Chapter 17

“…Sir?”

“Vivi! What color should I use here?”

Eugene’s voice came to her from nearby.

“Ah…”

“Vivi?”

“How about red?”

“Aha, red! Got it!”

After Eugene returned to his place, she searched for the man. The man was gone.

‘What is the relationship between Sir Costance and Eugene?’

Looking at the man once more, she was certain. He was Sir Costance.

Though she had once pushed him away, she was curious about him now. She also wondered about the relationship between him and Eugene.

She scrutinized Eugene’s face as he colored. Thinking about it, Sir Costance and Eugene had the same hair color.

But black hair is common. The only similarity was the hair color; their eye colors were different, and their appearances were somewhat distinct.

If she were to compare them to animals, Sir Costance was as elegant as a wolf, and Eugene was as cute as a fox.

‘The eye color of the Marquis I saw before…’

Come to think of it, the eyes of Marquis Orsi were certainly golden. When she first saw those eyes, she thought they were as beautiful as jewels.

“Vivi.”

Eugene, who had finished coloring, called her.

“Already done?”

“Of course! Look here. I’ll explain it to you!”

Eugene showed her the drawing.

Hmm. Even with coloring, she couldn’t tell what the drawing was about. The only thing she could guess was that it depicted the past. Given the year marked on the left side, it was before the war broke out.

Also… the setting seemed to be a school or a laboratory. There was a large blackboard, and the desk was full of beakers with strange substances.

In front was a man with glasses. Judging by the wrinkles on his face, he seemed quite old.

“This is me!”

Eugene pointed to the man peeking out from behind the blackboard. Upon closer inspection, it was Eugene with black hair and yellow eyes.

But the drawing was so small that she couldn’t even guess what Eugene was doing.

“What are you doing behind the blackboard?”

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m about to blow up the Galinne Laboratory. When Galinne leaves the lab for a while, I’ll mess up all the potions in these beakers and the stuff on the blackboard!”

…What?

At those words, her heart dropped to the floor. For a moment, she couldn’t say anything.

“What is Galinne?”

“Fool. Don’t you even know Galinne?”

Eugene chuckled at Anne’s question beside him.

“Galinne is the one who made the destructive weapon ‘NOK One.’ It’s terrifying! That weapon can blow up an entire country!”

“Really?”

“Don’t you know that’s why we’re fighting the enemy nation? Rando invaded us before we could develop the weapon after learning about the energy of NOK One!”

“When the war broke out, I wasn’t even born yet!”

“Anyway, I’m going to travel back in time with a time machine and stop the destructive weapon! And I’ll throw this notorious traitor Galinne into prison! Then love and peace can be preserved, right?”

Traitor? Who?

“Vivi? How is it?”

Who is the traitor?

“Vivi…?”

Why put Galinne in jail?

“Vivi! Are you okay…?”

She suppressed the sentences she wanted to say. The destructive weapon wasn’t made intentionally. While trying to create a medical product to save everyone, they accidentally discovered that substance.

〈…You will live.〉

She remembered the back of her father, who took all the responsibility. He tried to hide the destructive weapon until the end, but everyone found out. The Prime Minister used it to threaten other countries.

“Vivi. Your face is pale!”

Her father… was caught trying to destroy the destructive weapon he created. He wanted to prevent the war. So he… That’s how her father passed away like that.

“Vivi!”

“…”

“Nun! Vivi seems to be sick…!”

She grabbed Eugene’s wrist.

“N-no. I’m okay…”

“But Vivi.”

“Y-your drawing is well done! I-I’ll just, just go to the bathroom for a moment.”

“Sh-should I go with you?”

“No! I-I’m fine. Don’t worry. Okay?”

“Vivi!”

She fled outside as if escaping. Without going to the bathroom, she passed through the hallway and reached the cathedral. The feeling that the statue of the goddess ahead was staring at her…

She felt nauseous. She needed to get out of the cathedral.

After escaping to the outside of the cathedral door, her legs gave way, and she collapsed.

“Vivi!”

Someone caught her. He knelt to meet her eye level and tried to look at her face. That tightly wrapped face. The scent emanating from his body…

“Are you alright? Where, where does it hurt…”

“Sir.”

She hugged Sir Costance tightly.

“P-please… calm me down! I-I can’t breathe!”

“Vivi…”

Her sudden action made his body stiffen. But soon, he gently patted her back.

“…It’s alright. I don’t know what happened, but… everything’s okay.”

His words were incredibly kind.

Why, why are you kind to me? 

The tears she held back poured out. Unconsciously, she tightened her grip around his waist. He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t ask any questions, just quietly comforted her as she cried, generously offering his embrace.

His scent seeped into her. How could she forget Sir Costance? Even if she pushed him away with words, her heart was always filled with Sir Costance.

But if you know… that I carry the name of Galinne, you’ll despise me. You’ll think of me as the daughter of a traitor.

That thought was both sorrowful and unfair. Even though it wasn’t the first time… she couldn’t hold back the tears that continued to fall.

“Vivi!”

Eugene’s voice came from behind, he had followed her.

“Shh.”

This time, the sound came from right above. Sir Costance and Eugene had met.

“Wh-who?”

“Eugene. Could you come back later?”

“…But…. I-I understand.”

It seemed Eugene had retreated. After that, she stayed in Sir Costance’s arms for a long time.

* * *

The researchers glanced at the girl as she ate the meal she had been given. Sitting across from her, Rene and Tiago shot glares at the onlookers.

“Sorry. We don’t usually have any children as young as you here at our institute.”

Rene spoke to the girl.

“It’s okay.”

“Little miss, you’re very mature for your age, aren’t you?”

“Hah, you think these researchers would meet her standards?”

Tiago patted the girl’s head. It had been about a week since the girl came to the lab. A few days ago, she met the Queen, who came to inspect the lab, and yesterday she met Marquis Orsi.

And this morning, she greeted the other researchers who had gone on a business trip due to the experiment.

“She didn’t even flinch in front of the Queen. Anyway, little miss, everyone here has no social awareness since all they do is study, so please bear with them.”

Tiago said with a refreshing laugh.

“…Tiago, do you lack awareness too?”

“Hmm, I have too much awareness, that’s the problem. You should meet a scary senior like Senior Rene. Then even nonexistent awareness will develop.”

“Tiago.”

“Yes.”

At Rene’s call, Tiago closed his mouth. The meal continued. At that moment, a researcher hurriedly ran to where Rene was.

“Senior!”

“What is it?”

“You need to come for a moment. Tiago, you too.”

It seemed something had happened, as the researcher asked Rene and Tiago for help. Both stood up but hesitated to leave. They were concerned about the girl in front of them.

“I’m fine, so go ahead.”

“But… oh, there’s Sien. Sien!”

Rene spotted Sien, who had just received her meal, and waved.

“What is it?”

“I have some work to do, so could you have a meal with the little miss?”

Sien looked down at the girl with a stoic face.

“Alright.”

“Thanks. Little Miss, enjoy your meal with Sien.”

Rene and Tiago quickly left. Sien, who unexpectedly ended up dining with the girl, sat in front of her. The girl looked at the scar on Sien’s face and picked up her spoon.

“…”

“…”

They ate in silence.

“…”

“…”

They didn’t even look at each other.

“…Hey, they say that girl is Galinne’s daughter.”

“That girl?”

“Yeah. She’s more ordinary than I thought, huh?”

“Must take after her mom a lot. Did she get her hair from her dad?”

“Who knows. I heard Alres will be in charge of her education.”

The girl frowned. Since the room was quiet, she could hear all the whispers directed at her.

She pretended not to care and poked at the sausage with her fork. The sausage was pierced with a thunk. She stared at it blankly without eating.

“Don’t mind them.”

Sien broke their silence.

“I don’t mind.”

“Kid, you can’t fool me.”

“…”

“Paying attention to every little thing will only hurt you.”

Sien continued speaking without giving the girl a glance.

“You’re not an ordinary child.”

“…”

“So accept it. All the words and gazes directed at you.”

“…”

“That will be easier for you.”

“…It’s too unfair.”

“Kid, that’s life.”

The girl put the sausage in her mouth. She tensed her face to keep the tears in her eyes from falling.