Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 59

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 59
To such an innocent question, Erichi suddenly bit his lip hard, trembling as he spoke.
“Of course, if the Grand Duchess commands me to marry, I shall obey, but I would be ever grateful if you would refrain from issuing such an order.”
“So you’re saying it’s possible to take in two complete strangers as adopted children simultaneously?”
“It is possible. More precisely, I would take the child as my adopted son, and if Briget serves as the child’s guardian, it would give the child a far more solid status. For something arranged on such short notice, it’s quite a respectable position.”
‘Surely not?’
I blinked and asked.
“Erichi.”
“Yes, Grand Duchess?”
“Did you have feelings for Briget?”
Erichi sprang up abruptly, then tumbled back down as the carriage lurched.
His eyes burned with resentment as he spoke.
“Why on earth would I have feelings for such a demon!”
“Suit yourself.”
Erichi slumped in his chair and began to weep bitterly.
The child carefully approached him and poked him repeatedly, saying,
“Mister, the Princess gave me this candy. Eat it and stop crying.”
I found myself thinking how remarkable this child was.
‘And he guarded that so carefully until now.’
A child who could barely manage one meal a day, willingly surrendering something sweet—it took far more than ordinary patience.
Though he was gentle only to women and harsh to men, his nature seemed fundamentally good.
Erichi saw the candy and ground his teeth.
“Ugh, whatever, whatever……”
In any case, Erichi shoved the Peppermint Candy the child offered into his mouth and wiped away his tears.
‘Oh dear. I do feel a bit sorry for him.’
But was Briget really so undesirable?
Having served as the Empress Dowager’s head lady-in-waiting, Briget’s appearance was certainly neat and proper. Though her eyes did gleam as if they held a thousand blades……
‘Perhaps she’s simply not his type.’
I glanced out the window lightly.
Well, in any case.
“Will you ask Briget if she’d like to become this child’s guardian?”
* * *
“It pleases me greatly, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”
After arriving at the estate, Briget answered without a moment’s hesitation.
Her readiness was so refreshing that I actually felt compelled to double-check.
“Are you truly certain?”
“To sever the wrists of the scheming Council of Elders, surely such a thing is hardly a burden?”
I laughed.
Listening to Briget speak, I almost fell under the illusion that this was not the Imperial Palace of Pasa at all.
Of course, to bring in such an accomplished attendant in the Imperial Palace of Pasa, one would have to be a concubine of very high rank.
To have Briget at my side, I would likely need to be at least a first or second empress.
Erichi, listening from beside me, spoke up.
“Then I shall prepare the documents at once. We can always adjust the dates later.”
The seal of the Grand Duchess proved far more useful than I’d anticipated.
While we couldn’t reduce the amount of the debt, such figures could certainly be altered.
“Still, I wonder if the Council of Elders will accept this child without complaint.”
Erichi’s brow furrowed.
Briget looked down at Erichi with undisguised contempt.
“If it cannot be done, then we shall make it possible.”
“Pardon?”
“That you have yet to grasp the acumen of the Grand Duchess is astounding—how can someone with such shallow discernment truly serve as the Grand Duke’s aide?”
“Grand Duchess!”
Erichi looked up at me with a fragile whimper.
“Is it truly right that I should take an adopted child with such a person? My pure dignity is being trampled, ahhhhh!”
After a few sharp blows from Briget, Erichi fell silent immediately.
Suddenly, I felt a slight tug at the hem of my skirt.
“Your Highness.”
The child pronounced “Grand Duchess” in an odd way, as if the sound was difficult for him.
“Why are you going so far for just one person?”
“Well.”
Privately, it’s because you’re the son of a Grand Duke and Grand Duchess who’ll return within a few years.
And in my heart? You’ve simply stuck with me from the very beginning.
I smiled at the child, who was still waiting for my answer.
“You called me a princess, didn’t you?”
“Yes…….”
“It makes me happy. I’m actually a fake princess, you see.”
“What?!”
I’d said it carelessly, but the child’s expression turned serious and he suddenly grabbed my hand.
“I’ll make you a real princess later, I promise!”
“By becoming a hero?”
“A man never speaks with a forked tongue!”
‘Why does a five-year-old only say things like that.’
I burst out laughing.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
The child’s face turned beet red. He mumbled something I could barely hear, and I smiled as I asked.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Gokgwaengi.”
…….
The child spoke a bit urgently.
“If it’s strange, you can change it to something better. Like Geummack, or…… Silver Coin, or…….”
“I’ll give you a nice name later.”
“D-don’t you like my name?”
The child suddenly flustered.
“I-I’m really good at Dog Play!”
“……Dog Play? What’s that?”
“The older boys throw stones down the cliff and I crawl down to fetch them. Everyone says I’m the best at it.”
…….
“I’m good at other things too. I can polish chamber pots until they shine, and I’m good at laundry.”
The child counted on his fingers one by one. His fingernails were all broken and filthy.
“And I eat very little. Just one meal a day — a little leftover porridge is enough for me.”
Then he looked up at me with desperate eyes.
“That’s impressive, right? I can do even better, so please don’t send me away…….”
…….
I’d hesitated at first about taking him in, but a child was still a child.
His feet were completely blistered, his whole body was filthy black, and he was covered in wounds everywhere — I didn’t need to ask how much he’d suffered in that mine.
“Don’t worry.”
My words instantly brightened the child’s face.
So much so that he went quietly into the servants’ arms when they said they’d take him to be washed.
“Actually, I can wash myself without the ladies’ help…….”
Though his face certainly turned beet red.
* * *
“My goodness?”
I was startled when I saw the child after he came out of the bath.
“Your head — they shaved it?”
“Yes, I thought it would be better to let it grow back.”
His hair had been yellowed and brittle like straw from malnutrition, and when you ran your hand through it, it made a crackling sound.
But the face that emerged from under that acorn-like head…….
“You’re actually very pretty, aren’t you?”
With just a little more flesh on his cheeks, he’d look like a young nobleman from any noble house.
But most of all, his eyes were beautiful.
After washing, the pupils that had been only dark now rippled with light. Silver flickers danced across them like scales sliding through water.
“Don’t I look pretty?”
“I’ve never seen a child this beautiful before!”
The servants’ words made the child embarrassed, and he wiggled his wet toes. Then, glancing around nervously, he spoke with a bashful expression.
“Ladies, thank you for washing me. Once my feet are all healed, I’ll do laundry for you too.”
“Ladies?”
“Don’t call us that!”
The servants burst into laughter.
In the midst of it all, both Erichi and Briget had come in, marveling at the child. Briget in particular studied him carefully.
“What is it, Briget?”
Briget tilted her head.
“No, Your Grace. I thought he resembled someone.”
‘What?’
Had Briget noticed something?
That he was the missing son of the Molsen ducal house?
“Who does he look like?”
Briget’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then she shook her head.
“I’m not quite sure, Your Grace. It escapes me.”
Her expression cleared as she continued.
“But he is certainly a lovely and beautiful boy. With a bit more weight on him, I think he’d be prettier than most of the children in the Imperial Palace.”
“Then… it wouldn’t be difficult to add him to the candidates for Court Attendant when the selection happens shortly?”
A sly smile flickered across Briget’s eyes for the first time in ages. She grinned wickedly.
“I, Briget, shall serve the Grand Duchess with utmost devotion. Please, Your Grace, display your authority as you wish.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————