IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 16

Black hair, red eyes - the perfect conditions of my male lead.

He had slightly upturned eyes like a cat, but since he was still a child, he didn't look particularly sharp.

Seeing my favorite character in person felt strangely odd. When I saw Ash, I was so stunned by how pretty he was that I just stood there gaping.

Rayan was also very pretty, but something about his atmosphere and gaze bothered me. Unlike Ash, who despite acting mature had eyes just right for his age, Rayan's eyes had completely sunk.

I chewed the bread in my mouth hard to speak to him.

Roxana seemed to be watching how I would act. Rayan looked at me briefly, then fixed his gaze on the bread in my hands.

His stomach made a growling sound. I readily offered him the bread I was holding.

"Want some?"

"......"

"It's okay. I washed my hands."

My pronunciation was muffled because of the bread remaining in my mouth.

Rayan didn't take the bread and glanced at the gaunt woman behind him.

"Your Highness, you shouldn't refuse others' kindness. That person is the Young Lady of Duke Remetio."

With that permission, Rayan accepted the bread. He must have been very hungry, as he bit into the bread eagerly. I offered the other piece of bread to Roxana.

"This is for Mom."

"Really? Our Tilly is so kind."

Roxana took the bread from me and patted my head. Rayan, who had been eating frantically, suddenly stopped and stared at Roxana and me.

Roxana also noticed Rayan's gaze and hardened her expression. But soon she smiled again and introduced Rayan to me.

"Tilly, this is Prince Rayan of the Kingdom of Celis. He came to the Empire for study purposes, but due to circumstances, he'll be staying at our house for a while. Your Highness, this is my eldest daughter, Thalia. She'll turn five like Your Highness next month."

I knew how ridiculous it was for a five-year-old to come for study purposes, but I pretended not to know the adults' circumstances and smiled.

"Hello!"

I deliberately greeted him with exaggerated cheerfulness, but Rayan just stared at me blankly while holding his bread.

As an awkward silence flowed, the gaunt woman behind Rayan cleared her throat loudly.

At that throat clearing, Rayan flinched and glanced at her before greeting me.

"......Greetings, Your Highness."

"......"

At Rayan's stiff greeting, Roxana's smile deepened. However, her smile wasn't the affectionate smile she always showed me.

I looked at Roxana's smile before turning my gaze to the gaunt woman. When our eyes met, she smiled and bowed her head slightly in greeting.

It was a different attitude from when she'd been sternly correcting Rayan's behavior.

'She's the surveillance assigned by the Queen.'

"My name isn't Your Highness."

"......Huh?"

"Of course I am Duke Remetio's daughter, but my little sister is also a duke's daughter too... If we're both ducal daughters, it would be confusing to call us both the same thing, so wouldn't it be better to use names......?"

I walked around Rayan in circles with my hands behind my back, making him dizzy.

Rayan's attendants also looked confused about how to treat this willful child.

The subtle "too" I added at the end was an act of teasing them while pretending to be polite.

"My name is Thalia. If the name is too long to call, call me Tilly. But if you call me Tilly, you have to be my friend. If we're friends, there's no need for useless formal speech."

"......"

"What I just said informally was a preview. So, neighboring country's rabbit prince, will you be friends with me?"

"......"

Rayan just stared at me with a blank expression, not giving any answer. Feeling awkward at the silence, I started babbling anything.

"As a set, there's one open position among the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings. Also called a minion. Not interested in that either?"

"......Whatever."

"Huh?"

"Whatever is fine."

'Whatever is fine...'

Deep resignation was already settled in Rayan's red eyes.

Though there were no immediately visible injuries or signs of abuse since they'd probably made an effort for this first meeting, I could tell from his gaze and how people looked at him what kind of treatment he'd been receiving.

From the attendants' perspective, they'd ended up in a foreign country with no guarantee of when they could return because of the prince, so there was no way they'd look at him favorably.

Of course, it absolutely wasn't Rayan's fault.

'For several months he had to travel by carriage among those people.'

Considering the distance between the kingdom and empire, Rayan's arrival should have been several months later than now. But arriving this early meant someone had significantly pushed up the schedule.

Whether that was intended to protect or torment Rayan was unclear, but there was quite a lack of consideration for a young child.

Seeing me stare intently at Rayan, he hung his head low. When I looked at Roxana as if asking what to do, Roxana smiled sadly.

It wasn't hard to guess that bringing Rayan to the ducal mansion suddenly was largely Roxana's idea. Then as her daughter, I should be a good friend.

"Good. Then from now on, you're my Four Heavenly Kings. Even though I look like this, I'm a Demon King who cherishes my subordinates, so I'll treat you well."

Having rapidly changed course from tyrant to benevolent ruler, I smiled and extended my hand to Rayan. Rayan hesitated briefly before taking my hand.

"Mom, I'm hungry! Let's eat."

"What about Dad? Won't you wait for him?"

"Tell Dad to eat by himself."

"Dad will cry again."

"It's okay. Mom can comfort him."

At my words, Roxana chuckled and suggested eating snacks instead of dinner.

"Today you can eat ice cream, sherbet, cake - anything you want. I won't say anything even if you're too full to eat much dinner. Though our little glutton will probably eat dinner deliciously too."

"Eh? What's the occasion?"

"There are days like that."

I looked at the bread in Rayan's hands and fell into thought. It wasn't hard to guess that Rayan had been starving all day.

'Until awakening his ability, he lived by stealing food.'

"Then let's go on a picnic to the garden. Let's bring sandwiches and the bread Nanny made and various things. We can play and wait until Dad comes."

At my suggestion, Roxana nodded as if it was a good idea. She pondered what to do with the prince's attendants before smiling politely and speaking courteously.

"I'm sorry. Since this was decided suddenly, the separate building for Your Highness and everyone to use isn't ready yet, so how about we all spend some time in the garden together? You must all be tired from two months of forced marching......"

Roxana said this while staring intently at the gaunt woman. The gaunt woman looked down at Rayan and me with wary eyes.

I put the remaining bread in Rayan's mouth, diverting his attention.

"I understand. However, I need to manage the party following behind, so please take good care of His Highness."

"Yes, you can discuss the building management with our butler."

At Roxana's guidance, Chamberlin, who had been quietly staying in place, stepped forward.

Chamberlin was the ducal family's head butler and someone who managed information networks under Julian.

A regular character in novels with a black heart behind his facade, he always had a smiling face in front of me, but I knew very well he was a scary person.

"Butler grandpa!"

I gestured for Chamberlin to bring his ear close, and he gladly knelt on one knee and leaned down.

"From now on, the prince is the Demon King's subordinate. I'll include grandpa as one of the Four Heavenly Kings too, so let's do bad things together."

At the mention of bad things, Chamberlin smiled knowingly and said it was an honor. As expected of a perceptive old man. I gave Chamberlin a peck on the cheek and led Rayan upstairs by the hand.

"Before the picnic, I'll introduce you to my little sister. She's really ugly!"

"Tilly, I told you not to call Royna ugly. Even babies understand everything."

Roxana scolded me while signaling Chamberlin to take the others to the separate building. I confirmed the two were exchanging signals and tugged on Rayan's arm to hurry him.

"Tilly, if you pull like that, your friend will get hurt."

"He's not a friend. He's a minion."

"Where did you learn such words?"

"From Dad."

I loosened my grip on Rayan's arm and belatedly licked my lips to wet them.

Roxana let out a bitter laugh and told us to go slowly or we'd fall as we finished climbing the stairs and started running.

As if Roxana's words were a signal, Rayan and I simultaneously tripped and fell together. Rayan immediately got up and helped me up.

'Ugh, this damn body. It really doesn't listen at all.'

I wished I could control my limbs properly even just one day faster.

Fortunately, soft carpet was laid throughout the corridor for me, so I wasn't hurt and it didn't hurt much.

"That's why Mom told you not to run. Are you hurt anywhere? Are you alright too, Your Highness?"

"Mom, carry me."

"You should walk on your own feet."

"I don't want to, carry me."

Roxana seemed to have no choice and picked up both Rayan and me simultaneously. Though lifting two young children at once was difficult, she wasn't a knight captain for nothing. As our view suddenly became higher, Rayan looked up at Roxana with a bewildered expression.

"Shall I put you down?"

"......No."

Rayan's voice was very quiet, but since we were close, I could hear well. Roxana and I exchanged glances and grinned simultaneously.