“Hurry up!”
“……”
Maybe it was because my sister was always so busy she barely had time to breathe, but this kid seemed to have grown up in a weird direction.
That tiny peanut-sized thing had spent two whole months crying herself to sleep in the ducal estate, so I deliberately chose not to pay her any attention after that.
And yet, a few days ago, she suddenly appeared here, right in front of me, scraping at every last nerve I had.
“Uncle, hurry.”
I couldn’t exactly hit this little brat.
Part of me was relieved that the image of her clinging to me at the funeral, bawling her eyes out with her face all swollen, was gone. But it also left me unsettled.
Even the attendants avoided meeting my eyes, but she stared me down with those wide-open eyes—eyes that looked just like her mother’s. It was absurd.
“Uncle, hurry up and press your finger here.”
Under pressure from my niece’s relentless insistence, Kassel had no choice but to call a servant and stamp that ridiculous document.
Because it required a fingerprint, he had to smear his finger with red ink.
‘How in the world did she raise this kid?’
Six years ago, she vanished without a word and drove everyone mad—only to reappear two years later with a child in tow.
I thought it was a newborn, but the kid had already been born for a whole year.
My sister refused to say who the father was, even to her death.
Still, she said she wanted to become a mother her child wouldn’t be ashamed of, working herself to the bone, barely even sleeping…
‘And then you leave this tiny thing behind, just like that?’
She always acted like the smartest person in the world.
“Uncle!”
“……”
“Kassel Uncle!”
This tiny little thing, barely half my height, called out to me constantly.
“Stop calling me for no reason.”
So annoying.
“Huh? Why?”
Her round eyes—like little golden kumquats—gazed up at me, full of innocent curiosity.
So clear and unclouded that I could see my own reflection in them.
Which only made it more aggravating.
“Just… don’t call me more than once a day. Don’t come looking for me, either.”
Her round eyes quivered, as if shocked.
But only for a moment.
“Uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle! Hehe!”
She called me over and over again, panting for breath, and then giggled like nothing had happened.
“Kassel, look. Isn’t my daughter just the most lovable thing in the world?”
“Dear sister, is it even possible for a creature more lovable than my daughter to exist?”
“You’ll understand once you have a child of your own. Your life won’t revolve around you anymore. And still, you’ll want to give them everything.”
“No, really—just spend one day with Aika. You’ll understand.”
“My poor little brother. Do you even have a girlfriend?”
—
Damn it all. It was so unbearably frustrating.
Kassel stood up abruptly, unable to contain the sudden swell of emotion.
Startled, his niece scrambled to her feet, flustered—but he walked out, leaving her behind in the room.
“Ugh, Uncle is such a grump.”
I sat blankly on the bed, left behind after Uncle stormed out.
Unlike earlier, he had suddenly emitted this frightening aura that made it impossible to follow him.
But he wouldn’t leave, right? He promised.
I had no doubt in my heart—Uncle wouldn’t leave. He promised, after all.
I hopped off the bed.
“……Hup!”
But I hadn’t taken more than a few steps when I froze.
A flash of light erupted in front of my eyes—my vision shifted.
It wasn’t a dream. I was awake, and this was only the second time I’d seen the future like this while conscious. My breath caught without me realizing it.
“No…”
The landscape changed rapidly, as though painted stroke by stroke with a brush soaked in ink.
And at the center of it all was Uncle.
He was in the stables, looking agitated, preparing to mount a massive black horse.
Then the horse, mid-gallop, collapsed—and Uncle was flung violently to the ground.
I had already stopped this once. And yet, Uncle was in danger again?
“No!”
Today, no matter what, Uncle couldn’t leave the house.
There was no other explanation—why else would only he be in danger?
At least, that’s what I believed.
I threw away his threat about only calling him once a day and not coming to find him, and rushed off to do exactly that—find Uncle.
—
“Uncle, where are you?”
“Uncle, where are you?”
I asked every attendant I passed where he was.
They said he was already at the stables.
Already? That was too fast.
What I saw just now must’ve been the very near future.
I bolted toward the stables like lightning.
Why was this place so huge?
Grandfather’s estate had three massive buildings, but everything could be handled within the central manor.
This place was laid out completely differently.
To get from my room—well, guest room—to Uncle’s room, I had to pass through an outdoor corridor.
“Have you seen Uncle?”
I asked everyone I came across.
This estate was enormous, with smaller buildings scattered like stars across the grounds, and the stables were quite far away.
I ran without stopping, panting until my lungs burned, and finally reached the stables.
“Uncle… where is he?”
The stables were wide enough to comfortably house five horses.
There were over ten thick support beams holding up the ceiling, and straw was piled up to the roof inside and out.
It didn’t smell bad, since both front and back doors were open.
Fortunately, I spotted Uncle quickly.
Far off, the stablehand was leading a horse and placing a saddle on its back.
Uncle hadn’t mounted yet. Thank goodness.
“Uncle!”
I yelled, barely catching myself from stumbling after stopping so abruptly.
Uncle’s face contorted again when he saw me at the stable entrance.
“You—didn’t I tell you not to come looking for me…”
I rushed over, throwing myself into his long legs.
I was drenched in sweat from running so hard, my forehead sticky with it, but I didn’t dare let go.
If I did, I felt like those long legs would carry him away again.
“Uncle, you said you wouldn’t go out. Liar!”
Uncle looked incredulous.
“I haven’t gone out. I’m riding a horse in my own house—how is that lying?”
“But…”
“But what? Let go, will you?”
“Mm-mm-mm.”
I shook my head, still catching my breath, clinging tightly to his leg.
Suddenly, the horse let out a sharp neigh!
Startled, I turned my head.
There it was—a massive horse towering over me, even bigger up close than it had been in the vision.
It looked just like the one I saw before, but seeing it this close, it looked even darker and more intimidating.
Still, I stubbornly held onto Uncle’s leg and inched behind him.
But… why did the horse suddenly sit down like that?
Now that I thought about it, in the vision the horse looked like it was in terrible pain.
Was it hurting?
I clung to Uncle’s leg and scanned the horse from tail to legs to head, searching carefully.
At least Uncle didn’t try to shake me off or toss me away.
He just went on preparing to ride the horse, completely ignoring what I said.
“Huh?”
While inspecting the horse, I noticed something odd.
“What now?”
“Uncle, do horses normally lift one leg like that?”
“What are you talking about?”
The horse’s right hind leg was trembling slightly in the air.
But it was still almost touching the ground—if you weren’t paying close attention, you’d think it was standing just fine.
Maybe because its massive, muscled body didn’t shake at all.
Was it hurting?
“Hey, horse… are you hurt?”
I let go of Uncle’s leg and slowly reached for the horse’s hoof.
But before I could even touch it, the horse let out a piercing whinny and raised its front leg high into the air.
It was like a massive black statue was about to crash down on me.
It all happened in an instant.
“Young miss, watch out!”
The stablehand shouted—and at the same time, something huge and strong grabbed my body tightly.
