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Chapter 08
Stuffed dolls had many advantages.
Hugging them tightly brought warmth and comfort. Holding them in your hands and squishing them could inexplicably lift your mood.
‘Why drink alcohol?! This little one wipes all your worries away!’
Besides, with the intricate dolls released these days, even a minor issue required a craftsman for repairs, whereas a stuffed doll just needed sewing up.
Despite having so many merits, stuffed dolls received so little attention from the public.
‘They might be popular among certain “maniacs,” but the market is too niche, leaving no room for me to enter.’
It seemed the craftsman should look for a new job after this venture.
He had no other skills and was getting old, so finding other work wouldn’t be easy, but it was still better than holding onto dolls that wouldn’t sell.
‘Sigh. I should sell off all of these today at a bargain price.’
How low did the price have to go for them to sell? The craftsman tightly closed his eyes and racked his brain.
But just then, someone spoke to the vendor.
“Hey.”
It was an eerily low and elegant voice.
Startled, the craftsman opened his eyes wide and was shocked again to see a huge man draped in a robe. When did he arrive?
“Y-yes?!”
The man, with blazing eyes, looked at the terrified craftsman—no, at what he held in his hand—and said,
“Where… did you get this?”
The craftsman didn’t quite catch what the man said. But he could feel an unsettling dread, as if the wrong answer would cost him his neck.
‘W-what do I do?’
The frightened craftsman was asked again.
“I asked where you got it.”
The tone was fierce, as if the man might wring the craftsman’s neck at any moment.
Tears welling up, the craftsman bowed and answered,
“I picked it up in the eastern forest a few days ago!”
“Eastern forest…? Is that true?”
“Yes! It’s the truth. I’d never seen it before!”
The craftsman trembled as he shook his head with difficulty.
“Haah……”
The man let out a rough breath and said,
“…How much?”
“Huh?”
“…I asked for the price.”
The craftsman, faced with a piercing glare that seemed to say he’d be cut down if made to repeat himself, whimpered,
“Y-you can just take it! I only picked it up anyway!”
The man gritted his teeth.
“Ha, you dare offer it for free? Are you joking?”
What was wrong with offering it for free! Feeling like he was about to wet himself, the craftsman urgently said,
“Uwaah-! Then, just 2, 2 curling!”
2 curling. Slightly cheaper than the average doll price. At this price, neither the man insisting on paying nor the craftsman taking money for something he’d found seemed inappropriate.
But the man didn’t seem satisfied with this price.
“Tsk-!”
Clicking his tongue, the man took out a pouch from inside his robe and tossed it.
Warily watching the man, the craftsman opened the pouch and nearly had his eyes pop out.
“Th-this is all gold coins?!”
The craftsman broke into a sweat. Then, the man stretched out a thick, large hand and said,
“Don’t even think of asking for it back later. I might just kill you if you do.”
“Eeek-!”
The craftsman shut his eyes tight. That huge hand seemed like it would strike him at any moment.
But the man had no intention of hitting the craftsman’s face. He only wanted to snatch the doll the craftsman held so preciously in his hands.
“Huh?”
Suddenly feeling his hands empty, the craftsman opened his eyes. The man who had been standing imposingly before him just moments ago had vanished without a trace, along with the doll.
“What in the world…?”
It felt like the craftsman had just had a brief nightmare. But the pouch of gold coins clutched in his hand proved that what he’d just experienced was real.
‘Eeek. How much is this?!’
It was enough money to live for years without worry while making dolls.
‘D-did my life just turn around?!’
The craftsman choked up with happiness.
And at the same moment, the doll the man had bought—that is, Piano—was also choking up.
[Mister! How could you sell me off to such a scary person?!]
Piano was shocked by a profound sense of betrayal.
So, to explain again how Piano ended up in this state…
This happened about two weeks before Piano was sold.
Humans are said to yearn to fly through the sky. When Piano was little, she had also looked at birds and wished to fly at least once.
But it was none other than Delis who made that wish a reality.
‘Waah! I never wanted to fly like this!’
Thanks to Delis’s arm strength, Piano swiftly parted the sky above.
But of course, she couldn’t fly forever.
Feeling herself gradually nearing the ground, Piano screamed.
[Gwaah!]
This was a forest full of trees! If she were unlucky enough to land on a sharp branch, she could suffer a terrible puncture wound.
Feeling her survival chances slipping away, Piano cried out,
[I don’t want to die like this!]
Just then, a gust of wind swept in and wrapped around Piano. The wind carried her past countless trees and dropped her onto a field lush with leaves.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
[Boing!]
Bouncing once, then twice on the ground, Piano couldn’t easily gather her senses due to unfamiliar pain and dizziness.
‘Ugh… What in the world happened to me…?’
How many people in this world have flown through the sky like this?
‘Probably no one so far, right?’
Then, would there be anyone in the future?
No. There won’t be. Piano would be the only one.
[Sniff…!]
Piano was heartbroken.
Her back, damp from dew on the grass, felt uncomfortable, and her body ached all over—no need to mention that.
But what truly saddened her was Delis.
Who would have thought Delis would throw her away!
‘Even if he didn’t know it was me, this is too much!’
The Delis Piano knew wasn’t someone who’d recklessly throw a doll, even if he didn’t know its owner. Rather, he was a kind person who’d try to find the doll’s owner.
But that image turned out to be a complete lie!
‘Why did he approach me in the first place?!’
Piano was just a petite young lady born in the east, living quietly.
It was true that after Piano was born, the Rive Count family became quite well-off, but the family’s reputation itself wasn’t particularly grand. If the Sicil Viscount in the west wasn’t impressive, the Rive Count family in the east wasn’t impressive either.
No matter how much she thought about it, there wasn’t a single special benefit Delis could gain by marrying Piano instead of Leah…
[So why did you approach a kid who’s not even your type, you jerk!]
Piano shouted with all her might, but her voice, as usual, didn’t reach the world.
[Sob, Mom… Dad…!]
Overwhelmed by sorrow, Piano called for her parents. Oh dear, oh dear!
Crying and crying until the bluish dawn arrived, Piano fell fast asleep before the morning sun rose.
[Gasp-!]
Even though her body couldn’t move, falling asleep was just like when she was human. No, she slept even more than when she was human.
Perhaps that was for the best. There was nothing more dreadful than being fully conscious, unable to speak or move, staring at the same things in the same place.
[Dororong… dororongong…]
The morning sunlight warmly bathed the sleeping Piano and the world.
The being that had protected Piano from being pierced by branches gently stroked her head.
Just then, another shadow loomed over Piano.
“Grrr…”
Something terrifyingly growling snapped Piano up in its mouth.
Startled awake, Piano jolted from her sleep.
‘Huh?! What’s happening?!’
Piano couldn’t quite grasp her current situation. Was she still dreaming?
The scenery was rapidly changing. Moreover, her body felt damp, uncomfortably tight as if gripped by something, and she could hear the sound of wind whistling past her ears.
‘What’s this?! Am I flying again?!’
Piano thought someone must have kicked her with a thump while she was asleep.
That is, until she plopped down onto something soft in a dark, gloomy cave.
‘Wh-where is this?’
If she could, Piano wanted to turn her head and look.
But she still couldn’t move a single finger.
‘I’m so uncomfortable I could die!’
Just then, eyes gleamed in the darkness.
“Grrr…”
Piano had only seen beasts in the cute illustrations of fairy tales.
But even Piano knew instinctively: what was before her eyes now was a beast!
‘Is that a wolf?!’
Piano wondered. Why did the wolf carry her here?
‘Did it bring me here thinking I’m prey?!’
If so, was Piano now destined to be torn to shreds?! Would her ending be death, with stuffing flying everywhere?!
Thank you for following Piano’s life story so far. From now on, we’ll meet you with “The Curse of Piano, the Torn Doll”…
[Waaah! I don’t want that! I really don’t! Please save me!]
Just as Piano wailed!
