Father had, astonishingly, agreed to let me keep a baby.
He even seemed unbothered by the violet eyes.
“The truly dangerous thing is something else entirely.”
That was all he said—something vaguely ominous—while staring fixedly at the baby curled up in my arms.
“…Something truly dangerous? What could that be?”
I mean, I was glad I didn’t have to hide the baby from anyone anymore. But there was no denying that Father’s words felt layered with meaning.
“Sleep with the cat. And if you notice the cat slipping out in the middle of the night—lock the windows and lock the doors, understand?”
The continued advice he’d given me only made things more mysterious.
“…It’s definitely strange.”
There was something he wasn’t telling me.
And what was even more annoying was that the baby seemed to know too.
“Baby. Have you been plotting something with Father?”
I held the baby out at arm’s length to look her in the eyes—but—
“Myaa.”
Baby only yawned without a care in the world, as if she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
Hmm.
“Well—good is good, I suppose. Father would never do anything to hurt me.”
Right. Let it go!
The truth was, there were plenty of other things demanding my attention lately, so I decided to let it go cleanly.
The strangest thing of all is Kail coming to the estate so often.
When we first parted ways, I’d wondered vaguely whether I’d ever see him again.
And yet here he was, appearing out of nowhere a week ago—and now showing up every other day.
And always climbing through the bedroom window over the wall.
I’d assumed he was sneaking in because Father had scolded him severely last time—but then when he crossed paths with Father in the corridor—
“Hey.”
A casually informal greeting that was entirely out of place in the social hierarchy of this world.
“Hey.”
And the same easy greeting directed at Knox, who had been walking alongside Father.
What was even more remarkable was that nobody had gotten angry.
Father had simply muttered, “He seems to have been hired as a servant at some point—I suppose I should tell Mai to work on his manners,” before walking past with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
When exactly did he get hired as a servant? Everything about this was baffling.
But Father offered no explanation. And neither did Knox.
“Kail, you little—next time he shows up I’m going to extract the truth by force if I have to.”
I muttered this while clenching my tiny but determined fist, and the baby in my arms gave a startled flinch.
“Baby. What’s the matter?”
“Myaa, myaa?”
The baby shook her head rapidly as though she’d understood every word and promptly closed her eyes again.
What is going on. It feels like the world is filming a prank show and I’m the only one not in on it.
Something was off—but beyond Kail’s strange appearances, the thing I was currently most focused on was House Foss.
This was the matter I should have reported long ago—the thing I’d finally snapped back to my senses about after getting the baby back.
Knock knock—
I rapped on the study door with a cheerful soft fist, and Father’s voice called me in.
I opened the door with the baby in my arms and began with great ceremony—
“Father. Your golden seed has arrived.”
“Tell me what you broke.”
Calypse replied without looking up from his documents.
“What do you mean, broke. When did my reputation sink to this level, Father?”
I came with top-secret intelligence and this is how my own daughter is treated?
My lips began forming the shape of a duck. He still hadn’t looked up from the documents—but the corner of his mouth rose faintly.
“Our daughter has a tendency to begin with phrases like golden seed every time she’s done something she shouldn’t have.”
Tap. Tap.
And yet—his fingers tapping against his knee. The unspoken invitation to climb up.
Hmph. Not mischief—I overcame adversity and came to report it, thank you very much.
Still, I wriggled my way onto his knee and let the warm, solid arm that wrapped around me close me into his embrace as naturally as breathing.
The fact that Calypse was wearing his reading glasses meant he’d been deep in concentration.
“What has our daughter done this time, I wonder.”
And yet—he set every document down and turned his full attention to me.
He was going to be amazed when I told him about the king and Duke Foss. I was already feeling smug just thinking about it—and swinging my legs—when—
“…Hmm?”
My legs stopped.
A familiar word on the document he’d been reading caught my eye.
…Transcript of a conversation between Duke Foss and the King… regarding the cause of the Creature rampage incident…?
Wait just a moment.
Why is my top-secret intelligence sitting right there on his desk.
“……”
I thought I might have misread it and rubbed both eyes with my fists—but no, it was real. I narrowed my eyes and read on.
…Spy from House Foss found dead on palace grounds…?
There was even information I hadn’t known about.
“Father.”
“What.”
“When did you hire another spy besides me?”
“……”
He looked at me for a moment, something shifting behind his eyes, then appeared to come to a decision.
He lifted me bodily off his knee.
“You were just stopping by. Father’s busy—come back later.”
“Fa-ther—!”
Wriggle, wriggle—
I flapped my arms and legs like a fish thrown onto a riverbank, but he wasn’t listening, and carried me out into the corridor without a word.
Then—
“Knox.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“What is Lucas doing right now?”
“He’s in his heir’s lessons, my lord.”
“Tell them it’s a short break. Let Lucas loose for a while.”
“…Very well, my lord.”
Knox tilted his head and disappeared somewhere.
A moment later—from far down the corridor—came the sound of thundering footsteps and a grey heat haze rising in the distance.
“Min-dle!”
Lucas, off his leash.
…No he didn’t.
Sharp-eyed and already piecing it together, I spun around and stared at Calypse—
“—you’re not really using Lucas Oppa as a diversion because I’m in the way, are you—”
“Children should play like children. Look at that—the moment he’s told he doesn’t have lessons, he’s absolutely beside himself with joy.”
“Mindle!”
“—eek—”
Lucas arrived in approximately half a second, shooting to his toes with arms flung wide open. With a faint smile, Father simply handed me over to him like a baton in a relay.
“Mindle, it’s been too long! How have you been? Did you miss your oppa? Did you hear about oppa’s heroics? You know, during that Creature incident, I was—”
Sway. Sway.
And just like that I was in Lucas Oppa’s arms, being swept away into the infinite vortex of his storytelling.
But I remembered.
Just before Calypse had picked me up and carried me off—
Searching for large quantities of House Foss’s berserk potions. Estimated one week until located.
That line I’d glimpsed in passing—it said it would take a full week just to find the potion.
Why is he searching for it?
I was curious about what Calypse was planning, but what surprised me even more was that finding the potion would apparently take a whole week.
…Father. Your golden seed is standing right here. Why are you taking the long road around?
“—eek.”
Though at the moment, that golden seed was dangling from Lucas’s arms, being bounced around like a ragdoll.
Potion. Find it. One day.
I clenched a fist behind Oppa’s back with a deeply resolute expression.
________________________________________
A few days later. The long-awaited day of the great potion heist.
After a hearty lunch, I strode down the corridor and announced to no one in particular—
“Today is Lady Aisha’s Day of Sleeping All Day—!”
I broadcast this at the top of my lungs so that the entire estate could hear, and Mai, who happened to be walking past, smiled and gave me a confirming nod.
Good. The first decoy is in place.
“Hehe.”
I rubbed my hands together with the face of someone who has just spotted a very tempting opportunity, and pushed open my bedroom door.
Next step: deploy the secondary decoy.
“Just in case a maid happens to look in—”
I wriggled up onto the bed and arranged two stacked pillows under the blanket.
“Hmm… I think this could work, more or less.”
It wasn’t flawless—but viewed from the doorway, it could plausibly look like me curled up under the covers.
“Perfect.”
It was not perfect in the slightest—but I’d be back within two hours.
“Baby is fast asleep too.”
I gave the baby a little stroke where she was curled up on the bed.
I’d been carrying her around all day every day lately, and it was going to feel a bit empty—but today, it was better to travel without her.
“Goodbye. I’ll be back quickly.”
With that one-sided farewell, I pulled on the worn robe Kail had once given me, and slipped out through the window.
The method for sneaking out of Krost Estate? Not through the door—scale the outer wall instead, and you can avoid the knights entirely.
Shashashash—
Moving with the single-minded purpose of a cockroach, I scurried down the wall at speed and landed safely on the ground on the other side.
“Right. Time to begin.”
It felt oddly like a field trip. I opened my little rabbit backpack and went through my supplies.
“Poison needles—check. Water bottle—check. Jerky in case I get hungry on the way—”
My destination, mercifully, was not far from the estate. A place called the city of Thorn.
I walked for about an hour.
“Waah—Mama!”
“Hurry up, you!”
The distinctive pointy-roofed spires of the North came into view, and voices and laughter drifted toward me from every direction.
Black stone walls crowned with orange rooftops. This was the city of Thorn.
“The strawberries are so sweet today! Come get them before they’re gone—!”
“Do you carry apples from the South? Fresh ones?”
“The strawberries are right here and dirt cheap—why are you chasing after expensive fruit—!”
There—a fruit stall. There—a butcher’s. There—a cheese shop. There—a bakery.
My eyes were spinning with all of it.
Oh. I’ve never actually come to town, have I.
I’d have to come back with Father and Lucas Oppa someday.
Following the market street brought me to a broad central plaza, fanned out like a half-open wheel.
Children running and shouting, women seated at terrace tables sipping tea.
Outdoor tea in the frozen North.
Northerners really are a different breed.
But this wasn’t my destination. Within the city of Thorn, there was only one place truly off the beaten path.
The alley known as Perkus Road.
That was the final stop.
I walked deep into the narrow lane, and gradually the storefronts around me began to dim in tone and atmosphere.
________________________________________
