YOPRS 2

Chapter 2

The following morning.

“Your Highness. His Majesty has summoned you.”

Sophia was getting dressed when one of her father Hans’s attendants came to deliver the message.

The previous night, Sophia had been caught by a guard while wandering around outside the kitchen’s back entrance and had been brought back to her room.

Since Hans was summoning her first thing in the morning, it was probably because of that incident.

‘Oh dear, this is troublesome…’

Whenever Hans pointed out her mistakes and scolded her, he made quite a big deal out of it. Just imagining herself going through that at her age made her feel faint.

Sophia squeezed her eyes shut.

“Did he say I had to go right away?”

“R-Right away? Pardon?”

The attendant was taken aback by Sophia’s strange way of speaking.

She was supposed to be the silly princess who giggled and babbled like a baby. But now, she sounded just like an old grandmother speaking in a provincial dialect from the outskirts of the kingdom.

It seemed the strange dialect wasn’t only noticeable to him.

At the sound of her unusual way of saying ‘right away,’ even the nanny and maids standing nearby widened their eyes. They exchanged puzzled glances.

Sophia continued without paying them any attention.

“I asked if he said I had to go right away.”

“Yes…”

“Goodness… Fine. I’ll be there shortly.”

Sophia let out a deep sigh.

The nanny and maids eventually burst into laughter.

“Your Highness, what on earth is going on?”

Her nanny asked.

What was this sudden nonsense she was spouting?

Sophia looked at her in confusion.

“What?”

“Your way of speaking is strange. You don’t sound like yourself at all.”

Sophia met her own eyes in the mirror.

It felt as though someone had suddenly struck her over the head.

Fluffy golden hair and green eyes. Chubby cheeks still full of baby fat, and even little dimples on the backs of her hands.

The little girl standing before the mirror was no longer Park Jeom-rye.

Sophia finally realized how serious her situation was.

A seven-year-old child, a gluttonous princess who was practically a fool until recently, had suddenly started speaking like an old grandmother. How bewildered must everyone be?

“Oh dear, I’m screwed.”

A sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it.

All the servants burst into laughter.

“’Screwed’? Pardon?”

“Your Highness, what’s with that way of speaking? You sound just like a country grandmother!”

Sophia’s face turned red with embarrassment.

She cleared her throat and continued.

“Do you think your stomachs are going to fall out from laughing so much? That’s enough, all of you!”

On the way to Hans’s room.

Her feet felt as heavy as if weights had been tied to them, and her head was spinning with worry.

What would Hans say if she spoke to him in this dialect?

Hans was an excessively doting father. He might even grab a physician and cause a commotion, insisting that something was wrong with his daughter.

‘Should I put on an act or something?’

She tried to recall how she had spoken as a child, but it wasn’t easy.

Had the flexibility of her tongue changed?

What was she supposed to do?

“Haa…”

Sophia sighed with worry.

Seeing such a tiny child constantly sighing, her nanny began to grow concerned.

“Your Highness, are you still feeling unwell?”

“It’s not that…”

Sophia opened her mouth to explain, but then stopped.

She herself couldn’t understand what was happening. How could she possibly expect someone else to understand if she tried to explain it?

“…No, never mind. Let’s go.”

Sophia sighed once more, walked past her nanny, and took the lead.

Her expression was troubled, and she walked with her hands clasped behind her back.

Her nanny stared at her in bewilderment.

The princess had been acting strangely since morning. She was surely still unwell.

Should she call a physician?

Just then, Sophia turned around and looked at her.

“What are you doing? Have your feet grown roots and gotten stuck to the ground?”

Her grumbling, irritated tone sounded exactly like that of an old grandmother.

Her face, however, was as youthful and innocent as ever.

The nanny had absolutely no idea what was going on.

When she stood there in a daze, Sophia impatiently waved her hand.

“Hurry up and come!”

“Yes? Yes!”

The nanny quickly snapped out of her daze and hurried after Sophia.

The only sound echoing through the corridor was Sophia clicking her tongue in disapproval.

His seven-year-old daughter, who had spent the previous two days groaning in pain, had apparently been caught by a guard while sneaking around outside the kitchen in the middle of the night.

The moment Hans received the report that morning, he nearly jumped out of his seat.

No wonder she kept gaining weight despite having her meals restricted. The little rascal had been sneaking into the kitchen like a mouse to eat behind everyone’s backs!

‘I can’t let this slide today. I need to give her a proper scolding so she’ll never indulge in her appetite like this again.’

Hans immediately sent an attendant to summon Sophia.

He leaned back against the sofa and waited for her.

A little while later, the door opened, and the tiny piglet, Sophia, came trotting inside.

The stern expression Hans had been wearing crumbled the moment he saw her face.

He had heard that she had fallen while trying to escape from the guard last night.

Now, there was a scab of dried blood on her pretty forehead.

Sophia always managed to get herself into trouble just when he thought she might finally behave.

What on earth had she done to end up falling like that this time?

He was worried she might be left with a scar.

Hans found it difficult to speak, but he forced himself to begin.

He still had to scold her. If he let her off the hook again, there was no telling what she might do next.

“Sophia. What on earth is wrong with you?”

“Pardon?”

Sophia responded with the same vacant expression she usually wore.

Hans pinched the bridge of his nose and gestured for the servants to leave.

“Come here and sit down.”

Hans patted his lap.

This was their special reconciliation ritual.

He would sit Sophia on his lap and rub his bushy beard against her cheeks.

Then Sophia would complain,

“Daddy! Daddy! It tickles!”

And after she giggled and fussed, they would make up.

But what happened this time?

No matter how much Hans patted his lap, Sophia simply stood there staring at him blankly. She didn’t come any closer.

“I said come here and sit down!”

Growing frustrated, Hans patted his knees even harder, until they practically hurt.

Sophia, meanwhile, was desperately trying to figure out what to do.

If she sat on his lap, he would undoubtedly rub his beard all over her face.

Ninety-eight years old plus seven years old.

Sophia had already lived a total of 105 years.

At her age, sitting on someone else’s lap was hardly something a person in their right mind would do.

But it wasn’t as though she could tell Hans,

“I’m Park Jeom-rye.”

‘What am I supposed to do? When you’ve got no choice, you’ve got no choice…’

Like someone being dragged off to a slaughterhouse, Sophia reluctantly shuffled over and stretched out both arms.

Only then did Hans break into a bright smile and scoop her up.

Delighted by the baby scent coming from Sophia, Hans was practically over the moon.

He kissed the top of her head and began making affectionate baby-talk sounds while rubbing his beard against her.

Sophia shuddered from head to toe as goosebumps spread across her body.

“You little troublemaker. Why were you wandering around the castle in the middle of the night?”

“I couldn’t sleep because I was hungry.”

“Hungry?”

Hans’s eyes widened at Sophia’s strange way of speaking.

He seemed considerably taken aback.

Sophia briefly considered trying to imitate a baby, but soon gave up.

‘He’s still my father. Surely he’ll understand something like this.’

Sophia let out a deep sigh before continuing.

“We all work just to put food on the table, don’t we? So I have to eat to survive. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to make a fuss by calling the maids in the middle of the night, so I just went by myself.”

Hans couldn’t understand what he was hearing.

Was this tiny little girl really speaking like an old peasant grandmother from some remote rural estate?

“Hehehe! Daddy! Butter! Cheese!”

The only things Sophia knew how to babble about before were butter and cheese.

Until just two days ago, her words had barely contained any vocabulary, let alone a coherent thought.

‘Could she already be going through puberty?!’

He had heard that children these days were growing up faster than before.

Hans’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“Why are you crying?”

Sophia was horrified by his expression.

“…I’m not.”

“Is it because you cracked your forehead?”

“Y-Yes… That’s right.”

Sophia clicked her tongue in disapproval.

She hopped down from Hans’s lap and gently patted his arm in consolation.

“Father. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on. Please don’t cry.”

“Y-Yes… All right.”

It took Hans quite some time to stop crying.

A little later, after he had finally calmed down, he took a sip of water and spoke with renewed determination.

“Sophia.”

“Yes.”

“You know that your marriage prospect has arrived.”

“Yes. You told me the day before yesterday, remember?”

Her dry response sent a cold sweat trickling down Hans’s back.

“What should I do? Should I go and greet his parents?”

“Y-Yes… That’s right.”

“Fine. I understand. When are we supposed to meet?”

“At today’s formal luncheon… And your way of speaking…”

“Oh, my way of speaking? Well, that’s something I’ve been thinking about, too.”

“Thinking about?”

“Yes. My tongue keeps flapping around on its own, so what can I do except try to speak less? I’ll be careful and watch my words.”

Sophia answered with remarkable nonchalance.

Hans’s jaw practically dropped.

“Father, then we’re finished here, aren’t we?”

“Huh? Y-Yes, I suppose.”

“Then I’ll be going now. I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

Sophia gave a little nod in greeting and turned around.

Then, with her hands clasped behind her back, she leisurely walked out of the room.

‘Should I call a physician?’

Sophia’s appearance reminded him so much of his late grandmother.

Hans rubbed his eyes several times, watching until Sophia had completely disappeared.

The events that had just unfolded felt like a dream.