The Candy Promise
Orpheus's Imaginary Lavishly Decorated Noble Party Hall
"Waaah!"
"Come catch me if you can! Ehehehe!"
While the adults exchanged pleasantries and deepened their bonds, the children gathered at the edges, playing among themselves.
"Look at this! It's the doll my dad bought me!"
A girl clutched a doll the size of an adult's palm tightly in both hands, proudly showing it off to the other children.
"Whoa! It's the latest magic-powered doll!"
"I want one too!"
"Can I touch it just once?"
A crowd of noble children gathered around the girl, but one boy sat apart from them all, absorbed in a book.
His clothes were neat and his hair neatly styled, yet no one approached him.
Some children tried to go near him, only for their parents to spot the crest on his brooch and hurriedly pull them back in horror.
The boy pretended to have no interest in the others, forcing his gaze back to the book, but every time the children's voices grew louder, his eyes drifted toward the girl.
Shake shake shake.
It was just as the boy shook his head stubbornly, muttering to himself—I'm not interested, I'm not interested, I'm the great Ian, after all—and buried his face back in the book.
"Hi! What's your name?"
A girl's face suddenly popped up beside him, startling the boy so much that he dropped his book.
With the book no longer shielding his face, the girl's long hair brushed against his nose, carrying a sweet fragrance.
"Did I scare you? Sorry."
"...Huh? Oh, no! Not at all!"
Startled by the boy's intense reaction, the girl apologized, and he shook his head vigorously in denial.
"Th-the book was just so... no, it was boring, so I tossed it... haha..."
What the hell was that?
The boy inwardly berated himself for his words.
Tossing a book because it was boring? How weird did that sound?
He anxiously awaited the girl frowning and walking away.
"Pfft. You're funny."
"...!"
But unexpectedly, it seemed to suit her taste. The girl burst into a bright, innocent smile.
The boy thought her smile was beautiful.
"I'm Kate. What's your name?"
"I-Ian..."
"Whoa! Ian! That's the name of a hero from a fairy tale I read!"
"...Really?"
"Yeah! He was a frog!"
"A f-frog, huh..."
"But it's okay! He was a big, cute frog!"
"Ahaha..."
What the heck is a big, cute frog?
Trained rigorously to always speak and judge rationally, the boy couldn't comprehend the girl's whimsical thinking.
Yet at the same time, he hoped their conversation wouldn't end.
If possible, he wanted to stay with her longer... like that.
"Wanna see this?"
After chatting idly for a while, the girl pulled a doll from her bosom.
"My dad got it for me!"
"...Wow."
To the boy, the girl's doll seemed like a crude toy with a simple structure he could easily make himself, but he still feigned awe.
He didn't want to see disappointment on the girl's face.
The girl proudly held out the doll, manipulating it this way and that.
"Like this, the arm goes behind... huh?"
Zzt.
Suddenly, a worrying sound came from the doll's joints as the magic power reached its limit.
Pop.
A tearing sound echoed from the internal joints, followed by a snap as the arm broke off.
"......"
"......Ah."
The girl stared blankly at the doll.
The boy glanced at her cautiously.
Drip... drip...
One drop, then another.
Tears fell from the girl's eyes, soaking into the doll.
She clenched her teeth, lips pressed tight.
Forcing her lips into a smile to hold back the tears.
The boy realized she was trying to suppress her sobs, just like he did alone in his room.
A newly bought doll from her father.
And in showing it off to her friends, she'd carelessly broken it.
Even a boy without friends knew that if her father found out, she wouldn't get the gifts or playtime she wanted.
"......"
He wanted to help.
This girl who had approached him, the lonely outcast, talked to him, and played with him so funnily—he wanted to help her.
"...Hand it over for a sec?"
"Sniff... Huh?"
The boy took the doll and its detached arm from her.
"...Sniff. Wh-what are you gonna do?"
"Everything I'm about to do is a secret. Got it?"
"...?"
The boy roughly aligned the broken parts.
"Perbenit Certum."
He whispered softly, and magic flowed from his hands into the doll.
Responding to the magic, the golem's damaged parts expanded slightly, fusing back together to restore its original form.
"Here."
"...Whoa."
The girl, receiving the perfectly repaired doll, was amazed.
"H-how'd you do that? Even old man Hans can't do this!"
To her question, the boy pressed his index finger to his lips.
"Shh. Don't tell anyone. ...Okay?"
The girl, with exaggerated childish flair, pursed her lips inward, widened her eyes, and nodded.
Then she leaned toward the boy and whispered.
"Our little secret. ...Right?"
Facing her smile head-on, the boy's cheeks flushed red.
"Kate!"
At that moment, a elegantly dressed noblewoman's hand shot out, grabbing the girl's arm.
"...?"
"Kate, Mommy told you! Don't play with just anyone!"
The woman glared down at the boy with contempt.
"Hmph. You mustn't play with the filthy blood of House Kaliuga."
"But Mom..."
"Tch! Talking back again? ...That's it. Come talk with your mother for a bit."
The woman dragged the girl away by the arm.
"......"
So it ends like this, after all.
Left alone, the boy let out a hollow laugh.
It was the inevitable fate of being born into this cursed house.
To think he'd believed he could befriend someone—especially such a bright girl.
The boy picked up his scattered book.
Time to return to his solitude.
Forgetting today's events entirely was the right thing... for her sake and his.
Raising his head for one last look at the girl, the boy froze in shock.
Even as the noblewoman dragged her away, the girl secretly mouthed something to him.
O. rang. U. tol. ha. go. ma. wo. yo.
Jju. mo. ni. kkok. hwaek. sin. hae. bwa.
Reading her lip movements, the boy tilted his head.
Pocket?
He instinctively slipped his hand into his pocket.
Squish.
Inside was a round candy wrapped in pretty packaging.
As the boy looked at her questioningly, the girl mouthed again.
Nae. bo. tam. seon. mul. i. ya.
Ma. si. is. geo. meok. eo.
Dda. eum. e. do. o. neul. cheo. reom. tto. nol. ja.
The girl giggled at his stunned face, her figure gradually receding into the party crowd until she vanished.
"...Maybe it wasn't entirely meaningless."
Slipping him candy secretly even as her mother dragged her away.
Impressive agility.
The round candy in the boy's hand still held the girl's warmth.
He dazedly unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.
The sweetness spreading as he rolled it on his tongue.
The sweetness of his first love, mingled with a tangy scent.
"Kate, was it... Kate. Kate. Kate."
A sweet, refreshing name like the candy.
The boy carefully folded the wrapper and tucked it into his jacket's inner pocket.
[The reason for my existence, the driving force that let me survive that hellish house]
[But... if we hadn't met, she wouldn't have suffered so much, wouldn't have met such a tragic end]
[If only this meeting hadn't happened, she could have married a fine noble like any other girl, had children, and lived happily]
[If only this meeting hadn't happened......]
[If only I hadn't existed]
[If Ian Kaliuga had never been born into this world]
Orpheus's thoughts echoed throughout his entire imaginary world.
The crown prince, who had entered Orpheus's inner world through the power of observation, caught a glimpse of a fragment of Ian Kaliuga's imagery and pressed onward.
Toward the darkest depths of this shadowy imaginary realm,
Where Orpheus's core resided.