“Papa, today you’re all shiny and bright.”
Bunny’s jaw dropped. Kiriel Yudia looked different than usual—his hair was neatly swept back, and he was dressed in a dazzling, pristine white uniform without a single wrinkle.
*Papa is wearing bright white clothes, too.*
*Must be careful not to get Bunny all powdery.*
One hundred percent nervous. One hundred percent on guard.
As Bunny clutched her chick-shaped crossbody bag to her chest and tried to scoot backward on her bottom to put some distance between them, Kiriel noticed her pulling her knees to her chest.
“Bunny, sit properly.”
“O-okay.”
At his prompt, Bunny sat obediently.
*Failed to run away.*
She rolled her eyes and stuck her head out the window, but Kiriel’s hand guided her back to sit upright.
“But where is Bunny going?”
“To the Imperial Palace, like I mentioned before. You said you wanted to go when you asked about it.”
“Ah, the human big boss. He said he’d give a gift.”
“You helped the Crown Prince before, remember?”
The Crown Prince! The future human big boss! He owes Bunny.
“Yup.”
“That’s why His Majesty the Emperor wants to thank you,” Kiriel explained calmly, matching Bunny’s eye level to clarify why they had left the territory this morning.
Bunny nodded.
Feeling bored, she kicked her legs, shuffled to the edge of the chair, rested her chin on the windowsill, and watched the outside world.
Beyond the carriage, which was speeding through the heart of the straight-pathed village, the bustling marketplace came into view.
When Bunny hung out the window, Kiriel must have thought it looked dangerous; he moved to the window seat and pulled her onto his lap.
“Don’t lean out too far. It’s dangerous.”
“O-okay.”
*But it’s boring.*
Bunny thought to herself inside the carriage, which barely jolted at all. The scenery rushing past was bright and colorful. It was a world she hadn’t really known when she lived with Luriel; back then, they had always been hiding, moving only under the cover of night.
Watching a happy family walk by, Bunny spoke up.
“Papa.”
“What is it.”
The response remained blunt and languid, but Bunny blinked twice, feeling the arm firmly wrapped around her waist.
“But, where is Mama?”
“…What?”
“Mama! Luri said that Papa and Mama are a set. But Papa doesn’t have a Mama. Where is Mama?”
Bunny stared at Kiriel, finally asking the question she’d been curious about ever since he told her to call him Papa.
“…….”
At Bunny’s words, Kiriel went silent and turned his head. He had no words for her.
With his speaking skills, explaining adoption to a child would take an eternity, and explaining why she didn’t have a mother wouldn’t be easy, either. Of course, he also lacked the confidence to try.
“…There isn’t one.”
“Huh?”
Kiriel, who had answered while avoiding her gaze, opened his mouth again at the child’s puzzled response.
“There is no mother.”
The child wasn’t exactly an infant; if there was anything she lacked, he could just fill that void himself. The moment he thought that and looked down at Bunny, he froze.
Her lips were puffed out, and her jaw was dropped as she stared at him with a look of pure shock, as if she had discovered something she should never have seen.
“Hey, Luri. Why is it only Papa here for the baby big boss?”
“Ah~ You mean the fairy tale book, *The Fierce Baby Kitten Of The Black Dragon Family*?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s because the Papa Black Dragon was only handsome, but his personality was ferocious, and he was mean and unkind to women, so no one approached him. So… in a word, he was a man who wasn’t chosen.”
Bunny, recalling memories of Luriel, looked at him with trembling eyes.
Her Papa was handsome, but he had a scar near his eye, didn’t smile much, and was definitely blunt. He was kind to Bunny and Alan, but not to anyone else.
*Plus, no one comes near Papa.*
Aside from Levon, his adjutant, she hadn’t really seen anyone approach him.
*Gasp.*
“Papa… a man who wasn’t chosen.”
“…What?”
“Luri said so. If Papa doesn’t have a Mama, it means he’s a man who wasn’t chosen.”
*What is that even supposed to mean?*
Kiriel stared at Bunny, who was spouting nonsense again today, before silently stroking her hair. At his touch, Bunny’s mouth softened into a relaxed pout.
“Bunny.”
“O-okay.”
“You often talk about someone named Luri; may I ask who she is? Was she someone who looked after you when you were small?”
Bunny flinched. When she glanced up at Kiriel, she saw a calm expression, devoid of any hostility. She stared at him for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.
“Luri looked after Bunny when I was a baby. She cooked lots of yummy things, taught Bunny how to earn money, and read lots of fairy tales to me.”
“I see. So that’s how it was.”
“Yeah…….”
Bunny nodded, looking a bit dejected. Kiriel watched her, then stroked her hair without a word.
“Aren’t you sad that you parted ways?”
“I promised to meet her again when I become a great adult. I’m preparing to be a great adult after I save my Papa.”
At the sight of Bunny giving a big thumbs-up, Kiriel let out a low chuckle.
The child would be down in the dumps for a moment, only to bounce back up like a roly-poly toy as if nothing had happened. Whenever he saw such a child, Kiriel was seized by a strange sense of exhilaration, as if he could do anything—even though he didn’t particularly want to do anything.
“We’ve arrived.”
The carriage stopped, and Kiriel scooped the child up into his arms.
* * *
“Oh, you’ve finally arrived. I didn’t know you’d actually come, Lord Kiriel.”
As Kiriel Yudia entered the greenhouse with his usual blunt face, carrying the child, a tall man with golden hair welcomed them.
Golden hair. Golden eyes.
Bunny’s eyes went round at the sight of a figure who looked like the sun sculpted into human form. He was even shinier than the Crown Prince. She looked back and forth between Kiriel and the Emperor, her jaw dropping.
*So handsome. About the same as Papa.*
With her arms crossed, Bunny made a grave, troubled face.
*Handsomeness is important. Should Bunny swap Papas?*
“I greet the Sun of the Loti Empire…….”
While Bunny was lost in thought, Kiriel, who had offered his greeting in his characteristic languid, dragging voice, set Bunny down on the floor without even properly meeting the Emperor’s eyes.
He gave Bunny’s shoulder a light tap, and she let out a sharp “Eep!” before bowing her head abruptly.
“Hel-lo. I am four-year-old Bunny.”
It was a peculiar greeting where both arms were stretched out to the back like wings, disregarding all etiquette. The Emperor, who had been staring with wide eyes, soon burst into laughter.
“She is still young and hasn’t fully mastered etiquette yet. Please understand.”
It wasn’t that she hadn’t mastered it, but rather that she had just tossed it out the window, but the Emperor didn’t react much to that.
“Haha, it is fine. I heard you suddenly adopted a child……. She is a cute child. Hello. Nice to meet you, Bunny. Would you like to come and sit? I’ve prepared a delicious lunch.”
“O-okay.”
Bunny answered obediently, trotted over, stood before the chair, and craned her neck upward. The chair was high.
“Bunny, Bunny. Your seat is over there.”
At that moment, a voice reached her from the side.
Turning her head, she saw a slightly smaller chair. She turned her gaze forward to see the person who had spoken. It was the Crown Prince, who had been rolling around in bed in pain just before.
Bunny blinked as she met his red eyes.
He wasn’t sweating like last time, and he didn’t look pained at all; he looked healthy. Maybe that was why? The big boss Papa seemed to be in a good mood, too.
*Anyway, that’s a relief.*
“Shall I help you sit?”
*Hmph.*
At the sudden voice, Bunny straightened her short index finger and shook it left and right.
“Bunny isn’t a baby, I can do it myself.”
Just as Bunny reached up to grab the edge of the chair to hop up, her body floated into the air.