I breathed heavily to calm myself down from that strange thrill. I wondered who he was. He seemed familiar somehow. I thought I had seen it before, that coolness. The more I thought about it, the more my heart would oddly beat. W-was I in love? No, I didn’t think that’s what it felt like…


  “Those eyes, they were so pretty.”


  Graecito tilted his head a little as if he was trying to decipher the meaning behind my words. However, I laughed brightly, shaking my head to indicate that he should mind it no more. I was smiling, but I could hardly forget the scene left in my mind. I didn’t know who he was, and I didn’t know why he’s crying…


  However, he was so pitiful that even I felt sad.

  “By the way, where’s Pibbit?”


  “Pibbit?”


  Oh, that’s right! Pibbit! Where did he go? He just left like that and abandoned me. That bastard.

  Graecito looked around me, but I shook my head. He’s not with me, that stupid Pibbit.

  “Huh? Over there!”


  Huh? Where? Where?

  What Graecito pointed to was a lake not far away. A white furry creature was grazing near the lake. As soon as I saw him, I got mad.

  “You pig, are you still eating more?!”


  ***

  I put down the pudding I was holding and sighed. Serira raised her head as she was picking up my summer clothes. I grew up so fast, but my clothes would always fit me perfectly, so Serira had to order new dresses every three months. She was looking at the catalog thinking about what she should order, and now she was looking at me with a worried look as I sighed.

  “Princess, are you feeling sick?”


  “No.”


  “Then why are you so down?”


  A gentle hand touched my forehead. Her worried voice made me feel guilty, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t know why I was doing this.

  Something had changed. It’s definitely just like any other day. I woke up and had a good breakfast and even ate snacks. Now I just needed to think of what game to play. What was this feeling then? I just sighed without thinking.

  I really couldn’t forget it.

  “…?”


  Serira’s head tilted as if she’s wondering. The look on her face made me want to behave as usual, but I couldn’t help explaining my condition, so I just took a deep sigh. I felt like I was in a bad trap. I normally forget things like that, but why did I keep remembering that scene? It had nothing to do with me whether or not he cried.

  “I want to see daddy.”


  As I stepped down from the chair, Serira looked at me with a surprised gaze. I was even more surprised when I saw her face like she heard something she shouldn’t hear. Well, I rarely did the initiative of seeing Caitel. Just yesterday, I didn’t expect that I would want to see Caitel first.

  “I’ll take you there.”


  Yes. I reached out and took Elene’s hand. Serira gave a worried look. Don’t worry, Mom. It’s not that serious.