Baby Prisoner of the Winter Castle - Chapter 49

With his face exposed to Clarisse, Noah grabbed the hem of his clothes.

 

His fingertips seemed to tremble a little, perhaps because he was nervous.

 

It was a very strange thing.

 

The opponent was only a girl he had known for two seasons.

 

Considering the amount of average life given to humans, it was a time that could be called temporary.

 

Nevertheless, Noah was genuinely concerned that Clarisse, who checked beyond the mask, would be afraid and call him ‘monster.’

 

‘…Should I stop it?’

 

He felt a rush of regret at that moment.

 

There was no one who didn’t frown when they saw his real face.

 

Why does he dare to show off such an ugly face?

 

“Don’t move, Noah.”

 

As he tried to step back a bit, Clarisse quickly grabbed both sides of his mask.

 

When he opened his eyes again, Clarisse, who had come right in front of him, was struggling to untie the strings attached to the mask.

 

“Girl, if it’s hard.”

 

“It’s not hard!”

 

By the time the girl shouted like that, he felt the mask, which had been firmly attached to his face, slightly loose.

 

‘Ah. Oh my.’

 

Noah closed his eyes for some reason, wanting to run away.

 

He could feel the sunlight reaching his face, which had always been covered. The range was expanding very slowly.

 

He lowered his head, suppressing the desire to hide himself.

 

Anyway, it was Noah who said that he would show his face first.

 

The mask brushed through his hair and completely fell off.

 

Noah imagined the expression on Clarisse’s face as she stood beyond his pitch black field of vision.

 

No matter how bright a girl she always smiles, wouldn’t she be so distorted in front of his appearance.

 

Even though he was having such bad thoughts, he held on to the promise he had made a little while ago with a single hope.

 

｢I promise you, I will never be afraid.｣

 

So, now he had to trust Clarisse and open his eyes. He should be, but…

 

Somehow, he didn’t have the courage.

 

“Wow.”

 

While he hesitated, a little excited exclamation was heard.

 

“….?”

 

Noah opened his eyes narrowly.

 

The sunlight that happened to pass through the tinted glass was spilling yellow and blue light around their lines.

 

Perhaps because the colors were different than usual, Noah felt very different from his daily life.

 

“You look wonderful.”

 

Underneath the colored light was Clarisse.

 

The girl gave him a sparkling look as he looked down at her and held the cat mask tight to the tip of her chin.

 

“I’ve never seen anything so wonderful, Noah!”

 

Clarisse was now raising her voice more than usual, with excitement that turned her cheeks peachy.

 

“H…Huh?”

 

Noah was puzzled.

 

That’s why he desperately hoped that Clarisse wouldn’t be afraid.

 

But on the contrary, she likes it this much…?

 

“Can I touch it? Right? Oh, please!”

 

Clarisse returned the mask to Noah’s hand and raised her hands.

 

If Noah nodded, she was about to pull both cheeks right away.

 

“Like this all of a sudden…!”

 

“B, but! I’ve never seen such a pretty face!”

 

“D, don’t make fun of me!”

 

He hurriedly backed away, but his leg caught on the armrest of the sofa and he slumped to his knees.

 

‘Are you okay?’ Clarisse closed the gap again.

 

“I, I’m okay. I was just surprised that the girl teased me.”

 

Clarisse answered with a slight pout of her lips.

 

“I’m not making fun of you. I’m serious…”

 

“What do you mean serious?”

 

Noah shook his head softly, as if it didn’t make sense. He had never even loved himself.

 

“Thank you for keeping your promise. You can touch it, but you don’t have to say nice things about it. Me too… I know the subject.”

 

Before he could finish his lonely words, he felt soft touches on both cheeks.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

The girl pulling his head up was still looking at him with her twinkling eyes.

 

Even though the rough touch of the stone stuck in skin must have been conveyed between her fingers.

 

“Noah, you are pretty.”

 

“….”

 

“That, I know that Noah suffers because he’s different from other people.”

 

Before he knew it, the girl slowly rubbed his forehead, the tip of his nose, his cheeks, and even his chin.

 

The ugly stones that bloomed between his skin were treated as precious as if they were treasures at her fingertips.

 

“All the stones Noah has are sweet. I’ve never seen a stone that fits so well with me!”

 

This must be a curse.

 

It may also be the result of the mother’s cruel experiments on the son in her belly.

 

Noah stopped trying to explain that. He didn’t want to embarrass Clarisse.

 

No, actually…

 

“It’s really pretty.”

 

It was so nice to hear the compliments he heard for the first time. Even if he himself can’t sympathize.

 

“…It’s pretty?”

 

Noah gathered up his courage and asked.

 

His cheeks, which should have no human body temperature, seemed to be getting hot for some reason.

 

“Eung! Of all the people I have ever seen, Noah is the third prettiest!”

 

“W, who on earth…!”

 

At the third word, Noah unknowingly became emotional.

 

Of course, he quickly shut his mouth.

 

It seems that Clarisse’s praise made him arrogant.

 

“The girl is strange.”

 

“Eung?”

 

“It’s something anyone would find unpleasant.”

 

“I like stones. Doesn’t it hurt when I touch you?”

 

“It just feels good… No, I don’t feel anything. I think the girl’s hand will hurt.”

 

He noticed now that Clarisse’s hands were small and soft, unlike his rough face.

 

“Not at all. It feels good because it’s cold. Oh really, I’ve never seen such a great stone.”

 

“I hope the girl’s gravel never hears of this.”

 

“Ah…!”

 

Clarisse quickly shut her mouth and glanced at her pocket.

 

“Mallang probably didn’t hear it, right?”

 

Noah just shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Ugh…but.”

 

Clarisse said, ‘As expected, you are so pretty,’ and told the story with only the shape of her mouth.

 

Noah was slowly embarrassed to hear the praise, so he began to cover his face by raising his mask little by little.

 

“Hiing.”

 

It was the first time he’d seen Clarisse express genuine regret, so Noah wanted to take the mask off again, but he was determined.

 

“T, that’s enough.”

 

Clarisse dropped her hand with a face dripping with regret.

 

“…You can touch it again later.”

 

“Really?”

 

“It’s a face that no one but the girl will ever see.”

 

It was also a face no one would like except Clarisse.

 

“So, you can do whatever you want whenever you want.”

 

When he said ‘anytime’, Clarisse looked at the mask with prey eyes, so Noah quickly pressed his mask with both hands and said.

 

“Anyway, it’s over for today!”

 

“…Hng.”

 

It was cute to see her drooping with regret again, but Noah shook his head again and held his heart.

 

* * *

 

Noah brought the cart containing the book to Clarisse’s room and returned to the guest room.

 

He said he had something to do to keep him busy, but he rarely explained what it was.

 

Clarisse sat down on the sofa and began to read the book they had brought page by page.

 

Knock, knock.

 

It was only after she had read about five pages that she heard a knock. As she put down the heavy book and answered, she heard Teacher Lockhart’s voice.

 

‘I guess he came to scold me.’

 

Clarisse was startled and thought of hiding somewhere.

 

“You don’t have to open it. I just thought I should apologize to you…”

 

But the story she was told right away was very different from what she thought.

 

“As an adult, as a teacher, I shouldn’t have said that to you. No matter how much I can’t forget what happened to my brother… to say such mean things. I can’t forgive myself either.”

 

Clarisse approached the door cautiously. To be honest, she didn’t expect him to talk about ‘his brother’ first.

 

Because that would be a really painful part.

 

“I had a younger brother. He was a very sweet child. Although… he was dead.”

 

Clarisse opens the door a little.

 

It’s a story she knew through the inner walls, but she also wanted to hear it from him.

 

Because this is also the work of ‘Grezekaia’.

 

“Your brother, in the hands of Prince Grezekaia.”

 

Looking through the narrow door, she saw the teacher with his head bowed.

 

“To be honest… It’s painful.  I’m sorry that I’m a person who lacks as a teacher when I find a difficulty.”

 

Clarisse pushed the door open a little further and shook her head.

 

“No, teacher.”

 

“You are so nice and kind like this… I can’t forgive myself for acting embarrassingly, thinking only of my younger brother.”

 

“That’s not true! The book says it’s natural to miss someone you like.”

 

“So, I… I’m probably not a good teacher to teach you anything. The masked child is right. Actually, the content of today’s class wasn’t that great.”

 

“No, it is not! You thought together how I could atone for my sins. I actually… I really wanted to hear that answer.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, and the teacher is the one who can teach me that the best.”

 

“Then… Can I continue the class now?”

 

Mr. Lockhart suddenly pulled the door open with a little force.

 

He had a very friendly smile.