VDHI 14

Lephonia looked at the chocolates and candies piled in Pellens’s palm. There was such a thing as too much sweetness, and with this many gathered together, even the smell felt sickening.

When he suddenly chased all the maids away, she thought he wanted to fight.

But instead, he snatched away the figs and honey-preserved apples she had been happily eating and offered her chocolates and candies.

And then he said he would stand guard, so she should hurry and eat them while no one was looking.

“Give me back my figs and preserved apples.”

“What? Not the chocolates and candies?”

Pellens shouted in disbelief and turned his head toward her.

“Do you even know what these are? Have you never eaten chocolate or candy before? Well, Father only cares about health, so I guess he’d never give you something like this. …Hey, try this. Once you taste it, you won’t even think about figs or apples anymore.”

“I know them too. Buddy gave me some before.”

“You’ve had them before? And you still want figs and apples?”

“They taste good when you eat one, but if you eat too many, you get sick of them.”

Out of the countless candies, Lephonia picked only a single one.

“You’re the first five-year-old I’ve ever seen show restraint in front of chocolate and candy. …When I was your age, I secretly ate nothing but chocolate behind Father’s back and got a stomachache.”

“You gave them to me so I’d get a stomachache?”

“Hey. This little bit isn’t enough to upset your stomach. You’d have to eat for hours before that happened.”

…Maybe this explained why the second son still hadn’t graduated from the academy.

“I’m still a patient.”

Five-year-old Lephonia spoke with a composed expression.

“Patients need to eat healthy food. If the doctor catches me eating only chocolate and candy, there’ll be trouble.”

“That’s why I said I’d keep watch while you ate.”

“And why should I trust you?”

“What?”

Pellens paused. In the meantime, Lephonia retrieved the figs and preserved apples he had taken away and casually stabbed one with her fork.

“You’re not on my side anyway.”

Unlike yesterday, she didn’t call him “you,” but she didn’t use his name either. Still, she didn’t want to call him oppa.

Of course, before becoming younger, Lephonia had been twenty years old while Pellens was twenty-three, so technically he was older.

‘If I call him oppa, it really feels like I completely stole this princess’s place. I don’t like that.’

Lephonia was only a substitute that would last a few years at most, maybe only a few months.

“You think I’m a fraud.”

Lephonia calmly said it while popping a preserved apple into her mouth.

“You came to kick me out, didn’t you?”

There was no need to dance around the issue.

With one piece of preserved apple stuffed into each cheek, Lephonia mumbled as she chewed.

‘Putting food in both cheeks makes my tongue firmer and opens my mouth wider. I think my pronunciation’s getting better.’

I should practice speaking like this whenever I eat snacks from now on.

Lephonia chewed away while thinking strange thoughts.

“What exactly are you? You know all that, and you can still talk to me like this?”

As if changing masks, Pellens’s eyes turned cold.

“Lephonia Kreitan. I told you yesterday.”

Lephonia muttered her own name indifferently. Perhaps because she had introduced herself so many times already, the surname Kreitan after Lephonia’s name now felt surprisingly natural.

“…Kid. You still don’t understand how heavy that name is.”

Pellens muttered coldly.

Clatter.

With a stiff expression, Pellens dumped the chocolates and candies from his palm onto the table. It looked almost like he was throwing them away, or perhaps like a sandcastle collapsing.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Pellens sat across from her, resting his chin on his hand.

“Then I’d like you to quietly leave the estate without causing any trouble.”

Lephonia silently chewed on her apples.

“If you promise to leave peacefully, I’ll support you until you come of age. I’ll provide a safe and clean house, and if you want, I’ll even send you to the academy. You won’t have to struggle until adulthood.”

“You should graduate first before saying things like that.”

Five-year-old Lephonia bluntly pointed that out to the adult Pellens.

His face twisted.

“That’s because I chose not to graduate, not because I couldn’t! I could pass the graduation exam immediately this time.”

“Oh.”

Lephonia nodded.

“It’s not a bad offer for you either, right? So when will you lea—”

“But I have no intention of leaving.”

Lephonia cut him off. At those words, darkness settled over Pellens’s face.

“Why? It’s warm and comfortable here.”

“Who said I didn’t know that? You’re talking about kicking me out like you’re inviting me on a stroll.”

Lephonia shook her head in disbelief and took another bite of fig.

The soft flesh spread through her mouth. As the ripe fig melted on her tongue, sweetness filled her mouth.

Mm. Fruits really do taste best when they’re fresh.

“When I’m offering to support you, it’d be smarter to listen to me, kid. What if I throw you out right now?”

Pellens threatened her in a menacing tone. If Lephonia had really been five years old, she might have considered it a good deal.

‘Is he planning to change his mind after kicking me out?’

But Lephonia was not five.

‘Once I find the heirloom and leave, I can live freely however I want. I won’t need anyone’s support.’

Lephonia studied Pellens.

‘He’s different from the rumors.’

People said he was selfish, moody, and such a delinquent that everyone around him walked on eggshells. There were even rumors that when he was in a bad mood, he would beat people half to death for merely making eye contact with him.

“Still, you won’t kick me out.”

“What? Ha, you’re awfully confident, kid.”

Pellens sneered.

“Since you’re so certain, I guess you’ve got something to rely on? You even brought up the word fraud yourself earlier. Did the people who sent you here warn you never to leave?”

Apparently convinced, Pellens narrowed his sharp eyes at her.

“Did you already forget the reason I explained earlier?”

“What? What reason?”

Pellens asked while radiating killing intent. Lephonia blinked innocently.

“I’m still a patient.”

Realizing his mistake, the sharpness in Pellens’s eyes immediately softened.

Right. I knew he’d react like this.

Even Pellens, with all his terrible rumors, didn’t seem capable of treating a five-year-old child cruelly.

“You’re trying to throw out a sick five-year-old?”

“Ha. When you put it like that, I sound like complete trash. No, that’s not— I forgot about that… damn.”

Running a hand through his hair, Pellens grimaced. Unable to refute her, his blue eyes darted around restlessly.

Since she had been injured in the Kreitan estate, and the retainers might even be the culprits, he seemed to feel responsible even while wanting her gone.

‘It’s good that he feels indebted to me.’

Wasn’t indebtedness the weakest of all human emotions?

‘He’s softer than I expected.’

With an indifferent expression, Lephonia finished the rest of her preserved apple.

“Hey, kid.”

Watching her, Pellens spoke again.

“Why don’t you call me oppa?”

Lephonia tilted her head.

“Are you my oppa?”

“What?”

“You’re not my oppa. You don’t even think I’m the real princess.”

Lephonia sounded calm. As though she had already accepted her position, and even accepted the fact that no one besides Duke Kreitan considered her family.

As though it were only natural.

“So how could I casually address the second son of House Kreitan?”

Calling him by name felt too familiar, and calling him oppa didn’t suit them since they weren’t family.

“You’re going back to the academy anyway, aren’t you? Since you still haven’t graduated.”

“Hey, kid. About that graduation thing… ha, I really am graduating this time. I’m going to graduate at the top of my class, just watch.”

“We’ll see.”

“What? Do you think I can’t graduate because I’m stupid? I told you, I just chose not to—!”

“That’s not it. I just don’t know whether I’ll still be here by the time you graduate. I might suddenly die in an accident, leave, or get disowned.”

“What? Hey, what kind of thing is that to say—”

“No one knows the future. I never imagined I’d be living in a nice estate like this, wearing good clothes, eating fresh fruit, and being called a princess.”

At best, she had only planned to infiltrate the estate disguised as a maid. Who could have expected her to become the princess instead?

“So because you don’t know what’ll happen in the future, you’re saying you won’t call me anything while you’re here?”

“Using your name feels too familiar, and I don’t want to use that title.”

Pellens furrowed his brows. He was clearly talking to a five-year-old, yet strangely, it felt as though there was a wall between them. There was nothing in the emotions behind her words.

As if they had long since faded away from age, there were no dreams or hopes left. Only old helplessness and resignation, crumpled and worn with time.

How could that possibly be the emotions of a mere five-year-old?

“…Was I this numb too? I don’t think I was this bad.”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Pellens shook his head.

“Still, you need some kind of title to call me by. Like you said, nobody knows the future.”

“Then… what should I call you?”

“If names are too familiar and oppa’s off-limits, then just make something up yourself, kid. …Hey, the sunlight’s blinding over here.”

Pellens gestured toward the maid standing quietly beside Lephonia. Startled, the maid hurriedly opened a parasol and approached him.

“What are you doing? Not for me.”

Pellens pointed his chin toward Lephonia. Only then did the maid notice the sunlight shining on Lephonia’s arms and quickly moved the parasol over her.

“Didn’t you hear there was a fire in her room? The kid might have burns, so shouldn’t you be properly shielding her from sunlight?”

“S-sorry.”

“If you can’t even do your job right, then hand in your resignation and quit.”

Pellens leaned back in his chair with an irritated look and closed his eyes.

‘So the rumors about his personality weren’t completely false.’

Lephonia thought deeply, relieved she currently looked like a five-year-old.

“Hmm. Then… Sunbae-nim?”

“…What?”

Pellens, who had been reclining in his chair, sat upright in disbelief.

“Hey. Is that really the kind of title family members use?”

“We’re not family, so why do you keep talking about family? I already told you I don’t have family here.”

“…You really are good with words.”

“And you’re planning to throw me out anyway, aren’t you? Why are you so obsessed with titles?”

Pellens froze.

“…Good point.”

The strength drained from his voice. While eating a fig, Lephonia glanced at him.

“Maybe I’m crazy like Father. Or maybe your face reminds me too much of someone.”

“My face?”

As Lephonia touched her cheeks, Pellens merely laughed. Then, as if nothing had happened, he cheerfully said,

“Anyway, I’m not your senior, am I?”

“…Earlier you said you’d support me and even let me attend the academy if I wanted. Then calling you senior isn’t exactly wrong.”

At the logical rebuttal from a five-year-old, Pellens was left speechless.

“I even tell my academy juniors not to call me that because it’s creepy.”

“Mmm. Then you don’t like it?”

Lephonia cautiously asked while reading his expression.

Seeing a five-year-old carefully watching his mood suddenly made Pellens feel terrible. Closing his eyes as though he had given up, he leaned back into his chair again.

“Ha, just call me whatever you want. Senior, junior… what does any of that even matter?”

“Okay, Sunbae-nim.”

Smiling, Lephonia finished the last of her preserved apples.

Even though he had nothing to say and nothing to do, Pellens stayed by Lephonia’s side with his eyes closed.

Until she finished eating all the preserved apples and figs.