Chapter 9
“Your daughter is very well-mannered. And she has quite a loud voice, too.”
“She’s not my daughter.”
Whoosh.
Vasily was rendered speechless.
That damn promotional flyer…
More importantly, why hadn’t the kid gone home yet?
Why was she still here?
The child peeked up again, watching Vasily’s reaction with only her eyes showing.
Perhaps sensing the anxiety in the way Vasily stood there, the little girl fidgeted nervously for a moment.
“Next, next!”
She hurriedly flipped through the sketchbook.
Then, all of a sudden, a silver crown of hair wobbled before tipping backward—
“Eek!”
Grab!
“You little brat! Are you trying to do something dangerous?!”
Vasily barked furiously.
It hadn’t even taken two seconds for him to fling open the window and catch the little girl’s body as she fell backward.
Haniel dangled in midair, blinking.
She stared at his wide, crimson eyes before turning her head with a little hoit to look behind her.
The wooden box she’d been using as a step had collapsed.
‘It’s okay even if I fell. I put lots and lots of straw on the floor so it’s nice and soft.’
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
For some reason, Vasily’s heartbeat seemed incredibly loud.
“……”
Haniel stared wide-eyed at the man holding her in his arms.
His arms were broad and solid.
And incredibly warm.
Just like Daddy’s arms…
“Thank youuu!”
Haniel quickly hopped down to the floor.
Vasily let out a long sigh.
“Haah… Seriously. So, why are you here?”
“Oh! Me? I came to apply for a welcome kit!”
Smack!
Haniel held out the promotional flyer.
Vasily narrowed his eyes.
“I don’t remember ever welcoming you.”
“You did! You said I could live here until the day after tomorrow. That means I’m a territory resident for three days and two nights, right? A short-term welcome! That’s what you did!”
“……”
Was that really what he had meant?
For some reason, it was difficult to argue with her logic.
“So, so! I was hoping you could lend me just a little bit of it…”
Haniel clasped her hands together.
“Your Highness’s time!”
Vasily stared at Haniel.
For some reason…
The kid seemed even more scruffy than before.
There was dirt smeared across her cheeks.
‘Is that… a hand hoe?’
Something that looked unmistakably like a hand hoe was sticking out of the bag strapped to her back.
He couldn’t make sense of this kid at all.
“Hey, hippo.”
“I’m not a hippo. I’m Haniel.”
“Where did Camilla go?”
“Steward Camilla? She went home for a little while because she said she’d give me some warm bread and soup! Doesn’t that sound yummy?”
“……”
The Ice Knight is dead.
Apparently, she had melted completely and defected to become the Knight of Puddles.
Vasily gave up trying to understand any of this.
He crooked a finger at Haniel.
“Come here.”
The child scampered over and thrust out her hand like a puppy.
Vasily casually placed the string of a small sack into her palm.
“This is the welcome and goodbye kit I can give you.”
“Ehh?”
“I’ll give you one sack each of southern sugar and spices. Take them outside and sell them. If you go to a nearby territory, you should be able to make a decent profit. Everyone around here goes crazy for anything from the south.”
“Mmm.”
“Now we’re done, right? So go.”
“Your Highness? Th-that…!”
Ruden’s horrified voice rang out, but Vasily paid him no attention.
“Goodbye, kid.”
“Eek! Not goodbye! I can’t sell this!”
“Why not? You said there was a man who came here with you.”
Vasily repeated something Haniel had casually mentioned earlier.
She seems to have a perfectly healthy father, too.
The drawing he’d seen in her sketchbook flashed through his mind.
“It’s not that. This is…”
Haniel’s eyes rolled around before landing squarely on Ruden.
Slowly, she looked him over from head to toe before fixing her gaze on one particular spot.
Ruden followed her gaze and discovered a piece of straw clinging to the hem of his trousers.
An ordinary piece of straw.
Yet for some reason, his shoulders flinched.
Just as Haniel was about to say something, Ruden suddenly snatched the sack’s string from her hand.
“Your Highness! No! From the looks of her, she’s just some little brat who grew up in a slum. Just send her out! Why do you need to concern yourself with her this much?”
The angry knight’s voice filled the warehouse.
“It’s obvious she came here deliberately to beg. Remember what happened before! We saved them, and they sucked us dry before robbing the treasury and running away… Those bastards at least chopped some firewood a few times. But why on earth would you waste your time on some little brat like this, who contributes nothing to the territory?!”
“Hey.”
“No, wait. That’s not it. Kids these days are even more cunning, so she’s obviously got some ulterior motive—”
“Ruden.”
It happened in an instant.
At the sound of Vasily’s quiet voice, the knight’s mouth snapped shut.
As if the lax atmosphere from moments ago had been nothing but an illusion, the air around them suddenly tightened.
“That’s enough.”
Thump.
A large hand closed around Ruden’s shoulder.
“You understand?”
The pressure was overwhelming.
The Grand Duke’s terrifying aura, which had been concealed beneath his lighthearted manner and casual demeanor, suddenly poured down upon Ruden.
Vasily stared at the trembling knight for a moment before withdrawing his aura.
Then, as though nothing had happened, he casually brushed Ruden’s shoulder off.
“Hey. Have you been having a rough time lately?”
“……”
“I know you’ve had a hard time coming back from the south, but why are you being so stingy over sending a kid off with a few sacks?”
“…I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“I’ll take care of things here, so go get some rest.”
Ruden hesitated before finally bowing his head.
Then he quickly left the warehouse with his subordinates.
What am I supposed to do with that?
Vasily rubbed the back of his head.
And what am I supposed to do with this?
He sensed the presence of the little girl standing behind him.
She was awfully quiet.
Is she going to cry?
Or is she already crying?
This is exhausting in more ways than one.
A grown adult had just pointed at her and shouted at her.
And she had every reason to feel wronged after being treated like a troublesome little brat who did nothing but cause problems…
Vasily abruptly turned around.
“I’m… sorry. I’ll apologize for him—”
He stopped dead.
“Yeees?”
The child was smiling brightly.
“What for?”
“……”
An inexplicable feeling washed over him.
“Um. What my subordinate said just now went a little too far.”
“Ah!”
Haniel giggled.
“It’s okay! He can get angry sometimes!”
She answered without the slightest concern.
Then, as though something had suddenly occurred to her, her expression changed to one of horror and she began waving both arms wildly.
“But, but! I didn’t come here just to suck you dry! Really! I never targeted the treasury, either. Well, I am kind of targeting the bread…”
She trailed off.
“…but that’s something I’m going to receive as fair compensation for my hard work…!”
What is wrong with this kid?
“Anyway, I’m not a burden anymore, so don’t worry!”
The way she said it almost sounded as though someone had treated her like a burden before.
Or perhaps she simply thought of herself that way.
For some reason, Vasily felt even more irritated.
He dropped heavily onto one of the crates nearby.
A long sigh escaped him.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“What are you planning to do with that hour of my time you asked for?”
Haniel blinked her enormous eyes.
“You said you wanted it. One hour.”
“Oh! Right!”
Haniel immediately came running over.
“You’re really going to give it to me?”
“You said you’d be a resident of my territory for three days and two nights, didn’t you?”
“……!”
“Then I should do what you ask.”
Vasily said it reluctantly, even though he could already feel that something was going wrong.
“I don’t say one thing and then go back on my word. I’m a fairly decent lord, you know.”
“Waaah! Then, then!”
The child jumped up and down, beaming.
Vasily stared at her.
She’s really not good.
The child was not good.
And children who smiled this much were even worse.
Those kinds of children tended to be hiding something absolutely enormous inside them.
This is going to be exhausting.
Well, whatever. Since it’s come to this, I’ll play along with her until the day after tomorrow and then send her on her way.
Whatever a six-year-old could possibly want would probably be something simple.
Eating bread together.
Looking around the village.
Something like that…
“Would you like to come with me to draw blood from the corpse of the Mad Dragon?”
“I’m sorry, but our territory is closed.”
What the hell is wrong with this kid?!
Just what in the world is she hiding inside that little head of hers?!
