What can you expect from a man who doesn’t even know his own kid’s age.
And it wasn’t like she was a doctor. There wasn’t really anything she could do for the child.
Yeah. Let it go. Sleepwalking isn’t some disease that kills you, is it?
So what if he wanders around at night. What’s the big deal.
“.......”
...Damn it.
“I shouldn’t have gone out for a walk yesterday.”
The hollow look on the child’s face as he wandered the garden without direction, the child’s bare feet on the cold ground—she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
But getting close to that prickly little kid didn’t seem like it would be easy. You had to get at least a little closer before you could even start talking about anything.
[Gyuu?]
As she kept clicking her tongue, King tilted his head, then lightly licked the back of her hand as if to comfort her.
At that, the hired staff standing behind her hurriedly covered their mouths with their hands. Dive, spoon in hand, blankly stared at King like that.
“Hmm.”
Seeing that, a strange smile formed at the corner of Camilla’s mouth.
SCRITCH SCRITCH.
Inside the library, the sound of a pen tip moving could be heard quietly. The one sitting alone in the huge library, reading and taking notes, was Dive.
He had been holding the same posture for an hour now, but there wasn’t the slightest sign of him losing focus.
TAP.
“Gah—!”
As Dive memorized the book while writing like always, he flinched at the sudden sense of something foreign against his foot.
Something was wriggling—he could feel a very small living creature climbing onto his foot.
With a stiff face and eyes filled with fear, Dive slowly lowered his gaze.
What if it was a rat—something he hated more than anything in the world?
[Gyuu.]
“......!”
Dive’s eyes went round in an instant when he looked down. A small living creature really was sitting on top of his foot.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a rat.
It was the Guardian he’d seen in the dining room.
“King?”
Having overheard Camilla call the Guardian that at dinner, the child said King’s name.
[Gyuu!]
As if saying that was right, King tapped at Dive’s foot with his front paw.
The child’s rigid face loosened, little by little.
After briefly checking his surroundings, Dive reached out and carefully lifted King up. With the snow-white creature perched in both his hands, the child’s eyes sparkled even more.
Lick.
“Ha......!”
When King licked his hand, the child let a broad smile slip out without thinking—then hurriedly closed his mouth. He’d been taught that the library always had to be quiet.
“Why are you here?”
[Gyuu?]
At Dive’s question, King tilted his head left and right over and over, as if he didn’t know anything. Dive’s lips curled up again.
“King?”
But just then, a voice came from behind.
“Here you are.”
It was Camilla.
At her appearance, the smile vanished from the child’s face, and the same cold expression as always settled back in.
Slide.
Without saying a word, the child held King out in front of him.
But despite what he did, his eyes wouldn’t leave King.
Like he regretted sending King away.
[Gyuu.......]
With King whining pitifully as if asking whether he was really being abandoned, with King’s damp eyes, the child’s gaze wavered without pause.
“That’s interesting.”
“...What is?”
For the first time, the child looked at Camilla and spoke.
“This is the first time I’ve seen King latch onto someone like that.”
“He doesn’t... follow people normally?”
“Not at all, except Father and me. He’s usually too busy growling.”
At that, the child looked at King with newly curious eyes.
King lightly licked the child’s hand again.
And Dive’s expression softened on its own.
That’s it.
Watching the child, a faint smile rose to Camilla’s lips as well. With her eyes, she praised King as hard as she could.
A little earlier, when Camilla saw the child in the library, she gave King a mission.
King.
[Gyuu!]
Go seduce him.
[Gyuuuu?]
You’re asking what “seduce” means?
[Gyuu.]
Do what you do to me.
[Gyuu-gyuu!]
As if he’d completed the mission perfectly, King lifted his head stiffly. Camilla gave him a light nod, telling him he did well.
“Looks like you were studying.”
At that, the child flinched, quickly set King down on the floor, and hurried back to his seat. Then he grabbed his pen.
“Why don’t you rest?”
“I have to memorize all of this by today.”
The child shook his head hard.
At that, Camilla lightly nudged King’s butt with her foot.
Understanding, King trotted over to the child.
TAP TAP.
[Gyuu?]
As King made a little cry while tapping his foot, the child’s gaze snapped straight to him.
King lifted his head and met the child’s eyes—then went so ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) far as to flop down with his belly right on top of the child’s foot.
“J-just for a moment.......”
In the end, the child picked King up again.
*****
Camilla and Dive left the library and went for a short walk. Watching King run around everywhere, the child kept bursting into laughter.
He laughs well.
It was a bit unexpected—the child was opening up so easily. He still hesitated when their eyes met, but his face didn’t stiffen like it used to.
[It’s my first time seeing Dive laugh that brightly!]
Sharua, who had attached herself at some point, kept exclaiming in amazement. Like she loved seeing him laugh, she giggled every time Dive laughed.
“He is cute.”
[Right? Right?]
She’d thought he was very mature for ten, but the way he ran around playing with King made him look exactly like a kid his age.
“Huh? This is......”
After running around the garden like that for a while, the child suddenly stopped.
Does he remember?
This was that spot. The place where she’d first spoken with Sharua.
Seeing the child stand right there and scan the area, Camilla couldn’t help but wonder.
Did he remember what happened last night?
“Why? Is there something here?”
When Camilla asked, pretending she didn’t know, the child hesitated for a moment.
“Well......”
The child lifted his gaze upward.
“They say the stars you see from here are really pretty.”
“Stars?”
“They say when the moon gets caught on that tree, that’s when the stars shine the prettiest.”
The child pointed at a single tree that would line up in a straight line when you sat in the chair.
“So......”
After stopping mid-sentence, the child bit his lip hard.
“Mother... Mother really loved watching the stars here, they say.”
[Dive.......]
At that, Sharua’s eyes reddened in an instant.
[So you remembered that.]
Sniffling, she continued.
[A maid who used to work here said it to him in passing. That I liked this place.]
Even though he was so young......
Sharua looked at the child again with a painfully tender gaze.
“King! Let’s go over there!”
The child took King and started running around again.
Camilla and Sharua quietly followed behind him.
*****
“Huff... huff!”
Leaving the garden and heading toward his quarters, the child’s steps sped up more and more. His breathing grew ragged, but he didn’t slow down.
[Dive, you’ll fall if you do that.]
Sharua followed behind him, voicing worry over and over—but there was no way he could hear her.
In the end, the child didn’t slow even once until he reached his quarters.
SLAM!
“Hah... hah.......”
Rushing in after throwing the door open, the child bent at the waist and kept panting.
Only after a long time did the child slowly raise his head—then his expression hardened fast.
He’d spotted Nurse Sebinne sitting in a chair.
When their eyes met, the child’s gaze shook without rest.
Then the child’s head drooped.
“You’re finally back, Young Master.”
“Nurse......”
“You’re thirty minutes late to your lesson.”
“...I did wrong.”
Only then did Sebinne rise and walk over to Dive.
“That’s right. You did wrong.”
Her voice turned even gentler, even softer—yet the opposite happened to the child. His gaze wavered visibly.
“If you did wrong, you have to be punished.”
[Sebinne! Let it go just this once!]
Sharua stepped in front of Sebinne.
[He had fun for the first time in a long time. He smiled so brightly. So please......!]
She screamed desperately, trying to defend the child, but again, there was no way her voice could reach the other.
“Roll your sleeve up.”
[Sebinne!]
At her words, the child weakly rolled his sleeve up.
[Please... please forgive him just this once!]
His arm was already covered in wounds. Some looked old; others looked recent.
Unlike Sharua, who teared up at the sight, Nurse Sebinne showed no change in expression. She lifted the thin switch she’d been holding high.
WHOOSH! CRACK!
A sharp sound rang through the living room. But as if this was already familiar, not a single person paid attention.
CRACK!
The delicate flesh of the child’s arm quickly swelled red.
But Sebinne’s beating continued for a long while after that.
[A baby, Dive.......]
Only Sharua sobbed more and more mournfully.
“My heart hurts terribly as well, Young Master.”
After setting the switch down, Sebinne’s voice was so soft and generous it was hard to believe she was the one who’d been swinging it until just now.
“This is all my loyal heart, hoping you’ll do well. You understand, don’t you?”
“...Yeah.”
“From now on, you must never be late.”
“Okay.”
“Go upstairs. Your tutor is waiting.”
“Okay.”
“Pull your sleeve down.”
As if hiding the red, swollen arm, Sebinne pulled the sleeve down for him herself.
Then, smiling, she sent the child up to the second floor.
[Sebinne... you really are doing it because you want my son to do well, right?]
“It’s all for Young Master.”
[I trust you. Because you’re my friend.......]
“I’m always on Young Master’s side.”
[Yeah... you’re always on Dive’s side. It’s... it’s all for our Dive.]
Sharua hurriedly wiped the tears sliding down her face and forced herself to steady her heart.
*****
“So they caught the one behind it.”
At Duke Escra’s summons, Camilla went to his office. The moment she sat down, he told her unexpected news.
“The ones behind the attack on me last time?”
“Marquess Gabuel, apparently. Do you know who that is?”
She did. She knew far too well—that was the problem.
“So he was trying to kill me?”
“Yeah.”
“Hah.”
She’d thought that strange organization that made the fake Rania might be the one trying to kill her.
But to think it was that man.
Camilla was dumbfounded. She’d poked at his temper a bit, sure, but did that warrant being murdered?
“They say he’s dead.”
