Chapter 16

“There. Done.”

After a long struggle, Calisto nodded in satisfaction. Ailien looked up at him as if he were a mirror and asked.

“Is it pretty?”

“Hmm.”

“Is it pretty or not!”

“It’s certainly sturdy.”

The reason he chose “sturdy” instead of “pretty” was that, in good conscience, he could not call it pretty. One side was pulled tight, the other still a bit loose, making it lopsided. But Ailien only giggled as if delighted.

“Lili found something amazing!”

The child proudly held out the small basket she had been cradling carefully in her arms. The basket was full of nameless wildflowers. Calisto looked from the child’s beaming face to her hands—dirtier than her face—and then to the wildflowers in the basket, and was at a loss for words.

“Father.”

How long had he stood there silently looking back and forth between Ailien and the basket?

The moment he happily raised his head at the familiar voice from behind, Calisto was utterly flustered and froze on the spot.

“Kaius, you.”

Kaius, the only legitimate son of Ruventain and called the little master of the north who would command the cold north wind, knew better than anyone the position he stood in and the weight of the crown he wore.

That was why he strove more fiercely than anyone. As the successor of heroes, he had never once shown a disheveled appearance.

So what on earth had happened to Kaius for him to come back looking like that?

“I apologize, Father. My clothes are too…….”

“Don’t scold the child too much.”

Kaius’s apology with perfect posture was already baffling, but the little brat beside him, letting out a sip sound, was even more baffling.

Before Calisto could protest, Ailien covered his mouth with her small hand. Then she put on a stern expression.

“Children are supposed to grow up running and playing!”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“But Kai doesn’t know how to play. Lili had a hard time teaching him…….”

Ailien looked at Kaius as if she truly found it regrettable.

Kaius let out a sigh. It was the first time in his life he had ever played house, but he could be certain that what he had been doing was not ordinary houseplay.

The role he had been assigned in the houseplay was that of a dragon living next door to Prince Ailien. —Here, the prince insisted that the prince did not live in a house, and the dragon most certainly did not live in a house either, but his objection was not accepted.—

Teatime with the next-door prince was the worst. The headstrong prince observed no manners whatsoever. When pointed out, he shouted that the dragon didn’t know how to play. What was even more absurd was that the flying squirrel princess and the dragon’s grandfather cat chirped and meowed, perfectly immersing themselves in their roles.

Then suddenly she giggled and ran off, which was truly incomprehensible.

The most incomprehensible thing was himself, running after the child while drinking tea.

‘It was more fun than I expected.’

Once, Evangeline had bought houseplay toys for young Kaius.

Even as she handed the toys to her son, she wore an expression that said, ‘Is this right?’

At the time, Kaius thanked her but proudly refused to play with them. He thought he was too old for that. And yet here he was, playing house like this.

“And look at what Lili brought!”

At Ailien’s urging, Calisto looked again at the flowers in the basket and began to touch them with careful hands. They were as soft as the child’s cheek.

“These make you feel better.”

“They make you feel better.”

“Yes, I’ll give you some too, sword.”

“I am honored.”

“Honored?”

The blue eyes sparkled. Calisto unconsciously rubbed the child’s cheek with his index finger.

Yes, indeed—no different from the touch of a flower petal.

“It means ‘grateful,’ that is, ‘very thankful.'”

“So Lili made the sword feel honored!”

“That’s right.”

“No wonder it makes sense. Lili gave you flowers, after all?”

Ailien puffed out her chest as if to say, Do you know what an amazing thing I have done? At that proud, belly-out posture, Calisto bowed his head slightly.

If he had shown laughter when the child was this serious, something terrible might have happened.

“Ah, right!”

Ailien, realizing something, suddenly stretched out her small hand. A hand much smaller than a grown man’s face touched the corner of Calisto’s mouth.

Whether Calisto was flustered by the hand thrust at him or not, Ailien put her own strength into it.

Unable to understand what that faint pressure at the corner of his mouth meant, he hesitated for a moment, and then Ailien spoke in a solemn voice.

“Open.”

“Hm?”

“The flowers go in.”

Suddenly Ailien grabbed a handful of flowers from the basket and began stuffing them into Calisto’s mouth. Kaius, who had been watching from behind, hurried over and pulled the child away, but in the end Calisto had to chew the petals.

As the bitter taste spread through his mouth, Calisto’s eyes widened. At the strange energy passing over the tip of his tongue, he stared blankly at Ailien.

Ailien was simply smiling brightly. As if she had done exactly what needed to be done.

***

The retainers in the reception room were all bewildered by the sudden turn of events. Ailien had thrown open the door and marched in with Calisto and Kaius in tow.

Seeing the child, whom they had been trying to expel from the Grand Ducal House, now sitting before them, gave them a peculiar feeling.

The child parted her lips slightly and looked at each person slowly. As if she were trying to memorize their faces.

“What I said about you staying is that…….”

When the child, seated with grave dignity, opened her mouth, the retainers exchanged glances as if by agreement.

So had that really just been said by a child barely tall enough to reach a knee? Not the Ruventain Grand Duke?

“Ho there.”

Baron Molton, who had consistently shown his displeasure, opened his mouth. Ailien tilted her head at the unexpected reaction.

“His Grace may be generous and indulgent with a child, but this is far too ill-mannered! One can see the lack of proper upbringing in that way of speaking!”

“She’s angry.”

Ailien blinked, listened to Baron Molton’s words, and then whispered to Kaius beside her. She had tried to keep her voice down, but unfortunately, it was loud enough for everyone in the reception room to hear.

“Your Grace, look at that insolent child! Surely she does not speak so disrespectfully to Your Grace as well?”

“Disrespectful!”

Ailien spread her hands wide.

“Fire comes out of Lili’s hands!”

With both hands stretched forward and a serious expression, she turned this way and that, and the retainers could not hide their bewilderment.

Whether they had been on the battlefield or not, everyone gathered here had grown up in the shadow of war since childhood. The cruel reality had been a harsh accelerant hastening children’s growth, and those who had grown up that way withered too soon.

For those who had learned survival before they had time to learn the margins of emotion, this bottomless, innocent cheerfulness was an unknown territory they simply did not know how to respond to.

As no one could find an appropriate response and silence fell, only Baron Molton and a few traditionalists continued to frown with undisguised displeasure.

“No, she just—!”

“Enough, Baron Molton.”

“Your Grace!”

“Anyway, I came because I have something to give you, so don’t worry too much and sit down. Lili will make you honored.”