The Two Babies Changing the Original Story Chapter 15

After meeting Cleus, Ellie couldn’t leave the mirror.

“Am I really that pretty…?”

Strictly speaking, Cleus had complimented Ellie’s outfit, but when someone says “pretty,” that kind of detail didn’t matter.

“Pretty” was a compliment she almost never heard from her brother.

It wasn’t that her brother didn’t give compliments; he just stated things exactly as they were, so he rarely used such soft words.

‘Brother, this flower is pretty!’

‘It’s a white flower.’

‘It’s tiny! Like a grain of rice!’

‘Yes, the petals are very small.’

It was always like that.

Even when Ellie stuck the flower behind her ear and asked, “How is it?” it was similar.

‘It goes well with Ellie’s hair color.’

‘…What does that even mean?’

‘Hmm… the color combination is perfect?’

Her brother didn’t seem to know what he was talking about either.

But unlike her brother, Ellie had learned the meaning of “pretty” properly from books. And she naturally understood what it meant.

People all had different standards for “pretty.” Even when looking at the same thing, depending on the heart, it could look beautiful or ugly.

Ellie was happy that Cleus saw her as pretty.

“You look lovely. Our princess is always lovely,” said Madam Laval beside her, fussing as always with compliments.

Ellie pouted and stepped away from the mirror.

She was truly happy when Cleus said she was pretty, but Madam Laval’s words were just whatever.

“Then shall we look at dresses again today?”

“Dresses?”

“Yes, you can never have too many dresses.”

“Uh, um….”

At Madam Laval’s words, Ellie tensed a little.

Pretty dresses were nice. But she remembered Princess Ellia, who ended up getting kicked out after buying and collecting too many dresses.

She must not follow the same path.

And once she saw pretty dresses, she liked them too much and wanted more, so it was hard to stay disciplined.

“The seasons keep changing, so you must have clothes that suit each season. And since you’re growing, if you don’t make new dresses each year, soon you won’t have anything to wear.”

It was as if Madam Laval could read Ellie’s mind as she explained a very reasonable reason to buy clothes.

When Ellie lived with her brother, anything that covered her body counted as clothes.

It only had the purpose of blocking cold and bugs.

As Ellie grew and her clothes got too small, her brother would go find new clothes somewhere. He only brought two or three sets at most.

The forest where she lived with her brother didn’t really have “seasons.” It was always cool.

Once in a while, there were days colder than usual when they needed to light the fireplace, or warm enough that she had to roll up her sleeves.

But in the world in books, there was spring, summer, autumn, winter. She had read that clothes were needed for each season.

“So you must buy clothes ahead of time before the seasons change.”

“Oh!”

“And since you’re going to become king, you need even more splendid and finer clothes.”

That was true.

She couldn’t dress too plainly if she became king.

Ellie finally nodded.

“Then tomorrow we’ll call the Minister of Finance and make a plan for your dresses.”

“Okay!”

“Then shall we choose who to invite for lunch tomorrow?”

Madam Laval held out the list again.

A little star was drawn next to Cleus’s name.

Since he had already been invited, calling him again would look like favoritism.

Ellie also remembered hearing that Cleus was busy, so she had no intention of inviting him again.

‘I’ll go visit him instead!’

But she couldn’t go right away.

They said that a king’s outing required a lot of preparation.

And if she didn’t invite people evenly, others would be sad.

“Duke Berndt was about your age and it was fine last time, so how about inviting girls your age today as well? The ones I recommended before.”

“Mmh….”

Ellie hesitated.

The girls Madam Laval had recommended before were Princess Ellia’s real friends. But her brother had said firmly that they were not good friends.

‘Friends who only have fun with you when everything is going well aren’t real friends. Real friends help you when times are hard.’

These friends had turned away when Princess Ellia was in trouble.

They were friends Ellie didn’t even want to meet again.

But she also felt like checking for herself.

Cleus, too, had been someone unimportant in Princess Ellia’s life, but once she met him, he was nice.

Maybe if Ellie became friends with these girls, something might change too.

“Okay! I’ll meet them!”

Ellie bravely decided to challenge herself to make new friends.

“A wonderful idea! I’ll send word right away.”

Madam Laval cheered for Ellie’s decision happily.

Seeing her happy made Ellie happy too.

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

To make a good impression on her new friends, Ellie put in extra effort today.

Getting new dresses made was something to be careful about, but wearing the dresses she already had in the most splendid way she wanted—that should be fine!

And the result:

Pwoooosh—Pwoooosh.

“Y-Your Highness… um… what if we just removed one ribbon?”

“No!”

“Then at least the flowers—”

“No!”

At Ellie’s firm refusal, the maids stepped back with tears in their eyes.

Today again, Ellie’s taste had not changed.

“You seem to have gone even bolder than usual today, our princess?”

Madam Laval gave her advice as gently as she could.

But because the advice was phrased too much in the style of high society, Ellie didn’t understand it at all.

“Yep! I’m meeting new friends! They’re all going to dress pretty! And since I’m a princess, I need to decorate myself even prettier, like a princess!”

“Ah… aha…”

Madam Laval couldn’t stop her any further.

Well, if the princess said that pwooooosh was pretty, then the world simply had to adjust its standards to match.

And so, once again, the princess stepped out to meet her friends with her entire body shouting pwooooosh.

The maids followed behind, picking up the flower petals that fell with every step Ellie took.

“Princess Ellia, we greet—oh my.”

“Wow!”

Each girl let out her own dazzling exclamation.

Madam Laval squeezed her eyes shut. She knew all too well exactly what kind of exclamation that was.

She had raised their princess so gently and beautifully all this time…

She had expected the princess to continue growing adorably like before, but after losing her memory and gaining the stubbornness of a seven-year-old, things had taken a turn for the worse.

“Nice to meet you!”

The two young ladies quickly snapped back to their senses at Ellie’s greeting.

“I am Vivian, eldest daughter of the Count of Senol.”

“I am Juruna, second daughter of the Marquis of Chent.”

The two little ladies gracefully spread their flower-petal-like dresses and bowed politely.

Ellie was amazed by their refined manners.

‘They look more like princesses than I do!’

Vivian was older than Ellie.

Because of that, she carried herself with far more maturity and composure.

But Juruna was not lacking either.

She still looked like a child, but she had a surprisingly elegant air about her.

Ellie suddenly felt her confidence shrink.

‘Am… am I okay like this?’

Ellie valued everything big, fancy, and abundant!

Vivian and Juruna valued harmony and overall balance, even while being elegant.

It wasn’t very different from what the maids and Madam Laval had gently suggested earlier.

“You’re both so pretty…”

At Ellie’s honest compliment, Vivian and Juruna covered their mouths and giggled softly.

Even their small laughter was pretty.

So this is what it means to be sophisticated, Ellie realized.

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness.”

“You’re pretty too, Your Highness.”

Juruna’s compliment made Ellie lift her shrinking head at once.

“Really?!”

“Yes, I want to wear that royal ribbon too!”

“……!”

She had complimented something so specific—it must be sincere.

Juruna even began examining Ellie’s outfit in detail.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen that lace pattern. May I ask whose work it is?”

“Uh…? I dunno?”

“Ah, then can you tell me where you got the beads on that ribbon?”

“I don’t know…”

Ellie was baffled by such specific questions.

Was she supposed to know things like that?

“I think the lace might be the work of Madam Saran.”

At that moment, Vivian joined in.

“Madam Saran’s lace always has a teardrop-shaped knot at the end. Unless someone copied her style…”

“Ah…! That’s so like you, Vivian!”

Juruna clapped in admiration.

Vivian bowed humbly, but her eyes and smile showed confidence.

“Vivian knows so much about fashion and decoration.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yes! Next time, let’s get matching dresses, Your Highness!”

At Juruna’s excitement, Vivian bowed again with modesty.

“It’s an excessive compliment, but it would be a great honor if I ever had the chance to tailor a dress with Your Highness.”

“Uh… o-okay…”

“After all, the one who will lead the trends of high society from now on is you, Your Highness.”

“M-me?”

“Of course. Everyone in the world will try their very best to copy what you wear, what you put in your hair, what you choose for shoes.”

Vivian said it with certainty.

But instead of feeling proud, Ellie felt pressured.

It wasn’t just about wearing a pretty dress and feeling happy—she would have to study and develop it too?

She had no desire to dive into dresses as deeply and professionally as these girls did.

Ellie suddenly realized that dresses were not her hobby after all.