“So this is your room, Phillip? It’s exactly as I’d imagined!”
As soon as the princess entered my room, she started looking around inquisitively. Though the servants were surprised that I suddenly brought home a child, they quickly told me that they’d prepare snacks for us that a little girl would enjoy. The fact that they were actually talking about the princess of a foreign nation was beyond their wildest dreams.
I told Princess Adele that she could do whatever she wanted, and after she thanked me, she started to explore my room. Suddenly, she stopped right in front of the shelves by the window.
“Hey, Phillip, what’s this ice bucket doing here? Do you drink wine?”
“That’s, um, for wearing.”
“For wearing? I didn’t know that different countries used buckets differently as well. I learned something new today.” After she said that, she picked up the bucket and then placed it over her head. “Like this?”
Seeing her stand there, ice bucket over her head, filled me with immense guilt. I simply hadn’t been able to throw it away after I wore it during my conversation with Viola. I apologized in my mind that I not only gave misinformation to the princess of a powerful nation, but I also inadvertently made her look so ridiculous. But at this point, it would be more embarrassing to correct her, so I kept silent.
In any case, the promise was that we would have a cup of tea and then we’d go back. Right when I was about to start the preparations for tea, I heard a knocking on my door. I figured it was the servants with the snacks, so I quickly called for the person to come in. Then, I was once again hit with an extraordinary sense of regret.
The person who walked in, Vio perched on their shoulder, was none other than Cedric. Everything about his visit—from the timing to who else was currently in my room—was terrible.
“Ph-Phil, what’s with that creature behind you?”
The entire time Cedric spoke, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Princess Adele, who still had the ice bucket over her head. Her pink dress emerging from underneath the bucket, along with her small limbs, certainly made for a bizarre sight, so I could understand his shock.
“Oh? Is someone here?” I heard Princess Adele say.
“My little brother,” I replied.
“LITTLE VIO!!!!!!!!!”
“Dearie me, what a strange voice your brother has. And he’s such a cheery person, unlike you, Phillip.”
“That wasn’t my brother.”
Things were starting to get out of hand. I excused myself before I gently removed the bucket from Princess Adele’s head.
“I’m having so much fun with all these unique experiences,” she said as I did so.
She was so innocent that I felt even worse at how I led her astray.
“Phil, who’s this little girl?”
“She’s the daughter of an acquaintance. I was taking care of her today.”
“Wow, that’s not something you see every day,” Cedric muttered before he stared at the princess curiously.
“You must be Phillip’s younger brother. You look as handsome as he does! My name is Adele.”
“My name is Cedric. This is Little Vio.”
Despite Cedric’s surprise at the fact I was taking care of a child, he politely returned the princess’s greeting. That was when Princess Adele’s gaze shifted to Vio, who was still perched on Cedric’s shoulder.
“My, what an adorable little bird!”
Please, I’m begging you, don’t say anything unnecessary.
The only thing I could do was pray and watch.
“Viola, I love you!!!” Vio squawked.
“Hello there, Little Vio. You look so cute while you’re talking,” Princess Adele said.
“Viola, so cute!!!”
“Is your name short for Little Viola? Phillip, you must really adore her.”
It looked like Princess Adele mistook Vio’s name for “Viola.” Thanks to that misunderstanding, she probably thought I was the kind of person who would spend my days telling my parrot that I loved it and that it was so cute. Cedric looked like he wanted to say something but I waved my hand at him, gesturing for him to stay silent.
In any case, we just had to have one cup of tea and then we could go back to the palace. I hurriedly prepared some milk tea as I replied, “Ah, yes, that was her name, I think.”
“Hee hee, you’re such a nice birdie.” Princess Adele likely had never experienced such close contact with a parrot, because she was conversing with Vio, still on Cedric’s shoulder, keenly. “Talking with such a little bird is so much fun.”
“Yes. It’s easy to tell a bird something that you might have trouble saying to someone else.”
“Something you have trouble saying to someone else...” Princess Adele murmured.
Princess Adele sat down on the couch and Cedric placed Vio on her arm. He taught her the best way to stroke the parrot’s feathers and eventually, the princess let out a heavy sigh.
“Will you listen to me, Little Viola? I actually really like Luna...”
It seemed that she had regretted fighting with Princess Luna. Vio tilted her head to the side lightly and listened in silence. While the two of them conversed, I continued to prepare the tea. Right when I was about to call out to them to tell them it was ready, Cedric pressed his pointer finger to his lips.
“Shhh!”
I wondered what happened, and followed Cedric’s line of sight.
“Adele?”
It turned out that he was looking at the princess, snoozing away on my sofa. I had noticed the sudden silence, but it seemed that she was fast asleep, probably because she had so much fun. Her face, slack in sleep, made her look like nothing more than an ordinary little kid, and I smiled at her. Vio must’ve wanted to let her sleep as well, because she had quietly moved to perch on the arm of the sofa and she was peering down at Princess Adele without saying anything.
“She’s a cute kid,” Cedric said.
“Isn’t she? Here, if you want some tea, you can have a cup.”
“Thanks, I’ll have some.”
“I’ll take Adele back.”
“All right. Thanks for the tea.”
It wouldn’t do for the tea I’d prepared for the princess to get cold, so I offered it to Cedric instead. Then, I carefully picked up the princess and returned to the carriage so that we could go back to the castle.