Chapter 109

Ṛｅɑđ ȯո КɑțŔėɑⅾ​ｉη​ģḈ​ɑғҽ​

He became too…

Manly.

That was Lucy’s impression.

Alex’s eyes, visible beyond his sweat-soaked bangs.

Firm and unwavering.

Rough and wild.

“Princess.”

Alex strode towards Lucy.

The air, mixed with the smell of sweat and dirt, followed him.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yeah. Alex. You’ve changed a lot.”

Lucy glanced at Alex’s hands.

The white, soft hands that used to handle dolls were gone, replaced by rough hands bearing the marks of training.

“I feel like I’ve been reborn.”

Alex said in a thick voice.

His gaze was so intense…

Lucy wanted to avoid his eyes slightly.

“Alex, why are you suddenly talking in that tone?”

Camilla asked from the side.

Alex glanced at Camilla.

“Camilla.”

He only said one word, but Camilla’s shoulders flinched.

“It’s been a while for you too. How have you been?”

“I-I’ve been fine, of course… I, uh, brought this for you to eat while training…”

Camilla stammered, her face reddening, and handed him something.

It was a basket of snacks.

Alex grinned and accepted the snack basket.

“Thanks.”

He took a cookie and swallowed it without chewing.

“Delicious.”

“…?”

Lucy glanced at Darcan and Finn.

With a look that said, “Is this okay…?”

Darcan quietly scratched his forehead, and Finn fluttered over, stroking Alex’s cheek and saying,

“Lucy, our Alex has changed a lot~ He used to be just a cute and timid rabbit~ Now he’s like a brave lion~!”

“Heh heh.”

Alex crossed his arms and raised the corners of his mouth.

“Be quiet, woman.”

“Hehe, look at this. He’s become so tough~! Now he’s finally like an heir to the Norchell family, wouldn’t you say? Besides, Darcan said that Alex has incredible talent with the sword.”

“Sword talent?”

Lucy glanced at Darcan again.

Darcan nodded.

“It’s true. Alex is growing faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. If he continues to grow like this, he will become one of the strongest in the empire.”

“That’s… that much?”

Lucy blinked.

She only told him to swing a sword because she was worried about him just playing with dolls, but he had talent.

At that moment, Alex silently slammed the wooden sword into the ground.

And then he suddenly started taking off his top.

“…What are you doing?”

Lucy’s eyebrows rose.

“…Why are you taking off your clothes all of a sudden?”

“To cool off.”

Alex answered as if it were obvious.

He threw the sweaty top and hung it on the head of a practice mannequin.

Alex’s abs glistened as the wind hit them.

“Ooh, Alex is so cool~! So sexy~!”

Finn rubbed her face against Alex’s cheek.

“Oh, right, Alex, tell Lucy about that too. The doll story.”

“Dolls?”

“Yeah, your favorite dolls. Sir Tongtong, Rabbit Mimi, and Princess Purupuru. Tell her what you did with those dolls.”

“Why would I?”

Alex wore an indifferent expression.

“I just tore them up.”

Instantly, Camilla’s eyes widened.

“You, you, that… weren’t those… really precious to you…? You couldn’t even sleep without them… You tore them up…?”

“Camilla.”

“Yeah…?”

“I am now a man who wields a sword. I have nothing to do with dolls.”

“B-But still…”

“Go back.”

Alex pulled the wooden sword out of the ground.

“You’re interfering with training.”

Then he turned to Lucy and smiled slightly.

“Princess… this place is dangerous, so please return as well.”

◈

“…Seriously, what is that!”

Camilla grumbled as she left the training grounds.

“Why did his attitude change like that?! What? Go back? Interfering with training? As if he’s something special…!”

Camilla’s face was slightly flushed.

“Besides, why did he take off his clothes? The Princess was there, so impudent!”

Arriving at the drawing room, Camilla plopped down on the sofa, fuming.

“But to be sure, he was a little… cool and manly… No, but he’s still Alex! That kind of look doesn’t suit him at all! Where’s my cute and funny Alex!”

“…”

Next to Camilla, Lucy was just making a blank expression.

Alex’s shirtless figure was still lingering in her mind.

Abs. Latissimus dorsi. Forearm muscles. Triceps.

How could he change like that in just a few days?

The muscles grew quickly because Finn kept sprinkling healing powder, but his personality itself changed into a completely different person.

Just a short time ago, the small, cute kid who sat on the floor of the drawing room playing with knight dolls was now a very burdensome being.

‘Did I do something unnecessary…?’

This was, of course, Lucy’s plan.

She summoned Darcan to teach Alex swordsmanship and make him manly.

And she assigned Finn to act as a supervisor.

Every night, Lucy heard the results from Darcan and Finn.

Darcan and Finn said it was going very well…

‘I didn’t know it would be to this extent…’

To the extent that the person had changed completely.

“But it’s a relief. If Alex has talent for swordsmanship, there won’t be a problem as the heir to the Norchell family.”

Camilla said from the side.

“Besides, he’s so handsome, so I think he’ll become popular in the future…”

Anxiety appeared on Camilla’s face.

“E-Even now again… No, but I like the Princess….”

It was then.

The drawing room door opened and someone entered.

It was Godwin, the butler of the Norchell family, neatly dressed in a black suit.

“Godwin!”

Lucy’s eyes sparkled.

Lucy jumped up from the sofa and walked towards Godwin.

It was as if a granddaughter were welcoming her grandfather.

“I’ve read all of ‘The Hole of the Ring’!”

“How was it?”

“It’s like a classic fantasy. It’s like the story of ‘finding the one and only ring’ in legend, but in the end, it seems like there’s a lesson that you have to grope for the hole yourself.”

“Hehe, that’s right. Some people thought ‘It’s here!’ and put it in, only to get slapped, and some people were scolded, saying ‘The angle of entry is wrong’… In the end, you had to approach it very delicately with the correct angle.”

“In the latter half of the book… it says that the ‘hole’ may not actually exist. As if it were an illusion. Believing in that and searching for the hole itself may be both a blessing and a curse….”

“You’ve read it properly. As expected of the Princess.”

Lucy raised the corners of her lips slightly.

That smile had a strange intensity, different from usual.

Camilla, who was watching the two of them from the side, pouted her lips.

‘The Princess and Godwin get along so well… The atmosphere is too good….’

Of course, even so, she didn’t feel particularly jealous.

She wouldn’t want to be jealous of an old man, even if it was Alex.

Godwin opened his mouth.

“More than that, these days, the young master….”

At those words, Lucy flinched.

“Ah, that….”

Lucy gave an awkward smile.

Godwin also knew that the undead Lucy had summoned was teaching Alex swordsmanship and making him manly.

But perhaps Darcan had gone too far, Alex had become a completely different person, and Godwin might take issue with him…

“The young master has become too good for the family.”

“…Pardon?”

“He has truly become a real man! He’s completely different from before. He doesn’t even cry without dolls anymore, and he tore them up himself. Saying that these are just pieces of cloth with cotton in them…!”

“I-Is that okay?”

“Of course! The head of the family was very happy too. He said, ‘Finally, my son has become a man!’ and is calling a skilled blacksmith to make a sword directly. The young master’s sword!”

“Ah…”

“Actually, the head of the family has been very worried all this time. Because of what happened to Ian during young master Billy’s time… Every time he saw young master Alex bursting into tears without dolls, he sighed deeply… Now he’s bragging about it to everyone around him!”

“That’s a relief…”

Lucy smiled slightly, but somewhere in her heart, she felt bitter.

In Lucy’s eyes, it seemed that she could still see Alex playing with dolls on the floor.

Alex, concentrating on playing with dolls with his white, soft face.

And sometimes, when his eyes met Lucy’s, he would blush as if embarrassed and press his lips tightly…

That cute Alex was now about to leave forever.

‘Goodbye…’

Lucy waved her hand to the previous Alex.

She felt strangely choked up.

“Are you alright?”

Godwin asked.

“Why are you waving your hand in the air?”

“Ah. I was just loosening my wrist. It’s a little stiff.”

“More than that, Princess.”

Godwin took something out of his pocket.

Before she knew it, he was also using the title of Princess for Lucy.

Even though it was a lie she had told.

Thanks to that, the other people in the Norchell family, as well as Camilla’s escort knights, were calling Lucy Princess.

They thought that Lucy was really a princess from a distant kingdom.

“Something like this came for the Princess.”

“What is it?”

Lucy received the paper that Godwin handed her.

It felt like a luxurious material.

The colors also had a cute feel.

“It’s an invitation that came for the Princess.”

“An invitation?”

Lucy unfolded the paper.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading~!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
If you delude yourself well enough, it eventually becomes the truth.

Oh and I guess the parents do exist after all. Went from mushrooms to buttons though, smh.