The Human-Demon War, which had lasted twenty years, left deep scars on the continent.
Everyone was healing its aftereffects and rebuilding their lives once more.
It had already been five years.
After the war ended, Zeronias stayed in Hayana Forest nominally to rest.
She left behind the words not to look for her until she revealed herself, and then vanished.
He had broken that promise and come all this way, so why was there only a child here?
“Come in, come in.”
The moment he stepped into the cabin, Calisto felt the strength drain from his shoulders without his realizing it.
It was because a familiar presence wrapped around his body.
It was the presence of Zeronias, who had been a support to him on the battlefield.
“It’s certain that Lady Zeronias stayed here.”
At the window, floral curtains swayed lightly, and a small flowerpot sat on the windowsill.
On a low table in the corner, porcelain dolls were arranged neatly.
On the small table where a cute family of bear dolls huddled together, there was also a tea set.
The bright yellow wallpaper played a part in creating a warm atmosphere.
Surely she had stayed here for a long time and tended it herself.
Calisto was a knight who wielded aura, but as a descendant who had inherited Marilyn Zeronias’s blood, he was extremely sensitive to mana detection.
He strode around the house without hesitation.
“A gift! Where’s the gift?”
“A gift?”
“Mari always said that when you visit someone’s house, you must bring a gift as a courtesy.”
The child looked at Calisto with eyes that said, ‘You don’t even know that?’
“I was in a hurry and couldn’t bring one. I’ll be sure to bring one later. By the way, your voice…….”
“My voice?”
“Is your voice always like that?”
“Is Lili’s voice cool?”
At Calisto’s words, the child burst out laughing.
The laugh, which should have been clear and bright for a child, sounded eerie.
It was then.
He felt the cabin vibrate faintly.
It was the moment he raised one eyebrow and was about to look down at the floor.
[I told you to stop playing pranks!]
“Mari?”
It was unmistakably Marilyn Zeronias’s voice.
When Calisto was young, whenever he ran around or did not listen, she would always scold him exactly like this.
Perhaps because of that, the old address slipped out without his realizing.
“I wasn’t playing a prank!”
At the same time, Lili’s voice returned to its original state.
It was a cute, small voice, just as he had imagined.
[When the dear one comes, what did I tell you to give him?]
There was only one person in this world who could call him “dear.”
While he was feeling something strange, the child who had popped out again held something out to him.
It was a letter sealed with wax.
“Read it, read it.”
Ailien hopped up and down, urging Calisto to read the letter.
As if bewitched by something, he carefully tore open the envelope.
As he had guessed, it was a letter from Marilyn Zeronias.
[Hello, my dear child.
If you are reading this letter, it must mean I am not there. But do not grieve. All of this is not the world’s providence but my choice.
Ah, writing a letter like this makes it seem as though I have received a date for my death at any moment, but it is not immediate, so do not worry.
I told you, didn’t I? I must do what I must do.
To change everything, the story needs to be rewritten.
For that, I need a little more time. It seems the stars are hiding something from me.
However, there is one thing weighing on my mind. Yes, it is the little one before your eyes right now. Her name is Ailien, and her surname…… for now, you should consider that she has none.
Until I return, please take good care of Ailien, dear. She is a child I cherish very much.
Every child should grow up as a child, but this is not as easy as it seems.
You already know that well, I’m sure. I love all Ruventains.
I have been offering a blessing prayer for Kaius every year, and I hope it reaches him.
I will end here.
Return safely.
Marilyn Zeronias.]
After reading the entire letter, Calisto’s hands began to tremble.
The name of the woman who had transcended some realm beyond reach, before she obtained the title of Zeronias, was none other than Marilyn Ruventain.
Her age was about that of Calisto’s great-great-great-grandmother, but her appearance looked about the same age as his.
“Dear, are you okay?”
Clutching the letter tightly, Calisto bent his knees.
Then he met Ailien’s eyes.
“Ailien?”
Ailien nodded.
He thought she was probably one of the orphans who had lost their parents in the long war.
Thinking that made his heart ache even more, and he carefully stroked the child’s head.
“Did Zeronias leave you here and go?”
“…….”
“Were you here alone?”
Ailien nodded at Calisto’s first question and shook her head at the second.
He thought that was at least a relief.
She looked brighter than others her age, but even so, it made no sense for a child this small to have been here alone.
“There was Kiki, and Didi, too, right?”
“Kiki? Didi?”
They were names that sounded like a joke.
But soon, after recalling that this child’s nickname was also Lili, he understood.
So where on earth were those two?
* * *
Ailien stared blankly at the giant man before her.
It was amazing that she had met the ‘dear child of Marilyn’ she had only heard about.
Just as Marilyn had said, he really did seem not to listen.
‘He doesn’t seem cute, though.’
But she had been told it was not good to have prejudices.
Ailien scanned Calisto from head to toe to find something cute about him.
He was so tall that going up and down took quite a while.
“It’s gotten this late.”
Just then, Calisto took something out of his pocket and made a troubled expression.
Sensing he was about to leave soon, Ailien stood up straight.
“I should be going now.”
“Okay, goodbye.”
At her indifferent farewell, Calisto looked a little bewildered.
‘Was something strange about it?’
It was a greeting she had practiced thousands of times since that day.
There was no way it could be strange.
“Um, Ailien. It seems you should come with me as well.”
“Where is Lili going?”
“For now, let’s go together to Ruventain Castle. You can’t keep staying here alone, after all.”
At Calisto’s words, Ailien only blinked.
As if she had not expected to hear such a thing.
“Lili can eat meals alone just fine. She sleeps alone just fine, too.”
“That’s impressive.”
“And, and Lili actually isn’t alone.”
“Right, you said Kiki and Didi were here.”
“And Lili has to protect this place.”
It was a little funny to think what she could protect with such a small body, but she looked serious enough that he could not laugh.
Suddenly, Marilyn’s letter came to mind.
A child should be a child.
“The Hayana Forest is already protecting this place well on its own.”
“But a sword came in, and also…….”
“Also? Has someone else come in here?”
Ailien scratched her nose.
She looked as if she could not be bothered to answer.
Calisto let out a deep sigh.
“But Marilyn told me to take you with me.”
“To a sword, Lili, you mean…….”
Ailien, who had been looking at Calisto with narrowed eyes, clapped her hands.
“Then I guess I have to go.”
At the permission that fell more obediently than expected, Calisto felt somehow empty.
He became curious about what on earth was going on inside that little head.
“Hey.”
Before he could even finish telling her to pack everything she needed, Ailien grabbed Calisto’s collar.
It was such a small fist that he wondered if it could even hold a fork.
It also looked as fragile as whipped cream that would easily squish.
“Can I take Kiki and Didi, too?”
“Kiki and Didi?”
Come to think of it, why had Kiki and Didi still not shown themselves?
“After all, it might be a bit much if three more dependents join?”
Just then, a black cat and a white flying squirrel with mixed gray fur crept up beside the tense Ailien.
The cat yawned and wrapped its tail around the child’s leg, while the flying squirrel quickly climbed up her body and settled on her shoulder.
So the Kiki and Didi who had supposedly stayed with Ailien and protected the cabin after Marilyn left were…….
a cat and a flying squirrel.
What was even more absurd was that the little balls of fur were giving him solemn looks, as if they could not be separated from Ailien.
“Is it because of food expenses?”
As he looked back and forth between the cat and the flying squirrel with an inexplicably complicated feeling, Ailien spoke urgently.
“Instead of Lili, Kiki and Didi will eat only a very tiny bit!”
“…….”
“So please take them with us…… please.”
So she did know how to speak politely.
He was left speechless.
