🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 21
Holding Isid’s hand, I left the dining room and walked aimlessly until I stopped in the entrance hall. Then I looked back and forth between the front door and the staircase.
Where should I show him first…?
It didn’t take long to decide.
“So, where should I introduce first? The inside of the mansion or outside? You choose.”
Naturally, I pushed the decision onto him. Isid let out a small laugh.
“Outside.”
It was exactly the answer I had hoped for.
“Good choice. Our garden is really beautiful.”
For some reason, the thought of showing Isid the garden made me excited. Honestly, just having a meal with him and walking side by side like this already made me happy.
We headed outside.
Passing proudly through the entrance where I had crept in like a criminal the night before, we stepped into the garden. I noticed Isid quietly looking around.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
He glanced around lightly before calmly nodding.
“It’s your style.”
“My style?”
“Nature feels alive here.”
His casual words slowly sank into my ears. Then I saw the faint smile that followed.
You really… haven’t forgotten anything.
“So this is what people mean when they say they’re full without eating.”
For some reason, I felt strangely emotional—
“You already ate a lot earlier. Was it not enough?”
…Yeah, right.
The gratitude I had been feeling disappeared instantly. I glared at him, and Isid looked puzzled as he rested a hand on my head.
“You eat that much, so why are you still this short?”
He muttered as if he truly couldn’t understand.
Y-You… you insensitive jerk.
Just as I was about to get angry, I heard someone trying to hold back laughter.
Of course, it was Isid.
The moment I realized it, he looked at me as if I were something small and adorable before thoroughly ruffling my hair.
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
I hurriedly pulled away, but by then my hair was already a complete mess.
“You seriously…!”
I roughly guessed how terrible it looked and glared at him.
Do you know how much effort it takes to keep this naturally curly hair neat? Basha carefully brushes it every morning and every evening!
But my anger didn’t last long.
“Haha.”
The moment I saw Isid laughing so freely, just like he used to in the past, all my irritation melted away like cotton candy dropped into water.
Sigh… If only I weren’t so weak against that smile, I’d mess up his hair the same way.
Letting out a long sigh, I sulkily tried to fix my hair. Then Isid gently grabbed my wrist.
“I’ll do it.”
“Oh, come on. You cause the problem and then offer the cure?”
“I’ve wanted to try it ever since we first met. It feels interesting.”
“What’s so interesting about it…?”
Even while grumbling, I naturally let him handle my hair.
He smiled softly.
“Neither of us had curly hair before. It’s interesting.”
His quiet voice accompanied the gentle movement of his fingers as they slowly smoothed my hair.
“Hmm… now that you mention it, I guess you’re right…”
Come to think of it, Isid had always been something close to a mild germaphobe. He hated other people touching him, and he also hated touching others.
When we first met, he’d been especially cold toward me.
Remembering those old days made me chuckle.
“What?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking about when we first met.”
For once, Isid actually hesitated.
“…Why bring that up?”
His delayed reply sounded rather displeased.
That period was something of a dark past for him.
I smiled to myself and closed my eyes.
“If someone had told the me back then that someday you’d be fixing my hair like this, I would’ve never believed it.”
“…”
“Seriously. You never know what’ll happen. Who would’ve thought I’d become this close to that prickly Black Dragon?”
My playful teasing continued until Isid let out a deep sigh.
He had clearly realized I was making fun of him.
But hearing him sigh only made me laugh harder.
For quite a while, I couldn’t stop laughing.
After wandering through the garden, the greenhouse, and the knights’ training grounds while talking nonstop, I had completely run out of energy.
One downside of having a child’s body was the terrible stamina.
Some children supposedly never got tired.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.
Maybe it’s because I’m only pretending to be a child…
Well, today I had walked much longer than usual.
We’d already been outside for two hours.
It was only natural that I was exhausted.
“Let’s take a break.”
Announcing our break without discussion, I plopped down onto the grass.
A little farther ahead was my favorite canopy, but resting right now was much more important.
Leaning back until I was almost lying down, I supported myself with one hand and fanned my slightly flushed face.
Soon, a pleasantly cool breeze wrapped around my body.
It was Isid.
“Ahhh… that’s nice…”
Stretching my arms while groaning in satisfaction, I heard him chuckle.
“That kind of sigh doesn’t really suit a child.”
I shrugged.
“So what? Besides, I don’t want to keep pretending to be a little kid in front of you.”
I had mostly gotten used to it now, but for the past few years I’d worked incredibly hard pretending to be an actual child.
Just remembering it made me sigh.
“You’ll never understand. Living as a child while having the mind of a grown-up is really, really hard.”
“You seem perfectly suited for it.”
“Not at all…”
My voice trailed off as something suddenly came to mind.
Come to think of it… did I kiss Dad good morning earlier?
Thinking carefully, I remembered walking into the dining room with Isid before immediately hugging Father.
Kizeph and Werner had also naturally treated me like their little sibling…
I’d become so used to living as the youngest child of the Valentine family that, even with Isid right beside me, I’d acted completely like a little kid without even realizing it.
I pressed a hand against my forehead.
…Sigh.
So this was why people said habits were scary.
“…Could you just forget all that?”
I muttered gloomily.
Sensing my mood, the spirits gathered around me.
They rarely took physical form, but they were almost always by my side. Occasionally they’d return to the Spirit Realm, but that only happened once in a while.
Rani fluttered down onto my head.
Tero curled up on my shoulder.
Selly sat on my lap, lazily swishing her fluffy tail.
Finally, Khan gave my cheek a quick lick before lying stretched out at my feet.
“They’re still as attached to you as ever.”
Watching the spirits, Isid smiled.
The others showed little reaction, but Khan briefly lifted his eyes before quietly lying back down.
There was a faint trace of warmth in his gaze.
“Come to think of it, you two got along pretty well, didn’t you?”
“He’s the calmest one. Kind of cute too.”
“Hmm. Khan is definitely calm.”
“As for the others…”
Isid’s gaze swept over Rani, Tero, and Selly, who were practically glued to me.
“They’re… a little too obsessed with you.”
There was only the slightest hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.
I stared at him in disbelief.
Obsessed?
Who in the world described the bond between a spirit and its spirit contractor as obsession?
“My head actually hurts now… Have you always thought that?”
Isid clicked his tongue.
“Did you forget? Every time I got even a little close to you, they’d glare at me.”
“…Did they?”
“That picky fox even tried to burn my hair.”
Suddenly, an old memory flashed through my mind.
Oh… Right. That happened too.
“Haha…”
When I laughed awkwardly, Isid gave me an I told you so smile.
It was a little irritating, but it was true that Selly had always been unusually hostile toward him.
Though, to be fair, Isid hadn’t exactly been innocent either.
When Selly tried to burn his hair, Isid drenched her with freezing cold water, then even shaved off her beautiful fluffy fur.
After that, Selly’s fur stood on end every time she saw him.
It had taken three whole years before the two of them could peacefully exist in the same space.
Well… after three years they mostly just acted like the other didn’t exist…
Remembering that time, I gave him a flat look.
“What?”
“I used to hear that people become shameless as they get older.”
“And?”
“Turns out it’s not just humans.”
“Why am I suddenly the one getting insulted?”
“Put your hand on your heart and think about it. Did Selly really attack you for no reason? You’re completely rewriting history.”
“That’s unfair. You stumbled, so I was just trying to catch you.”
“As if that was your only offense, you King of Prickliness. Honestly, you’re the last person who gets to call Selly cold.”
“So you’re telling me right to my face that my personality is terrible…”
At his slow remark, I playfully shrugged.
“It’s true. Even if you’re my friend, facts are facts.”
I answered calmly, blinking innocently.
Isid let out a helpless laugh.
But there wasn’t the slightest sign that he was offended.
Resting an arm on his raised knee, he turned fully toward me.
“I see.”
The disbelief from a moment ago had vanished from his voice, replaced by a lazy, relaxed tone.
“It’s been a long time since someone insulted me to my face.”
He looked straight at me with a faint smile.
“Go on. Say more.”
