Episode 5: Why… Do You Like Me?
After giving her orders, Ain turned back toward the window, watching Lottea disappear through the door. He suddenly recalled the deep blue bruise on the child’s wrist. A clear sign of abuse. There must not have been a single ally for the child in that baron household. A place full only of enemies—then thrown into the world all of a sudden. Of course she would be wary.
Ain nodded slowly.
“……”
What was she trying to do, going outside with that injured body? His curiosity piqued, Ain approached the window. Could he see her from here? His eyesight was good enough to reach great distances.
Just then—
“Your Grace, it’s Sir Serat.”
Another visitor had come to his room—a different knight this time.
Ain tapped lightly on the window ledge instead of pulling the bell cord. His loyal aide, quick-eared as ever, slipped into the room without a sound. Ain hated having his thoughts interrupted. Serat sensed that sharpness and tensed up, but fortunately, the news he brought was likely something the duke would be interested in.
“The Levoix barony has made contact.”
The men with iron masks on their faces—Ain’s eyes turned cold.
“What did they say?”
Serat hesitated—not sure if this was the kind of news to tell a man already simmering with anger. But hesitation was pointless. It was not a subordinate’s place to judge the value of information.
“They… came to ask about the date of the marriage contract.”
—Craack!
The ledge under Ain’s hand shattered loudly.
The sea fog surrounding the southern territory of House Iter was terrible. It shifted from place to place throughout the year, but it never disappeared. And this season, the fog gathered thickest near the “Fog Sea.” Conveniently for the knights of the Levoix barony, the inland route they took avoided the heaviest fog.
“Did His Grace say anything?”
When Serat returned to the reception room, the Levoix knight looked relieved. Even with ties of marriage, a knight could never relax in the domain of the Iter Duke—the guardian of the sea and rumored slayer of anything within the mist.
“……”
Instead of replying, Serat stepped aside and bowed. Behind him, the Duke of Iter entered the room.
“…..!”
The Levoix knight shot to his feet in shock. The duke didn’t spare him a glance.
“It concerns my house. I should answer personally.”
Ain looked at him once. If they wanted proper courtesy, the baron or at least his eldest son, Asili de Levoix, should have come. But neither bothered to appear.
Ain’s lips curved into a smile.
“So, you came to ask about the marriage contract?”
The knight, thinking things were going smoothly, nodded.
“Yes, the Baron instructed me to inquire. I am Karen, Captain of the Baron’s knights.”
Captain? House Levoix didn’t even have thirty knights. Ain erased the useless name from his mind.
“Seems the previous knights didn’t deliver my message.”
“Ah, they never returned.”
Never returned? Ain’s eyebrow twitched. Then he understood.
A few mangled corpses had been found not long after those knights left the estate. Likely them. Knights who couldn’t even deal with the weakest monsters of the forest… laughable.
Ain smiled coldly.
“Nasia already belongs to House Iter.”
Karen’s eyes widened.
“But the marriage oath has not yet been—!”
Ain didn’t bother sitting at the head seat. He walked leisurely to stand directly before Karen.
His cold gaze fell.
“Where did you get the absurd idea that I would take a five-year-old as my bride? Makes me want to visit the barony myself.”
“…..!”
A noble entering another noble’s territory required permission. In this context, Ain’s words sounded like a declaration of war.
“I will honor Levoix’s wishes. But Nasia will remain here as my daughter. She will never leave this house—unless she chooses to abandon the family name.”
Karen froze in shock.
“I do hope you deliver this message safely.”
The word safely was spoken slow and low. Karen turned pale.
Ain didn’t wait for a reply and left. Silence remained.
“Kya!”
My heart throbbed painfully—I gasped for breath. But the sight around me was too beautiful, too peaceful, and I slowly calmed down.
“This is… the inside of a shell?”
At first, everything was pitch black. Then a faint glow appeared—like a reddish hanging lamp illuminating the space. The desk I saw faintly through the fog looked completely different in this warm light—like a secret lodge hidden deep in the woods.
“Wow.”
There was no trace of humans ever being here. Even with magical senses, the light wasn’t man-made. It seemed natural.
“A perfect hideout!”
I loved it immediately. Sure, the shell closing scared me earlier, but it opened again. If I could go in and out, this was the best hideout ever. I pressed a hand to my chest.
—thump, thump.
Still manageable.
“With enough mana, I can do simple magic.”
I knelt down; the floor felt soft, like a carpet. I scooped up white sand with my tiny hands—it barely filled my palms, but it was enough.
—shhhh…
The sand made a resonant chime as it fell. I drew a magic circle.
—whum!
It reacted instantly, absorbing mana from the mist.
—flash!
Blue light coursed through the circle, then faded back into red.
“At least I’ll know when someone comes here.”
It was a detection barrier—not a defensive one. I wasn’t planning to reveal myself as a mage yet.
“Good…”
I checked the space, crawled under the desk, and tucked my teddy-bear slippers under my dress. Being small had advantages—my head didn’t hit the shell ceiling.
“Hmm…”
The red light drifted upward as if teasing me. Irritated, I jumped—
—tap!
Unexpectedly, the shell lid burst open. The light vanished. Mana fog rushed in.
And black silhouettes surrounded the shell.
“—Break the shell! P–Princess!”
The fog monsters?!
Before I could react, a figure burst through the shadows.
“Aga—sshi!”
“Uhk!”
My eyes went round. Then the pain in my chest sharpened.
“Hic—!”
A hiccup. My whole body jerked.
Apparently, I was really shocked. Half dazed, I was carried back to the mansion.
“You scared us so much when you disappeared! Especially that shell—”
Azelta gently laid me on the bed. I was still hiccupping.
“That shell grows abnormally large from strange fog. You shouldn’t go near those things.”
Fog… she meant mana fog. She didn’t know what it was.
Azelta’s face, usually bright with smiles, was now tight with worry. She checked me from head to toe and let out a shaky sigh.
“I ran to His Grace the moment you were gone. Do you know how worried I was?”
No one at the Magic Tower ever looked at me like that. I protected them—no one protected me. They used me because I was the strongest.
‘You can handle it, right?’
‘You’re the strongest among us.’
Empty praises—before pushing me to the front lines.
Azelta was different. She didn’t know I was a grand mage. She wasn’t trying to gain anything. It was pure concern.
Why?
All I had was Duke Ain Iter’s statement that I was his adopted daughter. Yet Azelta ran around for me like this?
Listening to her uneven breathing, I blurted her name.
“Azelta.”
“Yes, my lady?”
She answered warmly.
“Why…”
Why are you doing this for me?
I swallowed the rest—saying something too adult would be suspicious.
“Do you like me?”
She blinked—then burst into her usual bright smile.
“Well, you gave me this.”
She pulled something from her apron pocket—wrapped neatly like a tiny pizza slice.
Candy.
“…Candy?”
She nodded proudly.
“Yes! Since you gave me something so precious, I must serve you with all my heart.”
I startled, then laughed.
“So it was a candy-friendship?”
It worked! I winked; Azelta winked back.
But I didn’t miss the shadow behind her smile. There was more to her reason—but not something to ask now.
I thought back. Who did I give candy to? The maids, Azelta… ah, some passing knights too.
Eight people total.
I had no idea those eight candy recipients would one day be called—
“The Eight Candy Shard Corps.”
