Chapter 48

Thanks to my mother, we ate dinner again, and we hung out over dessert and tea.

I was so lost in thought that I couldn’t concentrate on the conversation. My mother and Roziel mainly continued the conversation, and I only responded roughly from the side.

Before I realized it, the sun had completely set and night had come.

“It’s already this time.”

My mother ordered me to show Roziel to his room.

“I’ll go up first…”

Roziel glanced at me as he followed the attendant. I turned my head toward my mother, pretending not to notice.

“Yuria should go and rest now.”

She put her palm on my cheek. My skin was sunburnt, so it stung a little. It seemed to be redder.

“Do you want me to get some skincare and call a doctor tomorrow?”

She seemed to think that the color of my complexion was due to my skin.

No, mother. I was worried that my mother’s expectations and wishes would come true.

“No, I don’t want that.”

“Really? Well, it’s not a knight’s job  to take care of their appearance.”

My mother laughed and grabbed my hand and raised me up.

“I’m going to sleep with Blan today.”

My mother patted me on the head with admiration.

“Yeah. He seems to be in a bad mood these days, so please soothe him.”

“I guess so…”

I was sure that he was upset that we went out and played on our own.

I don’t know when I’ll get another vacation… I felt a little sorry for Blandis.

After saying good night to my mother, I went to Blan’s room.

Knock. Knock.

“Blan, are you sleeping?”

“I’m not sleeping…”

I opened the door at the sound of a small voice and entered. Blan was sitting by the window looking outside with the lights on.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m all better.”

As expected, his body, which was strengthened by constant training, was very strong. Unlike the day, Blandis was enjoying the atmosphere of the night with a better complexion.

“Sister.”

“What?”

“Look at that.”

He was pointing somewhere near the window.

As I got closer, the particularly bright moonlight was decorating the night.

“The moon is so bright.”

“No. Not that.”

“Then?”

He was pointing further down. The garden of the Zeos mansion, to be exact.

Compared to the Evelian mansion, our garden, which is almost like a bathroom, was very simple. Still, the garden that my mother grew herself was cute and warm, so Blan and I really liked it.

A small creature was seen near the fountain in such a garden.

“Hmm?”

We kept small animals in our garden. There was a servant who fed them separately. But tonight, an animal was standing quietly in the middle of a garden where people come and go.

When I looked closely, it was a rabbit. A rabbit with black fur.

“Did Mother raise such an animal?”

“I know. It’s my first time seeing a black rabbit, too. It’s cute.”

Blan was looking at the rabbit with his eyes twinkling full of wonder.

The rabbit also stared at Blan. The rabbit’s eyes at Blan were unusual. 

Although it was dark and hard to see, the feeling itself was friendly and warm.

That’s weird. That rabbit’s eyes. It was a strange unfamiliar gaze…

The cute rabbit was looking at Blan like a mother looking at her child.

“That rabbit must like Blan.”

“You think so? Should I go get him?”

“It’s too late now. Let’s bring him tomorrow.”

No matter how cute the rabbit was, it was true that it was a little uncomfortable.

It’s suspicious that the rabbit’s fur is black.

I gave Blan a big hug and laid him on the bed.

“I can’t sleep yet.”

“It’s already past bedtime. Are you not going to keep your promise to the Black Dragon?”

“That’s not true.”

While Blan was wriggling into the bed, I took a book from the shelf.

“I’ll read you a book until you fall asleep.”

“Yes!”

Blan, excited, wiggled while lying down. I lay beside him and opened the book.

“What kind of book is it?”

“<The Life of the White Dragon.>”

“…”

Blan didn’t seem to like it, so he narrowed his brows.

“The White Dragon is a rival of the Black Dragon. I’m destined not to like him.”

“…I’m just reading a book?”

“Sister, don’t ignore my beliefs.”

The nine-year-old’s conviction was great. I was overwhelmed by his spirit and began to pick a book again.

“Which book do you like?”

“An exciting adventure story.”

I chose another book with him in mind.

“<The Youngest Son of the Spirit King.> How about this?”

“I wanted to read that!”

It was Blandis’s taste.

I laid down beside him on the blanket and carefully opened the first page.

“Once upon a time, there was a Spirit King who had 120 children…”

“The Spirit King lived in the forest, and he had so many children that he had to use an entire forest as his home.”

“The humans who were angry with him decided to join forces to punish the Spirit King.”

Blan’s eyes twinkled.

“Wow, humans are brave.”

“… I think they’re ignorant”

It’s not just a spirit, it’s a Spirit King. Even if a hundred knights with auras attacked, they wouldn’t be able to win.

“But humans could never beat the Spirit King. They acknowledged their weakness.”

“Oh, did they lose already?”

“It’s good that they were not dead.”

A single gesture from the Spirit King would have wiped out the village.

“But humans didn’t give up. They kidnapped the youngest son, the weakest of the Spirit King’s children!”

“The youngest son of the Spirit King was a baby who had not yet manifested the power of the spirits. The youngest son, who was brought to the human world, took on a human form very naturally and grew up like a human…”

“And humans tricked their youngest son and brainwashed him into defeating the Spirit King.”

Isn’t this child abuse, fraud, and murder?

It was a total mess. I was wondering if I should keep reading this.

“Ha… It’s so much fun.”

But Blandis seemed to be having fun.

Instead of falling asleep, Blan’s eyes grew brighter. At this rate, I was ready to sleep after seeing the ending of the novel.

“Blan. For your information, this novel is 20 volumes complete.”

“Exciting!”

Of course, if you read up to 20 books, you’d probably have to read books without sleeping for a month.

I closed the book with a quiet smile.

“Huh? Is it over already?”

“It’s not fun if you read it all at once.”

“I’m having fun…”

“I’ll tell you about Agelisk rather than that.”

At a young age, I thought he would lose his sense of reality if he immersed himself in the stories of novels too much.

It was a bit of a story like this.

I decided to tell him the story of Agelisk.

If you’re an aspiring knight, you must have a lot of questions about Agelisk.

Blan nodded as if he were interested in my words and held my hand tightly.

“Tell me how you’re going to defeat the villain.”

“…”

He said he didn’t have to pay attention, but he must want to hear it. I forgot for a moment, but thanks to Blandis, I remembered what I was doing now.

Yes, I had things to teach Roziel. And it seemed almost successful.

I said heartily, a little drained.

“I will teach the villain love and peace.”

“What?”

Blan tilted his head. He turned sideways and looked at my face.

Pretty green eyes that look just like mine sparkled like fireflies in the dark.

“A villain is not a villain from birth.”

I could say for sure now. Roziel was not originally a villain.

“What?”

But what I was saying seemed too difficult for Blandis. In the boy’s world, heroes were clearly divided into the good and the evil into the bad.

“So I think I can take good care of him so that he doesn’t grow up to be a villain. Wouldn’t it be nice to tell them that you are not alone in this world and that there are many people who will love you?”

“Umm, Sister.”

“What?”

“So how far did you succeed?”

I smiled at Blan’s question.

“I think it’s going well.”

“Does the villain understand love?”

Blan’s voice was still perplexed as if he didn’t believe it.

“Yes.”

“Really?”

Blan opened his eyes wide.

“The villain? Really?”

It seemed hard to accept the fact that the villain had been rehabilitated.

“He didn’t say yes with his own mouth, but… You know when you see it.”

“Maybe he’s tricking you.”

“No, now he knows how to love. He knows the joy of taking a walk and how to give gifts. And he knows how happy it is to do what you like together…”

Ohoh, Blan, who was admiring a little, stood up.

He looked at me with his eyes wide open. The little light in it resembled the dew of dawn. And the question from his mouth baffled me.

“Then does the villain love Sister?”

“Huh?”

“You said you taught him how to love. And the villain knows love. Then the only object he will love is Sister!”

A nine-year-olds imagination was limitless. It’s such a simple flow of thought. I could have thought it was cute and moved on.

“…”

However, I couldn’t move, as if someone had hit me on the head.

I was accurately caught and nailed by my little brother. Was it that obvious to others…?

I was just blinking, making eye contact with Blandis.

“Uhm. The villain… the villain. He knows love, but he’s not yet mature enough to hold someone in his heart…?”

Somehow, the answer came out with no confidence. Because I wasn’t even sure, actually.

He was eighteen years old when he first met Luena. Roziel was still too young to know love.

But a warm-hearted child knows how to convey warmth to others. He may have given me his heart already.

“Is that so? I don’t know!”

Blan smiled and scratched his head.

“I also thought you saved the villain’s heart.”

My heart beat a little fast.

Days with Roziel have passed like a panorama. Fate, precious person, jewel button, up to the point…

Indeed, was Roziel Evelian just treating me like a friend?

Suddenly, my mind became complicated.

“Yeah… maybe I did.”

I answered helplessly and stroked Blan’s head.

How can I define a person’s mind recklessly? If Roziel Evelian likes me, I… What should I do?

Roziel was a child by all accounts. A child I needed to protect and take care of.

“Ha, sinful woman…”

I wanted him to love a woman of his age. Wouldn’t that be the only way to have a deeper love when he became an adult in the future?

“I don’t know, Blan.”

“What?”

“No. Shall we sleep together tonight?”

“Yes!”

I hugged Blan like a teddy bear and closed my eyes tightly.

Sleep did not come.