"Why is she doing that?"
Ipa Ganiello (4 years old), the granddaughter of the Grand Duke Ganiello, tilted her head, holding her two-year-old brother, Lian's hand.
She spent half the year in the Grand Duke's castle in the Grand Duchy of Ganiello and the other half in Penmerwick in Meindlandt. It was because her father, the heir to the Grand Duke, had a lot to do in the Grand Duchy, and her mother, the founder and head of the giant trading company, had a lot to do in Penmerwick, the base of the company.
Ipa was young, but she was quick-witted, like her father. And even at that young age, she had seen many people. In her opinion, Princess Arbyone's behavior was strange.
"She's always sticking to Her Majesty the Empress."
The children of the Imperial Family, the grandchildren of the Grand Duke Ganiello, the grandchildren of the Duke of McKinnon, and the children of the Earl of Wirtam.
The children of the four most prominent families in the Empire were close because their parents were friends, and they were all around the same age, so they often played together. The reason why the Imperial Family had come all the way to the Duke of McKinnon's mansion, even bringing Princess Maeve, who was just a year old, was because the children wanted to see each other so much.
Arbyone was usually the most lively in those gatherings. She had two younger siblings and liked other young children, so she was the leader among them. Her spirited appearance, dragging the little ones around and imitating adventures she had read in books, was a famous sight in the Imperial Palace.
But for the past two days, she had been clinging to the Empress like a fly, refusing to let go. Ignoring her beloved siblings.
She had just witnessed Arbyone, who was in the Empress's arms, sobbing. Judging from the situation, it seemed like the princess wouldn't be able to join in the games for a while.
"My little pups."
Their mother called out from behind Ipa, who was lost in thought, rolling her eyes, and Lian, who was innocently imitating her sister. Ipa turned around with a bright smile.
"Mom!"
There were many unfamiliar adults next to her mother, who was probably working on something else with the people from the McKinnon Trading Company—that's what Ipa called it when her mother was locked in a room with other adults and didn't play with her.
She shouldn't disturb her mother when she was working. Her mother was the Grand Duke's daughter-in-law and also the head of the Morie Trading Company, so she was busy, and she had to focus whenever she had a chance to work. Ipa hesitated, about to run to her mother, and the nannies prepared to take the siblings away. But Joan smiled and spread her arms.
"Come here, my pretty pups. Mom's finished working."
"Tinanda! (I'm happy!)"
"Andya!"
Ipa was delighted and said it confidently, and Lian followed her, stumbling over his words. Joan picked up both children at once, lifted them up, and spun around.
Giggles. Ipa burst into laughter with joy. She loved her mother so much. She wanted to be held tight forever. At that happy sound, Joan suddenly asked with a wistful expression.
"Are you sad that Mom can't play with you all the time because she's working?"
Joan always tried to make time for her children, but there were things she couldn't help. Since she was playing two roles at once, her husband Edward was the one who spent more time with the children, but still… shouldn't she play with them more when they were so young and cute?
It was a question that contained her usual worries. Lian just stared with wide eyes, not sure if he understood, but Ipa was different.
"Not sad."
Actually, she was a little sad. But Ipa shook her head sincerely. Then, after Joan lowered her because she was getting tired, she spoke clearly.
"Mom, you like work. Ipa likes it when Mom is happy. So Mom, work."
"Mom likes our pups too."
"Yes. So, Ipa and Dian will wait for Mom to come home from work, okay?"
Joan almost cried with emotion. The people from the McKinnon Trading Company standing next to her were also touched. Most of them had children at home. Why were children so angelic? They were incredibly good at throwing tantrums when they wanted to, but sometimes, when they spoke, they were a hundred times better than adults.
Lian, who liked being held by his mother, stretched out his arms to be held again. Ipa, who had just said something cool, readily gave in, but she was a little annoyed. I want to be held by Mom too, but I'm holding back, you know?
"Our princess."
At that exact moment, Ipa was embraced by warm arms.
Ipa's face was full of smiles when she saw her father's face. She liked her father more and more these days.
'Our dad is good to Mom and good to us. And he's a very important person.'
"When I grow up, I'm going to marry Dad. I haven't told Mom and Dad about this cute ambition yet, but Ipa was quite serious. And I'm going to live with Mom forever, and Lian… I'll decide after seeing if he listens to his sister."
Edward looked at Ipa, who was as beautiful as a mix of her father and mother, with a sweet and innocent personality like her mother. He could almost grasp the thoughts in his daughter's little mind.
It was not common in the Empire's culture for a noble, especially someone from a high noble family like the Grand Duke's, to be so close to their children. The more noble the family, the more likely it was that the children were raised by nannies from a young age. But because of Joan, who was from a commoner background and had experience raising many siblings herself, the culture of the Grand Duke's family had changed.
Edward liked that. There was happiness here that he wouldn't have known if he hadn't held his child directly.
'But.'
He wished the gathering at this mansion was more peaceful. Edward thought that as he approached his wife.
"Honey, shall we take the kids out if you have time?"
"Shall we? It would be nice to take the other kids too. What are they all doing?"
"The twins went for a nap earlier, and they should be waking up soon. I saw the two Bells playing in the garden."
Joyce and Bridget were raising their three-year-old twin boys, and the Earl of Wirtam's Joybell and Lara Belle were collectively called "the two Bells." Joan's face clouded slightly.
"Well, Princess Yoni… I don't think she'll want to go out. Shall we take Prince Wenny with us?"
The adults knew that Arbyone had been acting strangely lately. Maeve was too young, so Prince Owen would probably be alone right now.
Edward shook his head at Joan's kind words.
"Prince Wenny is with Kieran and that elf. They seemed to have something to talk about."
"Oh, okay," Joan nodded casually. But the people from the McKinnon Trading Company around her were a little curious. Why did this person know so well what everyone in this mansion was doing? It wasn't even her house?
Edward, who believed that gathering information was the greatest weapon in diplomacy, smiled slightly at them. When they flinched, he stood next to his wife affectionately.
"Come on, let's go, honey."
***
Owen stared straight at the two adults who suddenly opened the door and entered.
Since the prince was so well-behaved, his nanny usually didn't have much to do. Of course, there were things she had to do because he was a young child, but apart from those cases, Owen just sat quietly and played as if he wasn't there. Reading picture books or building toy blocks were his main activities.
Owen's face, as he looked at the two adults, Kieran and the guardian, was as calm as it was when he was going about his daily routine, showing no change. Instead, the nanny jumped up in surprise.
"How dare you enter His Highness's quarters so rudely!"
This nanny had not been working for long and didn't know Kieran's face. Kieran waved her hand, as if annoyed.
"Oh, be quiet. I've come on business, so don't upset my mood."
"What are you talking about…!"
The nanny, who was about to protest, froze in place. It was because her time stopped as soon as Kieran waved her hand with a flick of her wrist.
Seeing that, Owen said calmly.
"Don't, do that, to the nanny."
Kieran approached Owen, chuckling.
"Do you know what I did?"
"Yes."
"What did you do?"
"I stopped time."
"You're smart. See, Erval. I was right, wasn't I?"
Called by his name, which he had forgotten since he became the dragon's guardian long ago, the elf Erval chuckled wryly.
It was the custom of dragons in the past to kidnap anyone they liked and arbitrarily extend their lifespan, calling them only 'Guardian'. But Kieran was different. Well, she was so unique that she was the only one left when all the other dragons left this land.
And because she was so unique, she would fall in love with a guardian, make friends with humans, and still be attached to them.
Erval approached the 'little Palos' that Kieran had mentioned many times after being released from the seal and sat down. He looked into Owen's gray eyes for a long time and nodded.
"Yes, uniquely… the characteristics of the High Elf are particularly prominent. Physical development is slower than his peers, mental development is faster… and the lack of facial expressions is also a characteristic of fairies who are not interested in the material world."
"Perhaps the power that had been sealed for a long time was not inherited all at once when this child was born. If the elf village still existed, I would have left him there for a few years, but now, it's an era where he has to grow up in human hands, whether he lives or dies. His mother was worried, but it's a good thing. If we use this child's power, little Elandria will come out and play with me as she used to, right?"
"…So that's why you brought me here. I'm very busy."
"Come on, we're both elves. We should help each other."
"How can a noble High Elf and a common elf like me be the same? Let's ask him first."
Owen watched Kieran and Erval's conversation intently. His appearance, which closely resembled his mother's beautiful features and inherited her platinum blonde hair, was so light that his eyes, a pale gray, seemed to be bathed in a light several times brighter than his surroundings.
Erval spoke kindly, to the one closest to his own kind among all the beings he had met since he was released from the seal.
"Descendant of Palos, you have great power sleeping within you. Perhaps if you grow up like this, you will age slower than others, and after the gem within you blooms, you might even live forever. But most of what makes you is human, so a long life where you see precious things vanish into nothingness and become morning dew will not be so happy."
Even Palos himself was a 'descendant' of the High Elves. Owen, the Crown Prince, had very little of the fairy lineage in his composition, so he was human. Even if the elf characteristics were strong, he would eventually feel the joys and sorrows of being human.
Yet, the High Elf's powerful strength was filled in this small body, almost to the point of being uncanny, which was a potential tragedy for him. Cledwyn had also bloomed the gem within him, but he only had abilities that were like traces compared to the power this little boy had inherited all at once, transcending the long years of the seal.
"Those who live forever are free from time, and only those who are free from time can manipulate time. By using the power of time you possess, you can buy time for your sister to heal from her wounds. Coincidentally, after that, you will be able to live a life not so different from other humans. Will you do it? If you prefer to live forever, I will not force you."
It was natural for a child Owen's age to not understand, but neither he nor Erval doubted that this conversation was taking place with mutual understanding. Owen, who had lowered his clear eyes and thought for a moment, nodded.
"Yes, how will my sister be healed?"
"For your sister, the old memories of Elandria's child were like fleeting dreams, and the sad things that happened in dreams are soon forgotten when something joyful happens. Kieran will guide your power, and your sister will spend a long time in a joyful dream. It will be a moment for those who are awake, but a long time for those who are dreaming, long enough for the wound to heal. So, sleep."
Erval placed his hand on Owen's forehead. From his hand, the Sandman, the fairy of sleep, danced and closed the child's eyes.
Without being told, Kieran gently picked up the child and whispered.
"When you wake up, it will all be over."