MAS 13

-chapter 13-

I quickly turned my head, searching for the black hair, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, tiny Cideron wouldn’t be easy to spot. After all, I’m short too.

“Kids these days…”

I couldn’t just stay still.

Pouting my lips, I took a step forward.

“Where on earth is he?”

He seemed to dislike people as much as I did, so I figured he’d be somewhere quiet.

After wandering around the banquet hall for a while, I finally spotted a familiar back.

“Ah! Finally found you!”

Just as I was approaching him, a voice full of innocent curiosity stopped me in my tracks.

“Is that the monster?”

A pure, childlike voice came from somewhere nearby.

“Shh, adults told us not to call him that.”

A girl with sky-blue hair whispered, as if scolding the boy beside her.

But it didn’t seem entirely serious; a smile lingered on her face.

“Who cares? Even my family calls him that at home.”

“Yeah… that’s true too.”

Watching the children giggle, I couldn’t help but let out a brief, hollow laugh.

Kids these days, so cheeky!

“Whatever. It’s not my problem.”

They weren’t insulting me.

Besides, I had thought of Cideron as a monster too.

The rumors had already spread across the empire, so it wasn’t surprising that others would think of him that way.

“Then why do I feel so… off?”

Could it be… that only my husband is allowed to insult him? Something like that?

While I was lost in thought, one of the kids spoke up.

“But the Asitria dukes are a prestigious family.”

“That’s all in the past! Now they’re a bunch of emotionless monsters. If you poke your nose in, you could die without anyone even noticing!”

“I-I don’t want to die…!”

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

Then, a girl with a curious expression asked a question.

“But do they really not feel emotions?”

“Of course they don’t! The adults said so.”

“How sad.”

“Sad? What’s sad about a monster?”

“Well, think about it. How boring life must be if you can’t feel anything.”

It was surprisingly thoughtful, but the other kids didn’t seem to agree.

“Forget that. I have a great idea. Wanna hear it?”

“A great idea?”

“What is it?”

As the children turned their attention, the boy who had spoken earlier grinned mischievously.

He grabbed a glass of juice from a nearby servant and said,

“We’ll spill this on his clothes and pretend it was an accident.”

“On his clothes?”

“Yeah! If he really has no emotions, he won’t care, right?”

Hearing this, I could only shake my head. Truly, some kids…

I decided from that moment to believe in the inherent selfishness of humans.

The boy moved closer to Cideron, still holding the juice.

Honestly, it didn’t matter to me what the kids thought of Cideron.

I was going to just watch… but this was going a bit too far.

“What if Cideron lashes out at me?”

Of course, he wasn’t petty enough to do that, but I couldn’t let my guard down; there was no trust between us yet.

I glared sharply at the boy.

“You said ‘pretend it was an accident,’ right?”

Fine. I’d make it look like an accident myself!

Clenching my fists, I approached, but my dress slowed me down more than I expected.

Reluctantly, I lifted the dress with both hands and hurried forward, but the boy had already reached Cideron.

“Ugh!”

Was there anything I could throw?

My eyes swept to my feet.

“Aha.”

I quickly slipped off a shoe and held it in my hand. Just as I looked up to throw it, an unusual scene unfolded.

The boy had raised his arm to spill the juice, and Cideron was just staring at him.

Not glaring, just staring blankly.

Still, Cideron’s natural aura was intimidating, and the boy’s face began to turn pale.

“Is this my chance?”

I threw the shoe straight at the boy.

Honestly, I didn’t expect to hit.

In my previous life, my aim had been terrible—never hitting darts, balls, or anything.

But this time was different.

The shoe struck the boy’s wrist dead-on.

Clang!

The glass fell to the floor with a crash.

…Huh.

The commotion didn’t end there.

Thud.

The boy collapsed onto the floor, tears welling in his eyes.

“U-uhhh! M-mom!!”

Then, he crawled backward, retreating from Cideron.

It wasn’t over.

“See! He is a monster!”

“Did you see him break the glass just with his gaze?”

“L-let’s run! He might do that to us too!”

The kids screamed and bolted.

I wasn’t sure if it was lucky, but they didn’t realize it was me who had thrown the shoe.

Coincidentally, it seemed they blamed Cideron.

I quickly approached, picking up the shoe from the floor to cover up the evidence.

At the same time, the murmurs of nearby adults filled the air.

Unsurprisingly, none of it was good.

“A disturbing child.”

“What on earth happened here?”

“Tch. Why would His Majesty invite a child like this to a banquet?”

Me, of course.

Everyone muttered as they walked away. I bit my lip and stared at the shoe in my hand.

Well… it wasn’t entirely innocent. It happened because my aim was too good.

“I should… apologize.”

After all, they were angry because of me.

I cautiously approached Cideron.

“Um… Cideron.”

He didn’t look at me, but that was nothing new.

I persisted, speaking firmly.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Finally, his gaze shifted to me.

“For what?”

“For making you…”

I trailed off, and Cideron sighed briefly.

“You look weird.”

I hadn’t looked in a mirror, but I knew he was right.

Even trying not to, my face tensed without realizing it.

Cideron’s eyes landed on the shoe in my hand.

“That.”

I hid it behind my back. After all, this all happened because of that boy—and partly because of my own aim.

“I told you before—it’s pointless.”

“…What is?”

“Interfering in my affairs. It’ll only affect you.”

What is he even talking about?

“It won’t help you at all.”

Empty, vacant eyes.

I had seen eyes like that before.

In a past life I barely remembered.

“Who was it…”

Feeling like this meant he was probably someone I was close to.

I realized then: these weren’t eyes that felt no emotion.

They were eyes with no expectations.

Some might call it the same, but it was slightly different.

More accurately: eyes that had given up.

Then I remembered what I had asked him back then.

Ah, yes.

“…You really don’t care at all?”

I knew.

Cideron truly could not feel emotions.

The only one he could feel for was the heroine.

Usually, asking something like that would produce at least a slight expression, but not Cideron.

“Not at all. No matter what others think or whisper about me.”

The tension in my body slowly drained.

“What am I even doing, trying to hold onto him…”

As a faint annoyance arose at my own foolishness, Cideron spoke again.

“But… it feels weird because you’re looking at me like that.”

“…Weird? How?”

I asked uncertainly, hoping it wasn’t about romantic feelings.

“It feels… like it’s throbbing here.”

Cideron touched his chest as he spoke.

“….”

I gawked like an idiot, utterly confused and speechless.

He continued.

“You… really irritate me. From the moment you appeared, you’ve been bothering me.”

I swallowed hard.

“But strangely, it doesn’t feel bad. That’s why it bothers me even more.”

Cideron’s face looked utterly conflicted.

…It was the first time I had seen Cideron with a living expression.

“Um… you know…”

I spoke with a faint hope.

But at that moment—

“Who said that?!”

A furious voice came from behind.

I turned to see the boy who had fled in tears, and a taller man who looked like him.

A little young to be a father…

“Th-there! It’s him, it’s him!”

Ah, so that was his older brother.

The man, eyes blazing, turned to Cideron.

He flinched.

Of course, he wouldn’t fail to recognize Cideron—black hair was rare in the empire.

“He spilled juice on my clothes! Punish him!”

That sneaky brat!

Ignoring the fact that he started the trouble, he twisted the story to his advantage. My anger rose instantly.

It wasn’t my problem, and maybe it was pointless like Cideron said—but one thing was clear.

If I let this go, I would surely explode with frustration.

Apparently, I had a bit of a meddlesome streak.

“Hey!”

I stepped forward, and both brothers’ eyes turned to me.

“Who are you?”

Seeing them up close was intimidating. I hesitated slightly.

“I-I’ve been watching! He was about to spill the juice first.”

“…Really?”

“Uh, n-no! Brother! Why would I do such a thing! He’s lying!”

How could someone say that without missing a beat? Ridiculous.

‘Tried to act politely… but this won’t work.’

To deal with a shameless person, one must be equally shameless.

Sigh. I’m just a child. An innocent baby.

I steeled myself and opened my mouth.