chapter 1
“I’m hungry….”
The child muttered gloomily, shaking her head. Her hair was a complete mess, as if mice had chewed through it.
It had already been three days since the girl had filled her stomach with nothing but water. She was used to hunger, but now things were starting to blur—she could barely tell whether what she saw in front of her was a tree or a piece of meat.
Her legs seemed to give out, and she plopped down onto the ground.
“Can I eat this…?”
Her tiny hands, as small as fern shoots, pulled up a handful of grass from the ground. After staring at it for a moment, she weakly shook her head and dropped it.
Behind the child stood a gloomy castle, looming like part of the background.
It was used as a storage castle, filled with useless junk and rarely visited by anyone.
The owner of this abandoned, crumbling castle was still a young and tiny girl.
Of course, no one would acknowledge that fact—because no one even knew she lived here.
But to the girl who had been staying here for seven years already, it was simply the truth.
Inside the castle walls, among the wildly overgrown weeds left untended, the girl lay sprawled on the ground.
Her appearance was pitiful. Dirt and leaves tangled in her messy hair, and the clothes she wore were nothing more than a rag full of holes.
To make matters worse, if one looked closely, the clothes were clearly made for an adult.
But the girl was so small and thin she wouldn’t even reach an adult’s thigh, so the garment draped over her like a sack.
More than half of the bottom dragged along the ground, stained with dirt and bits of grass.
She was barefoot.
And she wasn’t wearing any trousers at all.
When is Sion coming back?
The girl puffed out her lips as she thought about it and rolled once across the grass.
I hate waiting….
She knew he would definitely return, but she still hated waiting.
“I’ll definitely come back.”
Sion had puffed out his chest and promised with his tiny hands, saying he would bring back some fruit or something. But he was taking far too long.
Of course, she wasn’t expecting anything grand.
Still… if he brought even a single fruit from a tree, she would be more than happy.
Rustle.
At the sudden sound, the child’s sensitive ears twitched.
“Ugh, this is heavy. Can we just shove it somewhere inside?”
“Yeah, that should be fine.”
Voices came from the castle gate.
The girl, who had been lying weakly on the ground, instantly sprang to her feet.
Barefoot, she pushed through the tall grass that reached up to her knees and ran in the opposite direction of the sound.
Running skillfully, she leapt and clung to the thick trunk of a large tree beside the castle. She clung to it like a cicada stuck to an old tree.
Clenching her lips, she began climbing the tree with practiced ease.
Her fingernails were packed with dirt and grime, and her overgrown bangs covered her eyes so much it was hard to tell if she could even see properly.
As the voices grew closer, the girl stiffened with tension and hid herself among the thick leaves.
The large branch easily concealed her small, thin body.
At that moment, three women appeared through the castle gate, wobbling slightly as they carried a large, ornate table into the courtyard.
Strange people…!
People dressed in black and white clothes often barged into the girl’s castle without permission, piling up items and leaving them behind.
Her face twisted in irritation.
“But this place looks like a castle. Why is it being used as a warehouse?”
“It’s too far from the main castle, so it was abandoned. Apparently the head attendant got permission from His Majesty since they needed somewhere to store large cargo.”
“Oh, well… if it’s not being used anyway, at least it’s useful like this.”
The three maids chatted away, completely unaware that the girl was there.
Listening to them from her hiding place, the girl clenched her fists tightly.
“But it is being used….”
The girl muttered in a tiny voice.
She lowered her head and glared down at them silently.
Through the strands of hair covering her face, her eyes glowed brightly.
There was something different about them compared to normal human eyes.
The light shining from them was far too intense to simply be a reflection.
Even in broad daylight, they shone brighter than the eyes of a beast lurking in darkness.
They looked like jewels glittering in the sunlight.
When the girl lowered her head, her eyes disappeared again beneath her messy bangs.
“Well, it’s not something low-ranking maids like us need to worry about. But did you hear the strange rumor about this place?”
“A rumor?”
“Yeah. They say a ghost appears! Sometimes people hear the laughter of a child… or strange animal sounds.”
The girl’s body stiffened at the whisper meant to stir fear.
The thin branch she gripped snapped with a quiet crack, her knuckles turning pale.
“Ah….”
The girl stared blankly at the broken twig in her hand.
“Ahh! Don’t say things like that! I just got chills!”
“Well, it’s not like we’ll ever come here at night.”
“But… what if it really is a ghost or something?”
The three maids shrieked and quickly hurried out of the castle.
Only after a long time had passed since they disappeared did the girl cautiously climb down from the tree, glancing around nervously.
“Kyuuung?”
Something lightly tapped the top of her foot.
The girl’s face instantly brightened as she looked down.
“Sion!”
She whispered happily in a tiny voice and quickly scooped up the small reptile that looked like a lizard.
When she hugged it tightly, the grimy little black creature wagged its long tail, smacking against her wrist.
“Ow.”
“Kyuu! Kyuu!”
The lizard wriggled free from her arms, climbed briefly up her body, and then jumped down to the ground.
“Where’s the food?”
The girl asked eagerly, her face lighting up.
The reptile’s eyes gleamed.
Looking proud, the pitch-black lizard snorted through its nose and scampered beneath the tree, stabbing its sharp claws into the dirt as it went.
Then it pushed up onto its hind legs, standing upright.
It slapped its tail against the ground and pointed at the base of the tree with its sharp claws.
“What’s there?”
The girl asked, puzzled, as she knelt down and lay flat on the ground.
She stuck her face close to where the lizard was pointing.
The moment she saw it, the expectation vanished from her face, replaced by instant disappointment.
“Sion… are you saying I should eat this?”
Squeak—
Through the hair covering half her face, the girl gave an awkward smile.
What the lizard had pointed out was a mouse.
Not only that, its guts were spilling out—and it wasn’t even dead yet.
The small girl let out a deep sigh.
“This is too small for the two of us.”
She leaned weakly against the tree.
“You eat it.”
The girl pushed the mouse toward the lizard.
Looking scruffy and dirty, she hugged her knees to her chest.
The neglected castle used as a warehouse was the girl’s home.
Even if she lived there secretly without permission.
“Sion, they say you’ll grow really big when you become an adult….”
The girl looked up at the sky.
“When that happens… will you carry me on your back and take me far away?”
She wanted to leave this castle that felt like a well surrounded by tall stone walls.
She wanted to go somewhere else.
Grrrr…
Right on cue, her stomach growled loudly.
The girl staggered to her feet.
Behind the castle was a small pond.
Like the castle, it wasn’t maintained and was covered with leaves and moss, but whenever it rained the water filled up again, so it never dried out.
It was the only place where the girl could eat as much as she wanted.
If drinking pond water could be considered a meal.
“Hey, did you hear? The princes are having a sword duel!”
Voices of soldiers drifted through the cracks of the crumbling castle wall.
The girl instantly froze and hid behind a tree.
“A sword duel?! What for?”
“His Majesty planned to gift a horse, but both princes wanted the same one. So they decided to settle it fairly with a duel!”
“Wow! It’s rare to see both princes together. Let’s hurry and go watch!”
Soon, the two soldiers’ voices faded away.
The girl, who had stiffened at the sound of voices outside, slowly lowered her head.
Then she trudged barefoot back toward Sion.
“Kyuuung?”
The little black lizard tilted its head.
“…Sion, are you done eating? Let’s go drink some water.”
Holding her stomach, the girl gently hugged the reptile—its mouth still smeared with blood—and quietly disappeared behind the castle.
