Baby Prisoner of the Winter Castle

Clarisse wanted to reply, ‘No, I’m not like that.’ 

But she couldn’t because she didn’t have time to do that.

“You’d better go and change it to something made with phoenix feathers.” 

A blanket made of plucked hair from a rare monster, the phoenix, was an expensive treasure that even the king would sleep under in winter, but Rosalie nodded without bothering to mention it. 

“Yes, my Lord.”

When Maximilian returned, Rosalie held Clarice’s hands and lowered herself.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Rosalie.”

“Hello, I’m Clarisse Lennon Grezekaia.”

Clarisse greeted her while bending over crookedly and holding her hand.

Rosalie smiled kindly, probably because it was cute. 

“Can I call you Miss Lennon?”

“I like Clarisse. Just Clarisse.”

“Clarisse.” 

Rosalie called her name slowly and nodded.

“What a beautiful name.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard such a compliment.”

“Is that so? I guess everyone forgot about the name because they praised Clarisse’s other side.” 

It wasn’t that. She had never heard a compliment in her life.

But Clarisse somehow wanted to be the kid who got a lot of compliments, so she only smiled.

The first compliment she heard somehow felt very good.

“Now, shall we take a bath again? The room is warm enough now, so you can take off your clothes. I’ll help you.”

Rosalie brought her hand to Clarisse’s clothes.

“I can do it myself.”

Then Clarisse quickly took a step back and grabbed the button. 

“Can you undo such a small button by yourself?”

“Yes.”

Clarisse quickly undid the button with her small hand.

She didn’t think it was special because she always did it alone in the Grezekaia royal family—.

“Oh, my, you’re really good. How can you be so good with your hands?” 

Praise came right away.

Clarisse got a little excited and quickly undid the rest of the buttons.

“Phew, you’re smart.” 

After that, she sat in a warm tub with Rosalie’s help. 

“It’s warm….” 

“Right? That’s a relief. Let me know if it gets too hot or too cold.”

“It feels good.”

Clarisse rubbed her face with the palm of her small hand. As she rubbed the back of her ear vigorously, Rosalie praised her again. 

“So Clarisse knows how to wash her face.”

“It was in the book! I read a book yesterday….” 

Yesterday, Clarisse read the book the Duchess had given her. It was said that she could get sick if she didn’t brush her teeth and wash well.

Clarisse wanted to live a healthy life until she was 18, so she read the book three times.

“Oh my, you read books by yourself?”

“I am nine years old. And the book is fun. There were some great pictures too.”

“You’re diligent as well. You can be a good person if you get close to books.”

Rosalie came with a lot of foam on her hands and slowly smoothed Clarice’s pink hair.

Hearing the bubbling in her ears somehow tickled her, so Clarice kept trying to let out a smile.

“It’s a very cute pink color.”

“They say that if I get a lot of sunlight, the color will fade, so it can become blonde.” 

Those were the words of Grezekaia’s maids.

That pink hair isn’t fit for a royal family, so if she lets her hair out in the sun, it will turn into an elegant blonde.

Although no matter how long she waited in the sun, Clarisse’s hair color didn’t change at all.

“Oh my, that’s a pity.” 

“A pity?” 

“Of course, I’ve never seen such a pretty pink. It would be such a waste to get rid of it.”

“But…” 

Clarisse tried to answer, ‘It doesn’t suit a royal family child,’ but quickly closed her mouth.

Come to think of it, she was no longer a royal child.

Rosalie smiled and told the troubled Clarice.

“You should love this pretty hair every day.”

“Rosalie is…” 

Clarisse, feeling somewhat embarrassed, ran her shriveled fingertips in the water.

“…You’re the king of praise.” 

“Oh my, I’m glad you said that. Clarisse speaks very kindly.”

She was so happy that she even hummed and helped her take a bath. 

Clarisse thought, ‘I’m embarrassed for some reason, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.’—.

For some reason, she was quietly waiting for another compliment from Rosalie.

* * *

Maximilian hesitated for a moment in front of his wife’s room.

Even if it wasn’t, the same thing just happened in the middle of an awkward relationship, making it even more uncomfortable.

‘To think that the maid who came from the Count’s family was that kind of person….’

Maximilian had some idea of his wife’s character, so he worried the maid might have been rude to her. 

‘Did she harras her?’

If she had told him right away, he would have helped somehow.

‘Well, aren’t we in a relationship where we should be talking about that?’ 

Even after three years of marriage, they were like strangers.

No, it didn’t get any better than that.

It has the possibility of developing a good relationship through an appropriate process.

However, they became more awkward in the future, and it was a relationship that was destined to go their separate ways at the right time.

“…Duke?”

As he hesitated, a clear voice came from behind.

“….!” 

Maximilian looked back in surprise. It was as if he had lost his mind and didn’t even hear her approaching in the hallway. 

“I heard from Rosalie. Thank you for taking care of the child.” 

“I’m glad you already know.”

“And.”

She bent gracefully deep with one hand raised over her chest.

“I sincerely apologize, Duke.”

“….” 

“Because I was lacking, I couldn’t do the job the Duke entrusted me with. It is my responsibility.”

It was.

The master was always responsible for their subordinates.

Even when the servants of the mansion worried and told her not to bully the child, Bessie lied, saying, ‘The Duchess has treated a criminal properly.’ 

She went so far as to ignore the Duchess’ order to meet the child.

There was also a report detailing the Duchess’s every move in her bag, which was checked after her arrest. 

There wasn’t much content, but it was absolutely unacceptable to leak family affairs outside.

Moreover, since Maximilian was a member of the royal family, this was against the kingdom’s important security law.

And what happened to that extent—.

It was difficult for Maximilian to think that only his wife was at fault.

“Me too… It’s something I should have noticed.”

“Bessie is my maid. The Duke has only seen her a few times. You haven’t even been in a mansion lately.”

That was also true.

“And she’s a maid who was brought here because of my marriage.”

That, too, was right.

Maximilian couldn’t dare to answer back to what his wife said so well.

In the end, all he could say was—.

“I will deal with the maid according to the established law.”

He gave the same answer as always.

“Yes.” 

As if she knew it, the answer came right away, and she straightened her posture and stood in front of him.

“I will also be punished for myself. And… shamelessly.” 

Maximilian looked down at his wife’s hesitant face.

“Can you please keep this from Count Darrington?”

Unfortunately, it was impossible.

He needs to pull out the root of this problem by revealing the fact to the Count—.

“Please. I beg you.” 

However, as soon as his gaze met hers as she lifted her head up, Maximilian nodded involuntarily.

Of course, it was a mistake, so he tried to correct it quickly.

“Ah, thank you! The Duke really…… a wonderful person!”

However, he stared blankly at the beautiful bend of her eyes toward him and couldn’t answer anything.

However, he stared blankly at the beautiful bend of her eyes toward him and couldn’t answer anything.

It was pathetic.

* * *

Clarisse dried her hair and put on her pretty red dress before she was left alone in the room.

She took the pebbles from her pocket and kissed them on top.

“It was hard, wasn’t it? But I’m glad we could come all the way here together.”

If it weren’t for Mallang, she would have cried in a dark room last night.

Of course, the Duke’s other stones were also kind to her yesterday.

Still, they’re not as close as Mallang yet. She couldn’t completely rely on her feeling. 

“Anywhere is fine as long as you are there. Besides, it seems that Mallang likes you very much here.”

Clarisse had apparently heard the Duke address Mallang as ‘guest’ this morning.

“As expected, the Duke is a wonderful person.”

In Grezekaia, no one recognized Mallang as Clarisse’s friend.

There were times when they ignored them and said she was just picking up stones or when they threw away Mallang, which she was holding preciously, and she spent hours looking for it.

“So I want to try to be helpful to the Duke from now on. Will you help me?”

Clarisse brought her face closer to Mallang. 

The four scattered pebbles came together and formed the shape of a small animal with arms and legs.

“Coo. (I’ll think about it.).”

Mallang, a small golem about the size of an adult’s palm, replied indifferently.

“Thank you.”

Clarisse quickly hugged the small golem in her arms.

“Surely we have something to help! Whatever it is.”