“Aww～ Why’s my daughter already turning against her own mother～ You’re breaking Mom’s heart～” Alaya said meaningfully.

“That’s not what I meant! I just think that boy seems like a nice person, but he got robbed. Shouldn’t we do something to improve public safety, meow～? It makes me sad to see good people get bullied by bad people and have no way to fight back.” Elina sighed.

“Haha, you’re still young, sweetie. You don’t need to worry about such heavy things. For now, all you need to do is be a good little princess.” Alaya affectionately patted Elina’s head and comforted her.

Elina obediently nodded. “I understand.”

She wasn’t really in any position to think about these problems. Humanity had spent thousands of years without solving them. Still, she couldn’t quite accept the idea of simply losing herself in the luxurious life of a princess. Being too much of a couch potato wasn’t good either. Once she awakened her element tomorrow, she’d start grinding away at her elemental capacity and reach the higher ranks as soon as possible.

“Oh～ right. Do you want to know more about that boy?” Alaya asked.

“More about that boy?” Elina tilted her head in confusion, then suddenly understood what Alaya meant. So she hadn’t actually trusted Eve to take her and Caro out to play, meow～.

There had to be people around her, like secret guards, watching her the whole time. Every move she made was reported back to Alaya, so there was nowhere to hide. And Alaya had already looked into that boy’s background, including his family.

She’d found out he wasn’t secretly someone important—just an ordinary commoner. That was why she’d let Elina spend time with him. Thinking about it, her mother really was a scary cat……

Seeing the wary look in Elina’s eyes, Alaya nearly melted from how cute she was. Her daughter was just too adorable. Alaya really wanted to pinch her, but Elina’s habit of biting made things difficult for her poor mother～.

Never mind. She’d let her daughter come to her own conclusions. She was probably more or less right: Alaya had indeed asked people to keep an eye on her, but only to protect her—not to keep her like a bird in a cage. There was a war going on, after all, and word of good news from the front had just arrived. She still had to be careful in case someone from the Anya Empire tried something underhanded, like kidnapping her daughter to force Ailante to leave.

“All right, stop overthinking it. Just tell me whether you want to hear about that boy.” Alaya pulled Elina back just as she was sneaking away, then said helplessly.

“Awoo～ Mom grabbed my tail again! Don’t you know that really hurts, meow～?” Elina looked at the few hairs missing from her tail and complained miserably.

“Well, you kept trying to run. You can’t get away, but you still keep trying. Are you trying to make me teach you a proper lesson?” Alaya said, looking exasperated.

“Fine, I won’t run anymore. Tell me about that boy.” Elina sat miserably in Alaya’s arms and called out.

“All right, I’ll tell you. The boy’s name is Ryan. He’s from a place called Zhongxie Village. He came from a single-parent family, but his mother passed away not long ago. He’s here in the imperial capital to take part in the elemental awakening ceremony, and he should be about your age.” Alaya explained.

“Oh～ I see, meow～ Poor thing. He lost his mom so young.” Elina said sympathetically.

……