~Chapter 35~
After listening to the dolls’ stories, I understood them to some extent.
I now understood why these children had wanted to turn me into a doll.
“So, you all hated it when humans changed or died, right?”
“Mm.”
The dolls nodded in unison.
What they wanted was a master who would never change and would never die, just like them.
“I won’t change. I promise.”
“But!”
Emily, her face covered in tears, ran up to me.
“If you live in a human body like this, Rubiana will eventually die too.”
Emily, who seemed to be pouting, stared directly at me and shouted.
I smiled gently at her.
“That’s true. But even after I die, I won’t leave you.”
Then, I gently took Emily’s small hand in both of mine.
“Your souls are inside my body, right?”
Emily silently nodded.
“When I die, I’ll do the same.”
I looked into the hundreds of sparkling eyes of the dolls, one by one, and said.
“Even when I die, my soul will inhabit the body of another doll, and I will be with you.”
The dolls’ eyes widened in surprise.
“Really?”
“Even if you die, you’ll stay with us?”
“You won’t leave us?”
“Yes. I’ll keep playing with you.”
“Wow!”
The dolls rushed toward me and hugged me.
I let go of Damien’s hand and embraced the dolls, laughing as I said.
“See, isn’t it warm? If I became a doll now, I wouldn’t be able to hold you this warmly.”
“Yes, it’s warm, it’s warm!”
I could feel that the dolls were happy to feel my warmth.
I turned to Damien, planning to ask him if he would like to hug the dolls as well.
But instead, he had a very displeased look on his face.
“Damien? Is there something wrong?”
“Ah, um, I have a small complaint.”
His purple eyes, clearly showing his discomfort, turned toward the dolls.
“Rubiana married me, but I wonder if it’s alright for someone else to hold you.”
I was taken aback.
Someone else? These dolls had the mental age of children, not even elementary school level.
“These children are closer to being like little kids. You heard everything they said, right?”
“Still, they are not my spouse…”
“Oh dear, you could allow a little affection for children like this. Come on, Damien, why don’t you come and hug them too?”
Damien didn’t seem too thrilled but, following my suggestion, he walked toward the dolls to give them a hug.
However, the dolls shook their heads and strongly rejected it.
“We don’t like the black uncle.”
Damien silently withdrew his hands.
It seemed like the dolls had known from the start that he didn’t like them.
The atmosphere grew awkward, so I quickly tried to fix it.
“Wait, an uncle? How could you say that! Your master is so handsome and young!”
But the dolls had their preferences firmly set.
“Rubiana is prettier.”
“We don’t like uncles.”
I didn’t know what to do, but then Damien, seeing the situation, spoke first.
“It’s alright. Those kids prefer women in general. They like gentle and pretty women more.”
“Ah…”
I wasn’t sure about being “pretty,” but it seemed that the dolls saw my touch as gentle.
Now that I thought about it, Damien did take care of the curses and tried to look after them in his own way, but he wasn’t the type to praise them or speak kindly to them.
‘Maybe that’s why these children, who are practically like little kids, liked me so much.’
Besides, I was naturally drawn to the dolls, who were quick to pick up on affections.
“Well, I guess it can’t be helped then. Alright, everyone, look here.”
I clapped my hands to get the dolls’ attention.
“From now on, I’ll spend some time with you every day.”
The dolls’ expressions, which had been looking at us with bright eyes, lit up even more.
“Really?”
“I thought you’d leave us!”
“How many hours? How many hours?”
“Hmm, how about two hours?”
I started to suggest, but then Damien slyly interrupted.
“How about one hour instead?”
“Two hours would be too short for drawing. And these children would get too dependent on you, which wouldn’t be good.”
“Hmm…”
While I was thinking, the dolls began to protest.
“What’s he saying, this black uncle!”
“He’s such a bad person!”
“I don’t know what an ‘uncle’ is, but we won’t do bad things like that! Give us two hours!”
“Alright, fine, I’ll compromise.”
I finally managed to calm down the dolls.
“We’ll spend one hour every day together. But on Saturdays, I’ll spend two hours with you.”
Damien didn’t outright oppose this compromise.
The dolls, though somewhat disappointed, seemed to agree.
“Okay, one hour every day. On Saturdays, two hours. What would you like me to do during that time?”
Various answers poured out from the dolls.
“Hug us! Hug us tight like today!”
“Read us a fairy tale.”
“Tell us we’re cute!”
“Tell us we’re pretty!”
“Look at the toys I made! Build a house with blocks!”
“Give us a kiss!”
“No kisses.”
Damien spoke firmly, and the dolls puffed up their cheeks.
“Why?”
“Hmph, are you jealous because you can’t receive kisses?”
“You’re jealous of us because you’re so busy and weak!”
“How cowardly, how cowardly!”
Amid the dolls’ uproar, I came up with another compromise.
“Then, only on Saturdays…”
“That’s too little!”
The dolls pouted their lips.
“But that makes it special. It’ll feel even better than getting kisses every day.”
“Huh, really…?”
This time, Damien didn’t oppose me either.
In the end, the dolls were convinced by my persuasion.
We settled on hugging them once a day, telling them they were cute, reading fairy tales, and giving kisses only on Saturdays.
“Goodbye, take care!”
“Come again tomorrow, Your Majesty!”
Waving my hand as the dolls waved goodbye, I also waved back.
“I want to be your friend, not your queen. Please call me Rubi!”
“Okay, goodbye, Rubi!”
“Goodbye, Rubi!”
The baby doll, holding a pacifier, waved its hand while being cradled by another doll.
“The road isn’t repaired yet, it’s dangerous. Please be careful.”
“Huh? Right now? Wait—”
Before I could respond, Damien suddenly picked me up in his arms and jumped toward the huge hole in the wall.
When I opened my eyes again, we were back in front of a white door with a drawing of a baby sleeping on it.
“Oh, my lady!”
For some reason, the servants, who had been waiting in front of the door, greeted me.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re safe.”
They were all wiping the sweat from their foreheads or heaving sighs of relief.
“How long was I gone…?”
When I asked Damien, he answered.
“About half a day.”
“Ah… I see, it’s understandable to worry.”
“We’ll talk later. Please prepare the meal and the bath.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Damien, still holding me, walked down the hallway.
“Um, you can put me down now…”
“Ah.”
Strangely, Damien seemed to hold me even tighter in his arms.
Then, he pressed me closer to him, his lips brushing against my ear.
‘W-what is this?’
His whisper reached my ear, which turned red in surprise.
“I wanted to have a private conversation.”
What could he possibly want to talk about?
“A private conversation?”
“…In the doll room earlier.”
His sharp but affectionate purple eyes pierced me.
“You said, ‘If I die,’ so easily.”
Thud.
My heart sank.
