Chapter 18

That night, I had a dream of being buried under gifts and unable to come out. It may sound funny to others, but I thought it was terrible because the monkey doll's eyeballs were shining in front of me.

After dreaming all night, I couldn't even tell if I slept or not. I hugged the blanket and dozed off in the warm room. I was more sleepy than usual because I had a big breakfast.

'But it was delicious.'

I always have great meals here, but this morning's dish made my eyes open wide because it was so good. I'm not sure if it's because I was sick and it gave me strength, or the food changed, but the taste was delicious.

As I recalled breakfast for a moment, I placed the blanket between my arms and stretched out my legs. It was quite large, fluffy, and thick, but it was very light weight. It's a magical blanket from the West, one of the gifts I received yesterday.

Just as abilities existed here in Seorak, magic and sorcery exist in the West, and the magic is very similar to what I would have thought in my old world. Unlike the abilities in Seorak, where you only have one blessed talent in the family, a person could perform various forms of magic if they had mana in themselves. Thanks to talented people out there, many studies have been made, so they could create a blanket like this.

The heat from the blanket emits a flower fragrance. I don't know which flower specifically, but it smells pretty good. I have nothing to do, and the weather is nice. I was planning to take a long nap. When I used to be an adult, I couldn't sleep well at night if I took a nap in the afternoon, but now that I'm a child, it's different.

After tapping the blanket several times with my hands, I snuck back under it and laid down. Just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard Seo Yeon's voice outside the door.

"Miss, His Highness Garam is here."

I wanted to curse as I opened my eyes. Why are you here? At this timing?

"…Tell him to come in."

Soon after, the door opened and Garam came rushing in. He was like a colorful peacock, however, the actions that followed were not the same at all.

"Oh, hi."

More precisely, it was the same. Garam stood and waved at me while looking like a shy elementary school student. I slightly frowned.

"Hello Your Highness."

Still, I couldn't just ignore him, so I greeted with a small smile. I didn't get up from my bed because I decided to go with the concept of being sick and unable to get out of bed.

What are you going to say face-to-face to a patient? I was trying to choose words to answer him without getting caught, but for some reason, Garam kept looking at me without saying anything. I closed my eyes when I saw him rubbing his feet on the floor. I hope he doesn't get mud or dirt all over the place.

It must be really hot in here. He gets affected by the heat easily even though his ability is fire. In the original work, Garam often didn't wear a shirt during midsummer. Sure enough, he crept up to the window and opened it slightly.

"The weather is so nice today…"

"Achoo!"

As I breathed in the cold wind, I sneezed slightly. I was amazed at the loud noises he made from the window. Did he break something? He did.

Garam cringed. I looked at the white porcelain, which was one of Mirina's gifts from yesterday, shattered on the ground.

"Miss! I heard a loud noise… oh my!"

Heesa jumped with surprise. She immediately cleared the remains of the porcelain and left the room. In the process, she seemed to have glared at Garam.

"…Was that something you liked?"

Garam asked me stealthily. I hesitated to answer for a moment.

"Yes."

His shoulders flinched as if he had been a horse who got whipped. He then said in a desperate tone,

"I'll ask. No wait. I can get you something better."

I shook my head without thinking. There is no way that Mirina would have prepared something of poor quality for a gift. Above all, this world doesn't have manufactured products. How can you get the same white porcelain that the craftsman worked hard on with his own hands?

"It's all right."

Despite my calm voice, Garam still looked at me. Just say what you want to say and disappear like the wind like last time.

"But still…"

Garam murmured like he was squeezing words out while avoiding eye contact. I closed my lips at the sight. Are you sorry because I cared about it?

"I don't really mind it."

I threw the bait just in case. The words lit up Garam's face a little. What. Really?

"…I brought you gifts too."

I paused at the words that followed.

"It had a mother-of-pearl, a juryeonggu made of gold, tangrams made of colorful crystals,

and a bolang gu made from silk threads."

I tried to process all the stuff Garam listed from his mouth. Juryeonggu… is a 14-sided dice from the Unified Silla period. (It's a drinking game dice.) I used to play with tangrams when I was young. But what's a bolang gu?

"Have you played with it yet?"

Garam's eyes were sparkling and I immediately felt nervous. Have I played with it? Of course not. I thought it was a gift from the Yeoran's (Sanya's father), so I stuck it in a corner. Eventually, I managed to swallow the lump in my throat and replied.

"I'm sorry, not yet…"

"No, no. There's nothing to be sorry about. It's okay."

Garam quickly shook his head, however, his tone of his voice dropped slightly. Why are you doing that? Did you get scolded yesterday?

"Are you afraid of loud noises?"

While I was staring at him with mixed questions in my head, Garam suddenly asked me. I don't understand what he meant. More precisely, I'm often surprised. I'm not a kid who's afraid of thunder. But it was annoying to explain it everytime.

"…Yes."

"Big people?"

"That… yes I'm afraid."

The latter was true. I get scared by a big person because I'm in a child's body. I was afraid of the shapes of their shadows casting over me. And in reality, the big people around me were the ones who could easily kill me. It's like living as a human without intelligence in an intelligent world. It's not easy living as a child either, but I don't think there's any risk of death in the imperial palace yet.

While I was deep in my thoughts, Garam said in a low voice.

"Tell me if you're scared or don't like anything."

My eyes opened round at those words. Are you sure? Garam was being exceptionally generous today. The words in the beginning of that sentence were somehow understandable, but the words at the end were mixed with a little favor for me.

"Really?"

I asked. Garam's eyes widened like a dog stepping on your face.

"Sure! I'll take care of it."

My heart started beating faster at his answer. My anticipation was high. Then I can say what I wanted to say. I took a big breath and slightly glanced. He stood still there like a gentle puppy.

As expected, I thought it would be okay.

"Please leave."

"…"

Oh, I feel relieved.

That's what I wanted to say.

The silence was dragging. I smiled slightly, and Garam lowered his raised eyebrows.

Hmm. Why? His face looked like from which a child got their candy stolen. However, I didn't want to ask him to stay longer. Garam, who was mumbling, soon turned around. I looked at him as he walked with his shoulders slouched and then turned my gaze.

"Your Majesty the Emperor."

I hurriedly lifted up my body which was slid under the blanket at the voice of Seo Yeon. Garam raised his head suspiciously at the sound of the door opening. I was devastated when I saw the woman's face who came in.

Long black hair, raw green eyes, and a golden dragon hairpin on top of her head. It was the Emperor. She didn't even wait at the door, and if she wanted to come in, she could come in.

The Emperor, who was walking in, looked suspicious when she saw Garam.

"Garam, you're here."

"Your Majesty."

Garam smiled helplessly at the Emperor. It was a smile that anyone could tell that something was wrong. I greeted her secretly with rotten eyes. She turned her head towards me and her face brightened, then turned the other way as if thinking if she should deal with Garam first.

"Is something wrong?"

"…The child wanted me to leave."

Garam then said his greetings and walked away smoothly. She looked at him and then turned her head towards me. I smiled automatically.

"Should… I also go out?"

The Emperor, who had been biting her lips, asked embarrassingly. I feel like my face was about to crack from smiling.

Yes, you're the number 1 person I want out of here.

"It's a great honor for you to come find me here."

This power…