GROWN DISTANT

“Haah… It was too tiring. I don’t think the food’s going to digest,” Selthia muttered, flopping onto the velvet-cushioned chair as Anna combed her hair with practiced hands.

Anna blinked. “Did you eat dinner, Your Highness?”

Selthia frowned. “Am I not supposed to eat dinner? "Aelric said the same thing.”

Anna looked concerned. “Is your health really okay? You’ve been forgetting things lately.”

Selthia flinched. "How could I forget something I never knew to begin with?"

I should’ve asked more about the old princess sooner,. I was too busy getting used to this palace circus.”

Then, more carefully: “Actually… I don’t know why, but my memories feel hazy. I can’t seem to remember a lot of things. It’s… a really stupid thing to say, but—please buy this?”

Anna gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?! We should call a physician right away!”

Selthia waved her off. “It’s fine. I’m alright.”

"Did that actually work?"

Anna’s eyes were still wide. “I read in a book once that people who barely talk and stress their minds too much start forgetting things.”

Selthia nodded solemnly. “Wow. That sounds just like me. Guess I’ll have to start talking more, huh?”

Anna smiled faintly, still concerned.

“Tell me everything you know about me,” Selthia said.

“Well…” Anna hesitated, then started slowly. “Your relationship with His Majesty has always been… cold. But His Highness, the Crown Prince—he’s always cared for you. You two used to be close.”

Selthia raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“I don’t know all the details,” Anna admitted. “I’ve only served you for two years. But the other maids say you started acting distant toward His Highness after your eighteenth birthday.”

Selthia blinked. “And how old am I now?”

“Twenty-one.”

Selthia muttered under her breath, “Hnn… My real age is twenty-four though.”

Then aloud, with a smirk, “So that’s why I don’t eat dinner with the Emperor and Aelric?”

Anna nodded. “Yes. You hate those weekly family dinners. You’d only show up because etiquette demanded it—and even then, barely touched your food.”

Selthia leaned back, staring at the ceiling.

“So dramatic. No wonder people think I’ve gone mad."

After Anna left the room, Selthia lay sprawled across the bed, eyes fixed on the canopy above.

“In the novel, the princess barely had any role. Just a quiet background presence. It was said Aelric loved his sister, but the emperor… he barely looked at her. Every time he did, it was as if she didn’t exist.”

She pulled the quilt over her shoulders, sighing.

" I think it was mentioned why they grew distant"

Selthia once tried to leave the palace after her eighteenth birthday—feeling trapped and unwanted and after her every efforts of winning her father's love—but Aelric stopped her. He didn’t understand what she was running from, and instead of comfort, offered commands. Since then, Selthia grew colder toward him, thinking he would never see her as more than a pawn in royal duty.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***