The Unemployed Prince Covets My Nephew - Chapter 24
Isn’t that just being miserly?
Khalid wanted to ask but couldn’t interrupt. He seemed to understand the Prince’s words but also couldn’t.
“Do you think I take this marriage lightly?”
“Honestly? Yes. It looks that way, and I’m worried.”
“No. I’m earnest. My heart is burning more fervently than ever.”
Khalid quietly shut his mouth at that point.
He couldn’t understand now, but he believed that his master wasn’t someone who moved without a goal, so he didn’t intrude further.
“Seeing those sparkling eyes, I want to say I did my best too.”
“…….”
“So how can I just stand by?”
Listening silently to the Prince’s uncharacteristically emotional story, Khalid clapped his hands.
“Prince, you’ve finally matured?”
“Khalid, it seems you want to get hit after a long time?”
The sound of ‘Ah! Forgive me! Ah!’ echoed for a long time through the Prince’s office.
* * *
Due to the sudden tea party with the Queen amidst the busy preparations for the upcoming trial, Hailey was extremely nervous.
She had followed her mother as a maid to tea parties when she was young but had never participated herself. Moreover, it was an invitation from the most noble woman in the country. Even a socialite would be nervous in such a position.
Since entering the palace, the clothes Hailey and Theo wore became more luxurious by the day.
The fabric was so soft and glossy that even Hailey, who had little desire for adornment, was impressed every time.
The dresses brought directly by the Queen’s exclusive designer, her hair meticulously styled by three people daily, and the expensive jewels bestowed upon the Princess Consort were all breathtaking.
“Mommy Hailey, you look like a butterfly!”
Theo, wearing a high-end child’s shirt with a round collar and yellow suspenders reminiscent of a bumblebee, looked up at Hailey like a cute little gentleman.
Seeing Hailey’s dress, which faded from ivory to yellow towards the bottom, Theo exclaimed that she looked like a butterfly from the flower garden.
“There’s a bumblebee here.”
Hailey squeezed Theo’s chubby cheeks with both hands, making him squirm.
Finding this too adorable, Hailey kissed Theo’s cheeks several times.
“You only need to greet once!”
Theo scolded Hailey while shaking his head, saying one greeting was enough.
“It wasn’t a greeting. I did it because you’re cute.”
“Oh, Mommy Hailey.”
Theo shrugged his small shoulders as if he couldn’t help it.
“Theo, did you pack the letter?”
“Yes! I packed it! Will Grandma like it?”
“Of course. She’ll love it. Did you write only to the Queen?”
“No! I wrote one for the Princess too.”
At first, it was a tea time for the Queen and Hailey, but when Princess Anais heard the news and expressed her desire to join, a tea party for the three of them and Theo was scheduled.
Hearing the news, Theo was so eager to write a thank-you letter for the invitation to the tea party that he worked hard, scribbling on the luxurious stationery and golden letter paper provided by the royal family yesterday.
Excited about being invited to the ‘tea party’ with Hailey and finally being able to enter the queen’s garden, which he had only watched from the queen’s palace, the child was full of anticipation. His steps towards the queen’s palace were overly bouncy.
“Oh? It’s Axel!”
“What?”
Hailey and Theo were guided to the middle of the queen’s garden, where the tea party was being prepared. Holding Hailey’s hand, Theo pointed somewhere and shouted.
‘Why is that man here?’
Curious, Hailey looked where Theo was pointing and saw Axel sitting with his legs crossed on a white luxury chair. The princess and the queen had not yet appeared.
Theo, happy to see a familiar face, ran to Axel with a smile.
Axel lifted the running Theo up and sat him on his lap.
“Dad.”
“Yes! Daddy Axel!”
Hailey looked at Axel in astonishment as he corrected Theo’s address immediately upon seeing him.
Pleased with Theo’s quick correction, Axel took a candy out of his pocket and handed it to Theo.
Hailey was taken aback by the natural flow between the two men.
“What brings you here?”
Not having heard that Axel would be coming and witnessing him instilling ‘Dad’ as his title to Theo, Hailey asked bluntly.
Axel felt a bit choked up. He wanted to say he had carved out time from his busy schedule, but he didn’t want to seem like someone obsessed enough to chase after them, so he answered nonchalantly.
“I came to help, worried that you might get overwhelmed dealing with two royal women alone.”
Though he knew she wouldn’t run away, Axel just said anything that came to mind.
Full of energy, Axel would lift Theo up and down as if he weighed nothing whenever he saw him.
Theo, finding it fun, would run to Axel from afar whenever he saw him.
‘That will spoil him.’
Hailey lifted Theo off Axel’s lap and sat him in an empty chair.
Both Axel and Theo seemed slightly disappointed, but Hailey pretended not to notice.
“Well, I’m fine. The queen is very kind, and I believe the princess is wise.”
Axel glanced at Hailey at her tart reply. But Hailey only adjusted Theo’s constantly shifting outfit, not giving Axel a glance.
Somehow, Axel always ended up feeling regretful.
Khalid, silently watching from behind, bit his lips to keep from laughing today as well.
“Seeing you two like this, you seem to suit each other quite well.”
The Queen, the host of today’s tea party, walked across the center of the garden with Princess Anais.
Hailey stood up to greet them, and Axel, too, rose and kissed the backs of the queen’s and the princess’s hands like a gentleman.
Seeing this, Theo lined up behind Axel.
“……?”
Anais looked puzzled, and the queen, realizing what he meant, bent slightly and extended her hand. Just like yesterday, Theo stood on tiptoe and barely kissed the tip of her finger.
‘He lined up!’
Everyone smiled warmly, looking down at the adorable sight of Theo.
After greeting the queen, Theo walked with his short legs to the princess and looked up at her, saying,
“My lady, please, please give me a chance to greet you too.”
‘Please’ sounded almost like ‘pwease,’ making it even cuter.
Anais looked at the queen with a perplexed face. The queen, giving her a look as if to ask why she hadn’t extended her hand yet, prompted Anais to bend slightly and extend her hand just as the queen had done.
Theo, performing the same ritual as he did with the queen, smiled brightly.
“You are very beautiful, Princess!”
A little nervous, Theo pronounced ‘Princess’ almost like ‘Pwincezz,’ causing even Anais, who didn’t particularly like children, to laugh in astonishment.
‘This little one is quite something.’
After the greeting, Theo ran to Hailey with his arms outstretched.
Instead of Hailey, Axel lifted Theo up and placed him back in the chair. Though his legs were too short and it wasn’t a children’s table and chair, only his head barely peeked out.
‘Huh?’
Anais looked at Axel, who naturally lifted the child, with great interest.
The brother she knew was a cold-hearted man who would ignore and pass by a young noble child who tripped and fell in front of him out of nervousness, never helping them up.
Anais covered her mouth with a teacup and laughed softly.
“It’s not proper etiquette for uninvited guests to suddenly intrude like this. I only heard about it recently, so I couldn’t inform the queen in time.”
“No, Your Majesty. Rather, I should apologize on his behalf.”
Oh? Anais found Hailey’s response quite interesting.
She had expected someone unaccustomed to social circles to be a country bumpkin, but Hailey was unexpectedly adept.
The queen’s words were half sincere and half a test.
She had only told Hailey that only Anais would be coming, omitting the part about Axel insisting on coming along.
By making it seem like it was ‘my son’s fault,’ she saw Hailey boldly defending ‘her husband’ without any hesitation. Anais had thought the best a bumpkin could do was say, ‘No, it’s fine.’
‘If she were just kind, I would have been disappointed.’
Anais was pleased with Hailey’s unwavering response.