~Chapter 07~
“…Is being a royal magician really that amazing?”
“Yeah, super amazing! Just being a magician is cool, but a royal magician? That’s huge!”
Little Relshiz nodded eagerly, repeating “royal magician” over and over to herself. She looked really happy with the idea of her future job.
Watching her like that made me feel kind of strange.
To be honest, I’d never really thought of being a royal magician as something to be proud of.
“Working for the royal court” basically meant serving the king. The royal magicians were nothing more than chess pieces the king moved around as he pleased.
“Sure, the benefits were good, but…”
In my case, things weren’t all that great. I came from an orphanage and was just a commoner.
But the Master of the Dawn Tower—now that was different. That title stood above all other magicians. Even the king wouldn’t dare mess with someone like that.
“The greatest honor for a magician is becoming the Master of the Dawn Tower.”
That belief hasn’t changed. So, I decided to tell this naive kid the truth.
“You don’t really get it yet. The truly great magicians don’t work for the royal court. They work at the top of the Dawn Tower.”
“Umm… What’s the Dawn Tower?”
“It’s a place only the best magicians on the entire continent can enter. And out of all of them, the strongest one gets to live and work at the very top floor.”
“Hmm…?”
Even after my explanation, little Relshiz just tilted her head, looking confused.
I thought about explaining the whole history and greatness of the Dawn Tower, but gave up. It’d be too long and boring for a little kid like her.
Just then, her stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.
Little Relshiz, who had been happily bobbing her head, froze.
“…I’m hungry.”
“Let’s go eat something.”
I couldn’t let myself—well, the kid—go hungry.
Luckily, there were still some ingredients in the kitchen, so I could cook something right away.
I brought little Relshiz to the small dining room on the first floor of the mansion and set a plate in front of her: some scrambled eggs, bacon, and bread.
“Unni, what’s this?”
“Food.”
“This?”
On the plate were… well, let’s just say things that didn’t quite deserve to be called cooking. I quickly tried to cover it up.
“Um, it may look like this, but it probably tastes fine. What matters isn’t how it looks, but the love of the person who made it!”
“Really…?”
Little Relshiz picked up a spoon with a doubtful look. But after one bite, she gasped and immediately spit it out.
“Blegh! What is this?!”
Yeah… I kind of expected that reaction. I know full well that anything I cook usually ends in disaster…
“Still, spitting it out is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“The eggs are covered in big chunks of salt! The bacon tastes like pure sugar! And the bread makes my tongue tingle!”
“That’s, uh, because you’re supposed to eat them together! They balance each other out when you eat them all at once… maybe…?”
“You’re a terrible cook! Worst food ever! Worst love ever!”
“What do you expect?! I’ve spent my whole life studying, not cooking…!”
Little Relshiz gave me a horrified look at my pathetic excuse.
“No way… I grow up to have such awful cooking hands…?”
“‘Awful cooking hands’? Where did you even learn to say something like that?!”
“Worst food! Worst love! Awful hands!”
Even as she kept grumbling for a while, she eventually got too hungry and started eating the scrambled eggs anyway.
“If it tastes bad, you don’t have to finish it…”
While she emptied the plate, I sat quietly in the corner. Next time, I’d just buy her something to eat.
Even though this giant mess had crashed into my once peaceful life… the day still went on, like always.
“I guess we’ll have to sleep together tonight.”
There were no extra blankets, and honestly, I didn’t feel safe leaving this bold little kid alone.
So Shiz and I ended up lying down in the same bed.
“Waaah, so soft! The pillows and blanket are super fluffy!”
Excited, Shiz snuggled into the blanket and grinned.
“Hmm, this room’s really nice. At our orphanage, it gets really cold at night.”
“Cold?”
“Yeah! Super cold. The wind whooshes in through the windows. If you don’t stay tucked in, you catch a cold.”
Her words made memories from my orphanage days suddenly come back clearly.
The Austin Orphanage, where I grew up, had kind teachers and kind kids, but it didn’t have much money.
“…Yeah, that’s right. Especially in winter, we all had to sleep together. But the beds were so narrow that at least one kid would always roll off in the night.”
“Whoa! You remember?”
“Of course. That’s why we’d always fight to get the middle spot on the bed.”
“Ooh, yeah! That’s right!”
We both giggled, remembering the same thing. For the first time, this version of young Relshiz didn’t feel like a stranger to me—she felt familiar and close.
“Unni, are you really me?”
“…Wait, have you not believed me this whole time?!”
“The director told me. You shouldn’t trust strangers too easily.”
She acts like a clueless kid, but she’s surprisingly sharp about things like this.
After saying that, Shiz went quiet for a while. Then, all of a sudden, she turned to look at me.
“…Future Relshiz unni.”
“Yeah?”
“Just asking… really just maybe asking, but…”
Her usually confident voice became small and hesitant.
She mumbled for a moment, clearly unsure, then finally made up her mind and opened her mouth.
“…Did someone ever come looking for me?”
“Huh? Who?”
“I mean, uh, never mind. Yaaawn. I’m sleepy.”
Shiz let out an awkward yawn and closed her eyes.
I didn’t call out her bad acting. I already knew exactly what she wanted to ask.
She was wondering if her real parents ever came looking for her.
Unfortunately, even after all these years, no one ever did.
Back when I was in the orphanage, I used to dream that someday the parents who gave birth to me would come and take me home.
As time passed and I grew up, those dreams faded away. But little Shiz still seemed to hold on to that hope.
It made me feel a little strange.
Nice clothes, a warm, spacious house, a soft bed—things six-year-old Shiz never had. Things I once desperately wished for.
Shiz tossed and turned a bit, maybe because the pillow was too high. After thinking for a moment, I asked,
“Um, Shiz… do you want me to be your pillow?”
She blinked and looked at me with wide eyes.
“Uh—what if I drool on you…?”
She acted like she wasn’t interested, but I could see right through her.
Obviously. When I was her age, my biggest wish was to fall asleep on my parents’ arm.
That never came true, but now, as an adult, I could grant that wish halfway for this little six-year-old.
Pretending to change my mind, I turned my back.
“Hmph, never mind then.”
“I—I’ll try not to drool!”
She bit her lip and quickly snuggled into my arms. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hey! Why are you laughing?”
“No reason. It’s just funny.”
As I looked at her pouting, I suddenly thought—
Maybe little Shiz, the past me, was lonelier than I remembered.
“Come here.”
I couldn’t help it—I pulled her into a hug. She didn’t resist. Her small, round head felt kind of cute.
Even if it’s just an illusion…
Hugging my past self doesn’t erase the loneliness I felt back then. Lying here like this doesn’t actually change anything.
But even so…
“Good night, Shiz.”
I hoped we could both enjoy this little dream.
So that long loneliness could be eased, even just a bit.
Dream? Yeah, right.
A living nightmare is in my house.
“You—what are you doing up there?!”
Early in the morning, the moment I woke up, I locked eyes with Shiz—who was climbing on top of my closet.
“Unni, good morning!”
Covered in dust from head to toe, Shiz grinned at me.
