Chapter 48
That night, I fell asleep easily for the first time in a while.
The pillow against my cheek felt so soft.
“You’ve given me a family.”
When I prayed alone before bed, I always used to say, “Please give me a family.”
But tonight, it was different.
“Thank you…”
There was no one to hear, but I whispered it under the blanket anyway.
I didn’t have a religion.
In truth, I didn’t even know whether God existed — and I didn’t really believe, either.
But somehow, I just wanted to say thank you.
“I’m so happy to have a dad now.”
So… thank you. I’m happy.
Even if you take some things away from me, I won’t easily let go of you.
I made that promise to myself as my eyelids grew heavy.
I thought, I don’t think I’ll have nightmares tonight. Maybe I’ll get to see that pretty, colorful sky again in my dreams.
I was practicing archery when Khan came to find me.
Whoosh—
Thunk.
“Not bad.”
“…?”
I had just hit the edge of the target when I heard the voice.
I turned around.
Khan was standing there in elegant clothes.
How long has he been watching me?
I hadn’t noticed him at all while I was focused on shooting.
The maids behind Khan lowered their heads when our eyes met, then quietly stepped outside.
I turned my gaze back to Khan.
“Your Highness.”
“If I’m interrupting, I can wait.”
He took off his hat and set it down neatly.
He really was the picture of a well-mannered nobleman.
I used to imagine that the crown prince would be arrogant, but Khan wasn’t like that at all.
He was calm and straightforward.
“You’ve been practicing quite a bit, I see.”
I fumbled for a response.
It suddenly felt strange, realizing that Khan was my friend.
I once read that graphite and diamond are treated as the same material in alchemy — apparently, they’re made of the same essence.
Khan’s black eyes were graphite.
His silver hair, diamond.
Whether he was my servant or the crown prince, to me he was simply someone radiant and precious — someone I was grateful for before anything else.
“Actually, I’ve been frustrated lately. When I was training with my brother, I thought I’d get good quickly, but it feels like there’s a wall in front of me.”
“That’s normal. You’re doing fine.”
“It is?”
“Every skill hits a plateau sooner or later.”
Khan sat casually on the sofa as he said that.
“But why are you speaking formally?”
“I just… felt awkward for a second.”
He tilted his head slightly, like he couldn’t understand why I’d suddenly gone stiff.
Yeah, using honorifics with a friend really was weird.
Just imagining myself talking formally to Madeleine made me squirm all over.
Nope, can’t do it.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head a few times.
When I opened them again, Khan had this amused, unreadable look on his face.
All right. I’m going to speak casually again.
I licked my lips nervously.
“Um… there’s something I promised you, but I broke it.”
“Talking to the Duke, you mean?”
“How did you know?”
I blinked in surprise.
Khan really does know everything.
I couldn’t help but stare at him curiously.
“The Duke sent a messenger to summon me.”
Oh.
I glanced at him nervously.
I knew that in the Haspelt Empire, things were a bit unusual — normally, a duke couldn’t summon a crown prince.
I hope he didn’t find it disrespectful…
“The Duke.”
My dad.
But Khan had spoken of him with polite respect, as if it were perfectly natural.
Come to think of it, even His Majesty spoke formally to me…
At the time, I was too dazed to ask him to stop.
Maybe it was because Dad was there?
Because I’m the Duke’s daughter…?
But then again, he didn’t use honorifics with Blake.
Maybe it’s because I’m the prophesied child, I reasoned.
Yesterday, Dad had yelled something rude while looking at me — and then quickly added:
[When you see something cute, you get violent.]
[What does that mean, Dad?]
[It means you want to destroy the world.]
When Dad said he wanted to destroy the world, it actually sounded… believable.
[You mustn’t break the world, Dad. That’s bad.]
[…]
[Even if you do, I’m supposed to save it, remember?]
[…So cute…]
It felt like Dad was starting to get a little bit tamed by me.
Well… maybe not “a little.” Maybe a lot.
Anyway, I barely had time to tell him I was going to see Madeleine before Khan showed up.
I was beginning to realize just how powerful my dad really was.
“Let’s go — to the orphanage.”
Khan reached out his hand to me.
Just like that day in class when he’d asked, “Should I save you?”
Just like that day when he’d reached out to me from the tree outside my window.
“I’ll protect you.”
The same gentle kindness overlapped in my mind, and for a moment, I hesitated.
Then I took his hand.
His hand was warm and soft — unlike my brother’s, which was covered in calluses.
My heart pounded so hard it might burst.
Was it because I was excited to see Madeleine again?
Or because Khan’s hand was just that warm?
We soon set out.
No guards followed us — or at least, that’s what I thought at the time.
We both wore lighter clothes, to avoid drawing attention.
It felt strange and thrilling, like I was being let into one of Khan’s secret games.
And being just the two of us… it felt refreshing.
Being surrounded by people all the time could be suffocating, even if it was meant to protect me.
I must’ve really been suffocating.
I was so excited to finally be outside again that I probably looked giddy.
“Wait a moment…”
We had just stepped outside the duke’s estate, into the streets of the capital.
I stopped in my tracks.
People bustled by, full of energy, and I couldn’t help smiling.
Maybe it was because the founding festival was coming up — there was a festive buzz in the air.
I used to think the outside world was only full of war, assassins, and mysterious enemies.
But right now…
It’s so beautiful.
I let go of Khan’s hand and looked up at the sky.
The sky — oh my goodness, it was so beautiful.
This must be when you’re supposed to say “oh my goodness.”
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.
So pretty. So, so pretty.
Khan followed my gaze upward.
“I just see some birds.”
“Not the birds — the sky.”
“The sky?”
“It looks kind of mint-colored… like it might taste good.”
“That’s… something.”
“It looks like cotton candy! Khan, I want cotton candy.”
That was a total stream of consciousness.
But I had my reasons — my mind was just running too fast from excitement.
My feelings were overflowing faster than I could think, faster than I could put into words.
Everything felt too bright, too alive — and that alone made my chest feel warm and full.
When I pestered Khan for cotton candy, he frowned slightly in mock distress but still looked at me.
“It’s almost the Founding Festival, so the capital’s probably full of vendors. You’ll find plenty selling cotton candy.”
“Khan, I don’t have any money. You buy it.”
“You… don’t not have money. You’re actually very rich.”
“I’m rich?”
“Probably the richest person on the continent.”
I blinked.
I’d never even touched a gold coin, and now I was the richest person on the continent?
It was such an absurd statement that I thought he was joking.
He’s so calm when he jokes — that makes it even cuter.
I’d never even held a single coin before.
I must’ve looked like a begging puppy as I thought about cotton candy, because Khan sighed softly, took my hand again, and led me forward.
Maybe he’s holding my hand to protect me?
I let him. It probably made it easier for him to keep me safe that way.
<Adele, you’re outside. It’s dangerous. I’ll keep your scent hidden.>
“Khan, did you just sparkle into existence?”
<Yeah.>
“Huh?”
Khan blinked. “What?”
“The wind spirit just talked to me.”
“Oh…”
He glanced curiously toward his shoulder, where the little spirit was perched, then subtly lifted his collar to hide it — so that others wouldn’t see.
Yeah… I must’ve looked weird, suddenly talking to thin air in the middle of the street.
“When I’m alone, I must look really strange.”
“Not really.”
“But I just blurted something out.”
I stopped myself from mentioning the spirit directly — Khan seemed to want to keep it hidden.
And since the spirit said it would hide my “scent” to protect me, I decided not to risk any careless mistakes.
The streets were crowded and noisy.
No one paid much attention to the two of us walking hand in hand.
“One mint cotton candy, please.”
“Sure thing, dearie. That’ll be three coppers.”
“Here you go.”
Khan took three copper coins out of an ordinary-looking wallet.
His “secret game” must’ve been well-practiced — he didn’t look out of place at all.
“You’re such a sweet boy! I’ll give you a little extra — not because you’re handsome, mind you! Hohoho! Come again!”
“Thank you.”
Khan accepted the kindness like it was nothing new and handed me the cotton candy.
I bit into it. Sugar stuck to my lips, but it felt like I was eating a cloud from the sky — light and soft.
“This is amazing.”
“What is, now?”
“I’m being a customer.”
“…?”
“Khan, you’re so cool.”
When I lived at the orphanage, the director used to make us bake cookies and sell them in the street once we turned six.
Back then, I was on the other side — the seller, not the customer.
The director would take every single coin we earned.
So I never knew.
What it felt like to buy something.
To spend money.
To taste something sweet I chose myself.
“Hard to feel cool when you’ve got sugar all over your mouth.”
“I don’t care if you feel cool or not — I think you’re cool.”
“…You really go at your own pace, don’t you?”
The cotton candy was delicious.
Then suddenly—
Khan’s expression tightened.
He looked around sharply, his body shifting slightly to shield me.
The wind spirit peeked out from under his collar and met my eyes.
<Adele, something’s wrong.>
“…?”
The wind spirit could hear voices carried on the air — even from far away.
Sometimes, it would tell me things it overheard when I wasn’t around.
Now, its blue face was growing paler by the second.
Even for a blue spirit, it looked too blue.
<…Don’t go!>
“Go where?”
<The orphanage — it’s dangerous!>
