After Story 3. Summer in the Mountain

“If you don’t put your hand, you’re the tagger, rock, paper, scissors!”

“Ack! Prince, you’re late again!”

The voices of the children echoed through the courtyard.

The young Prince, with his platinum hair cut short, was in tears and grabbed his sister’s hem.

Leticia exclaimed,

“Because you guys are angry, Yuci keeps getting nervous and makes mistakes!”

“We’re not angry!”

“You are angry! Yuci is still young, so he can’t get his hands out quickly!”

It was hard to understand for Leticia, who was overwhelmingly fast in her mind and body, but the nanny said so anyway.

“The one who screams the most and gets angry the most is Miss Ticia…….”

As Ken, the sibling’s milk brother, mumbled a quiet lament, his sleeves waved. It was Prince Yucis.

“Oh, Lord Yucis. What’s wrong?”

“I go.”

“To your room?”

“No, ove theee.”

While Leticia was engaged in unwanted fights as her brother’s proxy, Yucis decided to satisfy his curiosity.

He toddled behind Ken’s back and headed towards the Karam mixed-race boy who was standing on the other side. Ken was startled and followed.

“Lord Yucis, you can’t go alone. And to point your finger at someone like that.”

Ken spoke, but Yucis asked without listening,

“Oh, Big Brother, why you three eye?”

The boy inadvertently took his hand to the eye on his forehead. Ken, who was more mature than Yucis, and grew up as a more discerning child than Leticia, said with a burning heart,

“Lord Yucis, you learned from the chief lady-in-waiting that you shouldn’t ask questions about other people’s bodies.”

Yucis blinked his eyes as if it was a spur of the moment and said.

“Not body. Eye.”

“Eyes are also the body.”

“Eye the body too?”

Yucis asked with an innocent face. Ken became frustrated, but he was unable to explain clearly to the baby about the relationship between eyes and bodies.

The boy fiddled around his eyes in a flustered manner. He was sorry that Ken was in trouble, and it seemed rude if he didn’t answer a question from a high-status Prince.

“It was always like that.”

“You really have three eyes?”

“Yes, Prince.”

Yucis tilted his head in disbelief.

“Mom no said that it had ever happen.”

“But I have had three eyes since I was born. So is my mother.”

“Mom also three eyes?”

Yucis’ eyes widened in surprise.

“My aunt has four arms, and she’s this big. She is the best at cutting firewood in our town, and she is strong. My maternal grandmother was Karam.”

The boy said proudly, showing the size with his arms wide open.

There, Yucis, who got scared, raised his arms and shouted,

“Dad this big too!”

“No…… Although His Majesty is tall, Karam is more…….”

Ken mumbled.

At that moment, Leticia’s roar overshadowed Ken’s murmuring.

“Yuci must be with me! Mom told me to take good care of Yuci!”

Although they had only met for two days, Leticia had already won the hearts of the children.

It may be different like house play, but it would be fun if there were many children involved in the tag game. And they couldn’t help it when Leticia said she would play a different game.

“Alright. Then, the prince will be the truce.”

“Truce?”

“The truce can keep on playing tag.”

“Then, no fun.”

“Otherwise, if the prince becomes the tagger, it won’t end.”

There was no way the young Yucis could catch up with the children of seven or eight years old.

Leticia hesitated. No matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t seem like it would be fun if he could always get tagged.

But everyone decided to play tag. If she insisted on not doing more than this, and not playing this game, she would have to play house with Ken and Yucis, or go into a stuffy room and fiddle with the toy soldiers.

“Good. Come on, let’s do it again!”

Leticia, who had reached an agreement, spoke lively. Yucis was stunned and just stared at the scene blankly.

“If you don’t put your hand, you’re the tagger, rock, paper, scissors!”

“Waaahh-!”

The victory and defeat were decided by excluding Yucis.

The mixed race boy quickly ran away. But Ken faltered, unable to get far from Yucis.

Leticia ran and grabbed Yucis’ hand.

“Let’s run away, Yuci!”

“Sisteeerrrr! Huwaa!”

Yucis, who could not keep up with Leticia’s pulling power or her speed, ended up in tears and ran uncontrollably. Soon, he was short of breath.

It was at this time that Cedric came out into the courtyard.

The nannies and escorts, who were watching the children with a smile, bowed politely. Cedric waved his hand for them to be at ease.

And he called out loudly,

“Ticia! Yuci!”

“Wah, it’s Dad!”

Leticia quickly turned around and exclaimed excitedly. And she grabbed Yucis’ hand tightly as she ran towards Cedric.

“Sister, ack!”

Yucis, who was not good at running, tripped over and fell. Leticia reflexively pulled Yucis’ hand upwards, trying to stand him up.

On the contrary, Yucis’ body spun around and fell to the side with the hand held by Ticia as an axis.

“Ah!”

Leticia was startled and squatted next to Yucis.

“Hu, Huwaangg! Uwaaaahhh!”

Yucis cried out loudly. Cedric hurriedly approached Yucis and lifted him up.

Leticia cried out,

“Yuci, what to do? Your forehead is bleeding.”

“Let’s see. It’s just a little scratched, it’s okay.”

Cedric ruffled Yucis’ hair, examining the wound on the side of his head. Leticia wept bitterly and apologized.

“Yuci, are you okay? I’m sorry.”

“Huwaaahh!”

Yucis wept as if his sorrow had exploded. Cedric stood up and patted Yucis on the back.

“If you cry, you’ll have a fever again, Yuci. You don’t want to be sick.”

“Arm hurt. Sniff. Dad.”

Yucis hugged Cedric’s neck.

“Prince, are you okay?”

Ken approached with an anxious face. Cedric patted Ken’s head with the other hand while holding Yucis.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry.”

“However…….”

“Sometimes you get hurt when you play, that’s okay.”

“Yes.”

“Did Ticia forget what Dad said? Yuci couldn’t play the same way as you because he is too young, so you shouldn’t pull him by force.”

“…… sorry.”

Leticia said in a withering voice.

“Who should you apologize to?”

“To the hurt one. I’m sorry, Yuci.”

“Hnnngg.”

Yucis shook his head and buried his face in Cedric’s shoulder.

Cedric moved Yucis to his left arm, and his right arm lifted Leticia. Leticia was now heavy enough to make his arm stiff.

“Oh my, this child. You already got so heavy. I won’t be able to hold you soon.”

Ken’s father, who followed him as a squire, quickly followed and hugged Ken and said what Cedric wanted to say.

Cedric chuckled. Leticia said,

“Dad, but I have to say goodbye to my friends.”

“Okay, there’s your friends. Wave your hand to say ‘goodbye.’”

At one point, Yucis, who had stopped crying, heard these words and waved both of his arms. But Leticia complained as she waved her hand.

“I can’t just leave like this. Because of me and Yuci, it took a very long time to decide on the tagger.”

“You can meet your friends again tomorrow? Did you forget the promise you made with Dad?”

“Uh…….”

Leticia tilted her head. Yucis whispered in a small voice,

“Ancestal grave.”

“Ack.”

Leticia exclaimed in surprise. Cedric asked with a smile,

“Did Ticia forget your promise to Dad?”

“Nope! I haven’t forgotten!”

Leticia replied with a blatant lie, but her face turned red and she hugged Cedric’s face.

“Sorry…….”

“It’s okay. If you’re having fun, you might forget it. You can’t lie, though.”

“Yes…….”

Leticia said in a low voice as if embarrassed.

Cedric strode inside, holding the two children.

Changing clothes and warm water were already prepared in the main building, which was decorated as a children’s room. It was because he had prepared in advance to let the children play a little more and went to pick them up.

“Oh no, Lord Yuci, there’s a cut on your forehead!”

The nanny, forgetting that she was in front of the Emperor, shouted and stretched out her hand. Ken got down from his father’s arms and grabbed his mother’s skirt.

“Lord Yuci fell while running because Miss Ticia was holding Lord Yuci’s hand.”

“Oh goodness…… I always tell you to be careful. Lord Yuci is still young, so he can’t run as well as Miss Ticia.”

“Yes…… I’m sorry. Yuci, does it hurt a lot?”

Leticia showed a gentle face and asked Yucis again. Yucis shook his head saying it was okay.

“Come this way. I will take care of your wounds.”

“Please.”

Cedric handed Yucis to the nanny’s arms, and put Leticia down as well.

The nanny wiped Yucis’ forehead with a wet towel. The scratch stinged, and Yucis cried again.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“What were the nanny maids doing that allowed you to be like this? What if you get a scar on your pretty forehead?”

The nanny frowned, glaring at the nanny maids. The maids bowed their heads.

Cedric said instead.

“Don’t do that. At the age where he can still play to his heart’s content, he should play comfortably. He wasn’t seriously injured.”

Moreover, after Leticia grew up to be able to articulate her intentions clearly, the maids, even adults, could not easily limit her range of action. It was because it would mean they dared to block the Princess’ steps.

Of course, Leticia wasn’t hurt often, and if she did get hurt a little, he wasn’t too worried.

However, Yucis was late in his development. His build was thin because he had been pulled out from his mother, and he looked more slender, probably because of the color of his hair.

He also had frequent illness, which would keep Cedric awake.

Though he thought that Yucis should be raised freely like Leticia, as they were both children, he could not stand the desire to openly wrap him in a warm blanket and keep him from doing nothing.

“Ticia, come here. Let’s wash your face and hands before changing your clothes.”

“We will wash her and change her clothes. Hasn’t it been a long time since you went to the ancestral grave? You must have many things to prepare.”

Mel said politely. Cedric nodded.

“Then, please. Ticia, you must listen to Dame Mel and be good.”

“Yes.”

Leticia, who is starting to learn manners from Mel these days, said calmly in disappointment.

Cedric gave a bitter smile, stroked Leticia’s hair once, and then stepped outside.