IWBAACTWITOS Chapter 32

Althe was calculating how much the rubies embedded in the rabbit's eyes cost when he sighed, feeling drained. There was a reason the toy shop owner bowed low enough to plant his nose in the ground the moment he saw Julian.

"Is it a gift for the Young Lady?"

"No, a gift for our prince."

The word "our" before "prince" came too naturally. Althe suspected Julian had come to the toy shop on purpose to show how much he cherished the prince, then hid his complicated feelings and smiled.

"Ah... I see. Prince Yan will surely love it."

Julian stared at Althe before carefully placing the doll in a box. He wasted time comparing different ribbons the shop owner offered against the box. When Julian's adjutant urged him to hurry and choose since they needed to depart before sunset, Julian calmly asked which was better—red ribbon or blue ribbon.

"Ah, just take both and choose in the carriage. I'll do the wrapping."

"Will you?"

"Yes, since thanks to a certain someone, I've become an expert at gift wrapping. Let's go before I quit being an adjutant and start working here instead!"

At the adjutant's plea-slash-threat, Julian shrugged and carefully held the box as he left the toy shop. The adjutant, who'd grabbed not just the red and blue ribbons but every ribbon in the store, glared at him resentfully.

"Ugh, that doting fool."

Even though the adjutant said it openly from behind, Julian pretended not to hear and cleaned out his ears. His attitude was much lighter than during the conference.

'What a willful person.'

Well, he'd lived a life where he never needed to read anyone's mood since birth. Althe thought this to himself as he sat beside the adjutant. When the carriage departed, Julian suddenly asked Althe.

"Have you ever seen Prince Yan?"

"No, I haven't met him in person."

"He's a very pretty child."

"Yes."

"When I first met him, he was afraid of everyone except my daughter. Now he's improved—before I left on this trip, he even gave me a kiss on the cheek."

"...Haha, yes."

"You know what you need to do when you go to the ducal house, right?"

"Yes, of course."

Althe was the compromise between King Celis and Yan's maternal family, Queen Celis's faction, and the Remetio ducal house currently protecting Yan. On the surface, he would perform teaching duties while periodically submitting reports on Yan's condition to everyone.

"You seemed quite capable as a magistrate—you must want to return to the Kingdom as soon as possible."

"Not at all. I think studying in the Empire is also a good opportunity."

"Really? But still, wouldn't waiting indefinitely be difficult?"

"...What are you trying to say?"

"It's advice that if you want to go back and live your life, persuade the King of Celis as quickly as possible."

"Are you seriously planning to adopt the prince?"

"Would I have carefully made those documents and attended this useless conference if it were a lie? I'm a busy person."

At the words "busy person," the adjutant practicing ribbon-tying beside him glanced at Julian. Julian shoved the doll box at him, meaning he should practice his ribbon-tying diligently.

"Are you telling me to urge His Majesty to send his son for adoption in my reports?"

"Don't you objectively think living as my son would be better for that child's life?"

"He's a prince of a nation."

At Althe's words, Julian smiled bitterly. For Althe, it seemed being his country's prince was more important than Yan being afraid of people.

"So should I teach that young child to live and die as a prince?"

"Wh-what..."

"And should I teach my daughter to pretend not to know even if her friend dies because of adult circumstances?"

"..."

"I don't want to become such a shameful father. My friend Katan wouldn't want to become a shameful father either."

"Duke Remetio, Your Grace."

When Julian directly mentioned King Celis's name, Althe called to him, meaning he should stop. Noticing Althe had wavered slightly, Julian pulled the end of the ribbon the adjutant had tied prettily, instantly unraveling it. It was velvet ribbon as red as Yan and Katan's eyes.

"Of course, I haven't met him since he became king, so I can't be certain of his heart."

"...I don't want Celis's situation to become more complicated."

"If that's what I wanted, I would have chosen another method. I want peace to continue."

"Do you see this as a peaceful method?"

At that question, Julian burst into laughter. The ones who become most troubled by this are Yan's support faction. They want to gain real power through Yan. The neutral faction wanting balance is second-most troubled, since they're wary of the currently dominant Second Prince faction growing excessively.

In the adults' power struggle, the young child was being neglected and abused. So Julian decided to screw them all over.

"Then do you think peace is obtained by sacrificing one young child?"

"..."

"I'm the type who believes children's peace leads to world peace."

Julian, returning after two weeks on business, looked somehow haggard. He'd come a day earlier than scheduled, and seeing the sparse stubble that had grown in, he must have pushed himself to return. Julian hugged me and Yan, saying he'd missed us.

"You were both lonely because Daddy was gone so long, right?"

"Nah, not really."

"Yes! I missed you."

At mine and Yan's opposite answers, people burst into laughter as if they'd expected exactly this. Julian looked tearful for a moment before clapping his hands and snatching the box his adjutant was holding.

"Right. Daddy brought presents."

When he untied the red ribbon and opened the box, an adorable black rabbit doll greeted me and Yan. Yan's eyes sparkled as he checked the doll. I looked at my rabbit doll tucked under my arm once, then looked at Julian.

"Tilly's present is this."

Perhaps thinking my gaze was demanding he produce the gift, Julian pulled out a second box. My present was a small snow globe.

"On your birthday, Daddy's present was making it snow, but God made it really snow."

The next day I'd caught a cold immediately, and then Julian had rushed off on a long business trip, so I hadn't particularly paid attention to it, but he'd apparently been thinking about it continuously.

'Was this why he said I'd give him a kiss because I liked it?'

The wooden base was engraved with "Celebrating the Goddess's Fifth Birthday," and inside the sphere, three small snowmen held hands. A tree beside the snowmen even had red maple leaves. When I shook the snow globe, sparkling snow particles fell slowly.

"Thanks, Daddy."

When I gave Julian's cheek a quick kiss, Julian smiled like an idiot. Yan, who'd been absorbed in the doll, also thanked Julian. When Julian slyly offered his other cheek, Yan pulled his neck close and kissed him.

'Those two have gotten much closer.'

Before the trip too, and now—they'd become strangely comfortable with each other. When Julian rubbed his cheek, Yan must have found it scratchy because he giggled. They both looked so happy.

'Surprisingly, Julian really likes Yan a lot.'

In the original, when Yan and Rona got married, doting-dad Julian acted needlessly grumpy toward Yan and got scolded by Roxana. Of course, Yan was still a young child and couldn't guess he was a future son-in-law, so it made sense he wasn't wary.

'Did Julian always like children this much?'

He certainly didn't dislike them, but he hadn't acted this affectionately even with Asher. He should have more affection for Asher, whom he'd known since babyhood.

"Tilly."

"Yeah?"

Roxana, who'd been watching Julian and Yan's flirting beside me, stroked my head and asked.

"What do you think about having a brother?"

Not a younger brother, but an older brother. At that question, I dropped the snow globe I was holding.

Fortunately Roxana caught it, but I was too shocked by Julian's words to have any attention left for that.

"Adopt Yan?"

At the word adoption, Yan smiled brightly. Apparently Yan had already known.

"Right. If that happens, Yan will become Tilly and Rona's older brother."

Everyone's eyes focused on me. Since they all knew how attached I was to Yan, they seemed to expect I'd be happy. But I couldn't possibly be happy.

'Adoption...'

I couldn't help but realize what the rabbit doll Julian brought today meant.

A declaration he'd accept Yan as family. While I'd been avoiding Yan's problems, Roxana and Julian had been steadily finding ways to save Yan. Maybe they'd had adoption in mind from the moment they brought Yan to the ducal house.

Their move was wise and right.

But it couldn't come true. Even if adoption was quickly finalized, when the Prophetess's prophecy came down, he'd be forcibly disowned.

That was fate. That's why it was so sad.

"Of course, it won't happen right away—the result will take several more months. Or... do you not like it?"

That day, he and I made a choice.

Not to change fate, for the world's sake.

It felt like dry sand was falling from above my head, covering me. A sand dune piled up in my chest, and a sandstorm stuck in my throat. That scratchiness was so terrible, but now all I could do was smile.

"How could I not like it?"

With the brightest, prettiest smile I could manage, I said it would be wonderful if Yan became my brother.