T K H C

🍁 Chapter 9

Chapter 2. Why The Kids Changed

Carol had been acting depressed since Julien came to visit.

It was as if she had finally taken off her rose-tinted glasses and noticed the dead, brown grass on the road.

Anyway, she had been shocked pretty badly. I should have left her outside of the room.

It was difficult for me, too, because I didn’t know much about this. Raising kids is a lot different from volunteering as a tutor in college.

What should I do?

Despite my worries, Carol began to be more active again when it was time to meet with the prince once more.

“Let’s go!”

“Why are you so excited?” I asked.

To my relief, I hadn’t heard about the Empress doing anything bad to Julien the past week, but I haven’t seen him since last week either.

So, my heart jumped with a slight feeling of anxiety and relief.

Carol wrung her hands. “Let’s just hurry up and go!”

I couldn’t win against Carol.

As we entered the palace, I could see that there was something different about Julien’s smile. Maybe it was something in the tilt of his lips, but it was enough to reassure me.

It seemed that nothing had happened to him this past week.

The Empress greeted us with the same bright smile as before.

“Welcome, Miss Carol, Miss Sharon. You’re both beautiful as always.”

Her graceful facade didn’t look as good as it seemed before, now that I knew what sort of ugliness and scars hid beneath it.

“Thank you, your majesty. It’s a wonderful morning,” Carol and I chorused.

The Empress’s eyes wrinkled, and my ire grew when I saw her benevolent smile.

How could you be so cruel with a face like that?

Rather than feeling sorry for her, I resented her because she vented her pain onto a child, unable to take care of her own wound.

“Now, I think I will head back first today as well. I don’t want to be a hindrance as you three play. Julien, will you be able to take care of our guests properly?”

“Yes, mother.”

At his mature answer, the Empress smiled contentedly.

She looked like a monster. I clenched my fist.

Carol, frightened, stepped behind me and grabbed the back of my dress. When the Empress reached out to pat Julien on his shoulder, I saw Carol squeezing her eyes shut.

The Empress dotingly patted the prince’s shoulder, and he flinched. Finally, she left the garden.

Then, all of our tension seemed to fly away.

“…What. Why were you guys more nervous than I was?” asked Julien, his voice like a sigh.

Carol mumbled, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

Carol pouted at his cold answer. Then, she whispered to me, “That jerk. I was worried for nothing.”

…Like I said, she hated him because the two of them are similar.

“It was nice of you to worry about your friend, Carol.”