Lifting her hand on instinct and shouting urgently, she slowly lowered it again.

[I want to eat it, but I’m already dead, so.......]

Food wasn’t something the dead could just eat whenever they felt like it. After she died, she had never eaten even once.

“Go ahead.”

[No, as you can see, I’m de— Huh?]

Reaching out without thinking toward the cookie Camilla held out, she couldn’t finish her sentence.

The cookie... the cookie was in her grasp!

[No way!]

The cookie Camilla had been holding turned black, crumbled, and vanished, but in its place, an identical cookie was now in her hand.

[Oh my god.......]

Staring for a long time at the chocolate cookie in her own hand with trembling eyes, she brought it to her mouth very slowly.

Crunch.

[Kya!]

...Am I really not mistaken? No matter how I look at her, she doesn’t seem like a duchess. She looks like she’s about to cry over a single bite of a cookie.

“Want one more?”

[Yes!]

Camilla simply placed two cookies into both of her hands.

Watching her beam like a child who’d been handed the whole world over just two cookies, Camilla also smiled lightly.

It was very rare for her to be the one to acknowledge a ghost first.

Because she’d been Duke Escra’s wife, she just wanted to try talking to her once.

[I’ve always really loved cookies.]

“Yeah, it shows.”

[I don’t even know how long it’s been since I last ate one. I died at thirty-one, so—]

“Y-yeah... what?”

Wait, wait.

“Thirty-one?”

[Yes.]

That face is thirty-one? Seriously? If you exaggerated a little and said she was a high schooler, some people would believe it.

[I look young, don’t I?]

“Not a little. A lot.”

A giggling laugh spilled from the woman’s mouth. When she smiled, she looked even younger.

Crunch.

As she took another bite of the cookie, an unmistakably happy smile spread across her lips again.

[This is ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) fascinating. It’s my first time talking with someone living like this.]

Only after she finished devouring all three cookies did she finally show interest in Camilla.

[I’m Sharua. What’s your name?]

“Camilla.”

[Camilla... that’s a pretty name.]

She smiled brightly again.

[You’re his daughter, right?]

Had she heard something Duke Escra or Count Alton—or someone else—said? She seemed to know something about Camilla.

Camilla didn’t answer her question at all. Sharua didn’t seem to be expecting an answer, either.

[But... is that man okay?]

At Sharua’s words, Camilla turned her head and clicked her tongue. Dorman had been hesitating and was gradually edging farther away from them.

“What are you doing?”

“N-nothing.”

She seriously couldn’t understand him. A guy who used to manage souls—why is he scared of ghosts? He kept rambling that souls and ghosts were different. Is he out of his mind?

“Huh?”

And then it happened. She could see someone walking very slowly toward where they were.

[Ah!]

Sharua sprang to her feet as if she’d already realized who it was. Camilla could soon make out the face as well.

“Dive?”

At first Camilla frowned in confusion, wondering why the child had come out here alone at this hour—then her brow gently furrowed.

“That outfit......”

Because the child walking closer was in pajamas.

And it wasn’t just that he hadn’t even thrown on an outer layer......

“Barefoot?”

Realizing something was wrong, Camilla immediately stood and moved toward the child. What on earth was this situation?

[Wait!]

But Sharua hurriedly grabbed Camilla.

[Just leave him.]

“What?”

[That child right now.......]

Sharua’s eyes, fixed on the child, quickly reddened.

[He’s asleep.]

What?

[He isn’t awake right now. There’s no point talking to him.]

At that, Camilla hurriedly looked at the child again—and she could tell. His expression, his gaze, were extremely unfocused.

Sleepwalking?

In the end, Camilla had no choice but to quietly watch the child pass right in front of her without a word.

Chapter. Her Kingdom

[Gyuu.......]

“Hm?”

[Gyuu... Gyuu.......]

“Hm.”

From the morning, Duke of Sorpel had to set the paperwork down in the end because King kept whining as he looked up at him.

After Camilla left, the little one had been living without any energy to speak of, but today, his whining was even worse.

“Do you want me to let you hear Camilla’s voice, at least?”

He asked, thinking he could connect a call for him. But King shook his head hard. He’d expected him to bounce around in excitement.

[Gyuu.......]

“You want to see her face?”

[Gyuu!]

“But you know there’s no way.”

Duke of Sorpel soothed him gently. When he reached out, King, as if that wasn’t it, got angry and bit down on his hand.

“.......”

He didn’t bare his teeth, so it didn’t hurt at all, but it was still shocking. It was the first time a Guardian had bitten him.

[Gyuu!]

“......?”

Seeing him scratch wildly at the floor and bounce in place, Duke of Sorpel asked, just in case.

“You’re saying you’ll go find that girl?”

[Gyuu-gyuu!]

King nodded extremely hard as if that was correct. Duke of Sorpel couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“How would you find her on your own?”

WUUUUNG—

“......!”

But that smile vanished quickly. The moment he finished speaking, a small magic circle formed beneath King’s feet.

[Gyuu!]

Letting out a cry that sounded brighter than usual, King lifted his front paw and waved it—like a greeting.

Soon, wrapped in light, King vanished from that spot in an instant.

“Ha.......”

Having learned of a Guardian’s new ability, Duke of Sorpel couldn’t say anything for a long while.

Did he really go to find that girl? He could go that easily?

“...I’m jealous.”

A hollow laugh slipped from his mouth.

*****

Lick.

Huh?

Lick, lick.

“......!”

Camilla snapped her eyes open. Having fallen asleep late yesterday, and waking especially late today, she couldn’t help but be startled by the very familiar sensation of something licking her face.

“King?”

[Gyuu!]

“Hah.”

It really is King?

Opening her eyes, Camilla unconsciously hung her mouth open in a daze.

How is he here? He’s supposed to be in that other empire.

WUUUUNG— WUUUUNG—!

As if it had been waiting, the communication orb rang violently. Camilla quickly grabbed the orb she’d left beside the bed.

「Camilla.」

“Father, King—!”

「Looks like he found you.」

“You knew?”

Duke of Sorpel let out a small laugh.

「He kept whining that he wanted to go to you, and then he suddenly disappeared.」

“Suddenly?”

「Perhaps he grew without us noticing—he was using Mana very freely.」

Grew? Him? He’s still palm-sized.

Camilla looked at King, who was licking one of her hands over and over as if he were venting all the time they’d been apart.

Still small and pale, with white fur, he looked closer to a kitten than a tiger.

「Still, I feel a bit relieved that he went to you.」

“...I’ll be back soon, Father.”

「All right.」

After exchanging a bit more about how they’d been, Camilla ended the call.

“Did you really grow?”

[Gyuu-gyuu!]

At the word “grow,” King stretched his arms and legs out and tried to lengthen his body as much as possible, and Camilla ended up laughing.

“Either way, it’s nice seeing you like this again after so long.”

When she held out her hand, he immediately rubbed his face all over her palm. Making pleased little sounds as he did, he looked like nothing but a kitten no matter how she looked at him.

“Don’t cause trouble.”

[Gyuu!]

*****

“Oh my!”

“S-so cute.”

“How is he that small?”

When Camilla entered the dining room holding King, exclamations burst out from everywhere.

He is kind of absurdly cute.

Understanding he was being praised, King lifted his head even higher. People squealed even more at the sight.

“What is that? That little thing?”

Of course, not everyone reacted the same.

Duke Escra, who was sitting in the dining room instead of his office for once, frowned as he looked at King in Camilla’s arms.

“A Guardian?”

As if he’d read the unusual energy flowing from King, he clicked his tongue softly.

“Why did a Guardian suddenly show up here?”

“He came to see me.”

“I heard he only follows the head of the house. And why is he so small?”

“Because he hasn’t been born that long.”

Without explaining any further, Camilla sat down. Then she noticed Dive staring at her... no, at King—without blinking.

Behind the child, she could also see Sharua.

Sharua was still looking at Dive with those affectionate eyes.

[Grrrrr......]

“Shh.”

Camilla stroked King’s head and quieted him as he bared his teeth at Sharua.

At King’s sharp reaction, Dive flinched and quickly turned his head away. He seemed slightly hurt, as if he thought King had bared his teeth at him.

But even after that, the child kept sneaking glances at King.

And whenever his eyes met Camilla’s, he quickly averted his gaze like nothing had happened.

Sleepwalking.......

Last night, Dive had wandered around the garden for a long while, then suddenly stopped and blankly stared up at the sky.

Then he turned back and returned to his quarters.

[He’s been like that since two years ago. Sometimes he paces around the garden like that, then goes back as if nothing happened.]

The weather’s nicer now, but until recently it was freezing. It snowed a lot, too.

[So he’d catch a cold at the drop of a hat. Not long ago he caught a really bad one and suffered for about a week.]

Other people don’t know?

[Lady Sebinne... she knows. But Lord Kais doesn’t know anything. Lady Sebinne made sure everyone kept their mouths shut.]

So only a few around him knew about Dive’s symptoms.

Camilla glanced at Duke Escra and lightly shook her head. Even if she told him about the child, it didn’t seem like he’d care.