The Two Babies Changing the Original Story Chapter 24

“It’s about time we returned to the palace.”

After looking at the rabbits, they had also toured the duke, the parrots, and even the falcons.

Marquis Simon carefully advised her.

She had suddenly barged in, been served tea, and toured the entire estate. Even if she was the princess who would become queen, it was proper etiquette to withdraw by now.

“Hing….”

But Ellie didn’t want to leave.

Playing with Cleus was the most fun thing in the world.

Besides, this was the first time she had ever gone to a friend’s house.

And it was even better because it was Cleus’s space, where he lived.

“I want to play longer….”

Ellie peeked up at Cleus, anxious for his reaction.

If Cleus said no, she couldn’t throw a tantrum.

“You may stay for dinner.”

But Cleus immediately gave permission.

Ellie turned triumphantly to Marquis Simon.

‘Did you hear that?!’

Marquis Simon wore a troubled expression.

It was wonderful that two people who almost became enemies were getting along so well… but was it really all right to let them simply play like children?

They were children, yes, but behind the relationship between these two lay countless entangled interests invisible to the eye.

“Well, why not. It’s just one meal.”

Madam Laval took Ellie’s side.

Rules and etiquette were nothing to her—what mattered was letting the princess do whatever she wanted.

“Then we shall also gratefully accept your hospitality, Duke Berndt.”

Madam Laval smiled brightly as she accepted Cleus’s invitation.

“I cannot promise perfection, but please enjoy your stay.”

“Oh my…”

Madam Laval had been born into a noble family, married a noble, and remained a noble even now.

Having lived her whole life as an aristocrat, she knew exactly how etiquette tutors taught their students.

In the beginning, everyone spoke exactly as their etiquette tutor instructed. Over time, they adjusted those teachings, refining their speech to better suit their own personalities and thoughts.

Eight was still an age too young to properly recite even what one had been taught. To Madam Laval, Cleus—speaking so clearly and precisely in the formal phrases he had learned—looked utterly adorable.

‘What precious little ones.’

So cute. So, so cute.

Her own princess was the cutest in the world, of course, but the young Duke Berndt was incredibly cute as well.

And placing a cute princess next to a cute little duke made them twice as adorable.

“Would you like to wait in a room until dinner is ready?”

Cleus, as expected of the heir to House Berndt, had stamina far beyond that of an ordinary child.

He still had enough energy to run ten more laps around the estate, but Ellie did not.

Seeing the faint shadow of fatigue appear on her face, Cleus suggested resting instead of playing.

“Uuung….”

But Ellie wanted to keep playing with Cleus.

She didn’t want to rest alone in a room.

“I’ll show you my room.”

“Okay!”

So she wouldn’t be waiting alone—she’d still be with Cleus!

Ellie brightened immediately.

And Cleus’s room… The thought alone thrilled her.

She wanted to see it even more than the huge rabbits or the rainbow-colored hawks.

“I’ll guide you.”

Cleus was pleased by how quickly Ellie perked up.

Once again, he held out his arm like an adult, offering an escort.

“Mm!”

Ellie was now used to clinging to Cleus’s arm.

She was such a tiny princess that she couldn’t even reach an adult’s waist; at the palace, no one could escort her properly.

Usually, Madam Laval carried Ellie around or walked hand-in-hand with her.

But walking with an escort, just like an adult—that was Ellie’s absolute favorite.

She lifted her skirt lightly with one hand, just like a proper princess, and followed Cleus’s lead.

“Here it is.”

Cleus had brought her to the lord’s chamber.

Right after the funeral, Cleus had moved into this room.

“It’s so big…”

It was larger than the princess’s room.

Ellie’s room was designed for a child—full of small, charming furniture and sized just right so she wouldn’t feel scared.

But Cleus’s room was the chamber used by successive dukes.

Spacious, heavy, stately furniture. Nothing matched a child’s small body. Even the colors were somber.

“Cleus, do you sleep here all alone?”

“Yes.”

Ellie stared at the enormous bed she could practically run across.

Her own bed was large too, but Madam Laval stayed beside her until she fell asleep. In the storybook, Princess Ellia slept with Madam Laval until she was twelve.

“Aren’t you scared?”

Cleus’s shoulder flinched.

In House Berndt, the word scared was basically forbidden.

“I—I’m not scared at all!”

The Berndt family was famous for physical prowess and a sword lineage passed down for generations. Their courage and skill were widely renowned.

Cleus, too, was eagerly waiting for the day he’d grow strong like the knights of his house.

And thankfully, he was born with excellent potential and grew stronger every day.

So he absolutely could not admit that darkness and a huge room were scary.

“Amazing! Duke Berndt is really brave!”

Ellie believed him entirely and was deeply impressed.

Now Cleus definitely couldn’t confess that “actually, it’s a little scary.”

“I—I’ll be a great duke!”

The captain of the Berndt knight order always emphasized how important it was to admit one’s weaknesses.

And Cleus wasn’t normally boastful.

He knew perfectly well that he was still just a small, fragile child.

So why did he always end up bragging like this in front of Ellie?

He felt like banging his head against a wall.

“What kind of great duke?”

Ellie unknowingly dug deeper.

“I’ll inherit my family’s martial arts and create the strongest knight order in history.”

“Wow…!”

This was even more specific and confident than what he’d said last time.

Not just a knight order—the strongest in history.

Ellie clapped at his determined answer.

“I’m going to become strong too!”

“……? Your Highness?”

“Yeah! So I can protect the world from being destroyed! …Huh.”

Caught up in Cleus’s ambition, Ellie accidentally blurted out her secret.

She covered her mouth too late.

She could clearly see the countless question marks floating in Cleus’s eyes.

‘Oh no! He’s going to find out everything!’

Her heart plummeted.

What if he discovered she wasn’t the real Princess Ellia?

‘An impostor pretending to be the princess? Unforgivable!’

What if he tried to cut her down?

‘She’s a fake princess!’

What if he spread rumors and she got chased out?

And what if he asked how she knew the world would be destroyed? Should she say it was a dream? A prophecy? Or claim she was super smart and figured it out?!

“World… destruction…”

Instead of suspicion, Cleus was captivated by the weight of the words he’d never heard before.

Just as he admired physical strength, powerful words thrilled him.

Strong things—whether people or words—were the coolest.

And a king striving to stop the world from ending?

‘So cool…!’

Cleus’s heart raced wildly.

It was even cooler than blindly pursuing strength.

No one around him had ever spoken of such grand dreams.

His small world suddenly felt bigger.

He was filled with the desire to help Ellie achieve that goal—

A feeling he had never experienced before.

“May I join you?”

“Uh, huh?”

“I want to help stop the world from being destroyed.”

“N–No!”

Ellie grew pale and slapped her hands over his mouth.

Then she glanced at the adults quietly waiting by the walls.

The room was so large that the adults hadn’t heard the conversation. If they had, they would have all looked shocked.

Ellie put her finger to her lips and widened her eyes.

“This is a really, really big secret.”

“A secret…?”

“Yeah! If someone else finds out…”

“If they find out?”

“The world might be destroyed even faster!”

It was a blatant lie.

Ellie herself didn’t know how the world had ended.

She only knew it was connected to Princess Ellia’s magical power—but the details were a mystery.

She was supposed to ask her brother about it the next morning, but she woke up as Princess Ellia instead.

But right now, hiding the fact that she knew anything at all was more important.

If people started questioning how she knew about the world’s destruction, she might never talk her way out of it.

“Gasp!”

Ellie’s threat worked perfectly on Cleus.

Startled, he covered his mouth tightly and nodded.

“I will never tell anyone.”

“Promise.”

“I swear it.”

Cleus knelt on one knee before Ellie and looked up at her.

“……!”

He wasn’t a knight yet, but a vow made as the future Duke Berndt—and as someone who would become a knight—was never light.

Ellie clutched her chest.

‘S–So cool…!’

The two children exchanged awe at each other like characters from a storybook.

Watching from afar, the adults simply smiled, not knowing any of the context.

‘One can never understand children’s worlds…’

‘As long as they’re cute, isn’t that enough…?’