CHAPTER 04 – IS THIS A CHILDCARE STORY?
Without quite meaning to, Miela ended up leaving the house with the boy and found herself thinking,
‘Do all people from the capital talk so well from such a young age? It can’t just be because he’s a noble… He even said himself he’s not from a particularly high-ranking family.’
She didn’t know that many words herself, and when the conversation turned even slightly difficult, she’d get flustered and stumble. To her, it was baffling.
‘Come to think of it, how old is this kid? Six? Maybe seven? What’s his name?’
Once the questions started, her curiosity grew like wildfire. Eventually, Miela carefully opened her mouth.
“Um, this might be a rude question, but… how old are you?”
At her question, Istin suddenly stopped walking. He looked straight up at her.
“Now that I think about it, we haven’t even introduced ourselves properly.”
“Huh? Introduced ourselves?”
The boy used too many unfamiliar words. Meanwhile, the girl didn’t know enough of them.
That difference only made them more curious about each other.
Under normal circumstances, Istin might have scoffed, “You don’t know what that means?” But instead, he patiently explained each term one by one.
“It means we tell each other our names. We say who we are to one another.”
“O-oh, I see!”
Miela’s face lit up as if she finally understood, like sunlight pouring into a room that had been dim and shadowed.
Seeing that expression, Istin couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Alright. Then let’s introduce ourselves. I’ll go first. I’m…”
He stopped, just short of saying his real name and age.
‘Wait, what am I supposed to say?’
As per his father’s orders, he wasn’t allowed to reveal his name or family background. So he couldn’t just tell the truth.
But he also didn’t want to lie completely. If it was someone he’d never see again, that would be fine. But he had a feeling he wanted to keep seeing this girl.
“…I’m Titi.”
After a moment of hesitation, Istin finally spoke.
“Titi? Wow, that’s such a cute name! It sounds like a name for a kitten or puppy!”
“…”
Just as expected, Miela reacted exactly as he feared, and Istin’s face turned slightly red.
The truth was, “Titi” was his nickname—his baby name. But because he’d once shouted, “Ugh, seriously, no one call me Titi ever again!” in a fit of frustration, nobody in the entire duchy dared to use it anymore.
‘But weirdly enough… I don’t hate it right now.’
Istin’s lips twitched. Unlike the chills he’d felt when his nanny or even his father used to call him that, this time, his chest felt oddly warm and fuzzy.
Even if Miela kept teasing him about it sounding like a pet name, he didn’t think it’d bother him much.
“And as for my age… I’m seven.”
He was actually twelve. But due to the curse passed down through his family, his growth had been stunted.
To anyone who didn’t know the details, he looked like a six- or seven-year-old at best.
‘Even if I told her I’m twelve, she wouldn’t believe me unless I explained the curse.’
No matter how much he liked someone, he couldn’t just reveal everything about himself so easily—especially something that could be considered a weakness.
And in Istin’s case, a lie would probably sound more believable than the truth.
“I thought you were around seven!” Miela said brightly, completely unaware of Istin’s inner turmoil.
The truth was, Istin hated being treated like a cute little kid more than anything. And yet, here he was, introducing himself like this of his own accord.
“Alright then. That’s all about me. Now I want to hear about you.”
Miela nodded, not noticing the slight stiffness in his voice.
“Oh, okay! My name’s Miela. I’m ten years old. That makes me three years older than you, so you can call me ‘noona’!”
“‘Noona’…?”
Istin blinked his green eyes in confusion. It was an unfamiliar term.
Well, of course it was—he was the only son of Duke Valoir. He’d never had anyone to call ‘noona’ in his life.
“Yup! Or if that feels weird, you can say ‘nuna’—it’s a little more formal!”
“‘Nuna’ sounds too stiff. That’s even worse.”
Istin narrowed his eyes. Miela just shrugged cheerfully at his response.
“Honestly, I don’t care what you call me. Just say whatever feels comfortable!”
“Then… can I just call you ‘Miela’?”
It was mostly a joke. He didn’t expect her to actually say yes.
But to his surprise, Miela nodded enthusiastically.
“Of course, Titi!”
“…!”
“I had a lot of questions about you, so I’m really happy I got to learn more. Hehe.”
Miela giggled innocently. Seeing that pure smile made Istin’s eyes widen slightly. He awkwardly averted his gaze, suddenly self-conscious.
Miela, huh.
It was a pretty name. Rolled off the tongue easily. Kind of like a name you’d give to a pet squirrel, maybe. Not that he was being petty about the whole “Titi sounds like a pet” thing or anything. Nope. Definitely not.
“We’re here.”
“Wow, this place is huge! Is this really where you live?”
Miela’s eyes widened as she gazed up at the villa she’d only ever heard about in rumors.
“Something like that. I’m just staying here for now.”
“What’s ‘staying’ mean?”
“It means living somewhere temporarily.”
“Ohhh, got it! Thanks for explaining!”
As they chatted and walked, they soon arrived at the villa beyond the hill. The high walls surrounding the building looked as solid as a fortress.
But unlike the usual peaceful atmosphere, things seemed unusually hectic out front.
The steward—who should’ve been inside—was pacing outside the gate, and the gatekeepers looked completely flustered.
“Quick, go find the young master!”
“You don’t think he actually went into the village, do you?!”
Istin quickly realized the chaos was all because of him sneaking out without permission.
“Wait, is that the young master over there?!”
One of the guards scanning the area suddenly spotted him walking up and his eyes went wide.
At the shout, Istin froze.
‘Crap. I told Miela I wasn’t anyone important!’
This was bad. His identity was about to be exposed.
He wanted to pretend he didn’t hear it, but the overly friendly gatekeeper was already rushing toward him.
If only Miela hadn’t heard… but of course, her ears were annoyingly sharp.
“Huh? ‘Young master’? Who are they talking about? Me?”
Of course not, Istin thought, both relieved and exasperated by her absurd guess.
‘Good grief, she’s really something else.’
With a sigh, Istin stepped forward, shaking his head.
“Oh, young ma—”
The gatekeeper’s face lit up as he spread his arms wide, relieved beyond words. He had just been imagining all the ways he might be punished for losing sight of the precious heir of the ducal house.
“I’m not sure who you mean by ‘young master,’ Sir Ashel.”
Istin shrugged nonchalantly, his face blank.
“…Huh?!”
“I’m Titi, the young master’s attendant. The young master is lying in bed inside the villa right now.”
Creating an imaginary ‘real’ young master, Istin suddenly played the role of a humble servant. Sir Ashel stared at him, confused.
“Titi? What…? An attendant?!”
Seeing the muscular guard tilt his head with wide, clueless eyes, Istin nearly snapped. Seriously, how dense could he be?
‘Ugh, one idiot like this is enough. I don’t need two.’
He gave the man a withering stare and continued, voice sharp.
“Honestly, Sir Ashel, you’re as thick-headed as your muscles. I’m the young master’s attendant, Titi. I was running an errand for him in town. Got it?”
“…Ah, ah! I understand now. Yes, of course. You’re absolutely right, sir—uh, I mean, Titi.”
