as she was calm.

"Your Highness, this is troublesome."

Mirina turned his head. I was terrified.

"I need you to explain what that means."

Despite his gentle and scary words, the court lady answered quietly and bowed her head faithfully.

"This is not a good scene for a child."

That said, Mirina's hand loosened and the maid who was shaking earlier sank to the ground. The court lady proceeded to ask him while handing him a hand towel,

"What would we do?"

Mirina sighed as he wiped his hands.

"…Take her to the garden."

I don't know where the garden he's talking about in advance, but I know it's not the same ones I have been to. Maybe it's a place where gardeners pick human throats instead of flowers. The court lady knew where the place was, but seemed to contemplate at once.

The maid looked up at me while trembling, and I expressed a little regret at the sight of her asking for help. Oh my, you should've been nice.

"I'm sorry. I've been rough."

Mirina looked at me with a friendly smile as if he was never angry. I lowered my head again smoothly as usual.

"That's all right. I'm sorry I was late Your Highness."

"Oh… that's okay in this case. Let's go in."

Ha ha. What an empty word.

I thought that after sitting down under the pavilion. There were refreshments on the table that cooled down while tea was being served. My eyes were wide open once I saw the snacks on the table. That's because I saw something familiar. It's round, and has a pattern on top of it.

Dasik! (These are korean tea cookies and I think they are yummy ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ) It's the second snack I saw after the Yumil-gwa last time that I knew, but I just didn't get to eat it. In fact, I have never tried either of them, but I heard the names many times and learned it in elementary school.

Surprisingly, there must be a lot of oriental sweets. As I kept looking at it, I heard noises above my head. It was the sound of Mirina's laughter. Is he laughing because I was distracted by the sweets? I feel bad now.

"I don't know what children would like, so I prepared it randomly, but I'm glad you seem to like it."

"Thank you for your kindness Your Highness."

I'm a indifferent person, so I don't think it's hard to live without being friendly. This situation feels quite uncomfortable because there were not many things to do alone with someone who could threaten my life.

By the way… have I ever done something like that before? He's a man who smiles at me, but could also turn into a demon. Is there something wrong with his head? I'm getting too serious. You're not going to kill me because I'm suddenly scared, are you?

"…Sanya?"

"Yes, yes."

At Mirina's voice, I slipped back into reality. His eyes were covered, so I can't tell what he's thinking while looking at me. At that moment, fear swept across my shoulders like cold water.

Was he saying something?

Mirina then smiled.

"Thank you for allowing me to call your name."

I did?

"I didn't know you would allow me to call your name right away, did you like it more than I thought?"

I didn't. I looked embarrassed at his remark. Are you sick? I haven't seen the original story in a while and I feel like I'm losing my mind. I was very flustered. I thought he was going to threaten me to not talk about his eyes.

"First of all… I think I need to ask for forgiveness."

Mirina, who was laughing at my face, said with a calm face. Why is he apologizing? For sending the wrong person to get me? It wasn't intentional so it's fine. If he wanted to bother me, he probably would've mixed colorless, odorless poison in my food.

"You were very surprised to see my eyes on that day."

I was trying to reach out to the teacup in front of me, but my hands shook. I'm glad the teacup wasn't in my hand at the time because I would've dropped it.

"…Yes"

"That's understandable. It's scary red."

Mirina was speaking leisurely while sipping his tea. He put his hands under the table and tilted his head, looking at me.

"Does it not fit your taste?"

"Oh no."

I grabbed the teacup and held it close to my mouth. Then I drank the tea, which seemed transparent in a colored glass. I opened my round eyes in surprise. Instead of tasting something bitter, it was rather sweet instead.

Isn't sugar rare in this era? Is it honey?

"Isn't it sweet?"

I heard a funny voice. I nodded unintentionally at his sweet voice, and then was horrified now knowing there were only two people here, and one was me.

"It's hydrangea tea*. Even if you don't add anything, it tastes sweet. What do you think?"

No matter what, the thought of drinking then vomiting blood doesn't sit well with me.

…But it was sweet and delicious. I feel hopeless at that fact. It's like a kid who likes sweets, except I am a child physically, but I'm an adult mentally. I'm not used to the spicy foods yet, so the sweets are very delicious. Since this is the privilege of children and I can't avoid it, it's better to just enjoy it.

After thinking this far, I came to my senses. I was just talking about something scary with Mirina.