My Little Boy Cannot Walk Now
It seemed as though Demian had already realized I could no longer walk. He scooped me up gently and began to hum a soft, almost lullaby-like tune.
With just that short fragment of melody, the faint flickering torchlights along the corridor suddenly blazed to life with fierce intensity.
The corridor instantly brightened as if it were midday, and I caught sight of a figure approaching from ahead unable to withstand the sudden glare and grimacing. It was the second son, his entire body covered in mud. I had no idea what he had been doing, but I doubted he had voluntarily become this filthy; the mud on his clothes and shoes was far too distinct and deliberate.
Finding comfort in someone else’s misfortune is a truly pathetic thing to do. Yet the moment I saw the second son’s face and the cruel circumstances he faced, all my unease vanished in an instant.
It was not out of any sense of relative superiority that I was “better off.”
Instead, every detail—from the fact that this was Serpine territory, the second son’s dire plight, the eldest son Amori who had beaten him, Amori’s shameless seduction, and the events set to unfold today as payment for that crime—swept through my mind like a vivid scene, grounding me once more in reality.
All the floating, anxious tension I had felt suddenly settled firmly onto the ground beneath me.
“I can walk.”
I whispered it to Demian, but he shook his head.
“I’ll go with you. Thinking about it, it’s still too dark to send you alone.”
“The journey might take a long time.”
Of course, gathering the chadors would not take long. Moreover, Demian had placed a bit of magic on every chador, ensuring they would hold the dew from the Mount of Light for longer. Originally… ah, I had no idea. I remembered Demian muttering something like “This isn’t magic meant for this sort of place” while casting it, but I had already forgotten the exact spell.
Thanks to the magic Demian had cast, though, the chadors would arrive at the wedding perfectly preserved, no trouble at all.
The only issue was that, in my position, I would have to wait in the altar area until Count Serpine rose for breakfast and came to collect them. I simply could not tell Demian to come along right away.
Demian and I each knew how to protect ourselves in our own way. But Petia… if she had possessed any protection ability, she would not have endured so many years in the snowstorm temple, gnawing on charcoal and surviving. Charcoal is truly insufferably hard—like eating the wood of a tree itself.
“If you really can’t, come and pull Petia out first along the way.”
Demian answered casually, as if he were a bandit named Lupin casually strolling by a house and sneaking a quick peek inside.
And I suspected the “way” he planned to take Petia out would differ only slightly from how Lupin would simply slip into someone else’s house for a look.
But hearing those words brought me comfort. Demian was a hot-blooded young man who never let propriety stand in his way, but he never exaggerated his own abilities. If he said he could do something, I could trust him.
The real problem was…
“What in the world are you doing?”
The second son, who had been approaching us, scowled the moment he spotted us. “Has he gone mad? A man and a woman who haven’t even been married yet acting like this.”
He was on the verge of rolling his eyes in fury, demanding to know how someone without a marriage license dared hug a noble lady who had never been wedded.
Ah, right. My defenses against Demian had grown hazy. He was the kind of man who had always been overly physical—first when the carriage was attacked, and again when Demian stormed into the Demian Temple. It was no wonder I had grown accustomed to it. But this was not something that made sense on a practical level.
While I was still pondering, Demian, who had been silently lowering his head, suddenly lifted his gaze. At the same instant, my body rose lightly into the air. I nearly cried out, but barely held it back.
“What’s going on?”
Demian asked coldly. The second son had not noticed my levitation.
How could he? Demian still had one arm wrapped protectively around me, and my body hovered only slightly above the ground.
“You, you…”
The second son’s face flushed red. He pointed angrily back and forth between me and Demian.
“You haven’t even been married yet and you’re already so wanton…”
It looked as though we had been rolling naked on the bed, given how brazenly we were acting. But we were fully dressed, and I was merely being carried in my terror-stricken state by Demian.
Twelve years of medieval life and I still could not adapt to these medieval sensibilities.
At that moment Demian lifted me a little higher and asked, “What?” My body rose even more. The second son’s eyes widened.
And while we were still arguing, the maid who had been standing quietly in the background like she did not exist suddenly took two steps back in shock.
“From this moment on, the young lady of Danier will fulfill the mission bestowed upon her by the deity. It is a task that consumes great strength, so the lady of Danier has personally commanded me to escort her disciple. Although she may collapse upon returning, she is only preparing in advance so that, when the time comes, she will not fall unprepared. You, who know none of these details, are committing blasphemy against the deity by condemning her without understanding, insulting Danier, and harboring enmity toward Hamilcar. Do you acknowledge that?”
Wow, this was the first time I had ever heard Demian speak at such length.
And yet, from every single word, I felt a familiar aroma. The scent of my soul, perhaps. ……Why do you sound exactly like me, Demian?
Still, I was grateful he had slipped a gentle insult to Danier between the blasphemy of the deity and the enmity toward Hamilcar.
The second son of Serpine might fear the deity and Hamilcar, but he would not fear Danier much. Of course, if our father were here, he would be terrified. But Danier’s daughter… well, what could she do?
My body gradually lowered back into the position where it hovered just above Demian’s arm.
At that, the second son pointed furiously, his face twisting in rage. “If that’s the reason, why are you holding your arm up like that! This is clearly—”
He had just swung a blind punch? Was he insane?
Although the second son was two years older than Demian, Demian was the heir of Hamilcar. Unlike Amori Serpine, Demian was an acknowledged heir who required none of the awkward wedding formalities. Demian was an only child—by aristocratic standards alone, he was even more precious than the Count of Hamilcar.
Moreover, Demian was also a mage of the Magic Tower. Judging by the spells he used, he was a formidable sorcerer indeed.
In other words, Demian was the future great lord of the south, already bound by powerful ties to the Magic Tower and a holy knight who had escorted the saint herself. Was there anything strange about that? Protecting a religion made one a holy knight, after all. Did they all need to possess sacred power? That was just splitting hairs. And if one listed every religious protection act, escorting the saint would rank well within the top five most important duties.
If it had been me, I would have immediately cast him out on the spot for flaunting his status. But Demian did not do so.
“Magic can fail. Interference may occur, or unforeseen events may arise. In such cases, the young lady would fall immediately, and if fate were against her, something might break. Therefore, physical reinforcement is only natural. Or does the young lady believe she can break anywhere? Ah, is that the knightly code of the north?”
“You dare speak of knightly virtue when you are no knight yourself!”
“Everyone speaks of knightly virtue. Women speak of it the most, yet the moment they open their mouths they cannot utter a single word. How base of you to do so now.”
Ugh, the second son was trying to draw his sword. A duel would begin at once, and in my opinion Demian would definitely win.
Just as Demian smiled with bared teeth, as if waiting for the signal, I spoke up.
“Please refrain from causing unnecessary commotion over such a trivial matter.”
I addressed the words to Demian, but he would have understood I was actually speaking to the second son. After all, I had always spoken to him in familiar terms and never once looked him in the eye.
“It is better to focus on something more important than this. The world is full of people who turn others’ misfortunes into their own opportunities. An opportunity can only be grasped by those whom one has diligently honed.”
If he understood, it would be to his benefit. If he did not, then that was simply the extent of the second son’s talent and luck.
Since I was itching for a fight, I secretly tugged at the sleeve of the hot-blooded southern young man, urging him to leave.
“How long are you planning to stand there?”
I called out to the maid who was watching us intently from a distance. She replied, “I will escort you,” and began to lead the way.
I had not actually said anything to the maid, only signaled that it was time to go.
Still, I was not a Serpine person. Treating the maid harshly was only right, and I should reward her for it.
When we reached the lobby, I handed her a silver coin that was a generous allowance for the young maid. Her face lit up with joy despite the drowsiness that had forced her to guide me.
“T-Thank you, miss!”
I smiled lightly and was about to head toward the carriage prepared by Count Serpine when I paused. In this dark early dawn, the Count of Serpine awaited us, fully grown and ready to receive me.
What on earth was I supposed to do with Petia now?
My face twisted with worry, but he extended a hand to me. It took a moment for me to realize he was offering an escort to the carriage.
An escort? What about Demian?
Curious, I glanced back at Demian. The count beamed with a wide smile.
“Lady Danier, let us discuss your future while we travel.”
A bad premonition stirred within me.