CHAPTER 39…………………………………………
The child covered his ears and frowned.
Over the nanny’s words overlapped Maeve’s cold gaze as she looked at him, along with the image of her shouting at him.
“Kyle, seriously! That’s enough!”
Kylerus shrank his shoulders, then pulled his knees in and curled his body up small.
“That’s their fault.”
At that moment, a warm and gentle voice echoed in Kylerus’s heart.
A fresh floral scent carried on the breeze brought back a precious memory.
The warm, comforting embrace of his teacher.
“Kyle didn’t do anything wrong. The ones who said mean things are the bad ones.”
His teacher wiped away his tears and hugged him, telling him he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“…I want to see you, teacher.”
Kylerus slowly lowered his hands and blinked.
The child looked around, trying to figure out which way home was.
But—
Saaa—
Trapped in a quiet, forest-like landscape, he couldn’t see any path leading back to the mansion.
Fear suddenly gripped him. The place was beautiful—but in this picture-like lakeside scenery, there was no small path he was looking for.
“W-what do I do?”
Kylerus glanced around anxiously.
His small hands fidgeted with unease. His little feet, unable to find direction, wandered restlessly.
“W-where should I go?”
Muttering, he bit his nails. Meanwhile, gray clouds quickly spread across the once-clear sky.
As the clouds gathered, a gloomy darkness spread above his head.
The sudden shift in atmosphere made his heart pound.
“Teacher…”
Just then—
“Meow.”
A sound caught Kylerus’s attention from somewhere.
Turning his head, he saw a fluffy, cloud-like white cat gently approaching his feet.
“A kitty!”
Kylerus cried out in delight. He had seen that plump cat a few times near the mansion before.
Each time he greeted it, but the cat would ignore him haughtily.
But today, for some reason, the cat came to him first.
It even stopped at his feet and looked up at him quietly, as if it recognized him.
“Meow.”
As their eyes met, the purple-eyed cat made a soft sound. Kylerus carefully spoke to it.
“Kitty, I want to go home. My home. You know where it is, right?”
“Meow.”
The cat gave a short cry, as if answering, then turned its back to him.
Thinking it might leave, Kylerus stared blankly—then the cat glanced back at him.
“Should I follow you? If I follow you, will that work?”
The cat didn’t respond. Instead, it leapt forward and moved away. Kylerus hurried after it so he wouldn’t lose sight of it.
After the boy disappeared, the willow tree by the lake swayed again.
The gray clouds cleared, and the scenery returned to a beautiful, framed picture.
As if nothing had ever happened.
“Kyler! Young Master Kyler!”
Yurenia called out until her throat went hoarse. She was searching the imperial garden connected to the back path of the mansion.
But no matter how much she searched, there was no trace of the child.
“Where could he be…?”
She placed her hands on her waist and frowned.
The sun was already beginning to set. If she didn’t find him soon, night would fall.
She had to find him before it got dark.
Since it was the end of summer, the nights were quite chilly.
Kylerus was wearing a light summer shirt today. He tended to get hot easily, so she had chosen thin clothes for him.
He wouldn’t be able to endure the night air dressed like that.
On top of that, he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. Normally, he would have snacks between meals.
He must have skipped lunch and would go without food until dinner—she couldn’t help but worry.
‘I need to find him quickly.’
Yurenia bit her lip and scanned her surroundings anxiously, worried he might be crying somewhere alone again.
“Kyler…”
She called his name nervously.
Then she began thoroughly searching from the alley where Chester had caught her with Rex.
First, she checked the alley, then moved into the imperial palace’s rose garden connected to it.
As she stepped into the garden filled with the strong scent of fresh roses—
“I don’t want to!”
She heard Kylerus’s clear and firm voice.
Yurenia hurriedly pushed through the roses and ran toward the sound.
“You little runt! Let go of this!”
“No! I won’t!”
As she got closer, she heard a rough male voice arguing with the child.
‘Who is that?’
The man’s harsh tone was chilling even to Yurenia. Judging by how he treated the child, he didn’t seem like a servant or someone from the palace.
“Kyler!”
Finally reaching a corner of the garden, Yurenia found him.
The child was tightly hugging a girl and confronting someone.
“Teacher!”
“And who are you?”
The man, who looked ready to strike at any moment, glared at Yurenia.
She quickly moved and stepped between the children and the man.
A little before Yurenia found Kylerus—
Kylerus had been walking, following the cat.
Strangely enough, as he followed it, the scenery gradually became familiar.
It really seemed like the cat was guiding him back to the mansion. Seeing how confidently it led the way, it appeared to know the palace grounds well.
Since it was quite a long walk, Kylerus tried talking to the cat along the way. But each time, the cat only glanced at him indifferently.
After being ignored a couple of times, Kylerus chose to walk quietly.
Despite its aloofness, the cat took subtle care of him.
Even while walking ahead, it checked whether Kylerus was following properly. Sometimes, when he lagged behind, it even stopped and waited for him.
As they entered the rose garden together—
“Sob… hic… waaah…”
A sorrowful crying sound from somewhere stopped Kylerus in his tracks.
He looked around, searching for the source.
He knew what kind of feelings made someone cry like that.
When it was unbearably hard and sad.
When pent-up sorrow overflowed.
When you cried with your mouth wide open, not even wiping away your tears—
that was the kind of sound it made.
Kylerus knew, because he had cried like that before.
And he also knew that in moments like that, what you desperately needed was the warmth of another person.
“Why…”
As Kylerus tried to head toward the crying, the cat returned and blocked his path, tapping the ground with its tail.
It seemed to be telling him to ignore it and keep going.
“Someone’s crying. We should comfort them. My teacher comforted me when I cried.”
“Meow.”
“Leave them? Just let them keep crying alone?”
“….”
At Kylerus’s question, the cat narrowed its large purple eyes.
After seeming to think for a moment, it stepped aside.
“Thanks, kitty.”
Kylerus thanked the cat and walked toward the sound, following the trail of tears.
Kylerus found the girl among blooming pale pink roses.
A girl with pink hair tied into two pigtails was sitting on the ground, crying loudly.
Tears streamed endlessly down her face as she sat on a carpet of rose petals.
“Waaah! Sob—waaah!”
She must have been crying for a long time—her red eyes were swollen.
