When I couldnât find it, Ser waggled its tail as if it were drawing something written on âmuseumâ.
âAh!â
âRight?â
âYouâre very smart. I didnât even know I was wrong!â
I quickly rewrote it.
I was going to send it to Russphe, but I couldnât send it with the wrong word.
âYou read the ancient language well, yet youâre wrong in the Imperial language.â
âWell, I didnât read ancient language because I learned it.â
As I muttered, it wrote another line, but Ser slammed its tail into the letter.
âDraw another stick here.â
âHere too? Mmm.â
This way, I donât even know if all the dictations I wrote in the Imperial language class were wrong.
There is an Imperial language class the day after tomorrow.
âSer.â
I stopped writing again and put the pen down.
âMmhm.â
âThen you donât remember when you fell asleep. You canât hear, you canât see.â
âWell, kinda like that.â
âUhm, okay.â
âWhy?â
I picked up the pen again and hesitated at Serâs question.
âThe day I ate the jewel. I want you to remember that.â
Actually, this is what I really wanted to ask.
In the hope that it might know the memories that I havenât found yet.
I think about it every day, yet the memory still hasnât come to mind.
I need to remember⊠I hope I can find the person who hurt Mom.
[You must find it and return.]
Apparently I heard scary peopleâs voices, but why was I found in the nearby woods?
Did I even walk alone?
Or else, what happened?
Even if I looked for it right now, I wouldnât be able to do anything about it, but I still wanted to find out.
âIâll think about it.â
âReally?â
âWhile I was asleep, I felt like I was vaguely reminded of the past, but wouldnât I be able to know that if I try? I canât say for sure, but I mean. It seems like I heard your voice in the middle. Of course, it could be my mistake.â
âSerâŠâ
âWhat is that, that emotionally wet face?â
âYour tone was kinder before, but I think your heart is kinder now.â
Ser turned back and covered its face.
I finished writing the rest of the letter with a bashful smile.
ââŠI wrote it all! Iâll go see Zenda.â
Now I have to ask Zenda to send it to Russphe.
I hurriedly got up from my seat to ask Zenda for the letter.
***
âI have all my socks on! Zenda, now I just need to put on my bag!â
Today, I chose a white dress with lots of frills.
There were blue ribbons hanging here and there, so I thought it would be pretty to wear on a sunny day like today.
Zenda also matched the hair ribbon with the same blue ribbon as the dress.
I wanted to wear green socks today, but Zenda said that white would suit me, so I changed them again.
âMiss, here.â
âUgh.â
I immediately took a step back.
Zenda never forgot to bring the golden necklace.
âYou know it, right? You have to.â
ââŠIt seems to be getting bigger.â
âItâs because of your mood. It hasnât grown at all.â
To think I had to wear that ugly golden name tag on a day like today.
It couldnât have been more sad.
In the end, I had to dress up nicely and put another golden necklace around my neck.
âOops, lady.â
âHuh?â
âSay, aah.â
âAah?â
Zenda studied my front teeth carefully.
Seeing what she was about to touch, I freaked out and backed away.
Zenda was checking my front teeth again.
She checked it the day before yesterday too!
âIt shakes a lot, but Iâm just doing it to check.â
I covered my mouth with both hands and shook my head.
âNo. It doesnât shake at all.â
Zendaâs eyes narrowed.
âItâs natural, Miss. Stronger teeth come out only when the loose teeth are removed.â
âT-Thatâs right but I like it like thisâŠâ
I canât even eat with my front teeth these days because it gives me a strange feeling every time it shakes.
It felt like something was shaking and pulling, and it felt really strange.
I only spoke to Russphe in particular, but my lower teeth seemed to move just a little bit more than when I said that.
The front teeth were really at stake now.
âIâll check a bit, Miss. It wonât hurt at all.â
âUughâŠâ
Finally, I lowered my hand and opened my mouth slowly.
Zenda really did as promised and took her hand away after checking a little.
I shuddered at a strange feeling.
âI think it will fall soon. Iâll have to tell the Master too.â
âY-You canât!â
âPardon?â
Zenda widened her eyes.
âUncle, if Uncle sees my front teeth, he will make fun of me, you know? You canât! What if Iâm Falling-Tooth Peanut by then.â
âPfft,⊠Ah, Iâm sorry. Miss, absolutely not. This is something to celebrate. Itâs proof that you are growing up properly.â
âI donât like it thoughâŠâ
On top of that, Zenda added the terrifying word that it might fall out this week.
âIf you lose a tooth without knowing, you have to hold onto it, understand? I heard that you need to bring it to the tooth fairy to grow stronger teeth.â
âThe tooth fairyâŠ?â
âYes. They said if you put it by the bedside and sleep, the fairy will take it and give you stronger teeth.â
Nonsense.
A tooth-craving fairy.
Is there no fairy to catch the shaking one?
After the golden necklace, I came out with a more depressed heart.
Itâs nice to go to the museum with Russphe, butâŠ
âWhy are you a dark cloud again?â
As I trudged toward the carriage, I saw Uncle standing in front of me with one hand roughly crumpled in his trousers pocket.
I shook my head and ran to Uncle.
âUncle!â
âAre you ready?â
âYes. Is Russphe ready? Has he left?â
âHe will.â
Uncle reached out to me.
My body floated as I opened my arms accustomed to it.
Even while riding in the carriage, I filled my mouth with air, fearing that my front teeth would be shocked.
âYour mouthâŠâ
âNo! It doesnât shake at all!â
âWhat?â
Gasp. I said it without even knowing.
It came out spontaneously because I thought I had to keep defending my front teeth.
âN-Nothing.â
The moment Uncle finds out, my front teeth will be blown away.
Uncle can never leave this alone! He will never.
If my front teeth were gone, he might be teasing me twice as much as he was teasing me now.
This means that I may not be Wet Peanut or Short-Legged Peanut, but Front-Teeth-Missing-Peanut.
I was curious about what it would be like if my front teeth fell out, so I purposely painted the paper with black crayons and held it up to look in the mirror.
It was a truly shocking sight.
I canât show that to Uncle!
Thinking that I had to defend my front teeth against him, I darted into the carriage.
Phew, luckily he didnât notice.
Eventually Uncle got on and the carriage door closed.
***
âAika, hello.â
As soon as I got off the carriage, I saw Russphe in front of me.
âRussphe!â
Russphe was wearing a white robe-like outfit today, and he really matched the silver-haired Russphe.
In particular, it seemed to brighten up his purple eyes.
âRussphe, your clothes are so cool.â
âAika is much prettier.â
âHehe, thanks!â
In fact, I sent a letter to Russphe yesterday, and his reply arrived as soon as I sent it.
Like, letâs go together, itâs going to be fun.
But today, he even arrived early in front of the museum ahead of me.
âYour Lordship, hello.â
Kamaye nodded from behind Russphe.
ââŠYou also suffer a lot.â
âNo. Have you been well, Miss?â
âYes! Kamaye too? Ah, this!â
I rummaged through my bag and handed the candies to Russphe.
I also held out one to Kamaye.
âOf course. Thank you, Miss.â
Todayâs were more special candies than usual.
Yesterday, Grandma Sophia made it for us to eat together while going to the museum.
âThank you.â
âIs that strawberry flavor?â
Russphe laughed bashfully.
âIt looks delicious.â
âLetâs go in quickly.â
âTwo Peanuts. Go in and stay where I can see.â
âYes!â
âYes, Marquis.â
I took Russpheâs hand as he nodded at Uncle and led him to the main entrance of the museum.
Fortunately, it was just opening time, so there werenât many people.
âWow.â
As soon as I entered, the gray-white walls on both sides were filled with three-dimensional frames.
There was a large picture frame as tall as me, and a small picture frame the size of my palm.
Instead of paintings, insects and strange objects that seemed to be really alive were displayed in frames.