Chapter 4.1

“I must report to Lady Leonida. Would you like to see her first?”

It was the last day of the arduous, twenty-day journey back to the duchy. Joseph had already lost all his enthusiasm and was asking merely as a formality.

“…”

“Young Master Kaon?”

The aide looked at his unresponsive master, exhaustion showing on his face. It was as if the young master’s gaze was glued downwards.

“…Huh?” Kaon came to his senses, pretending to be calm—although more than anything he had the awkwardness of one who had just woken up and was pretending that they hadn’t slept at all, “No, I’ll go to her later, so you can go first.”

“Do you feel sick?”

“No? I’m fine.”

“You kept looking down at your hand so I thought you were injured. In any case, I’m glad you don’t have any health issues.”

Joseph was certain that something else was going on, but he decided not to push. It wasn’t his place to take a deep interest in his master’s private affairs. Whatever the matter was, it was likely going to annoy him, especially in such a travel-worn state.

Also, he didn’t have to be enthusiastic about things that didn’t make money.

Granted, the latter reason was more weighty, but the conclusion was the same. The moment the carriage stopped, Joseph excused himself without hesitation and left.

Left alone, Kaon looked down at his hand again before getting off and walking back to the Ferdinand estate.

“Woof!”

At first, he thought it was only in his head, but then he saw a dog running towards him from a distance, paws seemingly on fire for how frantically they were moving.

“Koda!”

“Woof! Woof!”

He knelt and held out his hands. The dog wagged his tail frantically, then whined and rolled over. Kaon gently stroked his pet’s exposed belly.

There was a kennel next to the back door of the mansion, facing the forests. It had been his gift to what had once been a stray dog who came out of nowhere.

“Hand, Coda.”

“Woof!”

The dog with dark gray fur was very clever, one who didn’t need extensive training to heed his owner’s commands.

Coda, who seemed a little disappointed with the empty hands, rubbed a damp nose against Kaon’s palms and wagged his tail as if in forgiveness.

Since the two had been together for many years, it was obvious that he was already a fully-grown dog, but he would always be a cute little puppy to Kaon.

Kaon had liked cute things since childhood, probably because everything around him was so big in comparison. In fact, that was why he had taken in Coda in the first place.

‘By the way, the princess was also small.’

A little girl whose head barely reached his chin.

He kept thinking back to their dance. Her hands, which were proportional to her stature and thus made him feel as if they would break if he gripped them with too much force. He had been conscious of his fingertips the entire time.

The Ferdinand family had been bearing knights from generation to generation, and all of them had big bones and tall statures. Leonida herself was seventy-one inches tall, and he was around two inches taller. In comparison, Princess Ingelos was too small.

Was she around sixty-three inches tall? It was possible that she was even shorter than that.

***

“I’m very sorry for dishonoring our appointment. There was a small accident on the way so I ended up arriving this late. I hope that Prince Ferdinand may generously forgive me.”

Kaon’s ears felt ticklish. Having lived his entire life surrounded by yelling and shouting, the soft sounds of her voice were wholly unfamiliar.

“…Then, were you unharmed?”

“Thank you for your concern, Prince, it’s very kind of you to ask. Fortunately, no one was injured.” She smiled softly.

Despite her twinkling eyes being a disquieting color for him, there were surprisingly no negative thoughts in his head. Rather…

***

Chomp.

Chomp? Kaon turned his gaze to the small sound that interrupted his reminiscing.

“Hey, hey! Why are you eating grass?”

Perhaps because his owner had gotten lost in memories, Coda had grown bored and began grazing. Now that he had been stopped, finally the center of attention, he barked and lay on his back once more.

Kaon stopped thinking too deeply.

***