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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Gilded Cage
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The bedroom was spacious enough for an adult.
The furniture, too, was not suited for a child's height.
The whole setup felt like a firm declaration that they had no intention of letting Kivrin leave until he was an adult, which left a strange feeling in my stomach.
The perfect breeding ground for a patricide, isn't it?
While Kivrin carefully set down his luggage, I perched on the edge of the bed, which was covered with a thick duvet.
The duvet, completely free of wrinkles, looked brand new and unused.
“Do they change the bedding for you every time?”
“N-no one c-comes in here.”
I froze.
It would be difficult for Kivrin to make the bed look so pristine on his own, which meant he had never used this bed.
“Then where do you sleep, Young Lord?”
Kivrin pointed to a corner of the room.
It was a narrow, shadowy space, not even covered by a carpet.
I wrinkled my nose without realizing it.
“You'll catch a cold like that. From now on, you'll sleep in the bed with me.”
“B-but, the bed is….”
“It's too big, isn't it? Are you scared?”
“……”
His pure golden eyes stared at me.
Kivrin’s head moved up and down in a nod.
*Cute. It feels like I'm raising a kid.*
*…Seriously, take this transmigration back.*
“It'll be fine if you sleep with me.”
Kivrin looked bewildered by the mismatch of my kind words and my reluctant expression.
“Why… are you being so, so nice to me?”
“We're... h-hus... well, we're *that*, aren't we? If something scares me later, you can help me overcome it, Young Lord.”
Unable to bring myself to say the word ‘husband and wife,’ I just glossed over it.
Alright, sleeping arrangements sorted.
To begin my exploration of the mansion in earnest, I tied my purple hair into a single, tight ponytail.
Next was to check the food supply.
“Can you show me the other rooms now? How about the kitchen first.”
“Ah, yes!”
Does Kivrin plan on always using formal speech with me?
Even though it was the family that produced a saintess, House Mayol was still utterly insignificant compared to the Duchy of Nectarian.
But I wonder if Kivrin even knows which family I'm from.
Considering how eager the Duchess was to get out of here, I doubt she even told him my name.
The pantry we soon arrived at was reasonably well-stocked.
But just like the bedroom, there was no consideration for a child.
*No milk. No snacks suitable for a child, either.*
The vegetables and fruits were placed on shelves so high it was almost a taunt.
It was the same for the flour and various seasonings.
I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
I dragged a chair over and stood on it, but my fingertips still just barely grazed the lowest shelf.
“Ugh, I can't reach.”
Why did they put it so high up?
Kivrin is about my height, so he wouldn't be able to get it either.
Unless the cook was supposed to be Kivrin's new toy, I couldn't make any sense of it.
Finally giving up, I stepped down from the chair.
The only things Kivrin and I could reach were uncut raw meat, cold water, and a small amount of dried tea leaves.
Are they expecting us to live on meat alone, like animals?
At this rate, a nutritionally balanced meal was nothing but a pipe dream.
Cursing inwardly, I called out to Kivrin.
“Young Lord, what have you been eating all this time?”
“I, I…”
Kivrin flinched, shrinking his shoulders.
“I'm not trying to interrogate you. It's just that I'll have to eat the same things from now on.”
“……”
I stood on my tiptoes and examined the upper shelves.
The vegetables I could glimpse looked fresh.
*It seems someone comes periodically to restock the ingredients. I'll have to ask them to get things down for us then.*
*And we need a ladder.*
This mansion was nothing but a pretty shell.
It had spacious rooms, a massive bed, and all sorts of ingredients, but it was a terrible place for two ten-year-old children to live.
Kivrin pressed his lips together tightly.
He clearly didn't want to answer.
Given the distance still between us, I didn't want to press him for an answer, so I changed the subject.
“Never mind for now. Let's go to the study. I need something to write on.”
The study was dusty, but it was filled with books.
I took out some paper and a quill and wrote down the things we needed.
Drawing on the pre-transmigration Cheria's memories, I tried writing in the imperial language, but the result was quite… free-spirited.
Kivrin looked puzzled at my handwriting.
“A w-worm?”
“…It's because the quill is too big for my hand.”
I explained in a small voice.
*My penmanship will get better with time. It has to.*
After I finished writing, my expression soured the more we toured the rest of the mansion.
The bathroom was even more inconvenient to use than the bedroom.
The terrace, which had a lovely view, was firmly locked from the outside.
As I glared at each of the locks that appeared everywhere, I realized something.
…I hadn't seen a single open window while looking around the mansion.
I walked over to the nearest window.
“This is locked from the outside, too….”
Unbelievable. This was literally a luxurious prison.
Aaargh! God, author, whoever you are, hurry up and take this transmigration back! I want a refund!
What did I do to deserve this!
“U-um, I'm sorr—”
Seeing the half-crazed look in my eyes, Kivrin flinched.
Figuring this would happen a lot in the future, I tried to reassure him.
“Don't be sorry. I'm not mad at you, Young Lord.”
If anything, I was now keenly aware of why Kivrin was driven to madness in the novel.
I recalled the parts of where Kivrin appeared.
Even though the ducal family tried to keep it quiet, rumors that Kivrin was a monster and a stutterer had spread quickly.
Before long, everyone found out that the ducal family had locked Kivrin away in the ‘Snake Pit’ because they were afraid of him.
Never mind the fact that this mansion was far too luxurious to fit the nickname ‘Snake Pit’.
But years passed, and in the year he came of age, Kivrin reappeared, perfectly fine.
He no longer stuttered, and the characters etched onto his back and the scales on his face were gone.
And on that day, the Duke and Duchess died.
Everyone suspected Kivrin was the culprit, but they kept quiet for fear of retaliation.
Kivrin became the Duke and began his purge.
Countless vassals and nobles who had incited the Duke and Duchess to lock him up were murdered.
It was only natural that Kivrin, who was staining the empire with blood, would come into conflict with the Temple, where my sister belonged.
I glanced back at the Kivrin standing before me now.
His thin wrists and pale cheeks caught my eye.
Cheria hadn't grown up in a good environment either, but looking at Kivrin made my blood boil.
He's a real ten-year-old. Unlike me.
The Kivrin of now has nothing to apologize to me for.
I took a deep breath.
I tried my best to keep the emotion out of my voice.
“Aren't you hungry?”
“……”
Kivrin shook his head.
But it was obvious to a blind man that Kivrin wasn't eating properly.
The ingredients placed out of Kivrin's reach would probably be pilfered by the servants later.
I realized what our top priority had to be.
Kivrin and I need to eat a lot.
And become patricides….
“Um, there were some dried tea leaves in the pantry. Let's have some together.”
“Together…?”
“You don't want to?”
“N-no, I don't mind!”
My feet felt heavy as we walked back to the dining room, but I didn't let it show.
I stood on my tiptoes to put a kettle on to boil. Kivrin stood in a corner, fiddling with his hands.
I sat down in a chair and patted the seat next to me.
“Sit here.”
“I-is that really, okay?”
“From now on, the seat next to me is always yours, Young Lord.”
*I'll treat you well! Let's work toward the same dream!*
“But, I….”
Kivrin habitually rubbed the side of his face—the side where the scales had grown.
Cheria's past, which comes to me as if I experienced it myself, is tear-jerking enough. I can only imagine how much worse Kivrin's was.
For now, I pretended not to notice and poured him some tea.
Kivrin watched the bright yellow liquid with curious eyes before taking a small sip.
“How is it?”
“It's bitter….”
The way his face scrunched up made him look just like any other child.
Somehow, this feels like playing house.
“Next time someone comes, I'll ask them to prepare some sweets for us.”
Unless something special happened, I doubted the Duchess would visit again.
The image of her biting her trembling lip and avoiding Kivrin's gaze was still fresh in my mind.
Kivrin tilted his head.
“Sweets…?”
“They're sweet and delicious. Though if you eat too many, your teeth will rot.”
Perhaps the thought of his teeth rotting scared him. Kivrin squeezed his eyes shut and called out to me.
“U-um.”
“It's Cheria.”
*My full name is Cheria Something Mayol, but that doesn't matter, right?*
“Ch-Cheria….”
Kivrin repeated my name several times, as if committing it to memory.
Just as I thought. The Duchess hadn't even bothered to tell him who I was.
