Chapter 60

Little One began toddling around the room. Worried that he might wake the other girls, she quickly chased after him and caught him. 

However, Little One wriggled so much that she had no choice but to put him down again.

‘I need to get to Felix quickly.’

She glanced around and took Little One’s hand.

“Little one, you remember seeing Felix earlier, right?”

“Coo?”

“Not you, Felix.”

“Peh!”

Although he didn’t repeat her words exactly, Little One’s attempt to mimic her was quite endearing. Holding his hand, she hurriedly left the room. Thankfully, Little One obediently followed her.

Step by step, she looked down to see Little One walking diligently on his short legs. The way his arms swung by his sides was utterly adorable.

But there was no time to simply admire his cuteness. This was an emergency, no matter how one looked at it.

The only relief was that it was still early, so the hallways were empty.

‘I hope Felix is awake.’

Praying fervently, she led Little One down the stairs. He gripped her hand tightly and carefully descended each step with his short legs.

Seeing him struggle, she tried to lift him, but Little One shook his head in refusal. So, she patiently waited as he made his way down.

Finally, after much effort, they arrived at Room 305. She knocked cautiously on the door, hoping the person who answered would be Felix.

“Who on earth is it at this hour… Elena?”

Had the goddess answered her prayers? The person who opened the door was indeed Felix!

He relaxed his previously irritated expression and asked, 

“What’s going on?”

Worried someone might overhear, she lowered her head without saying a word. Little One, hiding behind her legs, peeked out cautiously. It seemed Felix was unfamiliar to him.

“Peh?”

It was almost as if he was asking, ‘Is this the Felix you mentioned earlier?’ 

Oh, how clever her little one was!

But before she could feel proud, Felix suddenly picked up Little One.

“No!”

Little One squeezed his eyes shut and struggled, pushing Felix’s face away with his tiny hands and kicking at his stomach.

Felix, looking exhausted, set Little One down. Startled, Little One reached out his arms toward her.

She picked him up and scolded Felix. 

“Why would you suddenly pick him up like that?”

“Let’s go outside. There are too many eyes here.”

She followed Felix as he led the way. He didn’t stop until they reached the back of the building where no one was around.

He gestured toward Little One in her arms, who, upon looking at him, turned his head away and buried it in her chest.

“Why, Little One? Is Felix still unfamiliar to you? Look closely. He’s the older brother you played with before.”

After some coaxing, Little One looked at Felix again. Tilting his head this way and that, he finally grinned, revealing his tiny teeth.

“Peh!”

“Yes, that’s Felix. Do you remember now?”

Felix, who had been listening to their conversation, asked hesitantly, 

“Is this really Little One?”

“Yes.”

“How can you be sure?”

She showed Felix the bracelet on Little One’s wrist. As if understanding her signal, Little One waved his arm up and down. Each movement made the yellow artifact bracelet jingle softly.

“Look at this. It’s the artifact Madam Jane put on him when he had a fever. Little One disappeared while wearing it.”

Felix examined the bracelet closely and nodded. 

“Yeah, it looks like the artifact I used. But…”

He stared intently at Little One’s face.

“Why is he so big?”

That was the question she wanted to ask.

The last time Little One appeared at the Christian Estate, Felix had remarked on how much he had grown—strangely so. She had dismissed his observation, saying it was natural for babies to grow.

But this time, she couldn’t deny it. Little One had clearly grown significantly since the last time they saw him.

Most notably, he could now mimic words!

“Why is he growing so fast?”

“I don’t know yet. But it seems like he’s really following you.”

This confirmed the hypothesis they had formed last time. Little One appeared to be following her.

But there was something odd.

“Why me? I’ve never even met him before. And who keeps sending him to me?”

“We’ll have to figure that out step by step.”

Felix’s face looked resolute as he spoke.

* * *

They headed to the professors’ quarters with Little One, intending to see Professor Deros.

Fortunately, the professor was already awake.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

“Little One from last time has appeared again.”

Little One, holding their hands and toddling along, blinked innocently at the professor.

The professor opened the door wide and stepped aside. 

“Come in.”

“No!”

It wasn’t Felix or Elena who said that. She turned toward the source of the voice. Little One, his cheeks puffed out, was stepping backward.

“No!”

Oh, so Little One wasn’t just mimicking words but could express himself too?

As she marveled at this, Little One let go of their hands and tried to retrace his steps. It seemed he was shy around the professor.

“Let’s go, Little One.”

Felix picked him up, tucked him under his arm, and carried him inside. Little One flailed his arms and legs.

“Huh?”

Though he had tried to escape, once Felix set him down, Little One began exploring the room with curiosity. When he reached for an unfamiliar potion bottle on the table, she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back.

“No.”

“No!”

No? What do you mean, no? 

She spoke more firmly this time.

“You can’t touch that. It’ll hurt.”

Hearing that it would hurt, Little One seemed frightened and stopped insisting. Instead, he pouted his lower lip.

While she was busy managing Little One, Felix explained the situation.

“Little One appeared again in Elena’s quarters. He’s grown significantly since the last time.”

Professor Deros exchanged a silent look with Felix and nodded.

“Let’s investigate further.”

The professor began inspecting the room while channeling mana. As his earring glowed green, she felt a wave of nausea.

Covering her mouth, she crouched down. Little One, who had been toddling around, approached her and looked up as if asking, ‘Are you okay, sister?’

She crouched down and patted his head. 

“I’m fine.”

“Heehee.”

Little One smiled brightly, relieved. Meanwhile, the professor, having finished his mana inspection, tilted his head in confusion.

“This is strange.”

“What is?”

“What’s strange?”

“I can’t trace it again.”

“Really?”

“Huh?”

Felix and Elena exclaimed in unison. They had assumed the inability to trace last time was due to the passage of time. But now, even though Little One had only just appeared, the trace was still untrackable.

There was only one explanation: the person who cast the spell was more skilled than the professor.

But who could surpass the professor, a leading authority on teleportation magic in the kingdom? No one came to mind.

If they couldn’t trace Little One’s family, what then? From their past experiences, they knew Little One would eventually return on his own. But to understand who was sending him to her and why, they needed to trace him.

“It seems Felix’s hypothesis about Little One following Elena is correct. Elena, have you received any new items recently? There might be a tracking spell on them.”

“No, nothing in particular.”

“Professor.”

Felix stepped past Elena, who was still confused, and whispered something to the professor. The professor’s eyes widened slightly behind his glasses.

What on earth had Felix said to make the professor react like that? 

She was curious but refrained from asking since they both looked so serious. She decided to ask Felix about it later.

“Elena, I’ll be back after discussing something with the professor. Stay with Little One.”

“Oh, okay. Take care.”

After they left, Little One, now completely at ease, began wandering around the room.

When he tried to touch the other children’s belongings, she quickly grabbed his arm. Little One twisted his body in protest.

‘What should I do?’

As she wondered how to entertain the energetic kid, she remembered the teddy bear she had shown to Illya the day before.

‘Come to think of it, Little One likes dolls, doesn’t he?’

She pulled the teddy bear out of her bag and handed it to him. As expected, Little One beamed with joy.

“Kyahaha!”

Oh, but this wasn’t just any ordinary teddy bear. She pressed its belly proudly.

“Hello, Little One! I’m Teddy.”

When she pressed the belly again, the teddy bear repeated in a cute voice, 

“Hello, Little One! I’m Teddy.”

Little One’s eyes widened in amazement. She pressed the teddy bear’s belly again and held it out to him.

Little One mumbled something incomprehensible to the bear.

“Adya-dya, Auba-bya?”

“Adya-dya, Auba-bya?”

When the bear repeated him, Little One burst into laughter, stomping his feet in delight.

‘Oh, right, there are shoes too.’

She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a pair of shoes. She tried to put them on Little One, but unfortunately, they were too big.

“Too bad.”

“What is?”

“The shoes are too big for his feet… Wait, Felix, when did you get here?”

“Give them to me.”

Felix, who had approached silently, took the shoes and slipped them onto Little One’s feet. Thankfully, Little One, now nibbling on the teddy bear’s ear, stayed calm in his arms.

Though he had initially been shy, it seemed he now recognized Felix.

Muttering something under his breath, Felix cast a spell, causing the shoes to glow and shrink to fit Little One’s feet perfectly.

“There you go, Little One. Try walking now.”

When Felix set him down, Little One eagerly toddled around, clutching the teddy bear. With each step, the shoes made a cute squeaking sound.