For You 9

Two years later, Andelion steps down from his position as Persis’s playmate. The child filling that vacant spot is Rikin Parten, who stands before me now. Two years older than Persis and me, he skillfully captures the prince’s heart and becomes his irreplaceable close friend.

But why are you appearing now?

“Please treat me well. I am Andelion Crusay.”

For now, I bowed my head while receiving Rikin’s greeting. Why had Rikin become Persis’s playmate at this point in time? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand the reason.

There’s something called the butterfly effect. It means small changes eventually alter the future. Rikin’s appearance could change the future I knew. For example, we should be going down Persis’s route, but we might go down Rikin’s route instead, or it could even branch off into Andelion’s route.

The worst change would be if the Duke didn’t act as I knew he would. The only advantage I had over him was knowing the future. I didn’t want him to follow another character’s route, but it was better than the bad ending the Duke would create.

And the catalyst that would create that bad ending was right before my eyes.

“Ana?”

Persis, who had been quietly watching the two of us, quietly sidled up next to me. When I felt the child’s characteristic warm body temperature on my arm, my agitated heart calmed down a little.

This won’t do. I should say I’m sick and hurry home. I need to get some rest while finding a way to break through this situation. Several options immediately came to mind. I just need to choose the one that seems like it would have the best outcome.

“You go away!”

While I was racking my brain in contemplation, Persis grabbed my arm and shouted at Rikin.

“I don’t like you! You go away!!”

Didn’t you say you wouldn’t throw tantrums? Why are you doing this again?

After bursting out in anger, Persis pulled my arm and ran toward the garden. Though not as grand as the Crusay family garden, the palace garden with its densely packed trees was perfect for hiding two small children.

“Your Highness!!”

Behind us, I could hear the palace servants and Rikin calling out to us as they ran after us.

“Don’t follow us!”

As soon as Persis shouted not to come, the servants stopped in their tracks. They really do spoil him rotten. They actually don’t come when told not to? Who knows where kids might go and how they might get hurt? Don’t underestimate seven-year-olds. The first time I broke my arm in my previous life was also when I was seven. At this rate, something really serious might happen.

I’m scared that the future might be completely ruined not because of Rikin’s sudden appearance, but because of the servants who indulge him so much.

Persis, who had been running energetically, crouched down deep in the bushes. He was panting through his small mouth, looking like a puppy sticking out its tongue to cool down.

“Ana. Are you okay?”

“No.”

I shook my head while coughing. I have no idea when this little kid built up such stamina. Persis didn’t look completely fine either, but he wasn’t coughing to the point of nearly suffocating like I was.

When I couldn’t stop coughing, Persis’s face, which had been flushed red from sweat, began to turn pale white. I didn’t think my body was that bad, but I don’t know why it’s been acting up like this lately.

First fainting, now coughing and suffering after just running. This body really doesn’t please me.

“Ana?”

“I’m… fine.”

Moisture was gradually gathering in Persis’s eyes. I need to stop coughing quickly. I stroked my chest and calmed my churning stomach.

“Phew, Your Highness.”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you do that just now? To Lord Rikin.”

I used the gentlest tone possible, worried that if I spoke too stiffly, it might sound like I was scolding him. Persis rubbed his eyes and wiped away the moisture that had briefly gathered, then fidgeted with both hands. While slowly drawing circles with his index fingers touching each other, Persis glanced at me and opened his mouth.

“Because Ana… didn’t like it.”

“Me?”

“You didn’t like it. You were hurt. Then, I don’t like it either.”

I was never hurt. Though I did dislike it. Still, it wasn’t that I disliked Rikin. I just loathed this situation where he suddenly appeared.

Isn’t this too much, humanly speaking? What exactly did I do? My only crime was living quietly, adapting to situations as they came. If there’s a god of fate, I’d like to give them a hard slap across the face.

“Um, it’s not that I dislike Young Master Parten.”

“Young… Master?”

“I mean Lord Rikin.”

“I don’t like Rikin!”

Right now, our prince just pronounced Rikin’s name very accurately. Yet he can’t even say my name properly. I’m suddenly getting a bit annoyed. Is this the difference between a real friend and an acquaintance you meet briefly and then disappears?

“I don’t dislike him.”

“Still don’t like! Ana had a hard time!”

Saying that, Persis threw himself into my arms. Along with the weight of Persis leaning against my chest, a gloomy feeling pressed down on my head.

Despite the shocking situation that had just occurred, several ways to break through this moment came to mind. One of them was to move up the timing of my stepping down from the playmate position by two years. Since Rikin would take over all the roles I was supposed to play anyway, it surely wouldn’t affect the major flow of events.

However, Persis was more affected by my every move than I had expected. The moment I felt uncomfortable, Persis immediately thought it was because of Rikin and even said he disliked him. I had essentially driven apart Persis and Rikin, who were supposed to become irreplaceable close friends.

Suddenly, my stomach started stabbing with pain. This body was too frail to endure that pain. When I frowned and clutched my belly, Persis was startled and pulled away from me.

“Does it hurt? Ana, does it hurt? Sorry! Did I hurt you?”

“No. It’s not that. I’m fine.”

I shook my head and tried my best to act as if nothing was wrong.

How could my body hurting right now be important? I had to connect these two somehow, as quickly as possible. Right, let’s think positively. Wasn’t I supposed to become a bridge between that person and Persis later? So I could also become the thread connecting Persis and Rikin.

Thinking that way, I firmly grasped Persis’s small hand as he panicked.

“Let’s go back, Your Highness.”

“Huh? But…”

“You need to attend your lesson.”

First, let me get the kid to his lesson, then I’ll figure things out. There’s no way I can go home like this.

* * *

Come to think of it, the servants are something else too. Even if Persis shouted not to follow, how could they let a prince who has a lesson soon run far away? It’s amazing that a wise ruler like Persis was born in a country like this.

Anyway, while Persis went to his lesson, I sat on the sofa and read a book while waiting, as usual.

At least for this moment, Kara wasn’t by my side either. Since I’d just be reading books in the room anyway and wouldn’t go anywhere else, I had sent her away to rest elsewhere.

This reception room, which had always been silent and quiet, became a little different starting today. There was one more person waiting until Persis’s lesson ended. Even while turning the pages of my book, I was conscious of Rikin sitting a little distance away from me.

From when he saw Persis again until he entered this room with me, Rikin hadn’t said a single word to me. Persis’s intense resistance seemed to have been a greater shock to him than expected.

According to what I heard, until I arrived, Rikin and Persis had a reasonably normal introduction. However, the moment I appeared, Persis’s reaction changed 180 degrees. Not only did he shout that he didn’t like it, but he even ran away. For young Rikin, it must have been difficult to accept.

Somehow, I felt guilty because it seemed to be because of me. Though it wasn’t intentional, I was partly to blame for making things turn out this way. How could I have known that Persis would react so strongly to my every move? I had only thought it would be to the degree of the relationship between Andelion and Persis depicted in the original work.

It would have been difficult for young Rikin to accept or understand this situation. I know he must have been bewildered by Persis’s suddenly changed attitude. It would have been very easy to blame someone else who was nearby for that responsibility.

So even if he was glaring at me fiercely from the moment he sat on the sofa, I could understand it all. Though he was two years older than Persis and me, Rikin was still only a nine-year-old child.

“You seem to be quite close with His Highness.”

As if he had no intention of ending it with just glaring, Rikin, who had been quietly keeping his mouth shut, finally spoke up. It might be better to talk it out once and clear up the misunderstanding.

I needed to read today’s portion, but Rikin was more important right now. If I missed this moment, the relationship between Rikin and me would only get worse, not better.

“We’re just playmates.”

“Young Master seems to understand his position well.”

For a moment, I felt like my face would crumple with a frown. When I first heard it, it didn’t seem particularly strange, but one word he uttered stuck in my ears.

Position, position. Are you telling me to know my place right now? However, thinking that a mere nine-year-old wouldn’t say something to that degree, I erased the sentence that had briefly formed in my head.

“Yes. Of course. His Highness and I are different.”

“That’s right. Exactly.”

In my heart, I wanted to say that you and I are different too. Where does an earl’s family get off with a duke’s family? Even though I lived in a classless society in my previous life, I couldn’t help feeling indignant. I wanted to say something right away, but I held back.