Cute Chloe
That evening.
In the dining room of the annex.
A large roasted turkey sent up lazy curls of steam on the wide table, accompanied by fresh salad rarely seen in the north, rich oily meat dishes, and even a sweet strawberry cake. The spread was positively overflowing.
“……Wow.”
Chloe sat across from me, gripping a fork and knife in both small fists. She stared at the feast with her mouth hanging open.
I rested my chin on my hand, gave a soft chuckle, and watched her.
“What are you waiting for? Eat.”
“I-I’m going to! There’s just so much that I don’t know where to start, okay!”
I picked up the carving knife, sliced off a thick chunk of turkey leg, and dropped it onto her plate with a soft thud.
“Eat as much as you want. You said you’d quit if I didn’t feed you. Your lord may be a prince, but I’m not about to starve my own guard knight.”
“……Can I really eat all of it?”
“Yes. Leave anything behind and I’ll fine you, so lick those bones clean.”
The moment permission left my lips, Chloe tossed the fork aside and seized the turkey leg with both hands.
Chomp chomp! Nom nom!
“Slow down. No one’s going to steal it from you.”
“Mmm! It’s so good! Is this real meat? It melts in my mouth!”
Her cheeks bulged like a squirrel’s as she stuffed them full. She looked exactly like a starving predator cub that hadn’t eaten in days.
Watching her devour everything with grease smeared across her face actually made my own stomach feel full.
I tilted my wine glass and slid a water cup toward her.
“Drink some water between bites. If you choke and die, who’s going to guard me?”
“Gulp, gulp! Hah! I won’t die! I’m super sturdy, you know!”
“Sure, sure. When you’re done, that strawberry cake over there is all yours, so eat as much as you like.”
“Strawberry cake?! That red one?!”
Chloe’s eyes sparkled.
“Woowaa……”
After polishing off the meat, she carefully scooped a piece of cake with her fork, slipped it into her mouth, then closed both eyes and shivered all over.
It was the happiest face in the world.
“Oof, I think my stomach’s going to burst……”
Having single-handedly demolished nearly everything on the table, Chloe patted her swollen belly and slumped back in her chair.
“Did you eat well?”
“Yes! It was delicious!”
“Good. Now go wash up and check out your room.”
“Okay! I’ll wash up really fast!”
Chloe even hummed a little tune as she scampered off toward the bathroom.
Once Chloe had disappeared inside to wash,
“Phew……”
I sat on the edge of the bed and fell into thought.
Did I spoil her too much?
To be honest, from the very first time we met she had already been climbing all over me, calling me trash and a gigolo.
I could find it cute now, but what if she grew a little older, hit proper puberty, and started rebelling with I’m not listening to your orders anymore, Prince!
If the reliable fighting force I needed refused to obey, it would throw a wrench into my grand plan to rebuild the north’s infrastructure.
Maybe I should establish some strict discipline.
I ran a simulation in my head.
The image of a stern, solemn, untouchable lord.
That magic of yours? It only looked like hero play because you were catching slum thieves. What if the imperial family or other nobles learned about your ability? Do you think they’d leave an orphan like you alone?
…….
They’d tie you to a laboratory cross while you were still alive, split your belly open without anesthesia to study how you pull mana threads out, and poke around in your brain. Even if you survived, you’d live the rest of your life collared like a hunting dog, rolling around until you were used up and discarded.
W-what are you saying…….
I’m the one who saved a thing like you and made you my personal guard. I’m the one feeding you. Without me you would have spent your whole life running in fear and died miserably. Know your place and crawl. Understand?
At my roar, Chloe collapses to the floor.
Huge tears the size of chicken droppings spill from her big eyes as her shoulders tremble.
Hic…… I-I’m sorry…….
“…….”
Simulation complete.
“Ah, I can’t. There’s no way I can do that.”
Just imagining it made my chest feel like it was being torn apart.
How could I possibly watch that tiny child—who saw me as her only lifeline and followed me—cower in front of me and cry her eyes out?
“Still, I am her lord. I really should give her some proper education……”
I was groaning and sighing when—
Click.
“Aww~ I’m so full and warm.”
The bathroom door opened and Chloe stepped out, shaking water from herself.
She dried her red hair with a towel and kept patting her round belly.
It was the happiest hamster-like expression in the world.
Then her eyes met mine as I sat on the bed.
“…….”
“…….”
An awkward silence hung between us for a moment.
Chloe fidgeted with the towel, dropped her gaze to the floor, and kicked at the innocent carpet with her toes.
Finally, in a voice as quiet as an ant crawling, she mumbled.
“Um, you know.”
“Y-yeah. What?”
“……Thank you.”
“Huh?”
Chloe lifted her head just enough to meet my eyes.
Her face was so clear it looked almost transparent.
“Earlier today…… when you protected me. And the delicious food and warm water. All of it.”
“…….”
“In my whole life I’ve never once felt this full and warm. So…… from now on I’ll really work hard as your guard knight. I promise.”
When she finished, her ears had turned bright red all the way to the tips.
The moment I saw that, every thought of discipline and education in my head flew far, far away.
Wow. I guess there’s no need to educate her at all?
Is this what raising a daughter feels like?
She’s so adorable!
“Kwahaha! Yes, yes!”
I sprang up from the bed and walked over to her.
Then I ruffled her towel-covered head until her hair was a complete mess and grinned.
“You’re such a good girl, our little one! That’s right—just trust your lord and follow me. I’ll feed you all the meat you can eat every single day!”
“Ah, seriously! You’re messing up my hair! And I told you I’m not a kid!”
Chloe squeaked and slapped my hand away with sharp little smacks.
But it wasn’t the usual hateful rebellion.
Her face burning, Chloe hurled the towel at me and shouted.
“Ah, whatever! My stomach’s too full—I need to walk it off! I’m going to take a stroll and see what the Grand Ducal Castle looks like!”
Clearly trying to hide her embarrassment, she threw on an outer coat and bolted out the door.
“Hey! You’ll get lost if you go alone! Wait for me!”
I chuckled, quickly pulled on my coat, and hurried after her.
-
Meanwhile, in the office of the Grand Ducal Castle.
Giselle had finally finished the mountain of work and leaned back in her chair, gazing out the window.
The sun had set and moonlight had settled over everything.
Chloe.
Giselle thought of the red-haired child she had brought to the castle that day.
Honestly, she still felt extremely uneasy about leaving that child alone with Kael.
But when she calmly weighed the pros and cons, she had to admit Kael’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
If the fact that Chloe is a mage spreads through the empire, the imperial family will definitely set their sights on her.
She was still just a young child.
The alien power of a mage was far too heavy a talent for a commoner’s status to bear.
There was a high chance she would become an imperial experiment or be forcibly conscripted, used as a consumable, and then thrown away.
But if that child becomes the exclusive guard knight of Prince Kael, the story changes.
No matter how much of a scoundrel Kael was, he was still the legitimate Eighth Prince of the Empire.
Other nobles could not recklessly touch the prince’s personal subordinate.
So long as she stayed by Kael’s side, Chloe would paradoxically gain a political shield that no one in the empire could interfere with.
Yes, politically it is an excellent move. However…….
The problem was the character of her protector—that man, Kael.
Unable to set her mind at ease, Giselle left the office to get some fresh air and headed for the inner courtyard.
As she walked along the castle wall, she heard quiet conversation drifting from beneath a bare winter tree in the courtyard ahead.
“……?”
Giselle stopped and hid herself behind a pillar.
Under the moonlight.
Kael and Chloe sat side by side leaning against the tree, white breaths puffing from their mouths as they talked.
“Hey, so. About that magic of yours—those threads.”
Kael wiggled his fingers in the air.
“They’re really made of mana, right? Then can you hang them on clouds in the sky like a spider and swoosh around flying?”
Chloe gave him a look that said he was an idiot.
“Your Highness, are you stupid? Clouds are just clumps of water vapor. How would you even hang thread on them? Is your brain completely full of wine?”
“Tsk, no sense of romance at all.”
Kael clicked his tongue and asked again.
“Then how about this? Pull out a ton of those threads and make a giant birdcage big enough to cover the entire territory! Then make the cage slowly shrink and slice up everything inside! How about it? Isn’t that insanely cool?”
“……What are you even talking about? How could I pull out that much thread? I’d die from mana exhaustion.”
Chloe shook her head as if she were utterly fed up.
But Kael’s eyes only sparkled brighter as he pressed on.
“Ah, then this is actually practical. What if someone stabs a knife into your belly! Could you send those mana threads inside your own body and sew up the torn organs yourself? That’s a total cheat skill!”
“…….”
This time Chloe let out a sigh of pure contempt.
“Is Your Highness actually sick? That’s complete nonsense.”
“Ah, come on! You have such a pathetic imagination, kid!”
“I told you I’m not a kid!!”
Their childish yet peaceful argument continued.
Hiding behind the tree and watching the scene, Giselle felt a smile bloom on her lips before she could stop it.
……That’s a relief.
She let her tense shoulders drop slightly.
She had thought of him only as trash who treated women like objects and lived steeped in gambling and alcohol.
But at least the way he treated a child was far from the horrible image she had imagined.
She remembered him shamelessly replying, I like kids.
It seemed those words at least had not been a lie.
“At least some minimum humanity remains.”
Giselle watched the two silhouettes grumbling under the moonlight and, for the first time, felt a very small sense of relief regarding Kael.
Of course—
“……But I still have no idea what nonsense he’s been spouting this whole time.”
A flying spider? Thread that sews up intestines?
Giselle shook her head at Kael’s bizarre imagination that she could not understand at all, quietly turned around, and left the courtyard.
