Chapter: 635
Alina’s birth was more than enough to grab the attention of our little ones.
Our eldest, Pedi, frequently visited to check on his new little sister, while the triplets, having just discovered the joys of walking, eagerly tagged along behind him to see Alina.
The sight of those four tiny kids sticking together was nothing short of adorable and awe-inspiring. Just imagine when Friedrich starts crawling—it’ll be five little ones running around! Just thinking about it makes my heart race.
“Cute! So cute!”
Well, technically, there are already five of them wandering about, but who’s counting?
“Sibling! Pretty!”
The Crown Princess repeatedly exclaimed how cute and pretty Alina was. It was impossible for me, Lin, and the head maid not to smile at that sight.
The Crown Princess hadn’t visited our mansion for the past few days. It wasn’t that she was bored with our place; rather, Lin’s due date was approaching, so we had temporarily restricted visits from outsiders. If the Crown Princess came while Lin was giving birth, we wouldn’t be able to give her the attention she deserved.
That’s why I had taken Pedi with me to the palace for a while. Even with a throng of attendants in tow, there were no complaints from her.
Once Lin had given birth, the Crown Princess was finally allowed to visit our mansion, and—
“Wow! Wow!”
Her eyes lit up at the sight of a baby for the first time.
What a relief! I was a bit worried she might feel strange seeing a baby she’s never met before.
“Pedi! Pedi!”
“Yes, Your Highness. What is it?”
“What’s the baby’s name!?”
“Her name is Alina.”
This marked her fifth question, but I answered with a smile.
It’s not unusual for kids to ask the same question multiple times. Plus, “Alina” might be a bit tricky to pronounce.
“Al-lee-na?”
The Crown Princess hesitated slightly at the name “Alina.”
Still, she diligently tried to call her by the full name instead of a shortened version. What a noble effort!
“Al-lee-na… Al-lee… na…”
After muttering Alina’s name a few times, the Crown Princess clenched her little fists and nodded.
“A-Alina is our sister!”
“That’s right, Your Highness. Please take good care of Alina as her big sister.”
“Yep! I’ll play with her every day and give her chocolates!”
Such a bold declaration made everyone burst into laughter again.
Sharing chocolates? That’s the best kind of generosity a kid can offer!
“Your Highness, but what if you run out of chocolates for yourself?”
“Ehh?”
At that moment, the Crown Princess was already eyeing Pedi and plotting to give chocolates to the triplets and Friedrich next.
Including Alina, that makes six chocolates she needs to hand out. The Crown Princess might end up only sucking on her fingers without getting a taste of her loot.
“But, but! Chocolates are delicious! I don’t want to eat them all by myself!”
The Crown Princess, who had been looking around with her wide eyes, suddenly flapped her arms, determined to assert her stance.
What a beautiful sight! A sister willingly offering her favorite treats for her siblings. With a heart so kind from such a young age, she will undoubtedly become a wise ruler.
‘What a relief she takes after her mother.’
That kind of character could never have come from the Emperor. If she had, she’d probably be hogging the chocolates and teasing the kids in front of her instead of sharing.
This is why the Emperor marrying the Empress is a blessing for the royal family, and the Crown Princess resembling the Empress is a blessing for the Empire. If anyone dares to argue, just point to the second prince.
“By the way, pedi.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Why does Pedi keep getting more siblings?”
“…Huh?”
I was momentarily stunned by this unexpected question.
“Pedi. I have a brother; why do I have more siblings than you have?”
The Crown Princess pouted her lips as if feeling wronged.
“My babies aren’t here yet! Pedi’s siblings are just continuing to multiply!”
“Um, Your Highness, all these kids are your siblings—”
“But they don’t sleep at my palace! I’m the only one there!”
Poor thing, clearly feeling lonely despite having siblings.
I mean, just earlier she had been so excited about Alina being her little sister. Now, suddenly, she wants to distinguish between her siblings and Pedi’s?
‘She must be feeling a bit lonely.’
But it’s understandable. While the sun is up, she can enjoy playing at our mansion with Pedi and the other little ones, but once she goes back to the palace, she has to play alone.
With a busy Emperor, a focused Empress, and only the knights and maids as company, there’s really no one she can play with comfortably. We can’t exactly keep our kids at the palace 24/7, can we?
It’s only natural for the Crown Princess to want siblings to be around her, not just at our mansion, but the ones who sleep and eat at the palace with her.
“Mom! You said I’d get a little brother! Where is he!?”
That almost made me laugh out loud.
The Empress got pregnant with their second child either at the end of last year or the start of this year. In about six months, the Crown Princess’s younger sibling will be born, but ironically, the Crown Princess doesn’t fully understand that ‘a baby = takes about 10 months to be born.’ She just pesters the Empress daily to hurry things along.
“I’m worried that if this continues, the second child might develop a phobia of the Crown Princess’s demands. They might even hold back from coming out because they’re scared.”
No wonder the Emperor had been grumbling and sighing about that a few weeks ago.
Of course, that’s not my problem. If only she had provided a sibling or two by now, we wouldn’t be in this pickle.
“Your Highness, both the Empress and Emperor are doing their best to give you a beautiful and strong sibling.”
“Effort?”
Anyway, as I played along mentally cursing the Emperor, I comforted the pouting Crown Princess.
Seeing the Emperor in distress makes me feel good, but I can’t allow the Crown Princess to be sad. Our little princess should always experience only the happiest things.
“You’ll have a sibling to spend your life with. A sibling like no other in this world, so they are doing their utmost.”
“Really?”
“Of course. That’s what I did for Pedi.”
Then, the Crown Princess turned her gaze to Pedi, who was poking Alina’s finger.
After a moment of blinking repeatedly, it seemed she was envisioning the little sibling that would one day be born.
“…But… I want to see my sibling right away…”
With her slightly softened demeanor, I gently pulled the Crown Princess into my arms.
Just a little bit more reassurance. This sudden sorrow will fade away just as quickly.
“Don’t worry too much. You only have to wait for a few more nights.”
“How many nights?”
“Hmmm, about 300 nights?”
At the mention of such a staggering number, the Crown Princess’s eyes began to twitch.
“Three-Three hundred? That’s too long! I can’t wait!”
“But, Your Highness. You need to wait that long to have a pretty little sibling.”
“Still too long! Make it shorter!”
The determination in the Crown Princess’s flailing arms was fierce and impactful.
It’s understandable, after all. For a child who perceives 100 as a long time, 300 is an unimaginable eternity.
“Well, I have no choice. Let me talk to the Emperor and see if I can shorten it to about 200 nights.”
“200 nights…”
At my suggestion, the Crown Princess’s eyes were once again busy darting around.
“Okay! You’re the best, Pedi!”
Eventually, she returned a cheerful response. 200 nights may not be short, but it’s at least better than 300.
‘Well, originally, it was about 200 days anyway.’
Watching the delighted Crown Princess made my conscience ache slightly. I had initially attacked her mental fortitude with the daunting prospect of 300 nights, but realistically, the birth of her sibling would be at the latest after 200 days.
But if I had just said 200 nights, it would have been obvious she’d pine for it. A little shock therapy was necessary.
I feel terrible as her guardian.
“Waaah…”
“Ah, Alina woke up.”
“Ah.”
Perhaps because we were making too much noise, Alina, who had been sound asleep, slowly opened her eyes.
It seems I, her dad, disturbed my precious daughter’s slumber. Sorry about that…
“Al-lee-na! Since you’re awake, let’s play—”
“Absolutely not.”
“Ehhh…”
At least I could block the Crown Princess’s ambitions of tiring out Alina even further.
We need to put a spirited child back to sleep as quickly as possible. If we let her play, she won’t sleep and will just cry all night.
*
The Crown Princess returned from the Minister’s mansion.
“Dad! Dad!”
With a crumpled piece of paper covered in awkward numbers held in one hand.
I had no idea what it was, but I picked her up as she ran towards me. What could be more important than the angelic smile on the Crown Princess’s face?
“Dad! This is mine! I wrote it!”
I believe she would happily explain without me even needing to ask.
Our clever and bright daughter loves to explain things to me.
“Did you study numbers?”
As I scanned the paper, I saw it had numbers written from 1 to 100. The backside seemed to also feature numbers, apparently exceeding 200.
What a diligent girl! She studied while visiting the palace!
“It’s the little sibling calendar!”
…?
“Hmm?”
“Pedi said! If I sleep for 200 nights, I’ll get a sibling!”
At her words, my mind went blank.
200 nights… That’s actually accurate. Based on the expected delivery date, there’s a very high likelihood the second child will be born before the 200 days are up.
But why on earth does the Crown Princess know that? Why is there a calendar with “200” written on it in her hands?
“If I count down all those days, I’ll get my sibling!”
“W-Well, that’s right. The Crown Princess is correct. After 200 nights, you’ll get a sibling.”
Despite my confusion, I stroked the cheerful Crown Princess.
I didn’t fully understand the situation, but one thing was certain: she was happy.
‘What kind of conversation did they have?’
Of course, I couldn’t help but mentally blame the Minister. If, if that little sibling calendar doesn’t run out before the second child is born? What if there’s still no news after 200 days?
How much would the Crown Princess cry? Just imagining it sent shivers down my spine.
The Crown Princess proudly showed off her homemade sibling calendar to the Empress.
“We should have already had a second child, but we didn’t realize how lonely it would be for the Crown Princess to spend time alone at the palace.”
The Empress spoke with a somewhat sad expression and nodded, as if making a resolution.
“It would be best to prepare for a third child as soon as the second is born.”
“Empress?”
“That’s right; it’s good to have at least five children for the prosperity of the royal family.”
“Empress?”
What on earth is she talking about…?
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.