“You read this before bed?”

Kyle asked again, unable to believe it.

“There’s no reason not to.”

Rote shrugged as though it were obvious, opening the book to the page where a bookmark had been placed. Just then, Selaia returned to the room. Kyle hurried to school his expression.

“Your attendant was nowhere in sight, so on the way back I passed a message to Milen.”

“That’ll be a nuisance.”

‘If it was Milen, he’d badger him for every detail tomorrow.’

Kyle muttered curtly and pulled the blanket up over himself. Although his words were brusque, he settled into bed with a more relaxed posture, and Selaia smiled quietly at the sight.

“Mommy, please read us a book.”

“Ah…”

Selaia hesitated, glancing sideways at Kyle when Rote held out the book.

“Rote, shall we go to my room? His Highness needs to rest.”

“I don’t mind.”

“His Highness says he doesn’t mind.”

Rote blinked her green eyes wide and innocently.

In the end, Selaia took the book and sat down on the chair beside the bed. She looked from the girl, who was already engrossed in her reading, to the boy, who was pretending to be indifferent, although his ears were clearly pricked up. Then she began to read.

“…The Gerher civilization was one of the earliest to emerge in human history. It flourished between the Tito and Yurs rivers, in an area that is now part of the Hilbrante region. The fertile land enabled agriculture to thrive, and the grain harvest led to the establishment of city-states…”

Her gentle, mellow voice filled the room. Kyle, who was pretending to be disinterested and staring at the ceiling, glanced sideways at Selaia and Rote.

Half-reclining on the bed, Rote yawned through her small mouth, but never once looked away from her mother.

‘How can anyone live without a mother? The loneliness would be unbearable.’

Kyle thought, with a hint of defiance. He knew he was being childish, but he couldn’t easily change his attitude.

Lost in thought for a moment, he suddenly felt something light fall on his shoulder.

“…”

Rote’s hand had slipped down in sleep, limp at his side.

Kyle realized, almost with surprise, just how small that hand truly was.

“Someday, please save me just once.”

She had asked him that while holding out her tiny hand, intertwining their fingers as she made a promise that she swore she would never break. It was as though she already knew that one day he would come to hate her.

“Various peoples and dynasties rose and fell in this region, laying the foundations of human civilization. Oh, it seems Rote has fallen asleep first.”

Selaia’s voice softened and trailed away.

‘What a shame.’

Her gentle, flowing tone was pleasant to hear — it was almost like a song. Kyle blinked slowly.

The sound of a book closing was followed by the quiet pushing back of a chair. A warm, clean fragrance drifted closer, and the light weight beside him disappeared.

The faint scent of milk came from the child’s hair brushing against his neck. Cradling the sleeping Rote in her arms, Selaia pulled the blanket over Kyle a little further.

“I still… hate you.”

“I know, Your Highness.”

His whispered murmur was met with a calm response.

Golden lashes fluttered slowly against his blurred violet gaze. The boy’s lips moved, slurring in a drowsy half-speech.

“Call me Kyle.”

Like the note of a broken piano key, a soft, mellow laugh sounded faintly in his ears.

“Goodnight, Kyle.”

Hearing that voice, Kyle sank into a deep sleep.

It was the first proper rest he had had in a long time.

He slept so soundly that, when he opened his eyes the next morning, he felt so refreshed that he could hardly remember being ill the previous day.

The boy rolled his shoulders with ease and sat up lightly in bed. His stomach growled loudly, as if making up for days of emptiness.

“Ahem.”

Kyle cleared his throat, ran a hand through his disheveled hair, and tapped his feet sharply against the floor. It was a restless habit born of impatience.

‘Why hasn’t anyone called me for breakfast yet?’

If they had given him a room, it was only natural that they should look after him throughout the morning. Kyle was about to step out, oblivious to how shameless that thought was, when—

“Heeugh!”

A small cry burst from the sitting room outside.

Recognizing it as Rote’s voice, Kyle didn’t hesitate. He flung the door wide open.

“What happened?!”

“Ah…!”

Rote stood in the middle of the room with her hand over her mouth. Her green eyes shimmered with a mixture of panic and surprise.

“What is it? What happened?”

Kyle strode toward her. Rote flinched and lowered her hand, her lips pressed tightly shut.

“I asked what happened.”

At his request, the girl raised her face, her expression full of sorrow. She slowly opened her mouth.

One of the two little, rabbit-like front teeth that had previously peeked out was now entirely missing.

“My… m-my tooth f-fell out…”

She mumbled through the gap in her teeth, her words whistling with air. As her pink tongue peeped shyly through the gap, Rote’s round face crumpled with tears.

Kyle stared in disbelief, feeling the corner of his mouth twitch.

Rote noticed instantly, her face puckering in indignation.

“Don’t laugh.”

“I… I’m not laughing.”

Yet even as he spoke, Kyle’s shoulders began to tremble violently.

Rote huffed through her nose and puffed up with fresh determination. She looked like a small animal trying to appear bigger. Kyle couldn’t hold back any longer.

A snort of laughter escaped from between his teeth.

“Kh… you look so silly…”

The little girl stood there with her cheeks puffed out, displaying her defiance and wounded pride. No matter how much she glared, though, the laughter didn’t stop.

It was the single missing tooth in her round face that somehow looked so ridiculous it brought tears to his eyes.

⭕ ⭕ ⭕

‘Affection is like the sweetest cake.’

That was what Eugene thought.

Affection and kindness—so sweet they made the very root of his tongue ache—were temptations irresistible to a child long starved of tenderness. Even knowing that such sweetness might one day rot his teeth, he could not turn away.

Blinking his golden eyes, Eugene raised his head. The gleaming ivory ceiling of the Grand Perrier in the royal palace drifted above him, shifting slowly with each of his steps.

“It looks like it’s going to rain.”

The sky was filled with grey storm clouds. It had been unusually overcast for several days.

Yet Eugene liked such days. There was hardly anything in the world he disliked.

Perhaps that was why he still loved his father, even though he had abandoned him and his mother.

“Put everything related to him away where it won’t be seen.”

His mother had acted as if his father had never existed. By clearing away all traces of him, it seemed she had managed to tidy away her heart, too.

‘…Then what about me?’

Eugene stopped in his tracks. Shadows gathered around him, and when he looked up, he saw that the clouds above had grown thicker.

‘This won’t do.’

He started walking again, putting on his usual smile. Thinking about the person he was about to meet made things easier.

After some time, he found himself in front of a secluded chamber.

He cleared his throat softly and knocked on the large door. The sound of hurried movement came from within.

Soon afterwards, the door opened.

“Welcome, Eugene.”

“Hello, Lady Tran.”

In response to the familiar greeting, Seleia smiled calmly and warmly. Her green eyes curved like tender foliage.

She was unlike anyone else Eugene had ever known — someone who could look at him, a mere boy, with eyes full of care, as if he were something precious.

In that room, there was another girl who looked just like her.

Eugene leaned in with a smile and looked over Seleia’s shoulder.

Sure enough, there she was — Rote.

And then…

“Kyle?”

The smile faded from Eugene’s face.

“Hey.”

Kyle gave a careless wave with one hand. Eugene blinked, feeling slightly dazed by the unexpected sight of his friend.

“What are you doing here?”

“Because I feel like it.”

The boy with violet eyes replied shamelessly.

“You make it look awfully natural, just waltzing in like that. I’d say you’ve been loafing around here for some time now.”

Kyle tapped his foot on the floor, a gesture that betrayed his irritation. Yet Eugene could tell that he wasn’t really angry.

“Haha, loafing? Call it being sociable.”

Eugene brushed it off with a flimsy laugh and an excuse. In truth, it wasn’t Kyle’s suspicion that weighed most heavily on him; it was something else entirely.

“Um, Rote?”

The person standing behind Kyle gave a visible start at the sound of his voice.

At the very least, she had registered his presence.

“It looks to me like you’re not too keen on seeing him today.”

Kyle shrugged. Suddenly, Rote tugged hard on the back of his collar.

“Ow! What?”

Kyle snapped irritably, though there was an odd undercurrent of satisfaction in his tone.

‘Why?’

Just yesterday, Kyle had despised Lady Tran and Esperote.

So why this sudden change?

Eugene couldn’t make sense of it.