Chapter 20
“But it exists!”
“I’m sorry, milady. Where did you hear there’s a rabbit hole?”
Ror’s green eyes turned to the attendant who had asked the question. Everyone’s attention focused on the child’s small lips.
“…From a storybook! It was in a storybook my mom read to me.”
Suddenly, the room fell silent.
Everyone looked at Ror with puzzled expressions, but Ror, proud of herself, didn’t notice.
“Good children keep secrets well!”
Even the magic book, fluttering in approval, seemed to pat Ror’s cheek.
“Storybook… you say.”
“Storybook…”
“Hmm…”
The attendants’ faces darkened. The brief surge of hope quickly fizzled out.
They couldn’t just take soldiers based on information from a children’s story, no matter that it came from the young lady herself.
The attendants buried their heads in their hands again. Honestly, no one believed Ror’s words.
Except for Alcade.
Alcade stared quietly at Ror.
“Ror.”
“Hm?”
“Is there really a ‘rabbit hole’?”
“Yes! There is! I promise, on Ror’s snack!”
Ror bravely wiggled her pinky as she spoke.
Alcade watched the tiny finger twitching in front of him and gently stroked Ror’s head.
It was, admittedly, a hard story to believe. He understood why the attendants reacted as they did.
Under normal circumstances, and if it weren’t Ror speaking, Alcade would have ignored it entirely.
But—
At the moment Ror shouted ‘rabbit hole,’ Alcade felt a force move. It wasn’t magic or divine power, but something he could only call an ability.
It was the same force that had stirred when Ror underwent the parentage test.
If Ror’s power… could find a hidden path all the way to Venertha…
Thinking that far, Alcade pulled Ror tightly into his arms.
“Huh? Daddy?”
Ror looked up at Alcade with bright eyes, wondering why her father suddenly hugged her.
“Hehe!”
Ror stretched out her arms and hugged Alcade back.
Wrapped in a blanket and with her warm body in his arms, Alcade came to a decision.
Yes, let’s test it…
It would be good to see how incredible Ror’s ability really was before formally examining it.
“…Then, let’s check it.”
At Alcade’s words, the attendants froze. A heavier silence than before settled in.
“…Your Highness?”
“But that’s…!”
After a long pause, the attendants nervously tried to dissuade him. They couldn’t understand how he could trust the words of a little girl instead of carefully planning with available resources and soldiers.
Though they wanted to argue, they stayed silent.
“…We can’t just believe words alone.”
Alcade’s serious expression and low, firm voice silenced everyone.
He summoned a shadow and laid it over the map.
It was the duke’s ability.
Everyone in the office held their breath as they watched.
The shadow quickly scanned the Venertha region and began recreating the mountain ranges in three dimensions on the map.
Mountains, valleys, and forests formed on the map in shadow form.
And then—
A circular empty space appeared in a corner of the mountains.
“No… that place!”
“That’s the location of the ‘rabbit hole’ the young lady pointed out earlier!”
“Really? It actually existed?”
As the attendants murmured, the office quickly became noisy.
Alcade, amidst the chatter, quickly pointed to Giselle and gave orders.
“Hurry and send soldiers to the ‘rabbit hole’ to rescue the survivors. And don’t forget to provoke Kyiak beforehand.”
“So, friend, we found the rabbit hole!”
Ror was proudly recounting her accomplishment.
Her only audience was the black-haired boy she had found recently.
The boy still hadn’t opened his eyes.
But Ror visited him every day, talking and telling stories, worried he might feel lonely even in his dreams.
And indeed…
“Your face is shining again today!”
Ror admired the boy’s face.
The child, abandoned in a remote alley and covered in dust, had incredible looks once cleaned up.
Even as a child, he had a straight nose, long lashes gently framing his eyes, full lips, and a pale face. He looked like a prince from a fairy tale.
Ror poked his cheeks with her finger, but he didn’t react.
Alcade, standing nearby, sighed quietly. He hadn’t liked the situation from the start.
His beloved daughter talking endlessly to someone who didn’t respond, touching the boy so freely…
In protest, the shadow crept under the bed.
Normally, seeing a moving shadow would have Ror chattering, but she seemed unaware of either Alcade or the shadow now.
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yes!”
The boy was, even to Alcade, quite striking.
By that, he meant he was handsome.
If Ror liked him this much now, imagine how thrilled she’d be once he opened his eyes.
Alcade found himself unusually, openly concerned.
I think I’m turning into a doting dad more and more…
He furrowed his brow, though his head and heart didn’t quite align. Watching Ror laugh and chatter at the boy, he wanted to avert his attention.
So he played a little trick.
“Sweetheart, you like cheesecake, right?”
Alcade had quickly learned Ror’s preferences in a short time.
Cheesecake was one of Ror’s favorite desserts.
“Cheesecake!”
As expected, Ror’s eyes sparkled.
Her green eyes, once full of the boy, now floated toward a piece of cheesecake in the air.
The creamy cheese melting in her mouth!
The flavor dancing on her tongue!
Ahhh—
Ror clasped her cheeks with her hands. Even thinking about it made her heart swell with joy.
Alcade chuckled, ruffling her fine golden hair, softening his previously grumpy expression.
“Our girl solved a big problem, so she deserves a reward.”
“Yay!”
Ror quickly jumped up.
Cheesecake!
Excited, she ran to the door, then stopped and looked back.
“Oh, right!”
She dashed back to the boy, giggling.
“See you tomorrow, friend!”
Nom nom.
Nom nom.
“Really delicious!”
Ror had earned cheesecake as a reward for finding the ‘rabbit hole’!
Sitting on Alcade’s lap, she cut and ate the cake with a fork.
Every bite made her plump cheeks puff up in delight.
“You really like cheesecake.”
Alcade smiled faintly.
Ror looked up at him and grinned.
“I like Daddy more than cheesecake!”
For a moment, Alcade’s hand, which was smoothing her golden hair, paused.
Seeing Ror’s charm always made him feel an uncontrollable urge to protect—or break—something.
Noticing his hand gone, Ror turned to him again.
Where did Daddy’s hand go? Did it get tired from fixing my hair?
Of course, Alcade’s arm was perfectly fine.
Her clear green eyes, scanning him carefully, seemed like glass beads.
Meeting her fixed gaze, Alcade felt an inexplicable pressure.
Ror clearly wanted something, but she wouldn’t say it directly yet. Children’s minds were difficult to read.
Alcade watched her closely and asked,
“Why… Ror?”
“Daddy, do your arms hurt?”
“Hm? No, they don’t. What should I do for you?”
Ror immediately pressed her head into his hand.
“Like this, like this!”
“Haha, it seems the young lady wants her hair finished.”
Giselle, keeping a distance to not interrupt the warm father-daughter moment, gave Alcade a hint.
“Yes! Exactly!”
Ror beamed brightly and nodded.
