I had only stepped out for a casual stroll when I stopped in my tracks. A child was wiggling about, using magic to siphon something from a tree into a container.
If she were a demon child, she would need to be killed without a second thought.
If she possessed the rare ability to wield both magic and holy power, she would need to be reported.
Either way, her path forward was destined to be jagged.
But I could choose not to care anymore. Indifference was a luxury; caring was simply a drain on my dwindling mental reserves.
“Bunny is here! Do you want to raise me? A flash sale, just for now!”
“Bunny, the future grand… great demon of greatness! I’m looking for a guardian!”
I should have ignored the child’s offer from the start and observed from a safe, detached distance.
*Was I out of my mind?*
Perhaps I had been bewitched in that moment.
By the words desperately offered by a small, lonely child—scared, sparkling, and full of fragile anticipation—and those clear, pink eyes that held not even a speck of darkness.
By an upright gaze that was so distinctly different from my own.
“Bunny, I want to become an adult… they say you need a guardian to become an adult.”
“Right, well then… should I be Bunny’s guardian…?”
He blinked slowly, expression unperturbed.
*Come to think of it, I was her guardian.*
Kyriel Yudia smirked.
“It’s a bit much to call it quits when I haven’t even heard her call me ‘Dad’ once.”
Shall I watch a little longer?
Nothing is certain yet, and the child is cuter than I thought.
*Though, I am a little curious about what she was doing.*
I believe she was collecting sap, or something of the sort.
Lost in thought, I yawned and began walking toward the main mansion, head tilted.
*Come to think of it, she’s never once asked for help.*
For someone who claimed she needed a guardian, she never comes to find me. No, did she ever?
Only briefly, when she handed me money of unknown origin kept in a ragged cloth. Even then, she would just drop it and vanish.
*I don’t really get kids.*
Scratching his head, he walked slowly. The world remained boring, uninteresting, and desperately tedious.
*She’s too well-behaved. It would be fine if she were a bit more child-like.*
Kyriel Yudia mused, a smirk playing on his lips.
His wish—or perhaps, his curse—returned as a result the very next day.
***
“…What?”
“I received word from the guard I secretly assigned, as you ordered, that Miss Bunny and Young Master Alan have been detained by the territory’s security patrol.”
At the servant’s sudden arrival and report, Kyriel’s brow twitched.
“What did the patrol arrest those children for?”
“…Well, they say it’s for selling unauthorized, illegal food products.”
Kyriel Yudia, a man rarely surprised by anything, froze. His sharp mind immediately conjured an image of Bunny’s little head, grinning as she extracted tree sap.
“They say a guardian needs to visit. I thought I would handle it by informing them of the Dukedom and sending a head maid or a knight instead…”
The servant added that they were insisting on the guardian’s presence, at which point Kyriel Yudia slowly stood.
“…No, I will go. Tell Levon to follow.”
He rose with a stunned expression.
It was the moment Kyriel Yudia, who had barely left his room or the temple—let alone the mansion—in several years, finally moved.
***
“Ahem. As I said, food sales require a permit. Naturally, since you have to pay taxes, you also need a business license from the Commercial Guild.”
Sitting on a metal chair in a small, musty-smelling room, Bunny’s eyes trembled. She couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
“…….”
“Tsk. What kind of parent tells such young children to go out and earn money… Quickly, call out your dad or mom, or give me an address. Otherwise, you’ll end up as prisoners and be forced into slave labor.”
At the guard’s stern words, delivered with a face carved from stone, Bunny gulped.
A fluffy, tragic narrative began to unfold in her mind.
If she mentioned the Dukedom, they would contact the mansion. The Duke would come.
*‘Ha! So my daughter wasn’t the genius Bunny, but the troublesome Bunny… she even stopped making money? To think she was such a bothersome child who can’t summon the Heugyeomryong, can’t make money, and can’t even solve a problem like this on her own! I don’t need such a child. You are no longer my daughter!’*
*‘Hmph. We don’t need slaves in our family! A disgrace! Get out!’*
In her imagination, Kyriel Yudia and Ludbrid Yudia turned their backs on Bunny and Alan, walking further and further away. Bunny had seen such things often in the fairy tales Luri read to her.
*‘If Bunny… gets caught as a young lady of the Dukedom, it’s a disgrace to the family!’*
She might lose her guardian and be kicked out of the Dukedom.
“If you speak honestly, it will end with just a fine.”
*Sniff.*
At the guard’s threat, tears welled up in Bunny’s eyes.
*‘A fine…?’*
In an instant, a lightbulb flashed.
Money!
*‘Bunny has money!’*
Bunny gulped and carefully placed her elephant piggy bank and the highest-grade holy stone she had bought earlier onto the table.
“Bunny… has money… I don’t have a mom or a dad…….”
Bunny said in a tearful, sobbing voice, heavy with manufactured sorrow.
The guard turned his head away, covering his mouth in silence.
***
“Bunny… has money… I don’t have a mom or a dad…….”
*Drip, drip.*
At the sight of the teardrops falling like chicken droppings, the guard was rendered speechless, slowly averting his eyes.
“If Bunny becomes a slave, I’ll be useless… I’ll be kicked out… Waaaah…….”
Luri had said it.
Slaves are locked in prison, beaten by bad people until their bottoms turn red, forced to chop onions while shedding tears, and fed nothing but bell peppers. It was a nightmare.
“You! Why are you making a child cry?!”
Alan gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at the guard.
Startled by the act—as if he were about to summon his divine beast—Bunny hurriedly grabbed Alan’s sleeve and shook her head.
Alan paused.
“Don’t worry! I’ll take you out of here.”
“Noooo… Waaah. Stay still, you dummy…….”
She had to make a good impression to get out; why did he keep shouting? It was hateful that Alan wasn’t moving according to her plan.
“Bunny is not crying. Waaaah…….”
As Bunny shook her head, scrubbing away the sorrowfully falling tears with her sleeves, the guard’s eyes darted around.
He had only meant to scare them, summon the parents, and hand out a warning. Somehow, he had ended up in an incredibly awkward situation.
“This is the money Bunny earned… There’s a little left over, but it was for buying something for the baby… I bought the highest-grade holy stone, that’s why… Waaah. I’ll pay the fine…….”
“Alright, I get it, I get it. I won’t tell your parents, so little one, stop crying. There, there.”
“Is that a promise…?”
“Y-yes, I promise.”
*Sniff.*
“There, there…….”
*Sniff.*
Only after hearing the guard’s promise did Bunny scrub her eyelids and wipe her nose.
“You don’t have parents?”
“Yes…….”
Bunny nodded weakly, casting a subtle glance at the guard.
*‘As expected of Luri!’*
A woman’s tears are a wicked tool that knocks men down instantly!
The guard had finally collapsed under the weight of Bunny’s tears.
*Hmph.*
No one can beat Bunny.
*Phew.*
Bunny mimicked wiping sweat, scrubbed her eyelids, and looked at Alan, then giggled. Alan paused, then turned his head away abruptly. His earlobes had turned bright red.
*Knock, knock.*
The door swung open.
Bunny, eyes red and puffy, turned her head quickly, then let her jaw drop.
“Bunny, Alan.”
It was Kyriel Yudia.