A very, very busy afternoon.
“I’m dying of busy, why am I writing this?”
Haa.
I sighed, but didn’t mind my slightly reddened fingertips as I worked the crayons diligently.
I’ll have you know, in my past life I graduated from a vocational high school’s accounting department.
A proper PPT needs blue seals to catch the eye and look pretty!
“Haa. I’m so busy. Suddenly asking me to write a bucket list…”
Grumble grumble.
My mumbling complaints echoed quietly in the silent office.
“I told you that you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“Nooo. The Duke told me to do it, so I should. But why did you ask me to write a bucket list anyway?”
I looked up with a deliberately prim expression.
“It’s going up.”
“Mm mm.”
“Going up, that’s going up.”
The Duke stopped his work, narrowed his eyes, and pointed at my mouth corners.
“Gasp!”
Startled, I clamped my mouth shut, making my docile cheeks puff up.
Then a long finger poked my cheek.
“Surprised!”
I was lying down to write the bucket list and toppled over completely from the unexpected attack.
“Oops, my mistake.”
Seeming to suppress laughter, he bit his lip, quickly turned his head, and pretended to focus on work.
Is this really the ruler of the North? That old man who pokes a five-year-old’s cheeks and runs away is the hero of the Kingdom of Frozen?
“Pfft… Puhaha!”
“…What?”
Finally, my laughter burst out and I laughed “Wahaha!” while kicking my legs.
“Hahaha! Nooo~ Why am I writing a bucket list~ For whose pleasure~ When you’re not even going to do anything for me~.”
I laughed so hard my pronunciation got completely garbled.
The Duke sighed quietly while watching me and muttered as he turned a page.
“That’s exactly it. First you have to finish writing it before I can do anything for you… If you keep dawdling like this. Even if I want to give you something, I can’t.”
“Hup.”
My guardian, my sponsor, my bread, my water, my bed, the god of my food, clothing, and shelter has spoken.
Write the bucket list. And he’ll make it all come true.
“I’ll write it right away!”
Cha.
I immediately rolled up my sleeves and went back into work mode.
‘Well. First…’
I roughly grabbed a red crayon and started writing.
Go to… the shopping district…
Shop… alone…
And.
‘Surprise… gift…’
Done!
These were all the bucket list items I could think of for now.
[Go to the shopping district]
[Shop alone]
[Receive a surprise gift]
…
There were about 101 more items after this, but I’ll skip them since there are too many.
“Duke! I’m done!”
“Then take that and let’s go out. We’re going to post it on your bedroom door.”
“What?”
I blinked, not understanding.
Why would we embarrassingly post this?
“The servants and Knox asked me. They want to make your bucket list come true.”
“…!”
At the answer full of amusement, my eyes rang cheerfully like bells.
Wait a minute.
I hurriedly rolled up the paper. Then I took out one more new sheet.
“Then I’ll make another one for public viewing!”
“What’s the one you just finished?”
“A secret version! I’ll only show it to you, Duke.”
Revealing my 101-item bucket list to everyone at the ducal castle was a bit embarrassing.
The Duke, well, he’s my guardian and sponsor and bread and whatever.
So when the public version bucket list was complete—
“Hehe. I’ll go post it on my bedroom door!”
I smiled brightly, stood on tiptoes, opened the office door, and rolled up the large paper with my tiny hands.
The paper itself was light, but since it was longer than my body, I had to carry it on my shoulder.
Normally at this timing in a childcare story, the doting father would carry the paper for you.
But this wasn’t a childcare story.
The Duke glanced at me briefly, then focused back on his work. Meaning if it was something I could do well enough, he wouldn’t fuss and would concentrate on his work.
‘A real father.’
Very straightforward. My style.
So as I was walking down the corridor with the light paper on my shoulder—
“Princess Aisha.”
Someone called me from behind.
When I turned around, Mai came running with a welcoming expression.
“Hello!”
“Hello.”
Mai had noticeably more smiles after the apology.
My first impression was of a taciturn, storied woman, so I was a bit awkward.
Though her quiet personality was the same, whenever our eyes met she’d show a gentle smile or greet me warmly.
Like this—friendly enough to call out to me just from seeing my back in the corridor.
“What’s that paper?”
“This? It’s my bucket list! I’m going to post it on my bedroom door… Ah, it’s not because I want to—the Duke ordered me to post it.”
“Ah, you completed your bucket list. I’ve been waiting for it too.”
Mai nodded as if she already knew and naturally took the paper. It seemed she intended to carry it for me.
“Shall we go post it together then?”
“Hee. Thank you.”
“Before that, I have something to give you.”
Mai, who had been hesitating, smiled somewhat shyly.
Come to think of it, her right hand was hidden behind her back.
“Compared to the dresses and accessories you’ll wear from now on, it’s very simple and nothing special, but.”
Then a blue box suddenly appeared.
“Would you open it?”
“…?”
I received the box in a daze, and my heart began beating rapidly in my small body.
The box had a pretty blue ribbon tied around it.
I carefully set the box on the floor, untied the ribbon, and opened it—
“!”
When I checked inside, I involuntarily opened my mouth wide.
Inside the box was a neatly folded scarf.
Dark sea blue and light sky blue threads were mixed together, making it varied rather than monotonous.
In the middle of the tightly knit scarf was an embroidered wolf symbolizing Krost.
A gift?
It seemed like a gift from the context. But why would Mai give me this?
“You said you liked blue back then.”
Mai, who had been carefully gauging my expression, spoke cautiously.
“The North’s weather is always cold. This is a scarf I made myself. What do you think?”
“…A scarf you made yourself?”
Oh my.
“Yes.”
My voice trembled a bit as I asked in disbelief.
“Because I like blue, you made it blue yourself? So it’s mine?”
“Of course. Do you like it?”
Then Mai anxiously watched my expression, wondering if I might be disappointed.
This is serious.
Mai knitted a scarf thinking of me.
A scarf that must have taken days!
“Th-thank you…”
I was so flustered that I bowed my head reflexively, and startled Mai corrected me, “The Princess shouldn’t bow to subordinates.”
Oh. Sorry about that.
“…”
I took out the scarf and immediately put it on right there.
My gift.
The scarf Mai made thinking of me.
Thump thump.
Less than a minute after writing my bucket list, I’d accomplished one item.
________________________________________
A few days later.
“Princess. Did you catch a cold?”
Knox asked a nearby maid while watching Aisha run off somewhere.
“No. She just likes wearing it. Head Maid Mai gave her a handmade scarf as a gift, and she seems quite fond of it.”
“Mm.”
Knox silently watched the princess’s back as she bounced away.
He wasn’t the only one watching Aisha like that.
“Dandelion. Wouldn’t it be better to take off the scarf? It’s inconvenient for eating cake.”
At dessert time, Lucas’s words made Aisha, sitting across from him, stop her fork.
“Ah, this?”
Her small face was covered by the wrapped scarf, only her large eyes visible.
“I can eat just fine.”
But she tilted her head toward the ceiling with determination never to remove the scarf.
Then she opened her mouth wide and stabbed the cake, dropping it vertically.
“…”
Lucas watched the bizarre sight with a dumbfounded expression and whispered to a maid.
“Why is Dandelion like that?”
“Well…”
Whisper whisper.
And so the rumor that Aisha received Mai’s gift spread quickly through the ducal castle.
Incidentally, rumors tend to become exaggerated as they spread.
“Well, they say Lady Aisha was so moved by Head Maid Mai’s gift that she cried.”
“I heard Lady Aisha likes the scarf so much she even sleeps wearing it.”
“Head Maid Mai researched Lady Aisha’s preferences to make the scarf, they say.”
When walking the corridors.
When eating meals.
When changing clothes.
Calypse, Lucas, and Knox, who each heard stories in different situations, thought:
‘She’s that happy about receiving one scarf?’
And the next day.
At the dinner where the whole family gathered.
________________________________________
