Chapter 29
“What… what’s going on? Why are you like this?”
The boy, completely flustered, approached Lorre, but her crying only grew louder.
“Sniff… sniff… waaaah…”
“Why are you crying!”
“You… you don’t like me either, sniff… hic! Ika… ugh! I don’t like it…!”
I was just going to be friends with him, but last time my nails grew long…
Tears full of sorrow streamed down Lorre’s cheeks.
It was as if dark clouds had filled her heart. Thunder and lightning cracked loudly above.
The boy didn’t know what to do and tried to comfort her.
“N-no, that’s not it.”
“Yes, it is!”
This time, Lorre let out a loud squeal.
The boy, clearly panicked, couldn’t see her face through the tears that blurred his vision.
“You don’t like Lorre!”
“No! I don’t dislike you!”
“Then why… hic! did you shout for me not to come, sniff!”
“Th-that’s—!”
The boy rolled his eyes as if contemplating an answer, but eventually said nothing.
Lorre, who had briefly stopped crying when she heard he didn’t dislike her, suddenly started tearing up again.
“It’s not because I don’t like you. Like last time… I mean…!”
“So… what!”
“What if I accidentally attacked you like last time? Then you’d get hurt!”
The boy’s cheeks flushed slightly as he hurriedly added the explanation.
Last time, as soon as he woke up, the red-haired woman, Giselle, had explained the rough situation to him.
It was surprising enough that the girl was Grand Duchess Ateleon, but even more unbelievable that such a soft, peach-like child was the daughter of that dark and cold man.
‘She even… saved me?’
If she hadn’t found him, if she hadn’t helped, he would have either died on the street or been recaptured by those who came looking for him.
He realized he had caused trouble to the child who had saved him.
Feeling guilty for making an innocent girl cry, and now doing it again…
“So… Lorre, hic! you… you don’t dislike me? Sniff!”
“Why would I dislike you!”
Seeing the genuine apology and frustration on the boy’s face, Lorre smiled widely.
Her eyes, soaked with tears, squinted in a cheerful grin.
“I-I don’t dislike my friend either!”
Her excitement burst into laughter. The friend who visited every day, who spoke to her, who waited just for her to wake up, didn’t dislike her!
“…Ha, well… okay… yeah…”
As if nothing had happened, Lorre, face still wet with tears, beamed brightly, and the boy let out a small, awkward laugh.
He must be feeling better for some reason.
The boy smiled slightly and reached out his hand.
Though bigger than Lorre’s, it was clearly small compared to an adult’s hand, marked with tiny scars. Lorre looked at it intently, then grabbed it firmly and stood up with a spirited “Hup!”
“Let’s introduce ourselves again. What’s your name, friend? I’m Lorre! Lorre Vantes!”
“…Kainel.”
As he answered, the boy suddenly found his own name strangely unfamiliar. He hadn’t been called it once since he went to ‘that place’.
“Kainel!”
Lorre waved her hand like in a handshake, her bright face and the warmth of her grip etched into the boy’s heart like a stamp.
Kainel stared blankly at the girl and then asked a question he had been curious about.
“But… why did you do it?”
“Huh?”
“You’re the one who brought me here, right? Why did you bring me?”
It was a place deep in an alley where people rarely came, so it wasn’t easy to find. How did Lorre know to come all the way there to look for him?
‘Gah!’
The sharp question made Lorre flinch.
‘Uh… what should I do?’
I went to save him because the book told me to… but I can’t tell him the book is my secret friend.
But now Kainel is my friend, and friends are curious…
Her mind spun. Lorre even let go of Kainel’s hand she had been holding, propping one hand under her chin and supporting her arm with the other, lost in thought.
‘Hmm…’
Kainel narrowed his eyes and said:
“Can’t you say it?”
“Huh…?”
“I said, can’t you say it? Why you brought me here.”
“Hic!”
Lorre hiccuped again.
“Uh… uh…”
“Who said not to say it?”
“N-no!”
Lorre shook her head and hands vigorously.
‘N-no, it’s not like that…!’
She just couldn’t reveal the existence of the book.
Watching Lorre flustered, Kainel smirked.
“You’re really strange. You can’t even say why you brought me.”
“Sniff… sniff…”
“You know me?”
“N-no… I don’t. I’m seeing you for the first time…”
Kainel stepped closer and quietly examined her.
Except for her face, adorable with leafy green eyes, sunlight-colored hair, and rosy cheeks, she was just an ordinary child.
Being the daughter of Grand Duke Ateleon, she shouldn’t have any connection to ‘that place’…
Seeing Kainel staring carefully, Lorre lowered her head and muttered.
“…I had to save you…”
“What?”
She clenched her skirt with her small hands and hesitated.
“I didn’t know either. But I don’t like it if my friend is hurt…”
“Friend?”
The word was completely unfamiliar to him. Kainel’s golden eyes widened slightly, and his lips parted in surprise.
“Y-yeah. Kainel and I are friends!”
After agonizing over the secret of the secret friend and a question from a new friend, Lorre finally smiled proudly.
‘I’ll only say what I can say!’
The book told her where Kainel was to save him, but her desire to help him was genuine.
They had greeted each other every day. Kainel hadn’t heard because he was asleep.
Now that they knew each other’s names… this counts as being friends!
“…You and I are friends?”
“Yeah!”
Lorre nodded vigorously.
“Friends…”
Kainel repeated the words, testing their truth, staring at Lorre.
The child’s eyes were perfectly clear.
Simply saying she wanted to save him, without any other intention, was astonishing to Kainel.
He felt like he could be pulled into her eyes, but he averted his gaze and suddenly remembered something.
“So, um… who’s Reikal?”
“Well… you see…”
As Lorre spoke, Kainel’s eyes gleamed, a faintly mischievous curve on his lips.
Reikal walked down the corridor.
He carried a pile of books that would make Lorre cry just from the titles, like Imperial Studies through the Hopewell Incident, History of Monster Habitats in the Northern Empire, and more.
Even outside the palace, Reikal could not escape the status of crown prince.
He had finished studying in the Grand Duke’s library and was returning to his room.
His steps should have been light, but…
‘That brat…’
Reikal sighed heavily.
‘Crying over nothing.’
He couldn’t shake the feeling of tightness in his chest, as if something weighed on him.
Ever since Lorre cried like that, his heart had been pricking as if stuck with needles.
“Ha.”
What’s so important about that kid crying?
Why do my steps feel heavy and my chest so tight?
Reikal didn’t know the cause, and it frustrated him.
“Haah!”
“My upper body is empty!”
Clang! Clang!
The sound of swords clashing came from somewhere. Since the corridor was close to the training hall, it must have come from there. Reikal glanced out the window and rubbed his eyes in surprise.
‘…Huh?’
Even after closing and opening his eyes, the view of the training hall hadn’t changed.
‘What is that…!’
Frowning, Reikal clenched his fists.
Was Alcade out there?
Was Lorre running around him?
Neither.
‘Why is Uncle…!’
A small, unfamiliar child was receiving sword training from Alcade.
Flames sparked in Reikal’s eyes.
He had been firmly told “no” by Alcade. Not Lorre, but this insignificant child!
Suddenly, a deep surge of emotion rose in Reikal.
‘Why am I the only one who can’t?’
‘Why is it always me, and you say no?’
Once the emotion boiled, it felt like it would overflow any moment. Reikal could not contain himself.
