Chapter 42

A snowy morning.

For the first time in a while, the entrance to the Kreutz estate was bustling with people instead of silence.

“The dresses and shoes Lady Aisha will wear at the royal palace?”

“They’ve been loaded!”

“Lady Aisha’s pajamas?”

“They’ve been loaded too!”

The head maid, Mai, bundled in an overcoat, and the servants were all busy making the final preparations for my short trip.

“Place two knights each at the front, back, left, and right sides of the carriage Lady Aisha will ride in. It’s fine if you move slowly—just get there as safely as possible.”

The captain of the knights nodded nervously in front of Calypse, who was repeating the same instructions for what had to be the tenth time already.

And what was I doing?

Well. Originally, I’d planned to sit quietly inside the carriage and keep warm.

Besides, I was now the beloved young lady of the main line, wasn’t I?

I’d even secretly looked forward to receiving people’s greetings and my real older brother’s affectionate concern.

But—

“Stop crying already!”

I was busy raising a child.

“I’m not crying!”

Lucas shouted loudly before hurriedly rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Wh-Why are you leaving me behind...? I-I’m worried about you too, snff...!”

His trembling voice was overflowing with grievance.

Ever since the day it was decided I’d go to the royal palace, Lucas had clung to Calypse’s trouser legs and thrown repeated tantrums, but in the end, he still wasn’t allowed to come with me.

The reason was this.

“Older brother has to stay and take heir lessons.”

Of course, that was just an excuse Calypse had made up on the spot.

It wasn’t as though heirs were so busy they couldn’t even spare enough time for a short visit to the royal palace.

But it seemed Calypse couldn’t handle worrying about Lucas too while already worrying about me.

So the excuse Father pulled out was heir lessons.

“Heir lessons... I have to take them.”

For Lucas, who loved the Kreutz family dearly, the excuse worked perfectly.

I nodded solemnly and raised a finger.

“Exactly! Older brother is the heir who’ll someday become head of the Kreutz family!”

“Head of the Kreutz family... heir....”

Look at that.

The moment I used the cheat-code words, those caterpillar eyebrows immediately tilted upward diagonally.

“...Right. I’m worried about you too, but Father said he’s sending forty knights with you... and you’re strong, Aisha.”

Of course, despite saying that, he still refused to let go of my hand.

“Hurry back, okay?”

Aww, our older brother has grown up so much.

Nodding, I held out my pinky finger.

“Mhm. I’ll buy souvenirs when I get to the royal palace!”

“...Aisha. The royal palace isn’t an amusement park.”

Right then—

“The carriage is leaving soon.”

After finishing his conversation with the captain of the knights, Calypse approached us.

“Lucas. Are you crying?”

“Why would I cry?! I-I was just seeing my little sister off!”

Lucas rubbed his eyes again and glared at Calypse with reddened eyes. Chuckling softly, Calypse roughly ruffled his hair.

“You’re crazy about her, seriously.”

Then, with a slightly more serious expression, he bent down and inspected the inside of the carriage.

“There seem to be enough blankets and fur clothing.”

After checking everything inside, he started inspecting my outfit instead.

“Hat. Scarf. Coat. Inner lining. Gloves. Shorty, if you stop by a village midway and sleep at an inn, what are you supposed to do?”

Placing my hands on my waist and puffing out my stomach proudly, I answered,

“I don’t use a room alone! I sleep in the room Mai or Knox are guarding!”

“Good. If you get hungry outside mealtime?”

“I don’t endure it and eat jerky!”

“Good. If you need to use the bathroom while in the carriage?”

“I don’t hold it and call Mai!”

“Good. You arrive at the royal palace. Then what?”

“I stick close to Mister Knox at all times!”

“...Good. Perfect.”

Father muttered with narrowed eyes.

He looked like he wanted to keep the conversation going by nitpicking something, but unfortunately, I was simply too perfect for him to find anything to scold.

Is this not the power of the golden seed?

As I giggled excitedly, Father sighed with a conflicted look on his face.

Then, grabbing both my cheeks one last time, he warned me.

“This won’t happen, but if you suddenly want to come home in the middle of the trip?”

“I cry my eyes out!”

“Right. Cry your eyes out. Forget Knox’s schedule and everything else—if you want to come home, cry your eyes out and come back immediately. Understood?”

“Yes sir!”

Now it was really time to leave.

After finishing his advice and even unnecessary warnings, Calypse stepped back and the carriage door closed.

At the coachman’s signal, the heavy carriage slowly began moving across the snowy road.

I opened the carriage window and poked my face out.

“I’ll be back—!”

Then Lucas, who had run all the way outside the castle gates, shouted tearfully,

“Aisha, Aisha! Come back quickly!”

Beside him, Father—who looked strangely furious—shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and yelled at me.

“Cry your eyes out! Aisha, just cry your eyes out halfway through and come home!”

Why is there not a single normal farewell here?

“...Y-Yes siiir—.”

I nodded vaguely and hurriedly shut the window.

“Are you prepared?”

Knox, seated beside me, adjusted his monocle.

“Yes!”

From now on, Knox was my guardian.

Which meant I needed to pledge loyalty to Knox.

After giving a salute of loyalty, I bent down and looked beneath the seat.

And the baby I had to protect...

“Mya?”

Under the seat.

From between the buttons of the “research subject exclusive handbag” personally made by Knox, a white fluffball popped out.

“You stay quiet too! Got it?”

“Nyong.”

The purple eyes buried inside the white fluff narrowed sleepily into lines as the baby let out a lazy yawn.

And so our proper journey began warmly.

***

The carriage departed from the Kreutz estate, located at the northernmost edge of the Frozen Kingdom, and rolled onward for an entire week.

Whenever night fell, they occasionally stayed at nearby noble estates thanks to the advance messages Calypse had sent ahead.

And when distance made that impossible, they camped outdoors instead.

The farther south they traveled, the more the roads—once buried beneath thick snow—slowly turned dark gray, until eventually green fields and forest paths thick with greenery spread out before them.

And now, while sleeping inside the carriage with the baby tucked in my arms—

“Lady Aisha. It’s time to wake up.”

“...Mmmhng, yes?”

Waking at Knox’s greeting, I rubbed my face against the baby cradled in my arms.

When I stretched out my palm, I felt solid warmth that was presumably Knox’s upper body.

Sometimes, when leaving inns, Knox found it difficult to wake me and simply carried me directly into the carriage instead.

This was probably one of those times again.

And if that was the case, sleeping a few more minutes in the carriage wouldn’t hurt.

“Mmm. Wanna sleep a little more.”

Instinctively searching for warmth, I buried my face into Knox’s armpit.

But then—

“She’s even cuter than most baby monsters. Just like you described, her head is the perfect arrowhead shape.”

“Your Majesty. What you should be observing is not the young lady, but—”

“No, wait. The child is chewing on her lips. I should inspect her through the magnifying lens for a moment.”

Wh-What do you mean inspect?

Ziiing—

Apparently it wasn’t a joke, because I could hear the mechanical sound of something actually moving.

“......?”

It wasn’t a dream. It was reality.

Sensing something strange, I slowly lifted my heavy eyelids.

“No, perhaps I should examine °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the eyes instead.”

A gigantic lens filled my vision.

“Oh my, her eyes opened. Did someone embed sapphires into them?”

The person seriously commenting on my appearance finally removed the magnifying lens—

“Wow, so this is the young lady Mister Knox told us about?”

“She doesn’t even have pores. She really is a baby.”

“May I touch that arrowhead-shaped head?”

People I’d never seen before were crowded around me like spectators observing a hamster trapped inside a plastic container.

?

And among them was even someone who had been described in fairly great detail in the original novel.

...Empress Grace?

No, why is someone as exalted as royalty standing before lowly little me...?

“Mister Knox?”

Startled, I looked up at Knox.

“Ah, my apologies for startling you, Lady Aisha.”

Knox carefully set me down onto the floor now that I was fully awake.

“Allow me to introduce them. These are the members of the Monster Lovers’ Association—shortened to Masamo.”

“......?”

“Her Majesty Empress Grace, Marquis Aria, Lady Maria, and Count Del.”

“Gasp.”

...Wow. Mister Knox’s connections are incredible.