I don’t know what that has to do with this, but I could tell Nasser was really desperate. But it wasn’t a problem I could just solve because I wanted to.
“I’m not talented at teaching anyone.”
When I refused nicely, Nasser looked at Kyle this time.
“Then, Uncle…”
“……”
Kyle stared at Nasser and slowly moved his lips. Only the sound of the fruit being crushed and crunching could be heard. It felt like he was going to say no, but strangely, there was no answer.
Was he perhaps thinking about how to refuse nicely? Kyle has been spending quite a bit of time choosing his words during conversations these days. It was obvious that he was trying to say things as clearly as possible, thinking of all sorts of words.
I knew what he was going to say just by looking at his face, but young Nasser couldn’t wait patiently.
“Uncle? Uncle?”
The more he called, the more pitiful his voice became. Kyle’s face was also becoming increasingly troubled, and just as I was about to intervene, the door opened without a knock, and a welcome face appeared.
“Father!”
It was Mahir and Nadia.
Kyle, who had been sitting in a lazy posture, leaning almost lying down on the back of the sofa, was startled and jumped up. I also got up and tried to kneel with Kyle, but Mahir approached first.
Mahir closed the distance in just a few steps, hugging Kyle tightly before letting him go. Then he opened his mouth.
“Why do you always make me come find you first?”
“No, that’s not it, I was going to go wash up…”
“Aska, it’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Yes, it’s been a long time.”
Mahir, unable to contain his joy, hugged Kyle tightly again, making a loud thud. A cute “cough” escaped from Kyle’s lips.
“Mother, Uncle saw me and joked that I was a new recruit who had just entered Talim.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and he said his name was Abyss. If you hadn’t told me about Uncle’s bodyguard before, I would have been completely fooled.”
With Nasser’s chattering added, the reception room instantly became noisy.
After standing for a long time, greeting and asking after each other, we were finally able to sit down after Asella brought tea.
“Have there been any problems in the meantime?”
“There were problems. A lot of them. I went to new places here and there…”
“I’m glad you’re doing well.”
Mahir, whose hair was shorter than the last time I saw him, said with a smile. He seemed to think we were traveling. The Primeval Forest and the Northern Continent were ambiguous to call trips.
Like everyone who meets after a long time, Mahir and Nadia had both matured a lot. In particular, Mahir even had wrinkles on his face that weren’t there before.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have made some more cookies today.”
Then Nadia looked at Mahir and said regretfully. I checked the table again, not paying attention to her words. In addition to fruits and refreshments, there were several types of cookies with slightly uneven shapes.
“You still go in and out of the kitchen?”
Kyle asked, looking dumbfounded, and Nadia’s eyes widened.
“Why? I go every day? My skills have improved a lot. Right?”
Mahir only smiled kindly at the question. It was an ambiguous reaction, neither affirmative nor negative. Kyle picked up a brown cookie with a sullen expression, put it in his mouth, and chewed.
“Mother, did you make cookies when you were young too?”
“Of course. Your Majesty and Prince Kyle both liked them very much. They ate them every day.”
“Really? Mother, you’re amazing!”
“……”
“……”
Nasser, with eyes full of respect, cheered, but Mahir and Kyle were still silent. Their appearance seemed so solemn that I turned my head away, pretending not to see. What do they taste like?
Then Kyle put the cookie he had half-eaten into my mouth. It was delicious without any particularly bad parts, but it was soft and heavy, so it wasn’t the kind of taste Kyle would like.
Mahir probably has a similar taste to Kyle. Or is it too sweet? Anyway, it was delicious to me.
“Come to think of it, Princess Asella has also tried the cookies I made before.”
“Aska? When?”
Kyle was the first to react to Nadia’s words. I couldn’t remember either, so I tilted my head. In the first place, we hadn’t met much.
“At the birthday banquet before. Don’t you remember? You were with me for a while.”
I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten for a while. It was when I came to Actan and attended Kyle’s birthday banquet for the first time. Come to think of it, we were together for a while back then.
Kyle told me not to take off my veil or speak, so we didn’t talk, but Nadia kept bringing me plates of food, so I remember eating well thanks to her.
“Haha.”
Kyle suddenly burst out laughing as if he remembered that time.
“Do you know what Aska said to me after the banquet that day? He said you kept bringing him delicious things, so he thought you were a really good person.”
Come to think of it, I think I said something like that. I still feel the same way now.
“Oh my, really? I heard you weren’t feeling well at the time, so I was very worried. But you were splitting apples with your hands that you barely stuck out from under the veil. I was relieved to see that.”
I remember. I was originally going to bring it inside the veil to eat, but it was too big, so I couldn’t help it.
“You split an apple in half?”
Kyle looked at me as if he was dumbfounded. Kyle sighed as he watched me turn my head away, pretending not to notice.
“I told you to pretend to be sickly back then.”
“No one saw it. Only me. And Princess Asella was very careful to hide and eat.”
“You handed them over to me at my eating speed, so I was able to eat well without getting caught.”
She even picked out only the delicious ones and gave them to me evenly, so I was able to eat a lot in a short amount of time.
“Anyway, he’s just happy if you give him something to eat…”
Kyle rubbed his forehead as if he was tired and muttered to himself. Honestly, there wasn’t a single bad person among the people I had met who gave me something to eat.
“Aunt.”
Then Nasser, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, called me. He had a worried look on his face.
“You shouldn’t follow just anyone who gives you something delicious…”
I suddenly received ridiculous advice from a child.
“I’ve never followed anyone.”
I replied, feeling dumbfounded, and Kyle interjected.
“Nasser is warning you in advance because your words and actions make it seem like you’ll follow anyone if they give you something to eat.”
“That’s right.”
I was about to say something, but then there was another knock. It was fortunate because I was in trouble. If it was just the two of us, I would have insisted that it wasn’t true until the end, but the situation wasn’t good now.
“Oh, right. I brought this as a gift for Nasser.”
Asella, holding a birdcage covered with cloth, was the one who opened the door and came in. Kyle took the birdcage, placed it on the table, and slowly removed the black cloth. The small bird, which had been covered in fluff, had red feathers in places, as if it had molted in that short time.
“A gift?”
Mahir asked, tilting his head. Kyle put his finger into the birdcage, rubbed Copa’s forehead, and said.
“Aska and I went to the hot springs and picked it up. It looked like a Copa chick, so I brought it for Nasser.”
“Copa? Which mountain?”
“Just a mountain near Sakira’s merchant guild. It was shivering under a tree covered in snow. I thought it would die if I left it alone, so I brought it.”
“My gift? Really?”
Nasser was delighted, circling around the birdcage. Nadia was looking at Nasser as if he was cute, but Mahir’s expression was subtle.
“But I can’t come empty-handed when we’re meeting for the first time. It’s smart enough to remember words and distinguish people, so take good care of it and raise it.”
“Thank you, Uncle. I’m so happy. Is it a chick now? How big will it get when it grows up?”
“The size difference is big depending on whether it’s male or female. It’s too young to tell right now, so ask a scholar when it grows up a little more. Or you can look for related books. It’s probably in my study, so take it with you when you go later. It’s still young and weak, so don’t touch it or bother it too much.”
“Yes, I understand. Is it nocturnal? Why did you cover it with a black cloth? Should I raise it in a dark place?”
“I was worried it might be anxious because we came on a ship…”