It’s not possible for a one-year-old to talk about this even when asked. I couldn’t do anything about being annoyed at not being able to speak.

  I felt at ease when I thought that and looked around the room. As expected of the best room in the inn. The bedroom is probably in a different room, and this is perhaps called the living room. There’s a coach and a dining table and chairs to eat at too.

  The coach is fluffy and comfortable.

  “Leila.”


  It would probably feel nice if I jump on this.

  “Leila!”


  “Prince, your voice is loud,” Mill called out to the irritated Prince. No one else would say this except for Mill.

  “But……”


  “Lei may look like she knows everything at a glance, but she’s not even two-years-old yet. She’s still mostly a child.”


  What is mostly? I’m 100% a child.

  “But……”


  “Lei,” Mill interrupted the Prince and called me.

  “Ai.”


  “Lei, I wonder if we can tell the Prince what happened at Lentforce.”


  I looked at Bart. He nodded reluctantly. Then I looked at Alistair. He looked conflicted, but he didn’t disagree. Then I guess it’s okay.

  “Ai.”


  “Then, we’ll tell him. You can play.”


  “Ai!”


  “Aite, Lei. Let’s build blocks!”


  “Ai!”


  “Wait!”


  Alistair went back to his room to get the blocks. The guards chased after him casually.

  Actually, the mayor had said, “Advertise the blocks if you’re going to the capital.” So, he gave us a set. Of course, we can play with it on the way too.

  *THUD* Alistair came back holding the box. The guard behind him was also holding a box and smiling wryly.

  “Lei, I’ve brought it.”


  “Ai! Bwocwsh.” (Blocks.)

  We sat on the floor and turned the box over. The box that the guard brought was also turned over.

  I grinned broadly. If Dory were here then she would probably say, “Oh my, don’t sit directly on the floor!” Alistair saw me grin.

  “Lei, what’s up?”


  “Dory.”


  “Dory?”


  “No shiththing on fwoor, shhe shaysh.” (No sitting on the floor, she says.)

  “Guhaa.” The guard burst into laughter instinctively. Alistair looked as if he got it and grinned like me. Dory is the kind of person you get fed up with, but can’t hate.

  I made a small building. It was big enough for my Rug Dragon to enter. Alistair used the two boxes of blocks and built a large building.

  The people in the room continued talking while looking sideways.

  “Then, Bart. I’ll leave it to you.”


  “You want me to do it?!”


  Mill passing the troublesome tasks to Bart was also something that usually happened.

  “So, why did you save Lei?” The Prince urged briefly.

  “Lei survived because she’s smart. Are you not satisfied with this answer?” Bart said, and the Prince shrugged.

  “It was good that Lei was saved. Honestly, we thought that she was already gone. However, how was a one-year-old able to take attackers and escape safely? It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?”


  It really is. It was hard. I put my Rug Dragon neatly into the stack of square blocks. Yup. It’s cute.

  “But in the end, it was your blunder that got her kidnapped, and Leila did save herself in that situation. And yet, it’s strange, you say it like she has some sort of responsibility.”


  Bart is harsh. The Prince looked at me as if to say, “You say something too,” but I’m busy. I’m making more room for my dragon.

  “And I don’t want to say why because it will raise Lei’s worth. In other words, I don’t want you to use Lei for the sake of a country called Wester.”


  “Which means Leila has some secret after all.” The Prince’s face said, “I knew it.”


  “I can tell you if you promise that you will keep it between us and not tell this country.” That was Bart’s condition. The Prince folded his arms and looked up at the ceiling.

  “Kingdom said to protect the child with the violet eyes. And I knew from the beginning that she was a toddler. As long as we use Leila as a trump card for our negotiations with Kingdom, Wester has no other choice but to return her there no matter how much she is worth.” The Prince looked at me and answered Bart.

  “So this is simply my personal interest. How did Leila survive?”


  “Will you swear to keep what you hear in this room?”


  “.…… I swear.” The Prince swore to Bart’s question even though he was reluctant to.

  But that solemn moment ended with Alistair’s voice, “Won’t you join your house with mine, Lei?”


  All the blocks were gone by the time I became aware of it, and Alistair not only completed his big building, but he was also aiming for my blocks.

  “Nu!” I protected my house from Alistair.

  “Hey, I’ll make a room for the rug dragon.”


  “Meh!”


  It won’t be this small and nice house that I’ve just created. It will become something that Alistair built. Shouldn’t Alistair be the one to give me his blocks?

  “Awishthair hash heapsh. There’sh no more bwocwsh.” (Alistair has heaps. There’s no more blocks.)

  “Tsk.”


  Alistair pouted. He destroyed his blocks and started making a new building. When I tried to take some of the blocks he’d destroyed, he said evilly, “You didn’t give me any blocks, so I won’t give you any.” He wasn’t mature when it came to blocks. I’m going to cry.

  “A vow is a vow. But in this situation, with her nerves. Does the innocent playing baby really have a secret?” The Prince said in amazement.

  “Well, isn’t it fine for her to act like a kid?” Bart said, sounding a bit shocked. Well, it can’t be helped.

  “Lei, as you know, didn’t just get kidnapped this one time. She also got kidnapped when she was in Lentforce. You guys also investigated this, didn’t you?”


  “Yeah. But we only chased after the criminals, we don’t know what actually happened.”


  “Lei was, as you know, kidnapped right before the Hollows appeared. Along with the mayor’s daughter.”


  “Is it because the criminals have barrier boxes?”


  They certainly did use six or more barrier boxes this time. So it’s possible.

  “No, it’s possible that they had someone with a barrier box nearby. But the criminals that kidnapped her didn’t have any.”


  “How do you know?”


  “They deserted Lei and the mayor’s daughter in the middle of the Hollows at night.”


  The Prince and the guards gulped.

  “Apparently not a lot of time passed. Everyone at the mayor’s mansion had already given up by the time we came. But they were safe when we reached them.”


  “I thought Lei had a hidden barrier box. Just enough to fit one person.”


  “That would be nice if she had such a barrier box.” Mill interrupted.

  “Mill, don’t interrupt right now. Lei doesn’t have a barrier box.”


  “Then, why?”


  The Prince looked at me.

  “Lei can make her own barriers.”