Chapter 66 · The Two Men's Changes

Sarrrrrrrr.

Paeon fumbled the cover of the scripture, and the sound of hundreds of pages flipping filled the room.

“A betrothal…?”

He seemed more startled than I had expected. In truth, there was no reason to ask him such a thing. But ever since the hunting competition, I kept wanting to poke at him and test him. I didn’t want to admit it, but it must have been the desire to confirm whether he really thought of me as his daughter.

‘I don’t even know why I’m acting like this. Sigh.’

Even if he said now that he loved me as a daughter, nothing would change. My suffering across nine lives wouldn’t disappear, nor would the fact that he had tried to dump me and leave.

“Mmm. Just suppose, just suppose. I’m not saying I’d do it right now…”

In the novels I read, doting fathers usually flew into a rage, shouting ‘What scoundrel dares to speak of betrothal!’… but Paeon wouldn’t do that. At most he’d say something like ‘I don’t know why you’re asking me that,’ or ‘I’m hardly in a position to say anything.’ Spend three years with him and you learn to recite Paeon-ese.

“Absolutely not.”

Huh?

His firm, decisive answer, so different from what I’d expected, startled me a little. He frowned deeply and repeated himself.

“You must not.”

“Why not?”

“That is…”

Paeon hesitated, then continued.

“Isn’t the princess still far too young?”

“But for woyawty, it’s not uncommon at my age.”

“Even so, it is far too early. Where on earth did this come from?”

He pressed me sharply, his red eyes flashing.

“Well… the Waselles family, you know?”

“Laselles? Surely they’re not asking for a betrothal because they took your side three years ago?”

No, why is he so sharp…

“Haha, I suppose the marquis took a liking to me.”

“It’s not as if you’re betrothing the marquis himself, so what does his liking you have to do with anything?”

No, why is he so logical…

“That’s woyawty for you. It’s rare to betroth the person you actually want to.”

“…”

My mother was probably the same. I couldn’t imagine for a second that she had betrothed herself to that Alter because she liked him.

“Why must the princess speak of such things already?”

His voice was trembling slightly.

“I have no right to interfere in the princess’s affairs, but… I am opposed to you being pushed into a betrothal by circumstance. You might regret it for the rest of your life.”

For a single remark I’d tossed out without much expectation, he had grown this serious, and it made me feel strange. Somehow a little touched, too… Huh? Touched? Why am I getting all emotional!

As I just gazed at him without answering, he pressed again, almost pleading.

“Princess, you won’t do it, will you? You absolutely must not.”

In that moment, I somehow saw his divine beast Alv whining. I must have finally gone mad. Alv is so cute. He can’t possibly compare to Paeon!

“So Papa doesn’t want me to?”

“…Setting aside whether I want it or not, in the sense of offering advice, that is…”

Paeon stammered, then looked me straight in the eye and spoke clearly.

“Yes. I don’t want it.”

That incredibly serious, resolute look nearly made me burst out laughing.

“All right, if Papa doesn’t want it, I’ll put it off as long as I can.”

I held back my laughter so as not to hurt his feelings and took in my mother’s research papers. The corners of my mouth kept curling up. A moment later, the sound of pages flipping fluttered again from in front of me.

It suddenly occurred to me that three years ago, when I was nearly about to become Alter’s adopted daughter, I had asked him if he was all right with it. I had wanted to hear him say he didn’t want it, and back then the man who wouldn’t say it no matter what…

The situation was a little different now, but perhaps over the three-odd years, he had changed just a little.

◇ ◆ ◇

But it wasn’t only Paeon who seemed to have changed somewhat. From the day I visited the tower in a state of prana depletion, Leo’s attitude had subtly softened. Like a hedgehog that had bristled with quills finally letting its guard down.

‘So my sincerity got through after all?’

It was the same now. When I asked very cautiously whether I could trim the bangs that were poking him in the eyes, he said yes without a word of complaint.

“Weally? You’ll weally let me cut it?”

“Um… Have you ever cut hair before?”

He seemed doubtful about me. Of course I had no such experience. Still, I had brought the fine grooming scissors the three priestesses used, so wouldn’t it be fine? I’d also picked up a little by watching from the corner of my eye.

“Of couwse! I’ll cut it pwetty!”

I shamelessly snapped the silver scissors—snip snip—and stood before Leo.

Light pouring through the window spilled onto his face. Today I had come during the day for the first time in a very long while. After earnestly begging the three priestesses not to disturb me because I was taking a nap, of course. Having always seen Leo only in the dim night, seeing him under the bright light of broad day…

‘He’s handsome, now that I see it anew.’

His eyebrows weren’t even groomed separately, yet they were thick, sharp, and neat—it was fascinating. And his eyes were, as always, so mysterious and pretty that I kept losing myself staring at them.

Leo seemed a little embarrassed by my intense gaze and avoided my eyes.

“Why, why are you just staring like that?”

“Ah, I was measuring how much to cut!”

I snapped to my senses and hurriedly made an excuse. I couldn’t very well say I was admiring him because he was too handsome.

“I’m really cutting now, okay?”

He squeezed his eyes shut as I came right up close. He must have been so nervous that his long eyelashes were trembling. And I got nervous along with him.

‘I’m not about to slit his throat, so why is he so nervous? Does he distrust me that much?’

I lightly grasped his bangs and began cutting with the utmost, utmost care. Once, when Yuz was trimming Rosa’s hair, she had boldly snipped away and left the bangs absurdly short. I remembered Rosa moping for over a month after that, so I couldn’t just go wild with the scissors. I couldn’t ruin the goodwill I’d barely earned from Leo over something like this.

Snip, snip.

Only the sound of the scissors echoed in the tower. After quite a long while, I finally stopped cutting and lowered my aching arm, stiff from holding it up so long.

“The bangs awe done!”

I had been so focused that I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead, then moved around to trim the back. Because I was cutting off only the tiniest bits at a time, it took a long while. As I gently smoothed his shaggy hair with my hand, my fingertips brushed lightly against his neck, and he jerked as if startled.

“Ugh…”

“What’s wong?”

“I-it tickles…”

So Leo is ticklish? His neck had turned red. I was seized by the urge to tickle him all over, but since we weren’t that close yet, I held back.

It was something I had learned only in my tenth life—I had a rather mischievous personality. It was just that there had been no one around to bring it out. After playing a prank and having a good laugh, it felt as if all the worries in the world had flown away.

‘I hope Leo can laugh freely too.’

I had never even seen Leo give a small smile, so it made my heart ache a little. He’d probably be quite cute when he laughed.

“All done!”

The back was much easier to cut than the front. When I finished and circled around him, checking from every angle, it was quite decent for a first attempt. Maybe I have a talent for hairdressing?

Leo kept touching his neck, apparently unused to the shortened hair at the back.

“Pwetty.”

When I smiled brightly and said that, his face turned bright red. Leo must not be used to compliments.

A moment later, he whispered in a tiny voice.

“…Thanks.”

“Huh?”

“I said thank you for cutting it.”

Gasp. Leo said thank you! He actually said thank you! My chest tightened—was this the joy of raising a child?!

“Hehe.”

I couldn’t stop the laughter from escaping and covered my mouth. Then I suddenly realized an enormous amount of time had passed and hurriedly gathered my things.

“Oh, wight!”

I almost took it back with me without thinking. I took a small pouch from my bag and pressed it into his hand.

“…What’s this?”

He asked, puzzled.

“It’s a magic stone. An amazing magic stone! If you howd it tight in youw hand, mana absowption gets much fastew.”

“What? Something like that exists?”

“Yeah. It was newly discovewed in Santwa a few yeaws ago.”

Ah, right. Would he not welcome that news? Good news for Santra would be bad news for him.

“With this, I can come mowe often. It’ll use up less of youw mana, Leo, so you can use the mana-block-wifting spell mowe often too.”

As I eagerly added that, Leo, who had opened the pouch and taken out a crimson magic stone, turned his head.

“…You’ll come more often?”

“Of couwse. Is thewe anything you want to eat? I’ll bwing it. Ah! If thewe’s anything you want to wead, just say so.”

He gazed at me for a while, then opened his mouth.

“What should I do for you?”

“!”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

“Huh? What do you mean, do for me…”

“I keep owing you. I hate owing people.”

What a rigid boy. Favors can just be accepted as favors. And you don’t know it yet, but you helped me survive!

“You don’t have to do anything…”

Actually, there was something I wanted to ask him, but I decided to be polite first. It wouldn’t look good to ask too eagerly.

“I suppose there’s nothing I can do for you in this situation.”

He muttered self-deprecatingly. His face quickly darkened. Goodness, I suppose he could think that way.

“Actually, thewe is something I want to ask!”

I quickly picked up my notebook and drew a picture—a flower shaped like a morning glory with saw-toothed leaves. It was the herb of life I had seen in my past life.

“Do you know a flower that wooks wike this? It’s used as a medicine. The petals awe dark bwue.”

“Um…”

Please know it! You’re my only hope!

“I know it. It was used as a medicine when a plague swept through Kalisa a long time ago.”

At his words, I couldn’t hide my excitement.

“Th-then do you know how to gwow it too?”

“That flower only grows in parts of the Kalisan desert, so cultivating it artificially required a complicated method.”

Yes, so what is that complicated method?!

“But… I was too young then, so I don’t remember clearly. I was three. You had to use divine power and some kind of magic.”

Divine power and magic too? And he doesn’t know what that magic was?

“Ahh…”

I sank down, wrapped in despair. Where on earth was I supposed to find out about that magic?

“Why do you need to know that? Is there a plague going around Santra right now?”

“It’s not that, but…”

How could I tell him it would come in the future! As I sat there dejected, Leo watched me and then cautiously spoke.

“There is a way.”

“Wh-what is it?!”