By Zephyria 
He was a small child, barely a hand span tall, to put it a bit exaggeratedly. Both Kyle and I had already realized who this child was. Kyle wore an expression that showed he didn’t know how to react.
I had no choice but to speak first.
“Is your name Lala?”
“Originally, it’s Laila, but people close to me call me Lala. Who are you?”
“I’m Aska. How old are you? You speak well for someone so small.”
At my question, the child spread out her five chubby fingers.
“Five years old?”
Then she shook her head and folded her thumb.
“Four years old?”
“Yes. And I was told that I’m tall and speak fast for my age. My dad says I’m a genius.”
Her pronunciation was still a bit clumsy, but she definitely spoke very well for a four-year-old. Abyss, who was watching Laila with a pleased expression, cleared his throat, as if he felt my gaze.
Then he looked back and forth between Kyle and me and said, “We were very worried when we couldn’t reach you.”
Kyle looked at Laila with a bewildered expression, then turned his gaze to Sakira. Sakira smiled as if she had been waiting for it and said, “She’s our daughter.”
“If I had known sooner, I would have bought her a gift.”
At those words, I put the jewel I was going to give to Abyss in the child’s hand.
“What’s this?”
“Buy some snacks with it later.”
“Thank you.”
“Aska, that’s too much for a child.”
Ignoring Abyss’s troubled words, I turned my head. I saw Chichi running from afar with Pipi, who had disappeared for a moment. Chichi, who ran at full speed and bumped his head against my leg, scratched my leg while purring sweetly.
—Nyaaang!
When I bent down and held him in my arms, Pipi also sat on my head. I couldn’t see it, but Popo seemed to be next to me, hiding his body, judging by the warmth on my left side.
—What about my present? What about my present?
Chichi kept meowing, bumping and rubbing his head against my body.
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While we were having a hearty meal together, Kyle frowned and asked, “Why is she dressed so thinly in this cold weather?”
Laila, who didn’t seem very hungry, ate a few pieces of bread and then got off the chair. Then she started playing with the jewel I gave her, a little away from us.
It wasn’t cold enough to see our breath, but the weather was still quite chilly, and as Kyle said, her clothes were definitely light.
“Ah, that’s…”
“What if she catches a cold like that?”
“Well, Kyle… um.”
Abyss and Sakira exchanged glances as if they were troubled. Then Sakira poked Abyss in the side with her elbow. Abyss picked up a coat and approached Laila as if he couldn’t help it.
And I immediately understood why they were so troubled.
“No! I absolutely hate it. Hate it. Hate it.”
“…”
He had only said one word to put on her clothes, but she refused four times.
“Dad told me not to wear a vest either.”
“That’s for summer…”
“Anyway, I hate it!”
At her firm refusal, Abyss returned and sat down with a sad expression. Instead, Sakira said as if making an excuse, “She wasn’t like this until last year, but strangely, she’s become a bit stubborn this year…”
I nodded without much thought and was spreading jam on bread when Kyle looked at me. Kyle, who had been looking at me for a long time with an unreadable look, sighed.
“I know how you feel.”
Why is he saying that while looking at me? I felt strange and was feeling awkward when Kyle added, “I think it’s a relief that she’s wearing clothes at all, even if they’re not quite right for the season. It’s a blessing that she’s not running around naked.”
“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”
Suddenly, a scene from my childhood flashed through my mind, where I ran out the window naked. I had completely forgotten about it because I was so young, but what time are you talking about?
I lost my appetite and put down the bread I was holding, and suddenly Kyle patted my waist. I couldn’t help but frown at the way he was treating me like a child.
I was even more annoyed to see Abyss and Sakira desperately pretending not to see.
“Don’t.”
I lowered my voice as much as possible so that only Kyle could hear me, and I didn’t even open my mouth to speak ventriloquism. He must have heard me, but Kyle continued to stroke my back.
I never knew what to do in these situations. I don’t like being treated like a child, but wouldn’t getting angry and telling him not to treat me like a child make me look like a child? But if I leave him alone, Kyle doesn’t know when to stop.
Even now, his touch was getting stickier, so I had no choice but to grab Kyle’s wrist tightly and pull it away. Then I forcibly stuffed the bread I had spread jam on into his mouth.
Kyle groaned as if in pain, but he didn’t spit it out and somehow ate it all. While we were doing this, Abyss brought Laila back to the table and sat her on his lap. Sakira coaxed and soothed her, putting food in Laila’s mouth.
Seeing that, I felt strange for some reason. On the one hand, I felt anxious. I glanced at Kyle without realizing it. But contrary to my worries, Kyle’s gaze was fixed on me.
He was still touching my butt with a playful face.
“…”
If, just if, Kyle wanted to settle down somewhere, whether it was here or Actan, I should tell him to do so right away. I suddenly made up my mind.
I couldn’t help it. There were so many things in the world that Kyle loved and that loved Kyle that I felt self-conscious about monopolizing him for too long.
Even now, Kyle had given up too much because of me. I wanted to lock him up in a deep cave somewhere no one knew about, like in the underground Ruins, and have him all to myself, but that was my greed.
“…”
Looking back now, that was the most unstable time. I wasn’t in my right mind and couldn’t control my body as I pleased. But I was happy because it was the situation I had always wanted. Of course, I’m still very happy now.
Should I say it’s a happiness with a slightly different texture?
Still, I was glad that I didn’t feel like eating everything up like I did when I was younger. It was hard to bear when I couldn’t tell the difference between my appetite and my sexual desire, and the smell of blood was all over the place.
Thinking about that, I cut the peeled shrimp into small pieces and put them in Kyle’s mouth.
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After finishing our meal, we slowly caught up with each other while having tea and snacks. For some reason, Kyle didn’t bring up the story of going to the Primeval Forest. Not a word about Ophelia, the rules of the world, or my identity…
I thought he would explain about Chichi’s identity and talk about it together. It seemed like he was trying to keep it a secret, so I didn’t mention that part at all.
We talked about this and that until sunset, and then we entered the room that Sakira had prepared. Pipi, Chichi, and Popo had already come in and were sprawled out on the floor.
—Ah, hello. Long time no see.
Popo mumbled softly, avoiding Kyle’s touch, as if he had become awkward over the years. Pipi and Chichi were all over Kyle, rubbing and clinging to him.
Kyle, who was stroking the small fur balls, said to me, “Are you going to wash up right away?”
“Sakira says there’s a hot spring nearby.”
“Hot spring?”
“Do you want to go? I think she said it’s a bit small.”
Isn’t it better if it’s small? It was a place I had always wanted to go to since I was young, so I didn’t care how big it was.
Kyle, who was staring at me, didn’t answer, but chuckled and called Sakira.
After giving simple instructions to move to the hot spring, we changed into more comfortable clothes. I tied Kyle’s sleeve strings and asked, “Are we going by carriage? I can just hold you and run. It’s not very cold today.”
“It’s better to take the carriage and relax because we need time to prepare before we arrive.”
Is that so? There aren’t many people at night and it’s dark, so I think it would be better if it was just us. But are there other people at the hot spring?
When I saw it in a book, it felt like an outdoor bath. But judging from Kyle’s personality, he would probably kick everyone out of the hot spring. Wasn’t that what Sakira was instructed to do?
He takes off his hood and clothes anywhere, but he doesn’t let me do anything.
Anyway, we headed to the hot spring at a leisurely pace. It was deeper in the mountains than I thought, but thanks to the well-paved roads, we were able to move comfortably by carriage. There were lights along the way, so it wasn’t very dark.