光棍电影院2017

“Otou-syama, worw withh thhe barrier.” (Otou-sama, work with the barrier.)

“That’s right. Lei’s smart.”

“You worw withh thhe barrier shomethimesh. Buth why are you bushy?” (You work with the barrier sometimes. But why are you so busy?)

“Hmm. Otou-sama does other work as well. Domestic affairs, ah, how should I put this? I have to decide a lot of things.”

He doesn’t just work with the barrier. And, because other people can’t do his work for him, he has to rush in the morning. But, if I were someone from Kingdom, then I wouldn’t even leave important work to influential people, because that’s too much power for someone to have, right?

What I derived from this is that Kingdom is a peaceful country, but it is full of incompetent people.

I finished my food while I was thinking. It’s fun to eat in the carriage. Natalie wiped my hands and continued to hold my hand as she gently stroked my palm.

“Nathawie?”

“Leila-sama, I’ve been worried. Does it hurt where you were hurt?”

“Oh, ah.”

So, she’s talking about that?

“Ith’sh oway now.”

“Don’t be reckless. Hans and I were both surprised,” Natalie said, and she really did look worried.

“What are you talking about?”

“Mm, she protected His Highness and got hit by a branch.”

“What?!”

Otou-sama took my hand, stared at it and sighed in relief.

“There’s no mark. By a branch... So you’re saying His Highness was being beaten by his tutor?”

“That’s right. The teachers at school also hit boys who skip class, but I’m surprised that someone would be that strict on a three-year-old. Leila-sama saw this, and she protected him.”

“Ai. Hurth, no good. No hiththing.”

People don’t remember stuff even if they’re hit.

“If I recall, he was Prince Lambert’s tutor. People say that the royal family’s education is strict every generation. Ridiculous.”

He gets straight to the point.

“Otou-syama, were you hith?”

“I never did anything for me to get hit. If I did get hit, then I would’ve struck back with a swift attack.”

Otou-sama will do that.

“Otou-syama, throubweshome.”

“What Lei? Sympathy can turn to love. That damn Lambert, he better not be thinking that he could take advantage of Lei’s kindness to sympathise with Prince Nicholas to win favours.”

“Otou-syama...”

I don’t think those people can think up something like that. And, can you stop calling a member of the royal family without their title? But, you also call the Prince, Nico, you say? It’s fine since he’s my playmate.

“I’ww go thomorrow thoo. Then, I’ww pway in thhe garden.”

I didn’t get to play today after all. Otou-sama watched me expressionlessly as I bounced on my seat, but then he smiled. Nii-sama was really annoyed when he heard about this afterwards.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

A Stormy Child (Linus’s Perspective)

“I’m late.”

The door opened without a knock. The two children didn’t move an inch at the sound and were leaning against each other on top of the sofa with a picture book in their laps. It wasn’t lunchtime yet, but everyone was flustered and wondered what they should do about the two sleeping children on the sofa when Albans-dono entered the room.

“This is... She must have been exhausted. I came to take her to lunch with me, but this is good. I’ll take her home like this,” he whispered and picked up Leila-sama without looking at His Highness, then he started walking away. The maid and guard quickly followed after him. We, who remained, were stunned.

“Albans’s selfishness...” I couldn’t help but mutter. However, His Highness, Nicholas, woke up because Leila-sama was gone. He doesn’t usually take naps. He might have fallen asleep because Leila-sama had.

“Where’s Lei?” His Highness immediately said when he looked next to him and noticed that no one was there.

“Albans-dono took her home because she fell asleep.”

“I told her I would play with her after I finish my studies, didn’t I?!”

That’s true. He studies in the mornings and trains in the afternoon. Playtime is between that. This is how His Highness’s life is like. Of course, His Highness would be angry since he was made to study even though he was excited to have a playmate.

“Leila-sama is younger than you, so I guess she got tired,” I said, and His Highness seemed to be thinking about Leila. He agreed that she was younger.

“Then, what about tomorrow?! Is she coming tomorrow?!”

“She should be...”

This depended on Albans-dono, so I couldn’t say anything. Even if the tutor hadn’t meant to, if he knew that Leila-sama had been hit with a branch, then he might not let her come to the castle anymore because he treasures her.

“Then, that’s alright.” His Highness said and handed the picture book to the maid without losing his temper.

“Your Highness.”

“What?”

The tutor, Odds, called out to His Highness. His work was supposed to end at this time.

“Let’s try writing the letters from the ‘a’ line again.”

“Study time is already finished.”

“Leila-sama will definitely be surprised if you show her what you wrote.”

“Hmm.” His Highness thought a little, then sat quietly in front of the desk and held his pencil.

“You turn the pencil to write ‘a’ like Lei’s hair,” he whispered as he moved his pencil. Then, he finished within a couple minutes.

“That’s right. Your Highness, you wrote everything correctly. We’ll finish here today.”

“Hmm. It’s pretty easy.”

His Highness nodded in satisfaction, stood up from his chair and went to dinner with his guard escorting him.

“Odds-dono.”

“Linus-dono, there’s no doubt. He learnt how to write the things he couldn’t for a few months in just a day.”

Odds’s hands were trembling.

“I know he just memorised them. But, he didn’t want to learn properly and didn’t care about how he wrote. I wanted to motivate him somehow, so we could move on to the next part, but I couldn’t.”

Odds grasped his hands tightly.

“He learnt it in only a few hours. And, that one-year-old baby knows how to write better than His Highness. She didn’t get fed up with His Highness, and got him to memorise it properly while stroking his ego.”

“No way, that’s a coincidence.”

“You think so? She told me that the branch was forbidden. She seemed older than me...”

“That’s impossible. In any case, it would be nice if she could study with him as well as be his playmate.”

She didn’t get in the way of his studies in the end.

“And, I wonder if His Highness can keep his temper in.”

“I don’t know when he’ll flare up next...”

The biggest problem remained. Even so...

“Fu, fufu.”

“What’s wrong, Linus-dono?”

“She’s not shy and was like the storm.”

“Ah, you’re right.”

For some reason, I was looking forward to tomorrow.