"Ah... ah! So you're His Highness! No wonder I felt such noble elegance, as if the radiant sun itself were standing before me. I-it is truly
"Ah... ah! So you're His Highness! No wonder I felt such noble elegance, as if the radiant sun itself were standing before me. I-it is truly an honor to meet you, sir. Uh... I hope you won't mind what I said earlier... hehe," Ludy said quickly with a dry smile. To think that the person she had just been cursing was now standing right in front of her. It made her feel indescribably awkward.
"Speak freely, Lady Ludy. I prefer your more casual self from before..." Fyodor said with a gentle smile, not seeming to hold any grudge about what was said earlier in the slightest.
Hearing that, Ludy immediately replied without hesitation. "Well, since you wish for it, I'll just call you Big Brother Fyodor!"
That level of familiarity made both the deer-horned man named Grovasel and Prince Fyodor's expressions change in an instant.
"In that case, let me ask you, big brother. Why did you send me an invitation? If I remember correctly... we've probably never met before, right?"
Fyodor chuckled softly at the girl's casualness. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to him so comfortably.
"You're too humble, little sister Ludy. In the Ursus Empire, there's no one who doesn't know the name of the 'Candy Princess'," Fyodor said, glancing back at the manor from which the party lights shone.
"As someone who helps the Infected without expecting anything in return, in the eyes of the nobles, you are seen as quite the eccentric one."
"Help? Uh... I don't understand what you're talking about, big brother," Ludy said with a confused look. This made Fyodor raise an eyebrow in suspicion.
"What you're doing, does that not count as helping the Infected?"
"Ah... that? Actually, it's not for any charity. It's for me," Ludy said without hiding anything.
"For you? Could you elaborate on that for me..." Fyodor stroked the tip of his chin, interested.
Ludy then told him the story of how she was trying to invent strange food recipes to restore her own sense of taste. Distributing the candies to others was just an experiment for her, wanting to create a recipe that had a positive effect on the body. Because the exquisite food in her imagination wasn't just about making it taste delicious, but it also had to be beneficial to the body.
"So now you understand, right, big brother? I'm not doing this for anyone else, only for myself!"
"..." "..."
Both Grovasel and Fyodor were speechless for a moment before the prince was the first to start laughing.
"...Is something funny? Are you looking down on my dream?" Ludy frowned, displeased to see him laughing after hearing her words.
"Haha! P-please forgive me, little sister Ludy. B-but the story you told me was just... Pfft!" Fyodor, unable to finish, covered his mouth as if he couldn't hold it in any longer. Grovasel, seeing the prince act like that for the first time, didn't know what to do either, except for Ludy, who seemed to get even angrier seeing him continue to laugh at her.
"Hmph! Go ahead and laugh. When I achieve my dream, I definitely won't sell it to you! You rotten prince!" Ludy pointed a finger and cursed at him before preparing to turn and walk away in anger. But Fyodor stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.
"...My sincere apologies for my earlier behavior, little sister Ludy. How about this? To atone for that, if you have any wish, I can help you with anything. Consider it compensation for my previous rudeness," Fyodor said with a small smile, as if he genuinely felt guilty for what he had done.
"Anything?"
When Ludy heard that, she immediately looked interested. Since the word "anything" came from the mouth of the heir to the Ursus throne, it was no different from getting a wish from a genie in a magic lamp.
"Then... can I ask to return to my own manor?"
Hearing that request, Fyodor looked surprised.
"Little Ludy, you mean the Gustav family manor? But if I remember correctly, you are currently the adopted daughter of Andrei Rostov, aren't you?"
"That's true, but I just want to go back to my old manor," Ludy said without elaborating. Even though she was treated terribly by everyone in the Rostov manor, they were still the benefactors who had allowed her family name to survive to this day. Although she wasn't very attached to it, for the ones who gave birth to her, she naturally had some respect for them in her heart, even if it was just a little...
Fyodor, as if he could guess something, nodded slowly and agreed.
"I understand... although that might be a little difficult, it's not like I can't help you."
"Really!" Ludy looked very happy that he was willing to help with that. Being in the Rostov manor placed too many restrictions on her. If she had her own private room or place, she could do things much more conveniently, in terms of inventing food recipes and training her body, not just during the times she had to see her personal doctor.
"We of the Ursus royal family never go back on our word. It's just that my help this time comes with a small condition," Fyodor said with a gentle smile.
"A condition?" Ludy had no idea that that innocent smile would make her believe he genuinely wanted to help her. If she could go back in time, she would have wanted to punch that guy in the face before leaving.
[Because as the party was nearing its end, Prince Fyodor appeared at the event to give the closing remarks himself. But before he concluded, Prince Fyodor announced to the partygoers, who were full of nobles, that he was going to be engaged to Ludy Manfred Gustav. He then had a servant deliver an engagement ring to her himself. This left you, standing stunned in the party after hearing his announcement, gaping and unable to do anything for several minutes, until you were nudged by Natalia, who was looking for you.]
[After the events of that day, your life turned upside down. After returning to Chernobog, your entire day was filled with people wanting to get close to you. They kept calling you a real princess because the news of Prince Fyodor's engagement had spread throughout Ursus. This led many nobles to want to get to know you.]
[As for the Rostov family, their attitude towards you changed dramatically. For example, Lady Rostov, who used to look down on you, would often visit your room. Or Count Andrei, who wanted to know about your relationship with Prince Fyodor, how you got to know each other, without even asking your opinion on whether you wanted to be engaged to that guy. But luckily, because of that, your status in the manor was now higher than everyone else's. You were able to move back to live in the Gustav family manor with ease, even though you had to see the disappointed faces of many, especially Natalia, who seemed to want to get closer to you more than anyone.]
[And even though you were very angry at that prince for making your life so chaotic, it was still good that he didn't just leave a bomb for you without offering any help. Because he also sent Grovasel, his close confidant, to follow and serve as your guard. You were very pleased to have more test subjects—I mean, more comrades with the same ideals. At first, Grovasel seemed reluctant to follow you, as he was worried about his mother's well-being. So you asked about his family's situation and found out that Grovasel's mother was just a common citizen living in the empire. But because his father was a rather famous military commander, Grovasel's life was considered to be quite good. However, because he and his mother had to live under the constant watch of nobles who wanted to take advantage of them, their anxiety grew, which caused his mother's already poor health to deteriorate even further.]
[When you heard that Grovasel's mother was sick, you introduced him to a doctor. You said that this person was your personal teacher, who had the highest knowledge of treating patients in all of Ursus.]
[When Grovasel heard that, he didn't believe it at first. Even the imperial physicians couldn't treat his mother's chronic illness, so what could a common noble's doctor do?]
[It wasn't until Grovasel met your personal doctor himself, along with his mother named Helen, that he was stunned to see that she could easily treat his mother's illness after examining her for just a few hours.]
[This made Grovasel feel very grateful. He thanked you nonstop... and swore to be your guard until the day he died. But you refused, telling him that his life was his own and had nothing to do with you.]
[As for your personal doctor, you only found out when you brought Grovasel for treatment that her real name was Kal'tsit. Although at first she seemed a little annoyed that you brought a patient to her without asking, for some reason, upon seeing Grovasel, Doctor Kal'tsit didn't complain anymore and immediately took care of the matter.]
[She didn't seem surprised about your engagement to the prince. Even though you overheard her muttering something like, "Not again," you could still feel that Doctor Kal'tsit seemed quite interested in the matter and congratulated you. But you denied it, saying the engagement was just a front.]
[After that, you returned to live at the Gustav manor as before and began experimenting and training yourself. But you didn't live there alone. Grovasel and his mother, Helen, also came to live with you. And with Grovasel's friendly, big-brother-like guidance, along with Helen's gentleness, who always took care of you as if you were her own daughter, the month they lived together was a time you had never experienced anywhere before. But you didn't hate it at all; in fact, you were happy with these times.]
[Until two years had passed. You are now 12 years old. You graduated from the noble institution with grades that weren't very good, making the choice of a future institution difficult for you. But that wasn't as important as when you received news of the end of the war between Ursus and Kazimierz, which ended in your country's defeat. You heard from Big Brother Grovasel that he had just received a reply from his father, saying that he was returning to Ursus in a few days. This made his mother, Helen, very relieved that her husband was safe. As for Grovasel, he came to ask you privately if he could tell that man where he was living now. Of course, you were happy to agree and couldn't help but ask him, why did he have to ask you first? Since the other person was his father.]
[Grovasel replied honestly that he didn't like his father very much... Of course, he admired his father for being a war hero and for performing excellently in the army, bringing fame to the country. But Grovasel still hated his own father, who had never even paid attention to his family. Even though he had sent letters telling him about his mother's serious illness, he never received any reply, as if the man's mind was only filled with war and killing. That... made Grovasel both hate and fear that man, that one day he would change into someone he no longer recognized as his father.]
[You wanted to comfort him and say that it wasn't true, but because your only knowledge of family was the memory of your father feeding you poison, you thought you had no right to give anyone advice... So you secretly planned in your heart that when that man arrived, you would have to talk to him privately.]
[And it seemed that day would come soon. One evening, a strange man in full military armor arrived at your Gustav manor with his personal soldiers. The man was a giant, nearly three meters tall, wearing the armor of an Ursus soldier. His face was hidden by a deer-shaped helmet, with blazing red eyes peeking out from the two openings, making him look very intimidating from the outside. But for you... you felt a certain familiarity from him through your own bloodline. And when that man saw you, his expression was one of utter shock, judging from the way the hand holding his shield trembled violently when he met you, who came out to greet him at the front of the manor.]
[Since Grovasel and Helen were currently out buying ingredients for dinner, you took the initiative to invite the other man into the manor to talk first. You led him to the guest room and began to introduce yourself, saying your name was Ludy Manfred Gustav, the noble and owner of this manor. The other party, upon hearing this, was silent for a moment before saying a single word, "Buldrokkas'tee," which was likely his name. That's when you finally realized that he was the legendary war hero of Ursus, the last pure-blooded Wendigo.]
[You were very excited to meet the war hero of the Ursus tundra with a history spanning decades, and you inadvertently started asking him about various things. The conversation might have gone well if he had chosen to answer your questions, instead of speaking coldly as he was now.]
"I smell the blood... of a Sarkaz on you."
"Who... are you."
The question was released with an immense pressure that could kill an ordinary person, but it had no effect on Ludy at all. She just frowned in annoyance and asked him back without any hesitation.
"Do you treat every young girl you meet for the first time by interrogating and threatening them like that?"
"..."
"Because if you do, I wouldn't be surprised if your son doesn't like you. Because I would hate it too if I had such a rude father..."
"If you dare touch them... I swear I will—"
"Ah, yes, yes... you'll kill me, blah blah. So now I'm the one threatening you? Or is this how all you old-fashioned people talk? I'm asking seriously... don't you get tired of these classic tropes? Are you from the 900s or something? Is your head only filled with images of people trying to backstab each other like in a Syracuse mafia movie?"
"Or do you only know about fighting and politics and have forgotten how to live like a normal person? I get it, you like to stand out on the battlefield, which might have annoyed some foolish nobles who wanted to make a name for themselves."
"But let me tell you something. I've lived with them here for almost two full years! It might be a short time for you, but all the time they've been here, they've been waiting for you, praying for you! So that you would return to them safely! But from what I can see, you probably don't care much about them, since your wife was so sick, yet you didn't even bother to send her a single letter!" Ludy raised her voice at the man in front of her. This might have been the first time she had ever been this angry at someone.
Buldrokkas'tee, full of silence, even though he was being yelled at nonstop by some girl he didn't know, still showed no sign of interest and maintained his icy calm. Until... his reaction changed drastically when he heard what had happened to his wife.
"Helen... is sick?" He shot up from the sofa, the force of his movement causing the iron leg supporting his weight to buckle and break from just a small exertion of his strength.
"What? Acting like you don't know. Your son sent you letters for weeks to tell you about it, but he said you never even replied to him." Ludy said, confused, seeing his reaction. It was as if he had never received those letters at all.
"I received letters from my son... but what was written was not as you say."
"Oh... so you must have received fake letters. I think I understand everything now," Ludy, hearing this, seemed to start to understand. She nodded lightly, as if she understood why he hadn't replied to Grovasel at all.
"Fake letters... what do you mean?" Buldrokkas'tee asked, not understanding.
"You're a soldier, but you don't know what fake letters are?" Ludy grumbled.
"No..."
There was no shame in his voice, only the confusion of a helpless child. This made Ludy unable to help but grumble at him again.
"I really want to know how Helen could fall for an old-fashioned man like you."
"..."
"Never mind... Fake letters are like those used to boost morale for soldiers during battle. For example, if you're in the middle of a war, it wouldn't be good to receive bad news from your family that someone has died, because that would demoralize you before you even go out to fight. Especially since you're a commander on the front lines, morale is the most important thing. Those letters probably said that your son and wife were living peacefully in Ursus, right?"
"No... the letters said that my son... was joining the Infected resistance forces to participate in protests against the war."
"Huh..."
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