Chapter 12
“Tomorrow, I won’t be able to see our Solphy… I’m so sad. Ah… maybe I should come camping with you too?”
C-Come with them? Solphy’s heart sank at Marcelo’s words.
“W-What are you saying! Adults can’t come!”
Oh, my heart. This is exactly why they say not to lie. Solphy placed her hand over her chest, trying to calm the pounding of her heart.
“Adults are so unfair~”
Marcelo flopped onto the bed, pulling Solphy in for a hug.
“No way. Tonight, we’ll sleep together. I’ll sing you a lullaby.”
“No! Dad, you can’t sing!”
Solphy panicked, crossing her hands in an X. Marcelo was terrible at everything except swordsmanship, and singing was especially hopeless—a perfect combination of tone-deafness and rhythmlessness.
“But Serena-sensei sings well!”
“Hmph. Then ask her to sing you a lullaby.”
Marcelo pouted like a sulking child.
“Really?”
“Huh?”
“Let’s call the teacher!”
Excited, Solphy bounced on the bed. Marcelo rolled his eyes at her insistence on fetching the communication device immediately.
“Come on. The teacher’s probably getting ready for bed at this hour. It’d be rude to contact her suddenly.”
“But Dad… what kind of pajamas would the teacher wear?”
“Huh?”
Marcelo’s mind went blank again at how Solphy’s topics kept jumping.
Solphy rambled nonstop.
“Think about it. Would she wear flowered nightgowns like mine? Or adult pajamas like Dad’s? Use a bed or sleep on the floor? Hug a doll like me? Would there be a lamp by her bed? Or thick curtains to block sunlight, like Dad?”
Marcelo’s mind automatically conjured the scene she described.
A small, cozy bedroom filled with just a bed. Fluttering lace curtains. Cute decorations by the bedside.
A lamp? Somehow he imagined there wasn’t one, but maybe a subtle fragrance from potpourri hanging on the door.
‘Pajamas… maybe an elegant silk negligee, like an adult dress?’
At that thought, he pictured Serena in a negligee.
‘!’
Marcelo snapped out of it immediately. Imagining someone else’s bedroom, and a teacher at that, was too much.
“S-Since when would what the teacher wears matter? You shouldn’t imagine stuff like that.”
“I didn’t imagine anything. I was just curious.”
Marcelo turned his back, blushing, trying to hide it from Solphy.
“Dad… did you imagine it? That kind of thing?”
“Nope!”
He heard giggling from behind but ignored it, focusing on erasing the image from his mind.
“Go to bed. Late sleepers get taken away by the knights.”
“Aw, that’s a lie. The maids said the knights are too busy. There’s no way a knight would chase a kid just because they stayed up late.”
“Here I am!”
Marcelo faced Solphy again, spreading his hands threateningly. In the past, this would have sent her diving under the covers in fright.
“…….”
Now, Solphy just stared, used to his antics.
‘Kids really do grow fast.’
While proud to see her growing, Marcelo sometimes missed the baby Solphy she used to be.
‘I remember. She struggled to straighten her upside-down socks. She really took a lot of care back then…’
Marcelo was lost in nostalgia when Solphy suddenly chuckled.
“Why are you laughing like that? Creepy.”
“Dad, you’ve caught a lot of thieves and arsonists, right?”
“Yeah… I guess?”
Marcelo blinked at the unexpected topic. Why thieves? Why arsonists?
“Weren’t you scared? I want to hear stories about your adventures!”
Our Solphy. So now she’s interested in real crimes instead of storybooks?
Looking back, Marcelo had felt the same—he enjoyed imagining how he would solve unsolved terrifying cases while others read puppet shows.
Clearing his throat, Marcelo adopted a serious expression and started his story, eyes wide.
“Once upon a time, there was an arsonist who only targeted blue buildings.”
“Why blue?”
“He hated the color blue.”
“Ew! That’s such a weird person.”
Solphy shook her head. Even if someone disliked blue, setting fire to a building was absurd. In her class, no one ever destroyed someone else’s blocks just because they didn’t like the color.
“I waited hiding in a blue building for him.”
“Did he show up?”
“Yes. Just as expected, he did. I swapped his oil container with water while he got distracted by all the blue items at home.”
“And then?”
“Fire spreads wildly when it meets oil!”
Marcelo raised his hands, mimicking the flames. Solphy clenched her fists, imagining it vividly.
“But if it meets water?”
“The fire won’t catch!”
“Exactly. He spread oil and lit it, but the flames just went out.”
“Because it became water instead of oil!”
“The desperate villain started spewing fire from his mouth in a last-ditch effort!”
Marcelo raised his voice dramatically. Solphy’s expression suddenly froze.
“People can’t breathe fire! This isn’t about monsters, right?”
“Tsk. Our little lion doesn’t know. I modified a magic tool to spew fire.”
Solphy looked confused. That seemed impossible… but maybe it could work.
“Everyone fell down laughing, but I bravely drew my sword and fought back. Just when I thought it was over, the villain suddenly broke through the ceiling and flew high into the sky…”
“Ah, see! It really is a monster story!”
Solphy screamed.
“Haah…”
Solphy rubbed her eyes, yawning. She had barely slept last night, captivated by Marcelo’s thrilling story.
[Solphy… Dad’s sleepy…]
[Nooo! So what happened to the escaped arsonist? Did you catch him? Huh?]
Solphy had shaken Marcelo awake repeatedly to hear the story.
Soon, the morning sun appeared.
‘But it was so fun.’
How could she stop halfway through a story about an escaped arsonist breaking out of jail?
It was her first daring adventure story like this.
The problem was… she was sleepy.
“Huuaam.”
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Solphy endured the day as best she could. When school ended, the chosen children, including Solphy, pretended to go home but secretly sneaked into the museum.
[Oh my. Solphy, your bag is so stuffed today.]
[It has a gift for Dad.]
Serena noticed the bulging bag but, of course, didn’t realize Solphy’s plan.
Glancing out the window, Solphy saw the playground empty. Most of the children had left.
“Do you think we can really fool the adults?”
As the kids dwindled, Licoris looked worried.
“Don’t worry. The assistant teachers don’t know us exactly.”
Solphy put an arm around her friend to reassure her.
“You know, the assistant teachers only come looking when a carriage or adult arrives. Our parents aren’t picking us up today. If we hide well, we’re fine.”
“Wow, Solphy, you’re smart!”
Licoris praised her, and Solphy wrinkled her nose proudly.
Suddenly, someone yanked her. It was Joshua.
About to scold him for being reckless, Joshua put his finger on Solphy’s lips.
‘Be quiet?’
Confused, Solphy blinked. Footsteps approached—the museum staff were wandering nearby.
‘That was close.’
When the staff moved away, Joshua withdrew his finger.
“Thanks.”
“Thanks? Hmph.”
“See? Surprising, right? We’re a team.”
Solphy laughed, and Joshua muttered flatly:
“If we get caught, it’s over. I’m just curious what you’ll do.”
Why did Joshua even get involved?
The sky turned red with sunset, then dark. The playground was empty, and the children made their move.
“Solphy… I’m scared…”
“It’s okay. I’ll hold you.”
First, they climbed out the museum window. Solphy bravely caught Licoris as she jumped. The others followed without hesitation.
“How do we get into the candy tree?”
“I know where the key is.”
The candy tree’s owner kept the key under a flowerpot. Solphy had seen it several times when arriving before the owner.
She reached into the pot, found the key, and opened the door with a flourish.
Creeeak. The door opened heavily, smelling of sweet candy and old wood—a nostalgic scent to Solphy.
“Come on in.”
They had planned the operation using the map Larièt drew and had scouted the site the day before. Everyone knew exactly what to do.
They placed water everywhere, covered the candy for protection, and hid containers to swap with oil.
Most importantly…
It was lunch time to replenish energy!
“Delicious. Larièt’s dad is a great cook, I admit.”
“My mom’s too busy to make lunch, and Licoris got hers from a maid.”
“Licoris’s lunch is tasty!”
They chatted as they ate, safely muffled by Licoris’s magic tool, the “Veil of Silence.”
After finishing lunch and snacks…
“Cool…”
“Licoris, don’t fall asleep. Berth, you too!”
One by one, the children dozed off, leaving only Solphy and Joshua. Their quiet breathing filled the candy tree with an eerie calm.
‘Who knows when the arsonist will appear! We have to stop them! Record everything with the magic lens! Capture the culprit!’
What Solphy thought would be simple turned complicated. Waiting like this made time drag and exhausted her.
“Haam…”
Leaning against the wall, she was sleepy. She tried coffee candy, hoping it would wake her.
‘They say coffee wakes you up, right?’
She had always been fascinated by the coffee teachers drank at lunch.
Expectantly, she popped a coffee candy into her mouth.
It was sweet, but oddly bitter. Was this what coffee tasted like? She wasn’t sure if it was good or not.
‘But… I’m still sleepy.’
Solphy was nodding off, pinching the back of her hand to stay awake.
But the one who woke her wasn’t candy—it was—
“Why are you trying to protect this shop?”
Joshua.
