Baby Prisoner of the Winter Castle

Chapter 10

“For starters, practicing swordsmanship can be…”

The duke began to speak but hesitated for a moment. He was speaking to a captive—he could not allow her to practice swordsmanship. Basic self-defense, then? No, that would be dangerous as well. If she developed a talent for martial arts, she could end up fighting off the knights and running away.

Maximilian turned his head and looked at Quentin standing some distance away. He seemed not to like the idea of her spending time outdoors since he was standing there watching with a scowl.

“Quentin, do you know anything about children’s outdoor activities?”

“The children of Sheridan like to catch frogs.”

“But it’s winter now.”

“Then they break off icicles and play war with— Oh.”

Quentin quickly closed his mouth, his cheeks growing pink. He didn’t want to mention war in front of Clarisse.

“Ahem, what else… Oh, right! They build snowmen. They compete to see who can build the largest snowman in front of their homes.”

“I see.” The duke turned back to Clarisse. “You will participate in that competition. You will make a snowman as the representative of this estate.”

“Me? The representative?”

“Yes. It will be your outdoor activity.”

“I-I will do my best, Your Grace. I will not besmirch your honor,” Clarisse answered confidently, her hands clasped together.

Then the duke left with Quentin, saying his business there was done. Left alone in her room, Clarisse’s face turned a little red.

“How do I do that? I’m already doing something for His Grace! I’ll make the largest snowman the whole village has ever—”

However, there was a small problem: Clarisse was from Grezekaiah, a kingdom of warm weather.

“But wait… What’s a snowman?”

*

Since it was an “outdoor activity,” Clarisse went out into the corridor and raised her hand high into the air. Sir Benson, who was standing guard in the corridor, approached her. She spoke cautiously.

“Sir Benson, His Grace has ordered me to engage in outdoor activities.”

“Oh, ahem!”

Benson cleared his throat and stiffened his expression. He had to abide by the duke’s orders. He had to treat her like a captive.

“I-I know. You’ve been given permission to enter the garden.”

Clarisse lowered her head at his stern tone, feeling a little timid.

“Yes… His Grace ordered me to join the snowman-making competition.”

“Then you will need a carrot.”

Clarisse was startled. The man made of snow seemed quite different from Squishy, who was made of rocks. He needs food as well? He won’t be scary, will he?

Benson noticed that Clarisse was feeling troubled and cleared his throat again.

“Ahem! I will get you a leftover carrot from the kitchen.”

“You will, Sir Benson?”

When Clarisse looked up at him with her hands clasped together, he quickly turned away.

“I-I am not being kind to you! You are a prisoner!”

“But—”

“I am merely cooperating, as you will be competing against the children of the village. It is all for my lord’s honor!”

After making sure Clarisse didn’t misunderstand his intentions, he gestured with his chin toward the uncomfortable stairs used by the servants.

“Now go.”

But at that moment, he recalled another order the duke had given him: making sure the child was not hurt in any way. The stairs were dark and steep, so there was a chance that she might fall down if she used them by herself.

“I have no choice. I will carry you downstairs. You must be careful with the stairs.”

“I can walk down by myself.”

“But…”

Benson gave Clarisse’s short legs a nervous look and eventually decided to follow behind her as she walked to the staircase. Whenever the child teetered as she went down, Benson would reach out with his hands and let out a little yelp.

“Ah! Oh! Ah!”

Only after she had safely reached the bottom did he return to his post on the second floor. In the lobby, Clarisse looked up at the tall, open space around her. Come to think of it, she had spent most of her time inside her room and had not taken a good look around the estate. There were so many things around her that piqued her curiosity, but she had to remind herself not to wander around. She had to go to the garden and find out what a snowman was, feed him a carrot, and place him in front of the estate.

Rosalie appeared at the lobby just in time and opened the door.

“I heard the news, Clarisse. His Grace has given you permission to use the main stairs and the front door.”

“M-me?”

Only the duke and those close to him were allowed to use the large front door with his permission. His Grace permitted me because I’m doing something for his honor. Clarisse felt a sense of pride and straightened her shoulders.

“I will do my best!”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Hearing her words, Clarisse excitedly stepped out the door.

“Oh, right.”

She suddenly remembered to ask about this “snowman” and turned around, but Rosalie had already disappeared.

“I forgot to ask her. And Squishy doesn’t know what a snowman is either.”

What should I do? Clarisse became glum. However, this didn’t last long. She soon came face-to-face with pure white snow covering the entire garden. The excitement instantly replaced her thoughts.

“Wow!”

She had seen the piles of snow from her window, but they were much more incredible up close. I’ve always wondered what it’s like to step in it. Remembering Benson’s advice, she carefully walked down the steps of the garden and jumped into a pile of shoveled snow. Crunch. She giggled at the sound. It was as though her feet were farting.

“What is this?”

Clarisse jumped again and again. Crunch, crunch, crunch. After jumping around here and there, farting with her feet, she looked back at the deep footprints she left behind.

“I guess I can’t play hide-and-seek with Squishy in the snow.”

Squishy would find Clarisse quickly just by following her footprints. She continued jumping around, leaving footprints all over the garden. But after half an hour of playing like that, she became a little tired. Clarisse snapped back to her senses. It wasn’t the time for this. She had to ask around and find out what a snowman was.

*

Circling the estate’s perimeter, Clarisse looked for any rocks that would talk to her. The Outer Wall and Inner Wall of the estate looked like they were built with the same rocks, but that wasn’t the case. She had encountered some different rocks on the Inner Wall. It would have been nice if all the rocks in the world could talk to her like Squishy, but they couldn’t—only the rocks that Clarisse sensed as “special” could talk to her. She had been able to sense which rocks she could communicate with since she was very little, but such rocks were extremely rare in Grezekaiah.

“What an incredible estate.”

Hardly any rocks had talked to her in Grezekaiah, but there were many more who would at this estate. From the moment she arrived, she had been getting a lot of help from them.

“They said a large living rock called a golem became this building, didn’t they?”

Clarisse had never heard the word “golem” until she came to Sheridan. She liked that it was a name for a living creature made of rock.

“What an amazing rock, turning into a building and helping people,” she said to herself, though Squishy would feel sour if it had heard her.

“Oh.”

She discovered a rock that might talk to her and ran over to it. Unlike the bricks shaped into neat squares, this rock maintained its natural form.

“Hello,” Clarisse greeted it, touching its surface.

Then, she heard a reply in her mind.

“So you’re the prisoner the rocks of the Inner Wall are talking about.”

Since the entire estate was made of rocks, it seemed word would spread between them from time to time.

“You heard about me?”

“Hmph. I will not talk to a prisoner like you.”

“Oh…”

“The foolish rocks of the Inner Wall may talk to you about all sorts of things, but we honorable knights of the Outer Wall protecting the great Sheridan Estate will never show mercy to a criminal.”

“It’s all right. You don’t have to show me any mercy.”

“Then go back inside the Inner Wall! Go be with those weak fools in the warmth of the indoors!”

“But I must make a snowman for the honor of the Sheridan Estate. If you know how, could you please tell me?”

There was no reply, though if the rock truly valued the honor of the estate as it had implied, it might have given one.

“So you don’t know how?”

“I am a brave knight who fights the cold winds every day! Do you dare treat me like an idiot for not knowing childish games?”

That was never her intention, so Clarisse shook her head. “It’s fine. I don’t know, either. And I’m not an idiot.”

“Ha! Do you think you and I are the same, prisoner? I shall demonstrate the strength of Sheridan Estate’s Outer Wall! Guardian rocks of the Outer Wall! The captive is out of her cage and wandering the grounds! Ring the bell twice!”

Clarisse felt her heart pound at its loud cry. Seeing the many marvelous rocks studded all over the wall, she was excited to see something grand.

“Hehehe! We saved up our mana for this day.”

Clarisse looked up. She was standing beneath a bell tower where the broken clock was hanging. Since it was the bell of such an amazing building, she was sure she would hear a magnificent sound. Dink…! But all she heard was a small, unimpressive clank. Has something gone wrong?

The soldiers patrolling nearby looked up at the bell tower and clicked their tongues.

“The stupid bell is ringing on its own again. Good thing we can barely hear it.”

“Did that thing really use to ring by itself and warn the village when there was danger?”

“That’s just a myth. What kind of bell can do that?”

“What a piece of junk. I wish the duke would just sell it off or something.”

Clarisse suddenly felt pity for the wall.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Shoo! I do not wish to speak to you!”

Clarisse tried to talk to the rock again, but there was no response.