Chapter 9

When I woke up, my vision was all white.

For a moment, I thought I had returned to the place of the Gallen God, but the feeling was subtly different, smooth and fluffy... it was a futon.

The smoothness of silk, fitting for a royal family, a fluffy futon.

It was still too early to get up; Arschhein was sound asleep next to me.

I crawled to the edge of the bed and looked down, realizing it was quite a height for me now.

I gathered my courage, grabbed the sheet, and slid down.

I landed on my bottom, but it was fine because the floor was carpeted.

When I tried to stand up, I hit my head with a thud; my head felt heavy and my balance was off.

A child's body is this difficult to walk in.

I looked around and crawled to the window, where the curtains were still drawn.

I stood in front of the large window, holding onto the window frame, and checked my reflection.

I was wearing a white, silk nightgown, probably because I had fallen asleep last night.

With a big head and short limbs, my belly, which had maintained some muscle, was now plump, and my eyes were round and bulging. My cheeks were soft and smooth, even softer than my three-year-old nephew's.

I peeked inside the waistband of my trunk pants... and tears naturally flowed as I touched the floor.

There's nothing I can do, I'm a boy!

I patted my bottom and opened the curtains.

A maid found me in a state of despair and let out a cute scream.

She quickly picked me up, crying.

A young maid, probably around 17 or 18, easily carried me with one hand, making me realize how small I had become.

The maid, who had never taken care of such a small child, was flustered while holding me.

The commotion woke Arschhein.

Arschhein is a man with sharp eyes and a delinquent face.

However, his delinquent face is very well-proportioned, and his still groggy face after just waking up significantly reduces his usual sharpness.

In other words, a just-awoken Arschhein becomes an incredibly sexy man, exuding unnecessary pheromones, which is a real eyesore for a young maid.

The maid, blushing deeply, gently placed me on Arschhein's stomach and said,

"Excuse me!"

and fled the room at an incredible speed.

Arschhein smiled wryly.

He seemed to think that I had been afraid of him and fled.

A delinquent who is good with children and occasionally sexy... what a charmer!

I glared at him with envy, and he wiped away the tears at the corners of my eyes,

"Are you okay? Did you remember your family from the previous world?"

and patted my head gently.

...What a charmer!

Such a man is a waste to envy! I decided to give up.

"Good morning, Prince Hein, Master Kaita. You haven't prepared yet, have you? I'll help you, Master Kaita."

Shel said this, quickly stripping the futon and ushering Arschhein out. She stood me at the edge of the bed, took off my one-piece dress, and dressed me in a beige shirt, a soft navy overalls, beige socks, and a cute pair of slippers. She then carried me to the bathroom.

My face was wiped with a wet cloth, and I was given something like gum to chew. After chewing a few times and being told to swish it around, I did so, and the liquid in my mouth turned into foam.

"Please spit it out."

I was given a bowl-like object to spit into, and after doing so, my tooth brushing was complete.

I wanted this in my previous world too.

Next, I was stood in front of the sink, and my hair was gently combed.

I was carried to the mirror, but there I saw the figure of a child who looked like my nephew.

I was sure it was me, but it felt strange.

Upon closer inspection, my eyes had changed to a light purple, though not as deep as the king's.

Is this a feature of this world? Since my vision didn't change, I decided not to worry about it.

We left the bedroom with Arschhein, who was now ready.

As befitting a royal family, there were two rooms for one prince.

In addition to the bedroom, there was a living room, a bathroom, a toilet, a closet, and a servant's room connected by a single door.

As Shel explained, we entered the living room, where the queen, Anneliese, and the twin princes, who still looked sleepy, were elegantly drinking tea.

"Good morning, Arschhein, Master Kaita."

"Good morning, Brother Hein, Master Kaita. You're late!"

The two were perfectly dressed.

The queen was lightly made up, and Anneliese had curled her hair. I wondered how many hours before they had woken up.

Before I could think about it,

"Good morning, Mother, Rose. You both are up early. Is your purpose Kaita? But it's a bit cruel to involve Carlo and Nelro, isn't it?"

he said with a wry smile.

I was seated between the queen and Anneliese without a word.

Breakfast for six began.

The menu included salad, soup, scrambled eggs, thick-cut bacon, fruit, and bread, a luxurious breakfast that I couldn't imagine in my previous world.

My bread was a sweet porridge made with a milk-like substance, which I finished despite its sweetness!

The bacon was too hard to eat!

Anneliese, who seemed to dislike vegetables, was only poking at them. As a son of a former farmer,

"Vegetable haters are the source of ugliness."

I told her.

Anneliese quickly finished her vegetables.

The queen patted my head with a smile.

The twin princes, still half-asleep, slowly finished their meals.

After a harmonious breakfast, everyone went about their plans for the day.

Arschhein's plan for the day was to meet the king in the morning, so we headed to the king's office, where the king, the prime minister, the general, Ingrid, and the spectacled chief were all present.

"I'm sorry for being late."

Arschhein apologized, and everyone responded with a wry smile.

They seemed to know that the queen and Anneliese had barged in with the twin princes.

According to Shel, breakfast and lunch were usually taken separately and without prior arrangement.

This morning, they had forced their way in to eat with me, so it was no surprise that we were late.

Once we were seated, the butler, Duran, promptly served tea.

Since I hadn't had tea yesterday, today's drink was green juice.

I was startled but, since it was offered, I tentatively took a sip.

To my surprise, the green juice was actually peach-flavored juice! I was shocked but it was delicious, so I thanked Duran with a smile.

"Now, we have gathered today to discuss the curse on Arschhein, which was discovered yesterday. The search of Kshuria's room has provided some answers to our questions. I would like to hear everyone's opinions."

"Then, I will explain the items found during the search."

Following the king's words, the prime minister, who had participated in the search, placed a compact-like device and several bottles of liquid on the table.

The device emitted a similar negative feeling to Arschhein's curse.

I instinctively clung to Arschhein, who patted me.

Everyone nodded at my reaction.

"These items were found in a hidden room in Kshuria's room last night.

The brown bottle contains a poison that, when given in a small dose, causes bleeding from every orifice and death within three days. It is derived from the scorpion monster in the western desert. The clear bottle contains a poison that, when given in half the bottle's volume, causes the victim to sleep and never wake up, derived from the blood of the sea dragon in the northern sea. The last item is an ancient magical artifact, extremely rare and difficult to handle, but with a powerful effect and almost no trace of use. This artifact has already been used."

The prime minister's calm and matter-of-fact explanation of these terrifying items was very scary!

"This artifact was used to curse Arschhein, which is why no one noticed the curse until now..."

"Is that so? This ancient artifact, once activated, will not stop its curse until the target dies, regardless of the skill of the caster. The more inexperienced the caster, the greater the backlash. Therefore, the fact that this artifact was used and neither Prince Hein nor Kshuria died is abnormal."

"...What does that mean? Is the artifact incomplete?"

"I don't know, but there is another point of concern."

"What is it?"

"Time. The curse requires a great deal of magic power from the caster. Kshuria's magic power is green, while Prince Hein's is red. Even if the magic power difference was bridged by the artifact, it would be impossible to maintain the curse for over ten years since Prince Hein's childhood."

"Could someone else have helped?"

"That is a possibility we should consider."

The conversation between the spectacled chief and the king added a new suspect.

The poison, its source unknown, and the situation was becoming scary.

And for some reason, a small, squirming creature had emerged from the magical artifact! I couldn't resist poking it, and it started to twitch. Gross!

As I stared at the creature, Arschhein, noticing my reaction, tilted his head in confusion, looking at the artifact and me.

Everyone else noticed and, after some mumbling from the spectacled chief, a round, semi-transparent barrier enveloped the magical artifact.

The moment it was enclosed, the creature, now solidified, began to thrash within the barrier, but the barrier remained intact. It seemed to understand that it couldn't break through and began to roll around.

We all watched as it rolled.

It bumped into the door, and then repeatedly bumped as if trying to open it.

Ingrid gently opened the door, and the creature rolled out.

It seemed to have a destination in mind.

The five most important people in the country, plus me in their arms, silently followed the rolling ball.

How surreal.

No one could speak.