“It’s because of the victory festival. Bear with it.”
“Uuugh……. It’s chaos!”
To be honest, I had hated noisy places even in my past life.
On top of that, Arcadia, the magical kingdom where I was born and raised, had fewer than 3,000 citizens total—to put it simply, it was like a secluded monastery…….
So this commotion in the imperial capital is far too overwhelming for me!
I feel even more drained than when I faced a black magic creature.
“I should start by building up my stamina.”
Hup! I quickly looked up at Leviathan.
“What do you mean? Are you saying you’ll raise me?”
“……Not worth answering.”
“Hng.”
He didn’t take the bait.
“What should we do first?”
If possible, I’d love to wash up first!
At my question, he abruptly tugged the reins to change direction. And before long, the horse stopped.
“…….”
In front of a building where a glittering sign stood out in particular.
“……Huh?”
He’s dropping me off first thing?
While I was dawdling, Leviathan plopped me down in front of it. Then after having the gatekeeper relay the message,
he smiled a captivating smile and waved his hand.
“It was fun while it lasted, you little urchin.”
* * *
“Ha.”
I let out a sigh.
A bowl of vegetable soup and a chunk of brown bread dotted with sesame seeds sat before me.
“Ha!”
This is absurd.
How could he really do that?
Hadn’t we grown a little, just a little closer in that forest?
How could he toss me aside like old baggage the moment we arrived in the capital…….
I set down the child-sized spoon. I had no appetite whatsoever.
“Haaaah.”
“Um…….”
Then, a very cautious voice reached my ears.
I turned around, and a boy with gorgeous golden hair was sitting beside me.
He must have been a child who arrived at the shelter before me.
“I think that’s the third one.”
“Huh? The third what?”
“Um, that grandfatherly sigh of yours?”
“…….”
I sealed my lips.
You should try being crushed by the weight of life too. These sighs come out on their own.
“You seem troubled. Want to talk to me about it?”
When I gave no particular reaction, the blonde kid seemed even more intrigued. He even pulled his chair right up next to me and started talking.
I stared blankly at the blonde.
‘The Imperial Shelter is…….’
It must be pretty nice.
What kind of war refugee has skin this fair?
His clothes were shabby, yet his milky white skin was impeccably smooth.
Eyes drooping slightly like a puppy’s, and turquoise irises embedded like jewels within them. His fluffy hair was like clouds suffused with sunlight.
‘What kind of boy is this pretty?’
I felt just like a pathetic girl observing him.
“I have plenty of troubles.”
“What kind? Tell me.”
Curiosity settled in the blonde’s large eyes.
“First of all…….”
I have to prevent destruction.
So that Part 2 of the original story never begins.
“To do that.”
I have to save the male lead who is supposed to die soon.
His name is Leviathan Zebert. In other words, the Hero of the Continent.
“So.”
I was planning to hide my identity as a fugitive mage and stick close to the male lead somehow? So he wouldn’t just drop dead!
“But.”
That man abandoned me. Very heartlessly.
“Therefore.”
I have to meet him again, but…….
“There’s no way…….”
Huwaah. I pushed away the tattered bread and collapsed onto the table.
“Hmm.”
An incomprehensible laugh drifted from beside me.
“So, to do that, so, but, therefore there’s no way means.”
“…….”
“What kind of trouble could that be?”
I only turned my head to look at the blonde.
His doll-like face tilting curiously looked simply innocent.
“Sigh. You young thing.”
Without realizing it, I ended up patting the blonde’s head as if he were a doll.
A creature who knows nothing of the world’s worries. How I envy you.
“……You’re really forward.”
The blonde fixed his fluffy hair and grinned broadly. His dazzling smile seemed to brighten the surroundings.
* * *
Leviathan gazed at the emperor before him. A familiar cigarette was held in his hand.
But somehow, he didn’t feel like smoking it. Come to think of it, he hadn’t smoked once in the forest……. Perhaps it was time to quit.
“Good work, Duke.”
The emperor said, flipping through complex documents.
“Welcome back.”
Delicate features. Long golden hair tied to one side and draped down. Clear turquoise irises beneath long eyelashes.
Truly, an appearance befitting the young emperor said to be the most beautiful in Bamilon.
“Skip the pleasantries and get to the point, Your Majesty.”
“So prickly……. Fine. The Magical Kingdom has requested our cooperation in tracking a fugitive mage.”
The emperor, Ditrian Bamilon, said.
Leviathan, who had been sitting crookedly, raised an eyebrow. He set down the cigarette, and a clink—the sound of ice shattering—came from the glass he gripped.
“A fugitive mage?”
“A mage battalion passing through Canalan Gorge was ambushed and completely wiped out, apparently.”
“I’ve heard.”
“It seems one corpse is missing.”
“…….”
Leviathan curled up the corner of his mouth.
There was not a trace of warmth in his sharp purple eyes. The air sank rapidly.
A man capable of overwhelming others with nothing but his aura—likely no other existed on this continent.
“They’re probably crushed under some rock. It was a gorge, so they may have fallen off a cliff.”
“…….”
“Must we even handle such tedious loose ends?”
“Rein in that ominous aura. Are you trying to make all my maids faint?”
The emperor smiled softly and closed the documents.
“You know the Magical Kingdom has had its hands full controlling its mages for longer than a day or two. You’re strangely on edge.”
“Isn’t it laughable? The sight of those great mages in a panic because they cannot locate one escaped soldier.”
“Your hatred of mages remains the same.”
“A black mage is still a mage.”
Grind. The sound of clenched teeth rang out.
Leviathan hated magic more than anything. It bordered on loathing the class of mages itself.
“How is the Duchess’s health?”
The emperor naturally changed the subject.
Deep wrinkles formed between his brows as if something had come to mind.
“The tragedy of the Magical Kingdom’s fugitive mage attacking Rosetta’s carriage must never be repeated. And as for losing the child in her womb……”
Crack! A horrifying bursting sound echoed. It was the glass Leviathan held.
Drip, drip. Red blood spattered the ornate carpet.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
An attendant reflexively tried to rush over with a panicked face, but the emperor abruptly raised a hand to stop him.
Touching Duke Zebert in that state would mean death.
‘I misspoke.’
The emperor swallowed his tension internally and smiled nonchalantly.
“Oh my, you’re angry. Our hero.”
Is this what a dragon whose reverse scale has been touched looks like?
“Alright, alright. I’ll handle the fugitive mage matter myself. I won’t ask the Duke to lift a finger.”
“I would be grateful if you did.”
“Withdraw and rest now. You look tired.”
Leviathan indifferently plucked out the glass shards embedded in his hand and tossed them to the floor.
The emperor suddenly spoke, watching the Duke rise from his seat.
He knew he should not press any further.
“Count Eibrih apparently saw you while riding his carriage to the palace.”
This inability to suppress his curiosity was always a problem.
“Is that so.”
“They said you had a child with you.”
Stiff. The man’s movement halted.
“You’re not thinking of adopting again, are you?”
The emperor leaned back into his chair.
“If you don’t intend to run an orphanage, give it up. Void and Liam are unusually strong children. You know there aren’t many children who like that harsh north.”
“I know.”
It was well-known that the Duchess had been rendered infertile due to a carriage accident.
He had discussed it with Rosetta and adopted two boys from a collateral line. He could not see them often due to long periods on the battlefield…… but they were valiant, proud children.
‘That kid…….’
The filthy child suddenly came to mind.
‘I wonder if she’s doing well.’
She had made it so obvious she did not want to go to the shelter.
Her unusually small frame and transparent blue eyes kept weighing on his mind.
Leviathan shook his head as if to shake off the thought.
The emperor was right.
If he was not going to open a nursery, he had to forget.
For the child’s sake as well.
“So. Will you attend the banquet?”
“No. I intend to return immediately.”
“It will be a victory banquet without a hero. That too is a slight against the throne, Duke.”
“Indeed.”
A cold gust seemed to trail him as he left the office, followed by a clicking of the tongue.
“So stiff.”
* * *
Leviathan exited the palace and walked through the streets.
The capital was boisterous.
Vibrant, full of life.
It was the first time he had seen it like this in nearly ten years.
People had rushed out to enjoy the joy of the war’s end. Scars still remained here and there, but time would gradually resolve those.
‘Come to think of it, she hated it.’
Leviathan let out a short laugh.
The moment the child entered the noisy capital, she had plugged her ears immediately. She had looked more terrified than when she met a black magic creature.
And yet she had rolled her round eyes all over, looking around the capital…….
‘I almost gave her a tour around the capital.’
Thin, silvery hair bouncing up and down like threads. Her round little head busily moving came to mind.
‘She had a composed side.’
Even in that forest.
“You must have had a hard time all this while. Thanks to you, it’s peaceful.”
When he heard those words, it felt like his heart clenched tight.
Leviathan had been raised as a knight from birth. Rolling across battlefields was more natural than eating.
He had merely done what was natural.
He had always thought so.
So being praised anew felt extremely awkward and unfamiliar.
And from such a young child at that.
‘But on the other hand.’
Had he wanted to hear such words?
That he had worked hard.
That thanks to him.
“…….”
Leviathan lazily swept back his hair.
“Should I at least say goodbye before I go.”
Now that he thought about it, he did not think they had even exchanged a proper farewell.
His lingering steps quickened on their own.
Raindrops had already begun to fall from the heavy sky.
Just as he turned onto the road where the shelter was, caught in the drizzle,
he saw a crowd gathered and murmuring.
“Why are so many security forces gathered like this?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“They say a robber broke into the Imperial Shelter, would you believe it.”
“Good heavens!”
“They say some children were hurt.”
“What to do……. Oh my!”
A gust of wind swept past.
Leviathan’s face, as he pushed through the crowd and ran, was more pale and ashen than ever.