Chapter 44 ………………………………………..
After a moment, a small boy appeared under the moonlight.
It was Ron! A boy wearing leather clothing far too large for his small frame.
Cauts, giving us privacy, had led the black horse away for a moment.
Ron looked a little older now.
Still smaller than me, but he looked sturdier, with some weight gained.
His dark hair, like the deep night sea, had grown longer, almost covering his eyes.
“Woof woof!” Loro slowly circled around Ron, then lightly scratched his leg with a paw—a puppy’s way of showing delight.
“Ron, do you remember? This is the puppy we met in the cave.”
Ron crouched and scooped the puppy into his arms, beaming with joy.
“I missed you.”
“Woof woof!”
Loro rubbed against Ron’s cheek affectionately.
“You didn’t forget me.”
“Of course not! Puppies always remember their first owner! You’ve grown so much while I took care of you. Look!”
I stretched out my hand eagerly toward Loro, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Loro, left paw!”
It was a trick I had taught Loro for fun earlier.
Loro, clever as he was, understood me perfectly, and had once received applause from the servants at the Duke’s estate for his skillful paw tricks.
And now…
“Haha, strange. Why now?”
Loro tilted his tiny head, as if hearing the signal for the first time.
Hey, why now! You could do it perfectly in front of others!
Frustration welled up. Of all moments, Loro wouldn’t lift his paw.
I forced a smile at Ron and said again, louder this time. Loro, please!
“Paw.”
Three seconds of silence.
Just when I was about to give up, a small paw pressed onto my hand.
“Loro! Good boy!”
“Wow!”
Ron’s voice burst with awe.
The scarlet eyes looking at me shone pure and bright in the moonlight.
I too felt a jolt of joy run through my entire body.
“So cute!”
Ron laughed, ruffling the fluffy puppy’s fur with affection.
Even when Loro tumbled on the ground, Ron was delighted.
It was as if they were both admiring each other.
I’m so glad… he likes it.
It was the first time I’d ever seen Ron this happy—so pure that it overflowed onto anyone watching.
By the way… is that training clothes?
Despite his small frame, the boy wore oversized clothing.
The sleeves and pant legs looked like they’d been folded up several times, as if a petite body was trapped inside the fabric.
Of course, I wasn’t in a position to comment on that.
His newsboy cap had slipped low over his forehead, and he hastily pushed it back.
I’m small too, I guess.
While Loro nibbled a treat, we sat on a large rock bathed in moonlight.
His short legs dangled, unable to reach the ground.
Glancing sideways, I caught Ron’s faint smile.
Feels just like a dream…
Before arriving here, I had a long list of things I wanted to say.
But now, facing Ron, none of it came to mind.
The crisp winter air, the quiet of the forest—it felt perfectly soothing.
Ron fidgeted with his small hands, then spoke.
“…I’m nervous. I’ve been waiting for this day.”
“I see… me too. I didn’t think we’d meet like this.”
His scarlet eyes fixed on me, seated beside him.
He knew I was Marianne, though appearing now as Lan.
This boy was indeed the same one from the cave—but at our last parting, he had been a girl with long, flowing red hair and bright, pretty eyes.
I didn’t know why he hid his true appearance.
But seeing that the girl didn’t like to speak, the boy said nothing.
Just being together like this was enough.
“Ron, how have you been? That place, Devel…”
I couldn’t continue.
My heart ached. There were moments I felt as if I had taken his place, enjoying all that should have been his.
It made me feel guilty, and tears came unbidden.
“My master treats me well. Sometimes I get scolded, but he teaches me letters and trains me.”
“…I see.”
I calmed my swelling emotions and looked at Ron.
“Your hair’s grown a lot. Isn’t it bothersome?”
I realized his hair had grown since the cave.
Then short, uneven bangs brushed the tip of his nose.
I wanted, like a mother smoothing a child’s hair, to push those bangs back.
The breeze caught his dark blue hair, revealing his face a little.
“It’s okay. My master fights well even with one eye covered. I can’t see perfectly either, but I can still fight.”
“Alright, if you’re fine… but cut it later if it bothers you.”
“Mm, you’re worried about me?”
“Of course. I worry about whether you eat properly, train properly, everything.”
Ron’s partially visible ears flushed slightly.
He fidgeted, tapping at his sleeve.
“Ron, I want to show you something. Ta-da!”
I spread my small fingers, drawing a rainbow arc in the air.
The mana from my hand formed a small glowing light, taking the shape of a cute baby lion.
Magic I had practiced before coming here.
A dark illusion spell for Ron.
I had hassled Cauts so much just to do this.
The lion’s face looked a little like a puppy, but it was a success.
“How is it? A baby lion.”
The light brown lion rolled on the grass, then spotted a fallen child and cuddled him.
The child woke and laughed, playing with the baby lion.
I had practiced this so Ron could forget the terrible memories of the lion show he had witnessed at the slave market.
“So cute… I want to hug it.”
Seeing Ron delighted made my heart swell.
“See? How happy does it look, playing with the child?”
“It looks happy.”
“Exactly. Ron, you’ll have even more happy memories from now on.”
Ron smiled shyly, forming adorable dimples on both cheeks.
“Thank you, Lan.”
Then he rummaged through the bag he had brought.
“Lan, this is a gift for you.”
“A gift?”
He shyly handed me a small cloth pouch.
It felt firm to the touch.
“What is it?”
“It’s something I like. I thought you’d like it too.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I looked at Ron’s face, filled with concern and excitement, and opened the pouch.
“Wow… bread?”
A small, palm-sized loaf of bread.
For me, living at the Duke’s estate, it was just ordinary bread that a servant could fetch anytime.
But this was a gift from Ron.
Considering his situation at Devel, it was all the more precious.
“Thank you… thank you so much.”
“I’m glad too.”
“Hm?”
“For liking me.”
Ron’s face lit up with a bright smile.
Seeing it, I thought of the Kereis siblings—Severt, Creamu, and the Duke.
I hadn’t realized before, but Ron also shared the Kereis traits: cold and indifferent, yet pure and innocent when he cared.
“I should keep this bread. Too precious to eat.”
“No, eat it. I can give you more.”
“Ah… okay. Then let’s eat together.”
I broke the bread in half and handed one piece to Ron.
Watching me eat, he finally put a piece into his mouth.
But before he could chew, he coughed and spat it out.
“Ugh.”
“Ron! Are you okay?”
In his small hand lay bread and a spot of blood.
Bright red blood.
Even in the dark night, it was clear—it came from his mouth.
“Ron! Blood! Are you hurt?”
I trembled, unsure what to do.
Why… why was he bleeding?
He coughed repeatedly, nearly suffocating, then finally drank some water I handed him and calmed down.
“Where does it hurt? Tell me!”
I was terrified—Ron was in pain.
He was only twelve.
Since disappearing, he had wandered all over, enduring hardships.
Had that caused it?
In a brief instant, I silently prayed he would not suffer.
Ron wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then said with an embarrassed expression:
“It’s okay. It’s from the medicine Master gave me.”
“Medicine?”
“Mm, I drank a lot today, so more blood came out. Hehe.”
Ron smiled, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, but I could not.
“Why would medicine make you bleed? That’s poison! Giving poison is wrong! A master shouldn’t do that!”
I decided that as soon as we returned to the estate, I would tell the Duke everything.
That his appointed master was insane.
But then Ron’s next words froze me like ice:
“He did it on purpose… to make me stronger.”
“What? On purpose?”
“Yes. He said I needed to build resistance to poison.”
“….”
At last, it made sense.
In the original story, hungry Ron ate poisonous herbs unknowingly, naturally building resistance.
This way, the master cared for him properly, which was better.
Still… still, it felt like too much for such a young boy to bear.
I suppressed my sadness and raised my hand to his mouth.
I flinched as I felt Ron tense under my touch.
