Margrit’s face held a peculiar expression. She seemed both troubled and angry.

‘Hmm. Perhaps the child was told not to come out but did anyway.’

Whatever the reason, I didn’t want to waste any more time here. There was no point in arguing with children anyway.

I continued walking with an indifferent expression. Margrit glanced at the pillar before leading the way again.

* * *

The garden had far more children than I expected.

Given that Margrit had been put forward to greet me, I hadn’t anticipated a crowd of unimpressive adults surrounding and pressuring me.

But contrary to my expectation that most attendees would be young ladies and gentlemen around Margrit’s age, the garden party surprisingly included many children closer to my apparent age.

“Princess Esht and her brothers have arrived.”

At Margrit’s sweet voice, everyone stopped what they were doing.

“Greetings to Your Highness.”

“Greetings to the young lords.”

I surveyed them all. Many had rather youthful faces. This sparked my curiosity.

Until now, I had been too busy keeping the Senate nobles in check to pay attention to their children.

Even when I did, it was limited to their heirs.

‘The caliber of these young nobles reflects the future of the Senate.’

Someday, the people here would become the core of noble families.

In as little as ten years, or at most twenty to thirty.

With this thought, I smiled brightly and responded.

I gave a slight nod.

“This is my first gathering with young ladies and gentlemen, so I’m the one honored to be here with you all.”

“Your Highness, please come this way. Refreshments have been prepared for your visit.”

“Yes, I hope everyone can enjoy themselves without worrying about me.”

Though they would certainly worry about me anyway.

After speaking, I followed Margrit’s lead into the garden.

I glanced back to check if Hasis and Ilian were following properly. Ilian, catching my eye, smiled reassuringly.

Of course, I immediately turned away.

The place Margrit led me to was beneath a large, magnificent tree on one side of the garden.

Under the cool shade sat young lords and ladies dressed in elegant gowns and suits. Most were around Margrit’s age or slightly younger.

Some children were also present, holding tightly to their siblings’ hands.

“Your Highness, these are the children of Senate families. They’ve gathered especially today to meet you.”

“More likely I came especially to see them. My lady, that’s not how one should phrase things.”

This wasn’t the childish manner I had deliberately affected before entering the garden.

Having suffered much in my youth because of my speech patterns, pronunciation, and voice, I couldn’t help but respond this way.

Margrit seemed somewhat taken aback by my comment.

Whether intentional or a mistake, she had indeed committed a breach of etiquette.

Just then, a boy from the group suddenly spoke up.

He appeared to be in his late teens. Since I didn’t recognize him, he was likely neither a firstborn son nor an heir.

“As expected of the Princess. You’re so well-versed in etiquette at such a young age.”

“Am I?”

“My father seems to be right. He said Your Highness resembles His Majesty exactly, and that His Majesty was equally brilliant.”

“…”

“Indeed, it’s no wonder my father praised Your Highness so highly.”

In that moment, I felt a chill inside.

Everyone in the empire knew how the current Emperor had been treated and evaluated in his childhood.

If it hadn’t been that way, he wouldn’t have carried out such purges.

Yet this boy dared to spout such nonsense?

It was fortunate I was me; had a real child heard such words, I could only imagine how they would feel. The thought made my anger surge.

A seven-year-old might not understand, but when a noble of his age behaves this way, it’s 100% deliberate.

I glanced at Margrit beside me, then at the nobles surrounding the boy.

So these damned nobles were truly using their own children to challenge me, and with such petty tactics.

Well, it wouldn’t look good for nobles old enough to be the Princess’s grandfather to mock a seven-year-old child to her face.

Besides, it wasn’t a big deal for the Emperor to punish them for their wrongdoings.

But would the Emperor really punish young noble children over something so trivial?

I’m shameless enough to do so, but they could use that as an excuse to spread more negative public opinion.

Though I’ve never cared about public opinion, it was still irritating.

‘Don’t they fear Lerrhagen? Common sense doesn’t apply to him. Or do they think they can win against Lerrhagen with words? But Lerrhagen doesn’t listen to reason.’

Regardless, their behavior was extremely foolish.

And while I can tolerate my own foolishness, I cannot stand it in others.

“Did your father really… By the way, which family are you from?”

The boy who had spoken hesitated at my question. But he smiled again and answered.

“Count Kelton.”

“Ah, yes, Count Kelton’s son. So, did Count Kelton truly say that?”

“Yes, he said he respects His Majesty more than anyone and that we must serve His Majesty wholeheartedly by his side in the future.”

“Ah, that won’t happen. You’re not the heir. My mother has no interest in those who aren’t heirs. She’s too busy to remember unnecessary people.”

“Unnecess—”

“Anyway, I’m surprised the Count would say such things. I’ve heard about Count Kelton’s misdeeds in his youth.”

“…What misdeeds?”

“Well, I can’t remember exactly. I just heard they were rather terrible.”

Is it okay to use a word like ‘misdeeds’? I don’t want to use only simple words just to appear childish.

After pondering briefly, I brushed it off vaguely.

Count Kelton’s son clearly hadn’t expected me to respond this way.

In fact, no one present seemed to have anticipated it.

Looking over the group who had obviously been instructed to make the Princess uncomfortable, I turned to Margrit.

Margrit was still smiling, but her eyes had grown noticeably colder.

“Lady Margrit, why keep me standing here? My legs hurt. My brothers seem tired too.”

“I apologize, Your Highness. This way.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. These things happen. Brother, sit down.”

“…I’m fine.”

“I’m fine too. You sit, little miss.”

I spoke cheerfully to Hasis and Ilian, but both had rather disgruntled expressions.

I wondered if there was something wrong with what I’d just said, but I didn’t particularly care.

Perhaps because of our earlier conversation, the atmosphere under the tree had grown strange.

I had ruined the mood, but since that was my intention all along, I didn’t mind.

‘This should be enough for them to go home and warn others not to mess with the Princess, as she doesn’t seem to be the pushover they expected.’

It was rather ridiculous for me, over twenty years old, to be having verbal spats with teenagers.

My real opponents were their parents, not them.

When they join the Senate and try to match me, I can crush them then. There was no need to nip them in the bud now.

Of course, judging by the caliber of those who picked fights with a child, they likely wouldn’t be matching me anytime soon anyway.

At any rate, there were no more provocations after our earlier exchange.

True to the garden party atmosphere, various gossip circulated, and children eagerly enjoyed the food.

Occasional academic discussions—though limited to what they’d learned at the academy—took place, but even those were boring.

Nevertheless, there was something quite interesting: Margrit’s behavior.

“My goodness, Viscount Marshal’s daughter, where did you order that brooch? It’s truly beautiful.”

“My mother, who has taken a special interest in jewelry crafting, made it herself as a birthday gift. Isn’t it lovely?”

“I’m so envious. I’ve been wanting a brooch of that design.”

“…Oh.”

“I’d like to order the same from a jeweler. Could I borrow it for a while?”

I listened to their conversation with an intrigued expression.

The young lady called Viscount Marshal’s daughter looked troubled.

Who would want to have an identical copy made of a brooch custom-crafted by her mother for her birthday?

Her reluctance was evident, yet she forced a smile and removed the brooch.

“Of course, Lady Adler.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll definitely return it.”

I doubt she will.

In my experience, things taken like this are never returned.

It was absurd that I knew this from experience, but when I was young, I often lost small accessories to my sister Ameli through similar tactics.

Besides, the brooch wasn’t even beautiful enough to warrant copying.

Why go to such lengths for something made by a noble lady as a hobby?

I twisted the corner of my lips.

‘Hah, how boring.’

I hadn’t come here to participate in such trivial conversations.

My purpose was to understand why I had been invited, which I had already figured out from our earlier exchange.

They were even deliberately avoiding mentioning me in their current conversations.

However, if I were to speak to them, they would respond, and once their response ended, they would likely return to chattering among themselves about different topics.