Chapter 11
“Y-you’re the one who sent the letter?”
Elisson asked, her face a mix of disbelief and confusion.
“If you mean the letter, then yes, I sent it. Right, Mei?”
“Yes, yes!”
Meidilion quickly nodded in response to Winter’s question.
Elisson still couldn’t quite believe it and let out a nervous, hollow laugh.
Winter, noticing this, smiled knowingly and said,
“I think we have a lot to talk about. Shall we move somewhere more private?”
At the suggestion of a tiny child no more than half her height, Elisson could do nothing but follow, as if entranced.
They entered Elisson’s office, set up inside the Zanima Trading Company building.
Winter, moving as if she had been there before, naturally sat on the sofa in the middle of the room.
Elisson, sitting across from her, almost looked like the guest instead.
“Are you really the one who sent this letter?”
Elisson, who had remained silent up until this point, suddenly handed over the letter.
Looking at the familiar, slightly crumpled sheet that seemed to have passed through many hands, Winter nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Elisson frowned, embarrassed.
“No wonder I thought the handwriting looked like a child’s…”
“You thought it was written by a proxy?”
“…Yes.”
Seeing the uneven handwriting, she had assumed someone had a child write it to hide the sender’s true identity.
But to think the actual sender was indeed such a child…
Even though Winter claimed responsibility, Elisson still found it hard to believe.
She had memorized the letter by now but still opened it again, almost helplessly.
[The child who brought the letter is Meidilion Kader Genius. If you wish to speak, send a signal to the Vladimir Ducal family at midnight.]
Just two sentences. That alone sent shockwaves through the Zanima Trading Company staff.
It had been nine years since anyone had searched for the missing prince.
There were doubts about his very existence. Yet here was a child who looked exactly like the late former emperor and dared to append the imperial surname Kader Genius after his name.
Thinking of that shock still gave Elisson goosebumps.
“How do you even know about him?”
Elisson, studying Winter closely, asked. She couldn’t yet fully trust Winter’s words but was willing to explore all possibilities for now.
“Isn’t it strange if I didn’t know?”
Winter clicked her tongue lightly.
In the original story, Meidilion was shabby, always keeping her face hidden under messy hair, and her existence was barely known.
But the clean, well-groomed, well-dressed Meidilion clearly resembled the former emperor.
Of course, ordinary people who didn’t know what the former emperor looked like couldn’t judge the resemblance.
High-ranking nobles who knew the emperor’s face rarely encountered Meidilion, so no one had recognized him as the hidden prince—yet.
But through Winter, Meidilion had been revealed to the world.
Soon, even the Duke of Vladimir would likely notice.
That was why swift contact with these people was necessary. If the Ducal family didn’t allow him to stay long, a safe space was needed for the young Meidilion.
“Elisson.”
Winter didn’t want to waste any more time.
She decided to reveal herself fully to Elisson, who was still skeptical. That had been her purpose in coming here.
Elisson flinched when Winter called her name outright.
“Y-you… how do you know my name? And more importantly, why did you send this letter here?”
“Why wouldn’t I know? You’re a member of the former emperor’s secret guard, Arca.”
As Winter finished speaking, a faint wind blew.
In the blink of an eye, a sharp dagger pressed against Winter’s jaw.
Though she couldn’t see it clearly, a slight sting made Winter squint her right eye.
It wasn’t deep, but it had drawn a small cut.
“Child, careless words could cost you your life.”
Elisson’s expression, which had been casual moments ago, turned ice-cold.
Facing her fully, Winter whistled softly with a delinquent smirk.
There wasn’t a hint of fear in her demeanor.
“If you want, I can tell you even more.”
“…What?”
A normal child might have cried or shown fear by now, but Winter showed none.
Could she have removed her courage and left it elsewhere? Elisson furrowed her brow in disbelief.
Winter, unfazed, continued speaking.
“For example, you’re a talent specialized in spatial magic, right? You used that to escape the palace after the former emperor’s death without being noticed by the regent emperor.”
“Y-you… th-that’s impossible…”
“Or should I mention that the shop manager, Bailey, is the head of Arca and your twin sibling?”
Elisson’s face drained of color as Winter whispered like a little devil.
“Oh? I already said too much?”
Elisson’s complexion turned pale. Until now, she had suspected that someone mysterious was using a child to extract information from them.
She couldn’t imagine such a young child sending the letter and bringing Meidilion here.
Even seeing it with her own eyes, it was unbelievable.
But what she witnessed now couldn’t be explained as mere memorization by a child.
Could all of this really be the work of this child?
Elisson shivered down her spine as realization finally hit.
Her shoulders trembled. She lowered her sword and stepped back.
“W-who… who are you really?”
“Winter.”
“…Not your name. Your true identity.”
“Have you heard of the rumor about the Vladimir Ducal family collecting wrists?”
As soon as Winter spoke, Elisson’s mind quickly lined up the noble registers.
And all the recent rumors circulating in the capital.
She had suspected someone connected to the Ducal family when the letter instructed them to signal the Vladimir Ducal family. But never in her wildest thoughts did she imagine that this mischievous child was behind everything.
Now Elisson noticed Winter’s black hair and golden eyes.
She hadn’t considered it before.
“You… you’re Winter Vladimir…”
Elisson muttered, her angelic features now terrifying.
“Also… can you at least give me a handkerchief?”
Winter grumbled softly, brushing the cut on her neck. Seeing the blood, she frowned.
“Already coughing up blood is routine, and now more bleeding too…”
“Oh, sorry.”
Elisson awkwardly handed a handkerchief from her pocket.
“Don’t worry. Accidents happen while working.”
Winter accepted it and stopped the bleeding.
Time was tight, so she had to apply rough first aid, but she knew full well that a ten-year-old acting this way was extremely rare.
Yet Winter didn’t bother wearing the mask of a child in front of Elisson.
Elisson, the brain and strategist of Arca, could handle her.
Winter needed her trust for future cooperation.
Meanwhile, Elisson stared, captivated by this extraordinary child.
Small, thin, barely sinking into the sofa.
Hot chocolate and sugar-dusted cookies on the table seemed natural with her appearance.
She looked like a normal, cheerful child ready to giggle at any moment, with soft, downy cheeks.
Yet her large, golden eyes held Elisson’s gaze.
Eyes that wouldn’t let anyone look away, shining with a piercing, strange brilliance.
Winter noticed Elisson staring and met her gaze.
Elisson’s shoulders shivered.
Within those golden eyes was wisdom that pierced through the world, not childish innocence. The realization struck her like lightning.
“W-w-what do you want?”
Her polite tone sounded natural, without raising any suspicion.
Winter smiled lightly.
“I want Mei to become the emperor.”
Sitting on the sofa with her feet dangling, her words carried unexpected weight.
Elisson remembered that the one speaking was the only heir of the Vladimir Ducal family.
Her first thought: could she be planning to support the young Meidilion from childhood to manipulate him into becoming emperor?
“I know what you’re worrying about. Just know it’s useless.”
Winter spoke as if she already knew Elisson’s thoughts.
“You’ve heard the other rumors too, haven’t you?”
Clicking her tongue lightly, Winter murmured, making Elisson tilt her head in confusion.
It was hard to know which rumors she referred to.
“I’ll die within the next eight years.”
Winter calmly confessed her predetermined fate, her face serene like a still lake.
Looking directly at that odd sight, Elisson finally voiced the question she had always wondered.
“Why… why go this far?”
Winter’s eyes widened.
Her expression, usually cold and sharp, softened like a spring haze.
“Because… I like him.”
As she said this, Winter’s face looked a little shy.
