#5.
It was already late in the afternoon.
‘Why isn’t he here yet?’
By now, Veronica had grown enough to crawl around, and she fidgeted in her cradle while glancing at the clock.
It was about time that the slightly grizzled old man came to read her a fairy tale.
‘Nosy as he is… I still like him because of his voice.’
The “reading class” — which was really nothing more than him reading books aloud — was taught by the elderly scholar Mirhana. He was old-fashioned and fond of giving unsolicited advice, but his reading voice was calm and steady, second only to the emperor’s, and she found it pleasant.
There was no better voice to lull her into a nap.
‘I wonder if he’s not coming today?’
From what Veronica knew, he wasn’t exactly a busy man.
And since this was a good chance to get on the emperor’s good side, there was even less reason for him not to show up.
And just as she was thinking that—sure enough, the door swung open.
‘…Huh?’
But the one who appeared wasn’t the bent old man coughing into his cane.
Instead, there stood someone with sleek, black hair, crimson eyes that seemed to pierce straight into one’s soul, and pale skin that made those eyes stand out even more.
“Oh, o-brother…?”
“……”
Shion glanced briefly at Veronica’s round, bunny-like eyes before sitting down on the sofa, crossing one leg over the other.
“You’re speaking quite well now, huh?”
“Ah!”
Right—she wasn’t supposed to let that slip yet.
‘I’m not supposed to speak such fluent words yet!’
Veronica quickly slapped her tiny hands over her mouth.
But the water had already been spilled; soon she lowered her hands again and mumbled to Shion in the smallest voice,
“Th… thocum…?”
“…You’re a quick one.”
“E-ehehe…”
‘Wait—does he suspect me? No… right?’
“You still speak a little clumsily though. If someone just glanced at you, they might think you’re a bit slow.”
‘Is that something you say to your little sister?’ she thought, but knowing Shion’s personality, she kept quiet.
“Mm.”
In reality, she swallowed down all the retorts that rose to her throat and just smiled sweetly.
Shion gave her a brief look, then turned away with an indifferent expression.
It seemed he’d convinced himself she really was a fool.
‘Well, it’s a bit insulting…’
But for Veronica—who needed to appear as a harmless simpleton—that was actually good news.
It was something she should be happy about.
‘The fact that I have to be happy about being seen as a cute idiot… sigh…’
“Isn’t it uncomfortable because it’s too long?”
‘Huh?’
What was?
Veronica tilted her head up to look at him.
Shion still wasn’t facing her, but his voice had softened slightly.
“That word. It’s too long, and your pronunciation’s awkward. Even if you are developing quickly, you shouldn’t try to rush ahead too much.”
‘…What on earth are you talking about?’
“And this is, after all, merely an extension of my duty—as Prince Sloran, the emperor’s proxy—to educate you.”
He was speaking quickly, in that low, detached tone of his, making it hard for the little Veronica to fully grasp his meaning.
But she did clearly remember one thing he said:
‘That word is too long.’
A long word… Veronica thought hard.
What was the longest thing she’d said to him since they’d met?
‘O-ra-beo-ni? (Big Brother?)’
Ah. So that’s what he was talking about.
That didn’t mean she agreed with him, though.
She furrowed her round eyes slightly in confusion.
‘He thinks this word is long?’
She couldn’t understand his nosiness, but if Shion said so, she had to go along with it.
So—if not “orabeoni”…
‘What else could I call him? “Prince” feels too distant, and I can’t speak casually…’
After mulling it over and pursing her lips for several minutes, she finally thought of something similar—and so simple she wondered why it hadn’t come to mind sooner.
Her small pink lips moved.
“Oppa?”
‘Hmm, pronunciation’s still a bit off.’
She rolled herself toward Shion, wiped her mouth, and carefully enunciated each syllable.
“O… ppa!”
Yes! She did it!
Veronica was so startled by her own success that she beamed.
Ever since she’d begun speaking, she’d practiced this word nonstop, but had never gotten it right.
Yet now—though she’d paused a little in the middle—it was nearly perfect.
It was even more exciting than the first time she’d rolled over.
‘Wow… I’m amazing.’
“O…ppa! Op…pa!”
The pronunciation got a little muddier after that, but Veronica didn’t care.
She flapped her arms like an excited chick, calling Shion over and over.
‘Oppa, what do you think? Isn’t my pronunciation great?’
“Oba!”
“Stop.”
Shion raised one hand to silence her.
But instead of stopping, she waddled toward him on all fours with a sly smile.
“Opa!”
‘Oh-ho?’
Every time she called him that, his shoulders twitched—just barely, but enough for her to notice.
‘Aha, you like it.’
Smirking, she put her tiny hands on his shoulders and clung to him.
Of course he liked it. Round, pretty eyes, a sweet, lisping voice, toddling movements like a doll—Veronica was basically the palace’s resident idol.
‘And this is me being cute. How could you ignore it? Right?’
“Yeoi dom ba ba. (Look here.)”
Now was the time to score some points for the future.
She tapped his shoulder repeatedly with her little hands to get him to turn his head.
‘Huh?’
But then her body tilted sharply.
She’d tried to stand up while clinging to him, but her legs couldn’t hold her weight yet.
Flailing, she tried to grab something—anything—to keep from falling.
But the soft wooden rails that should have been around her cradle were gone.
Her blue eyes turned toward Shion’s back.
‘He lowered them so he could sit here.’
Oh, what a life…
She shut her eyes as the floor rushed up toward her.
It would hurt—a lot—but at least she realized something in that instant:
From the moment her hands slipped to the moment she was about to hit the floor, she perceived everything slowly and clearly.
It meant her body, not just her mind and magic, had grown to a level capable of handling that power.
Not that it would stop the pain.
‘Here it comes!’
“Ah!”
But the cry that escaped her wasn’t from pain—it was from the sudden tightening of her collar around her neck.
Coughing, she blinked watery eyes open to see a blurry blue figure leaning over her.
It was Shion, eyes narrowed.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Ke-lok!”
‘First, let go!’
She squirmed, and Shion set her back in the cradle.
His expression was cold, his demeanor curt—but his hands moved gently.
“Phew…”
Finally able to breathe, Veronica watched as Shion crouched down in front of her.
“Listen carefully.”
“Mm!”
“I didn’t come here to play. So don’t try stupid tricks.”
“Mmm?”
“Do you understand?”
“Mmm…”
“Is that the only word you know?”
“Mm… oppa?”
“…Anyway.”
Biting his lower lip, Shion changed the subject.
“As I said, I didn’t come here to play. I came to find something out about you.”
“Mmm?”
‘About me?’
She pointed at herself, and he nodded slowly.
“I’ve been thinking… I still don’t know why you were so quiet that time—what was it about me that made you act that way?”
“Th-that’s why…?”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s why’?”
He clicked his tongue, then snapped his fingers.
A white circle suddenly appeared in the middle of her room.
From it poured a mountain of random junk.
He picked one up—a rattle.
‘You said you didn’t come to play…?’
It was obviously all toys.
But Shion remained disturbingly calm, enough that she almost believed him.
“Lie down.”
Intimidated, she obeyed—though she didn’t play with rattles anymore.
She shook her head, but he simply glanced around, narrowing his eyes.
“Since I don’t know much about you, I brought everything the books say babies your age like.”
‘Really?’
“You don’t like them?”
“No!”
Of course not, dear brother!
She quickly put on her cutest smile.
“Jjoa! (I like it!)”
“Good. You’d better—because this is just the first step.”
He shook the rattle awkwardly, then held it right in front of her eyes.
Veronica was horrified.
Did “first step” mean he planned to go through all of that pile today?
And she hadn’t even gotten her afternoon nap…
‘Well, I guess I have no choice.’
She tightened her stomach muscles and braced herself.
“Hah!”
‘Bring it on!’
“Too loud,” he said, though his tone was gentler than usual.
Standing on tiptoe, leaning against the cradle bars, he looked down at her.
“Ready?”
“Yeah!” she barked back.
“Of course!”
