#4
“Nana nana~”
Noah, who had pushed open the large door with both hands and stepped outside, glanced back and forth down the long corridor lined with a red carpet. Although she had visited a few times in her previous life, she didn’t know all the paths of this large, expansive castle.
Where would a seven-year-old boy be?
Humming a tune while scanning both sides, Noah began walking to the left. She was practically looking upward as she admired the occasional high-end decorations and fresh flowers placed along the corridor.
Being small with short strides, it took quite a while to reach the end of the corridor, and at some point, the humming had stopped flowing from Noah’s lips.
“Is this the way…?”
This time, too, what unfolded before her was another very long corridor. If only there were someone passing by, but standing alone in the middle of this luxurious, high-class corridor without even an ant in sight, Noah looked back.
She thought about returning to the room she had first come out of, but since she had walked quite a distance, she didn’t want to do that either. If a man draws his sword, he must cut something down. Scolding herself for seeking comfort, Noah pursed her lips tightly and clenched her fists.
“It hurts… it hurts… but the Earth is round…”
The Earth is indeed round, but what kind of madman would try to walk all the way around it?
Walking boldly on the plush carpet was only brief; for an adult body, it might not be such a long distance, but for a three-year-old child, it was indeed a long way. Noah’s footsteps gradually slowed.
She was hungry, her legs hurt, and she missed her mother.
True to the fickle nature of a child, Noah’s lips, which had been full of hope just moments ago, now jutted out upward and downward. She hadn’t been someone with such extreme emotional swings, but as a wave of depression washed over her, Noah stopped and looked around again.
By now, having wandered this far, surely someone should have passed by.
Even so, thinking she was being clever, she had tried pushing every door she saw along the corridor with both hands, but the heavy doors didn’t budge an inch. At this point, it seemed more surprising that the door to her room had opened so easily earlier.
“Tsk…”
Just as her lips jutted out, tears welled up, blurring her vision, and Noah wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Let’s go back. If she went back, Lucas would surely come looking for her.
Adventure seemed too harsh for a three-year-old child. Noah’s footsteps as she walked back down the corridor to where she had started were endlessly slow.
With shoulders slumped and trudging along, Noah’s face was now wet with tears, and occasionally her small shoulders shook as she hiccupped softly.
Absentmindedly rubbing her nose with her hand, Noah rummaged through her pocket. She suddenly remembered the cookies Elisa had given her, wrapped in a small handkerchief. Finding the handkerchief-wrapped cookies in her pocket, a small smile bloomed on Noah’s face.
Who had time to move aside to avoid blocking the way? Sitting down in the middle of the corridor, Noah’s small fingers wriggled, and two chocolate cookies revealed themselves. As they say, even a dead ghost looks good well-fed; without hesitation, Noah grabbed the cookies with both hands and quickly took a bite.
Sweet, crunchy, and delicious, but sad. Munching on the cookie, she laughed, but when she thought about the long walk back, a tear immediately dropped. Then she ate the cookie again, chewing vigorously.
Even as cookie crumbs fell on her clothes, making a mess, and melted chocolate stuck messily to her hands, Noah didn’t care and finished one cookie, then quickly picked up the other.
“Huh… huh?”
Just as she was about to take a big bite of the cookie, a hand slipped under her armpit, and as she was suddenly lifted upward, Noah’s eyes widened. It was even more surprising because someone had picked her up from behind, not from the front.
“Hello.”
With a soft voice, Noah’s mouth fell open as she saw the person holding her with one arm, much like Lucas. Clutching the cookie like a lifeline, Noah stared intently at the face of the person meeting her gaze.
In all her life, she had never seen anyone who looked like this.
Should she say handsome? Or pretty? Could she describe them as angelic yet demonic?
If Lucas’s hair was pitch black, this person’s hair had a blue tint. Long, dark blue hair with eyes that were also dark blue.
As he slightly turned his body, a ray of light from outside illuminated his face, and his dark blue eyes transformed into a mysterious shade of blue.
“Wow…”
Noah, who had even seen him blink, instinctively let out an exclamation of admiration.
“Not many people can wander around here. Who might you be?”
“Noah!”
“Noah?”
“Uh-huh. Noah Schuwein.”
“Ah… the treasured young master of the Northern Grand Duke.”
After asking her name in a affectionate voice, the man soon seemed to know who she was and smiled softly. Noah abruptly offered him the cookie she was holding.
Since this is all I have, would you like to have this?
After all, the best way to win someone over is with food.
Besides, this is the most delicious cookie I’ve ever had in my life.
“I can’t take a cute baby’s snack.”
“Eat it.”
“Yes. Well then, shall we go find the Grand Duke together?”
Noah blinked rapidly at the hand stroking her cheek. Handsome, good manners, a nice voice, and from the clothes and aura, he seemed like a noble. The calculator in Noah’s small head began spinning quickly.
No ring on his finger, and his appearance was more like a beautiful boy than a handsome man, so there might be a bit of an age difference. But isn’t love without borders or forms? With brownish hair and reddish eyes being the symbol of the imperial family, he didn’t seem to be royalty.
He didn’t seem to be royalty, there might be an age gap, but he didn’t seem to have a fiancée yet, and how much more handsome would this beautiful boy become when he grows into a man…
Having thought that far, a determined look settled on Noah’s face.
The brave get the handsome man.
“What is your name?”
Ah, it seems I’ve already failed with the pronunciation. She wanted to ask in a serious voice seriously, but the baby voice made the pronunciation muddled. Moreover, seeing the man’s lips curve into a graceful arc upon hearing her words, Noah’s eyebrows drooped.
“Are you curious about my name?”
“Yes!”
“If I tell you my name, will you remember it?”
“Yes!”
Like a child answering a kindergarten teacher’s question with all her might, Noah nodded her head and answered promptly.
As the man, who was carrying her and heading toward the room she had first come out of, stroked her head, Noah quickly brought her head closer to his hand.
She shouldn’t be too friendly and affectionate with a stranger, but Noah removed one hand from the cookie she was holding with both hands. She wanted to touch his eyes and hair, which changed to a mysterious color in the sunlight.
As Noah reached out her hand toward the man, she saw the chocolate smeared on it and quickly rubbed her hand on her chest. She couldn’t touch him with dirty hands, after all.
Even though he must have known Noah’s hand was coming toward his face, the man didn’t avoid it. His hair was extremely soft, and he smelled really good.
“If I tell you my name, what will you do for me, little one?”
“I’ll marry you!”
Ah. The words slipped out without passing through her brain, and startled by her own words, Noah’s hand clenched. At the same time, she unintentionally pulled out a few strands of the man’s hair she was touching, and a flustered answer rushed out of Noah’s mouth.
“Gasp… It hurts… I’m sorry. What should I do?”
Then, Noah’s hand, filled with apology, hurriedly touched the man’s head. The cookie she had been clutching fell to the floor, and her sticky, chocolate-and-cookie-grease-covered hand was tousling the man’s silk-like hair.
She wanted to clean the man’s hair, but the more she tried, the more chocolate and cookie crumbs smeared everywhere. Feeling sorry and helpless in the situation, Noah brought her chocolate-covered hand to her lips.
Even though one side of his hair, which shone beautifully in the sunlight and was soft like silk, was now a sticky mess, the man was smiling too beautifully. Then, as he grabbed her dirty hand that was on her lips, Noah’s mouth corners drooped even further.
“It’s my first time meeting His Majesty, so I should look pretty, right?”
The man’s hand shimmered briefly, and at the same time, Noah’s hand became clean. Light continued to gather in the man’s hand, and wherever the light-touched hand made contact with Noah’s body, magical things happened.
Her messy hands, her lips and chubby cheeks covered in cookie crumbs and chocolate, and her shirt with frills that had become stained from frantic wiping—all became clean and fluffy.
She knew magic was used in various aspects of life, but seeing magic used before her eyes for the first time, Noah’s green eyes followed his hand intently.
Alphas and Omegas were rare, but even rarer were mages. Seeing him use water just now, he might be a spirit mage. Anyway, the man she just set her sights on was an incredible person.
“Now you’re pretty.”
The moment his long, straight index finger poked Noah’s soft cheek, her face turned red like a ripe peach.
He said I’m pretty. He said I’m pretty.
“Am I cute?”
“Yes, you’re cute.”
That’s it. Being cute is enough. They say pretty is fleeting, but cute is forever. If you’re cute and pretty, you’re halfway to success.
“What’s your name?”
First, she needed to know his name to do anything, but instead of telling her, the man kept evading the question. Noah looked at him, blinking her large eyes slowly.
“……”
“Derek?”
“Derek is the name of the silver dragon, the lord of the Austin region.”
She was sure he said Derek, but at the man’s words, which seemed to correct what she knew, Noah tilted her head.
“If you know my name, you have to marry me. Is that okay?”
