REFDL 77

Dolls modeled after my likeness sold like hotcakes, regardless of whether they were for noble or commoner children.

While dolls intended for noble young ladies and young masters were made with much finer materials, in terms of volume, far more were sold among the commoners.

During the Founding Festival, paper dolls inflated with magic were even floated high in the sky, and a massive Kremlis sculpture was installed near the fountain. (I heard this from Donon.)

Each shop showcased its own unique style by setting up Kremlis models, it spread like a trend and became a signature attraction of the Founding Festival.

I heard they even hold an event to select the ‘Best Model Kremlis’.

“Then just pretend to be a doll, right? Odan can carry you around.”

“It hurts my pride, but if it’s alright with you, Lord Dragon…”

[No.]

Thanks, but I’ll just take the sentiment.

How am I supposed to keep pretending to be a doll? I’d either get a cramp or freeze up.

I’d be busted.

So unless I go in a form that isn’t a dragon…

“…Ah.”

“Ugh?!”

“Whoa, what is this?!”

I messed up.

Just thinking about it caused me to turn into a human.

And it was exactly as expected.

Rotol’s eyes lit up, she circled around me like a hunting dog that had spotted its prey.

Mirim. who normally reacts reflexively to anything Rotol does, didn’t even flinch. Probably because he was more surprised than he looked.

Odan, the most quietly shocked, scanned me up and down.

“You can do this too?”

“Uh. Yes. I just learned how recently.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything…sir?!”

When our eyes met, Rotol suddenly addressed me formally.

That’s because anyone could see I was an adult male. Leaving the awkward Rotol alone, I checked my own outfit first. I figured I might as well, but it was the same as usual.

Comfortable pants and a white shirt.

I hadn’t realized it at first, but whenever I became human, I always looked like this. I wondered if I was subconsciously mimicking Kaelus, whom I often saw at the mansion.

Anyway, it was a relief I wasn’t naked.

It wasn’t until I heard the mage Odan say, ‘Where do clothes come from? Interesting…’ that I realized that.

“……”

Then, I remembered the thing the mage had said to me when I looked at kid Odan.

The misdelivered package.

“Oh. Anyway, with this, going out shouldn’t be a problem… sir? Perfect!”

“Rotol. Your expression.”

“What’s wrong with my expression?”

“It’s the expression of someone who really wants to cause trouble.”

…By the way, does Odan even know the meaning of his own name?

“Correct!”

Rotol cheerfully shouted and pulled out a fountain pen and paper from somewhere.

She placed the paper on the white table and scribbled something down. I glanced over, it said we are going out, so they shouldn’t worry. …But anyone who saw it would probably worry.

“It’s groundwork to get less scolded later!”

“You could just not do things that get you scolded…”

“Then it wouldn’t be fun!”

Rotol put her hands on her hips and declared.

It suddenly occurred to me. Would Rotol actually mature if she got older?

Hmm. I’m skeptical.

For the record, I’m no different. Kaelus really should have let me properly see the outside world at least once. Seeing things through a carriage window or a cage isn’t really seeing.

“Besides, it’s the capital. We are just going out for a little fun, what could possibly go wrong?”

Yeah.

Something did.

It was a kidnapping.

* * *

“Refreshing drinks available! Try our seasonal camon juice!”

“Buy some skewered grilled meat! Delicious skewered grilled meat!”

“Kremlis dolls for sale! All sizes available! Come take a look!”

“Wow, it’s a Kremlis!”

“That one! Daddy, that one! Buy me that one!”

“…….”

An hour had passed since leaving the imperial palace.

Valita, who rarely regretted anything out of pride, was now bitterly regretting his decision.

‘Why did I even come out…’

It was the festival period celebrating the founding of the nation, and every street in the capital resembled a bustling market.

There were endless food stalls. Rough wooden signs towered overhead, while strings of glittering flags and haphazardly crisscrossed paper decorations obscured the sky.

Even though it was still bright daylight, celebratory fireworks and sparklers were frequently shot into the sky. People craned their necks each time. Applause and cheers rang out.

You saw the exact same thing ten minutes ago. What’s so funny about it?

And then there was the noise.

Valita massaged his aching temple with his thumb. A knight who had accompanied him glanced around and cautiously suggested, “Perhaps it would be best to return now.”

“…….”

Valita agonized.

To reiterate, he was dead without his pride. But returning queasy from a commoners’ festival after being jostled by the crowd… that would make him seem…

…Like a weak, delicate noble young master!

“No. It’s fine. I haven’t even properly seen the sights yet. Why return?”

The knight briefly looked amused before he quickly schooled his expression.

But the knight could see through Valita’s mind after they had shared a few moments together.

…He wasn’t a weak noble young master, but wasn’t he a weak imperial young master? As he pondered this, his body suddenly stiffened.

The other knights who had come as escorts reacted in a chain reaction.

Valita noticed too. More precisely, his left leg told him.

―[That one.]

He felt emotion as thick and piercing as a poison that melts bones and entrails, but it quickly dissipated.

He raised and lowered his eyebrow once, then obediently followed the knights’ lead. They quickly slipped into an alley beside them.

A moment later.

A group of men rushed past, each carrying a person. Valita peered out just enough to see.

“Hmm. A common kidnapping. Not unusual in this kind of chaos. Judging by their uniforms, Academy students? Indeed. Not a bad target, but one looks like a noble…”

“Your Highness.”

“Why?”

“…Put your head back in. We might be spotted over here.”

“If we get spotted, you lot handle it. Isn’t that your duty?”

“……”

After enjoying the knight’s constipated expression, Valita wiped the smile off his face.

Only after regaining his composure did he belatedly notice his surroundings. He was in a back alley, far from the crowded central street.

‘No wonder it felt strange.’

He had wandered in search of a less crowded spot and, and found himself into the vicinity of a dilapidated slum.

He lowered his gaze and look at the ground.

A black puddle, mixed with a dead rat and unidentifiable filth.

His own shoe sole was in it.

Valita cursed under his breath and moved his foot. But no matter where he stepped, it was the same.

“Damn it!”

He frowned in disgust and started to leave immediately but paused.

The conflict was brief. Valita scanned the suspicious figures retreating into the distance.

If his left leg was telling the truth, there was a dragon among them.

But something was amiss. He knew dragons could adjust their size. So, not seeing it immediately was one thing, but for people who had captured a dragon, weren’t they being far too calm?

Thud!

“Hm?”

They were even raising their voices at each other, perhaps arguing, and then started throwing punches. Startled, the other members of the group abandoned the fainted kidnapping victims and rushed over to pull them apart.

There was no need to look closely. The faces of the kidnapped victims, quietly laid out on one side, were all human. There was no dragon.

One child wrapped tightly in something that looked like a cloak. Two youngsters in academy uniforms. …What was that?

Valita’s indifferent eyes lit up. Curly, tousled red-gold hair. Sunlit skin glowed pale beneath it.

The man wore a half-mask of a Kremlis dragon, yet his beauty pierced through the crude mask.

Inside the shadowed eyeholes, he could see eyelids gently closed. His unconscious, limp form looked sacred and beautiful, like a scene from a masterpiece… and strangely decadent.

‘I wonder what he looks like with his eyes open.‘

Valita licked his lips, then froze.

‘What? Am I crazy?’

Startled, he reined in the thought that had begun to take hold.

Anyway, there’s no dragon among them. But the moment he thought it, his left leg screamed.

―[Kill them!]

There really was a dragon.

‘Where is it?‘

It wasn’t visible to the eye. Had it hidden itself inside the clothes?

He squinted and scanned the area thoroughly, but still saw nothing dragon-like.

Meanwhile, the demon in his leg, who had been jumping in excitement, had calmed down, perhaps exhausted. This meant he couldn’t do anything again until he recovered.

An unexpected gain.

Feeling better, Valita assessed the situation.

The men who had been breaking up the fight were whispering among themselves. Roughly, they were saying it was dangerous to stay here.

Sure enough, the two men who had been facing off snorted defiantly but retreated. They picked up the kidnapping victims they had left behind, one by one, and crawled back into the old building. Kidnapping in broad daylight? What a talent.

“I didn’t mean much by it, but I guess the capital’s security really is something else?”

“……What are you going to do?”

“Hmm. For now, shall we follow them?”