kscans

Chapter 18 - The Secret Little Person

"You’re quitting as head chef??"

"That’s right."

"But why??"

Drago’s words sent the kitchen into an uproar.

He was a chef so exceptional he had been granted a peerage. One could even call him the standard bearer for the court chefs. Many cooks in the castle town admired Drago, and he was a charismatic figure of sorts. There was no one involved in cooking who did not know his name. Such a man was leaving the royal palace?

Unthinkable, the cooks thought as they exchanged glances.

Glancing at their complex expressions, Drago let out a long sigh and looked straight ahead.

"The royal family broke their promise. As a result, Chihiro has fallen ill again. I don’t want to burden her any more than this. I will leave the royal palace and live quietly with my daughter somewhere peaceful. I’m sorry."

Drago’s pained smile and explanation made the cooks understand with a collective, ah. They remembered well how the Little Person had once fallen ill from mental strain and could barely eat.

Did that happen again? A verbal promise is still a promise. What on earth is the royal family doing?

Though unsaid, their thoughts were the same.

Among the furiously indignant faces of the cooks, there was one person emanating an even more formidable aura of anger.

It was Adoris, who had been promoted from apprentice to cook.

She had finally gotten better.....

Children are fragile. The slightest thing can harm their bodies and lead to death. For such a small body to face near-death experiences so many times, it's just not right. They could at least remove the known cause, couldn't they? The royal family won't be troubled if they don't see Chihiro, right? Why can't they just leave her be!!

There might be accidental encounters, of course. But Chihiro doesn't go anywhere in the castle besides the kitchen. If they just avoided that place, there shouldn't be a problem.

Adoris did not know. He didn't know that Theodore, who had been looking out a window, had spotted the Little Person and jumped right out of it. By the time his attendants noticed, he was no longer at the windowsill. If they had been by his side, the mistake would not have happened. But when they frantically leaned out the window, Theodore was already running toward the knights’ training ground, visible in the distance, as if chasing someone.

In that brief gap of less than five minutes, the two had met. It could only be called bad timing.

"Theodore. Is this truly so?"

Lined up in the room were the King and Queen, the King's brother, and also Theodore and the Second Consort. All others had been dismissed.

"It is true. I often played with Fatimah."

"Hmm. Then, a royal child unknown to anyone was truly in the palace."

"Otherwise, there would be no reason for Chihiro to be found in the castle. A maid named Cyril supposedly called Chihiro by the name Fatimah. Upon investigation, she returned to her hometown half a year ago and has been out of contact since. Several other maids have also gone missing."

Romel spread out a stack of documents with a rustle.

Recorded there were the names of Cyril and the other missing persons.

"There were other missing persons as well, including doctors, pages, and knights. The timing varies, but they are concentrated around half a year ago."

Then he glared sharply at the consort.

"They are all people connected to you, Consort Habirush."

Facing Romel was a woman with pale blond hair. The slender, ephemeral-looking woman tilted her head in confusion.

"How dreadful."

As she delicately furrowed her brow, Romel felt a surge of intense frustration.

Why is someone like this a consort? Brother, you should have been a little more... No, I suppose it couldn't be helped. Just possessing the irises makes one a consort for sure.

Gentle or perhaps just clueless, Consort Habirush was a very faint person, indifferent to her surroundings and herself. She was like air, simply going with the flow. Ignorant, or rather, never thinking deeply about things, she just existed. She had no interest in anything, no attachments... well, she was attached to one thing.

Only to her child, Theodore. Since she was his mother, that was only natural, of course.

For that reason, one simply could not expect anything from her.

In a way, she was the abyss of the royal palace. When her circle was involved, investigations became extremely difficult. Since she would sign anything she was told to, there had been countless times when things were discovered later and everything fell into chaos.

This time was no different. She hired people because they had letters of introduction, and gave them permission to return home because they wanted to.

Investigate, I beg you!!

He had even placed one of his own men to support the incompetent consort, but he had vanished before they knew it. He was now on the list of missing persons. That was why the discovery of this matter was delayed.

"Cyril was a lady-in-waiting who entered the palace with you upon your marriage. The maids were the same. There shouldn't have been anything suspicious, yet they are at the center of this problem. What is the meaning of this?"

The other pages and knights were the same. They were people who had entered the palace upon her marriage. That was the only common thread. Or rather, that was a singularly peculiar commonality.

"I do not know. Cyril and the maids were attendants assigned by my father. Did something happen to her? Come to think of it, I have not seen her recently."

This is it!! Argh, come on!!

If you just look at her, she's a peerless beauty.....

Words are understood, but the conversation doesn't connect.

A person who lives in a dream world, where everything is vague, holds the rank of consort. It was like giving a sword to a madman.

"Mother, you know, I found Fatimah."

"Oh my, was she well?"

"Mmm, she didn't seem very well."

"Oh, I am worried."

"Yes, I wonder if I can see her again?"

"I wonder?"

The mother and son created a field of flowers in the space between dimensions, giggling and chuckling.

Everyone connected to Theodore's story had disappeared, yet this was the state of things.

As the others stared with fixed, damp eyes, one of the close aides spoke up.

"We found her, just one person!!"

"You found one!!"

Romel shot to his feet, and the room buzzed with excitement. They had found someone involved in Theodore’s story.

The person they welcomed in with racing hearts was Theodore’s wet nurse, Shaon. She entered the room with a pale face.

"There is something I wish to ask you. It is about a baby named Fatimah......"

Before he could finish, Shaon prostrated herself on the floor, pressing her forehead to it and crying out.

"I am so terribly sorry!! My child was taken hostage..... In exchange for a large sum of money, I kept silent about Fatimah-sama!!"

Without even needing to be asked, she got straight to the heart of the matter.

Romel and the others soothed the sobbing, incoherent Shaon and patiently listened to her story.

In short, she had been the wet nurse for Theodore and another baby. Hired as the wet nurse for Consort Habirush's child, she had been in the inner palace since the birth. Another baby was handed to her along with the prince. Watched by Cyril and the others, she had raised the child, vaguely sensing who the baby was, but she had kept silent.

This was because Shaon had been granted a room in the inner palace, where her six-month-old son was staying.

Cyril and her group took Shaon’s son hostage and forced a large sum of money on her, making her an accomplice. She was watched daily by knights and pages and was unable to move freely.

"There was nothing I could do..... Just as the princes were finally weaned, they disappeared."

Though she was well into eating solid food and should have been walking, Fatimah-sama could barely pull herself up to stand, let alone walk. Not only could she not walk, but she was always in a daze, and even her crawling was precarious beyond measure.

Something is wrong. Shouldn’t a doctor see her?

Just as Shaon was thinking this, Cyril disappeared with Fatimah-sama. Feeling a bad premonition, Shaon searched all over and learned that Cyril and the others had left the palace. She then requested leave herself and fled.

At that time, Shaon had had a narrow escape from death.

If she had not gone out to look for Cyril, she would have been found by Cyril on her return and killed to be silenced. Though she herself was unaware, a slight time difference had saved Shaon’s life.

Having locked Chihiro away and being short on time, Cyril and the others feared that the truth would be revealed through Shaon, so they hurriedly left the palace.

Their accomplice knights and pages were also hiding in the castle town to start a riot the next day.

This small turn of fortune, this near miss, was what allowed Shaon to stand here now.

"It was so frightening. I did not know what to make of Cyril and the others. They had knights and pages among their companions..... A woman’s slender arms were no match for them."

Silence filled the room.

Putting all this together... Chihiro was.

"My child? Theodore’s sibling?"

"Probably.... Now there are some differences between the boy and the girl, but when they were just born, the two of them were as alike as two peas in a pod."

"Good heavens."

The King was too stunned to move. Romel pressed a hand to his forehead, his eyes wide. Shaon nodded with tears in her eyes.

"Sibling? Is Fatimah my younger sister?"

Theodore’s eyes sparkled innocently. The light of curiosity in them was just like the Little Person’s.

While the palace officials were reeling in shock from the truth.

A small joy was bubbling up in the peaceful baron’s mansion. Chihiro had gotten up from her bed and was able to walk.

"Are you alright? Don’t push yourself."

The bear of a father held his beloved daughter, his face on the verge of tears.

"I'm okay. Let's eat?"

Nuzzling against Drago’s beard, the Little Person smiled innocently.

I’m getting used to this, I guess. ...Not that I want to get used to it.

Having skillfully weathered the wave of her own nervous illness, the Little Person made her comeback. Like wheat that stands up stronger each time it is trampled. I won't lose, you jerks. I'm going to be happy.

Hugging her reliable father, the Little Person gave a bright, cheerful laugh.

That smile, by a strange coincidence, was in sync with Theodore’s smile.

Crying, laughing, and being in sync.

Strange things may happen, but the Little Person is doing fine today too.