Chapter 8
“Hahaha.”
Leonhardt stared blankly at Miela as she laughed loudly.
When was the last time…
…she had laughed like this?
He couldn’t remember the exact moment.
But he was certain it had been before she married him.
The joy of seeing Miela’s bright smile after so long far outweighed the embarrassment of his own foolish behavior.
Leonhardt’s ears turned red with shame, yet he patiently waited until Miela finished laughing as much as she wanted.
After quite a while, Miela wiped the tears that had gathered in her eyes from laughing so hard with the back of her hand and said cheerfully,
“For the next four years? Maybe five? I’ll probably be stronger than you!”
With both hands on her hips, Miela puffed herself up proudly like a fresh sprout in early spring.
Enough to make the corners of Leonhardt’s lips—once frozen after he had turned from a cold, capable emperor back into the wretched “monster” of the abandoned palace—soften and relax.
“Well, we’ll see if it really takes four years.”
And just like in their childhood, he naturally teased Miela again.
Perhaps because of that, despite their last meeting before the regression being the worst and their first meeting after the regression being chaotic and brief, the atmosphere now felt warm.
They exchanged a few more childish, bickering remarks before Miela suddenly flinched.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Leonhardt asked cautiously.
Miela clutched her head with both hands and shouted,
“This isn’t the time to be doing this! I got distracted because of you!”
Leonhardt, who hadn’t done anything that could distract her, felt unfairly blamed.
But he wasn’t given any chance to defend himself.
Without sparing him even a second of attention, Miela roughly untied the strap of her rabbit bag.
“This is a wooden practice sword. It’s old because Lester used it when he was little, but it’s still better than a tree branch.”
Like a knight offering a sword to a defeated opponent in training, Miela boldly held it out.
“O-Oh. Thanks.”
Overwhelmed by Miela’s momentum, Leonhardt accepted the wooden sword.
“And this…”
Her tiny hands—no bigger than her lips—kept moving busily.
From the rabbit bag came endless items: toys, dried fruits, and other snacks that could be stored for a long time.
In an instant, Leonhardt’s small arms were filled with all sorts of things.
It was amazing how all of it had fit inside such a small bag.
Leonhardt caught a toy ball that was about to fall.
The once plump rabbit bag quickly became flat.
Miela rummaged around inside the bag for quite a while before finally pulling out a marble-sized sphere about as big as an adult’s fist. She handed it to him with a bright smile.
“And lastly—a communication orb!”
Leonhardt carefully received the orb, which looked much cruder and more colorful than the communication orbs he knew.
“This is a communication orb?”
Noticing his confusion, Miela replied in a voice that tried to sound extra confident to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s a toy communication orb.”
“A toy?”
When Leonhardt asked again, Miela explained quickly,
“It might look like that, but the function is almost the same as the real one. It just only works for about ten minutes a day, and there’s a distance limit.”
In other words, it was the kind of toy noble children used to communicate with their friends.
Miela also added that the ducal estate and the abandoned palace were just barely within the communication range of the toy orbs.
“Keep it safe. Try contacting me between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, or after 9 at night, depending on the situation.”
“Okay.”
Leonhardt nodded obediently.
He carefully placed the wooden sword, toys, snacks, and the other items Miela had given him on the floor.
Then he hid the communication orb first, deep beneath the bed.
Miela helped him hide the rest of the items as well.
Even though the maids had recently become a little more diligent with their cleaning, they still didn’t bother checking under the bed.
Before long, both of them were covered in dust.
Miela brushed the dust off her hair.
She didn’t forget to push the fallen dust back under the bed with her foot.
Leonhardt also clumsily brushed the dust from himself with the awkward movements of a four-year-old.
“Oh, right.”
After finishing first, Miela suddenly made a serious face.
“What?”
“I didn’t bring any mana stones. Then you won’t be able to use it many times. Maybe four or five times?”
Among the items Miela had given him, the only one that required mana stones was the communication orb.
Leonhardt had assumed she gave it to him so he could contact her only in emergencies.
But her explanation proved otherwise.
“I probably won’t be able to come for about two weeks, so try to save it for now. Next time I come, I’ll definitely bring mana stones.”
Without realizing it, Leonhardt asked,
“You’re coming again? Is it really okay to contact you that often?”
It was a childish question born from his desire for her to visit often.
Leonhardt bit his lower lip with his baby teeth.
An awkward silence filled the bedroom.
He blamed the self-control he had lost after becoming young again.
Then he steadied himself while watching Miela’s reaction.
Even if she says it was just empty words… even if she says she won’t come again… don’t show that you’re disappointed.
After all, considering how cold their relationship had become after marriage, he should already be grateful that Miela had come to see him twice.
If he had been in her position, the moment he realized he had returned to childhood, he would have cut off all contact with a husband he didn’t love.
But Miela’s reaction was completely different from what Leonhardt expected.
She exploded in anger—as if he had said something terribly cruel.
“You! I came all the way here after thinking it through! If you don’t want to contact me, then fine!”
She stomped her foot loudly, clearly upset.
Their relationship had briefly returned to their childhood dynamics after their bodies had grown younger.
But Leonhardt’s foolish mistake shattered that soft atmosphere instantly.
“So what—you’re saying since you remember everything, you can just handle things on your own?”
Miela snapped in a cold tone that sounded just like before the regression, then roughly grabbed her rabbit bag.
It looked as though she might leave the abandoned palace right now and never return.
Things were different now.
In the past, they had been tied together by political alliance and marriage.
But if Miela left now, Leonhardt might lose her forever.
That sense of crisis gave the timid Leonhardt a burst of courage.
“That’s not what I meant…”
Leonhardt reached out his tiny hand and grabbed one end of the rabbit bag.
Miela, who had looked ready to storm out of the room, stopped at the faint pull of his weak grip.
“Then what did you mean?”
She asked with her arms crossed, standing with one leg slightly bent.
The Miela he had known as an adult—his wife—had been extremely proud.
Whenever he made mistakes like this with his poor choice of words, she would glare at him sharply and simply walk away.
Only after time had soothed her hurt feelings would she return as the elegant and benevolent Empress.
It had been a very long time since Leonhardt had been given a chance like this.
For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
The Leonhardt from before the regression would have carefully sorted through the chaotic thoughts in his mind—and missed the opportunity entirely.
But the young body he now had didn’t know how to refine words.
“I just… wondered when you’d come again.”
Leonhardt muttered shyly, his childish pronunciation slightly slurred.
Miela’s tone softened a little as she replied curtly,
“I don’t know.”
Leonhardt held the rabbit bag a little tighter and asked timidly,
“You will come, right?”
The pleading tone slipped out before he realized it.
It embarrassed him, but it seemed to help calm Miela’s mood.
“I’ll come, you idiot. Just because we turned into kids and the marriage vows disappeared doesn’t mean the time we spent together disappeared too.”
Hearing that, Leonhardt smiled so brightly that dimples appeared on his cheeks.
He had believed that Miela only thought of him as a husband on paper—or merely someone suitable to match a noble lady like herself.
But the fact that she held some kind of feeling for him meant everything.
“Right. You’re my only friend and family…”
He swallowed the rest of the words.
…and my lover.
