Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Jane couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked when she saw Ellea’s expression that brightened in an instant.
“Princess, who sent you and why are you laughing so much?”
“It was sent by someone called my brother. Looking at the contents, I get the feeling he’s still the same.”
“He’s very sweet, isn’t he?”
Looking at the expression on Ellea’s face as she looked at the letter, and just by hearing the words, Jane could sense that the two siblings were exceptionally close.
“You’re right. He’s too sweet, that’s the problem.”
“Okay Princess, I’ll leave you to it.”
Jane quietly left the room to let the Princess have her alone time.
As she did so, Ellea’s gaze was still fixed on the sincere letter.
Inside, there was a full list of trivial things, from greetings like ‘How are you, how do you feel, how’s the food, how’s the people…..’
As expected, by the end, it was still all concern for her.
“If anyone tries to bully you, let me know, and I’ll run right over…”
“…………………………… Bellea, that’s so you.”
Perhaps it was because of the conversation she had just had with Bandel about family, Ellea felt somewhat more affectionate.
The fact that she had someone who cared about her, even if they were far away.
‘I don’t have to tell the truth.’
She would be a little more comfortable here if her family was relieved. She didn’t want them to worry about her anymore. The time she fell ill was long enough.
After reading the same message over and over again, Ellea picked up her pen to reply. She didn’t know what to write, along with a pleasant worry.
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“Jane, I’m going out for a while.”
“What? Where are you going, Princess?”
Early in the morning, after training as usual, Ellea returned to her room, where she was taken care of by Jane and informed of her schedule.
As she had made up her mind since the day she arrived here, she was going to go out of the Imperial Palace today.
‘I’ll have to wait and see how things go today before I can tell you.’
She pondered for a moment, then decided to talk about this later. She didn’t know what she would find when she went.
“I have somewhere to go. I’ll try not to be late, so don’t worry.”
“Then I’ll have a carriage ready for you.”
“Thank you.”
Jane did not ask for details, although she was curious about where Ellea was going since she spent her time only in the palace up to this point.
“And can you prepare what I ask.”
“Of course. Please take your time.”
Soon after, the more Ellea talked about what she needed, the more suspicious Jane’s expression became, but it wasn’t a very difficult request, so she quickly nodded.
“I’ll get it ready for you right away. How shall I prepare you for your outing?”
“As comfortable as possible. Clothes that won’t get in the way too much.”
Jane listened to Ellea’s request and braided her long hair into a single strand and pinned it in place. She chose a dress that had no decorations and was as convenient to move in as possible.
In the hurry to get ready to go out, everything she had asked for was done. Seeing Ellea standing in front of the carriage, Borence couldn’t help but say with concern.
“Still, I think it would be best to have an escort with you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere dangerous, and I won’t be late.”
Borence was worried about the Princess going alone, but she had to give in to Ellea’s determination.
“Yes, then take care and have a good trip.”
So the carriage slowly departed, and as it left the Imperial Palace, Ellea told the horseman her destination.
They passed quickly through the distances of the capital, and the closer they got to the destination, the more familiar the streets became. And before long, her face was filled with anticipation.
“I hope everything was alright while I was gone.”
With a small worry, Ellea hurriedly dismounted from the carriage when the horseman announced their arrival. At the end of her destination was a large garden and an old, two-story wooden house. Ellea asked the horseman to follow her with the luggage.
“Please leave my luggage here and come back to pick me up later.”
“I understand.”
After the horseman left, Ellea knocked on the door with a nervous feeling. And soon, there was a commotion inside.
As soon as she realized that the owners of the noise were children, she understood what was going on, and she smiled naturally.
As the footsteps approached, she soon began to hear voices as well.
“I’ll go and open it.”
“No, I’m going to open it.”
‘This place is still the same.’
With that thought, the door opened quickly as soon as Ellea took a step back.
The children tried to get out ahead of each other, but eventually they couldn’t hold on and fell forward.
“Aren’t you going to move?”
“You get off first.”
Even in the midst of the commotion, she didn’t panic and stood the children up one by one and promptly sorted out the situation. It seemed as if this had happened more than once or twice.
Only then did the children see the guest who had come here. Perhaps it was because of Ellea’s appearance and elegant attire, for a moment, she looked like an angel had descended upon earth.
“Who are you?”
“Hello. Are you hurt?”
“No.”
A middle-aged woman appeared from behind while the children looked at Ellea blankly.
“What’s wrong?”
Ellea greeted her with hidden joy.
“Hello.”
“Yes. But, who are you?”
“I’m sorry for coming in unannounced. If you don’t mind, could I come in and talk for a moment? I brought some presents for the children today.”
As she said this, Ellea showed the woman a package full of things. It was the children who reacted to the word “presents.”
“Presents?”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve brought you something that I think you’ll enjoy, but who is the oldest child here?”
A girl, taller than the rest of the children, raised her hand in response to Ellea’s question, squirming. Ellea handed the child the presents.
“Will you divide it fairly? You can do it well, right?”
“Yes.”
“Everyone needs to get along while I talk to the Director.”
The middle-aged woman looked at Ellea, who was friendly with the children, and led her to the Director’s office. They sat facing each other and engaged in a full-blown conversation.
“You are Director Remil?”
“Yes. I am Director Remil. I know we’ve never met before, but what brings you here?”
“I’m sorry for the delay in introducing myself. I’m Ellea. Do you know El by any chance?”
Remil reacted at once to the name Ellea spoke of.
“Yes, I know. I was worried when she stopped coming here, but she…”
“I came here at El’s request. She said she had to leave the capital suddenly and couldn’t come here, so she asked me to take care of this place and the children.”
Ellea actually had a lot of trouble deciding how to introduce herself.
She thought about honestly telling the woman what was going on, but she couldn’t muster up the courage because she couldn’t help but think of the faces of the children who loved her so much.
El died.
So all she could do was this excuse.
“Oh, I see.”
“She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry that she couldn’t say goodbye.”
“The children will be more disappointed than I am. They’ve been waiting for El for a long time. But I still sent letters and didn’t hear from her.”
Of course there was no way that the letters would reach El. She was a person who no longer existed in this world.
Remil had never met Ellea before, but she carefully tried to inform her of the situation here. She was in dire need of anyone’s help right now.
“I’m sorry to tell you this as soon as I saw you, but we’re not in a very good situation right now.”
“Don’t worry. El has already told me about your situation, so please don’t feel burdened. I hope I can be of help.”
Remil was very relieved by Ellea’s words. She was just wondering what she should do now, considering the children, but Ellea offered help first.
In fact, this was a nursery school that was regularly sponsored by El.
She was very close to the children through that connection, and the people here just assumed El was just someone who worked at the imperial Palace.
The situation was not so good before either. Back then, El alone could not provide a good living for over 15 children.
But now that she was the Imperial Princess, things had changed. She could do so much more than she did back then.
“Thank you so much. Actually, El’s sponsorship was the biggest part of it, but it was difficult when it was suddenly cut off.”
El also tried to tell the school beforehand about the situation where she couldn’t come, but she really couldn’t because there was so much going on during that time.
Finally, she decided to visit here as Ellea, not El.
To conclude the conversation, Ellea asked Remil for one thing.
“Can you please keep my friendship with El a secret from the children and the others? El has a situation right now.”
“Of course. The children will miss her, but I was always grateful to El, and I hope I can repay her in this way.”
“Thank you.”
When the conversation with Remil was over, Ellea came out of the office and saw each of the children were happy to have gifts from her.
She wished she could have brought them something better, but she had to prepare them in a hurry, so school supplies and food were all she got. Just by the looks on the children’s faces, this seemed to be enough, but Ellea was inclined to give only the best.
She was pleased to see them happy, and approached one of the children carefully when she spotted the girl who distributed the goods.
“Did you share well with the children?”
“Yes, thank you. My brother and sister are very happy.”
“My name is Ellea. What’s your name?”
Ellea’s asked, knowing the child’s name, but pretending not to know it.
When that beautiful person she saw earlier asked politely while making eye contact, the child shyly said her name.
“My name is Karin.”
“I see. That’s a very beautiful name.”
When she made sure that the children were interested in the gift, Ellea took Karin’s hand and walked out.
While Karin was puzzled, Ellea looked at her and held out an envelope she had hidden in advance.
“This is…”
“Karin, did you share yours with your brothers?”
“How did you know?”
“I can tell when it’s obvious. It would be hard to fool me. Now, this is entirely yours.”
Karin was so touched by Ellea’s words that she hugged the envelope tightly. Ellea was right, and she was happy to give it up for her siblings, who liked it as much as she did.
It was fine if her siblings liked it, but she actually wanted the gift too. El gave her a separate gift each time just like Ellea did just now.
“Thank you. El always gives me a gift too.”
“Thank you for always taking such good care of the children. But if there’s anything that Karin wants or needs, too, don’t hesitate to tell me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
Ellea patted the child’s head, who seemed to have grown up so quickly, and went inside with her.
Remil formally introduced Ellea to the children.
“From now on, this person will be coming to see you in El’s place. Let’s welcome her.”
One of the children raised his hand and asked,
“Then, what about El?”
“Well, this lady has informed me that El is not going to be able to come here for personal reasons. She said she would miss you all and that we should all understand.”
The children were terribly disappointed to hear that El could no longer come, and some even cried.
While Remil was in a panic, Ellea spoke.
“Don’t cry. If you do, El will be very sad. Instead, I’ll come here like this. My name is Ellea, but my family calls me El. You can call me El too if you like.”
Ellea was worried that the children might have been hurt by her leaving without saying anything, and she wanted to comfort them, so she used the name El as a last resort.
Without knowing what butterfly effect the name will bring in the future.