#3.
Silence.
Quite literally, silence continued.
Veronica was flustered by Shion’s unexpected action, and Shion, in turn, was flustered by Veronica’s reaction.
‘…Was that not it?’
The one who acted first had been Shion.
With his expression slightly more tense than his usual blank face, he searched his memory.
“Mary does it like this.”
His crimson eyes tried to remain calm, but even so, the confusion seeping into them couldn’t be hidden.
Shion bit his lip, torn between wanting to confirm whether he was wrong and the belated embarrassment that was creeping up on him.
After a short moment, he finally narrowed his brows and glared at the innocent Veronica.
“My memory isn’t wrong. Why is it that, in the same situation, hearing the same words, you’re not laughing?”
‘Brother, I honestly don’t know either.’
Veronica wriggled all over as if to appeal her grievance.
She wanted to laugh. Just like during peek-a-boo with Mary not long ago, she wanted to giggle adorably, earn points with Shion, and slightly raise her chances of survival in the future.
‘But when it’s all set up for me to do it on command, I just… can’t.’
Part of it was that she was startled by Shion’s action, but more than that, when she’d genuinely found something funny before, the laughter had come naturally. Now that she was trying to match Shion’s timing, it wasn’t so easy.
So this was why people said babies were pure and couldn’t lie.
Meanwhile, Shion felt a certain irritation toward Veronica, who simply stared at him without a word or reaction.
‘Is she discriminating against me?’
But he quickly shook his head sharply and chewed his lower lip.
If it really were discrimination, then she wouldn’t have reacted to him at all in the first place.
‘So what on earth is the problem?’
“Ah, Your Highness?”
“…!”
At that moment, with a crisp click of the hinge, Mary entered the room.
The emperor, who had accompanied her earlier, was apparently occupied elsewhere—Mary had come alone. She set down the bucket with a wet cloth on a nearby shelf and looked up.
“What were you doing?”
“Just… No, more importantly—you. Why are you coming in without knocking?”
“Ah! Right, sorry. My hands were full, so…”
“Is that an excuse?”
“Ugh…”
Mary briefly scrunched up her face when Shion wasn’t looking, then quickly replaced it with a sheepish smile and bowed her head politely.
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“…”
“By the way, is there something wrong with Her Highness?”
The last time Mary had seen Shion before leaving, he’d been sitting on the sofa reading a thick book—not standing idly in front of the cradle.
A subtle change flickered in Shion’s eyes. He stepped back from Veronica’s cradle and said,
“It’s nothing.”
“Then…?”
“Why are you curious about whatever I’m doing…!”
That was when it happened.
Just as he was about to snap at her, something large and fidgeting caught his eye.
Blue eyes, wide and shining, were fixed on him.
[The younger a child is, the more they are influenced by their surroundings.]
A line he’d once read in a book of general knowledge suddenly echoed in his ears.
Suppressing the irritation in his voice, Shion forced himself to speak low and calm.
“She just started crying all of a sudden, so I told her to be quiet.”
“Pardon?”
The mopping Mary startled, her eyes widening into large rabbit-like orbs as she looked at him.
“Do you mean to say that Her Highness stopped crying because of you, Your Highness?”
“Y-Yeah. So what?”
“It’s just… hard to believe…”
Mary stepped up to Veronica and closely studied her plump little face.
‘That’s odd… There’s no sign she’d been crying.’
“…Are you saying I’m lying?”
Shion’s voice was sharp in response to her suspicious look and actions.
‘Well, it is a lie.’
Veronica retorted sourly in her head.
Of course, Mary couldn’t hear her and bowed her head so fast her neck might snap.
“Of course not!”
“Your eyes are impure.”
“T-They’ve always looked like this.”
Mary made up an excuse on the spot.
Fearing that Shion might start getting annoyed again, she resumed her work and smoothly changed the subject.
“By the way, it seems like Her Highness is very fond of you.”
“What?”
“When she starts crying, even His Majesty can’t calm her down sometimes, but now she’s so calm with you here.”
‘Do you think I want to cry like that?’
Naturally, that complaint never reached Mary.
Still smiling foolishly at Veronica, Mary added,
“Just as expected of siblings. Seeing her so well-behaved, I’m convinced.”
“…She’s not like this normally?”
“Not at all.”
“What’s she like usually?”
“Well… let’s see…”
In truth, Veronica was still just a newborn, and Mary had only been taking care of her for about two months.
Still, Mary slowly recalled what she’d observed in that short yet long stretch of time.
“If something bothers her, she makes it very obvious.”
“At just two months old?”
“Hard to believe, right?”
“…Not completely unbelievable.”
With a serious expression, Shion added,
“You can’t ignore her heritage. As a member of the Sloran imperial family, it’s only natural she’d be different from ordinary babies.”
“True. There aren’t many babies as cute and adorable as her.”
“…I should stop talking.”
Shion rubbed his forehead with a sigh. Still, unlike his words, his expression seemed oddly relieved.
‘So she wasn’t discriminating against me?’
Strange. It had only been a misunderstanding, but Shion felt relieved for some reason.
Thinking back, the fact that Veronica—who supposedly made her displeasure obvious—had shown even a fleeting smile in his presence almost felt like recognition.
But Shion quickly shook his head, schooling his face back to normal.
‘So what.’
His deep red eyes regained their usual cold composure.
After all, Veronica was just a baby not quite two months old.
Even mages of the highest caliber in the empire wouldn’t dare compete with him—why should he care about winning such a small sliver of approval from a baby?
‘And it could be a lie anyway.’
It was said that every member of the imperial bloodline had some exceptional trait from a young age, but it was still hard to believe a two-month-old could make conscious judgments.
As he pondered, an idea struck him.
‘I’ll just come back next time.’
With more samples, you could verify the truth.
If, when he came again, Veronica treated him the same way—and if that happened repeatedly—then Mary’s words would be proven right.
“Mary.”
“Y-Yes?”
“When is Veronica free?”
“Who…? Oh, Her Highness?”
“Of course. Do you think I came all the way here just to see you?”
“N-No. Umm…”
Mary touched a finger to her lips, thinking.
“Her Highness spends most of her time sleeping… From about one or two until around five, she’s usually awake.”
“Sure about that?”
“What reason would I have to lie?”
“So I can come anytime in that window?”
“Yes. Ah, but could you maybe let me know before you come?”
“Why bother?”
“Well, it’d be nice if she’s in a good mood and I could have some refreshments ready…”
“No need. I’ll just drop by to see her—no fuss.”
Gathering his books, Shion stood. Without so much as a brief goodbye to Veronica, he left the room.
Mary bowed politely until he was gone, then approached the cradle.
Her big red eyes flicked between the door and Veronica.
“Did something happen, Your Highness?”
‘Beats me.’
Veronica blinked her lake-like eyes.
Mary wiped her soft skin with a warm towel, murmuring in puzzlement,
“His Highness seemed to be in a very good mood. He doesn’t usually talk that much… And it’s the first time he’s ever called me ‘Mary’ instead of just ‘you’ or ‘hey.’”
‘Hmm, that’s true.’
Veronica agreed.
From what she remembered, Shion only addressed others—aside from Mother and Father—as “you” or “hey.”
And yet—
“When is Veronica free?”
“Mary.”
He’d said that.
“Your Highness, they said you stopped crying at the sound of His Highness’s voice, right? Kind of like that, I think His Highness likes you too.”
‘That part was a lie, though.’
Regardless, Veronica was feeling very tired. Probably because she had been awake far too long for a baby’s body.
‘I’ll sleep. Think about it later.’
Letting out a tiny yawn, she listened to Mary’s murmured words as if they were a lullaby, closed her eyes, and nestled her head down.
As Mary said, it seemed Shion really had been in a good mood today.
Considering that he’d spoken her name so clearly—even though she’d doubted he even remembered it—
‘Is that… a good sign?’
Of course it was.
Veronica answered herself and let a faint smile of relief form.
Whether it was holding her hand, making her smile, tolerating her without annoyance, or perhaps hiding her own brilliance entirely—whatever it was that had brought about Shion’s change, the important thing was that he had changed.
‘If we spend more time together, I’ll figure out what he likes.’
And then she could just do that.
With that conclusion, her mind settled and sleepiness swept over her.
Still a baby, Veronica couldn’t fight it and soon drifted into a deep, even slumber.
But contrary to her expectations, it was quite some time before Shion visited her again.
“Oh… o-bba (Brother)…?”
By then, Veronica had learned to speak a little.
And what Shion did upon visiting her after several months was—
“I’ve been thinking, and I still don’t know what exactly you liked so much that day that you behaved so quietly.”
“S-So…?”
“…I can’t understand you.”
Shion grumbled bluntly, then snapped his fingers.
A white circle burst open in the middle of Veronica’s bedroom, and a flood of assorted items poured out endlessly.
From them, Shion picked one up.
It was a rattle.
“Lie down.”
“Uh…?”
I don’t play with that anymore.
Veronica subtly shook her head.
But Shion glanced around, narrowed his eyes, and spoke coolly.
“Since I don’t know much about you, I brought everything books say babies your age like.”
“Why… bother…”
As if he’d cast a spell to make her words clearer, Shion understood her perfectly this time and answered,
“Because I’m curious. Now hurry and lie in the cradle.”
Then, holding the rattle with a perfectly blank face, he said,
“I’ll shake it for you.”
