Fortunately, I didn’t fall and hit the back of my head.
That was because my dad, reacting at a speed I could barely follow with my eyes, turned around and managed to catch me.
I was so startled—realizing I had nearly gotten seriously hurt—that I clung tightly to my dad’s hand with both of mine.
Even so, my heart was pounding loudly.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
My dad, looking even more shocked than I was, gazed down at me and asked.
At the same time, his eyes swiftly scanned me from head to toe.
Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt anywhere. Even my ankle, which had slipped, felt fine for now.
“The floor must have been slippery because of the rain.”
Even after confirming that I was fine, my dad kept checking my condition over and over again.
Seeing someone more startled than I was made my racing heartbeat gradually calm down.
I didn’t mind at all that he kept checking me.
Having someone worry about me like this felt so unfamiliar that I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
“I’d like to carry you to your room, but…”
That would be a bit uncomfortable for you, right?
As I hesitated awkwardly, unable to respond, my dad gave a slightly bitter smile.
Then, as if being careful, he tried to let go of my hand.
My dad was an incredibly strong man, while I was just a tiny child.
Even so, he was doing his best to respect my feelings above all else.
‘If he just picked me up, no one would say anything.’
It was both touching and unfamiliar.
More than anything, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
So, just as he was about to let go of my hand, I lightly grabbed his fingers.
“Holding hands is… okay, at least.”
I was too embarrassed to lift my head.
I just kept staring at the rain-soaked marble floor, wiggling my toes, when suddenly, I heard laughter from above.
After laughing for a while, my dad tightened his grip on my hand again.
“This way, you won’t fall anymore.”
My dad’s hands were huge and firm.
I had expected them to be cold, like the sharp ice he wielded, but instead, they were warm—almost hot.
Holding onto his warm hand, I lowered my voice.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
“Yes.”
My dad slightly leaned in toward me.
Then, I whispered into his ear.
***
Holding my dad’s hand, I returned to my room, changed into fresh, dry clothes, and then opened the door to step back into the hallway.
As expected, enough time had passed for my dad to have already left.
It was a good thing I hadn’t hurt myself when I fell.
If I had gone to the infirmary with my dad, I wouldn’t have been able to carry out my plan.
Hugging my bunny plushie, Kiki, which had been neatly placed on my bed, I stepped out into the corridor, sneaking toward the infirmary while avoiding the eyes of others.
Faint, unintelligible voices were leaking through the door, suggesting that Steve was still inside with the resident physician.
Knock, knock.
“Please open the door.”
“W-Who is it?”
“It’s Mariela!”
There was a flurry of movement inside, as if someone was hastily tidying up. Then, the physician hurriedly ran to open the door.
‘This physician was also sent from the main family.’
I paused for a moment, watching his flustered expression, before poking my head inside the infirmary.
Just as I expected, Steve was still there.
Seated in a chair, he raised an eyebrow when he saw me step in.
“What brings you here, young miss? If you need something, wouldn’t it have been better to summon the physician to your room?”
I knew he would ask that.
I lifted Kiki, my rabbit plushie, which—thanks to today’s rain—had missed its scheduled wash and was looking quite dirty.
“It rained a lot today. Cold. So Kiki got sick. Fix.”
Speaking like a typical three-year-old, I could see visible relief wash over the physician’s face.
The infirmary looked ordinary.
There were vials filled with potions and jars containing powdered medicine, making the space feel somewhat cluttered, but overall, it didn’t seem out of the ordinary.
However, one thing in the corner particularly caught my eye.
Why is that here?
“Young miss, I am actually a physician who treats people, not dolls. Fixing a stuffed toy is a bit…”
“This is a plushie, right?”
Why was a rolled-up magical beast membrane—typically used for trampolines—stored in this room?
It’s not like we had a storage space shortage.
Even if we were short on space, why store a children’s toy in the infirmary of all places? It wasn’t a servant’s or maid’s quarters.
As I curiously approached the rolled-up membrane, Steve suddenly reached out and snatched Kiki from my arms, almost as if he were stealing it.
‘What the…?’
Shocked, I stared at him, but Steve simply shook Kiki toward the physician.
“Kiki is mine.”
“Doctor, come on, just go along with it and treat it. The young miss made the effort to come all the way to the infirmary.”
Ignoring my words, Steve shook the plushie again. The physician, in a panic, grabbed the stethoscope from his desk and put it on.
Then, instead of placing the stethoscope on Kiki’s chest, he randomly pressed it to its ear.
I wasn’t sure what he was distracted by, but the physician was clearly flustered.
Meanwhile, Steve stood there with his arms crossed, watching both of us.
There was an odd sense of pressure in his gaze.
The more he watched, the more sweat gathered on the physician’s forehead.
“This rabbit is suffering from a serious illness, young miss!”
Didn’t you just say you don’t fix stuffed toys?
This whole situation was getting more suspicious.
I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized the physician as he clumsily tried to justify himself.
“If you don’t go to bed and fall asleep immediately, the rabbit will die. Yes, probably.”
The physician, who clearly wanted to get me out of the room as soon as possible, wiped the sweat from his forehead repeatedly as he looked at me.
‘But… what is this smell?’
At first, I hadn’t noticed it, but the longer I stayed in the infirmary, the more I detected a strange, unpleasant scent.
It was heavy and sour, like the stench of rotting food…
‘That’s the smell of magic poison.’
There was no mistaking it. I had smelled this exact scent just hours ago—very, very recently.
My stomach churned, and my vision began to dim slightly—just like before.
The foul odor was coming from the direction where the magical beast membrane was piled up.
The stench was so overwhelming that it made me wonder if the membrane was rotting.
Yet, despite this, both the physician and Steve sat there calmly, without even cracking a window.
‘Steve doesn’t know that I’ve smelled magic poison before.’
After all, I was just a tiny child, always surrounded by the towering northern knights.
In that case, I should play along.
I patted my chest a couple of times as if I were uncomfortable and pouted my lips.
“Hearing that made me feel sick here.”
“Yes, that’s just because you were startled. If you take Kiki back to your room and get some rest, you’ll feel better. So, please return now.”
“But… Kiki… I was going to give it as a present to my friend, so if I take it now, I won’t be able to see them…”
“A friend?”
That last question came from Steve.
Until now, he had looked slightly bored as the physician struggled to drive me out of the infirmary. But now, he leaned forward with interest.
“Who is this friend?”
“I have one. Their eyes are red, just like Kiki’s. So, I wanted to give Kiki to them… I have to say goodbye.”
As I spoke, I pictured the prince’s transparent, ruby-like eyes. Steve’s eyebrows twitched.
“Goodbye? Is your friend going somewhere far away?”
“Yeah. I heard Dad talking to another mister. My friend has to go somewhere far away. They’re going to be hidden. They called it a secret.”
“Where are they going to be hidden? You’re a smart young miss—you must remember.”
When my dad was talking with Walter, the name of the knight he mentioned was…
“Petti? Pepper?”
“…Do you mean Sir Peter?”
“That’s right! They’re taking my friend to Sir Peter’s house.”
Peter and Gilla were the two knights my dad trusted enough to entrust with escorting a prisoner.
Between them, the one who had stayed behind due to an injury was Peter.
As I gazed up at Steve’s rapidly darkening expression, I cheered inwardly.
‘Got him.’
He anxiously bit his lip, then suddenly shot up from his seat.
