Since last year, they had been regularly bringing in porcelain dolls imported from the East as they were popular, and these new dolls were showing particular interest in Jayden.

Even though they knew he had a girlfriend, they would flirt and try talking to him right in front of Larien. Finding it unbearable to watch, she would take Jayden straight up to their nest after sunset.

She could clearly imagine how happy they would be about the current situation.

Though Larien tried not to show it, she couldn’t hide her face turning pale.

Maybe she shouldn’t have done that. Maybe saying not to look for her was too harsh. They should have just stayed as they were, even without becoming human.

Her eyebrows, curved like crescent moons, drooped along with her sinking mood.

‘I should go to Jayden right now…!’

Larien’s hands stopped tightening her pointe shoe laces as anxiety drove her to run to him immediately.

‘No.’

Her resolve revived with each blink of her eyes. She firmly pressed her protruding lips between her teeth.

I can’t let my heart waver. We don’t know what crisis might come. If this is our chance, we need to become human together.

It was clear that Jayden would absolutely never take her there unless she did this.

And if the festival period ends, who knows when another chance might come.

That absolutely cannot happen — she steeled her heart, telling herself to endure just one week until his friend comes.

Besides, Jayden isn’t the type to fall for other dolls’ seduction anyway.

Though Larien could feel Jayden’s desperate gaze on her from her spot, she deliberately turned her head pretending not to see.

The sunlight gradually shone down. Her soft body stiffened from the toes up.

When we become human, I won’t feel this sensation anymore, right? And we won’t have times when we can’t move our bodies.

Larien desperately wished for them to become human together as soon as possible.

Their standoff continued like that for three days.

Larien’s face had become haggard from tossing and turning, unable to sleep properly for several days, and Jayden’s eyes were also darkly shadowed.

“Jayden, this is a flower I made myself, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

“No thanks.”

Watching another doll approach despite continued rejections, Larien whipped her head away.

Seeing the crowd following Jayden with unwavering tension and no compromise, she felt even more irritated.

Hmph!

After snorting out air through her nose, she finally couldn’t bear watching anymore and went up to the attic alone despite her fear.

There was no trace of him having lain in the blankets, as if he hadn’t visited during that time.

The place that had felt cozy and warm when they were together now felt eerily chilling.

As she laid face down with the blanket over her head, tears started falling for no reason.

“Jayden, you’re mean. Have you already forgotten about someone like me? Is it because I said those things that you’re taking this chance to break up?”

As she was sniffling and wiping her nose, the blanket was suddenly pulled away.

“Why would I forget you?”

Jayden, looking as troubled as her, looked down at Larien crying while clutching the blanket he had pulled back.

“You are though. You’re living just fine while lots of dolls chase after you — must be nice.”

Though she was glad Jayden had come to find her, words of resentment poured from her mouth.

“What about you then, aren’t you enjoying the men’s attention? All those bastards only look at you. Do you know how hard it is holding myself back from wanting to gouge out all their eyes?”

“What do you mean enjoy? I didn’t even know anyone was looking at me.”

Though his expression was rough, his eyes burned with genuine jealousy.

Though she muttered her response, Larien felt all her accumulated hurt melting away like snow.

“I give up, Larien. Let’s become human.”

Letting go of the blanket, he fell to his knees in front of her.

“R-really?”

Kneeling together with him, she hugged his shoulders and asked again.

“I didn’t hear wrong, right? You’re saying we should become human?”

“Yes. How could I ever win against you?”

His soft sigh declaring surrender sounded to Larien like something even more joyous than fireworks.

“Jayden!”

Larien pursed her lips like a bird and kissed all over his face. She kissed every spot she had longed to touch during their time apart.

Tears dripped from her eyes that were curved wide with joy. Though it had been a short time, her heartache had been beyond words.

I won’t do it again.

The moment she tilted her head and pressed their lips together deeply, there was a ripping sound — rrrrip — of fabric tearing.

Though she had spare clothes, this was the first time they had torn clothes so violently, making Larien’s eyes snap open mid-kiss.

‘Jayden?’

Her violet eyes, meeting his terrifyingly dark blue ones, trembled like a young bird’s wings. His expression was unprecedentedly rough and urgent.

His rough breath filled her mouth.

* * *

The festival day was approaching fast, just one day away.

Since Jayden’s friend would come tomorrow, Larien started preparing to leave by giving away her cherished items to her friends bit by bit.

“Larien, isn’t this your favorite hairpin that you’ve had since coming here? Why are you giving it to me?”

Anne tilted her head questioningly, holding the sparkling star-shaped hairpin.

“You’ve wanted it for a while. It’s a gift. Besides, Jayden will buy me a new one at the festival.”

“Really?”

“Y-yes.”

Larien worried they might hear her thumping heartbeat.

“She gave me a lucky bracelet.”

“I got a scent bag.”

Her friends took turns showing off the gifts from Larien. Since she had received many accessories from Jayden during their time together, most didn’t doubt her words. Only Anne watched her with particularly suspicious eyes.

“You’re not… leaving somewhere, are you?”

“What?”

“It’s suspicious that you’re suddenly giving gifts like this. Like you’re clearing out before saying goodbye to us.”

Though Anne spoke playfully, Larien’s heart sank.

“N-no, that’s not…”

Larien, who was terrible at lying, avoided eye contact and trailed off uncertainly.

“If you say so. Anyway, thanks.”

Larien let out a small sigh of relief as she watched Anne run to the glass shelf to try on the hairpin she had given her.

Looking around, her other friends were also delighted with their gifts.

Watching them, Larien’s face was full of guilt.

She felt bad about leaving without properly saying goodbye to her friends. However, since there were many listening ears in this place, she had to keep quiet until the end to prevent secrets from leaking. She couldn’t put not only herself but also Jayden in a difficult position.

She steeled her heart, promising herself they would return soon.

Though she hadn’t revealed it yet, she had plans to come back to the store after becoming human and buy all her close friends. Then she would tell them how to become human too.

Although dolls lived knowing they could be separated at any time, the ballerina dolls were particularly close since they had spent so much time together.

Having packed everything except the clothes for tomorrow, Larien watched Jayden looking her way and quietly prayed for another day to pass safely.

As the store owner was organizing the shelves watching the sunset, which came earlier in winter, he ran to the entrance excitedly at the sound of the bell, thinking it might be the man who said he would buy the nutcracker doll.

Though he had received a large sum, he felt increasingly uneasy and wanted to quickly get rid of the nutcracker doll, so he had been waiting for that man.

“Welco–!”

The owner stopped mid-sentence and widened his eyes at the small figure entering through the open door.

The little girl in a pink satin dress with white lace ribbons decorating her hair had a face identical to the princess he occasionally saw in newspapers.

As he examined her delicate features, he screamed internally.

No, not just someone who resembles the princess, but the princess herself!

The massive six-horse carriage decorated with gold visible through the wide-open door and the imperial guards standing around the store confirmed his suspicion.

“How ignorant of etiquette!”

When the lady-in-waiting standing beside the princess glared at him meaningfully, the owner belatedly prostrated himself on the ground.

“Uh, um, th-that… I’m, I’m sorry, Princess.”

Stumbling over his words in panic, the owner bowed his head deeply. His curly hair was pressed against the floor as he lowered his head sharply.

Since even high nobles rarely visited the store, he had never prepared for royal etiquette, having never imagined the princess would personally visit.

Naturally, there was no one around him to teach him such things either.

“That’s enough, you can get up. I didn’t come to frighten you.”

Perhaps because she was the princess, though young, there was dignity in her tone. Unlike her cute appearance, her step-by-step walking posture showed not a hint of disorder.

Though he rose as commanded, the owner still couldn’t lift his head as the princess passed by him and stopped in front of the central display case.

The princess’s face full of curiosity was reflected in the well-polished glass surface.

“This must be the ballet doll Elizabeth talked about. Right, Marshal?”

“I believe so, Your Highness. It’s beautiful, just as we heard.”