I flinched.
"I've never heard of a doll being able to move. Are you under a spell? Is that why you can move?"
I take back what I said about him being complacent.
Ruperi had remarkably sharp instincts.
I carefully watched Ruperi's reaction.
If he realized that someone's soul was inside the teddy bear, he might tell Duke Kreuz.
'I escaped Teneris. I can't be found out now.'
No matter how he had discovered I could move, I could not be branded an evil object and burned.
I tilted my head. It was an act.
"You don't know? If you don't know, how would I?"
Who knows?
"Well, if you don't know, maybe you're moving because a spirit has taken up residence in you. Like the amnesiac spirit from that fairy tale."
Yes, that was good.
From now on, I'm an amnesiac spirit…….
"Ah, Blanc. You can't come inside. You're dirty now."
Before entering the manor, Ruperi held Blanc back.
Blanc whined, wanting to come in with him, but Ruperi spoke firmly.
"No. Go home. Sir."
Fortunately, knights were patrolling nearby, so Ruperi called them over and had Blanc sent home.
Then Ruperi, too, returned to his bedroom.
PLOP.
Ruperi set me on the bed. It was a gentler touch than when he had violently flung me on the first day.
"What does it matter whether it's magic or a spirit? What matters is that I've got a secret doll."
Muttering as though some thought had occurred to him, Ruperi took off his cardigan and climbed into bed.
Lying with his back to the window, he looked at me sitting primly and asked,
"I'll ask you just one thing. You won't do anything bad, will you?"
Bad things?
"Evil things."
A faint shadow fell over Ruperi's eyes as he said that, making them look like the deep sea at a glance.
When I did not answer, those deep-sea eyes blinked once, twice, then opened less and less often.
'If you're sleepy, sleep.'
I could not help reaching out. When my tiny hand touched the corner of Ruperi's eye,
"……All right. You won't do anything bad. I won't be bored for a while."
Ruperi smiled and closed his eyes. Soon, soft, warm breathing reached me.
***
"Young Master!"
Ah! You startled me!
I snapped my eyes open.
If Anchina, who looked angry, had not been in front of me, I might have shot up.
Anchina, her face stiff, woke Ruperi, who was beside me.
"Young Master! Wake up! What is this……? Did you go out somewhere last night?"
Ah, it seemed I had spent the night sleeping beside Ruperi.
The lingering warmth suggested Ruperi had slept holding me.
"And what's with the teddy bear?"
"It's not a teddy bear……."
"It's not a teddy bear?"
"It got the name 'Paul' yesterday."
Paul?
As I looked at him in confusion, Ruperi sat up, let out a long yawn, and smiled.
"Paul Kreuz. I came up with it yesterday. What do you think? It suits him, right?"
"Uh, yes. It does suit him, but……."
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"No, there isn't a problem, but……."
Anchina seemed uneasy.
And rightly so. Until yesterday, her young master had had no interest in the teddy bear at all.
But the next day, he had given it a name, and above all, the way the young master and the teddy bear looked made it seem as though something had happened between them overnight.
But Anchina smiled brightly alongside Ruperi as if she had never worn such an expression.
"Paul. What a wonderfully fitting name! As expected of a doll the Master gave as a gift! Hello, Paul? I'm Anchina."
'…….'
"You're glad to meet me too? Thank you. Let's get along."
Excuse me, I didn't say anything.
What an absurd pair, that maid and young master.
When Ruperi got out of bed, Anchina picked me up and put me in Ruperi's arms.
"Young Master, please wait a moment. Judging by how you look, washing your face will not be enough."
"Then why are you giving me Paul?"
"Paul is dirty too, so he needs to wash in the bathroom with you. Goodness, you slept in bed with dirty Paul……."
Thinking of it again, Anchina shuddered as though it gave her goosebumps.
As we turned toward the bathroom, Ruperi, holding me, asked,
"That's what she says. You're okay with it, right?"
Wait a minute.
"Taking a bath together. It's my first time with someone other than family."
That sounds fun. Seeing Ruperi grin, I went pale.
***
The time in the bathroom was cruel.
-Paul, we need to wash you clean.
Anchina's touch, which felt horrible.
-We need to scrub every inch of you, your sides and your arms, too.
My arms squished like a doll's under her kneading hands.
-How is it? The warm water feels nice, doesn't it?
When she poured warm water over me, the weight made my body topple sideways again and again.
And to top it off, Anchina put me into the tub full of snow-white bubbles with Ruperi!
'Enough. Let's not think about it.'
As I sat on the bed with a sulky face, Ruperi asked playfully,
"Did you hate the bath that much?"
Don't talk to me.
"Anchina isn't here. Are you going to keep pretending you're a doll?"
We don't know when she might come in.
"I get it. You don't want anyone to find out you're alive, right?"
Why are you asking when you already know?
I glared at Ruperi. But he just kept giggling, as though it was so amusing.
'Is it that fun watching me move? He was always so irritable before.'
"So you'll be my secret doll?"
Sure, think whatever you like.
"A secret doll. That might be fun."
Then, perhaps struck by a thought, the still-smiling Ruperi said something startling.
"But doesn't Father know that you're alive too?"
What?
"Father bought you as a friend, after all."
What does that mean?
Of course, Duke Kreuz had bought me as Ruperi's friend.
When I was still inside the box, I had heard him murmur that he hoped I would become a good friend to Ruperi.
But that was all. Duke Kreuz did not know I could move.
I shook my head.
"Father doesn't know?"
I nodded twice.
"There's no way Father wouldn't know about a doll that looks this strange."
That brat.
"And do you know how amazing my father is? He can easily defeat even those Miten bastards."
I flinched.
"So there's no way Father doesn't know."
His faith in his father was incredible.
'Come to think of it, I had been found out by a brat like this. Never mind Duke Kreuz, who can wield divine power. I hadn't even been found out by Anchina, who is always in the bedroom.'
Could Ruperi's ability really be greater than Duke Kreuz's?
Divine power was a force passed down from a god's blessing. There were two ways to possess it.
'One is being born with it, and the other is awakening to it around the age of ten.'
From observing House Kreuz for several days, I knew Ruperi belonged to the latter group.
'Even so, how could he notice anything without having awakened divine power?'
Had he merely taken a child's wild guess, and I had fallen for it?
……That guess seemed to be right.
Perhaps my unease showed on my face, because Ruperi, who was strangely good at reading my expressions, poked me again and again with a finger.
"Okay. If you want to hide it, I won't tell Father."
Hey, don't poke me.
TAP.
"Huh? Did you hit me? Did a teddy bear just hit me?"
Yes, I did.
When I swatted his hand away, Ruperi made an odd expression, as though the sensation was unfamiliar.
"Wow, having a secret friend is fun, isn't it?"
There was something chilling beneath his playful tone, and I somehow felt I could foresee my future.
***
My prediction was correct.
Apparently happy to have a secret friend, Ruperi carried me around every day.
He talked to me and played pranks, horribly kneaded my hands and feet, and even tried to give me to the eagerly running Blanc as a toy.
I always thought it, but that ill-mannered brat was mean!
After nearly being torn to pieces by Blanc again today, I renewed my resolve.
'I have to escape House Kreuz somehow!'
And that was not all.
"Oh my, Young Master. Hello? Is this doll Paul?"
"Just as we heard, he looks very cute!"
Servants who saw me would come over.
Some did flinch in surprise when they saw me, but Ruperi ignored them and whispered to me,
"See? Everyone likes you when you walk around with a relaxed expression."
No.
"So keep smiling from now on. Don't look so gloomy."
And then there were Anchina's hands.
With Ruperi's permission, she played dolls with me, or rather, she played dress-up.
"You have to make him this cute if you're going to enjoy carrying him around!"
She cut off the black ribbon around my neck,
tied on a creepy, pure-white ribbon from who knew where,
and, with her skillful hands, draped a handmade cape covered in lace around me.
But Ruperi vetoed the cape.
"It was pretty! Why are you taking it off?"
"If he wears a cape, he'll really look like a girl. That's not allowed."
"But lace suits Paul so well!"
"Still, no. Only the ribbon is allowed."
Could you not allow the ribbon, too?
If I had to choose, I preferred the black ribbon.
Lastly, Ruperi's family began to take an interest in me.
Yes, those members of the Kreuz family.