Little Pink Starfish

──────・・・・・・

A pitch-dark space.

There was nothing. Yet, it somehow looked familiar.

Asher looked around fearfully, but only darkness spread around.

A chill ran through him. He didn’t want to be alone in such a place. He tried to shout. However, no matter how many times he tried to call Theodore’s name, no voice came out.

Why am I alone in a place like this?

He couldn’t remember.

He crouched down and covered his face.

────Scary.

He heard nothing.

He saw nothing.

There was nothing here.

────Nothing at all.

He didn’t know how long he’d been crouched there. But suddenly, a voice came from behind.

“I didn’t want you to come back here…”

Startled, he turned around. A man stood there, looking down at him with concern.

A gloomy man in a suit with jet-black hair and glasses gently stroked Asher’s head. He looked familiar, and yet, somehow, Asher couldn’t tell who he was. He couldn’t clearly see the man’s face.

Not knowing who this person was, Asher just stared blankly at him.

“…My memories, you know, they’re memories that shouldn’t exist, so they’re supposed to slowly fade away… but whenever something happens, you trace them… This time too, you escaped because of some unnecessary memory…”

What unnecessary memory? Asher tilted his head in confusion, and the man gave a wry smile.

“…It’s that way. Come on, let’s go. If you stay here, you won’t be able to return.”

The man held out his hand, and though hesitant, Asher grasped it. In that pitch-black space, the man seemed to know the direction and began walking slowly.

After walking for a while, the man suddenly stopped and smiled at Asher.

“There’s someone I want you to meet. Actually, they were being so loud… the fed-up god woke me from sleep… the me sleeping inside you.”

“A god…?”

What’s he saying? Asher looked at the man suspiciously.

“Now and in the past, if left alone, you would die… so that person has always been watching over you.”

“…Always watched over me?”

The man shifted his gaze behind Asher.

Then, someone gently placed a hand on Asher’s shoulder. Startled, he turned around instantly—and saw a man he recognised.

A man with red hair and eyes like beryl looked at Asher’s face with a smile that seemed about to cry. Noticing Asher’s confusion, the red-haired man looked slightly sad and removed his hand from Asher’s shoulder.

“Ah… You look just like your mother… beautiful like an angel.”

His voice trembled.

He resembled Lord Geoffrey astonishingly, but Asher knew he wasn’t Geoffrey. Somehow, he understood who the man was.

“…Lord Fred…?”

Asher called out the name as if to confirm. Fred’s lips trembled, and tears he’d held back began to flow.

“…Angela’s son… I never thought he’d meet such a fate… It’s all my fault. Please, don’t blame her…”

Asher was shocked to see Fred’s tears falling one after another, and instinctively reached out and held his trembling hand.

“I would never blame Mother… And it’s not your fault either.”

Those were his honest feelings. But Fred shook his head.

“But… even though I protected you…”

“Of course you did. In your final moments… if only you hadn’t made that request to Gus… this misunderstanding wouldn’t have happened…”

“Even so… You just wanted to see Mother, didn’t you?”

When Asher asked, Fred’s eyes wavered, and he looked straight at him.

“…”

“Because you loved her… And Mother loved you too, that’s why she came to see you. Even Father… he loved you, that’s why he allowed it. No one did anything wrong.”

Tears flowed as Fred hesitantly embraced Asher gently.

“…Thank you, Asher. You’re a kind child… and I’m sorry. I’ve always wanted to apologise. I always wanted to help… Angela… and Gus too.”

Saying that, Fred smiled gently at Asher. He cupped his cheek, kissed his forehead softly, and hugged him again.

“…Ah, if only you were my son. My real son takes after Gus and isn’t cute at all.”

He chuckled wryly, hehe.

Amidst all this, the silent man in the suit quietly cleared his throat.

“It’s almost time…”

“Ah… right. It’s a shame, but… Asher… goodbye. You can’t stay here too long… But don’t worry, once you wake up, most of it will be resolved.”

“Huh? Resolved…?”

“…The Duchess of Veil is already on this side. It might be wrong of me to ask, but if you can… I want you to help that girl. She’s the same as you. She’s done nothing wrong.”

“Wait, that girl… huh?”

Whoosh—his body dropped in an instant.

Suddenly, the floor beneath Asher gave way, and a hole opened. Looking up, he saw Fred and the suited man peering down at him.

“This really is the end. Don’t go remembering the past anymore.”

The suited man smiled brightly. That smile made Asher’s chest tighten painfully.

“When you wake up next time, you’ll be able to hear the real voices around you… Lastly, please look after Angela! And also Sam… and Gus too!”

Fred shouted while waving his hand widely.

“Wait! There’s still more I want to ask…!”

He reached out, but the speed of his fall increased, and the moment the two disappeared from sight—a burst of white light engulfed everything.

He tried to open his eyes, but the light grew stronger, and Asher closed his eyes from the overwhelming brightness.

──────・・・・・・

……

…Ugh…?

His body felt heavy.

He tried to move, but not even a finger responded, leaving Asher bewildered.

…Eh? What…?

He couldn’t even open his eyes, so he had no idea where he was.

What’s going on? What happened…

His ears buzzed, and he couldn’t hear well, but gradually, the surrounding sounds became clearer.

He couldn’t tell who, but there were several people nearby, speaking. Then, something moved on top of him. For the first time, Asher realised someone was lying on top of his body.

Eh!? What!?

That someone had their face buried into Asher’s chest, clutching desperately at his clothes. As the sounds became clearer, he could hear that person’s sobbing.

“…Ugh… Ashe… Asher-nii-sama… ugh…”

The one crying and clinging to him was Noah.

“Noah, it’s time to let go of Lord Asher.”

Lord Geoffrey’s voice came from a short distance away.

“No… ugh, nooo!”

The small hands gripped tighter, rubbing the face more against Asher’s chest. Then, someone gently stroked Asher’s right cheek.

“…It’s fine as it is. If someone cries so close to him… surely Asher will find it annoying and wake up.”

Her words were a bit harsh, but the voice was incredibly gentle.

…Mother’s voice?

“So don’t worry, Prince Noah. Stay right there.”

Eh…? What… what’s going on…?

He wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids didn’t move. His body felt like lead. Asher was confused. Then, from his left side, King Augustin’s voice spoke.

“The doctor said… all that’s left is for him to wake up. But why did this happen in the first place, Samuel?”

Calm, yet tinged with anger, the king’s voice startled Asher.

“No one thought Asher would disguise himself as a lady so beautiful she seemed not of this world and infiltrate like that—”

“Hugo. You, too. I hear you gave him a vague explanation and made Asher anxious.”

Before Samuel could finish, King Augustin cut him off and addressed Hugo.

“I… well… I didn’t mean to…”

“Did neither of you understand what I said at the royal family’s dinner table?”

With an exasperated sigh, King Augustin sounded fed up.

Asher, hearing only voices, tried to piece things together.

Yes, that’s right—he disguised himself… snuck into the assembly… and then…

“If only we had told Asher from the beginning that Maderina Rasem was conspiring with Clark, none of this would have happened.”

That’s right… the Duchess of Veil!

After that… I lost consciousness…

Asher’s awareness became clearer, and he remembered what happened just before he blacked out. Still, it was strange—why had it come to this when the blade had only grazed his shoulder?

“If Theodore hadn’t grabbed Asher right away, the wound would’ve been deeper, and the poison would’ve made detoxifying almost impossible.”

Hearing that, Asher finally understood why he couldn’t move.

That dagger… it had poison…

He was awake, but couldn’t let them know.

What should I do… I can’t even speak… Am I going to stay like this…?

As he fretted, Samuel cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Indeed… with the way things turned out, as Father said, perhaps I should’ve told Asher the truth. But I… Hugo and I… we hesitated. Because…”

Samuel fell silent for a moment. Around him, only Noah’s quiet sobs could be heard. Everyone else waited silently for Samuel’s next words.

Asher listened closely.

“Because we didn’t want to hurt Asher any more than this…”

It was the first time Asher had heard such a sorrowful voice from Samuel. He tried to open his eyes again, but they didn’t move.

“He was already so pained by those criminal beastmen… If he learned about the slave trade involving beastfolk… he would surely suffer again and blame himself. Even though it’s all Clark’s fault… I could already see Asher in pain… That’s why I…”

“Father! Sam was going to explain everything to Asher! But then the matter of the seal came up… and it was obvious that woman intended to harm Asher somehow… so‼︎”

Hugo’s desperate defence of Samuel was followed by a long, exasperated sigh from Queen Angela, who was right beside Asher.

“You suddenly, absurdly tried to present Asher as a divine child and get Fana’ara to protect him… that’s what this was all about.”

The hand that had been stroking Asher’s cheek moved away, and Queen Angela stood up.

“I thought it was strange. That contrived, nonsensical act…”

Now that he thought about it, even Asher had found Samuel’s sudden, baffling behaviour suspicious.

Yes… that’s right. Huh? But if we were alone, why the act? And those many paintings in that room…

“No, the words I said back then were from the heart.”

In contrast to his earlier sorrow, Samuel now spoke in a light, nonchalant tone.

“…In fact, even Reachalf agreed Asher was worthy of being a divine child… Anyway, as long as I could get Asher away from the castle, anything would’ve sufficed… But.”

Samuel suddenly stopped. King Augustin, unable to bear the silence, questioned him.

“You went out of your way to plan a protective relocation to a safe place… and yet you rushed the plan and forced it to happen. Why, Samuel?”

“…”

Samuel fell silent again. As he still wouldn’t speak, someone else finally stepped in.

“Because you were afraid Prince Asher would be taken again?”

The voice belonged to Lord Geoffrey.