Glamorously decorated Noble’s Party Hall

“Wowaaah!”

“Catch me if you can! Ehehe!”

While the adults engaged in casual chatter and built connections, the children gathered at the edges and played.

“Look! This is the doll my dad bought for me!”

A girl proudly displayed a doll the size of an adult’s palm, hugging it tightly with both hands.

“Wow! It’s the latest model of a magical doll!”

“I want one too!”

“Can I touch it just once?”

Numerous noble children flocked around the girl, but there was one boy, reading a book away from them.

The boy’s clothing was neat, and his hairstyle was tidy, yet no one approached him.

There were those who tried to get near him, but upon noticing the design of the brooch attached to his clothes, their parents gasped and quickly pulled them back.

The boy pretended to be engrossed in his book, but every time the others’ voices grew louder, his gaze involuntarily shifted towards the girl.

Dori dori dori

Forcefully shaking his head, the boy muttered to himself, “I’m not interested, I’m not interested. I’m the great Ian.”

Just as he buried his face back into his book—

“Hello? What’s your name?”

Startled by the sudden appearance of the girl beside him, the boy dropped his book.

As the book that had been hiding his face vanished, the scent of the girl’s long hair tickled his nose.

“Did I surprise you? I’m sorry.”

“…Huh? Ah, no! Not at all!”

The boy shook his head vigorously at the girl’s apology, surprised by his own intense reaction.

“N-no, I just threw the book because it was really boring… haha…”

What on earth am I saying?

The boy scolded himself. Throwing a book because it was boring? How strange must that sound?

He felt anxious, fearing the girl would frown and leave.

“Pfft. You’re funny.”

“…!”

Unexpectedly fitting her taste, the girl beamed at his response.

The boy thought her smile was cute.

“My name is Kate. What’s yours?”

“I-Ian…”

“Oh! Ian! That’s the name of the protagonist from the fairy tale I read!”

“…Really?”

“Yeah! The prince was a frog!”

“A f-frog, huh….”

“But that’s okay! He was a big cute frog!”

“Hahaha…”

What’s up with a big cute frog?

Trained to always think rationally and make sound judgments, the boy couldn’t understand the girl’s bizarre logic.

Yet, at the same time, he found himself wishing that their conversation wouldn’t end.

If possible, he wanted to stay with her… just like that.

“Do you want to see this too?”

After enjoying her silly conversation with him for a while, the girl pulled out the doll she had tucked away.

“This was bought by my dad?”

“…Whoa.”

To the boy’s eyes, the girl’s doll was nothing more than a simple structure, a shabby toy that could be made easily alone; however, he forced an impressed expression.

He didn’t want to see the girl’s disappointed face.

Proudly, the girl presented the doll, moving it here and there, demonstrating its features.

“If you do this, its hand turns back… uh?”

Zzzzt

As she was playing, a bad sound came from the doll’s joint as it reached the limits of its magical mechanism.

Crack

He heard a breaking sound from the internal joints of the doll, and then with a pop, one of its arms fell off.

“…….”

“……Ah.”

The girl stared at the doll blankly, while the boy watched her closely.

Drip… drip……

Drop by drop, tears began to fall from the girl’s eyes, soaking into the doll.

She bit her lip tight, trying to hold back her tears, her expression showing the effort.

The boy realized that the girl was trying to suppress her crying, much like he often did alone in the corner of his room.

A new doll bought by her father.

And in the process of showing it off to her friends, she broke it due to carelessness.

He understood at least that if her father found out, she wouldn’t be able to receive gifts or play as she wished, a truth the boy, who had no friends, could grasp.

“……”

He wanted to help.

He wanted to assist the girl who came to him, who engaged him in fun conversation, despite feeling lonely.

“……Can you give it to me for a moment?”

“Sniff… huh?”

The boy accepted the doll and its fallen arm from the girl.

“……Sniff. W-what are you going to do?”

“Everything I do from now on is a secret. Got it?”

“……?”

The boy aligned the broken parts of the doll as closely as possible.

“Pervénit Cértum.”

Then, whispering softly, magical energy flowed from his fingertips.

Reacting to the magic, the doll’s broken parts began to expand slowly and rejoin, restoring their previous form.

“Done.”

“……Whoa.”

The girl gasped in surprise as she received the doll, perfectly repaired.

“W-how did you do that? Even old man Hans couldn’t do this!”

In response to her question, the boy raised his index finger to his lips.

“Shh. Don’t tell anyone. …Okay?”

The girl, with a childlike exaggerated expression, pouted her lips inward, her eyes wide, and nodded eagerly.

Then she leaned towards the boy and whispered.

“It’s our secret… right?”

Faced directly with the girl’s smile, both of the boy’s cheeks flushed red.

“Kate!”

At that moment, an elegantly dressed noble lady’s arm shot out and grabbed the girl’s wrist.

“……?”

“Kate. Didn’t your mom tell you not to play with just anyone?”

The woman looked down at the boy with disdainful eyes.

“Hmph. You shouldn’t play with the filthy Kalyuga bloodline.”

“But mom…”

“Hmph! Are you trying to argue again? …No, come here. We need to have a talk, young lady.”

The woman started to pull the girl along by her wrist.

“…….”

So this is where it ends.

The boy left alone chuckled bitterly.

Born into this cursed family, such was his fate.

To think he believed he could mingle with someone so bright like her.

He picked up the scattered book.

It was time to return to the other side of loneliness.

It was… best to forget today’s events completely.

For her sake, as well as for his, that would be the right thing to do.

As he lifted his head to take one last look at the girl, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Even as she was being taken away by the noble lady, the girl was secretly mouthing something to him.

O. O. M. A. W. A. S. T. O.

M. A. K. E. S. U. R. E. T. O. C. H. E. C. K.

The boy tilted his head as he read her lips.

A pocket?

On reflex, he put his hand in his pocket.

Squish

He felt something round and beautiful, wrapped in pretty paper.

Seeing the boy’s puzzled expression as he looked at the retreating girl, she mouthed something again.

M. Y. G. I. F. T.

E. N. J. O. Y. I. T.

C. O. M. E. A. G. A. I. N. T. O. P. L. A. Y.

As he stared blankly, the girl’s laughter faded away into the crowd at the party.

“……Was it completely meaningless after all?”

To secretly slip a candy into his pocket even while being led away by her mother?

That was some impressive sleight of hand.

The round candy the boy held still felt warm from the girl’s touch.

He stared off into space as he opened the wrapping and put the candy into his mouth.

The sweetness he felt as he rolled it around on his tongue.

The sweetness of the boy’s first love intertwined with a sharp fragrance.

“Her name was Kate, right? …Kate. Kate. Kate.”

It was a name as sweet and refreshing as the candy itself.

The boy neatly folded the wrapping and tucked it away in his jacket pocket.

[That was the first meeting between her and me.]

[The reason for my existence and the driving force that allowed me to survive that hellish family.]

[But… if this meeting hadn’t happened, she wouldn’t have suffered so much, nor would she have met such a tragic end.]

[If it hadn’t been for this meeting, she could have married a proper noble like other noble girls, had children, and lived a happy life.]

[If it hadn’t been for this meeting……]

[If I had never existed.]

[If Ian Kalyuga had never existed in this world.]

Orpheus’s thoughts echoed throughout the entire dream world.

The prince, who had entered Orpheus’s inner world through the Warden’s power, laid his eyes on some fragments of Ian Kalyuga’s psyche and pressed forward.

Towards the deepest part of this dark inner world,

Where Orpheus’s core existed.