Chapter 35 — The Princess’s Glamorous Kidnapping
“……”
Keith had no idea where his understanding of children had gone wrong.
After some back and forth, the two of them ended up in the living room, sitting across from each other on the couch with the emergency kit Keith had brought between them.
While Nina gently dabbed ointment on him with her little maple-leaf-like hands, Keith sat there obediently, his eyes unfocused.
But of course, that only lasted for a moment.
“—Eek!”
“What’s wrong?! Does it hurt?”
“No, sorry. It’s just… ticklish.”
“……”
Nina was beginning to seriously doubt whether this was the Keith she knew.
Such a baby… but still…
After Ravian had fallen into a comatose state and Anubis collapsed, Nina didn’t really know what had happened to everyone afterward.
The only thing she did know for sure was that Keith had died in extreme pain—
After a long, drawn-out period of torture…
“No one’s ever done this for me before.”
Keith suddenly spoke out of nowhere.
His black eyes, fixed quietly on Nina, had taken on an oddly peculiar glint.
“What? Putting ointment on you?”
“Yeah. Aren’t you afraid of me, kid?”
“…I don’t really know.”
How could she be afraid of him when there was nothing scary about him?
Unlike Nina’s lukewarm reaction, Keith’s mood was oddly serious.
“I think you’re amazing, kid.”
“Why? Because I’m not scared even though I got kidnapped?”
“That too, but… this is the first time someone’s been this kind to me.”
“I don’t really get what you mean…”
It was then—
“Alright, breakfast is—uh…”
Smokey appeared, pushing a breakfast cart with great gusto, only to freeze the moment he saw the scene on the couch.
He just stood there, dumbfounded, mumbling.
“What… are you doing?”
Before Nina could answer, Messi appeared right behind him.
Walking over with the graceful bearing of a young nobleman, Messi also stopped in his tracks when he saw.
“Oh? Hi, Messi!”
“Hello, Nina.”
Nina greeted him warmly, and Messi returned the greeting with his usual calm tone.
“Did you sleep well? What are you doing…?”
“I’m putting ointment on Keith-uncle for his manly pride.”
“I see.”
Messi’s golden eyes slid toward Keith, narrowing in faint disapproval.
The look said, I’ve seen fools before, but this is worse.
Keith just stared blankly back at him.
And then Smokey suddenly burst out in a trembling voice.
“Keith, you—You bastard! Aren’t you ashamed to make a kid work for you?!”
“Smokey-uncle, Keith-uncle’s not making me do anything. I offered to.”
Despite Nina’s attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, Smokey only started trembling more violently.
With a battered-looking face no better than Keith’s, his whole body shook in a way that looked almost dangerous.
“Wh-why?!”
“Huh?”
“Why, I mean, why—what do you see in that guy that’s so—”
“Why are you grilling the kid?!”
Keith roared before Nina could answer.
The calm from earlier was gone, and he now looked ready to start swinging a kitchen knife.
“Keith-uncle, stay still! You’re not supposed to move yet!”
“Oh, right, sorry.”
Keith sat back down obediently again, a sight that caused his comrades visible mental damage.
If it were just an act, it’d be one thing—but the fact that he meant it made it all the worse.
“At least Ravian’s situation is entertaining…”
Messi muttered with a wry smile, sounding like it was half a groan, half talking to himself.
Watching Ravian stumble about had its amusement. This, however, was simply unwatchable.
In the midst of the chaos, Nina finally finished applying the ointment to Keith’s face, but then hesitated.
She wanted to ask about Ravian… but worried it might seem like she was pestering too much.
If I keep asking, they might start thinking I’m annoying.
“Ahem, so, I…”
Smokey tried to seize the moment to hint that he was injured too, but Messi cut him off before he could get anywhere.
“Nina, if you’re done, let’s have breakfast.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
In the end, Nina nodded without asking anything.
A little later, the four of them headed—amicably—to the kitchen.
While Keith hummed to himself and set the table with unexpected skill, Smokey kept trying to start a conversation with Nina.
“So, after breakfast, if it’s alright with you—”
“Nina, did you sleep well last night?”
And every single time, Messi cut in.
His interruptions were so blatantly intentional that Smokey’s fists trembled, but having heard that Messi was Merce’s younger brother, he couldn’t very well punch him.
In the end, Smokey vented his frustration on the nearest target—Keith.
“Why the hell are you hogging all the syrup, you glutton?!”
“Watch your mouth in front of the kid, you bald bastard! …Wait, can kids even eat this stuff?”
“Well, there’s milk too, so it should be fine, right?”
Meanwhile, Nina just stared at her plate of pancakes.
The sweet, buttery aroma filled her nose, but having dreamt of Diana, she had no appetite.
Seeing it like this, I really was pathetic.
Her blue eyes held a self-deprecating sneer.
No matter how many times she recalled it, the version of herself in that dream felt unbearably pathetic and foolish.
Not just in that moment—but in every moment.
Still, it had been the first time Diana had shown her honest feelings, even if only in a dream.
Until now, the Diana Nina had seen in real life had always been unfailingly elegant and refined.
Even when she set a tea table… and forbade Nina from having any.
‘Why can’t I eat it?’
Nina had asked once, and Diana had sighed, looking almost pitying, before answering—
‘Because you inherited my constitution. When I was your age, I also had to practice restraint. Do you know how miserable it was to be compared to my skinny older sister? But thanks to that practice, I don’t have to anymore. If you start now, you’ll be fine too.’
Even as she said it, Diana’s gaze had not been on Nina, but on Estella—
Looking at Estella, eating her pudding happily, as if she were the most adorable thing in the world…
“Nina, want to look around the hotel later?”
Messi’s voice startled Nina out of her thoughts.
“Huh?”
“There are lots of facilities here. There’s even a library—so if you know your way around, you won’t be bored staying here.”
Smiling, Messi gave her a meaningful look.
Nina nodded quickly.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
And then—
“Hey, something’s been bothering me for a while now.”
Keith, holding a bottle of milk as he came over to her, suddenly spoke.
His voice had dropped into a rough, dangerous tone, making everyone turn toward him in confusion.
Keith’s eyes flashed coldly as he glared at the two children.
“Who the hell is this kid, hanging around the baby since earlier?”
Silence fell.
While Smokey dragged the suddenly agitated Keith away to calm him down, Nina and Messi quietly finished their meal.
“You didn’t eat much. No appetite?”
“Huh? No, I just never have much of one in the morning. What about you, Messi?”
“I’m the same way.”
Messi smiled and began loading the empty dishes onto the cart, and Nina moved to help.
“I’ll do it too.”
“It’s fine, just sit.”
“How can I just sit here?”
While clumsily helping Messi clear the dishes, Nina reached to set down her milk glass—
And noticed something stuck in the handle of the cart.
She hadn’t seen it earlier.
It was a newspaper.
Not just the fact that it was a newspaper caught her attention—
But the huge headline splashed across its front page.
The moment she read it, her breath froze.
“Nina?”
Messi had sensed something strange and called to her—
But she didn’t hear.
No way…
