I Became the Black Swan Mother of the White Swan Princess

Oh please, she got slapped by the Emperor, so why is she taking it out on Haniel!

When I erupted into anger, Haniel pecked at my hand to stop me.

[Mo-Mommyy. Scawy. Dont be angwyy.]

Okay. Im not mad at you. This is all Never mind. Go play, mommy will be here.

[Buuuut.]

Haniel, you said you want to try different colored ribbons before, right? Come bring that quickly. Mommy left the basket open.

[Okaay!]

Though Haniel had been squirming in an effort not to go, as soon as she heard the word ribbon, her eyes widened into round discs and she went in. Even if I watched her go scampering out in excitement two or three times, I would never get tired of it.

A baby sure is still a baby. Its so simple with her.

[Nows not the time for you to be so relaxed, Madam. Didnt you say His Majesty the Emperor told you to bring the princess tomorrow?]

Yeah. That he did.

[The Emperor might have really told you to bring her without knowing anything, but the princess froze at the sight of His Majestys face last time and almost drowned. What are you going to do?]

As Selene confided an obvious worry to me, she glanced at the open door.

Though she had shuddered at the thought before, now she really was like a nanny, seemingly bothered now by the possibility that Haniel might hear us talking about the Emperor.

[Actually, I was shaking that day too even as a full-grown adult. It was so scary my heart was trembling. Though I guess I shouldve known from the moment someone that young ran away from home.]

Just how much did he torment the child to.

..No, instead of tormenting

He just didnt know anything.

I re-examined the impressions I had felt as I observed the Emperor today.

Wasnt there a saying that ignorance with no malice is the scariest of them all? Based on his expressions and tone of voice, it wouldnt be wrong to say that this man was a fool when it came to children.

And if he really was a bad guy, he wouldnt be looking for the child like this either.

[So youre saying the Emperor is not a bad guy?]

Of course not.

How dare he neglect my daughter like that.

I could be understanding when it came to other peoples businesses, but if it was about our Haniel, I couldnt just smooth it over like that.

There werent any reasons. He was a servant I had bred from a beast, but a dog is only a dog. No matter how young, to just start crying like that is..

.what dog poop are you spewing now.

You literally let loose a hunting hound in front of a child who just learned to open her eyes and start distinguishing objects.

This was the same as what Id read in the novel, too.

To be exact, that had been when I was first in danger of closing the book right ten and there, so I remembered it in relatively great detail.

[The cold, indifferent eyes of the older brother swept past the young baby. Even as he saw Haniels face, sniffling in fear, he only continued to pat down the neck of his growling dog. As he stared at the crying princess, seemingly irritated, he.]

Ignorance really is courage, goodness.

Eugh.

I could imagine the scene inside the novel so clearly that I couldnt not swear if I wanted to.

But Selene didnt miss that my expression was relaxed even amidst this.

[Madam. So youre saying that His Majesty did not do that on purpose, right?]

Would he even have had the interest to do that on purpose?

[Whaat? Isnt that pretty serious in its own way?]

Sh. Anyways, lets just say that I saw the smallest light of hope.

After hiding a meaningful smile, I quickly gestured at Selene to keep her mouth shut. The figure of Haniel waddling towards us with a pink ribbon in her beak was apparent through the cracked open door.

[Mommy, dis one!]

Oh my.

[Dis one. Its dis one!]

I couldnt help but laugh at how she had, in complete excitement, dropped the ribbon because shed opened her beak, and now didnt know what to do.