TYND 64

Swish, swish

Long, thick knuckles combed through snowy white hair, the strands slipping between fingers. Sensing the touch, Rothy turned with questioning eyes. Theon ran his fingers once more through the hair that hadn’t grown at all in eight months, then let it go.

“Theon, if you like my hair so much, I can pull some out for you.”

“No. Rothy. Even if someone says they love your hair and begs for it, you must never pull any out.”

“But I’ve a lot of it. I think I can spare a few.”

“No. Even if your hair keeps growing forever, the answer’s still no.”

“Fine… I understand. I won’t pull any out.”

Since he said he wouldn’t do it, he wouldn’t. Theon bent slightly and grabbed Rothy’s waist to lift him. He intended to carry him in his arms to the dining room as usual, but……

“……”

Normally, Rothy would wrap his arms around his neck and settle in right away. When Theon raised one eyebrow and looked at him quietly, Rothy said firmly:

“Put me down. I’m not a child, so I don’t need to be carried.”

“……”

It seemed the matchmaking offer was still hanging in his mind even after they’d returned to the estate. In the end, Theon just held Rothy’s small hand tightly and walked to the dining room. Since he was prone to falling and slipping, they walked very slowly. Ultje, who was following behind them, remarked,

“Your Grace, are you going for breakfast or lunch?”

But Theon ignored him and continued walking slowly. 

After finishing a light breakfast, Theon knelt down on one knee in front of Rothy.

“Just be at the reception hall by three. Ultje will keep track of the time for you.”

“Yes, I definitely won’t forget… I’ll be there by three.”

Theon had to attend to his duties as lord, and Rothy had his own things to do, so they would part temporarily and meet again later at three for the scheduled audience time for visitors coming to see them. 

“What’s your schedule today?”

“First, I’m going to see Hee-hee, then I’ll contact Aeruhen, give out the dolls, have lunch, and then go to the prison. After that, I’ll take a short walk and at three, I’ll come see you.”

He said it so naturally, Theon almost nodded before catching himself.

“Prison?”

“Yes, the above-ground prison.”

Currently, only one person was confined in the estate’s above-ground prison. A young assassin named Naran Daisy.

“what do you want with that person?”

“He kept trying to contact me through telepathy… saying he’s something important to tell me.”

Theon’s expression hardened. Though the above-ground prison didn’t have walls as thick as the one underground, it still had magic blocking barriers in place. For someone to break through that and specifically targeting Rothy with telepathy magic meant that kid was a higher-grade mage than expected. 

“Isn’t there a way for you to reject the telepathy magic?”

“I could if I tried… but there must be a reason since he keeps trying to contact me…”

“He won’t say what it is?”

“He says he’ll only tell me if we meet in person.”

“What did you answer?”

“I didn’t say anything…”

“Good.”

Theon thought quietly for a moment, then motioned with his hand. Zey and Chungnip, who’d been waiting nearby, hurried over.

“You called, Your Grace.”

“Chungnip, I want you to follow Rothy around today. Naran Daisy’s been trying to contact him through telepathy.”

“What— Goodness. That’s insane… Understood. I’ll stay by his side.”

“Zey, you go to the prison and make sure he doesn’t try to pull any tricks on Rothy.” 

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Zey left the dining room with a face full of anger. The sudden shift in mood made Rothy’s eyes glisten. 

“Theon… he just said he had something to tell me and asked me to come. It’s just three times…”

“That’s one time too many.”

They’d only returned yesterday evening, so barely thirteen hours had passed, and three times during that period was certainly too much. 

“I don’t think he’s a bad person…”

“Why?”

“If he can use telepathy magic, he could’ve used it to cast curses on the guards too, but he didn’t.”

“That’s part of his plan to gain your favour.”

“But what if it isn’t a plan? What if he’s really a good person…?”

“Rothy.”

Theon gently caressed Rothy’s soft cheek.

“There aren’t that many good people in the world.”

“……!”

Though he’d only stated the obvious, Rothy’s eyes went wide as saucers. His mouth even fell open, like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. 

“There aren’t… a lot of good people in the world?”

“That’s right. If anything, there are more bad ones than good.”

“I never knew… this is shocking…”

He didn’t need to say it. Theon could feel how surprised he was with how fast Rothy’s heart was beating rapidly.

Scree!

The half-asleep weasel jumped in surprise and quickly rubbed itself against Rothy’s hand. Theon pulled Rothy into his arms and gently patted his warm back.

“Calm down. Breathe in slowly, in and out…”

Rothy finally calmed down thanks to Theon’s arms and Chi-chi’s comforting nuzzles.

“But I still want to see him just once…”

That small voice from inside his arms made him swallow a sigh. How could he say no when this child, who rarely asked for anything, was asking like this? 

It wasn’t easy to raise a child. After staring up at the ceiling for a moment, Theon replied,

“We’ll go together tonight.”

“Mmhm, thank you…”

His reply sounded drained and his small back slumped as he turned away. It hurt to see a child who just learnt for the first time that there were more bad people than good in the world. As Ultje followed after Rothy, he glanced back at Theon and signalled to him that the boy would be fine soon. 

Watching Rothy’s dejected figure, Theon wondered if he’d said the wrong thing. But he couldn’t tell him that there were more good people… that’d be a lie. 

Theon left the dining room feeling conflicted. 

Woof, woooof! 

Scree!

Woof!

Screee!

Hee-hee and Chi-chi ran in circles around Rothy, playing tag. Normally, Rothy would’ve joined them in the middle, spinning and laughing with them, but today, he just sat on the bench and watched. 

“Did something happen to Lord Rothy?” 

The trainer whispered.

Chungnip replied in an equally hushed tone, 

“He just found out today there are more bad people in the world than good.”

“What? How—who in the world would say such an extremely negative thing to Lord Rothy? We should report this to His Grace.”

“His Grace said it himself.”

“Oh dear……”

The sight of the sweet young lord sitting there lifelessly, when he should’ve been laughing innocently and playing in front of the summer cabin stirred the pity in everyone watching, including Chungnip, the trainer, and the escort guard.

“Ah!”

The trainer suddenly sprung up, looking like he’d just had a brilliant idea. He returned shortly, but not alone.

Woooof!

Three large dogs padded over with him. All three were adult Wolfesains and none of them were wearing a muzzle. If they decided to bite, they could easily sever Rothy’s wrist in one go. That made the escort guard tensed up a little. 

“Wow… they’re huge!”

Meanwhile, the previously deflated Rothy brightened at the sight of the dogs and jumped up. 

“Lord Rothy! Please don’t run. We’ll come to you.”

“Don’t run, Lord Rothy. Please stay seated.”

“Don’t move, Your Grace.”

The three of them chimed in together, so he sat back down. When the trainer brought the dogs over, they went wild wagging their tails furiously, sniffing Rothy, rubbing their wet noses against his knees, showing their rumps… 

Scree?

Chi-chi scrambled up Rothy’s legs and stood proudly on his lap. The dogs stuck their noses towards the weasel, sniffing and rubbing their wet noses against it as well.

Screeee…!

Chi-chi, no damp with slobber, smacked the black dog’s nose with one of its front paws. Rothy quickly hugged it, worried the dog might strike back. But the dog just wagged its tail harder and rubbed its nose against Rothy’s arm.

Scree…

Curling up in Rothy’s arms, the weasel began to diligently groom its wet fur. 

“Wow, they really like Lord Rothy. Wolfesains aren’t usually this friendly to humans.”

“But you know, are these really hunting dogs? How can such cute, gentle dogs hunt fiends?”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. They may look gentle now, but if you saw them latch onto a fiend, you’d take those words right back.”

Woof! Woo-woo-woof!

The brown dog, which had been resting its chin on Rothy’s knees, turned its head at Hee-hee’s barking. The puppy wagged its tail and circled around it. With calm authority, the larger dog pressed a paw to the excitable puppy’s face, quieting it down. 

“Must be Hee-hee’s mum, I assume?”

“No, that’s his big sister and she’s only two years old. Hard to believe, right?”

“Two—? Wow, she’s so mature… I’m envious…”

“They’re all two years old. This one is the puppy’s brother, and these two are sisters.”

“Wow, Hee-hee’s brother and sisters are only two years old, but they’re so grown up…”

Rothy became dejected again. The adults were thrown off by the sight of his small, sagging shoulders.

I brought the dogs to cheer him up but he’s even sadder now! He seemed happy just a minute ago… What happened?

Maybe he wants an older brother or sister? No helping it then. I’ll just have to become Lord Rothy’s brother…

Hey, don’t take advantage of the situation to feed your own fantasy, Sir Chungnip.

While the adults whispered earnestly among themselves, Rothy was lost in thought while stroking Chi-chi’s fur and thought, 

When will I grow up…

Actually, the reason Rothy had been down since morning wasn’t just because he learnt the dark truth that ‘there are more bad people than good people in the world’.

Everyone in that picture book was handsome or pretty. But I just look like a child……

Rothy’s melancholy had continued since the incident with the picture book at the Elsea Valley.

‘Growth’. 

Right now, it was the one word causing the most confusion in Rothy’s mind.