âHa, haha, no way.â
âItâs true. She probably made her own barrier this time as well and ran away. Isnât that right, Lei?â
So, I canât feign ignorance after all.
âAi,â I replied obediently. I stopped playing with the blocks.
âLei.â
âAwishthair.â (Alistair)
âHere.â Alistair pushed his blocks towards me.
âThanwsh.â (Thanks)
âMm.â
The Prince remained quiet because he couldnât believe it, and then he kept firing off questions, âIs it because sheâs part of the Four Marquises?! Is it her hidden power?! Can Alistair do it too?!â
âI canât. Not yet,â Alistair answered the last question first.
âI donât know if this is connected to the Four Marquises. But, Lei said she looked at Alistairâs barrier box and learnt how to produce a barrier,â Bart answered the rest of the questions.
I also added, âWash shthudying.â (Was studying)
âBuufuu.â
This is a serious conversation. It was the guard who had laughed and not Kyaro. The Prince regained his composure probably because it was his guard who had laughed. Apparently, he thought he had gotten too excited.
âLei was on the mountainside. Those who donât know about Leiâs barrier would definitely search for her on the way to the hut. Thatâs why she ran towards the mountains where there are a lot of Hollows. Isnât that right?â
âAi. Howwowsh bounce off. Lei waithed for dawn,â (Hollows bounce off. Lei waited for dawn) I answered to Bartâs confirmation. My answer slowly sunk into everyone. Meanwhile, Alistair quietly began cleaning up the blocks. I also destroyed the Rug Dragon room and helped clean up.
âIn other words,â the Prince began, âshe has the power to make barriers.â
No one replied.
âBased on the fact that dawn was drawing, the enemies had no choice but to withdraw because they wouldnât be able to take advantage of their barrier boxes,â his voice trembled as he said this.
âShe determined that she would make the best use of her power to deceive the enemies and ran away toward the mountainside. And she dared to endure alone in the middle of a group of Hollows.â
It sounds cool when itâs put that way.
âAnd, she was determined to protect everyone in the hut.â
The Prince looked at me as if he didnât know my character.
âWho are you?â These words probably leaked out. It certainly is gross. However, I also think that it would have been great if I could have had a childhood without displaying such powers.
âHuu,â I called him quietly, and the Prince looked up as if heâs just woken up.
âIâm Leiwa.â
âLei, la.â
âAi.â
At that moment, I heard the sound of the last block going into the box. That sound brought everyone back to their senses.
âThis time, I only thought about myself. Iâm really childish,â Alistair began as he closed the lid of the box.
âI hated it, so I want to grow up as quickly as possible. Thatâs why Iâm going to learn all I can from disgusting adults.â
Alistair stood up and held his hand out to me. I took Alistairâs hand, and he helped me up.
âBut I give up. I donât understand adults at all. If adults arenât going to protect me, then Iâll have to protect myself.â The Prince and his guards looked uncomfortable at those words.
âLeila is Leila. I couldnât protect her, and the adults couldnât protect her. But, Iâll at least protect her heart.â Alistair looked at me gently. It wasnât the eyes you used to look at something disgusting.
âNow, letâs go to the dining hall and play with everyone.â
âAi.â
âThen, Iâll come too,â Mill said, and Bart and his crew stood up.
âPrince and all the guards, please keep your vows,â Bart said as Clyde silently carried the two boxes of blocks. We left the Princeâs room. However, the guard that accompanied Alistair and I followed us promptly.
âLei, are you alright?â
âAi. Iâm fine.â
Bart was worried, but Mill said, âWell, Leiâs a bit weird.â Rude. Kyaro and Clyde also laughed as if it were true.
Yes. Letâs be honest.
âLei, a withthwe, weird.â (little)
âGubaa.â
âAwishthair...â
Alistair was the one who burst out laughing. Even though he had said something amazing before. It got strange, and everyone laughed as they walked down the stairs. The people who were worried downstairs looked relieved.
A while later, the Prince and his guards also came downstairs.
I wasnât worried about what the Prince had said. I am a weird baby, and I do cause trouble even if Iâm not the one at fault.
âLeila.â
âAi.â
âLeila.â
âAi.â
âLeil.â
âHuu.â
Stop it. You can just say sorry. Itâs troublesome when you keep calling my name because you donât know what to do. It canât be helped.
âHuu, Lei ish angry.â
Iâm not actually angry, but I put my hand on my waist and pretended to look angry. Iâm an actress. Yes, you there, donât laugh. Kyaro was holding his stomach behind me.
âI, I see.â
Itâs not, I see. Jeez, the Prince is a handful. I donât even know what to do with him after this.
âSay shorry.â
âAh, yes.â
âHuu.â
The Prince gulped.
âLeila.â
âAi.â
âIâm sorry.â
âAi. Thathâsh awrighth.â
Thatâs all you had to do. âHmph,â I exhaled. The Prince crouched down gently and patted my head.
âLeila is this cute.â
â... Ai,â I did reply to him, but I was surprised. The Prince realised what he had said and quickly stood up.
âNo, youâre not! Well, you are, but that wasnât what I wanted to say!â He talked gibberish. âWell, I still have to arrange the search. Letâs go!â He left somewhere.
âHe fled.â
âHe did.â
That was probably Kyaro and Clyde.
âAdults are hopeless.â
Alistair shrugged. They are, gosh.