ITYVA 19

Chapter 19

“Still asleep, huh…”

Well, of course. For a child, it must’ve been such a traumatic experience.

Murmuring softly to myself, I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at As.

Curly hair falling over the forehead, long delicate eyelashes resting gently.

Clear, transparent skin that only children could have, and lips tinted a healthy crimson.

“At least your complexion looks good. Guess the healing worked well.”

I brushed As’s bangs to the side and smiled faintly.

All I could do was heal physical wounds. The rest… the child had to overcome on their own.

Slowly, I turned my head toward the window.

Through the frost-covered glass, pale green leaves shimmered under the sunlight.

“Hmm, hmmhmm…”

I tapped my foot gently and hummed a lullaby.

If he was going to sleep anyway, then better to dream sweet dreams instead of nightmares.

I’m not sure how long I’d been humming like that when—

Suddenly, I felt a faint pressure on my sleeve.

Startled, I turned around.

There, with eyes open, As was holding onto my sleeve and staring at me.

“That song… were you singing it to help me sleep?”

“…”

“I’m happy.”

The boy’s red eyes curved softly.

I looked at As for a moment, then slowly reached out and brushed his cheek with the back of my hand.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“And… no nightmares?”

“I didn’t have any.”

As answered in a small voice and held my hand against his cheek with both of his own.

I wondered what he was doing, but then he carefully leaned his face into my palm.

The sight was so unbearably cute that I couldn’t help but hold my breath.

Noticing that, As slowly opened his eyes, looked up at me, and smiled faintly.

Then he reached out and gently tapped my nose with his thumb.

“You have to breathe, Einra.”

“…Ah, r-right.”

I hastily inhaled and exhaled.

As giggled and released my hand.

“Thank you.”

“Hm?”

“For coming to save me.”

As said it so matter-of-factly.

I looked at him for a moment, then carefully asked,

“…Weren’t you scared?”

“I was.”

As lowered his gaze slightly.

“But… because you came, Einra…”

“…”

“Instead of being scared, I’d rather be glad.”

He lifted his eyes again and smiled at me with his red eyes curved sweetly.

The moment I saw that smile, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.

‘See? It doesn’t hurt anymore, right?’

‘…Yes. It doesn’t hurt at all.’

I definitely knew someone who smiled like that.

I knew, and yet…

‘…But that’s impossible.’

I bit my lip and quickly turned away.

Ridiculous. Absolutely absurd.

Even if, by some impossible chance, Aches had become a child again, there’s no way someone like him—who always kept his distance from me—would smile so innocently.

So As couldn’t possibly be Aches.

“…Einra? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

As’s worried voice reached my ears.

I turned my head and saw him trying to sit up in bed.

Flustered, I quickly stopped him and shook my head.

“No, I’m not hurt at all. I was just… thinking something ridiculous, that’s all. You should lie down a little longer.”

“…You’re really okay?”

His red eyes looked at me with concern.

“You don’t look well. Did you maybe get hurt back then too, Einra?”

As tucked my hair gently behind my ear as he asked.

His small, earnest face looked both funny and adorable.

I held back a laugh and nodded.

“Really, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me. Anyway, you just woke up, so you must be hungry, right? I’ll bring some food. Wait just a moment!”

Before As could stop me, I quickly stood up and left the room.

Forcing away the rising thoughts once again, I headed down to the kitchen.

The door closed.

Aches stared at it for a long moment before shutting his eyes.

He had sensed them while Einra was preparing breakfast.

The moment their presence reached him, Aches knew they were assassins sent by Grand Duke Baharman.

The underworld of Elberk—its assassins’ guilds and information networks—had long been under his control. But now, trapped in the body of a child, only his aide, Count Chevila, knew the truth.

‘Perhaps Harnen suspects something too, through Einra…’

But that wasn’t the point.

The real issue was that the Grand Duke, unaware that Aches controlled the guild, had hired assassins to kill him.

And since the assassins themselves didn’t know their target was Aches, they had simply come here to fulfill the contract.

‘But I can’t just tell them the truth.’

Even if they were technically his subordinates, Aches wasn’t the kind to spare every life.

‘What bothers me more is—how did Baharman learn I was here…?’

But he didn’t have the leisure to dwell on that.

Extinguishing the fire in the hearth, Aches calmly stepped outside so as not to raise suspicion.

Pretending to sweep the garden, he deliberately let himself be “captured.”

He hadn’t asked Einra for help because he didn’t want to burden her unnecessarily.

Even in the body of a child, Aches was a swordsman at the highest level.

Unlike the time he had been drunk, disarmed, and forced to face two knightly orders alone, here he only needed to seize a weapon at the right moment. Five assassins would be no trouble.

The assassins dragged him to the forest on the village outskirts.

Perhaps fearing Einra might follow, they set up small talismans inscribed with spells that suppressed spirit power.

Seizing the chance, Aches knocked one of them unconscious and stole his sword.

He wrapped the blade in aura and cut them down.

But the child’s body slowed him, and by the time only two remained, Einra had arrived.

The moment he sensed her approach, Aches cloaked the area in aura to block out all sound.

‘Einra mustn’t see this.’

He couldn’t let her discover the truth about “As” like this.

The pain tore through him, but he didn’t care.

As he clashed with the assassins, he listened for her footsteps.

Just as she came within reach, one assassin grabbed him.

In an instant, he was slammed to the ground, a sword raised to pierce his throat.

Of course, in the next second Einra stopped the strike with her water magic.

His memory blurred right after he rushed toward her.

It must have been the strain of using aura and wielding a sword in this child’s body that knocked him out.

‘At least Einra didn’t notice. That’s enough.’

As he thought that, he heard a knock on the door and her voice outside.

“As, I brought stew. I’m coming in.”

That voice—first time in five years, and yet always so welcome.

Unconsciously smiling, Aches replied,

“Yes, come in.”

As ate every last drop of the stew I’d brought.

I waited until he set the spoon down before carefully asking,

“As… did you make this stew?”

“Yes.”

As expected, he nodded.

I hesitated for a moment before asking again,

“Um… have you cooked before?”

“Are you surprised a kid can cook well?”

As giggled and asked back.

He’d hit the nail on the head, and I shut my mouth before sheepishly nodding.

“N-no, it’s not that I look down on you or anything! I was just honestly curious, that’s all. Really.”

“I know. You’re not the kind of person who looks down on anyone, Einra.”

As answered lightly with a smile.

Relieved, though strangely unsettled, I tilted my head.

To As, I was just an adult he’d known for about a week.

Sure, I’d helped him in various ways, but we weren’t that close.

Yet those words sounded as if he knew me very well.

Oblivious to my conflicted thoughts, As continued serenely,

“I wanted to cook for someone I liked. So I kept practicing, and I guess I just got better.”