IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 12

The boy shifted in the rattling carriage, his bottom sore from sitting upright for so long.

The gaunt woman sitting across from him glared. Her dry eyes made the boy reluctantly straighten his posture.

Two months of suffocating travel. You'd think he'd be used to it by now, but there wasn't a single day when his bottom didn't hurt.

Before long, the carriage jolted—probably over a large rock. His small body, unable to control itself properly, fell from the seat and tumbled onto the carriage floor.

"Tsk."

At the sound of her short tongue click, the boy tried desperately to regain his balance. But the carriage racing at a speed too much for a small child to endure showed him no mercy.

"M-Matilda."

"Prince Rayan, must I hold your hand?"

"...I need the bathroom."

His red eyes glanced around nervously before quietly averting as he spoke. It was Rayan's only way to stop the carriage. Understanding his shallow ploy, Matilda twisted her lips before knocking on the carriage wall. When the carriage stopped, Rayan could finally stand.

"Go on, then."

The carriage step was impossibly high, but no one helped him down.

Rayan carefully climbed down from the carriage and headed toward a place where people's eyes wouldn't reach. Someone did follow him, but they only kept their distance and watched.

Rayan relieved himself, then tidied his clothes with slow hands. It was the only time he could breathe, but if he stopped too often or rested too long, they'd give him looks for playing tricks, so knowing how to work it properly was important.

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

Rayan glanced at the knight, then lifted his head—which had been kept down constantly—to look up at the sky. The clear sky he occasionally looked up at like this was full of things he liked.

The sunlight was especially strong today. During the rainy season, the thunder that struck every night was frightening. In the palace, covering himself with blankets made it somewhat bearable, but in the small carriage with only a thin blanket, he was too scared to sleep.

Besides, when the weather was bad, people's moods became sensitive too. Matilda and the other attendants grew more irritable, and all that damage fell squarely on Rayan. For these reasons, on clear days, Rayan looked up at the sky at least once.

Fluffy clouds and birds crossing through them—he wanted to reach out and catch them. And what he loved most of all was the sun he couldn't see properly.

'Pretty.'

"If you're finished, you should head back now."

When Rayan just stared blankly at the sky, the knight who'd had his eyes closed called to him.

"...Okay."

Rayan reluctantly followed the knight back to the carriage. Matilda, who'd been discussing something with the guard captain, frowned when Rayan arrived. Her expression said she found something distasteful.

"Lady Matilda, we need to move the carriages to prepare for when the Imperial knights arrive."

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

When Rayan approached Matilda, she smiled brightly. At that smile, Rayan tilted his head.

"Your Highness, I have business to attend to, so I'll need to ride in a different carriage for a while. You can manage on your own, can't you?"

"...Yes."

After hesitating briefly with his mouth opening and closing, Rayan lowered his head and answered, then 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. But inside the empty carriage, there was nothing but the seat, so Rayan squeezed his body into the corner as much as possible.

'Rayan, you'll be much safer staying in the Empire.'

Rayan thought his father's words were lies. Carriage life with nowhere to hide was too hard. Meals came more regularly than before, at least, but people's eyes made him think stealing and eating secretly like before was actually better.

He'd wanted to cry several times, but since crying would only make things worse, Rayan didn't cry. Instead, he just kept his head deeply bowed.

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

The sunlight coming through the window was bright, but where Rayan sat, the light didn't reach.

In the darkness that could see the light, the child's red eyes were submerged in resignation deeper than the darkness itself.

I stuck my lips out as far as they'd go to show Roxana I was sulking. Roxana, who'd been fastening a sword at her waist, met my eyes and gave a helpless smile.

"Tilly, still sulking?"

"Hmph."

"If you sleep ten nights at most, Mom will be back, okay?"

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

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

"Sorry for forgetting to tell you earlier. Mom's been so busy lately I've been scattered."

"...From now on, no matter how late, you have to tell me the day before."

"Yes, I'll definitely tell you."

Roxana reached to pat my head, then remembered she was wearing gauntlets and withdrew her hand.

Roxana never touched me when wearing armor. Knowing what she was wary of, I didn't cling to her retreating hand.

Instead, I grabbed both her cheeks and gave her a big kiss on the lips. Smooch. When I released Roxana's face with the sound, she looked at me with eyes wide as saucers.

Me kissing first was extremely rare, so unconcealed joy and surprise filled her eyes.

"You have to come back safely."

Her wearing armor meant there might be bloodshed.

Our Roxana was such a strong person she wouldn't get badly hurt, but I hoped her heart wouldn't get hurt. Understanding my feelings, Roxana smiled softly.

"I'll come back safely."

As Roxana and I gazed at each other tenderly, shooting hearts back and forth, I felt gazes watching us intently. Julian was one thing, but even Royna was watching us steadily.

"Me too, kiss..."

Unable to resist Julian's eyes—which looked ready to burst into tears if he didn't get a kiss—Roxana grabbed both his cheeks and kissed him.

The servants around us tactfully turned their heads, but I watched their kissing directly, mouth clamped shut to keep from laughing.

Royna, held in Julian's arms, even forgot to suck her pacifier as she watched their display of affection.

Right when I was thinking I should start looking for popcorn, Julian pressed his lips firmly to Roxana's forehead, ending their farewell. 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. When work was busy, she'd stayed out a day or two before, but her being away from home this long was almost a first since I was born.

Honestly, ten days wasn't that long, but somehow I thought I'd miss her. As I stared at the closed door, Julian thrust his lips at me.

"Tilly, kiss with Daddy too."

"No."

"Why?"

"Daddy's not going on a trip—you're staying to play with me."

"Still, kiss me."

"I only do it when saying 'have a safe trip.'"

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

Planning to tease him by giving a quick cheek kiss like Roxana instead of on the lips, I nodded.

"Alright. A goddess's kiss is precious. Right, our princess?"

Julian said this while planting a kiss on Royna's cheek. Smooch. Hearing his words, I tilted my head.

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

"Daddy, why am I not a princess?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

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

At my question, Julian smiled and gestured for me to come closer. When I brought my ear near him, Julian kissed my cheek. Smooch.

"What? We agreed kisses are for tomorrow!"

Caught off guard, I scrubbed the kissed cheek.

"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 is from a goddess in Mom's favorite play."

"My name came from a play?"

"Yes. The day we found out we were having Tilly, Mom and Dad went to see a play. It was a deeply moving play—a comedy with just two characters. We happened to be wondering what to name Tilly, so we decided if it was a boy we'd use the protagonist's name, and if it was a girl we'd use the goddess's name from the play."

All names have meaning.

As a setting obsessive, I'd been the type to fixate on giving major characters names that suited them, like Aegis, named after a famous shield from Greek mythology.

'Thaleia. Now that I think about it, I feel like I've heard it somewhere.'

While I was rummaging through my memory, Julian asked me with a bright smile as if a good idea had occurred to him.

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

"A date?"

"Yes. That play happens to be showing right now. Our Tilly hasn't seen a play before—only puppet shows, right? Let's watch the play and eat out."

I'd thought at best we'd play house inside the mansion again, but at the mention of a play and eating out, a smile formed naturally. Originally, I was someone who died for plays.

"Yes!"