Hide and Seek of Tears (1)
“The loser has to eat all the vegetables? Is that the bet?”
“Yes. Does it appeal to you, Your Highness?”
I decided to take advantage of the boy’s desire to mess with me.
Edwin seemed quite tempted by the terms. He asked again.
“What are we betting with? I don’t want to play monte.”
He looked extremely wary, clearly remembering what had happened yesterday.
It seemed he believed he could never beat me at monte.
Which meant he thought he could win at anything else.
Quite the sneaky little thought.
I dabbed at the corners of my mouth with a napkin and continued.
“How about hide-and-seek?”
At those three simple words, the prince’s eyes sparkled instantly.
“That’s my specialty!”
He shot up from his seat as if he were about to bolt outside any second.
“Hide-and-seek? Me too! I want to play too!”
Emilia, sitting beside him, banged her spoon on the table in excitement.
I lifted the princess into my arms and went on.
“Her Highness Emilia and I will be the seekers.”
“Kyaaaaa!”
Overjoyed, Emilia waved both hands above her head and shrieked.
Meanwhile, Edwin raised an eyebrow with a confident smirk.
“Hmph. You’re going to regret this.”
“Instead, we’ll limit the playing area to the first floor where the dining room is.”
“Fine by me. It’d be inconvenient if you couldn’t find me.”
Edwin shrugged as if he were doing me a favor.
I looked at the boy and added coolly,
“If I find Your Highness, it’s my win. If I can’t find you, it’s your win.”
“And the loser eats all the remaining vegetables. Right?”
Edwin double-checked the terms of the bet, then grinned.
“Just don’t come crying to me later.”
Ventrum Empire’s Third Prince, Edwin Anaxinian Ventrum.
Now eleven years old, he had almost no chance to play with children his own age.
No noble would send their child to play with a prince who brought no benefit to anyone.
He had no one to spend time with, and aside from the late Emma, no one who showed him any interest.
Because of that, Edwin rarely opened his heart to anyone. Yet paradoxically, the tiniest bit of attention would melt him completely.
That was exactly why he had fallen for Gail’s gang, staked his bracelet, and played monte.
It was rare for a child his age to invite him to play first.
“Ugh, this spot isn’t great either.”
At any rate, the prince looked unusually excited today.
Edwin peeked into the storage room attached to the kitchen.
Where would that woman never think to look?
After much deliberation, he chose a large vegetable crate.
The box, half-filled with carrots, was big enough for his whole body to fit inside with room to spare.
Edwin climbed into the enormous crate and pulled the lid shut.
Perfect. She’ll never find me here.
Huddled inside the box, the prince held his breath and giggled quietly.
Just then, he heard footsteps approaching.
He pressed his eye to a gap in the crate.
Fortunately, it wasn’t Rachel.
“I swear, I’ve never seen anyone that handsome in my life.”
Two maids who had entered the storage room began to chatter.
“Really? The King of Adamanth is that good-looking?”
“Yes! I thought the Wolf King would look scary, but he’s not at all!”
Hair as black as the night sky, smooth sun-kissed skin, amber eyes that sparkled like stars—
The maid twisted her body this way and that, showering him with every flowery compliment she could think of.
“And his body! I thought he was a statue that had walked out of a temple!”
“You’re practically writing poetry. Poetry! Where in the world would you find someone who looks like that?”
“He exists! I saw him myself!”
The maid raised her voice as if scolding her companion, then hugged her own arms.
“Ahh, if I could just be held in those broad arms once, I’d have no other wish in this life.”
“Stop dreaming. Do you really think a king of an entire nation would spare a glance at a mere maid? Let’s get back to work.”
“You never know how to just agree with someone, do you?”
The grumbling maid seemed about to leave the storage room when she turned back.
“Oh right, I almost forgot to put this away. The rats have been awful lately. I nearly caused a disaster. Hey, don’t go alone—help me with this!”
“Always acting so weak!”
The maids approached the crate where Edwin was hiding.
Thud—
A heavy sound landed above his head, and the maids’ footsteps gradually faded away.
The storage room fell silent once more.
Edwin, who had been covering his mouth to stay quiet, let out a sigh once he confirmed they were gone.
That was close. I almost got caught by the maids first.
He had nearly damaged his pride as a master of hide-and-seek.
Inside the cramped crate, Edwin sat hugging his knees in silence.
“Ugh…”
How much time had passed?
Other maids came and went after that, but his nanny still hadn’t appeared.
Edwin fidgeted, shifting his bottom restlessly.
It’s uncomfortable.
It was hard to breathe, and his legs were starting to go numb.
It feels like I’ve been in here for a long time now.
The prince’s expression grew darker and darker.
Suddenly, an unpleasant memory resurfaced in the young prince’s mind.
Want us to let you join?
The Second Prince Lloyd’s mischievous face—so similar to the Emperor’s.
The young noble children giggling behind him.
Back when he didn’t even understand what hostility was, Edwin had simply followed them happily.
If you hide here, no one will ever find you. Edwin, you stay hidden right here.
Then what about you, Brother Lloyd?
I know another hiding spot. So if you get caught, just yell and let me know. Got it? That way we win.
Lloyd had placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder as the boy looked up at him with admiration, and smiled.
But you can’t come out until the seeker finds you, okay? If you do, we’ll lose because of you.
Whether because the crate was in such a remote location, or because Lloyd’s group had never told anyone—
Hours passed, and not only the seeker, but no one at all came looking for Edwin.
Because of Lloyd’s threatening instructions, Edwin couldn’t even open the crate and come out himself.
If his nanny Emma hadn’t heard the news late and come running, he might have spent the entire night trapped inside.
Your Highness!
When the lid finally opened, Emma’s tear-streaked face appeared.
But the first thing the young prince saw wasn’t her face.
It was the faces of the servants standing behind her.
They had been summoned in the middle of the night, and each held a torch.
Thanks to the firelight, Edwin could clearly read the emotions in their eyes.
What a bothersome child.
A pathetic prince.
A selfish little brat who only thinks of himself.
That day, Edwin’s pride as a prince was utterly shattered.
Recalling that memory, the prince bit his lip hard.
…This isn’t fun anymore.
He was just about to push open the crate lid and climb out.
Clunk. Clunk.
The lid only made a loud noise—it wouldn’t open.
“W-what?”
Edwin panicked.
The lid wouldn’t budge, as if someone had placed a heavy stone on top of it.
Could it be those maids from earlier?
Remembering the heavy thud he had heard above his head, Edwin’s face turned deathly pale.
Now that he thought about it, people sometimes placed heavy stones on storage boxes to keep rats or cats from spoiling the ingredients.
Then… I can’t get out?
The young prince’s small heart began to pound violently.
It was so loud it felt like his heart was inside his ears.
Edwin squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears.
Emma, who would have come looking for him, was no longer here. No one would know he was inside.
No… they might not even realize I’ve disappeared.
He might really be trapped here for the rest of his life.
Just as the terror from the past began to swallow him whole—
The lid of the crate flew open.
“So this is where you were, Your Highness.”
Above him was the face of his nanny, Rachel.
Indifferent expression. Indifferent tone. Indifferent actions.
Why did this person, who showed not a single trace of warmth, overlap with Emma’s image?
The moment he thought of that longed-for face—
Tears finally poured from Edwin’s eyes like rain.
Children really are impossible to understand.
Why on earth was this boy buried in a pile of carrots and crying?
I was inwardly flustered but tried to keep a calm face.
“Then I win the bet—”
The moment I was about to declare my victory,
Edwin suddenly burst into loud sobs.
“Why did you come so late?! You idiot! Waaaaah—!”
He really was impossible to understand.
Yesterday he had avoided me like the plague, and today he was throwing a tantrum because I was late.
“Brother, why are you crying? Don’t cryyy!”
On top of that, Emilia, who was being carried on my back, started sniffling too at the sound of her brother’s tears.
This is driving me crazy. What am I supposed to do with them?
I sighed inwardly and slipped both hands under the boy’s arms, lifting him out of the crate.
“Both of you, stop crying.”
The sight of him having crawled in there himself and now crying to be rescued was truly absurd.
Even after escaping the crate, Edwin continued to shed fat tears.
This is awkward.
A crying adult could usually be silenced with a little intimidation, but children were different.
That was why I had always found them difficult. Living beings you couldn’t communicate with were impossible to understand or predict.
Can’t be helped.
I was terrible at comforting people, but there was no choice.
If I let him keep crying like this and he got dehydrated, I’d be the one held responsible again.
After a moment of hesitation, I wiped his tears with my sleeve.
“I’m sorry for being late.”
It was an awkward apology that didn’t sound comforting at all.