IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 12

The boy who had been sitting upright in the rattling carriage for a long time shifted his body as his bottom began to ache.

The gaunt woman sitting across from him glared at the boy. Under her withered gaze, the boy reluctantly straightened his posture.

This suffocating travel life had been going on for two months now. He should have gotten used to it by now, but there wasn't a single day when his bottom didn't hurt.

Soon after, the carriage hit a large stone and jolted violently. His small body, unable to maintain proper balance, fell from the seat and tumbled onto the carriage floor.

"Tsk."

At the sound of a short tongue click, the boy tried his best to regain his balance. However, the carriage racing at a speed too harsh for a child to endure showed no consideration for his situation.

"Ma, Matilda."

"Prince Rayan, must I hold your hand for you?"

"......I need to use the bathroom."

His red eyes glanced around cautiously before quietly looking away as he spoke. It was the only way Rayan could stop the carriage. Seeing through his shallow intent, Matilda pursed her lips and knocked on the carriage wall. When the carriage stopped, Rayan was finally able to stand up.

"Go ahead."

The carriage step was impossibly high, but no one offered to help him down.

Rayan carefully climbed down from the carriage and headed to a place out of people's sight. Though someone did follow him, they only watched from a distance, keeping their space.

After relieving himself, Rayan slowly adjusted his clothes with sluggish movements. This was the only time he could catch his breath, but if he stopped too often or rested too long, they would give him looks for being lazy, so it was important to be moderately clever about it.

Fortunately, the knight watching him also seemed tired and wasn't paying much attention to Rayan, leaning his head against a tree.

Rayan glanced at the knight's mood and lifted his head, which had been constantly looking down, to gaze up at the sky. The clear sky he occasionally looked up at like this was full of things he loved.

The sunlight was particularly strong today. During the heavy rain season, the thunder that struck every night had been frightening. In the royal palace, covering himself with blankets had made it somewhat bearable, but trying to sleep in the small carriage with just one blanket covering him was too scary to get any rest.

Moreover, when the weather was bad, people's moods became sensitive too. The number of times Matilda and other servants showed their irritation increased, and that damage fell entirely on Rayan. For this reason, Rayan made sure to look up at the sky at least once on clear days.

The fluffy clouds and the birds that flew across them - he wanted to reach out his hand and capture them. And what he loved most of all was the sun that he couldn't properly look at directly.

'Pretty.'

"If you're finished, let's head back now."

As Rayan stared blankly at the sky, the knight who had been resting with his eyes closed called to him.

"......Okay."

Rayan reluctantly followed behind the knight back to the carriage. Matilda, who had been talking about something with the guard captain, frowned when Rayan returned. Her expression showed clear displeasure.

"Lady Matilda, we need to move the carriage to prepare for the arrival of the Imperial knights on schedule."

"......Very well. Your Highness, come here."

When Rayan approached Matilda, she smiled sweetly. Rayan tilted his head at that smile.

"Your Highness, I have some business to attend to, so I'll need to take a different carriage for a while. You'll be able to stay by yourself, won't you?"

"......Yes."

After hesitating briefly with his mouth slightly open, Rayan lowered his head deeply as he answered and hurriedly climbed into the carriage. When the door closed, Rayan looked around the inside of the carriage. He was searching for somewhere to hide or something to hold onto. However, since the empty carriage had nothing but seats, Rayan squeezed himself into a corner of the seat as much as possible.

'Rayan, it will be much safer for you to stay in the Empire.'

Rayan thought his father's words were a lie. Life in the carriage with nowhere to hide was too difficult. Though meals came more regularly than before, the way people looked at him made him prefer the old days when he secretly stole food.

He had wanted to cry many times, but since crying would only make things worse, Rayan didn't cry. Instead, he just hung his head low.

As the carriage began racing at a much faster speed than before, Rayan grabbed onto the window curtain.

The sunlight coming through the window was bright, but where Rayan sat, no light reached.

In the darkness where he could only look at the light, the child's red eyes were immersed in resignation deeper than the darkness itself.

I stuck out my lips as much as possible to show Roxana that I was sulking. Roxana, who was fastening her sword to her waist, smiled helplessly when our eyes met.

"Tilly, are you still sulking?"

"Hmph."

"Even if it's late, Mom will be back after just ten sleeps, okay?"

"Is ten nights the problem right now? If I hadn't woken up early today, Mom would have just left."

At my point, Roxana belatedly realized that my anger wasn't just about the long business trip.

"Sorry for forgetting to tell you in advance. Mom's been so busy lately that I've been scatterbrained."

"......From next time, no matter how late it is, you have to tell me the day before."

"Yes, I'll definitely tell you."

Roxana reached out to pat my head but then withdrew her hand, conscious of the gauntlets she was wearing.

Roxana never touched me when she was wearing armor. Knowing what she was wary of, I didn't dwell on the hand that pulled away. Instead, I grabbed both of Roxana's cheeks and gave her a big kiss on the lips. At the smack sound, I let go of Roxana's face, and she looked at me with wide eyes.

It was extremely rare for me to kiss her first, so undisguisable joy and surprise were contained in her eyes.

"You have to come back safely."

Her wearing armor meant there might be bloodshed.

Our Roxana was such a strong person that she wouldn't get seriously hurt, but I hoped her heart wouldn't get hurt. As if knowing my feelings, Roxana smiled sweetly.

"I'll come back safely."

As Roxana and I gazed at each other affectionately, sending hearts flying, we felt gazes watching us intently. Julian was one thing, but even Royna was watching us intently.

"I want a kiss too......"

Unable to resist Julian's eyes that looked like he would burst into tears if he didn't get a kiss, Roxana grabbed Julian's cheeks and kissed him.

The servants around tactfully turned their heads, but I bit my lips to keep from laughing as I watched their kiss directly. Royna, who was in Julian's arms, also forgot about sucking her pacifier and watched their display of affection.

Just when I was starting to think I should look for popcorn, Julian ended their greeting by pressing his lips gently against Roxana's forehead. Roxana cleared her throat several times, said she'd be back, and left the mansion.

I watched Roxana's back as she rode away on horseback. Though she had stayed out for a day or two when work was busy, this was almost the first time she was leaving home for so long since I was born.

Honestly, ten days wasn't that long, but somehow I felt like I would miss her. As I stared at the closed door, Julian brought his lips close to me.

"Tilly, kiss Daddy too."

"No."

"Why?"

"Daddy isn't going on a business trip and will play with me."

"Still, give me a kiss."

"I only do that when I'm telling someone to have a safe trip."

"Then will you do it when Daddy goes to work tomorrow?"

I nodded, planning to tease him by giving him a short peck on the cheek like Roxana instead of on the lips.

"Understood. The goddess's kiss is precious. Isn't that right, our princess?"

Julian said this while giving Royna a peck on the cheek. Hearing his words, I tilted my head.

Julian occasionally called me goddess. I'd just accepted it until now, but why did he call me goddess and Royna princess?

"Daddy, why am I not a princess?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You call Royna princess, but you call me goddess."

At my question, Julian smiled sweetly and gestured for me to come closer. When I brought my ear close to him, Julian gave me a peck on the cheek.

"What? We agreed kisses are for tomorrow!"

Having been ambushed, I wiped the cheek that got kissed.

"Tomorrow is when Tilly gives me one, today is when Daddy gives you one."

"......You didn't even answer properly. Why do you only call me goddess?"

"Well, that's because Tilly's name comes from a goddess in a play that Mom loves."

"My name came from a play?"

"Yes, on the day we found out we were having Tilly, Mom and Dad went to see a play. It was a very moving play - a comedy with exactly two characters. We happened to be wondering what to name Tilly, so we decided to give a boy the protagonist's name, and a girl the goddess's name from the play."

All names have meaning.

Being a setting maniac, I was obsessed with giving major characters names that suited them, like Aegis, which I named after a famous shield from Greek and Roman mythology.

'Thalia, come to think of it, it sounds familiar somehow.'

While I was searching my memory, Julian smiled brightly as if a good idea had occurred to him and asked me.

"Tilly, want to go on a date with Daddy today?"

"A date?"

"Yes, that play happens to be showing right now. Our Tilly has never seen a real play, only puppet shows, right? Let's go see the play and eat out."

I had expected we'd just play house again in the mansion, but at the mention of a play and eating out, I couldn't help but smile. Originally, I was someone who died for plays.

"Great!"