Chapter 15:
“Ding! Pop! A Magical Boy Appears! (3)”
Rudolph furrowed his brows at my question.
He rubbed his solar plexus and moved his lips.
“My stomach feels weird.”
“How so?”
“It feels tight.”
“And?”
“I feel queasy, like I might throw up.”
“Anything else?”
“My heart’s beating way too fast.”
“So?”
Looking annoyed, Rudolph scrunched up his face and grabbed his chest.
“I’m pissed off and angry.”
“That’s because you don’t understand what you’re feeling, right?”
Rudolph, who had been about to say something, looked at me.
There was no emotion in his eyes, but his confused gaze showed he was thinking it over.
After a moment’s hesitation, Rudolph spoke again.
“Because… you won’t look at me.”
I didn’t even need to hear the rest to know.
What Rudolph felt toward me—no, toward Odelia—was undoubtedly love.
Even if it wasn’t love, there was definitely affection.
And now that I was certain, the only thing left was to strike first.
I quickly got up and placed my hand on his shoulder.
Oh foolish deer, let me enlighten you.
I put on an overly kind smile and said gently,
“Rudolph, that’s love.”
“…Love?”
“Yeah, it means you love me.”
Was he surprised by the unexpected answer? Or was he just fascinated by the word “love”?
Rudolph stared at his palms for a long time.
“So, does that mean I want to hold you because of the same reason?”
“Yeah. But that’s—”
“Then I’ll hold you.”
“No, you crazy brat! I wasn’t done talking!”
As if realizing his feelings resolved everything, Rudolph lunged at me.
If I hadn’t quickly pushed him away with my foot, I might have literally fallen flat on my back.
Once again, I realized a bed was not a safe place for conversations with beast-like Rudolph.
Whether he didn’t realize I hadn’t finished speaking or just pretended not to, he slyly reached his hand toward my skirt.
I quickly opened my mouth, knowing I couldn’t win by force.
“Do you want me to hate you?”
“…What?”
“I said, do you want me to hate you?”
“…Hate?”
As expected, Rudolph froze.
While he hesitated, trying to understand the word “hate,” I pushed away the hand that had made it up to my thigh and slipped under the bed sheet.
A flimsy, pathetic shield—but better than nothing.
Pulling the sheet up to my chin, I continued, addressing the now-bewildered Rudolph.
“Yes. Hate. It means I don’t want to see you anymore, don’t want to talk to you, and don’t want to sleep beside you.”
“…What?”
“Hate means I reject you and deny you. Understand?”
“…You said if I had your child, you wouldn’t leave me.”
What lunatic taught him that?
Hearing such absurdity stated so confidently irritated me.
“I can leave you any time I want.”
“Impossible.”
“It’s possible. If you defile me and drive me into despair, I’ll leave—even if I have to die.”
“…”
“I can disappear from your life forever. Even in death.”
“…I don’t want that.”
Clutching his chest as if in pain, Rudolph grabbed my hand.
The way he clung to it—like a child who lost his mother—made me feel a little sorry for him.
“You want me to keep smiling at you, talking to you, sleeping beside you, and laughing with you, right?”
I gently smiled and held Rudolph’s hand.
Like a mother teaching a child a new word, my careful tone made Rudolph look up.
“Yeah.”
Rudolph, now gripping my hand tightly, finally nodded as if he understood.
In that moment, I could almost hear a little ding! in my head.
It was like a narrator saying, “The Emotion Newborn has evolved into an Emotion Toddler!”
Smiling, I pulled Rudolph closer.
He sat in front of me with a composed face.
“Then, Rudolph, you’ll only do the things I like—not the ones I hate, right?”
“What are those? How do I do them?”
Looking down at the floor, Rudolph asked with a puzzled look. I smiled.
“Just do what I like. I like kindness and happiness. So be kind and happy, too.”
“I…”
Rudolph leaned his forehead against mine and whispered softly.
“I don’t know what kindness is. Or happiness. It’s hard.”
Not knowing how to feel toward others—it made sense, really.
So I lifted his head and met his eyes.
“You said your chest felt funny, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Has it ever felt ticklish? Or warm?”
“…Just now.”
Rudolph mumbled after some thought.
Not knowing the emotions everyone else takes for granted—that must be why this was so difficult for him.
Maybe that’s why I felt even more sympathetic toward this boy, trapped in a lonely tower, raised like a monster, treated like a thing.
I held his hand firmly and patted his head, like soothing a child struggling with homework.
“Happiness isn’t hard, Rudolph. Your chest tickles, it feels warm, even flutters… but you don’t hate it, right?”
“…I guess not.”
“Then that’s happiness. That’s what ‘good’ feels like.”
I could almost see an imaginary emotion stat bar filling up—ding ding ding.
Rudolph nodded as if he finally understood.
“When you were sleeping beside me, my chest felt warm. Is that happiness too?”
“Yes. You were next to someone you like.”
“When you look at me, my chest feels ticklish and fluttery. That too?”
“Yup.”
Like rewarding a child who got a perfect score, I patted Rudolph’s head.
A soft smile spread across his usually calm face.
Like a child wanting more praise, Rudolph rubbed his cheek against my hand with a satisfied grin.
“You’re my happiness…”
He looked even younger than the crown prince, yet that smile carried an oddly seductive charm—dangerous, really.
Damn kid. Where’d you learn to be that sexy?
Blushing, I tried to cool the heat from my face, but Rudolph scooted right up to me.
“Then I’ll listen to you, Odelia.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. What do you want to do the most? What do you want the most?”
“Then… will you let me go home?”
“No.”
DONG. A sharp throb hit my head at Rudolph’s flat-out rejection, after he’d acted like he’d give me anything.
Honestly, I was starting to feel guilty for possibly gaslighting him, but I’d done it all in hopes of going home.
I thought this emotional education—harder than taming a beast—was finally paying off…
Clearly, I was delusional.
“Why not!?”
“If you go home, I won’t be able to see you anymore.”
Rudolph looked at me like I’d asked something obvious.
His radiant smile made me want to punch him—hard.
I sighed deeply, questioning everything I’d done so far.
“If I stay here, I might end up hating you.”
“I don’t want you to leave. I’m happy when you’re here.”
Damn it.
Was this happening because I forgot to teach him about consideration?
“I’m the kind of person who doesn’t care if you hate me. But if I hate you, that’s your problem, right?”
I glared, hoping he’d catch the hint—but Rudolph didn’t flinch.
In fact, he dropped a line worthy of a tragic romance lead:
“If you stay, you’ll get used to me. Eventually, you’ll only see me. As long as you’re by my side in the end, that’s enough to be happy.”
Wow. I’ve never heard that out loud before. Someone call Vaizen and Ian.
At least they had countermeasures. This guy’s impossible to break through.
Should I just punch him and say, “See? That’s how much I hate you”?
“Are you that worried?”
Rudolph asked, as if doing me a favor.
Worried?
I had a ton to worry about.
Not just escaping this hellhole, but how to convince him again…
My head throbbed.
“Then I’ll show you how they’re doing.”
“What?”
With that, Rudolph snapped his fingers.
Three crystal orbs appeared in front of me, each playing a different scene.
In the first, Vaizen was flipping through papers with a disheveled face.
He ignored all territory documents and only sorted the ones from the Magic Tower.
His usually well-trimmed beard was growing out patchy.
“Damn it!”
Vaizen slammed the desk after reading a letter—one that rejected my return.
He collapsed into his chair, covering his face in despair.
“Please, Your Majesty!”
In another orb, Ian was making an emotional plea.
A stern-looking older man—presumably the Emperor—sat before him.
“Who else but Your Majesty could make such a request to the Tower? Please, help us!”
Ian begged to conduct a search of the Magic Tower to find me, who had been kidnapped by some mysterious magician.
But the Emperor shook his head.
Even for the Empire, launching a blind search of the Tower was too much.
“Hic… Miss…”
In the last orb, familiar women were crying—Lucy and Annie.
They wiped away tears while cleaning in the room I used to stay in.
“Where did you go, Miss…”
“Please come back safe… I don’t care if you cause trouble…”
Their sniffles made my own eyes sting.
They must’ve been terrified.
Usually, they worried about what trouble I’d get into—not whether I’d vanish.
Rubbing my hot eyes, I turned to Rudolph.
“Let me go back.”
“No.”
With that radiant smile again, he snapped his fingers—
And the sobs and cries disappeared instantly.
“I have to go back. You saw it all.”
“But if you go back, I’ll hate it. That makes me feel bad. Will you make me sad?”
His voice trembled with sadness—like asking, “Are you going to abandon me?”
It made my chest tighten.
“I’m not abandoning you. You can always come visit me at the marquis’s estate, right?”
“I don’t just want to see you.”
Rudolph smiled like a lovesick girl and took my hand.
His long fingers intertwined with mine.
“I want to be loved by you. I want you to be my happiness forever.”
“What?”
“You’ll do that for me, right? You’ll keep loving me like this, yeah?”
Like soothing a child, he kissed the back of my hand—
Just as I had done to him earlier.
This little bastard. He’s trying to use my moves against me now.
What a cunning little…
“I hate you, Rudolph!”
“I love you, Odelia.”
Rudolph just smiled sweetly with that completely off-topic reply.
