Side: Ren

Lady Iris jumped into action. All the servants brought by the princess were returned to the royal palace, but that didn’t mean our teachers were returned.

The princess brought yet another group of her servants.

She’s our enemy.

Isn’t the princess royalty?

I once heard from Lady Iris that the princess received a higher level of education than us.

Then why is her comprehension ability so lacking?

She should’ve realized by now that those who served her couldn’t tend to even a single orphan. Normally, you’d refrain from using the servants of the royal palace again, right?

…Did she think that it’s just a simple matter of appointing a different group of people? That the previous servants were just evil or something? There’s no way that’s true.

This is different. It’s not that simple.

The root cause was our difference in status, and it was followed by discrimination.

Yet, she couldn’t even grasp that—it was something even us orphans could understand, but the princess couldn’t.

“Why won’t you eat?”

The princess sat at the same table as us orphans. That night, the princess especially instructed the head chef of the royal palace to prepare dinner. High-quality ingredients, which we’d never be able to afford no matter how hard we worked, were used.

At first, the princess nonchalantly ate her dinner, showcasing her eloquent manners. We, on the other hand, were too appalled to even touch the food. When she saw that, the princess grew irritated.

The princess no longer seemed as gentle as she did when we first met.

Most likely, she was still reeling from the fact that her servants had been dismissed by Lady Iris.

“If anything, we should be the ones asking. What makes you think we will eat this?”

“?”

Apparently, she didn’t understand my question. Well, I had more or less expected it.

After all, she was one of those short-sighted type who’d say, ‘If you don’t have money, ask your parents or an adult. If you don’t have bread, eat cake.’

“Who do you think we are? Do you think we’re the sons and daughters of aristocrats?”

We should get rid of her as soon as possible.

Lady Iris, the director, and the teachers were all troubled because of her. She also ruined our daily lives. But none of that that was why I was mad at her.

You see, she didn’t even know the first thing about us!

She just pitied us without any intention of ever understanding us.

Didn’t adults have a term for that?

Ah, yes, a hypocrite.

“Your Highness, do you know what we usually eat?”

“Of course!”

The princess’ gaze was downcast as her expression became somber.

…Whenever she stares at us with pity, I want to pluck her eyes out.

Certainly, I only had a handful of memories of eating my fill because of how poor I was. Nevertheless, there was never a day when I couldn’t find food or had to fill my belly with water.

“Suppose you are right. So what? Do you think it’d be okay for us with our weak stomachs to eat meat difficult to digest? If a doctor were here, he’d have put a stop to this entire thing. Did you even think that far? Or did you think that we should be grateful either way?”

“That’s not the case at all.”

The princess let out a dejected sigh. She, who didn’t even listen, seemed to be blaming us for not ‘opening up’ to her.

“Why can’t you see it from my perspective? I’m trying to save you from Iris. I’m on your side.”

That’s why no one will open up to you.

“Let’s get back to the first question. Your Highness, who do you think we are? The sons and daughters of aristocrats?”

“I don’t really understand the meaning behind your question, but unlike Iris, I definitely understand that you’re pitiful children who deserve better.”

“Certainly, we are pitiful children who’ve been abandoned by both our parents and society. We also have nowhere to go. Lady Iris is different from you. She wouldn’t have served us something like this.”

Did she think that I was praising her or something? That I was admitting she was better than Lady Iris?

I didn’t know what kind of environment in which or how the princess was raised. Nevertheless, after observing the princess’ behavior, I realized something. The princess felt inferior to Lady Iris. Hence why she kept trying to take the lead in everything.

“If it were Lady Iris, we wouldn’t even need to explain anything to her. She knows that as orphans, none of us know a thing about table manners. She’d have refrained from serving food such as this, food which can’t be eaten without using a knife and fork. We don’t even know how to use cutlery.”

“…If you don’t know, you can always learn.”

“What for? We’ll never enter an environment where we’ll need such things. We don’t need table manners. What we need is the knowledge and skills necessary to sustain our lives. The aristocrats live off our hard-earned money. While there may be decent people like Lady Iris, there are also those who neglect their responsibilities.”

Some nobles would rather delegate their duties to their subordinates and indulge in luxury. In fact, most of them were like that. After all, working and earning money was unbecoming for them.

“You don’t know because even if you laze around, you’ll still get paid every month. If we did the same at work, instead of money, we’d get fired. Your Highness, if you want us to like you, even just a bit, try to learn about us. Let’s go, everyone.”

We left the dining hall with some bread as there was nothing else we could eat.

---

E/N: I’m more surprised children would know eating high quality food would disagree with their stomachs.

***T/N: Lmao Ren is built different. TAKE THAT PRINCESSS!11111

Please also consider donating to my ko-fi! It’ll greatly support me in action, no matter the amount!
https://ko-fi.com/antoinettevanessa

Have a Japanese story or the likes (Drama CD, etc.) you’d like to read? Want it to be translated? I’m open for commission!
https://www.fiverr.com/s2/aaab08c14d

<Previous chapter

Next chapter>