SRNVW 02

Chapter 02 …

“……”

“……”

“……”

Among the speechless adults wearing foolish expressions, only the child stood there confidently with her chest puffed out.

A heavy silence settled over the lobby.

I was the first to regain my senses.

“W-what did you just say? Um… Arteia?”

“Hmph!”

There was no need to ask, You’re Arteia, right?

Instead of answering, the child merely snorted—but she didn’t deny who she was.

More importantly, she had just called me “Aunt.”

Am I dreaming? Or hallucinating?

Wow. One day, out of nowhere, a niece appears.

Even before the thank-you card I had been half-hoping might someday arrive.

I was just thinking about Arteia, but… what is going on?

She looked exactly like the niece I had imagined countless times.

But this sudden reunion with the child… was not touching in the slightest.

“Is she truly your niece?”

“She is.”

The child gazed up at me with clear eyes.

Just moments ago, I had been thinking I might never get to see my niece’s face.

None of this felt real.

When I glanced at the security officer with a questioning look, he explained.

“She was standing alone in the street. It looked dangerous, so we brought her here.”

“Arteia was alone?”

“Yes.”

I looked around, but there was no nanny or maid in sight.

Well, I am her aunt. If she wanted to see me, maybe Arteia could come on her own. Sure. Let’s go with that.

But to show up so suddenly, without any notice?

In neither my past life nor this one have I ever dealt with children.

Using an awkward tone, I spoke first.

“Arteia. You didn’t come here by yourself, did you? Where is your nanny? Or a maid? Your escort knight? Did you perhaps lose them…?”

“Why are you looking for other people?”

Her voice sharpened.

Because it would be difficult to get a proper explanation from a small child about how she traveled such a long distance, I answered silently.

Do you know how far it is from the duke’s estate to here?

It takes at least a full day of carriage travel.

And she crossed that distance alone, without anyone stopping her?

I subtly signaled the servants to find out in detail how Arteia had gotten here.

If the duke’s estate had been nearby, or if she were at least fifteen, I wouldn’t be this flustered!

I thought I might cry when I saw the face that resembled my sister’s.

But when my niece showed up out of nowhere after several years, what I felt was shock and bewilderment.

Still… I felt a pressing need to do something!

Her cheeks are puffing up more and more. At this rate, they’re going to burst! Ugh, if I’d known she was coming, I would’ve prepared something—something a child would like!

Right. She’s a child, and I’m the adult.

Whatever it is, I should take the lead.

I cleared my throat several times and softened my tone.

“Well, the Killet Duke’s estate where you live is very far away. Since no one was with you, and the officer said you were alone, I was worried…”

“I did come alone.”

“Hm?”

A brief silence fell.

I dismissed a sudden, dreadful possibility and asked gently again.

“Wow… so after getting separated from the adults, you followed the officers here all by yourself?”

“That’s right!”

Arteia lifted her chin high.

Though she was tiny and adorable, the twitching corners of her lips suggested my tone had been effective.

“Isn’t it amazing? I snuck out without the adults knowing!”

“Pardon?”

My voice dropped again.

“You came out of the duke’s estate alone? Secretly?”

What in the world was she saying?

“I thought I couldn’t because the nanny’s always with me. But I did a ‘run-away’!”

“What?”

“You’re an adult and you don’t even know what running away means? I’m only six and I know!”

“That’s not—”

“Running away means secretly leaving home. Ahem! I use lots of difficult words all the time!”

Flushed with excitement, Arteia began boasting about how smart she was and how many difficult words she usually used.

Like a true child, her words lacked order and structure, making it hard to follow.

But one thing was crystal clear.

Arteia ran away from home.

Is that even possible?

My already tangled thoughts spiraled into chaos.

A duke’s daughter slipped out without anyone noticing?

Noble ladies are guarded like fortresses and cared for with the utmost devotion.

Even an ordinary child traveling alone such a distance is absurd—yet the Princess of Killet ran away and no one knew?

How little attention must they have paid her!

“Arteia. Running away isn’t something to say proudly. Do you understand what you’ve done?”

Just yesterday, I had received news that a village had been destroyed by a monster rampage.

Kidnapping, disappearance, countless dangers filled my mind.

The voice I had tried to keep gentle darkened again.

“You arrived safely because you were lucky. But this was extremely dangerous. If someone with bad intentions had tried to harm you—!”

Though caught off guard, I was still a former mage of the Magic Tower.

Mages are known for their pride and refusal to back down.

My specialty was cornering them with airtight logic they couldn’t refute.

“Outrunning the adults and coming alone is nothing to brag about!”

“U-uuu…”

But my eloquence, which I had once been so proud of, did not shine today.

“Arteia?”

I had overlooked something.

My opponent wasn’t a mage.

She was merely a six-year-old child.

I had never once engaged in an argument with such an opponent.

“Waaahhh!”

Instead of admitting defeat to my sharp reasoning, she burst into loud sobs, tears pouring down like beads.

Where did the child who had stood so confidently before all the adults go? What happened all of a sudden?

My earlier firmness vanished instantly, and I flailed helplessly before the crying child.

“Um, hey—”

“Waaahhh!”

Her cries only grew louder.

In the end, I shut my mouth and stopped my brain entirely, repeating only one thing.

“I’m sorry! Auntie’s sorry!”

Today will go down in history.

I’ve never suffered such an overwhelming, crushing defeat in my life…

“Y-you h-hate me. Waaah…”

“Arteia, I was just worried about you. I don’t hate you!”

“Liar!”

“The world is dangerous! There are bad adults out there! I was afraid something might have happened!”

How many times had I apologized, gently patting her small shoulders, insisting that I didn’t hate her?

My careful choice of words and desperate mental effort were finally starting to pay off.

“If I weren’t worried about you, I wouldn’t have asked those things.”

“Sniff.”

Fortunately, it seemed to work a little. Though she hadn’t stopped crying completely, Arteia lifted her head from where she had buried it.

That was when I noticed.

“Hm?”

At first, her sudden visit.

Then, how she had been hiding something behind her back.

And now, obscured by her sobbing…

“I’m not a thoughtless idiot!”

A tattered purple cat doll appeared—the one she had clutched so tightly.

It was something familiar to me.

“Th-this is the present Auntie sent! You said it would protect me!”

Yes. I had written that in the card I sent with the doll.

—You look like a baby kitten. Arteia resembles my sister—so aloof and cute!
—Bellona. A cat suits you too!

When Arteia was still a baby, before her features were even distinct, the slightly upturned corners of her eyes had caught my attention.

So when I made the doll, I thought of the purple eyes shared by my sister, Arteia, and me—and created a purple cat.

I did put a protective spell on it…

But in the eyes I found most beautiful, tears of injustice shimmered.

She couldn’t explain herself well because she was a child… but it seemed she was saying, I didn’t come here without thinking.

“I wasn’t scared at all because I had Nya-nya. I don’t need adults.”

“I see…”

Only then did I realize my fatal mistake.

After years apart—almost strangers from her perspective—she meets her aunt, and I immediately scold her.

No wonder she was shocked.

I should have greeted her first, heard her out, and only then told her not to do it again.

I’ve never been close to children.

Never raised one, either.

This was entirely my fault.

Ever since my sister and brother-in-law died in an accident, I’ve been overly sensitive.

“I’m truly sorry for raising my voice so suddenly.”

“Hic.”

“But Arteia, I’ll say it again—I didn’t say those things because I hate you. I said them because I care about you.”

Belatedly, to say the most important words, I crouched down to meet her eyes.

“Arteia, hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hmph.”

“My name is Bellona Sortis. I really am your aunt.”

I was just surprised—not unhappy to see you.

“I’ve wanted to see you for a long time, Arteia. I’ve thought about you so much.”

“……”

“Look—even now.”

I took her small hand and led her to my workshop.

Magical tools in progress were scattered everywhere.

“Just like when I sent the cat doll, I was making a birthday present for you this time.”

Arteia’s eyes widened as she looked.

“In fact, just a moment ago, I was thinking about you.”

“……”

“Arteia, can you read?”

I gently tugged her hand as she showed interest.

On the desk were blueprints and little scribbled notes I had written while thinking of her.

Would Arteia like this?
It’d be nice to ask her in person.
I want to adjust it to her height—how tall is she now?

By now, Arteia had stopped crying.

“If I’d known you were coming, Auntie would’ve prepared delicious food and fun toys and waited for you. I promise I’ll do that next time. Will you forgive me just this once?”

“O-okay.”

Relieved that she seemed convinced, I suddenly heard her murmur something that made me doubt my ears.

“Thank goodness… I thought Auntie hated me too…”

…What did Arteia just say?