Chapter 6

Kyle had also been startled when the intruder suddenly appeared. However, he had never intended to swing a weapon at a child who looked barely five years old.

But he hadn’t expected the kid to faint, either.

“What the hell?”

Kyle’s brows twisted into a frown.

“But how did you get in here? You’re the first person I’ve ever seen enter my mansion.”

Had he failed to lock the doors properly?

When he had checked the previous night, there hadn’t seemed to be anything wrong with the protective barrier.

Kyle narrowed his eyes and glanced at the little kid lying on the floor.

With a cold expression, he lifted the bristled end of his broom and lightly poked the child.

“Hey, kid. Wake up.”

Only then did the little kid, whose eyes had rolled back into her head, finally come around and mumble,

“H-hello, n-nice to meet you…”

“What? From the looks of it, you’re just a worthless ordinary person without any special abilities. How did you even manage to get in here?”

“I’m not a wowthless ow-dinary person. I came to become fwiends with Your Highness.”

What on earth was she talking about now?

The little kid cautiously waved her hand at him, as though she were happy to meet him.

Kyle hated how his gaze kept getting drawn to her little, round hand.

“I have no intention of becoming friends with you. Get out.”

“Hiccup!”

At his slight growl, the tiny child began hiccupping uncontrollably.

He had no idea how such an obviously powerless little brat had ended up on Monster Island.

It wasn’t an island someone could reach by accident.

Well, if I kick her out, she’ll find her own way back. Become friends? As if. I’m much more comfortable being alone.

Kyle stomped his feet as he headed downstairs.

If she refuses to leave, I’ll just scare her into going.

But then—

“I, actually, actually, the thing is…”

“Actually, what? Hurry up and get out! Are you leaving or not?”

Kyle stomped his foot harder to frighten her.

The terrified little kid squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out words that hit him like a ticking time bomb.

“S-so, um, I came to get engaged to Your Highness…”

Kyle, who had been casually dismissing the child’s incoherent rambling, abruptly stopped his foot in midair just as he was about to stomp again.

“What? E-engaged?”

Kyle’s face turned deathly pale.

W-what on earth was this little snot-nosed brat saying right now?!

Kyle knew that he had been bound by an engagement arranged before birth.

He even knew that it involved some girl named Melissa Rheinfeld.

But now that he had been sent to Monster Island, he had assumed that the ridiculous engagement had come to an end.

With his face turning bright red, Kyle glared at the little kid in front of him.

“D-don’t tell me you’re Melissa Rheinfeld?”

“W-well, that’s…”

Kyle looked the stammering child up and down, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, then suddenly stopped.

Forget the engagement and all that nonsense. She’s way too small.

Unlike him, who had turned seven and was practically an adult now, she was incredibly tiny.

Her hands were small, her feet were small, and everything about her was round.

And those innocent-looking eyes were especially foolish. She wasn’t cute in the slightest.

So—

“…Whatever. Get out! I will never get engaged to you!”

“Gasp!”

Ariena finally came to her senses and looked at Kyle standing before her.

They had said his special ability was incredibly powerful!

Her young groom was certainly no pushover.

She had even risked the terrible possibility of Daddy dying by bringing up the engagement.

And yet—

It had been a complete failure.

Deep despair settled in Ariena’s heart.

Still, she decided not to give up and try again.

“T-then…”

Ariena hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers. For some reason, Kyle waited quietly while she struggled to speak, although he did raise his eyebrows slightly.

Anyway, when Ariena thought about marriage and engagements, she remembered the only other kind of relationship she knew.

The one remaining light in her heart.

She had forgotten the names, faces, and even the memories associated with it. Yet it was still the most precious thing in the world to her.

“Th-th-then, what about being a famiwy?”

“What?”

Ariena gazed up at Kyle with sparkling eyes.

Getting engaged and eventually married meant becoming a family, but Ariena was still too young to understand that concept.

“Yeees! It’s the best thing in the whole wide world!”

Like Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother!

Ariena clenched her little fists with great ambition.

But at that very moment, the boy’s expression turned icy.

“Get lost.”

His voice was even colder than it had been when she mentioned the engagement.

BANG!

The door slammed shut with a tremendous noise.

Kyle had shoved Ariena out, and she found herself kicked out of the mansion just like that.

“H-how could this happen?”

She had played her very best card—the best thing in the whole world—and he had rejected her anyway.

Thus, Ariena, who had been thrown out of the mansion, slid down and sat on the ground.

What do I do now? I’m so, so scared. Why isn’t Tunteuni’s ability working? They said it would make me unafraid!

At this rate, she would be nothing more than a little kid who had been kicked out of the mansion.

Just as she clenched her tiny hands tightly, words appeared before her eyes.

[※ A hint for children!]

[Tunteuni is the only “strong” child who can give the lonely Prince Kyle a big, big hug!]

Ariena fiddled with the frames of the glasses resting on the bridge of her nose as she thought.

Somehow, I think I understand.

But I’m also a little confused.

Meanwhile, Kyle stood in his room, looking around with an expressionless face.

The room was filled with the distinctive scent of pungent oil, so sharp that it stung the tip of his nose.

A vivid red magic circle covered much of the floor.

And then—

There was an old brooch lying on the table.

The moment he saw the small, worn-out brooch, which was half broken, he remembered what the little kid had said earlier.

“Th-th-then, what about being a famiwy?”

His lips pressed into a firm line.

A family? What ridiculous nonsense.

Wasn’t there a fundamental reason he had come to live in this Monster Mansion, a reason no one else knew about?

Kyle clutched the old brooch tightly in his hand, reminding himself of his position.

It was seven o’clock in the evening.

The nocturnal monsters would soon be launching their attack.

Although he was only seven years old, every trace of humanity had vanished from Kyle’s face.

Then, he moved swiftly.

A little while later, Kyle found himself bewildered by a situation he had never encountered before.

BOOOOM!

The wall at the back of the mansion collapsed entirely. A monster had broken through the mansion’s perimeter.

The mansion’s protective barrier has been broken?

It was impossible.

The barrier had been installed by a magician from the Imperial Palace, no less. No monster should have been able to enter the protected grounds surrounding the mansion.

The fact that the little kid had managed to get in also suggested that something was wrong with the barrier.

I’ll investigate that later.

Standing in front of the collapsed wall, Kyle first clenched his teeth and glared at the damn monster before him.

“Grrrrrr…”

A gigantic shadow rose beyond the broken wall.

It was an ogre, with curved horns sprouting from the top of its head.

Kyle’s gaze grew cold.

Although the monsters had never managed to enter the mansion grounds before, their attacks themselves were nothing new to him.

By now, he even found them boring.

“This is such a nuisance.”

The ogre charged toward Kyle.

BOOM!

But Kyle didn’t dodge.

He merely twitched a single finger.

Crack.

The monster’s right foot split apart.

CRRRRACK!

With a deafening sound, its leg was severed in an instant.

The monster screamed and thrashed around, but Kyle didn’t even blink.

“Get out of here right now. This is my territory.”

CRUNCH!

The monster’s frozen body shattered into countless pieces.

It had taken Kyle barely five minutes to dispose of a monster.

With an indifferent expression, he dealt with the monster’s corpse.

Then, calmly turning around to return to his room, he suddenly—

“H-hic…!”

The little kid he had seen earlier was trembling at the edge of the broken wall. She was huddled in a corner with both hands pressed over her mouth.

Kyle stopped when he saw Ariena.

Shock and terror filled her eyes.

Kyle knew that expression well.

It was the face people usually made when they encountered a disgusting monster.

Back at the Imperial Palace, he had often seen people look at him as though he were a monster himself, especially when he was on the verge of losing control of his powers.

But seeing that expression again after such a long time felt strangely unfamiliar.

You should have left when I told you to.

You stupid little kid.

You were talking about engagements and families as though you were so determined to get close to me.

And yet, you’re afraid of me, too.

Kyle gritted his teeth and glared at Ariena.

“There. Now you understand, don’t you?”

“……”

“That I’m a real monster who can kill other monsters in the blink of an eye.”

Ariena stared at Kyle, trembling all over with fear. She seemed completely unable to speak.

“Th-that’s… that’s…”

The truth was that Ariena, who was terribly timid, was absolutely terrified of Kyle.