This was the first time the Prince, Nii-sama and Gill were meeting, but they had already greeted each other while we were eating, so everyone more or less knew each other.
“Lei, I’m sure it’s painful, but can you talk about when you got kidnapped?”
“Ai.”
If Herman were here, I’m sure he would say, “What are you saying to an infant? How stupid,” but the people here were all those whom I trust. No one thought it was strange when I agreed.
“If you don’t mind, Luke-san.”
Bart interrupted, “We’ve heard about it from Lei. I’m surprised that she remembered since she’s still a baby. It might be faster for us to talk and then get Lei’s confirmation.”
“Lei?” Nii-sama looked at me for what to do.
“Thath ow.”
“I see. Then, Bart and Your Highness, please.”
“Alright.”
Bart put his hand on his forehead for a moment as if he recalled something. “From when we met at the border, no, from the beginning.”
Was the situation when we met too painful? Or did he want to start with what Nii-sama wanted to hear?
“According to Lei, she was woken up in the middle of the night by a maid named Hannah and was put into a dragon basket by the time she noticed.”
“So, it was Hannah, after all.” Nii-sama looked bitter, and Jude closed his eyes for a moment.
“They kept running and…”
“Bread and wather. No pothatho or shweethsh.” (Bread and water. No potato or sweets.)
“Ah, Lei.”
Nii-sama stood up and hugged me. He put me on his lap and changed his sitting position.
“Hannah shaid why me. Maththhew medishon. Remingthon, Owaa-shan quith.” (Hannah said why me. Matthew medicine. Remington, Okaa-san quit) I rapidly said what I remembered. “Hannah misherabwe.” (Hannah miserable)
Nii-sama nodded and made eye contact with Jude. Perhaps, it was just like they had investigated.
“Do you remember the criminal’s face?”
“Ai. If Lei sheesh, Lei wnowsh.” (If Lei sees, Lei knows)
After that, they asked me about it in detail, and I answered where I could.
“Otou-sama told me about when he saw Lei at the border. The Rug Dragon concluded that Otou-sama and the guards were his enemy, and ran away.”
“I can explain that,” Bart raised his hand.
“Rug Dragons have the trait of being adopted parents. They raise individuals who have strayed from their parents as members of their group. The Rug Dragons concluded that Lei was their child, and treat her precious, pfft, treat her preciously.”
The Wester group, including Alistair and the Prince, laughed slightly. How rude.
“It got really impatient when it looked like it was being taken to the pasture. It wouldn’t give Lei back.”
“It went that far? Rug Dragons also like me too, but they don’t do that.”
“Rug Dragons also like Alistair.”
Gill looked surprised when he heard that. He might know about this. But, he didn’t say anything and listened silently.
“We didn’t hear much from then, so it’s just a guess. First, we found bodies which probably belonged to the criminal and a Rug Dragon. They were killed by the Hollows.”
Nii-sama’s hands which were holding me twitched.
“At times like that, we report it if they have IDs, but if not, then we take things of monetary value and leave them as they are. Therefore, we didn’t know what to do when we saw that the Rug Dragon had died as if it was protecting something and that something was a girl. The girl had already died. Apparently that was Hannah. And when we turned the girl over, Lei was there.”
“That’s…”
Nii-sama buried his face in my hair.
“At first, we thought the baby was also dead, but then we turned the Rug Dragon over and knew that she was still alive.”
“Thanks. Honestly, thanks.” Nii-sama’s voice trembled.
“What? It was just a coincidence. It was Alistair who decided to help and take care of her.”
“Alistair.”
Nii-sama held me tighter as if he wouldn’t let me go.
“Thanks, Alistair. Thanks.”
“No, it’s fine.” Alistair looked embarrassed and nodded.
“She can’th shee thhe wighth of day. Sowwy, Hannah shaid.” (She can’t see the light of day. Sorry, Hannah said) The room fell silent at my words.
“She shaid be quieth. And thhath shhe wash happy by my shide.” (She said be quiet. And that she was happy by my side) My voice trembled.
“Howwowsh come. Hannah hugged me. Then ith wash morning.” (Hollows come. Hannah hugged me. Then it was morning)
I did my best.
“Hannah didn’th do anythhing wrong. Hannah’sh bwue eyesh are preththy. She waughed withh me. She wovesh lei. Hannah, Hannah ish…” (Hannah didn’t do anything wrong. Hannah’s blue eyes are pretty. She laughed with me. She loves Lei. Hannah, Hannah is…) I don’t know what I wanted to say anymore.
“Waah. Wwwaaaah. Hannah. Hannah.”
Who can stop a baby when they suddenly burst into tears? Mill gently lifted me up from my surprised Nii-sama who had frozen.
“Lei!”
“Luke-san, I’m not going to take her. I’m just going to sooth her a little. See, Lei.”
“Uoah, waah.”
“You can cry. You can cry.”
“Waah.”
Mill always hugged me whenever I was sleepy. I clung to him and cried.
“It was right after that. The Hollows appeared again,” Bart began.
“It had the appearance of the dead girl. We told her to hide, but she didn’t. She saw us cut through the Hollow with the girl’s appearance with a Rhodolite.”
“No way…”
“Then when she had a fever. She cried. That was the fourth time she’d cried in half a year.
She was an important person. Even if she was paying for her mistakes, I thought many times that she wouldn’t have died if she hadn’t been by my side. There’s nothing I can do even if I went back to the past. Still, the pain in my heart didn’t disappear.
The tears that flow down will never dry whenever I think that she’s gone forever.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊ (Bart’s POV)
“She fell asleep.”
“Let her sleep here.” Dory immediately replied to Mill. Lei was laid down comfortably on the sofa, and a towel was put over her.
“This is the first time I’ve heard about what happened from Lei. I thought that it was no use listening to it. But, I can’t believe she kept it in without forgetting about it,” I whispered as I looked back at Lei. Everyone also looked at her. It’s heart-breaking. The Prince was holding it in, but his eyes turned red.
“I always thought she was playing innocent. I can’t believe she was holding onto something like this,” his whisper was actually rude to say in front of her brother.
“Luke-san, Lei might have been holding back since she joined us, but she had a lot of fun and is healthy. It’s no use regretting it.”
“…. Yes.”
“And I’m sorry, but the real troublesome story starts from here.”
“… What?”
I pondered about all the things I have to talk about from now. Should I start from when she used the barrier box? Dammit. He’s not the Prince. We’ll make Luke-san angry.
It might have been good that Lei fell asleep. Cold sweat ran through my body as I began to talk, “Then, I’ll start with when Lei activated the barrier box.”
“Hah?” Luke-san got up from his chair. I knew it. I wonder if I’ll still have my life before this conversation is over.
This was the first time the Prince, Nii-sama and Gill were meeting, but they had already greeted each other while we were eating, so everyone more or less knew each other.
“Lei, I’m sure it’s painful, but can you talk about when you got kidnapped?”
“Ai.”
If Herman were here, I’m sure he would say, “What are you saying to an infant? How stupid,” but the people here were all those whom I trust. No one thought it was strange when I agreed.
“If you don’t mind, Luke-san.”
Bart interrupted, “We’ve heard about it from Lei. I’m surprised that she remembered since she’s still a baby. It might be faster for us to talk and then get Lei’s confirmation.”
“Lei?” Nii-sama looked at me for what to do.
“Thath ow.”
“I see. Then, Bart and Your Highness, please.”
“Alright.”
Bart put his hand on his forehead for a moment as if he recalled something. “From when we met at the border, no, from the beginning.”
Was the situation when we met too painful? Or did he want to start with what Nii-sama wanted to hear?
“According to Lei, she was woken up in the middle of the night by a maid named Hannah and was put into a dragon basket by the time she noticed.”
“So, it was Hannah, after all.” Nii-sama looked bitter, and Jude closed his eyes for a moment.
“They kept running and…”
“Bread and wather. No pothatho or shweethsh.” (Bread and water. No potato or sweets.)
“Ah, Lei.”
Nii-sama stood up and hugged me. He put me on his lap and changed his sitting position.
“Hannah shaid why me. Maththhew medishon. Remingthon, Owaa-shan quith.” (Hannah said why me. Matthew medicine. Remington, Okaa-san quit) I rapidly said what I remembered. “Hannah misherabwe.” (Hannah miserable)
Nii-sama nodded and made eye contact with Jude. Perhaps, it was just like they had investigated.
“Do you remember the criminal’s face?”
“Ai. If Lei sheesh, Lei wnowsh.” (If Lei sees, Lei knows)
After that, they asked me about it in detail, and I answered where I could.
“Otou-sama told me about when he saw Lei at the border. The Rug Dragon concluded that Otou-sama and the guards were his enemy, and ran away.”
“I can explain that,” Bart raised his hand.
“Rug Dragons have the trait of being adopted parents. They raise individuals who have strayed from their parents as members of their group. The Rug Dragons concluded that Lei was their child, and treat her precious, pfft, treat her preciously.”
The Wester group, including Alistair and the Prince, laughed slightly. How rude.
“It got really impatient when it looked like it was being taken to the pasture. It wouldn’t give Lei back.”
“It went that far? Rug Dragons also like me too, but they don’t do that.”
“Rug Dragons also like Alistair.”
Gill looked surprised when he heard that. He might know about this. But, he didn’t say anything and listened silently.
“We didn’t hear much from then, so it’s just a guess. First, we found bodies which probably belonged to the criminal and a Rug Dragon. They were killed by the Hollows.”
Nii-sama’s hands which were holding me twitched.
“At times like that, we report it if they have IDs, but if not, then we take things of monetary value and leave them as they are. Therefore, we didn’t know what to do when we saw that the Rug Dragon had died as if it was protecting something and that something was a girl. The girl had already died. Apparently that was Hannah. And when we turned the girl over, Lei was there.”
“That’s…”
Nii-sama buried his face in my hair.
“At first, we thought the baby was also dead, but then we turned the Rug Dragon over and knew that she was still alive.”
“Thanks. Honestly, thanks.” Nii-sama’s voice trembled.
“What? It was just a coincidence. It was Alistair who decided to help and take care of her.”
“Alistair.”
Nii-sama held me tighter as if he wouldn’t let me go.
“Thanks, Alistair. Thanks.”
“No, it’s fine.” Alistair looked embarrassed and nodded.
“She can’th shee thhe wighth of day. Sowwy, Hannah shaid.” (She can’t see the light of day. Sorry, Hannah said) The room fell silent at my words.
“She shaid be quieth. And thhath shhe wash happy by my shide.” (She said be quiet. And that she was happy by my side) My voice trembled.
“Howwowsh come. Hannah hugged me. Then ith wash morning.” (Hollows come. Hannah hugged me. Then it was morning)
I did my best.
“Hannah didn’th do anythhing wrong. Hannah’sh bwue eyesh are preththy. She waughed withh me. She wovesh lei. Hannah, Hannah ish…” (Hannah didn’t do anything wrong. Hannah’s blue eyes are pretty. She laughed with me. She loves Lei. Hannah, Hannah is…) I don’t know what I wanted to say anymore.
“Waah. Wwwaaaah. Hannah. Hannah.”
Who can stop a baby when they suddenly burst into tears? Mill gently lifted me up from my surprised Nii-sama who had frozen.
“Lei!”
“Luke-san, I’m not going to take her. I’m just going to sooth her a little. See, Lei.”
“Uoah, waah.”
“You can cry. You can cry.”
“Waah.”
Mill always hugged me whenever I was sleepy. I clung to him and cried.
“It was right after that. The Hollows appeared again,” Bart began.
“It had the appearance of the dead girl. We told her to hide, but she didn’t. She saw us cut through the Hollow with the girl’s appearance with a Rhodolite.”
“No way…”
“Then when she had a fever. She cried. That was the fourth time she’d cried in half a year.
She was an important person. Even if she was paying for her mistakes, I thought many times that she wouldn’t have died if she hadn’t been by my side. There’s nothing I can do even if I went back to the past. Still, the pain in my heart didn’t disappear.
The tears that flow down will never dry whenever I think that she’s gone forever.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊ (Bart’s POV)
“She fell asleep.”
“Let her sleep here.” Dory immediately replied to Mill. Lei was laid down comfortably on the sofa, and a towel was put over her.
“This is the first time I’ve heard about what happened from Lei. I thought that it was no use listening to it. But, I can’t believe she kept it in without forgetting about it,” I whispered as I looked back at Lei. Everyone also looked at her. It’s heart-breaking. The Prince was holding it in, but his eyes turned red.
“I always thought she was playing innocent. I can’t believe she was holding onto something like this,” his whisper was actually rude to say in front of her brother.
“Luke-san, Lei might have been holding back since she joined us, but she had a lot of fun and is healthy. It’s no use regretting it.”
“…. Yes.”
“And I’m sorry, but the real troublesome story starts from here.”
“… What?”
I pondered about all the things I have to talk about from now. Should I start from when she used the barrier box? Dammit. He’s not the Prince. We’ll make Luke-san angry.
It might have been good that Lei fell asleep. Cold sweat ran through my body as I began to talk, “Then, I’ll start with when Lei activated the barrier box.”
“Hah?” Luke-san got up from his chair. I knew it. I wonder if I’ll still have my life before this conversation is over.
