The Baby Has No Strength to Hide! - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 12
“You’ve never actually pulled a carrot, have you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Carrots don’t grow on trees. They sprout right up from the ground in a field.”
“I know that much, obviously.”
“But you’ve never actually pulled one like I have, have you?”
Kaiус tried not to rise to such an obvious provocation from a child, but his hands were trembling noticeably. Ailien lifted her chin with a small “ha” sound.
“I pulled a carrot and then tumbled and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill before I climbed back up!”
Ailien added a touch of exaggeration to her tale while casting a sidelong glance at Kiki and Didi behind her, her eyes silently pleading for them to corroborate—well, not exactly lying, you understand.
Kaiус was flabbergasted by her trivial yet brash boasting, and yet an stubborn competitive spirit flared within him.
Growing up as heir to the Grand Duke’s House, it was only natural that he’d never seen vegetables like carrots in their raw, soil-covered state before they were cooked and served.
And there was no reason he’d ever roll around in the dirt pulling carrots himself.
Yet having his lack of experience pointed out stung his pride. Kaiус rummaged through his knowledge and prepared a counterattack using his strongest method.
“So you really know all about carrots?”
“Carrots are orange!”
“There’s a theory that while people say eating carrots cures Night Blindness, that’s actually just something the Roetan Kingdom spread to hide the existence of Night Vision. Of course, it’s true that eating them does improve eyesight and strengthen immunity.”
“What is he even saying?”
Ailien’s eyes went blank as Kaiус showed off his knowledge of carrots.
His words were harder to understand than Kiki’s meow or Didi’s chirp.
“Ah, my apologies. Should I have explained it on a flying squirrel’s level?”
“Didi is smarter than you, Liri!”
Ailien brought her small fist down lightly on the table, indignant at seeing Didi looked down upon.
Didi chirped in delight, and Kaiус glanced at the flying squirrel.
Those large, round eyes that seemed to glisten with tears bothered him greatly.
Callisto, watching the two from his seat at the head of the table, closed his eyes slowly. One careless moment and he’d burst into laughter at these grave little children.
After composing himself for a moment, he opened his mouth.
“Kaiус, apologize to Ailien.”
“Father!”
“No matter the circumstances, you shouldn’t insult a friend of someone so much younger than you in that manner.”
As Callisto admonished Kaiус, he found himself questioning whether this was even the right approach. Meanwhile, Ailien wore an expression of considerable satisfaction, which only added to his confusion.
“I’m sorry.”
Kaiус hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth uncertainly while looking at those round eyes.
When he thought of it as apologizing to Didi rather than Ailien, it wasn’t difficult at all.
“And Ailien.”
“Mm?”
“What Kaiус said wasn’t wrong. You’ll be staying in Rubentain Castle now. So you must observe at least basic courtesy.”
“Hmph.”
Ailien made a whimpering sound but carefully straightened her posture.
Even as she put a pancake in her mouth and chewed, she didn’t drop her glare at Kaiус across from her.
“I should get going. I was hoping to enjoy breakfast more leisurely.”
“Who’s arrived, sir?”
At Kaiус’s question, the Grand Duke of Rubentain merely smiled. Kaiус chewed his lower lip.
It was obvious without being told. It had to be the Conservative Retainers who’d flocked over under the guise of Ailien’s arrival.
Kaiус himself thought it made no sense for an unknown child to stay in the Grand Duke’s House, but the fact that he agreed in logic with those stuffy old men was unbearably unpleasant.
He despised that mercenary look in their eyes every time they saw him, desperate to somehow attach their children to his side.
The situation of having to reject Ailien using the same logic as such men grated against his pride.
‘And on top of it all, they’ve brought their own children along trying to forge connections however they can.’
Kaiус was exhausted to the point of madness.
“If you don’t listen, I’ll throw you out!”
Whether or not Kaiус was aware of her understanding his thoughts, Ailien swung her legs and shouted.
“Is that your self-introduction?”
“Your way of speaking really is something, Kai.”
Ailien shook her head side to side and continued eating. You couldn’t help but wonder where all that food went in such a tiny body.
Kaiус stared blankly for just a moment, then suddenly shot up from his seat.
Now only Ailien remained at the long table.
Ailien’s fork, which had been moving busily, stopped abruptly.
“Ailien?”
Kiki, who had been watching Ailien quietly from behind, called out carefully. Ailien turned around.
Her small, pale nose glistened with syrup.
“What? Liri eats just fine alone.”
Ailien smiled softly.
Because Lili was such a magnificent hero.
***
The Hayuna Forest lay unchanged, hushed and still.
As if it had swallowed every sound in the world, only the damp earth and the scent of wood remained, thick and pervasive.
A boy moved through it with practiced ease.
His gait bore caution beyond his years—each step wary and guarded. His eyes shimmered an otherworldly violet beneath the sunlight.
He was the forest’s sole visitor, an outsider to its ancient rhythms.
‘Why does it feel so strange today?’
The Hayuna Forest had not always welcomed him. But today, each footfall felt heavy, burdensome. The boy pushed down his rising unease and made his way toward a small cottage.
Just to look at it was to feel its warmth—and within it lived a small child.
A child who alone did not regard him as strange, who was odd in her own way but radiated kindness.
The boy broke into a run, though some subtle anxiety threaded through his hurried steps.
As the cottage drew nearer, his dread only deepened.
The child’s usual spirited singing, the cheerful laughter as she played in the dirt—neither reached his ears today.
His heart sank like a stone.
The boy reached the cottage and stopped, breathing hard.
The house was empty.
Through the window, its interior appeared unchanged from days before, yet the warmth that should have dwelt there had vanished like a lie.
A hollow silence had settled over everything, as if time itself had frozen.
“……Ailien.”
The boy called the child’s name without thinking.
No answer came.
Then his gaze caught on a small garden bed.
At its center, placed with care, lay a single sprig of Lavender.
Beneath it rested a small sheet of paper, folded neatly.
Lebian approached as though entranced and lifted it.
When he unfolded the paper, the child’s uneven but spirited handwriting met his eyes.
[Bye!]
A greeting mercifully brief.
The child had left.
The boy looked up at the cottage. No one awaited him in this forest now. He was alone again.
He picked up the single sprig of Lavender that Ailien had left behind, carefully, as though it might crumble from his touch. The petals were so delicate, so fragile.
The child’s voice—the voice that had told him the flower resembled him—echoed in his ears.
His violet eyes slipped into shadow, deep and impenetrable.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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