Chapter 7

“You. Are you pitying me?”

Caesar suddenly asked.

Pity? It was an unexpected question, so I couldn’t prepare an answer.

Well, yes, he was pitiable. There was no way a young child who hadn’t received their parents’ love wasn’t pitiable.

But I couldn’t outright say he was pitiable. If I did, he looked at me with an expression that seemed like he might kill me.

“Well…”

‘What should I say? I shouldn’t have struck up a conversation for no reason.’

Caesar stared at me intently. His determination to hear an answer was evident. My mind raced through all sorts of thoughts.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

A voice calling for Caesar could be heard in the distance.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince! Where on earth have you gone?”

It seemed like Caesar snuck away secretly, avoiding the eyes of the handmaids. In this situation, showing that I was with him wouldn’t be a good idea.

‘If I make a mistake here, I might be falsely accused of abducting Caesar…’

The thought of facing such dire consequences didn’t sit well with me.

“It appears Your Highness has been sought after.”

“Umph.”

I intended to send Caesar back to the handmaid, but he didn’t move.

“Your Highness, I should be on my way.”

I quickly got up from my seat.

“Wait, you haven’t answered my question.”

“About that…”

You asked if I was pitying you.

“Next time. I’ll answer next time.”

“What?”

“Next time, Your Highness. I promise.”

Leaving behind a perplexed Caesar, I hurriedly left the garden.

Not long after, there was commotion in the garden as it seemed the handmaid had found Caesar.

***

“I’m home.”

“You’re a bit late.”

When I arrived home, my worried mother greeted me.

“Yeah, something came up unexpectedly.”

“Something came up?”

“It’s nothing important. Did you all eat already?”

I forced a vague smile and changed the subject. I couldn’t say, ‘I finally had a conversation with the male lead of the original story,’ after all.

“We were waiting for you to have dinner together. Go get ready quickly.”

“Yes!”

After washing up and changing my clothes with the help of a maid, I headed to the dining room.

In the dining room with a grand chandelier, there was, as always, a large dining table. Beautiful vases and candlesticks adorned it.

‘I still can’t get used to this.’

This extravagant place wasn’t a restaurant but our own dining hall. At first, I couldn’t even eat properly and often felt out of place.

“Have a seat.”

I pulled out a chair next to my mother and sat down. Servants quickly set the table.

Only then did Baron Chester, in other words my dad, enter the dining room.

With silver hair like me, he looked notably young despite being a father of one child.

In this world, most people married early, so my parents were actually still young.

“Dad!”

“My daughter!”

My dad, who laughed heartily despite his stern appearance, gave me a brief hug.

“Was work not too difficult?”

“No, it was fine.”

“We can talk while we eat.”

At my mother’s gesture, the servants stepped back. I reached for the delicious-looking dishes.

“This father of yours is so worried. What can this young one possibly do…”

I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at my dad’s doting.

The reason I could adapt smoothly to this world was precisely because of things like this.

First, my loving family were like characters from a fairy tale—an affectionate mother and a doting father who cherished me so dearly.

Second, although we weren’t from a tremendously prestigious family in this world, we still had enough wealth to live without working.

Third, this world’s culture was different yet strangely similar to what I was used to. Most importantly, the culinary culture here suited me perfectly.

And these three things were something I didn’t originally enjoy in my original world before I transmigrated.

Back when I lost my parents and had to work tirelessly to make a living, food was nothing more and nothing less than something to fill my stomach.

“If you ever have a hard time, don’t hesitate to tell us.”

“There’s nothing difficult at all.”

I smiled and nodded in response to my mother’s affectionate words.

‘Yeah, if possible, I’d like to live in this world for the rest of my life.’

I didn’t want to die. If this world was truly a reward for my past life, where I had nothing, then all the more reason.

To achieve that, I had to find out what kind of world this was, no matter what.

‘I’ll find out somehow. And I’ll survive, no matter what.’

With determination, I nodded to myself.

***

On the other hand, Caesar, who had returned to the crown prince’s palace after parting ways with Evelyn, harbored emotions completely opposite to Evelyn’s.

‘I’ve had enough of living like this.’

In a lavishly adorned room, filled with shimmering gold, Caesar was scolded by a servant nearly twice his size.

“Where have you been? If you keep doing this, I’ll report it to Her Majesty!”

“…Alright, I’m sorry.”

“You’re not a child anymore! Seriously, how long are you going to be such a nuisance?”

The handmaid mumbled to herself, but it was clear that she wanted him to hear.