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Cedric quickly lowered his face downward to hide his crying. He was embarrassed because he felt like he had shown an unseemly side of himself to a strange child.
“Cedric.”
“Cedric? Why were you crying alone here?”
“……”
When Cedric didn’t answer, the child stayed silent for a moment with him, then entered the hollow under the tree and sat down beside him. It was close enough that their arms could touch, and when Cedric glanced at the child, he heard:
“My name is Edgar.”
A name familiar to Cedric reached his ears. He had thought it would be the case since this mountain itself was owned by the Lowell family, and it really was.
“…Edgar.”
“Yeah!”
Cedric found himself staring at Edgar without realizing it. He was an incredibly pretty child. Especially with Count Lowell’s face showing through quite clearly, his features were distinct and delicately formed, making Cedric’s gaze linger.
Riette was no slouch either, but Edgar was pretty in a slightly different way from her. It might sound strange to say, but he was pretty nonetheless.
Perhaps Edgar was the prettiest child Cedric had ever met, including all the children he had encountered in passing.
…He wanted to tell Edgar that he had come all the way here looking for him and had gotten lost, but he was too embarrassed to readily open his mouth.
So as he just maintained silence while staring, Edgar, who had been looking back at Cedric in the same way, suddenly muttered as if to himself.
“You’re really handsome.”
“……”
“I’ve never seen a kid as handsome as you in my life.”
Learning that they had been looking at each other while thinking similar thoughts, Cedric rolled his eyes as if embarrassed, then finally looked away.
When he tried to hide his face in his knees, Edgar tilted his head and whispered playfully.
“Why are you hiding your face? Are you embarrassed?”
“Don’t look.”
“Why, let me see that handsome face a little more.”
Pleasant laughter echoed near his ears. Around then, perhaps thinking that Cedric’s wariness toward him had softened, Edgar asked again in a gentle voice.
“So why were you here?”
Cedric stopped being stubborn.
“I got… lost.”
“Really? Where did you come from?”
“Soliwen.”
“Ah! Are you by any chance that Grand Duke’s son?”
When Cedric nodded to this, Edgar smiled maturely and took his hand.
While Cedric was startled by the sudden contact and felt awkward, Edgar spoke as if comforting him.
“Don’t worry. I know these mountain paths well.”
“……”
“I’ll stay with you the whole time. Until the rain stops! It’s rain that will pass quickly, so let’s go down the mountain together after it stops. Got it?”
“…Yeah. Thanks.”
Soon Edgar’s eyes curved like crescents. Was that face that even looked benevolent and his kind nature something he inherited from Count Lowell? What kind of person might this child’s mother be?
Cedric, who had been blankly staring at that beautiful smile that somehow remained vividly in his mind, wanted to know a little more about him.
“Do you… come here often?”
“Yeah! It’s fun to look around the mountain, so I come often.”
“Haven’t you ever gotten lost or anything?”
“At first I followed my father around. I only started going alone after I got familiar with it, so I’ve never gotten lost even once.”
“Ah. I met Count Lowell. You look like him.”
“Hehe, I hear that a lot!”
A pleasant, soft, and sweet voice resonated in his ears. The time spent sitting in isolation with just Edgar, chatting away… Cedric enjoyed it.
The earthy smell that had absorbed moisture from the rain was no longer nauseating, and the gloomy forest scenery that had felt ominous was no longer frightening.
“Ah, it looks like the rain is about to stop.”
Edgar, who had suddenly noticed the change outside, looked up at the sky and stretched out his hand. The drizzling rain had stopped and the sky was clearing to a bright white.
“Then shall we go down now?”
Edgar turned to look at Cedric and smiled brightly. Under the clearly shining sunlight, Edgar was sparkling even more.
“…Yeah.”
Edgar, who got up first, dusted off his pants and extended his hand to Cedric. Cedric, who took that hand and stood up, brushed off his clothes with his free hand while holding tight to Edgar’s hand, worried that Edgar might let go.
Then Edgar also didn’t let go of their clasped hands and continued to stay by his side while holding hands.
“We can go down this way.”
Edgar, who pointed the direction with his finger, took the first step, so Cedric obediently followed behind him.
Since there was a child who knew the way beside him, there was no need to hurry, so while going down the mountain, whenever they spotted wild animals, they would stop for a moment to throw food and watch them together.
“Edgar. Do you like all animals?”
“Yeah! Big animals are sometimes a little scary, but I generally like them all. My favorites are squirrels and dogs! Small friends aren’t scary.”
“Right. I’m the same as you.”
At Cedric’s answer, Edgar smiled and held out his fist with his small hand. Cedric also hesitated before holding out his fist. Pop, the two fists bumped together.
“Having things in common is good.”
“…Will we get along well?”
“Of course! I think we can have a good relationship.”
Why did such confident words sound so happy? Cedric quietly smiled while closely following behind Edgar, who was leading the way down the mountain path.
Soon, the scenery outside the forest began to become visible. At that moment, he really felt like he had escaped from the forest and trembled with relief.
He let out a small breath, and perhaps hearing that sound, Edgar looked back at Cedric following behind him and extended his hand again.
“Should I help you?”
To this, Cedric, though a little embarrassed, grabbed that hand. Perhaps because the mature and even adult-like kindness was unfamiliar, his heart beat rapidly.
“Don’t get lost again!”
Edgar, who had walked Cedric all the way to the front of the mansion, waved his hand and then turned around. Cedric had thought he would stay at the mansion together, but it seemed he was planning to return to the mountain again.
Cedric looked longingly at the back of the small child’s head as he hurried back up the mountain path, leaving him behind.
Whether he wanted to become close with him or what he wanted to do… he couldn’t know his own feelings exactly, but that day Edgar settled deeply in Cedric’s heart as if being engraved there.
‘When will he come down again?’
He wanted to talk more, play together, and sit beside him to eat meals too. So he waited obediently at the mansion.
But the Grand Duke of Soliwen and Count Lowell came down from the mountain faster than Edgar. Moreover, since the Grand Duke of Soliwen didn’t want to stay longer and tried to return right away, Cedric was anxious.
“Can’t we stay just a little longer?”
So he was unusually stubborn.
Since this was the first time Cedric had been this stubborn, the Grand Duke of Soliwen seemed momentarily flustered, but eventually glared without answering.
“Yes, Your Grace. Let’s stay just a little longer.”
“…I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”
Even though Count Lowell took Cedric’s side, the Grand Duke of Soliwen didn’t relent. With a firm attitude, he turned toward the carriage first, so in the end, Cedric had to take heavy steps without being able to meet Edgar again.
A connection that passed by like a fleeting encounter.
Because of that, he thought there wouldn’t be a chance to meet Edgar again for a while.
That was too depressing. It was a vague sentiment, but he thought it would be nice to be with Edgar for a long time, and every time he closed his eyes, Edgar’s clear smile came to mind.
Each time, his heart tickled. Why was this happening? Cedric kept pondering what the identity of this emotion was.
And before long, he came to realize.
‘I like that child.’
Cedric recognized that he had developed feelings beyond mere fondness for Edgar. He admitted that he had fallen hard for that child who had approached him like a guardian protecting his side and made the dark clouds clear away. That child was pure first love that made Cedric ache as if he had caught a fever.
“Please introduce me to Edgar.”
Some time later, Cedric first asked Riette to introduce him to that child. He judged that asking through Riette would be much better than through the Grand Duke of Soliwen.
Riette seemed surprised that Cedric had approached her first, but soon readily agreed. That way, under her guidance, he was able to formally greet Edgar at the Rosman mansion.
“Eddie! You’ve met him before, right? He’s that other friend I mentioned in passing before! I thought it would be nice if you two got along well, so I called you.”
Until then, he hadn’t known.
That Edgar didn’t know he was acquainted with Riette, and that’s why he had treated him well without any prejudice.
“…Ah, so you’re. I see.”
Edgar muttered quietly, unable to hide his bewilderment.
The eyes looking at Cedric held a strange discomfort unlike before.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
