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Chapter 11
“So, you’re saying you’re the one who sent the letter?”
Ellison asked with a bewildered expression.
“If you’re talking about the letter, then yes, I sent it. Right, Mei?”
“Y-Yes!”
At Winter’s question, Meydillian hurriedly nodded.
Ellison still let out a disbelieving laugh.
Looking back at her, Winter smiled as if to flaunt it.
“I think we have a lot to talk about. Shall we move somewhere else for a bit?”
Faced with the suggestion from a little child who didn’t even seem to reach half her height, Ellison found herself leading the way as though she had been bewitched.
The two of them entered Ellison’s office inside the merchant guild building.
As if she had been there many times before, Winter naturally sat down on the sofa in the center of the room.
Instead, it was Ellison, sitting across from her, who looked like the guest.
“You’re really the one who sent this letter?”
After remaining silent the entire way there, Ellison suddenly held out the letter.
Looking at the familiar sheet of paper, now slightly wrinkled from having passed through many hands, Winter nodded.
“That’s right.”
At that answer, Ellison frowned awkwardly.
“I did think the handwriting looked like a child’s, but…”
“You thought someone had a child write it for them?”
“…Sigh. Yeah.”
Seeing the crooked handwriting, she had assumed someone was deliberately disguising their identity by having a child write the letter instead.
But who could have imagined that the sender was actually a child like this?
Even though Winter insisted she was the one, Ellison still couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
Even though she had already memorized it from reading it over and over, she unfolded the letter once more.
[The child’s name is Meydillian Kader Genius. If you wish to speak with us, send a signal to the Vladimir Ducal House at midnight.]
Only two sentences.
Yet those two sentences had thrown everyone in the Jenima Merchant Guild into complete shock.
They had been searching for the missing prince for nine years.
They hadn’t even been certain he truly existed anymore.
And then suddenly, a little boy who looked exactly like the late Emperor appeared, boldly bearing the imperial surname, Kader Genius.
Just remembering the shock of that day still made goosebumps rise all over Ellison’s body.
“How did you learn about him?”
Ellison studied Winter carefully as she asked.
She couldn’t trust everything Winter said yet, but she decided to keep every possibility open for now.
“Wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t know?”
Winter replied with a light click of her tongue.
In the original story, Meydillian had been filthy, unnoticed by others, and always hid his face beneath shaggy hair, so hardly anyone even knew he existed.
But after being thoroughly washed, cleaned, and properly dressed, Meydillian looked exactly like the late Emperor.
Of course, ordinary people who had never seen the late Emperor wouldn’t know whether Meydillian resembled him.
As for the high-ranking nobles who did know the Emperor’s face, they rarely had any chance of meeting Meydillian, so no one had yet realized he was the hidden prince.
But thanks to Winter, Meydillian had now stepped into the light.
Soon enough, even Duke Vladimir would probably begin to suspect the truth.
That was why she needed to contact these people as quickly as possible.
If Meydillian couldn’t remain at the ducal estate for long, then he would need somewhere else to protect him.
“Ellison.”
Winter didn’t want to waste any more time.
She decided to reveal herself completely to the woman who still looked at her with suspicion.
After all, that was the entire reason she had come.
The moment Winter suddenly called her by name, Ellison flinched.
“How do you know my… No, more importantly, do you even know what this place is before sending that letter?”
“Of course I do. You’re a member of the late Emperor’s secret guard, Arca.”
The moment Winter finished speaking, a faint breeze swept through the room.
In the blink of an eye, a sharp dagger was pressed beneath Winter’s chin.
She hadn’t clearly seen the movement, but the slight sting made her wince around her right eye.
It wasn’t a deep cut, but it seemed she had been nicked.
“Little one. Careless words can cost you your life.”
As though everything they had discussed until now had merely been a joke, Ellison’s expression turned ice cold.
Meeting that face head-on, Winter simply let out a small whistle with a mischievous grin.
She showed not the slightest hint of fear.
“If you want, I can tell you even more.”
“…What?”
Normally, any child would have burst into tears by now or at least looked frightened.
But Winter showed none of that.
Did this kid leave her courage somewhere else?
Completely dumbfounded, Ellison frowned deeply.
But Winter paid no attention and continued.
“For example, you’re exceptionally talented in spatial movement magic. After the late Emperor died, you used it to escape the Imperial Palace while avoiding the Regent Emperor’s eyes.”
“Y-You… T-That’s impossible…”
“Or should I mention that Bailey, the manager of this merchant guild, is Arca’s commander—and your twin younger brother?”
Shock spread across Ellison’s face.
Winter smiled broadly and whispered like a tiny devil.
“Oh dear. I already said everything.”
Those words, which seemed to see through every secret she possessed, drained the color from Ellison’s face.
Until now, she had still suspected that someone mysterious had simply used a child to investigate them.
No matter how she thought about it, it was impossible to believe that such a little girl had written that letter and brought Meydillian here herself.
Even after seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it.
But what was this?
These weren’t things a child could simply memorize and recite.
Then… then…
Was all of this really orchestrated by this little girl?
Only then did Ellison finally grasp the situation.
A chill raced down her spine.
Her shoulders trembled before she slowly lowered her dagger and stepped back.
“W-Who exactly are you?”
“Winter.”
“…Not your name. Tell me who you really are.”
“You’ve heard the rumors about the wrist collector of House Vladimir, haven’t you?”
The instant Winter finished speaking, the noble registry seemed to reorganize itself inside Ellison’s mind.
Along with all the rumors currently spreading throughout the Imperial Capital.
From the moment the letter instructed them to send a signal to House Vladimir, she had assumed the sender was somehow connected to that family.
But she had never imagined that the infamous little monster behind those rumors was the mastermind behind all of this.
Only then did Ellison truly notice Winter’s black hair and golden eyes.
It was something she hadn’t even considered until now.
“So you’re that Winter Vladimir…”
Ellison muttered quietly, suddenly finding the angelic face before her strangely terrifying.
“More importantly, could you at least give me a handkerchief?”
Winter grumbled softly as she touched the cut on her neck.
Looking at the blood staining her fingertips, she frowned.
“I cough up blood every day as it is, and now I’m bleeding again.”
“Ah… Sorry.”
Looking embarrassed, Ellison pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and offered it to her.
“It’s fine. Things like this happen while you’re working.”
Winter accepted it without hesitation and pressed it against the wound to stop the bleeding.
Time had been short, so she had no choice but to use a rather forceful method.
Even so, Winter knew perfectly well that there weren’t many ten-year-old children who spoke and acted like this.
Despite that, she deliberately chose not to wear the mask of an innocent child in front of Ellison.
Ellison could handle it.
Besides, they would have to work together closely from now on.
She had no intention of wasting time being dismissed every time with, “What could a child possibly know?”
So first, she needed to earn the trust of Ellison—the brains and strategist of Arca.
Meanwhile, Ellison stared at the extraordinary little girl as though entranced.
A tiny, slender body that nearly disappeared into the sofa.
A cup of hot chocolate and tongue-tingling sweets placed before her looked perfectly natural.
No matter how she looked at her, Winter was nothing more than a bright little child with soft, fluffy cheeks who looked as though she could burst into cheerful laughter at any moment.
Yet those large eyes never released Ellison’s gaze.
Golden eyes so vivid that they commanded attention.
Eyes that refused to let anyone carelessly look away.
Even seeing them herself, Ellison found the sensation almost unbelievable.
Just then, as if she had noticed Ellison staring, Winter lifted her head.
Without speaking, the two exchanged a silent look.
A moment later, Ellison’s shoulders shook violently.
For in those golden eyes, instead of childish innocence, she suddenly saw wisdom that seemed capable of piercing through the entire world.
The realization struck her like lightning.
“What… what is it that you want?”
The honorifics came out naturally.
Neither of them found it strange.
Winter smiled faintly before answering.
“I want Mei to become Emperor.”
It was an incredibly weighty declaration to come from someone casually swinging her feet while leaning back on the sofa.
Ellison didn’t forget that the speaker was the sole heir of House Vladimir.
Her first thought was that perhaps Winter intended to support Meydillian from childhood so that, once he became Emperor, she could control him from behind the scenes.
“I know what you’re worrying about, but it’s unnecessary.”
As if she had already read Ellison’s thoughts, Winter spoke first.
“You’ve heard the other rumors too, haven’t you?”
At those words, Ellison tilted her head in confusion, something quite unlike her.
She couldn’t immediately tell which rumors Winter meant.
“I’m going to die within the next eight years.”
Winter calmly confessed her predetermined future.
Her face was as tranquil as a still lake without a single ripple.
Staring directly at that strange sight, Ellison finally voiced the question that had lingered in her mind all along.
“Why… why are you going this far?”
At the question, Winter’s eyes widened.
As if recalling someone, the icy, razor-sharp expression she had worn until now softened like shimmering spring haze.
“Because…”
“I like him.”
As she said those words, Winter’s face looked just a little shy.
