Why don’t I feel bad?
It’s a weird question.
“No, why should I feel bad? He’s so cute.
A puppy wagging his tail, no, wolf Xinxu.
The cat yawning lazily, no, the leopard, Xinxu.
And a crow picking at its wing feathers.
And finally, the snake, who flicked his tongue at me in a Growling fashion.
Why in the world would I be offended by these cute little guys?
“I’m not offended at all. You can touch them.”
So let me touch them!
Chorongchorong.
I looked at Linus, my eyes shining.
We were eye level, and he gave me another strange look.
“Huh? What’s that look?
The moment I scratched my head.
Dumbfounded.
“……?”
What grabbed my hand, huh?
Linus grabbed my hand?
Dumbfounded, I looked at Linus.
Linus searched my face like he was trying to find something.
“…… is real.”
He said something unintelligible.
“You don’t make me feel bad.”
“…….”
Linus let go of my hand.
“Oh, no.
I suddenly realized that it was Linus himself, not Xinxu, who was offended.
“Is that how Grand Duke Judas has been treating you all this time?
He said, “You’re offended because you’re not a normal person…” …….
Was that what he said?
It’s entirely possible.
If he’s an asshole who wants to turn his nephew into a puppet emperor.
“Your Majesty.”
Hmph-.
I squeezed his hand, just as Linus had done.
“Your Majesty is not displeased, not one bit.”
“…….”
A child’s hand that should have been skinny.
But his hands were full of bruises, just like Gabriel’s or Noah’s.
“Your Majesty’s hands are cold, nay, cool, and it’s good to hold them like this.”
“…Not so much. Cold is cold.”
“Uh, well, uh…. Wouldn’t it be nice in the summer? Because it’s cool!”
“Cold in the winter.”
Ugh, nothing to say when you say it like that.
“Your …… hands are warm.”
Linus mumbles, looking at my hands.
I smiled .
“Then I’ll share my warmth with you so you won’t be cold in the winter.”
There are certainly many bad people in the world.
“But there are also people who are willing to share what they have with others.
I hope Linus meets many such people.
That way, he won’t fall into the wrong hands and destroy the world.
“……you.”
Linus was about to say something.
“Miss. I’ve brought the doctor.”
Rake’s voice came from the doorway.
Linus flinched, pulling his hand out of mine.
Self-.
In the blink of an eye, the four god beasts disappeared.
“At……!”
I hadn’t even touched them yet……!
While I was frowning.
Linus quickly moved his body.
“Uh, Your Majesty?”
He stood in front of the closed window, and looked like he was about to jump out.
“Now, wait a minute! Where are you going? You might as well get yourself checked out, just in case, and I’ll keep your identity a secret!”
“I don’t need it, it’s annoying.”
Saying that, Linus put one foot on the window frame.
“No!
I can’t let him go like this.
I can’t let him go.
How can you let a child who hasn’t even eaten go!
“Now, wait, wait, really wait!”
Once I caught him, I quickly searched through my luggage.
Let’s see, I found -.
“Here it is!”
Oh, right, while we’re at it, let’s give him this!
The cookie jar I’d hidden in my bag.
I grabbed two in each hand and held them out to Linus.
“Here, take both of these.”
“…….”
What’s this.
He gave me a questioning look.
“This is a top-grade spirit stone that I brought with me to use here, but I thought you might need it.”
“Why?”
Why?
Divine beasts get stronger when they eat spirit stones!
I want you to get stronger quickly!
“It’s just a little gift to express my desire to be friends with Your Majesty!”
“…Friend?”
Linus with a face of not understanding.
“Yes, I want to be friends!”
Shouting that, I pushed the spirit stone box forward.
Boom!
A raven rook that jumped out from Linus’s shadow snatched up the spirit stone box…….
Oh, quick, quick, quick! And good job, kids!
“……ha!”
Linus, who had received the spirit stones (thanks to the newcomers), sighed and tilted his head slightly.
Does this mean we’re going to be friends…?
“I’ve accomplished my goal!
I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Oh! Wait, Your Majesty, don’t just go, take these cookies too!”
“……Why?”
To Linus, who looked at me with such a face, I said desperately.
“This is a gift for being friends-, ah! Are you worried that it’s poisoned?”
Of course!
I quickly pulled a cookie out of the tin and ate it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
I devoured the cookie in a flash and smiled broadly .
“Look,” I said, “there’s nothing wrong with these cookies.”
“…….”
“So take them and eat one whenever you’re hungry, they’re made by our chef, and they’re really good.”
“…….”
Linus looks at me with a confused expression.
I pushed the cookie jar into his hands.
“Come back for more if you need them. I’ll give you my cookies anytime.”
“……You’re so weird.”
Weird? Me? Where?
Dumbfounded, I was about to argue back,
thump, thump.
“Miss, are you okay, I’m here with a doctor, may I come in?”
Thump! I must have kept Rake waiting too long.
“Lake will break down the door at this rate-.
I sighed, .
Linus, fully seated on the window frame, said.
“Mouth.”
The young emperor made a gesture of pointing at my mouth, and with that, wham!
and threw himself out the window.
“Huh- wah…….”
I almost screaming.
‘How does he move so well with such a small body?
“Didn’t he even pass out from starvation?
Landing lightly on the ground, Linus quickly moved away.
I watched him for a moment until he was completely out of sight.
I remembered Linus’ last words.
“Mouth, what does that mean…….
“Aah!”
I looked at my reflection in the glass and saw my mouth was covered in crumbs.
“…What the hell, tell me already!
I wiped the corner of my mouth in a fit of embarrassment and closed the window.
Thinking about what excuse I’d give to the others for Linus’ disappearance.
* * *
Inside the dark lit alley.
There was no sign of him.
Linus checked his surroundings and stopped moving.
Suddenly, through the musty odor of the dirty alleyway, he smelled something sweet.
Linus searched for the source of the smell and soon found the cookie jar in his hand.
“…….”
The little girl had close it in a hurry, that’s why the sweet aroma came out of the less closed tin.
“It’s a sweet smell.”
“Master! Master! I want to eat those! They’re not poisonous!”
“Master, open it. I want it, too.”
“Weakling. If you don’t want to eat that sweet thing, you can give it to me.”
“Shut up, everyone.”
Linus scolded the creatures that wriggled and squirmed in the shadows.
He put the cookie jar on an old wooden crate nearby.
Sweet.
He lifted the lid to reveal an even sweeter, more delicious smell.
Purr…….
“…….”
My stomach rumbled, having been starved for nearly a week already.
It was no big deal.
A few weeks ago.
He’d discovered that my meals contained a small amount of poison.
Not enough to kill you right away, but enough to kill you slowly.
Linus would only make a gesture of eating the food and then throw it away.
He would often sneak out of the palace to get food and eat it.
Of course, he had no money, so he couldn’t eat to his heart’s content.
The servants were worried about Linus.
“No matter how powerful your master is, he shouldn’t starve.”
Said Yordo, a polite snake servant.
“That’s right, master. Human children eat. It’s big. I need it.”
Amurdo, the inarticulate leopard spirit.
“Master, I’ll go hunt some meat, and we can roast it in secret!”
And of course, the voracious raven, Xinxugin.
“Oda picked it up. Weak human. Eat this.”
Even the wolf Xin Shou Fen, who ignores people.
In this world, the only people who cared about Linus were the gods.
Or so Linus believed.
As the new Emperor , there was no one to help him.
But unbelievably, there was someone who wanted to help him.
“……Diana Cartier.”
Linus muttered the name of the girl he’d met earlier.
“She’s not like the rumors.”
The rumors said she was wild and mean.
In person, she was nothing like the rumors.
“Then I’ll share my warmth with you so that you won’t be cold in the winter.
A small, warm hand.
“Come back for more if you need them. I’ll give you my cookies anytime.’
A smiling face with cookie crumbs in the corner of her mouth.
Recalling the image, Linus couldn’t help but smile a little.
His hand reached into the cookie jar and picked up a cookie.
Oh dear, oh dear.
The buttery, richly flavored cookie disappeared as if it had melted.
“Yummy.”
“Delicious? Me too! I want some, master!”
Xinxugin, the raven, flapped his wings.
Linus tossed a few cookies into the shadows.
Whizz!
“Oooooh, this flavor!”
“They taste pretty good.”
“I’m eating, more. Yum.”
Leaving the excited chattering to their own devices, Linus picked up the last cookie.
Oh dear.
The sweet, mellow aroma brought back memories of her face.
“……Weird kid.”
As if to confirm Linus’s muttering, the snake god Yor spoke up.
“Ahh. You mean that little girl from earlier, she was indeed a strange child. I’ve never seen a human with no magic or divine power in her body.”
“…What, Diana Cartier doesn’t have any magic power or divine power in her body?”
