“Luciel, that dress is pretty, but wouldn’t it be better to get a new one?”
“That dress is my favorite. It’s the first dress my Grandma bought me.”
When Luciel spoke with a smile, Evelyn sighed and couldn’t help it anymore.
“Hmm. If Luciel really says so…….”
Phew. I survived.
Luciel thought to herself.
It was not even a marriage out of love, so it was good to omit complicated procedures. She didn’t want to bother Kizef. After all, it’s a marriage with a fixed ending in divorce.
The simpler the better.
It seems that Grandma Evelyn doesn’t even know that it’s a contract marriage. I will let her know when the time is right.
Luciel shoved a piece of meat into her mouth and glanced at the two adults. As it melted, she chewed the meat thoroughly and then forked the next meat in succession.
When all the meat on her plate disappeared, this time Evelyn distributed sliced meat to Luciel, Leoni, and Soliaphe.
“It’s so delicious. I’ll cut it for you too.”
Sliced by her tiny hands, Luciel delivered the meat one after the other from Evelyn to Soliaphe and Leoni. The small child squirmed and put all of the cut meat in his mouth with quite a bit of skill.
She thought that it was fortunate that the heavy mood from earlier had disappeared. After eating, Soliaphe said to Luciel.
“I want to talk to you for a moment.”
Luciel was a little nervous at what the Duchess wanted to talk about and her eyes went round like a surprised rabbit. Soliaphe wondered if she had scared the child and continued.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“Yes.”
Luciel cutely nodded her head.
The two headed to the terrace close to the restaurant. Soft milk tea and a cup of bitter black tea were served on the tea table.
“I heard a story from Leoni. He liked you very much, you were a very nice older sister who played with him. Thanks. Leoni has definitely become kind and gentle. It’s the first time I’ve seen him eat so quietly.”
“I am rather grateful that Leoni followed me well.”
“I heard you’ve done a lot of other things. Waking up my mother from her sleep phase and saving Kizef, and what you’ve done for the Duchy…….I can’t believe you are only nine years old.”
Luciel didn’t answer.
“……Thank you, even if I don’t know much about you yet.”
Such a little child was making a difference in Bellstein, whereas Soliaphe was not confident in herself.
‘Can I trust this child?’
Soliaphe’s blue eyes stared intently at Luciel.
“Your eyes are so bright. Like jewels and stars.”
“……Thank you.”
“Mother said you were a special child. I think I know a little bit about why.”
Luciel just passed it on with a bashful smile. It was as if Soliaphe’s eyes could somehow see through her own heart.
‘Maybe she doesn’t believe me completely.’
The rest of the family believes in me, but Soliaphe is not there yet.
‘I want to earn her trust. To do that, we need to get closer, right?’
Luciel sipped milk tea and rolled her eyes.
How can I win her heart?
Upon returning to her room, Luciel found Bell that flew in through the window.
“Bell!”
– Hoot.
She was worried that the worms in the feeding bin had run out, but when she saw Bell’s chubby belly, Luciel thought she wouldn’t have to feed her.
“Look at the belly. So cute. Kizef, how many worms did you feed Bell?”
A natural smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
[You are already a star.]
Luciel was instantly shaken as soon as she opened the letter. He would not know anything and yet he told me that she had already become a ‘star’. It was only one sentence, but it was a comfort that deeply touched her heart.
Although I can’t tell the truth right now, I’ll have to tell him about everything someday.
‘Because I’m really going to be your star.’
Luciel shook off her deepest thoughts and read his letter.
[It seems like I’ll have to wander around town all day to get all those sweets. What are you going to do if I buy all those sweets?
It’s not long before I return.
Instead of replying, think about the price you will give me.]
After reading his brief letter, Luciel tilted her head.
‘Obviously, he was the first to ask what sweets he could buy for me, but there’s a price?’
I’ll have to think slowly about what to give. Rather, Luciel was more preoccupied with Soliaphe.
When Bellstein fell, the Crown Prince had killed the entire family, including the Duke.
‘But there was no mention of a Duchess among them.’
Even while in the Imperial Castle, there were no rumors of the Duchess of Bellstein. Because Bellstein has a tendency to be closed-off to outsiders, she might have been an almost forgettable figure in the Capital’s social circle, but…
Another possibility is that the Duchess had already disappeared from the castle before the Crown Prince struck Bellstein down. It’s been said that she had been away from the castle for two years and joined a subjugation squad…….
‘What else is there…..I think I’m missing something important.’
Luciel tried hard to remember, rubbing her fingers in her forehead and rolling her head. After a while, something suddenly came to mind.
Kizef.
Leoni.
And the Duke of Bellstein.
Among the public evaluations, what they had in common among the three was that they were crazy. There is only one person who can drive them all crazy, and that is Soliaphe.
‘If anything happened to the Duchess……?’
I hate to imagine it, but wouldn’t it be enough to drive all three of them crazy if something like her death or disappearance happened?
Luciel felt the need to watch her more closely.
* * *
The black-winged knights gathered around the bonfire and were chewing the jerky while warming themselves. Ellington, who had been sitting with Jarga a little further from the knights, shook his head.
“His Grace seems to be very late.”
No matter how much temperature preservation magic was applied to the armor, the effect would decrease if exposed to the cold for a long time. He had sent the Commander back with unspoken pressure. Although he should have brought his master back by force, Jarga was not a person who had that much common sense.
“He’ll be back.”
Commander Jarga asked Ellington as if he had a sudden thought.
“You know the Little Madam.”
“Yes.”
“What kind of person is she? From what I heard, she’s smart unlike a child, and His Grace and the people of the Duchy think she is very cute.”
Ellington burst out laughing. Jarga was really a piece of work. Last time they went together to capture Luciel’s biological father, Count Orbia, but he was here scratching for information like this.
He had to admit that Jarga was the dullest Knight in the order, no, the dullest in the world.
“That’s exactly how she is. She’s not only a smart child, but she’s so cute that it brings tears to my eyes. When I see her, I want to do anything for the Little Madam. Come to think of it, if I meet a snow deer in these snow fields, I will draw a picture and give it to her.”
As soon as Ellington mumbled with a sly grin, a black figure was approaching from afar.
Clack. Clack.
Parting through the blizzard, their master’s black horse stopped in front of the barracks. On the horse’s rump a fragile silver beast who squeaked around, was loaded.
“Sire! Are you back?”
Ellington, the Knights and Jarga all stood up in the spot and bowed their heads. Louivid jumped off his horse and unloaded the small deer that was strapped behind him.
“This…Isn’t that a snow deer?”
“It was being chased by a demon. I think its leg is hurt.”
“Oh my…….”
“Poor thing.”
Since ancient times, snow deer have been such a rare animal that it has been said to bring good luck to those who meet them on the mysterious snowy field. It was characterized by having soft, silvery fur, as if the snow was piled up and made them white.
Everyone was excited, perhaps because it was the first time they had seen a snow deer, but Ellington had lost the desire to give a picture of a snow deer to the Little Madam and became gloomy.
It’s because a picture couldn’t beat the real thing. Without knowing Ellington’s mind like that, the knights went into an uproar.
“The snow deer is a symbol of good luck……as expected, Master is the best.”
“That’s right. This is definitely a sign of Bellstein’s prosperity. Haha.”
“……It’s noisy, give it some treatment.”
At Louivid’s words, a wizard who learned healing magic came out and healed the deer’s leg.
The deer glared at him with his large black eyes. His legs, which had been trembling in pain, became calm. Then he closed his big eyes. The pain seemed to have disappeared and he felt comfortable.
Meanwhile, Louivid went into the barracks and took off his coat. The weather was so bitter that the magic effect began to fall, and some of the ends of his coat froze. As he was about to lie down on the bed lined with animal skins, he suddenly took out the communication tool he had kept in the box.
Blink. Blink.
He tried to quickly receive the communication signal, but it was already cut off. He didn’t know who it was, but if it came from the Duke’s Castle, it was proof that something important was happening.
At that moment, Louivid sensed something and pulled the necklace he always wore around his neck out of his clothes.
A necklace that had never shone in two years glowed in blue.
“Soliaphe……!”
Louivid’s eyes fluttered slightly as he checked his necklace.
With trembling hands, he turned on the telecommunication port and tried to communicate with Soliaphe. Again, there was no contact, but it didn’t matter.
Putting the tracking enchanted accessory back on also meant that Soliaphe was waiting for his return to the Duchy.
Finally, I found my wife.
He tried tracking magic with a face full of impatience. He checked with the communication equipment to see if it was out in the snowfield. Mana, which had a blue light like a haze, spread far away in an instant, and then it became a blue, thin thread and pulled tightly.
It didn’t seem to be in the snowfield.
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Then…….
‘As expected, have you returned to the Duke’s castle? Please, may you be at home.’
If it was the exact distance to the Castle, it seemed that the distance could be calculated if a tracing magic circle was activated. Louivid went out of the barracks and summoned the mage.
After confirming the result, he raised his lips.
“All units return to the Castle.”