Chapter 58

To my surprise, Father allowed me to keep raising the baby.

He did not even seem bothered by the fact that the baby's eyes were purple.

“Because the truly dangerous thing is something else.”

That was all he said before quietly staring at the baby curled up in my arms.

“...Something else is dangerous? What does that mean?”

Not that I minded. It was nice not having to hide the baby anymore.

Still, Father's words had been awfully cryptic.

“Sleep with the cat beside you. And if it looks like the cat is going out in the middle of the night, lock the window. Then lock the door too. Understand?”

Remembering that strange warning only made it worse.

“...That's definitely suspicious.”

He was hiding something.

What annoyed me even more was the feeling that the baby knew exactly what it was.

“Baby. Did you and Father hatch some secret plan together?”

I lifted the baby from my lap and looked him in the eyes.

“Myaa.”

The baby merely yawned as though he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

Hmm.

“Well, if everyone's happy, then I guess that's fine. Father would never do anything to hurt me.”

All right. I'll let it go.

Honestly, I had plenty of other things to worry about lately anyway.

The strangest thing is Kyle constantly showing up at the estate.

When we'd first parted, I had wondered whether I'd ever see him again.

Then, out of nowhere, he appeared a week ago.

Lately he'd been coming every other day.

And every single time, he climbed over the castle walls and came in through my bedroom window.

At first, I figured he was sneaking around because Father had given him such a terrifying scolding last time.

But then he ran into Father in the hallway.

“Hi.”

A casual greeting.

In a society obsessed with rank and etiquette, he greeted Father with the kind of relaxed familiarity only someone with spectacularly terrible manners could manage.

“Hi.”

He even cheerfully greeted Knox, who was standing beside Father.

The truly astonishing part?

Neither of them got angry.

Father merely muttered,

“If he's working here now, I should tell Mai to teach him some manners.”

Then he walked right past.

Exactly when had Kyle become one of the servants?

Every answer only raised more questions.

But neither Father nor Knox offered a single explanation.

“Kyle... if he shows up one more time, I'm going to torture the truth out of him.”

I muttered while clenching my tiny cotton fist dramatically.

The baby tucked inside my coat flinched.

“Baby? What's wrong?”

“M-Myaa?”

As if he understood every word, the baby frantically shook his head before squeezing his eyes shut again.

What is going on?

It feels like everyone's secretly filming a prank show at my expense.

Something was definitely strange.

Still, even Kyle's suspicious behavior wasn't my biggest concern anymore.

The thing I had been watching most closely lately...

...was the Pose family.

Now that I'd gotten the baby back and finally cleared my head, there was something I should have reported long ago.

Knock, knock.

I tapped the office door with my little cotton fist.

“Come in.”

Father's voice came from inside.

Holding the baby against my chest, I pushed open the door.

Then, wearing my most solemn expression, I began my announcement.

“Father. Your Golden Seed has arrived.”

“If you've caused trouble, tell me now.”

Without even looking up from his paperwork, Calypse answered flatly.

“Trouble? Since when has my reputation become that terrible, Father?”

I had come bearing top-secret intelligence.

Was this really how he treated his precious daughter?

As my lips puffed out into a duck pout, the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, though his eyes remained on the documents.

“Because every time my daughter starts a conversation by calling herself the Golden Seed, she's usually caused some kind of disaster.”

Tap. Tap.

At the same time, he patted his knee.

An invitation.

Hmph.

I wasn't causing disasters.

I was overcoming impossible odds.

Still, I climbed onto his lap, and his strong arms automatically wrapped around me, drawing me securely against his chest.

Father was wearing his glasses.

That meant he had been working seriously.

“I wonder what sort of trouble you've caused this time.”

Even so, he set every document aside to give me his attention.

He's going to be so shocked when I tell him about the king and Duke Pose.

Already pleased with myself, I happily swung my legs.

“...Huh?”

My feet froze.

Because I recognized several words on the document lying open before him.

...Conversation between Duke Pose and the king... excerpt... Cause of the monster frenzy incident...

Wait.

Why was my top-secret information already sitting right there?

“......”

Certain I'd read it wrong, I rubbed both eyes with my fists.

Nope.

Still there.

Squinting harder, I continued reading.

...A man believed to be a Pose family spy has died within the kingdom...

There was even information I didn't know.

“Father.”

“Yes?”

“When did you hire another spy besides me?”

“......”

He narrowed his eyes at me.

Then, as though making a decision, he lifted me into his arms.

“You came here to play, didn't you? Daddy's busy right now. Come back later.”

“Daaaaaad!”

I kicked and flailed like a fish thrown onto dry land.

He completely ignored me as he carried me into the hallway.

Then—

“Knox.”

“Yes?”

“What's Lucas doing right now?”

“He's attending his heir lessons.”

“Tell them it's break time. Let Lucas loose for a while.”

“...Pardon? Ah... yes.”

Tilting his head in confusion, Knox hurried away.

Moments later—

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

The sound of pounding footsteps echoed from the far end of the corridor as a gray blur shot toward us.

“Dan-de-lion!”

An unleashed Lucas.

...No way.

Realizing exactly what was happening, I whipped around and glared at Calypse.

“Don't tell me you're using Lucas to get rid of me because I'm bothering—”

“Children should play with other children. Just look at him. He's thrilled he gets to skip lessons.”

“Dandelion!”

“Eek!”

Lucas reached us in half a second, rising onto his tiptoes with both arms spread wide.

Chuckling, Father handed me straight over.

“Dandelion! It's been forever! Have you been good? Didn't you miss your big brother? Did you hear about my heroic exploits? Back during that monster incident, I—”

Swing...

Swing...

Still tucked securely in Lucas's arms, I was dragged into an endless abyss of nonstop chatter.

But I hadn't forgotten.

Just before Calypse had picked me up...

I'd caught a glimpse of one sentence.

[Large quantity of madness enhancer required from the Pose family. Estimated search time: approximately one week.]

One week.

The document actually said it would take a full week to find the potion.

Why are they searching for it?

I wanted to know what Father was planning.

But even more surprising was the fact that it would supposedly take them an entire week.

...Father. Why are you taking the difficult road when your Golden Seed is sitting right here?

“Eek.”

At the moment I was still bouncing helplessly in Lucas's arms.

Potion.

Find it.

One day.

Secretly clenching my fist where Lucas couldn't see, I put on the most determined expression I could manage.

***

A few days later.

The long-awaited day to steal the potion had finally arrived.

After eating a hearty lunch, I marched into the hallway and shouted,

“Today is Lady Aisha's All-Day Sleeping Day!”

My voice echoed loudly enough for the entire estate to hear.

Mai, who happened to be walking through the corridor, smiled and nodded.

Perfect.

That took care of laying the first piece of bait.

“Hehe.”

Rubbing my tiny hands together like a delighted little fly, I slipped into my bedroom.

Now came the second stage.

“Just in case one of the maid sisters comes into my room...”

Climbing onto the bed, I stacked two pillows together and carefully pulled the blanket over them.

“Hmm... I think that'll do.”

It wasn't perfect.

But from the doorway, it should look as though I was curled up asleep beneath the blanket.

“Perfect.”

It wasn't perfect at all.

Still, the trip would only take about two hours.

“The baby's sleeping nicely too.”

I gently stroked the baby, curled into a little ball on the bed.

I'd gotten so used to carrying him around all day that leaving him behind felt oddly lonely.

Still, today it would be much easier without him.

“Bye. I'll be back soon.”

Leaving behind my one-sided farewell, I pulled on the ragged robe Kyle had given me and slipped out through the window.

Sneaking out of the Kreutz estate?

Simple.

Instead of using the gates, I climbed over the towering castle wall, where the knight guards couldn't spot me.

Scritch, scritch, scritch—

Feeling exactly like a determined little cockroach, I scampered down the wall and landed safely on the ground below.

“All right.”

“Mission starts now.”

It strangely felt like I was heading out on a picnic.

Opening my adorable little bunny backpack, I checked my supplies.

“Poison needle... check. Water bottle... check. Jerky in case I get hungry on the way...”

Fortunately, my destination wasn't far from the estate.

The city of Torn.

About an hour later...

“Mommy!”

“Get over here this instant!”

The distinctive steep rooftops of the north came into view, while voices drifted from every direction.

Orange roofs rose above black stone buildings.

The city of Torn.

“Sweet strawberries! Come get your sweet strawberries!”

“Don't you have any fresh apples from the south?”

“When strawberries this delicious are this cheap, why would you pay extra for fancy fruit?”

Fruit stand.

Butcher.

Cheese shop.

Bakery. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Hidden beneath my hood, I looked around with wide, spinning eyes.

Wow.

Come to think of it, I've never actually explored a town before.

Next time I'll come with Father and Lucas.

As I followed the market street, it opened into a broad central plaza.

Children ran laughing through the square while elegant ladies enjoyed tea at outdoor café tables.

Having afternoon tea outside in the freezing northern weather.

As expected of northerners.

They're built differently.

Still, this wasn't where I was headed.

There was only one quiet place in all of Torn.

The back alley known as Perkus Road.

After weaving through the narrow alleys for quite some time, the shops gradually became darker.

And far more suspicious.