Chapter 26
The black-haired boy, who hadn’t opened his eyes for several days, finally woke up, flashing his long, sharp nails.
Near him, Lorre, who had been sprawled on the floor, blinked slowly… and gradually, tears began to fill her eyes.
“Da-Daddy—!”
Waaahhh!
Seeing familiar faces finally relieved Lorre’s tension, and she burst into tears. Suddenly, a wave of helpless sadness swept over her.
Alcade hurried over and picked Lorre up.
“Huuu… sniff….”
“It’s alright. It’s alright. Daddy’s right here. It’s okay.”
[Yes, Lorre! I’m here too!]
“Oh, my… Miss, you must have been so scared…”
As Alcade gently stroked her back, Lorre slowly calmed down. The warm, familiar touch eased her fear and surprise.
Sniff… Thank you, Chek.
She also silently thanked Chek. As her mind settled, she thought of how Chek had checked to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
“What on earth is going on here? And that child…?”
While Alcade and Angelina comforted Lorre, Giselle looked around, trying to understand the situation.
The room was in chaos… and the hem of the young lady’s torn dress?
“…How dare that brat attack our lady?”
Giselle’s face twisted in anger.
Attack our lady?
Our young lady of the Grand Duke family, the sunshine, the fairy, the angel herself?
Giselle’s rage shot sky-high. She gritted her teeth to keep from yelling in front of the young lady.
Her gaze toward the boy, however, was icy cold.
After taking several deep breaths, Giselle spoke calmly.
“We can’t just leave him be!”
“Notify the royal court. This is such a serious crime that he could be imprisoned immediately, even without a trial.”
How dare he threaten the daughter of the House of Atteleon! Angelina quietly added, fire in her eyes.
Prison?
“Ah, no!”
Lorre, buried in Alcade’s arms, suddenly lifted her head in panic.
Prison is for bad people!
From the storybooks, the villains were always sent to prison after losing to the knight, crying all the way there.
If that scary place was where this boy went…!
Terrible!
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I… I jumped onto the bed first. I told my friend not to come, but I…”
It wasn’t the friend’s fault… Lorre continued between sobs.
Alcade exhaled deeply and met Lorre’s eyes, nodding.
“…Alright. I understand.”
“Don’t… don’t send him to prison… sniff!”
“Alright.”
Hearing that, Lorre relaxed and let her body slump. Exhausted from crying and tension, she quickly fell asleep.
Alcade, who had been gently patting her, checked that she was sound asleep before handing Lorre to Angelina.
“Miss…”
Angelina teared up as she held Lorre. After crying so much, the child felt warm and heavy in her arms.
Just as she was about to glare at the boy with renewed resentment…
“I will not punish him.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your Highness, really?”
“Yes. I will not punish him.”
Giselle looked slightly displeased but bowed quietly.
Indeed, sending a boy roughly the young lady’s age to prison would have been too harsh. The young lady had also said not to do so…
But that boy almost caused serious trouble for her.
Ignoring Giselle’s dissatisfaction, Alcade approached the boy.
Even then, the child’s hands still bore the long, sharp nails.
The sudden arrival of the adults and the girl who had stood up for him—all of it was met with suspicion and caution in the boy’s eyes.
Alcade and the boy faced off briefly. When Alcade reached out, the shadow slowly crawling on the bed wrapped around the boy’s body.
“…Ugh!”
The boy struggled against the tightly bound shadow before collapsing onto the bed.
“What are you?”
“……”
Even when asked, the boy only turned his head sharply, refusing to answer.
Seeing his defiant gaze, Alcade exhaled deeply.
Honestly, he didn’t care if the boy ended up in prison or was captured by anyone… but Lorre had already given her heart to him.
Alcade carefully examined the boy. His hands with the long nails and sharp golden eyes.
A beast tribe…
From the start, he had been a troublemaker, as expected.
With a snap of his fingers, the shadow gathered and left a necklace-shaped mark in his palm.
“Put this on.”
“Ah, yes.”
Giselle quickly took the necklace and approached the boy.
The boy growled and resisted, but being tightly bound, he had no choice.
Finally, when the necklace was placed around his neck…
Swoosh.
The sharp nails returned to normal.
“From now on, wear this necklace. It will help you control your power.”
“Hiiing…”
Lorre stomped her feet in the chair, pouting.
“No, Miss.”
“Hiiing…”
“No matter how much you cry, what can’t be done… can’t be done!”
Her puffed-up, sulky face was adorable, but Angelina straightened her mind.
“But… I want to see my friend…”
Upon waking, Lorre immediately searched for her “friend.”
She clenched her eyes at the thought of his sharp nails.
Being alone… must be scary.
Alone in the big room, a shadow monster might come out from under the bed and roar, “Graaah!” and eat her friend.
Her father’s shadow friend was good, but there could be bad shadows too!
And…
What if I cry because he might go to prison?
Even though her father said he wouldn’t send him, the word “prison” was terrifying. She wanted to rush and hold him tightly.
But Angelina said Lorre couldn’t visit her friend, who was currently “in isolation.”
Lorre only understood what “isolation” meant after Chek explained.
I can’t meet anyone at all!
[But Lorre, what can’t be done… can’t be done. You almost got hurt.]
Noooo…
[I’m against Lorre going to him too!]
Waaah!
Even Chek didn’t take her side!
Her lips pouted, and the walnut-shaped dimples on her cheeks deepened. Angelina looked away to hide a smile.
Knock. Knock.
At Angelina’s gesture, the maids opened the door.
“Um… hello, Lorre…”
“Ah!”
Prince Yuren entered, smiling and holding out his small hand.
“Gachi, want to go eat…?”
“We’re first!”
“Looks like no one’s here yet…”
Lorre and Yuren held hands and entered the dining room side by side.
“Where’s Daddy…”
Lorre looked up at Angelina as she sat quietly in her seat. Just then, the dining room doors opened.
“Daddy!”
Alcade and Reikal entered together. Lorre jumped from her seat and ran into Alcade’s arms.
“Hehe!”
Alcade lifted her naturally.
Rubbing her face against him, Lorre felt her heart soften.
Warm, now-familiar daddy scent… and being in his arms was…
Like a blanket!
A blanket that wraps you warmly in winter! Lorre laughed happily.
Even these days, she curled up under the blankets when sleeping alone at night.
Even wrapped in soft, thick bedding, occasionally, a cold wind would sneak in, pricking her like tiny pins.
Mom…
Sometimes, she buried her face in her pillow and sniffled, missing her mother.
At those times, darkness would surge in the empty hole inside her heart.
The darkness might swallow me…
But she swallowed the shadow lump down her throat. Because…
Our Lorre must always be happy. If Lorre is sad, Mom will be sad too.
She remembered her mother saying this while kissing her cheek.
Despite the trembling voices of adults and her mother growing thinner and weaker each day, Lorre could not tell anyone.
She hated seeing her mother sad. Her darkness was small; she could swallow it.
So Lorre had developed the habit of swallowing her sadness and pain, keeping it deep inside.
The waves of darkness swallowed deep inside.
But when she jumped into her father’s arms, the turbulence quieted, as if it had never existed.
