My ugly feelings have always bothered me when I don’t voice out my gratitude.

‘I can’t be weak. I’m going to get eaten up. Now that I’ve seen my strength, I’ll just do that, so I’ll keep my distance.’

Such feelings kept popping up, restricting me.

So I lay down on the bed again.

“Oh! Then I’ll sleep even more.”

“You’re sleeping more, you say? Have a meal and then go to bed first.”

“No, I want to sleep more. You should go too, Brother. I saw your face when I opened my eyes, that’s why.”

“Are you worried about me? I should go and let you sleep?”

“No, hurry up and just get out.”

However, my brother stroked my head as I laid on my back. It seemed he understood my ugly whining.

“Then I’ll go.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go to sleep and come back tomorrow, hopefully a little less scruffy.”

Like an excited child, Brother went outside just like that.

Cecilia looked at me anxiously, but then she gave up right after. Then she put a curtain over the window and went outside right after that.

I stood up after waiting for a while for Cecilia to leave with the penguin doll Allen gave me in my arms.

I was supposed to throw bread outside today. No one has said anything yet, so I thought I could increase the amount of bread thrown out. I roughly crushed quite a lot of bread and threw it outside. Then, I stuck close to my mother.

“Mom, this is… a better place to live than I thought.”

I couldn’t wait to wake up my mom and talk with her. My choice was right.

“I’m sorry I enjoyed happiness alone. But… I’ll wake you up soon. My heart keeps getting excited. I think this will be ending quickly, Mom.”

I snuggled further into my mother’s arms, and like a lullaby, the small breath of my mother made me fall into the world of sleep again.

After that day, Allen didn’t even think about taking his butt out of my room almost all the time.

“I’m confused whether this is your room or mine.”

“It’s for your safety!”

“If that’s the case, don’t worry. Unlike before, there are knights guarding the front of the room.”

As if waiting for Cecilia’s words, my brother shook his head from side to side.

“No, I don’t trust them.”

It’s not that I didn’t trust them, but the front of my room has become quite busy, unlike before.

Knights, who were not servants or maids, took turns guarding in front of my room.

They’re very burdensome.

“I don’t like knights.”

Still, they never came into the room.

They don’t even follow me when I go out from time to time. They didn’t even move, as if they were trying to protect the front of the room.

It was comforting, but not that much. Still, I have no choice but to be surprised every time I leave.

“I can’t trust anyone, not even a single knight. From now on, I’m going to spend all of my schedules in Bebe’s room.”

“….No. I don’t want that.”

“…I want to.”

However, this so-called human being called my brother was the last obsessive King. Even if I said  he shouldn’t have come, he would still persistently come to me.

This happened the next day, and the next, and the next.

More and more people talked about themselves, as if they wanted to get closer to me.

“…You know, Bebe, my training has increased.”

“Good for you!”

“What do you mean ‘good for me’…”

“You don’t like it? If you don’t like it, tell them you don’t want to do it!”

“No, it’s for me to protect Bebe. I asked them to increase my training so I can be strong…”

“You did what?”

Allen, who mumbled the end of his words, drooped down on the desk.

Allen, who was pouting his lips, sighed deeply as if he had lost the world.

“I forgot for a moment that my dad was a terrible human being.”

“Huh?”

“There’s one time when he rolled me around as if I was a rolling wagon wheel.”

Allen’s eyes, that looked at me with only his head slightly raised, were droopier than ever.

“It’s really bad. Each teacher said that this is appropriate for those who are 15 years of age or older.”

“If you’re tired, just stop. You don’t have to overdo it.”

“No!”

At best, he looked comfortable, but not that much either, so he just jumped from his seat.

While I was chewing a cookie while watching Allen struggling, I missed the cookie I was eating at the moment.

“Oh my god. What’s wrong with you?”

“I need to be strong enough to protect you!”

“You are already strong enough to protect me. Then I’ll have to be super strong.”

“Yeah! But don’t worry. You’ll be strong soon.”

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

Cecilia, who was pouring warm milk into a cup next to her, hurriedly walked towards the door.

As if waiting for this moment, Allen pulled himself straight towards me.

“Hey, Bebe. Bebe told me her secret, so I’ll tell Bebe my secret too.”