Blessed Without Knowing It

After tidying up her appearance, Aili was finally able to walk out of the bedroom.

As mentioned before, Aili was not a confident person.

She had always felt that she was inferior to others, and even had a strong sense of unworthiness, believing that she did not deserve to be the Empire’s Second Princess and that she was still not good enough.

Especially when facing such an outstanding elder brother and such an outstanding father, this feeling of hers only grew deeper.

This lack of confidence was like a vicious cycle.

The more unconfident she became, the more others looked down on her.

And the more others looked down on her, the more inferior she felt as a result.

Although people did not truly say anything excessive to her, even those old ministers of the former court and those arrogant nobles would only occasionally say a line or two at most.

After all, to those old ministers, was there really anything in this world that could genuinely satisfy them.

So no matter what it was, they would always point out a couple of things.

Not to mention her, even the Emperor or the Crown Prince would receive a few remarks from those arrogant nobles.

Of course, it was all just talk.

They always pointed fingers at others with an attitude of “I am senior and experienced,” but in reality, even if you did not change anything or simply ignored them, nothing else would happen.

But Aili cared far too much about these evaluations.

Because she truly wanted to do well.

She wanted so badly to become someone who could stand beside her family.

And the result was that she simply was not cut out for it.

She truly could not be as outstanding as the Emperor and her brother, which led to her becoming more and more miserable.

So miserable that even her body could no longer bear it.

As for the servants around her, they were genuinely good people.

When Aili dined, they would prepare the finest ingredients and cook the most delicious dishes.

They remembered what this princess liked to eat, and when she was unhappy, they would suddenly bring out a few desserts, hoping that something sweet could make her feel a little better.

The same was true when Aili washed and dressed herself.

Just like earlier, those servants would do their utmost to dress Aili up as beautifully as a celestial fairy, but without heavy or flashy makeup.

It was the kind of look that made her appear both beautiful and pure, all so that at the very least, she would not feel unconfident because of her appearance when she went outside.

And the other guards and gardeners along the way would all bow respectfully when they saw Aili.

They would reveal their most friendly smiles and serve her as attentively as possible, hoping that everything would go smoothly for her and that she would have a good day.

But it seemed that the Aili of the past had not understood this care that everyone showed her.

She locked herself inside a small world of her own.

And in that world, there was only her inferiority complex of “I am not worthy of my elder brother.”

“…How ridiculous.”

Thinking about this now, Eric, who had transmigrated into Aili, felt like he was about to throw up.

The love and respect of others that he himself could never obtain in his entire lifetime were things she encountered every single day, yet she did not know how to cherish them at all.

If she had transmigrated into his world, would she not have been hanging herself on the beams by the second day.

The former Aili had been born into a world where too many people loved her, which was why she did not know how to treasure it.

She spent her entire life chewing on just a few criticisms.

When the current Aili revealed an impatient and fierce expression because of such thoughts, she was in the middle of enjoying her lunch.

The lunch was still prepared according to the former Aili’s preferences.

There were more vegetables than meat, along with some sweet-tasting salads.

Aili’s meal looked like a fat-loss diet.

Even though her figure was already very thin due to her unhealthy body, if she kept eating things like this, she would soon turn into a salad herself.

And judging by the situation, the few pieces of meat on the table were things Aili did not particularly like to eat.

However, they were specially prepared by the chef for her health.

Before serving them, the chef had even deliberately said something like, “Your Highness, this is a newly created dish, please taste it.”

Looking at the expressions of the people around, it sounded as though they were deliberately using such words to trick Aili into eating more.

Eric’s attitude toward salad was average.

He could eat it and accept it, but eating it every single meal was not acceptable.

No matter what, he had once been someone with normal living habits and regular meals.

How could he possibly eat salad three times a day and raise himself like a rabbit.

During the earlier period, he had mainly been observing this world.

He had even repeatedly confirmed whether this was truly an unrealistic dream.

And in order to make his transformation less abrupt, he had been maintaining Aili’s original behavior every day, learning her preferences and making gradual changes little by little, like boiling a frog in warm water.

But… without any proper food to eat, Aili really felt a bit miserable.

So she might as well take advantage of this opportunity.

After stuffing down a few mouthfuls of grass, Aili slightly moved the plate of meat toward herself.

When the plate of meat finally caught the princess’s attention, the chefs standing by instantly lit up.

They all looked toward Aili, their eyes filled with expectation.

Aili followed along with their expectations and cut the meat into small pieces before eating it.

As expected, the palace chefs’ skills were quite impressive.

This was what young people were truly supposed to eat.

She did not give any evaluation right away.

Instead, she pretended to eat the meat while still supplementing it with a few bites of salad.

Only after finishing everything on the plates did she gently wipe her mouth.

“…Oh my…!”

Then, looking at the empty plates, she revealed a surprised expression.

“There was so much food, and I ended up eating it all without realizing it…”

The former Aili was someone who strictly controlled her food intake.

She called it maintaining her figure, but as long as one ate normally and exercised properly, eating a few extra pieces of meat would not suddenly make one gain several pounds.

But in order not to appear too abrupt, she could only follow Aili’s past habits and act surprised that she had eaten everything in one go.

“Everyone’s lunch today was truly delicious… which chef made this meat dish?”

Aili put on an embarrassed, blushing expression as if she had eaten too much.

She covered her small mouth with the napkin in her hand, creating a shy appearance.

A chef dressed quite distinctively walked over, clearly the head chef for this meal.

“Your Highness, I was the one who made this dish.
Did you enjoy it.
We put a lot of effort into adjusting the seasonings so it would not have any negative effects on your health.
The palace doctors have also said that you need a more diverse intake of food in order for your body to recover.”

The head chef approached respectfully after bowing.

It was obvious that he had deliberately said so much just to encourage Aili to eat more for her health, even mentioning the doctor’s instructions.

“Mm… you’ve gone to a lot of trouble.
This dish is indeed very good.
I didn’t even realize I had eaten it all.
Thank you, it was truly delicious.”

As she spoke, Aili gave the head chef a shy smile.

That adorable少女-like expression caused the middle-aged man to freeze for a moment, and joy and relief instantly filled his face.

“Yes.
Thank you for liking it.
We will continue to research more dishes in the future.
We hope Your Highness will recover your health as soon as possible.”

“Mm.”

Aili smiled cheerfully and also nodded toward the other chefs behind him.

“Then I’ll be counting on all of you.”

As soon as those words were spoken, the other chefs happily nodded one after another.

Judging by their expressions, they were genuinely happy about Aili’s progress.

Aili smiled along with them, while inwardly muttering with disdain.

That’s right, you see.

The former Aili, just look.

Winning people’s hearts is actually very simple.

As long as you smile a little and say a few kind words, they will willingly serve you.

Why insist on caring about those people who speak to you with malice.

You fool who was blessed without knowing it.