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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Ten-Year-Old's Rabbit Doll
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"......"
Calix Ascad closed his eyes and thought, seated inside the carriage returning to his homeland.
He, too, felt the lingering sentiment of their parting. But he knew he would see them again in a few years as part of the Mad Dragon subjugation squad.
In truth, something else was weighing more heavily on his mind.
Something was strange.
'What was that dream about?'
Last night, Calix had a strange dream.
It was so vivid it felt more like reality than a dream, and it was about that day.
The day he first met Leo, the Crown Prince of Auraria. It was also the first time in his life he had ever been carried on someone's back.
But in the dream, that boy didn't appear.
He was alone in those mountains when a wolf suddenly appeared and attacked. He managed to subdue it, but in the process...
...he lost an arm.
Though it was clearly a dream, the pain was so real it felt as if it had actually happened.
After that, a sorcerer who appeared with sand trapped him somewhere.
When he came to his senses, it was morning, and he had been found by priests. He also saw Griffith's shocked face.
But that boy wasn't there. The boy who, despite being so much smaller and slighter, had carried a stranger like him up and down the mountain.
The boy who had given him four friends, when he had never thought he would get close to anyone.
"......"
A strange kid.
Calix recalled Crown Prince Leo, who had been hovering around him for days before his departure.
In fact, a few days ago, he had shoved his small face right up to Calix's.
Leo had grabbed Calix's cheeks and said.
"Remember my face clearly, Calix."
"Wh-what are you doing! Are you crazy?"
"I said look properly, you jerk!"
Calix blinked, bewildered. He saw a small, fair face. Pretty, light-green eyes, a shapely nose, and pink lips.
For a boy, Leo was unusually pretty.
The others were good-looking too, but Leo's small and delicate frame made him seem even more so.
"I've looked, so what now?"
Even after he said that, Leo didn't back away.
So he asked playfully.
"What the hell is this little punk up to? Are my eyes that pretty to you?"
*Has he fallen for me or something?* Calix pushed away the clingy Leo, finding it creepy.
But Leo gave him an unexpected answer.
"Yeah, they are. Your eyes are really pretty. They're pretty now, but they'll be even prettier later."
"What... A-are you insane?"
Calix wondered if he'd eaten something bad. But Leo simply ruffled his hair nonchalantly and walked away.
Recalling that moment made him feel strange.
And perhaps because of the dream he'd had, the absurd thought occurred to him that maybe his arm was fine thanks to Leo.
'What kind of dream was that?'
Calix gazed out the window with a peculiar expression.
Back in his homeland, his uncle and aunt, along with their children, were hell-bent on ousting him.
They wanted to push him, a rightful heir, out of the line of succession.
'I'll leave on my own terms.'
He had no desire to be royalty anyway.
When he said he would leave the imperial palace and become a mercenary upon returning home, the four of them had been aghast.
They were all against it, but Leo alone had a different reaction.
"Calix, you're going to be a mercenary? Great idea! You'll be a better mercenary than anyone!"
Was it because of those words?
In the past, he would have felt at least a little fear, but for some reason, he wasn't afraid at all.
Not of his uncle, his aunt, or their children who wanted to kill him.
He no longer needed to fear any of it.
Because he had that kid and the others—the one who would carry him on his back and walk endlessly through a dark mountain on a pitch-black night for his sake.
'And I have that stupid doll, too.'
Calix smiled, thinking of the small rabbit doll in his bag. It was the first time in his life he had ever owned a doll.
A small smile on his lips, Calix looked out the carriage window. The sun was rising.
02. The Ten-Year-Old's Rabbit Doll
She was back.
"It's just the same..."
Lellia looked up at the small tower, overcome with a strange feeling. This was where she had spent her short life until three years ago.
The tower was very narrow. The first two floors were the size of an ordinary cabin, and above that, a spiral staircase led to the top.
But the door leading up had always been locked. She had never been to the top, but it probably boasted a beautiful view.
The tower was originally built long ago by a member of the royal family for stargazing.
But one didn't need to climb high to see the stars easily. In the middle of the forest, this was the only clearing without trees, offering a direct view of the sky.
When she was little, she would look at the sky, which seemed to overflow with stars, and wish she could eat them.
'Anyway... it looks like no one has been taking care of this place.'
Weeds grew thick around the small tower. The inside was probably even worse.
'I should start by cleaning.'
Lellia bravely kicked the door open and went inside.
"Ugh."
As expected, the inside was a den of dust. After opening the windows first, Lellia got to work diligently.
She dusted, swept, wiped, and drew water from the pump.
She washed the old blankets thoroughly and hung them in the sun to dry. Water dripped steadily from the blankets she had managed to hang after climbing a ladder.
It seemed they would need a full day to dry.
'I guess I'll have to sleep without blankets tonight.'
The ten-year-old girl scurried busily all around the tower.
After some time, Lellia wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed.
A wave of satisfaction washed over her once the cleaning was done. It was safe to say the place was even cleaner now than when she used to live here.
Perhaps because she had grown taller and stronger during her time at the temple, cleaning was much easier.
To Lellia, this place was the home she returned to, her hometown, and the sanctuary where she would live from now on.
'At least, until I seek asylum.'
Lellia had lived here since her earliest memories.
She had probably lived as an ordinary royal while Princess Iris was still alive. But that changed after Princess Iris died and the rebellion occurred.
Many of the people in the imperial palace were purged and killed, and the current emperor, Raidios, had no interest in his niece, Lellia.
Emperor Raidios decided to renovate the entire building where his late sister, the princess, had lived and turn it into a villa for the empress.
In the process, Lellia and her nanny were kicked out and sent to the small tower. She had lived here ever since.
Then one day, the nanny who had been taking care of her suddenly vanished overnight.
After that, maids would occasionally come to bring her food. But they, too, had little interest in Lellia, so she went hungry most days.
Her life was no different from that of a stray dog wandering the streets.
Still, Lellia felt a sense of relief that she had a home to return to.
