The Two Babies Changing the Original Story Chapter 10

This time, she had a dream.

In the dream, she met her brother.

‘You’re doing well, right?’

‘Yeah, brother.’

‘I knew you would.’

As always, her brother gave her a compliment that didn’t really sound like one.

Still, Ellie was happy to see him again after just one day, so she smiled brightly.

Her brother, facing Ellie, made a strange expression. It was one she often saw.

It was the face he made when he wanted to smile with her but felt too awkward to do it.

‘I miss you, brother.’

It had only been a single day, yet it felt as long as a whole year.

At Ellie’s whining, her brother’s lips moved slightly.

‘…too.’

‘Mm?’

But she couldn’t hear what he said.

“Princess, it’s morning.”

The short night had already ended.

 

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

The princess’s daily life was ideal.

It was exactly as she had read in the book.

Yesterday, everything had been simple and modest because of the funeral, but starting today, life returned to normal.

If the princess had been grieving, everyone would have become gloomy and quiet, but since Ellie was lively, there was no need for that.

“Even though it’s breakfast, it’s amazing!”

The chef—whose motivation had exploded after Ellie’s praise last night—was especially excited.

Though it was morning, a feast-like meal was set on the table.

“Aren’t we eating together today?”

“Even so, eating every meal together could be too much. Everyone has work to do, after all.”

Eating meals with her could interfere with their work.

It was the same reason Ellie didn’t eat snacks with her brother when he was focused on research.

Ellie lowered her head gloomily and nodded.

Eating breakfast alone with Madam Laval wasn’t as delicious as last night’s dinner.

“For lunch, just as I mentioned last night, how about inviting a few people to eat with you?”

“Okay!”

“Then I’ll tell them to send the list right away.”

Near the end of breakfast, an older man came into the room.

“Good morning, Your Highness. I am Duke Notman, serving as the royal counselor. This is our first formal greeting, isn’t it?”

“Um…”

A strange face, a strange position, a strange name. Everything felt unfamiliar.

It was a title and name barely mentioned even in the book.

‘Come to think of it, Princess Ellia was a queen, yet she barely thought about national affairs.’

The princess’s daily life described in the book was filled with thoughts of lunch while having breakfast, and thoughts of the evening party while having lunch.

In between, she chose dresses, matched new jewels, and sometimes got excited about which handsome young noble might send her flowers.

Her brother had always clicked his tongue at those parts.

‘No wonder the country ended up a mess.’

Ellie never really understood what he meant.

Then how should a country be run well?

Her brother had given her some advice, but she still didn’t know what exactly she was supposed to do.

‘Maybe I’ll understand if I meet people first?’

Princess Ellia’s social circle was small.

She always stuck to the people who played with her, and she hated meeting those who didn’t.

That counselor, Duke Notman, seemed to be one of the people she never played with.

“What does a counselor do?”

“He handles the country’s affairs on behalf of the king.”

“Then what does the king do?”

At Ellie’s follow-up question, Duke Notman raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“The king… only needs to be there as king.”

“?”

“So the king doesn’t do anything?”

“For now, yes. You’re still young.”

“Hmm…”

“If there ever is something Your Highness must do, I will tell you separately.”

“Okay!”

Only then did Ellie feel relieved.

If he promised to tell her what to do, she wouldn’t get kicked out of being king just because she didn’t work, right?

‘Good, that’s one thing done!’

She took another small step toward survival today.

“For now, Your Highness’s task is to look at this list and decide whom to invite. Meeting with vassals and talking with them is also part of a king’s duty.”

“Got it!”

Duke Notman handed her the list he had brought.

“I wrote down names, families, ages, genders, and brief descriptions. I hope it helps.”

“I’ll read it out loud for you, Princess.”

Lady Laval sat beside her and held the list with her.

She naturally assumed Ellie couldn’t read.

“Okay.”

Ellie also assumed she wouldn’t be able to read.

This was the world inside the book, and she was Princess Ellia now…

But as Ellie looked at the list, she gasped.

‘I can read!’

And she could read it smoothly.

Ellie could read on her own.

Thanks to her brother’s early education and her natural comprehension.

Surprisingly, the written language in this world was the same.

‘How is this possible?’

Maybe her brother also lived somewhere in this world?

Or this might be the same phenomenon as becoming the princess with her own face—something that happened because this was the world inside the book.

“Should I read it from the beginning? Or would you like me to find people I recommend first?”

Madam Laval’s voice pulled Ellie out of her thoughts.

At this point in the book, Princess Ellia still couldn’t read.

Madam Laval dressed her beautifully, fed her delicious food, and made sure she rested—but had paid no attention to her education.

Ellie pretended not to read in order to act like Princess Ellia.

“Can you recommend someone?”

“I’ll have to look through the list first, but…”

Madam Laval focused more on raising Princess Ellia than anything else. As the princess’s nursemaid, she had the position to dominate the social world if she wanted, but she never tried.

She liked playing pretend tea parties with the princess in her room far more than attending social gatherings. So she wasn’t knowledgeable about society.

Madam Laval buried her face in the list and began reading line by line.

“Oh, here—there’s a young lady named Vavian from the Senol County. She’s about two years older than the princess. And this one, Lady Jurna from the Chent Marquisate. Their ages are similar, so they might get along well together.”

Ellie widened her eyes at the names Lady Laval picked.

‘Princess Ellia’s future friends!’

But that was far in the future.

Girls Ellie’s age were not yet old enough to appear in society.

They couldn’t attend big parties.

But if their parents held private tea parties, the children could pay a brief visit.

Before debuting socially, young boys and girls usually made friends through their parents’ tea parties like this.

Since Ellie was a princess—and because she disliked playing with other children—she met friends much later. And even then, it happened by chance, while chatting about dresses at a banquet.

‘What should I do…’

Ellie stared at the list, thinking.

There were no kids her age in the palace. It seemed good to make friends early, but she worried meeting them too early might cause problems.

Ellie read through the list carefully.

‘Oh!’

Among all the unfamiliar names, she spotted Cleus Berndt.

“It’s Cleus!”

Ellie pointed at Cleus’s name with her finger and shouted.

She was so happy she forgot she was supposed to act like she couldn’t read.

“Oh my? Did you just read that, Princess?”

“Ah! …Yeah.”

“You only knew the little I taught you, but when did you learn so much!”

Madam Laval looked amazed.

Ellie broke into a cold sweat and lied.

“Well… I studied alone every night!”

“Oh my, but I put you to bed every night.”

“Th-that’s why… while lying down… in my head.”

“You became able to read just from that?”

The more she explained, the worse it got.

“I—I worked really hard!”

“Oh my…”

“Hoooh…”

Madam Laval and Duke Notman exchanged glances.

Ellie had no idea what adults might be thinking.

‘Did they notice? What if they say I’m not Princess Ellia and kick me out? What if I get thrown in jail?!’

Ellie’s eyes trembled in panic.

Then Duke Notman spoke solemnly, like delivering a verdict.

“In my opinion, Her Highness may be…”

I don’t want to go to jail!

If you confess your crime early, the punishment gets lighter.

Maybe they’d forgive her.

“Actually! I—!”

“A genius, perhaps?”

“…Huh?”

Ellie, who had been ready to confess everything, froze at the unexpected words.

“A genius?”

“Maybe you just didn’t study before. But now that you tried, you might actually be a genius!”

“…….”

Ellie rolled her eyes upward while staring at Madam Laval.

Well… she was a genius…

Her brother said so too…

“If so, you might need special gifted education. I should suggest it to the Privy Council.”

Duke Notman said something Ellie couldn’t understand.

Madam Laval became even more excited at that.

‘So Princess Ellia wasn’t a genius after all?!’

Ellie became extremely troubled.