RWMU 08

Chapter 08

“Hahaha.”

Leonhardt stared blankly at Miela laughing loudly.

When was it?

The last time she had laughed like this.

He couldn’t remember the exact moment.

But he was certain it had been before she married him.

More than the embarrassment of having done something foolish, he felt happier seeing Miela’s bright smile again after so long.

With his ears turning red from embarrassment, Leonhardt waited until Miela laughed to her heart’s content.

After a while, Miela wiped the tears that had formed from laughing so hard with the back of her hand and said cheerfully,

“For the next four years? Maybe five? I’ll probably be stronger than you!”

With both hands on her hips, the proudly puffed-up Miela looked as fresh as the first sprouts of early spring.

So much so that the corners of Leonhardt’s lips—frozen ever since he had gone from a cold, capable emperor back to the miserable monster of the abandoned palace—softened.

“We’ll see if it really takes four years.”

And just like when they were children, he naturally teased her.

Perhaps because of that, even though their last meeting before the regression had been terrible and their first meeting after it had been extremely brief and chaotic, the atmosphere was warm.

After a few more childish back-and-forth exchanges, Miela suddenly flinched.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Leonhardt asked cautiously. Miela grabbed her head with both hands and shouted,

“This isn’t the time to be doing this! I got distracted because of you!”

Leonhardt felt unfairly blamed, since he hadn’t done anything to distract her.

But he wasn’t given a chance to defend himself.

Without sparing him even a second glance, Miela roughly untied the strap of her rabbit bag.

“This is a wooden sword. It’s old because Lester used it when he was little, but it’s better than a tree branch.”

Like a knight offering a sword to a defeated opponent during sparring, she boldly thrust the sword forward.

“O-oh. Thanks.”

Overwhelmed by Miela’s forceful energy, Leonhardt accepted the wooden sword.

“And this…”

Miela’s tiny hands, as small as her lips, busily moved around.

From the rabbit bag poured endless items—things like toys and dried fruits, snacks that could last a long time.

In an instant, Leonhardt’s small arms were filled with all sorts of things.

It was amazing how all of that had even fit inside such a small bag.

Leonhardt quickly caught a toy ball that was about to fall.

The once-stuffed rabbit bag became flat in an instant.

Miela rummaged deep inside the bag for a while before pulling something out with a bright smile.

“Lastly—this is a communication orb!”

Leonhardt carefully accepted the colorful marble-like orb, far more crude than the communication devices he knew.

“This is a communication orb?”

Noticing his doubt, Miela puffed herself up and answered more confidently to hide her embarrassment.

“Well… it’s a toy communication orb.”

“A toy?”

When Leonhardt questioned her, Miela chattered on.

“Even though it looks like that, the function is almost the same as the real one. It can only communicate for about ten minutes a day, and there’s a distance limit.”

In other words, it was a toy that young noble children used to talk with their friends.

Miela also explained that, by sheer luck, the duke’s mansion and the abandoned palace were just barely within the communication range of the toy orbs.

“Take good care of it. Contact me between 2 and 4 in the afternoon—or after 9 at night if you can.”

“Okay.”

Obediently nodding, Leonhardt carefully set down the wooden sword, toys, and snacks Miela had given him.

Then he hid the communication orb deep under the bed first.

Miela helped him hide the rest of the items.

Even though the maids had become a bit more diligent than before, they still didn’t clean under the bed very thoroughly.

So the two of them quickly became covered in dust.

Miela brushed the dust off her hair.

She also swept the dust on the floor back under the bed with her foot.

Leonhardt clumsily dusted himself off with the awkward movements of a four-year-old.

“Oh, right.”

After finishing first, Miela suddenly looked serious.

“What?”

“I didn’t bring any mana stones. Then you won’t be able to use it many times. Maybe four or five?”

Among the things Miela had given him, the only item that needed a mana stone was the communication orb.

Leonhardt had thought that Miela gave it to him so he could contact her only in very urgent situations.

But her explanation was different from what he expected.

“I probably won’t be able to come for about two weeks, so try to use it sparingly. I’ll definitely bring mana stones next time.”

Leonhardt asked without thinking.

“You’re coming again? And it’s okay to contact you that often?”

Wanting her to come often, he ended up asking like a child.

Leonhardt bit his lower lip with his baby teeth.

An awkward silence filled the bedroom.

As Leonhardt glanced at Miela, he scolded himself.

Even if it was just empty words—if she says she won’t come again, don’t show that you’re disappointed.

Considering how cold their relationship had become after marriage, he should already be grateful that Miela had come to see him twice.

If he were Miela, the moment he realized he had returned to childhood, he would have completely cut off any contact with a husband he had no affection for.

But Miela’s reaction was completely different from what he expected.

She suddenly got angry, as if Leonhardt had told her never to come again.

“You! I came all the way here after thinking it through! If you don’t want to contact me, then don’t!”

She stomped her foot loudly, clearly upset.

Their relationship had briefly returned to the softness of childhood after they became children again.

But Leonhardt’s foolish mistake shattered that gentle atmosphere instantly.

“So what—you’re saying that since you remember everything, you can handle things by yourself?”

With a cold tone just like before the regression, Miela snapped at him and roughly grabbed her rabbit bag.

It looked like she might leave the palace at any moment and never come back.

Before, they had been bound together by political alliance and marriage.

But now it was different.

If Miela walked out now, he might lose her forever.

The sense of crisis gave courage to the timid Leonhardt.

“That’s not it…”

Leonhardt slowly stretched out his small hand and grabbed the edge of the rabbit bag.

Miela, who had looked ready to storm out of the bedroom, stopped easily under his weak grip.

“If that’s not it, then what?”

Miela crossed her arms and leaned on one leg as she asked.

The Miela he had known as his wife—the adult version of her—had immense pride.

Whenever Leonhardt made mistakes like this with his poor way of speaking, she would glare at him sharply and simply turn around and leave.

Later, when time had softened her feelings, she would return to him as the elegant and compassionate empress.

It had been a very long time since Leonhardt had been given a chance like this.

For a moment, he couldn’t speak.

The old Leonhardt—the one before the regression—would probably have tried to organize the messy thoughts in his head and ended up missing the chance entirely.

But his younger body didn’t know how to refine words.

“I… I was wondering when you’d come again.”

Leonhardt murmured with a timid voice and clumsy pronunciation.

Miela’s tone softened slightly as she replied irritably,

“I don’t know.”

Leonhardt held the rabbit bag a little tighter and asked hesitantly,

“You’ll come, right?”

The pleading tone that slipped out embarrassed him, but it seemed to help calm Miela down.

“I will, you idiot. Just because we turned into children and our marriage vows disappeared doesn’t mean the time we spent together vanished too.”

Hearing that, Leonhardt smiled so brightly that dimples formed on his cheeks.

He had thought Miela only considered him a husband on paper, or simply someone suitable for a noble lady like herself.

But now he realized she held some kind of feeling for him.

“Right. You’re my only friend, my family, and…”

He swallowed the rest of his words.

“…my lover.”