The carriage slowed before the gleaming palace gates, and Count Rohan's hand immediately reached out, steadying Aneria as if she were made of glass.
"Careful, my little star. The ground here is uneven," he murmured.
Aneria hopped out anyway with a dramatic "ta-da!" and her father practically lunged forward to catch her.
"Aneria!"
"I'm fine, Father! I do this every day!"
But Count Rohan still checked her shoes, her dress, her balance—everything.
His eyes softened with that familiar I don't want to let her go look.
"I don't like bringing you to crowded places… The palace is full of strangers. Stay close to me, alright?"
Aneria puffed her cheeks.
"Father, I'm five. I can walk. I'm not going to float away like a feather."
"You might," he said seriously.
Aneria sighed dramatically.
Count Rohan straightened, smoothing her hair even though it wasn't messy.
"My work won't take long. Just hold my hand and stay next to me."
Aneria held his hand for exactly three minutes.
Three painful, boring, adult-conversation minutes.
She stared at nobles walking by. Bored.
She stared at pillars. Still bored.
She stared at guards. Even more bored.
"I'm too young for this suffering," she whispered.
Her father was busy speaking to a palace knight.
So Aneria did what any curious 5-year-old reincarnated fangirl would do.
She slipped behind a pillar like a tiny ninja.
Count Rohan didn't notice—yet.
Aneria smirked to herself.
"Operation: Run Away From Boring Adults… begins."
Her tiny heart thumped like a drum.
Nanny Nina held her hand tightly. "Young Miss, don't wander—"
Too late.
Aneria's eyes caught the palace garden, bright with sunlit flowers.
She slipped away quietly the moment Nina blinked.
Count Rohan sighed from afar.
"Melissa will kill me… but let her be. She's exploring."
---
Aneria's Mission: Observe Male Leads (Secretly)
The garden was bigger than she imagined—gleaming fountains, white stone arches, and bright magical butterflies floating around.
But Aneria saw none of that.
Because she saw them.
A boy with red hairthat shone like burning rubies and golden eyes as bright as the sun. Despite his small size, his posture screamed confidence.
The Crown Prince.
Next to him stood a calm, polite-looking boy with black hair and green eyes, holding a wooden practice sword.
Karl. Future Knight Captain.
Aneria immediately ducked behind the nearest tree.
Her heart turned into mashed potatoes.
"Ohhhhh my god… they're even cuter than in the novel…" she whispered dramatically.
"Prince looks like a tiny peacock who knows he's handsome. Karl looks like a lost puppy… why are they so adorable… I'm dying…"
She peeked.
She drooled.
She giggled like a maniac.
She leaned—
BONK.
Her forehead smacked the tree trunk.
"OW—MY FACE!!"
Both boys froze and turned sharply.
Karl frowned.
The Prince narrowed his eyes like a mini emperor catching a spy.
"Who's there?!" the Prince demanded.
"Come out! I, the Crown Prince, command you!"
Aneria panicked and pressed herself to the tree like a sticker.
But she knew she was caught.
So she stepped out… slowly… brushing her dress like nothing happened.
"Hello," she said innocently, as if she wasn't stalking them for five minutes.
---
The Royal Interrogation Begins
The Prince stared at her like she dropped from the sky.
"You. What were you doing behind that tree?"
Aneria blinked.
"Admiring… the leaves."
Karl tried so hard not to laugh.
The Prince glared at him. "Karl! Don't laugh! She's suspicious!"
Aneria squinted at the Prince.
Ah yes… classic cocky prince. Just because he's royalty, he thinks he can read minds now… cute but dramatic.
She stepped aside, ready to leave.
The Prince's jaw dropped.
"HEY!! I was TALKING to you!!"
Aneria waved a hand without even turning.
"Sorry, your highness. I can't hear you. You're too… sparkly."
Karl broke into a silent laugh.
The Prince looked personally attacked.
"You—! You can't ignore a prince!!"
Aneria stopped, turned her head, and said:
"You're very loud. You know that?"
Karl burst into full laughter this time, bending slightly.
The Prince's face turned red.
"I am not loud! I'm commanding!"
Aneria rolled her eyes so dramatically she could've flown.
"Sure. Commanding."
"STOP MOCKING ME!"
"You're cocky."
"AM NOT!"
"You are."
"NOT!!"
She walked right past him toward Karl.
The Prince looked like he might faint.
---
Aneria Greets the Wrong Boy
Aneria stood before Karl with the sweetest, most pure 5-year-old smile.
Her voice turned soft like cotton candy.
"Hewwo~"
Karl blinked, blush forming. "H-hello…"
"You have very pretty eyes," she said like a child admiring a shiny gem.
Karl turned bright red.
The Prince turned even redder — but from jealousy.
"H-HEY!!! Why are you greeting him like THAT?! I'm the Crown Prince! ME!"
Aneria looked at him with the blankest stare in existence.
"…Okay."
"OKAY? THAT'S ALL YOU SAY?!"
Aneria shrugged and turned back to Karl.
"You look nice," she told him honestly.
Karl rubbed the back of his neck. "Um… thank you…"
The Prince stomped his foot.
"KARL!! You're my friend! Don't get stolen so easily!"
Karl sighed. "Your Highness… she's just being polite…"
"She's being SUSPICIOUSLY polite!"
Aneria stuck her tongue out at the Prince.
He gasped like she stabbed his soul.
"YOU—YOU—HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ROYALTY?!"
"It's just a tongue," she replied.
Karl sat down on the grass.
He was done.
---
A Tiny War Begins
The Prince marched toward her; Aneria marched backward.
Their faces got close — two angry kids glaring like two tiny dragons.
Karl tried to reason.
"Umm, please don't fight—"
They ignored him.
"You're rude!" the Prince said.
"You're dramatic," Aneria answered.
"I AM NOT DRAMATIC!"
"You're dramatic AND loud."
Karl whispered to himself, "This is… interesting."
Finally, Aneria waved and turned to leave.
"My dad is waiting. Bye."
"HEY!! COME BACK!! THIS ISN'T FINISHED!!"
Aneria didn't even turn.
Karl sighed.
The Prince chased.
Aneria ran.
Their tiny legs kicked up dust.
That was the beginning of chaos in the palace.
And the moment the Crown Prince's fate quietly changed—
Because he would remember the strange white-haired girl
who ignored him, teased him, and treated him like a normal boy.
Aneria had just entered the future love triangle
without even knowing it.
---