This particular game had been, without question, a proper treasure hunt. And Riersha, who had prepared the treasure herself, would naturally have chosen something she considered truly treasure-worthy.
So when the eggs were cracked open, out came five figures: Pernoa, Risideon, Ricador, Riscal, and Riersha herself.
“I wanted to make more, but I ran out of time.”
Riersha answered in a small, dejected voice.
If only she’d had more time, she could have made Arcmund, Sona, and everyone else too.
“Did you not like them?”
When Riersha looked up at Sona and spoke, Sona bent down gently and met her eyes, as if to soothe her.
She knew — she had known all along — how Riersha had fretted over it every single night, worrying about what to do with the time she had left.
“Not at all, Miss Riersha. We all know exactly what you were trying to say.”
“Mm.”
Riersha nodded, and the shadow over her face lifted into brightness.
“My treasure is family.”
“Then I shall keep it close, Riersha.”
Pernoa, who had been studying the little figurine with an unreadable expression, smiled as he replied.
And so, as the sun sank toward the horizon, the treasure hunt came to an end.
⁂
Back in her room, Riersha sank her tired little body into the bathtub.
Buried in a cloud of bubbles, she smiled a soft, melting smile.
“You must be exhausted, Miss Riersha.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Hmm. Your eyes are absolutely full of sleep, though.”
Riersha had been nodding off in the tub, her eyelids growing heavy as stones, but she forced them open and shook her head in protest.
Still, Sona was right — Riersha was utterly, completely spent.
She had been running through the forest from morning until afternoon without a single break, and her energy had simply run dry.
Riersha let out a wide, jaw-cracking yawn. Then her eyes found Sona’s, and she snapped her mouth shut with a little gasp.
Not a moment ago, she had insisted she wasn’t sleepy at all — and now here she was, yawning hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. The embarrassment was immediate.
“Let’s get washed up quickly and out we go!”
“Okay.”
“By the way, what wish did you ask of the Young Lord?”
Sona asked the question she’d been curious about while rinsing Riersha’s hair.
Before they had left the forest, Riersha had hesitated for a moment, then taken Pernoa by the hand and disappeared somewhere with him.
It had all the signs of a wish being used — and whatever it was, it seemed to be something not meant for other ears.
“It’s a secret for now. You can find out later.”
“…Hmm. I’m curious, but you’re saying I’ll know eventually?”
“Mm.”
Riersha nodded and idly poked at the soap bubbles.
Sona watched her with quiet warmth, then washed her thoroughly, wrapped her in a robe, and guided her out of the bathroom.
Clean and fresh, Riersha padded out in bare feet and made a dash for her bed.
“Miss Riersha, you’ll catch a cold. Your hair still needs drying!”
“Mm, but I’m so sleepy. Sorry, Sona.”
Riersha made a pitiful, apologetic face as she burrowed under the covers.
“You haven’t even had dinner yet…”
But Riersha was already fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the world.
Sona stood there for a moment, looking down at her with a flustered expression — then slowly shook her head and smiled, soft and faint.
Watching Riersha grow a little more with each passing day made her feel as though she could hold the girl in her heart forever without it ever hurting.
After tidying up the room before turning off the lights, Sona paused and glanced back one last time.
From beneath the blankets, the steady, gentle rhythm of Riersha’s breathing rose and fell.
“Sleep well, then, Miss Riersha.”
She decided she would stay close to the room tonight, just in case Riersha woke in the small hours of the morning.
Sona turned off the light and eased the door shut behind her.
⁂
Beneath Arachrene Ducal Castle.
The corridor was utterly lightless — not a single thread of illumination permitted — yet Pernoa walked through it with the ease of long familiarity.
It had been three days since Oberon had been locked away in the dungeon.
“I want to see Oberon. He didn’t do anything wrong, so please let him out.”
Pernoa walked on, the memory of Riersha’s wish sharpening the furrow between his brows.
“No.”
“But…”
“No matter how you’ve earned a wish, that is not something I can grant, Riersha.”
He had expected something modest — perhaps a vacation villa owned by the family, or a mining claim. The wish she had actually made gave him a headache.
What Riersha had asked was the sort of thing he could never honor regardless of any wish — especially not now, when not a single piece of evidence had confirmed Oberon’s innocence.
And yet, the reason Pernoa had come to the underground prison at all was because of what Riersha had said at the very end.
“…I asked you to help Oberon believe in himself again. Just meet with him once, please, Father.”
“…I’ll consider it.”
Meeting with Oberon was no great hardship. And Riersha had asked with such desperate sincerity that something inside Pernoa had softened, until he found he could not bring himself to refuse outright.
Rosinante, watching his master stride directly from the forest to the dungeon, shook his head slowly.
At this rate, was the Young Lord not simply being led around by the nose by Miss Riersha?
“You are far too lenient with the young lady, Young Lord.”
“I know.”
“…You know?”
And yet you do it anyway?
Rosinante could not help but be quietly astonished.
He revised his earlier thought. Pernoa was far, far more powerless against Riersha than Rosinante had ever imagined.
“There is a strong possibility that Oberon said something unnecessary to the young lady.”
“I know that too.”
It was possible he had worked on the child to win her over. That his true aim was to exploit Riersha’s innocent nature, earn her trust, and use her as a piece in his hand.
And perhaps even the request that Pernoa visit just once — perhaps that, too, was Oberon’s doing.
There is no connection between the two of them.
According to all investigation, Riersha and Oberon had met directly exactly once. That was the day she had gone to demonstrate her abilities to Arcmund — no other occasion besides that.
Everything else had been nothing more than passing each other in a corridor. There was no friendship between them, no bond to speak of.
And yet Oberon had said something like that to Riersha, of all people?
That a child of barely four years old had been asked to help him believe in himself again — if Pernoa was being honest, it did not strike him as anything close to normal.
And there was something else.
It would have been just as strange for Oberon.
Which is precisely why it makes no sense.
Pernoa turned it over and over in his mind as he walked the corridor.
Oberon was known as a man of formidable ability — someone who had handled the duchy’s affairs, large and small, with shrewd precision. Why he had made a judgment like this was completely beyond Pernoa’s understanding.
“Open the door.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
When Pernoa reached the cell holding Oberon and gave the order, the guard released the lock.
The door swung open. Inside, Oberon sat with a magical restraint device fitted to him and his entire body bound. The state of him was not a pleasant sight, and Pernoa’s expression tightened.
“…I am honored by your presence, Young Lord.”
The moment Pernoa stepped inside, Oberon bowed his head in a restrained greeting.
A single chair had already been placed in the room — it appeared someone had visited before.
Pernoa settled into the chair and looked down at Oberon.
“You’re in quite a state.”
“…”
“Do you know why I’ve come?”
Oberon held Pernoa’s gaze in silence.
“I came at Riersha’s request.”
In that instant, Oberon’s silver-grey eyes stirred. At the words Riersha’s request, his entire expression shifted in a single breath.
“I’ll ask you once.”
“…”
“Why have you been hovering around Riersha and saying things like that to her?”
Oberon listened to the question all the way to its end — and then, for just a moment, his face went blank with something close to bewilderment.
As if he had never once imagined he might be misunderstood in quite that way.
“I suppose I could see how that misunderstanding might arise.”
“…A misunderstanding?”
“I was not hovering around Miss Riersha.”
Oberon shook his head firmly, insisting there was absolutely nothing of the sort. And then came a name Pernoa had not expected in the slightest.
“I was merely watching Ian Charlotte.”
