Prince (2)
Probably against all odds, on the morning of the fourth day, I went to check on it, and it suddenly opened its eyes.
Its right eye moved around, and it gazed at me as if it had come to some understanding.
Oh, did it notice its left eye?
When I tried to give it some water, it choked. I must have rushed it. When I stroked its back, it closed its eyes with contentment. What’s going on? It’s so adorable.
Hitachimaru entered the room later and was being noisy. When I placed it back on the bed, it exhaled loudly, so sitting upright must still be painful for it. When I tried to cover it with a blanket, it moved.
At that moment, it made a choking sound and tears welled up in its eyes.
“It must hurt, there, there.”
I gently stroked its arm, and its breathing began to calm. When I asked Hitachimaru to bring painkillers, he got angry again.
“Your Highness, please stop this. Why are you treating a nearly broken Combat Doll like this? It’s really dangerous! Please destroy it while it can’t move.”
I saw the Combat Doll in my arms nod faintly. Is it listening? Breaking or being broken, that’s not the point, right? It’s showing such a human-like response.
“What do you mean by ‘nearly broken’ or ‘destroy’? He’s a human. You saw everything when you treated him. He’s human, through and through.”
While I continued to stroke his arm, Hitachimaru, still holding the gun, looked at the Combat Doll with a face that seemed to be struggling, as if he had bitten a bitter bug.
A report came that there was a loud noise from the Combat Doll’s room, and I hurriedly went there. There was a guard at the door, but they were not allowed inside. We arranged for a medical practitioner and either me or Hitachimaru to be present when treatment was given, or when diapers were changed, or when the IV was replaced. It’s good, especially because many people were frightened of the Combat Dolls.
When I entered, I found that the water pitcher was broken. It must have been trying to drink some water. It seemed to be getting better, which made me somewhat happy. When I asked Hitachimaru to get some water, he got angry again. This guy is really loud.
“No, Your Highness, that’s not possible. It can move now. I can’t leave you alone with it.”
The Combat Doll bobbed his head in agreement. Did you have to nod in agreement? I wanted to ask.
He wanted to drink water, didn’t he? When I asked, he bobbed his head again. How cute is he?
I stroked his head, and he began to doze off, his eyes narrowing with contentment.
I thought he should drink some water first, so I gave helped him to some. Oh, he’s going to sleep again, I thought, and then I heard a faint voice.
“Delicious…”
Huh? When I looked at his face, it was already drifting off to sleep with a faint smile. And once again, Hitachimaru was standing there with a face like he had bitten a bitter bug.