* * *
Lavi woke up with a gasp, feeling a cramp in her arm. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were damp pink eyelashes.
Akkad was sleeping on her arm.
Lavi raised her eyebrows. There were no cuts remaining on her short, skinny arms.
“Akkad.”
At that time, Akkad snuggled into Lavi’s arms and rubbed his face. He reached out a hand and grabbed the hem of Lavi’s pajamas, sticking to her as tightly as a piece of gum.
Lavi blew away the hair that was tickling her face with a flick of her lips. Akkad had been sleeping with her five days a week ever since she’d been seriously injured while going out on her own outside the mansion. It was a good thing for Lavi, but somehow she felt guilty.
No, no, no. She had to get a grip. Where was the meaning in having friends? She had to focus on staying alive. Lavi shook her head and composed herself. When she turned her head to look at the window, it seemed like it was past time to get up.
“Akkad. Wake up.”
“… Hic… Lavi is bad.”
Akkad furrowed his eyebrows and sniffled. It seemed like he was being bullied by her in his dream. Lavi thought he cried a little less these days, but after the day of the accident, he’d become a crybaby again. Once again, she became deeply worried about her friend’s future.
Lavi reached out and grabbed the soft hand that was tightly clutching the hem of her dress. A soft and white hand without any calluses. She could see the red mark from her grip already facing. Such hands could hold a sword well. When she pressed and stroked his palm with her fingers, Akkad flinched as if it tickled. Lavi massaged his palms without taking notice.
True, the original novel was BL, but was it really okay to send such a pretty boy to a place where there were only black-hearted men?
Moreover, Akkad would only be sixteen years old when he would go off to war.
‘What kind of crazy nonsense is that?’
The Duke and Duchess of Enoch were not the kinds of people who would send young Akkad off to war. The ducal family Enoch, a venerable family of warriors with a long history, would naturally participate in the war, but wouldn’t it be enough for only Duke Enoch to participate in the war? Why did this kid have to go?
Lavi tried to recall the blurry contents of the original text. She thought something important must have happened, but she couldn’t remember.
“… Uhm. Lavi?”
Akkad laughed nervously, his eyes flicking back and forth between his gripped hand and Lavi’s face. Lavi let go of Akkad’s hand and poked her finger at the dimples that appeared when he smiled. Akkad stretched out his hand with a puzzled expression as Lavi poked his cheek.
“What are you doing?” Akkad asked, baffled by Lavi’s behavior as she poked her cheek with his finger. Akkad tilted his head.
“Hmm …?”
She thought he was doing it in his sleep, but Akkad raised the corner of his mouth, stroked her cheek, and then looked at her again.
Lavi clasped the corner of her trembling mouth and said, “You get dimples when you smile. I don’t have them. Even if you poke like that, I won’t get dimples that don’t exist.”
Akkad withdrew his hand with a regretful expression.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t have dimples.’
Akkad fluttered his pink eyelashes with an innocent expression. Now that she thought about it, his eyelashes were much longer than her own.
Even though she tried to imagine a grown-up Akkad, she couldn’t come up with anything, but what she was certain about was that he didn’t wasn’t just going to have average good looks. Lavi was worried, rubbing her chin with her hand. It would be good to start by teaching him how to refuse firmly.
After finishing breakfast, Lavi opened her arms to Allen.
“You ate more than usual today.”
“Yes. I’m so full that I can’t even walk a single step.”
She thought about holding Akkad’s hand and walking, but he wasn’t following the maid to change clothes. It seemed like the maid hadn’t prepared any clothes while he took his bath.
“I feel like it’s hard to even breathe.”
Lavi, who was drooping and leaning her face on Allen’s shoulder, stretched out her arms behind him. The corners of her mouth twitched up into a smirk as she caught the long hair in her hand and twirled it around her fingers. As the strands slipped gently through her fingers after wrapping around them, Lavi spoke in a dissatisfied voice, “Why do Akkad and Allen have such good hair? What do you do to care for it?”
“Well, I don’t really do anything.”
Lavi narrowed her eyes at Allen, who was glancing at her hair, and then pulled on his hair as if she were being grumpy.
“That hurts.” Allen’s face said that it didn’t actually hurt at all, even as he answered that he was in pain.
By the time they arrived at her bedroom, Allen’s hair, which had been tied up in a high ponytail, was completely undone.
“Allen.”
“Yes.”
“Can I tie it up?” Lavi asked with an expression that said of course she wouldn’t accept refusal. As if it wasn’t such a difficult request, Allen nodded and sat down on the carpet in front of the sofa. “Why are you sitting on the floor?”
“It’s better than having you stand on a chair.”
Lavi took the comb and sat down on the sofa with a determined look on her face. Allen’s head was still too high, so she had to prop herself up with her knees on the sofa.
“Jenny told me you used to have short hair. Why did you grow it out?”
According to Jenny, the maid, his hair wasn’t like this when Allen first came to the mansion.
“The young lady cried a lot because she couldn’t get my hair in her hands.”
“… me?”
“Yes.”
Allen chuckled as if recalling something nostalgic. Lavi, who loved playing with his hair since she was little, would not stop crying until she could hold it in her grasp. Thanks to that, he grew out his hair. Before it became very long, he couldn’t tie it up high and had to wear it loosely down.
As expected, it had been because she couldn’t reach it.
“I don’t remember anything like that. Oh, and how does it make sense that you grew it out for me?”
“I’m just saying.”
Allen shrugged his shoulders.
While Lavi was brushing, her arms became weak and she leaned against Allen’s shoulder.
“Why do you have so much hair?” Allen laughed, massaging Lavi’s arm. “I can’t do it. Allen, please tie my hair.”
“Sure.”
Allen roughly tied up his own hair back, then got up and went behind Lavi.
“Hehe. Braid it for me?”
“Okay.”
“What? Do you know how to do it?”
She was planning to make fun of him for trying to tie it in braids without knowing how.
“No. This is my first time. But I’ve often watched others do it.”
“Hmm.”
Lavi made a face that said she was skeptical, but Allen moved his hands without hesitation. A hand gently and rhymically combed her hair, and with her stomach full, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
When Lavi’s body, which had been dozing off, stirred, Allen quickly caught her and carefully eased her back on the sofa. As he quickly finished her hair and tied it with a ribbon, there was a knock at the door.
“Miss.”
“Please come in.”
Jenny, the maid, came into the bedroom with Akkad.
“Oh my?”
Lavi, who was dozing off, yawned at the sound of Jenny’s voice.
“I was going to do your hair, Miss, but it looks like someone has already done it.”
“Allen tied it up for me.”
“Sir Allen?”
Jenny opened her eyes wide and examined her hair. Then she glared at Allen with her eyes blazing.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel a sense of crisis.”
Lavi left behind the grumbling Jenny and Allen and approached Akkad.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Lavi.”
“Huh?”
Akkad called out, and then said nothing for a while, looking at Lavi’s hair.
“Lavi looks better with her hair down.” Akkad put on a serious face and then repeated it, as if he was thinking about it again.
The second time he said it, Lavi snapped back. “Are you saying that I’m not pretty when it’s put up?”
“That’s not it…” Akkad pursed his lips, but he couldn’t finish the sentence.
“It’s fine for you. You’re pretty no matter what you do.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Okay, okay.” Lavi responded with a sour face and tugged Akkad’s hand.
“I just think Jenny braids hair better.”
Jenny, who was feeling strangely defeated by Allen, couldn’t help but smile at Akkad’s words and exchanged glances with Allen.
“If someone tries to touch your hair, don’t let them touch it. You can’t let them do it like I do. Do you understand?” Lavi, who had gone out to the back garden with Akkad, was still talking without any signs of stopping. “You can’t go and hug just anyone.” Akkad, who was sitting on the grass drinking lemonade, nodded earnestly. Lavi looked at Akkad quietly and added, “I almost forgot. Even if they invite you to eat your favorite snack, you can’t follow them.”
“But Lavi says that every day.”
Lavi, who was still talking while holding a snack in her hand, hesitated for a moment before giving her usual answer.
“It’s fine if it’s me.”
Akkad nodded again.
Allen watched Lavi, with her hands on her hips, diligently moving her mouth. He wondered what the point was of saying such things to Akkad, who was already nine years old, but he found himself strangely relieved, thinking that at least the girl who spoke such rules would also likely abide by them herself.
Lavi, who was blurting out whatever came to mind, ran a hand through her hair and looked at Akkad, who simply nodded.
“You’re listening to me carefully, right?”
“Yes.”
“If someone forces you to do something you don’t want to do, you should say ‘No! Don’t do it!’”
Lavi paused for a moment after speaking. For some reason, she was reminded of her own past when she told Akkad to take off his gloves.
But since she is his closest friend, it had to be left out of the discussion. There was nothing she could do since his best friend was like a sunfish. That’s just how things were. She saw Akkad nodding again as he set down the lemonade next to him. Akkad didn’t seem to think much of it, so she guessed it was fine.
Then, seeing Akkad smiling brightly, revealing his dimples, Lavi placed her hand between his eyebrows.
“Don’t smile like that.” She was worried if he smiled so beautifully that he might get kidnapped and forced into a marriage (T/N: lit: ‘bossam’) 1 Since she still couldn’t remember how Akkad would end up on the battlefield, she couldn’t help but feel all sorts of worries. “Don’t do it all.”
Akkad mumbled something rebellious and pouted his lips.
How could grumbling be so cute?
It wasn’t like she was worrying for nothing. She was trying hard to advise him what not to do, but worried that she sounded like a nag.
“I’m just saying this because I’m thinking about you. Then, should I not worry or care?”
There was no answer from the sullen-faced Akkad.
Lavi, who was pounding her chest because Akkad didn’t really seem to understand what she was saying, looked at Allen behind her.
“Allen, you think so too, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Allen frowned and pulled Lavi’s hand away from her chest pounding. Lavi looked up at him and pointed to Akkad.
“Look at him. If he keeps being like that, it won’t be surprising if someone kidnaps him.”
“… Is that so?”
Allen glanced at Akkad and nodded hesitantly. Even though Akkad’s appearance was impressive in his eyes, what he found more worrisome was the young lady. At some point, the young lady started gaining weight, becoming more plump and flushed in complexion, and she was becoming prettier day by day. She rarely went outside, but it was still enough to make him worry. Her cheeks were rosy to the point where he couldn’t even remember the last time her face had been pale, and her hair had become shiny and glossy.
Allen didn’t know that this was because Akkad held Lavi’s hand every day.
“Well, alright. I won’t worry about you anymore.”
“No, do it for me.”
Phew. Lavi, who nodded quickly, leaned down as if what she said next would be the most important thing.
“So, Akkad, unless it’s someone you like, don’t smile, don’t hold their hand, and don’t go near them.”
Lavi swallowed what she really wanted to say, which was to be especially careful around men.
“Someone you like?”
“Yeah, like, for example, your parents or elder brother Werner?”
“I don’t like him, and he doesn’t like me either.” 2
Lavi paused, noticing his expression seemed somewhat pouty.
For a few days now, on the mornings after Akkad slept over, Werner had been visiting her and giving Akkad a menacing look. Lavi thought that the reason Werner was doing so was because he was worried about her health. He seemed to think she kept sleeping with Akkad despite not feeling well, but that was because her brother didn’t know Akkad’s powers.
She couldn’t tell her brother, but Akkad was just too sad for her to leave it alone. She couldn’t imagine. He hadn’t even confessed his feelings yet, but he was being hated by the person he liked. For a person who seemed to like everyone in the world to say that he disliked him specifically, it must have hurt him deeply.
“By any chance…”
Was this the stage where he was denying his feelings for her brother?
Lavi clicked her tongue, walked up to Akkad, and stroked his hair. “Cheer up, Akkad. It’s normal to be like this.”
Akkad dodged Lavi’s hand reaching to stroke his hair with a look on his face that said he didn’t know what she was talking about.
Lavi raised her eyebrows and spoke in a dreary tone, “I’m an exception, you can let me do whatever I want.”
“… Yeah.”
After stroking Akkad’s hair a couple more times, Lavi looked at him as if gauging the length of his arm.
“But … you seem a little taller?”
Lavi realized that she could touch his hair without having to lean down too much. Akkad was sitting and she was standing. Lavi was very short compared to peers her age.
“Akkad. Why didn’t you change your clothes right away?”
“Huh? The clothes the maid brought me were too small.”
The only consolation she had was that Akkad was about the same height as her. But although he was sitting, he seemed to have grown a bit taller.
Lavi tore at her hair, thinking that it couldn’t be true.
“Miss. Doesn’t that hurt?”
Allen quickly came over and grabbed the hand that was tearing at her hair. Lavi raised her head and called Allen as if it wasn’t important, “Allen.”
“… I understand.” Allen nodded, realizing what she meant by calling his name.
Lavi tugged on Akkad’s wrist and walked towards the tree behind them. It was the tree where Allen had marked Lavi’s height. Lavi stood in front of the tree first and looked at Allen nervously.
Allen lowered his head to check Lavi’s height and said with pride “You’ve grown a lot taller.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Hehehe. Lavi grinned at Allen, wondering how much taller she would grow in the future. Allen smiled softly, stroked Lavi’s head a couple of times before making a mark on the tree.
Akkad watched the scene with his lips pressed together.
“Akkad.”
“Huh?”
Lavi stepped aside from the tree and motioned to Akkad. As Akkad stood in front of the tree, Lavi looked at the top of his head with burning eyes. About half a span below the level of Akkad’s head, there was the mark Allen had just made to indicate Lavi’s height. 3
“Ugh! Akkad is bigger than me!”
Lavi cried out, her forehead bumping against Allen’s leg. Allen patted his lady’s back with a flustered expression.
She was smaller than that little kid! Wasn’t nine years old a time when girls should be older than boys? Even though her height was far below average, she thought she would at least maintain a similar level!
Akkad, who was looking at Lavi hugging Allen’s leg, slowly raised his hand and grabbed Lavi’s wrist.
And pulled.
It was a slight tug, but Lavi’s body still made a swooshing sound as she was dragged helplessly away.
Allen stared at Akkad with a strange look. He felt like he could suddenly understand the feelings of Master Werner, who had recently become increasingly wary of Akkad.
Akkad, who had no idea of Allen’s feelings and was not interested in them, looked at Lavi.
“Lavi, are you crying?”
“… Akkad. Are you showing off that you’re stronger than me?”
“Oh, no!”
Lavi glared at Akkad’s grip on her wrist as if to ask ‘if not that, then what’?
Akkad’s silver-grey eyes followed Lavi’s gaze.
Lavi’s wrists were very red.
“… I’m sorry, Lavi. Does it hurt a lot?”
“It’s fine. But it’s rude to pull on me so suddenly.” Lavi often dragged Akkad around however she wanted, but with a shameless face, she continued, “Also, you shouldn’t just try to comfort someone because they seem to be crying. Of course, I’m fine, but everyone else might get the wrong idea if you do that. With you being so nice, what am I going to do with you? Huh?”
Allen felt mixed emotions in his heart as he watched the young lady spit rapidfire instructions at Akkad without even pausing for breath. 4
How on earth did she come to the conclusion that such behavior was an attempt at offering comfort?
Allen thought self-deprecatingly that it was the perspective of a nine-year-old, and perhaps he was too cynical. He tried to organize his thoughts by thinking that maybe he was startled and pulled her because he thought she was really crying.
While Allen ran his palm over his face, Akkad took off his gloves and held Lavi’s wrist. Lavi was still nagging, and Akkad nodded dryly while examining her wrist. Only after confirming that the redness had disappeared did he let go.
“By the way, Lavi.”
“What?”
“Why is Lavi hugging just anyone?”
“Huh?”
Lavi took a step back and blinked, wondering what this was all about. Allen also opened his eyes wide as he looked at Akkad.
Akkad smiled with a harmless expression on his face and grabbed a handful of Lavi’s hair. It was a strange gesture that was neither pulling nor stroking.
“You told me not to give just anyone a hug.”
Lavi groaned, embarrassed at the innocence in his voice. “… Is Allen ‘just anyone’?”
Akkad nodded.
Lavi looked at her friend, who was holding a handful of her hair, tilting his head at an angle and smiling. His pink hair looked even shinier in the bright sunlight, his fair skin was flushed, and there were even dimples at the corners of his upturned mouth. His beauty was so breathtaking, she almost nodded in agreement without realizing it when he called Allen a random person.
Lavi shook her head and came to her senses.
She often fiddled with Akkad’s hair when she was nagging him, and he was apparently copying that. Lavi worried, and looked a little troubled. It seemed she’d ended up in a situation where if she told him not to hug just anyone, she would also have to follow that rule. Since she told him not to smile at just anyone, she would also have to do the same.
But Allen was a knight who had been in charge of guarding her since birth.
“Akkad. Allen is okay.”
“… Why?”
Lavi glanced at Allen. Allen, who had jet-black hair and green eyes, had the physique befitting of a knight. He had sharp facial lines and a blunt impression, giving off an aura that made him difficult to approach. Nevertheless, she knew that he was quite popular among the maids, perhaps because he had good manners and was quick to smile.
“Because he’s handsome?”
Without realizing it, her admiration for Allen slipped out.
Lavi smiled at the melting Allen before turning back to Akkad. 5She was trying to give a proper explanation, but his expression… what kind of look was that?
Akkad was staring at her with his plump lips pursed.
She felt like the hand holding her hair was pulling it taut. It didn’t hurt, but she still didn’t understand why it was happening.
“Lavi…”
“Huh?”
“Lavi said I was pretty, right?”
Telling Akkad that he was pretty was something that practically lived on her lips, something she found herself saying often.
“Umm … I did.”
She could see Akkad’s eyes getting moist at her cold response. What reason was there to cry! Lavi was going to appease him, but she first tried to pull her hair out of Akkad’s hands. However, she could see that his pale hands were turning red as he squeezed her hair with more strength, as if he didn’t want to let go.
Akkad held her hair tightly, glanced at Allen, and then rushed into Lavi’s arms. As Lavi’s body stumbled and tried to fall backwards due to the recoil, Allen hurried to support Lavi’s back.
Akkad looked up at Lavi with tears in his eyes, “Lavi, then does my face look like Sir Allen’s? Then… hic, it’s not pretty.”
“…?”
“…”
There was silence after Akkad spoke.
Lavi rolled her eyes away, not daring to look at Allen’s face. Did he just say that Allen was ugly? Surely not. When she saw Akkad’s red eyes, she felt like she should just apologize.
‘I’m sorry. Your beauty is far beyond Allen’s. Yes, I was wrong.’
Lavi reached out her hand and cupped Akkad’s face, apologizing to Allen in her heart. She felt the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes running down over her fingers.
“You’re much prettier than Allen. But didn’t I say that you look ugly when you cry?”
As if he was convinced that this couldn’t be true, Akkad responded without hesitation, “Lies.”
Lavi was embarrassed as she looked at his face, full of defiance. He bit his lower lip and looked at her, silver-gray eyes full of resentment.
What was a lie?
That he was prettier than Allen? Or that he was ugly when he cried? But since when did Akkad start looking at her like that? It certainly wasn’t like this last year, was he already hitting puberty?
“You’re pretty. You’re the prettiest. The most pretty in the whole world.”
Akkad frowned at Lavi’s expression asking if he was satisfied.
Why was the reaction so bad? She guessed saying that he was ugly when he cried was the lie. However, she couldn’t say that crying was pretty. Lavi spoke in a slightly harsh voice, as if she was stating a clear fact, “You’re ugly when you cry.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a lie. Lavi likes my crying face.”
Lavi heard Allen gasp and covered her face with the back of her hand. What did he mean she liked crying? She didn’t have that kind of taste! Lavi was deeply troubled, wondering why Akkad would say such a thing. She guessed he was just saying what he felt.
Then she realized that he hadn’t said she liked crying, but that she liked the ‘face’ that cried.
Lavi was moving her lips to say something, but Akkad burrowed into her arms and rubbed his face. Was he wiping his tears on her dress now?
“Akkad. It’ll be big trouble if you say that kind of thing recklessly.”
“Say what?”
“Something like saying that I like your crying face.”
She wondered if he was listening correctly. There was no response from Akkad.
“Um. Lavi, I’m sleepy.”
“Sigh, okay. Let’s go to my room.”
Why was he answering so half-heartedly? Thinking that Akkad might say something like that in front of Duke Enoch and his wife, Lavi suddenly felt like a cold sweat ran down her spine. Lavi pushed Akkad away, thinking she’d have to crack down on him once more.
“Let’s go.”
As Lavi frowned and ran a hand through her hair, Akkad flinched at her expression. Lavi pushed her distraught emotions away and held out her hand to Akkad. She walked away, thinking that she’d have to be careful about her behavior in front of Akkad.
Allen followed the two children heading toward the bedroom with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
T/N: Ah-ahaha, this is one of my favorite sections of chapter 2. It’s our first hint that Akkad might not quite be the helpless little fawn Lavi imagines him to be (or at least, that there’s more to him than that) and the first appearance of her ‘rules to keep Akkad safe from bad men’ (which everyone around her wants earnestly for her to apply to herself)
- Literally -저렇게 예쁘게 웃다가 보쌈이라도 당하면 어쩌나 걱정이었다. Bossam: there are two meanings and honestly I think either could apply. First is a popular steamed pork belly dish that you wrap in cabbage leaves (implication, get eaten up?) second is a Joseon time period thing where a single man secretly wrapped up a widow at night and brought her back to be his wife. ↩︎
- Two notes 1) Akkad isn’t actually saying ‘him’ / ‘your brother’, he’s saying hyung, which I noted previously is a way of referring to older male siblings or male friends by younger males. For oppa/hyung/noona/unnie here is a good resource. ↩︎
- 뼘 is measurement representing a span (of a hand). Papago says 반 뼘 정도 아래에 = about half a centimeter below, which would be roughly the size of a pencil eraser? ↩︎
- literally – 다다다다 숨도 onomatopoeic word representing sound of an sub-automatic machine gun ↩︎
- 흐물흐물 be overripe, very soft, flabby, pulpy / boil to pulp 녹아내리는 melt down, be eased, be softened. I feel like this could be ‘having a meltdown’ but I also like, ‘ (emotionally) turning into a mushy pile of goo’ or ‘melting into a puddle’ is closer. To get shy or embarrassed as if wanting to melt and go away from the situation.
↩︎
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