We're Off to the Snowy Mountains
Thanks to the butlers' all-out campaign of affection, peace had returned to the Princess's Palace.
I was eating well again, and sleeping well, too.
But in the butlers' eyes, it seemed I still hadn't quite shaken everything off.
"Hmm... He's definitely perked up, I'll give him that."
Kailian propped her chin in her hand, murmuring. Her gaze settled on Blanc, who lay sprawled across the living-room rug.
Blanc had his front paws crossed in an X, his chin resting on top of them, and was staring blankly into space. His tail swished this way and that, but the old sight of him bounding about with such vigor had grown rare. A peculiar, adolescent melancholy clung to him, the sort that settles over children passing through puberty.
"We need to do something."
Kailian summoned the butlers to the conference room and called a meeting.
The agenda: choosing a travel destination to lift Blanc's spirits.
"Where would be best?"
Demian stood with his arms folded, staring down at the map. His face was lined with the deep anguish of a man trying to divine what Blanc would like.
"What about the warm southern coast? There's a sandy beach, and an abundance of fresh seafood. I believe he would enjoy it."
Lina offered the suggestion with careful reverence.
"The western grasslands may also be worth considering. He would be able to run as much as he pleased, and the wind is most refreshing."
Karsion nodded at Haetae's proposal.
The butlers were throwing themselves into the hunt for a place I would love, each more fervent than the last. I sat on a cushion, listening to their debate, turning over where I might like to go — and then, all at once, I felt a pull.
I want to go somewhere like that.
The cool, clear air I had felt in my dreams. The crunch of snow underfoot, that clean, bracing chill.
"Kyau."
I got up and hopped onto the table.
"Huh? Blanc?"
The butlers stared in surprise at me suddenly appearing among their papers. I walked across the map.
My paws came to a halt over the empire's far north — the rugged mountain range Kailian had once told me was buried in eternal snow, year-round.
Tap.
I planted my right front paw on the spot labeled:
Northern Kalos Snowy Mountains
"Kyau."
Here. I want to go here.
I looked up at the butlers, my paw still on the map. I had a feeling that if I went there, I would find something.
"The Kalos Snowy Mountains...?"
"Isn't that too cold, though? Blanc, you hate the cold."
"The Kalos Snowy Mountains... that's a brutal place. Blizzards even in summer..."
Kailian asked, worry threading her voice.
"Blanc, do you really want to go there? It's freezing, and there's nothing there. Hardly anything tasty, either."
"Kyau."
Yeah. I want to go here.
I paid no mind to their worried looks and tapped the map twice more with my front paw. I didn't entirely understand why, but I had a feeling that going there would blow this mood right out of me. If I ran across those white snowfields, I might recapture even a fragment of the longing I had felt in my dreams.
"Haha. Looks like our Blanc has well and truly set his heart on the snowy mountains."
Emperor Karsion, who had been watching from behind, approached with a laugh. His expression, unlike the laugh, looked faintly bitter.
"I fear I cannot accompany you..."
Grandpa Karsion stroked my head and sighed.
"As Emperor, I cannot leave the Imperial Palace empty. I shall have to wait here for your return."
"...I am in the same position."
Demian, standing beside him, looked at me with a face of genuine misery and bit his lip.
"I have military inspections and a visit to the border regions already scheduled. The timing simply will not work..."
Both butlers' shoulders slumped.
If the people saw this, they would faint. These two, who made foreign nations tremble in terror, looking as if they were about to die just because they couldn't go on a trip with me.
"Blanc, go and enjoy yourself. Play to your heart's content, and come back with your spirits restored... and if you have a spare moment, think of me a little."
Grandpa Karsion stroked my cheek, practically whining. Imperial dignity had been discarded long ago.
"Don't get hurt. Don't catch a cold. And don't pick up anything strange to eat."
Demian fussed over me with worried eyes, stroking my head.
"Kyau."
Got it. I'll bring souvenirs... with the butlers' money, of course.
I licked each of their hands once, comforting them. Grown adults shouldn't cry just because we're apart for a little while.
Once the destination was decided, preparations proceeded at lightning speed. The mere fact that I had expressed a wish to go somewhere was already cause for a festival atmosphere.
"Lord Blanc, please look at this! I prepared this fur vest for just such an occasion! And it fits perfectly!"
Lina came over holding an adorable little white vest.
"And these are Lord Blanc's shoes!"
I liked them a great deal, aside from how suspiciously perfect the fit was. How did they match so exactly?
I put on the vest Lina dressed me in and watched the butlers prepare. Among them packing food and all manner of convenience magic tools, Lumia came toddling over, huffing and puffing as she lugged a large basket.
"I wanna take this!"
"Kyau?"
That's... the basket Lumia and I slept in together when she first arrived?
When Lumia saw that I recognized it, she beamed and pulled my face into a tight hug.
"Hehe. I wanna sleep in the basket with big brother there, too."
"Kyau."
Okay. Let's definitely sleep together.
I licked Lumia's face, promising we would. Kailian would get jealous again, but one night should be fine.
Lumia and I sat on the sofa, watching the butlers who were dripping with sweat as they hauled luggage — and still smiling. The heavy emptiness that had lingered in a corner of my chest was filling in, little by little. Just knowing I had butlers here who worked this hard for me was a great comfort.
"Kyau."
Thank you, everyone... I'll give you all a paw massage tonight.
I got up, walked over to Kailian as she packed, and bonked my head against her leg.
"Huh? Blanc?"
I rubbed my face all over her leg — scent rubbing, the kind of affection I rarely gave.
"Kyauuu..."
Thank you. Really.
I licked her leg one last time, then went to Lina, singing her a Purr Song as I coiled my tail around her leg, then lapped at the back of Rosalia's hand. Reluctantly lingering because he couldn't bear to leave, Demian was still helping pack, so I went to him too, planted my front paws on his boots, and rubbed my head against him.
"......!"
The butlers froze at my display of affection, staring at me as if they might bore holes through me.
"Heavens..."
"...This is the Goddess's grace... this is the Lord's love..."
"...Should I quit the Magic Tower... retire, and spend the rest of my life playing with Blanc...?"
The atmosphere in the Princess's Palace turned warm in an instant. These foolish butlers, tearing up over one little scrap of affection from me, looking as if they possessed the entire world.
"Kyau.."
Keep working. That's how the snack money comes in.
At last, departure day arrived.
A carriage the size of a house stood waiting before the main gate of the Imperial Palace. Specially modified to handle the north's rough snow roads and ice, it was this world's equivalent of a limousine.
"Come on, Blanc. Let's get in together."
Kailian scooped me up and boarded. The interior was lined with plush sheep's wool, and thanks to a magic-stone heater, we would stay toasty even in the cold.
Once the butlers and Lumia were all aboard, the coachman's whip cracked and the carriage lurched into motion.
Rattle, rattle.
The carriage passed through the gates of the Imperial Palace and began racing north. I slipped off Kailian's lap and poked my head out the window. Thanks to Lina, who had astutely cracked it open a little, I could feel the outside air.
"Kyau..."
I planted my front paws on the windowsill and looked out. The Imperial Palace's spires receded into the distance. Now that we were actually leaving, I felt strangely conflicted.
Honestly, I was a little worried. What if we arrived at the snowy mountains and I felt nothing at all? What if I only felt even lonelier?
Half hope, half fear. The tangle of thoughts quieted my tail.
Whooooosh—
Then a gust of wind slipped through the crack in the window. A faint, distinctive scent was mixed into the cold air. It was a little like old pine, a little like the bracing smell of a vast mountain range.
"Kyau?"
...Grandpa's scent?
I rounded my eyes and looked around. The wind brushed across the bridge of my nose as if to tickle it, then swept over the top of my head like a stroke. It felt as if a huge, invisible front paw were roughly tousling my hair, telling me to come along.
"Kyau?"
Grandpa, are you there?
I poked my head out further, peering in the direction the wind had come from. But there was nothing to see. Only the blue sky, and tree branches swaying in the wind.
And yet I felt it. Someone was watching over me, seeing me off.
"Big brother? What's wrong? Is there something out there?"
Lumia came up beside me and poked her face out the window too. Our cheeks squished together.
"Kyau."
No. The wind just feels nice.
I shook my head and rested a front paw on Lumia's head. Strangely, the unease that had lingered in a corner of my chest felt washed away with the wind.