Chapter 46
“V–Vanilla? What’s wrong? What happened?”
It was nine o’clock at night.
Vanilla appeared in the room where Axion and I were, big tears rolling down from her large eyes.
She had followed us once before, saying she would walk Axion back. It seemed she remembered the way from then.
“Uuuh… Sillia….”
I quickly ushered the pitifully sobbing Vanilla into the room.
Axion had just fallen asleep in the small adjoining room connected to my bedroom. Karl, who had been watching over him, had already returned to his own room.
So at the moment, it was just Vanilla and me.
“Sit here first.”
I sat Vanilla down on the sofa and draped a blanket over her. Then I warmed some milk and brought it back.
“Drink this, Vanilla. It’s warm milk.”
“Uuuh… sniff.”
Vanilla held the mug of milk with both hands, but she didn’t bring it to her lips.
I waited calmly until she settled down, and finally, the child opened her mouth.
“Well, um… my puppy….”
Puppy?
The stuffed puppy doll Vanilla cherished so much?
“My puppy disappeared… I think it hates me now. Did it leave me too, like my mom did? Did my puppy abandon me?”
“…Vanilla.”
The tears dripping down her reddened cheeks looked unbearably sorrowful.
Abandoned her, like her mother. Had Vanilla’s biological mother really left her behind?
In the original story, there had been no mention at all of Vanilla’s biological parents. That was why I knew nothing about their circumstances.
I had only learned here that her biological father had been killed by Dazar.
“So Vanilla… has a lot of pain too.”
I gently set down the milk she was holding and pulled her into my arms.
“Waaah… Or maybe it was taken away, like that person from Dazar’s place….”
Vanilla clung to me, crying nonstop. That person from Dazar’s place. It was something she had muttered once before.
I pretended not to hear that part and spoke softly, using a gentle tone. That seemed like the best way to calm her right now.
“It’s okay, Vanilla. Shh—your puppy didn’t run away. It probably just stepped out for a bit. Maybe it got lost and is waiting for you somewhere.”
“Uu… really?”
“Yeah. Shall we go look for it together?”
“Uuuh… sniff. Y-you’ll go with me?”
Her eyes, stained with tears, trembled anxiously. I stroked her head and nodded firmly.
“Of course. We’ll go together.”
After soothing Vanilla, I left the room with her. Judging by the tear drops scattered along the corridor she’d walked through, she must have cried the whole way here.
We were getting close to Vanilla’s room, but at a fork in the hallway, I turned in the opposite direction.
I couldn’t leave Dazar out of this. He was her guardian, after all.
“Vanilla. The more people we have, the better. Let’s bring Dazar with us too.”
“Si… Sider.”
Vanilla stopped short at the mention of Dazar’s name.
She looked completely withdrawn, fidgeting with her lips. But it didn’t seem like she disliked Dazar.
“Why? Do you not want to? Is it because you don’t like Dazar?”
“No, that’s not it!”
“Then?”
“Uu… th-that is…”
Vanilla lowered her head and spoke in a tiny, timid voice.
“My puppy… Dazar gave me the puppy….”
“Huh? Dazar gave you the puppy as a present?”
“When Daddy hated me, Dazar… Dazar… gave me the puppy.”
Sniff. Vanilla continued, her voice trembling.
“If it’s gone, he’ll hate me too… like Daddy did….”
Her father hated her?
I stared at Vanilla in shock. A hint of fear flickered in her golden eyes.
Reading that expression, I realized something without meaning to.
“Her biological father….”
That he hadn’t cherished her.
Thinking I’d reminded her of something painful, I bent down and comforted her.
“It’s okay. Then… do you want to go with just me?”
“Uu….”
Vanilla looked conflicted. She started to nod, then suddenly froze, unable to decide.
And at that moment—
“Of course I’m coming too, you idiot.”
A blunt voice, rough but strangely warm, rang out.
As if he’d known we were heading his way, Dazar was leaning against the wall in light clothes. He tilted his head, arms crossed.
“D–Dazar! Uuuh….”
“Don’t cry, you little brat. And it’s a present I gave you—don’t I have the right to look for it too? So we’re going together.”
“…Ri-right?”
Vanilla seemed not to understand the word right, and Dazar uncrossed his arms and roughly ruffled his own hair.
“No, that’s not it… I mean, I want to look for it too, Vanilla.”
“…You’re not going to hate me?”
“…Of course not, you brat.”
Dazar stepped forward and scooped up the hesitant Vanilla in one hand. The gesture felt oddly familiar.
“Th-then… let’s look together….”
“Seriously, you’re such a handful.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Dazar started walking, and I quietly followed behind him. For some reason, I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation right now.
When we entered Vanilla’s room, we searched everywhere for the puppy.
“It’s probably under a pile of clothes or somewhere like that. That’s why you couldn’t find it.”
“A pile of clothes?”
A pile of clothes in a duke’s daughter’s room? Aren’t maids always organizing her clothes? Dressing her, too?
At my question, Dazar glanced awkwardly at Vanilla. She was calling for her puppy while searching under the bed.
Dazar spoke in a very small voice.
“She has scars on her body. She doesn’t want anyone to see them. The maids are always careful, but she reacts very sensitively.”
In short, when Vanilla changed clothes to go to bed, all the maids withdrew and didn’t come back in.
So the clothes she took off ended up scattered on the floor until morning.
“…I stayed with her for a while. But she’s adapting to the mansion little by little, and independence is important for a high noble from a young age.”
So now she changed clothes by herself.
Hearing that, I hurried into the adjoining dressing room. And there, under the dress she had worn that day, I finally found the puppy.
“Found it!”
“R–Really?”
The puppy was sprawled out flat, sound asleep, using the dress as a blanket. I told Vanilla that, reassuring her.
She almost burst into tears again when she saw it, but when Dazar firmly said, “Hey,” she clamped her lips shut and held them back.
After soothing her and making sure she fell asleep, the two of us left the room.
Click. The door closed.
“…What a stormy day.”
“Tell me about it. I’m exhausted to death since morning. And whose fault do you think that is?”
“Whose fault? Obviously yours.”
“How is this my fault?”
Seeing Dazar narrow his eyes, I lifted my chin smugly.
“Well, because Vanilla is your daughter.”
“……”
“You worked hard playing the dad role all day. Good luck with that from now on too.”
I lightly tapped Dazar’s shoulder with my fist when he fell silent.
We walked down the corridor in silence.
Just before we reached my room, Dazar finally spoke.
“…Thank you.”
“…What?”
What did I just hear? Was I hearing things?
While I stared at him wide-eyed, Dazar strode away in a single step. Before I knew it, I was left alone in the hallway.
“….”
Feeling oddly dazed, I blinked a few times and went into my room.
I lay spread-eagle on the bed and pinched my cheek.
It hurt.
I snorted and laughed.
“So that guy… I thought he was just bad luck. Turns out he can say thank you, too.”
For some reason, my heart felt a little itchy. I rolled around giggling for a while, then suddenly stopped moving.
Vanilla’s words about “that person” connected to Dazar came back to me.
“Who is that person…?”
“Sillia! Sir Sylvestain has sent you a letter!”
The next day, Karl came running in, out of breath, and handed me a letter from Sylvestain. It was a reply to the question I had sent earlier.
“Oh! Is Sir Sylvestain doing well?”
“Wait a moment, Karl.”
Maybe I’d overdone it yesterday—my whole body ached. Groaning, I rolled out of bed.
Ugh.
I was exhausted, but checking the contents of the letter was urgent, so I quickly opened it and read.
Why the sudden interest in books, Sillia?
I don’t know what prompted it, but… to think that you—who used to show no interest in my books and burned them to use as fertilizer for farming—would change like this. It moves me deeply.
Your brother is truly delighted.
I skipped over all the parts about how happy and touched Sylvestain was.
…I’ve been searching for and interpreting ancient texts. The book you saw is likely an unfinished interpretation of that work. It’s still in progress, but the temple requested it, so I compiled only part of it into a book. I’ll send you some of what I’ve translated.
The temple requested it?
So Sylvestain must have known about the investigation into Ruben.
I continued reading his interpretation.
Ruben is born human. They grow by feeding on misfortune, and this is an inescapable fate. Having grown that way, Ruben inevitably comes to hate the world and will eventually bring about its destruction.
Eventually bring about the destruction of the world.
The description felt strangely familiar.
“…It’s too similar to Axion in the original story.”
A chill ran down the back of my neck.
No. That couldn’t be. Shaking my head, I read on.
There were more similar explanations about Ruben, and then—
Beware the followers of Ruben.
That was where the interpretation ended.
Sorry, sorry, Sillia! I’ve just obtained some urgent information, so I must end this letter quickly. I’ll send another soon. And the books Hail requested are in my personal carriage’s storage…
After learning where the books Hail had asked for were kept, I fell into deep thought.
Could Axion really be Ruben…?
Until Karl finally gave up calling my name and left the room, I agonized over it—then made a decision.
For now, I would leave open the possibility that Axion might be Ruben, and investigate everything I could about Ruben.
I hurriedly scribbled a reply to Sylvestain.
If Axion truly was Ruben, then to Dazar—the Transcendent—he would be an enemy.
Remembering Dazar and Vanilla from today, I swallowed hard.
If, by some chance, we ended up as enemies…
“……”
No matter what, I would protect Axion.
