He should have woken her up earlier and bothered her.
He thought about checking on the children, but then decided against it.
‘They’re probably still asleep anyway. What could possibly be happening?’
Besides, he figured the maids would take care of things.
It might even be a relief that she wasn’t being a nuisance. It would be a problem if she threw a tantrum to be taken to the procession like yesterday.
“What are you doing lying under a tree?”
“I’m receiving a divine revelation……”
“You do a lot of things, really.”
“Ex-dad, now Duke-who's-a-stranger. I had a vision! You gotta take a pink-haired 8-year-old to the parade tomorrow!”
“That’s a really novel way of saying you want to come along. Aren’t you going to get up now?”
With a little whine, Ririn threw a silent tantrum, flailing a bit, then jumped up and ran off. He couldn't be bothered to understand her.
The child was busy all day long.
One moment she seemed to be chattering away among the notoriously picky and meticulous mansion staff, and the next she was hugging trees in the front garden or peering at flowers with a magnifying glass.
Bright, talkative, and friendly.
She was a real, live-wire kid.
Anyway, he couldn't just parade around with a little kid sitting in front of him.
Of course, Ririn meant to ride in the carriage behind, but Caleck, as always, thought only of himself.
‘More than anything, if I meet the Emperor at the Imperial Palace, he’s bound to ask annoying questions about the child.’
Again, Ririn had no intention of following him to the Imperial Palace, but Caleck, as usual, thought only of himself.
Caleck stared at the tightly closed fourth-floor window before slowly turning his head.
He was a little bothered that he hadn’t seen her face…
‘Whatever. She’s doing fine on her own anyway.’
Besides, she was a child he would be sending away in a month, so he shouldn’t worry about her too much. Thinking that way, his mouth felt bitter for some reason.
But he was done with his emotions being swayed, so Caleck stopped thinking about it.
The long procession slowly left the Duke’s residence.
“Waaaaah!”
“Congratulations!”
“Long live Etherion! Long live Winterwald!”
Against the backdrop of the excited cheers of the people, Caleck leisurely passed through the heart of the capital.
At that moment, the rear became somewhat noisy.
“What’s going on?”
“Ah, Lady Elisa said a bug flew into the carriage and she was trying to chase it out, so we were briefly delayed.”
He turned to see the ornate carriage door slam shut.
“Please proceed, My Lord. It’s nothing.”
Caleck's eyebrow twitched. He sighed and muttered, "So fussy."
“She's so fussy, she could've just opened the window.”
I leaned my forehead against the window and looked outside.
“Ooh… amazing…”
The scenery rushing past outside the carriage was incredible.
Colorful banners fluttered in the wind, and flower petals danced.
Servants with baskets scattered coins here and there, and people cheered. Horns blew from the front of the procession. Mages, pulled from the Magic Tower, sprinkled showers of flower petals.
“It’s a procession…!”
It's a totally over-the-top parade! Awesome!
“Kiddo, you're practically sliding out of your seat!”
At that moment, a short rebuke came back.
I'd been peeking out, just my eyes above the window, and I quickly turned my head.
“Sit up straight. You're making me dizzy. Keep that up and you're sitting on my lap.”
A beautiful old woman with elegant silver hair piled up in an updo was looking down at me with a stern expression.
“Oops, sorry. Country girl like me, I'm not used to all this excitement.”
“But what are you doing sneaking around in someone else's carriage?”
Well, that’s…
‘It’s because Daddy didn’t officially allow me to come along.’
To operate the seed magic tool, I had to accompany Elisa. It was to accurately time when to activate the magic tool.
But the Duke was cruel to me. He wouldn’t even let me ride in the corner of the carriage.
So, I had to sneak out at the crack of dawn, like we planned.
I stashed the magic tool under the seat, and squeezed myself in there too.
Luckily, I hid after the carriage guy did his final check, so I didn't get caught.
Even if they checked again, they'd never think to look in that tiny space under the seat.
‘Then I conked out...best sleep I'd had in ages.’
Truth is, I've been kinda exhausted.
The weather here's been terrible – rain almost every night.
I woke up again as we were leaving the Duke's place.
“ Yawn Theo, you sleep okay...?”
“Good heavens!”
“H-Hi... I just... the carriage is so pretty...”
I told Elisa I was sorry for scaring her. The parade had already started, so she said she'd have to let me out somewhere along the way.
Which was fine, since I planned to hop out somewhere along the route anyway.
I needed to be a little ways away to see what was happening, so I could react fast when things went down.
And, I'm terrified of loud bangs. If I was right next to Elisa, I'd probably freeze up and not be able to use the magic tool at all.
‘By the way…’
I glanced sideways at the noblewoman sitting next to me.
Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd actually seen Elisa since I got to the Duke's.
But I'd been thinking about her so much lately, it didn't feel weird.
She looked stern and cold, like everyone said about the Winterwalds. Her fancy, upturned lips and that little mole made her seem even more strict.
She was wearing this super elegant, dark red silk dress. Even the cuffs looked expensive. They said she had great taste...and they were right.
'That's one stylish grandma,'
They call her the Ice Duchess, and yeah, when she's not talking, she looks pretty frosty.
“That ring.”
At that moment, Elisa turned her head sharply.
“Nuek?”
“That Caleck hasn't snatched that ring off you yet?”
I blinked my eyes and shouted confidently.
“Yes! Because it’s mine!”
And if I give it to you, you’ll kick me out, right!
“Hmph, he's been surprisingly patient! I figured he'd have ripped it off your finger by now, one way or another.”
“Whoa, that's harsh! I know where the police station is. I'm practically fluent in Imperial, I've got a great memory, and I can even sign my name!”
“Ha! So you're saying you'll rat him out if he tries anything?”
“Well, yeah! Gotta mean what you say, right?”
“Where'd you learn to talk like that?”
“From Daddy!”
“You're a piece of work!”
“Huh?”
“Ahem, I mean... I can't believe it.”
“Ah, yes.”
Elisa coughed a few times and then turned her head away again.
I glanced at the scenery outside the window.
‘It’s soon.’
I swallowed hard. I might've sounded all sassy, but I was actually super nervous.
‘In my dream, the maze showed up right after we passed the inn.’
In the distance, the inn was getting closer and closer.
The maze was about to pop up.
I clutched my backpack and looked at Elisa.
“But, Grandma.”
“Grand...ma?”
The old woman’s face subtly hardened. Oops, was that a little too familiar?
“Actually, I've been wanting to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“Thanks for bringing me to the mansion.”
Elisa sat up straight and gave me a sideways look.
“Because of you, I got to meet Dad, easy peasy. Otherwise, Theo and I would've been sleeping on the streets, freezing our butts off. We would've had a rough time. We might've even had to become, like, professional pickpockets just to survive.”
“You'd be lucky to become pickpockets. A little thing like you would've probably died...”
She swallowed the words she had impulsively blurted out.
“...Ahem. Forget it. Don't say stuff like that.”
I grinned and scooted closer to Elisa.
A little more.
Just a little more.
“Ugh, this is so boring. Why'd that jerk make the parade route so long?!”
“Ugh.”
Just then, I slapped my hand over my mouth, and Elisa whipped around, surprised.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I'm gonna be sick... Ugh!”
“No! Don't you dare puke on my expensive silk dress from the East Continent!”
Elisa looked totally panicked, seeing how green I was. I managed to choke out,
“C-Can I get out and go back to the mansion... ugh... go back?”
“Okay, okay! Stop the carriage!”
Elisa pounded on the wall, and the carriage screeched to a halt.
