Chapter 40 - Happy Birthday, Lotty!

"You slowpoke!"

He's doing that again.

I ran to Carlyx and stopped. Then, I made a sad face.

"Father called you!… I'm not angry. Crap, don't be sullen!"

I was slightly laughing inside when I saw Carlyx getting restless as he looked at my expression.

It was the joy of my life these days. If he acts coy to me, I'm pretending to be sullen on purpose.

As I continued to stand as if I were crying with a grumpy face, in the end, Carlyx declared defeat first today.

"Ah! Yes! It's all my fault! Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

If you're going to say it's your fault anyway. Why are you being cranky?

Only then did I run to Carlyx with a smile.

Today, there is a place where all my family members should go.

In the room for my healing time.

"Okay. Then, from now on, we will conduct an interim check on the condition of the princess."

I sat on Henriette's lap with full of tension.

Avelle held my hand tightly from the side, and Camillean was shaking his leg nervously.

Carlyx, who brought me to the counseling room, had a stiff shoulder.

Anyway, my family, should we sit side by side ahead of Ennys?

They're family members of villains, but this looks so cute right now.

"Duke, are you still doing it in the morning when she wake up twice a day and before she go to bed, saying 'I love you,' 'Be happy today,' and 'Have a good day?'"

"I'm doing it."

Ennys started a full-fledged inspection.

An inspection of my condition was, that is, a confirmation of how much my family is doing for me.

These days, I do it almost every two days, and every time that happens, Ennys' eyes change to hawk eyes.

"Prince Avelle, are you doing well in playing with the princess once a day, reading fairy tales before going to bed, and saying 'our youngest is the most precious thing' three times a day?"

"Of course, I'm always doing it."

"Prince Camillean, 'I love you my little sister' 3 times a day and 'You're so precious' "

"Yes, I'm doing it."

A smile rose gently around Ennys' mouth.

Since the last incident, Ennys has been going through a more careful mental treatment process than before, as my inner condition has deteriorated.

In addition, thanks to the magical treatment, the memory of the day became very blurred to me.

Ennys also checked with my three exclusive maids, and finally turned to Carlyx.

"Prince Carlyx says three times a day, 'I love you Rossette,' 'You're really good at drawing,' and 'You're precious.'"

"…"

I tried to suppress the mouth area that was about to twitch, but I covered my mouth slightly with both hands because I thought it would not work.

Carlyx replied as if he had grumbled with a red face.

"… I'm doing it. Darn it,"

He said at first that he would never do it.

However, as if my family wanted me to see only good things, he followed Ennys' prescription, so he also ended up doing it.

I was really embarrassed.

Above all, it seems that giving a picture of Carlyx last time had a great effect.

"Are you keeping the pictures you received from the princess well?"

"… It's just a painting like that. How precious is it to keep it?

Carlyx responded coyly. He was still red-faced.

"·····Even so, if you leave it anywhere in the room, it will look messy, so I ordered it to be framed. Really… It's just because the room looks messy, I'm not keeping your paintings precious."

But I saw them last time.

He kept looking at it for hours, framing the paintings I had drawn for him.

Then, he hugged a pillow and rolled around on the bed.

Huhu, I'm glad you like it.

"And… and, hey, beans."

"Huh?"

"You drew that picture so badly. So draw it again next time."

You're asking me to draw you, right? As expected, he is not honest.

I smiled brightly and nodded my head.

Ennys is looking at my family happily.

"Now that I've checked, I'll ask the princess this time. Are you happy these days?"

"Yeah. I love my dad and my brothers, and my maids, and I'm so happy to hear that I'm precious."

Really excited, Henriette shook his legs under his knees.

"Last time, I wanted to eat strawberry ice cream. That's why Daddy made it for me! And A read me a fairy tales every day. Millie plays with me every time I have lunch. And the most salty guy plays with Lotty, too!"

In fact, rather than playing with me, Carlyx often quarreled with me and fought back and forth.

Even then, he eventually apologizes that he's wrong first, and it leads to the second round, saying,

"But you're still at fault!"

Oh, but there was a problem that made me suffer these days.

"And I have a bad dream."

"Do you have bad dreams or nightmares?"

"I hate it because I had a scary dream."

I soon had nightmares after that day.

This was the case for a while after the last time I met Count Semond, but post-traumatic stress disorder seems to have recurred as it did then.

I kept reflecting on what happened at dawn that day.

An assassin who was torn to death in the great darkness. Or me who was kicked by an assassin.

Sometimes my dream changed strangely. Either Carlyx dies or I die.

Or, although it has nothing to do with that day's memory, there are times when I dream more terrible than that.

I burst into tears because so many people rebuked me for not protecting anyone.

I dreamed of being forced to a place I didn't want to go, or of countless people throwing stones at me.

"I think the princess is still shocked. I'll tell the pharmacist about it so that he can prescribe more magical medicines, so please take them every hour."

Henriette nodded with a heavy sigh and hugged me further. He patted my head gently.

That's how the consultation ended.

Still, I could hardly sleep for a few days after going through it for the first time, but I've improved a lot these days.

But my family still seems to be worried about me. In particular, Henriette rarely tried to leave me alone.

Whenever something happened, the maids were not enough, and even the knights accompanied me.

And these days, no, I've been sleeping with Henriette ever since that happened.

"Hey, dad. Isn't it uncomfortable to sleep with Lotty?"

It was nice to hug Henriette and sleep tight. Henriette's body is warm, and he pats me on the back until I fall asleep.

However, it is not easy to sleep while putting a child to sleep.

So I asked out of concern, and Henriette, who lay down with me today, suddenly smiled.

"Don't worry. This bed is much larger and wider than your body. I can't sleep because of you alone."

Rather, I slept well these days, and Henriette pulled my blanket up to my cheek.

That was unexpected. Well, I heard before that Henriette has nightmares.

I felt it while sleeping with him these days, but he showed no signs of having nightmares.

"Isn't it really uncomfortable?"

"Yeah, it's really not uncomfortable."

Henriette repeated it as if he were following my tone.

I smiled softly because I was excited for no reason, and he stroked my head.

"Dad, so you don't even have bad dreams anymore?"

"Yeah. I used to dream often, but that doesn't happen these days. There is no problem other than being behind in work."

I often remember Henriette working until late at night.

These days, he has no time to work at night because he takes me to sleep, which seems to be a great thing.

"Dad, then I'll sing two lullabies today."

"…Yes."

And these days, Henriette is singing me a lullaby.

This wasn't Ennys' request, and I just asked him a little last time, and he soon began to sing well.

"······I hear the breath of a deep night. I hear a small bell at dawn. Until I go to Kkotdongsan Mountain holding hands with the moon and the stars, I fall asleep under the blanket.·····."

Henriette was an aesthetic owner who I would never forget once I heard it.

But that doesn't mean that he sing well.

···Honestly, I think even those who are born for the first time will sing better than that.

"Dad, that's not how you do it. I'll sing it, Lotty!"

Always like this, the lullaby didn't last until the end.

It was more frequent for me, whose ears were painful while listening, to beat the blanket and continue singing instead.

As I called it that way, I gradually fell asleep.

"Stop singing and go to sleep. Tomorrow, I have a place to go, so I'd better go to bed early."

"Woong…,"

said Henriette, patting my back. There's a place to go tomorrow. Where are we going?

I yawned, feeling that my eyelids were starting to get heavy, and closed my eyes comfortably, leaning my cheeks in his arms.

"Good night ·······."

I felt Henriette patting my cheek slightly.

It was still a little awkward touch. But still, it was sweet.

"Good night. Rossette. Don't have a bad dream."

***

If so, can you promise me?

I said I'd come back.

I will definitely come back to where I am.

It doesn't matter how many times the season changes. Just come back to me.

Even if you die, you die in front of my eyes, and even if you live, you live in front of my eyes.

If it's impossible, don't go if you can't promise me.

Don't leave me behind, please.

***

····Hyuk.

I woke up suddenly.

I felt like I had a dream, but I couldn't remember the content well. However, only someone's voice was heard as if it were being cut off piece by piece.

Is it just a dream?

What was certain was that the strange dream woke me up.

"·······Umm."

I lay down for a while and opened my eyes wide, and then I slowly escaped under Henriette's arm, hugging me and sleeping.

There's something I didn't tell Ennys, but I have a habit since that day.

After having a nightmare, I woke up at dawn or early in the morning.

At that time, I always went outside and checked the hallway.

Since the incident, the magical security of the castle has been further strengthened, and the number of people guarding the castle at night has increased as well as more frequent patrols by knights.

In addition, Henriette shook off a whole guild of assassins and hung his neck in the middle of the Capital, and since then, he has never been threatened.

So definitely, our castle must be safe now, but I couldn't stand it because I kept getting anxious.

"Well, okay, there's no one."

If you go downstairs, the knights will be there, so I went around the hallway diligently thinking of letting everyone know if anyone secretly broke in.

Honestly, there's nothing I can do. But I had to do it like this.

Only then did my anxiety subside.

'It's extremely bright outside.'

And what made Henriette nervous was the same?

At night, a group of bright lights emerged throughout the garden due to magic.

So, it was as bright as day even though it was night outside through the balcony.

While stepping on the railing, I let out a sigh as I lowered my heel.

Then, I looked up at the bright night sky with starlight in the sky.

'...Is it really okay now?'

I tried not to think as much as I could, but sometimes 'he' comes to mind.

As he said that he would come, but did not appear in front of me again after that day.

Henriette has never brought the Crown Prince thanks to his busy schedule in many ways.

That was a real relief.

'I'm not thinking about you right now. I'm thinking about the crown prince, not you.'

And when I thought of him narrowly, I used to soothe myself in this way.

Fortunately, my trick seemed to be working well.

Kian is not coming to me yet. Is the King surprisingly patient?

I didn't want to see him again.

It's scary, and most of all, I haven't completely forgotten all the memories of that dawn yet.

Of course, that day, Kian saved me. It's because the method is a bit extreme.

Thanks to him, it was clear that I survived. I was grateful for that, but that's it.

Even if it wasn't for that, I didn't want to meet him again.

Why on earth did it become like this? I was getting happier little by little, but I met the final boss in the original.

'…..I'm depressed.'

As expected, it is clear that I haven't been treated yet. I always think of depressing thoughts.

First of all, I should go back to my room before Henriette wakes up and finds me.

I wanted to hug my broad dad and sleep well. Henriette wakes up so early that he can't sleep late, but that alone was good.

That's what I thought and turned around.

Suddenly, however, a cold wind blew from over the balcony.

I stopped, removed my hair, and looked back.

At some point, the night sky, which was shining brightly among the groups of lights, suddenly darkens.

"Rossette."

Darkness mixed through the wind.

The eerie winter air brushed the back of the neck, and the scent of fresh fruits tangled in between.

In front of my eyes, breathing in and looking completely outside the balcony, an apple suddenly pushed in.

"It's been a while. My little friend."

And beyond.

A monster, who I never wanted to meet again, gently stands on a railing and smiles down at me.

With an apple out with one hand.