Rikimaru (3)
"Ice is gone."
"Well, you had a stomachache, so it can't be helped."
"I wanted to give it to Sai."
"Even if you did, Sai would have been troubled."
"It's delicious, so I thought it would make him feel better."
"Ah, well, it might have cheered him up."
"I was going to give candy instead, but it was all sticky."
"You took it out? You didn't eat it?"
"Yeah. I hid it here so Hiiro wouldn't find it."
Naruhito pointed under the bed.
"You hid it? It would melt there."
"Hiiro threw it away."
"If it was sticky, it was no good."
"But it was still edible."
"It would be bad if he got a stomachache."
"Where do you hide your candy?"
"What?"
"Candy. Where do you hide it?"
I don't hide candy.
Well, let's see. This kid doesn't get much candy because if he eats it, he won't eat his meals.
I thought he ate it as soon as he got it. But he hides it.
No, maybe he's started thinking about the future more. Like making plans for tomorrow, or saving candy to eat the next day. That's important.
It made me happy. Naruhito will be here tomorrow.
"For important things, I put them in a box or something."
"A box?"
"Like a treasure chest. I collected shiny stones or perfectly shaped cicada shells in a box."
Naruhito tilted his head, not understanding what I meant.
In Naruhito and His Highness's spacious private room. This is where Naruhito spends most of his time. On a carpeted area, a low table is scattered with puzzle pieces, and he's sitting there. There's a large beanbag for him to lean on when he's tired. On a small shelf next to it are picture books that my Mother and I brought from home. His favorite picture book about distributing dumplings to make friends burned with the mansion, so my Mother bought a new one. There are two small puzzle boxes for young children. These are Naruhito's only possessions.
"For important things that you want to hide a bit, you put them in a box and place it out of sight. It's hard to find, but you can get to it anytime you want."
"Important things..."
"You'll find lots of important things from now on. Let's get you a treasure chest. We'll go shopping and find a box and buy some candy."
"Shopping?"
"We'll go to a candy store and buy candy. There are all sorts of boxes at a general store too. Ah, that sounds fun. Let's go shopping, Naruhito."
"Hiiro makes the candy, doesn't he?"
"Huh? Well, I guess he could, but the candy we usually eat is bought."
"What do you mean by bought?"
"Uh? From a store. Huh?"
Has he never been shopping? No way.
He said he spent three years on the battlefield. Before that? Wait a minute.
What do you think about this chapter?
