Chapter 1

“Duke, you like knitted dolls, don’t you?”

At the soft, gentle voice, Dante’s red eyes turned toward Yvonne, who was sitting in front of him.

Yvonne, who possessed fairy blood, was a young lady whose quiet beauty was accompanied by a strange, ethereal mystery.

Soft, curly hair loosely framed her pale face—so fair her veins seemed almost visible—and her lips, curved in a gentle smile, were a faint pink. Amid her overall light coloring, only her two cheeks flushed red like roses.

‘How should I answer?’

After deliberating for a moment, Dante nodded slowly. At that, Yvonne let out a bright smile and burst into a clear, musical laugh.

“I knew it. I noticed you kept at it so diligently, even though your skills are improving rather slowly.”

Like a flower in full bloom, Yvonne’s smiling face was extraordinarily lovely.

When Dante held his tongue and stared at her blankly, his gaze captured by her smile, Yvonne shrank her shoulders. It seemed she belatedly assumed Dante was displeased by her tone of voice.

“B-But you’ll get the hang of it soon! That’s how everyone learns.”

“……”

‘That’s not why I was staring, though.’

Dante let out a sigh. Over Yvonne’s shoulder, a knitted doll poked its round head out, grinning cheekily as it mocked him.

‘That little pest.’

As Dante glared at it, the thing went back to pretending to be an ordinary, motionless knitted doll. Plagued by an instant urge to press his index finger down and squash that tiny head flat, Dante pouted his lips slightly. Since the two of them were engaged in a silent staring contest, Yvonne blinked her eyes wide and spoke up: “Ah! If you pull the yarn that hard, the stitches won’t be even. It’d be better to relax your fingers a bit. Yes, yes, a little more. Gently.”

Saying so, Yvonne tapped the back of Dante’s hand with her slender fingers. At the sudden touch, Dante’s tan face flushed reddish in an instant.

‘Snicker.’

The knitted Pepe mocked Dante once more. A vein popped on a corner of Dante’s forehead. Knowing that looking at it any longer would only turn his stomach further, Dante bowed his head low so the creature stayed out of his line of sight, busily working his thick fingers.

Though it didn’t show on his face, inwardly, he found himself pathetic.

‘Why on earth am I doing this?’

To be sure, in the beginning, he had merely pretended to be interested in knitting to lure this innocent, completely unsuspecting woman in.

‘I can’t bring myself to tell her the truth.’

Unable to utter the words that he had no interest in knitting, nor that he didn’t want to do it anymore, Dante aimlessly looped the thread around the tip of the needle.

Just as Yvonne had said, the fabric woven from his hands was hopelessly loose and uneven, making him let out another sigh.

Duke Dante Christopher.

The Black Wing of the Empire, Commander of the Imperial Knights, Master of the vast Northern Territory.

His improbable foray into knitting went back, precisely speaking, to three months ago.

***

The presence that featured in my very earliest memory was not my parents, but Petuanis—a majestic, great dragon with beautiful wings the color of deep water.

Petuanis carried my young self on his back and fled. Countless people gave chase behind Petuanis as he flew away, shouting out:

〈Catch them!〉

〈He’s carrying the Princess! Do not lose them under any circumstances!〉

〈You may kill her! Just hurry and shoot your arrows!〉

A deep darkness, the loud sound of horse hooves shaking the earth, shouts and curses, and wildly flickering torches.

As a young child, I was simply terrified by the whole ordeal, shutting my eyes tight and clinging firmly to Petuanis’s back.

How long had we fled like that?

As if to prove there was no such thing as eternal darkness, the sun rose, and those who had been pursuing us followed no further. Finally setting foot on the ground, I wiggled my stiffened, cold fingers that wouldn’t uncurl properly and looked back at Petuanis.

And I barely managed to force out the words I had wanted to ask all along:

〈Where is Mommy…?〉

My beloved mother wasn’t by my side.

‘We have to escape with Mommy too.’

Without knowing who we were fleeing from or where we were running to, I simply searched for my mother. It felt as though if my mother held me close and told me everything was alright, then everything truly would be.

Looking down at me with eyes filled with deep sorrow, Petuanis spoke:

〈You will no longer be able to see your mother.〉

〈Pardon?〉

What on earth did that mean? Turning pale, I stood there blankly, blinking my eyes. Petuanis’s head, adorned with horns and a long beige mane, dropped as if collapsing.

〈And for me as well… I believe this is the end.〉

〈Pe-Pepe!〉

Blood was pouring profusely from his long neck, patterned like serpent scales. I could see a thick spear driven through his solid scales.

‘It’s because of me.’

Though I didn’t understand the situation, I could clearly comprehend the reason Petuanis had ended up in this state. He had become like this while trying to protect me.

The moment I realized that truth, tears burst from my eyes. Grasping Petuanis’s foot with my two small hands, I cried out:

〈Pepe, you can’t be hurt! Don’t fall asleep!〉

〈Yvonne…〉

His brilliant golden eyes gazed at me warmly.

〈If only time had allowed me to teach you magic.〉

〈Pepe!〉

Even as he spoke, Petuanis’s body began to rapidly grow cold—cold enough for me to realize that he was dying swiftly.

Thinking that I couldn’t leave him like this, I recklessly unwrapped the floral knitted shawl I was wearing.

〈Don’t fall asleep! Mommy said you mustn’t sleep when you’re sick. I’ll go bring a doctor. Yvonne will keep you warm. So, so please just wait a little bit!〉

And I covered Petuanis’s body with that shawl, trying to warm him up even just a little.

However, compared to the colossal dragon, the knitted shawl I held was far too small. The golden eyes that looked at me with pity gradually clouded over and grew dim.

〈Pepe!〉

Shedding heavy tears, I squeezed my eyes shut tight.

〈Someone, somebody please save Pepe!〉

It was at that very moment.

The knitted shawl I had been struggling to cover him with radiated a bright light. An extraordinarily soft, gentle light.

It brought to mind the warmth I used to feel whenever my mother held me in her arms.

‘Why is this shawl glowing all of a sudden?’

Besides, this shawl was something my mother had hand-knitted for me. Yet it had never emitted such a brilliant light before.

‘It’s so bright!’

Unable to bear the light any longer, I closed my eyes tight. And when I opened my eyelids once more:

〈Huh?〉

The majestic, colossal dragon had vanished without a trace, and in his place lay a small knitted doll.

〈A baby dragon?〉

I carefully picked up the doll. It was a crochet doll knitted with a hook, just like my shawl.

Its round, jade-colored head was made of knitting, with white downy fluff attached to the end. On its back were bat-like, translucent wings attached to it. The baby dragon doll was so cute I wanted to bite it.

‘But where did Pepe go?’

Where did such a cute thing come from?

Baffled, I stood frozen, my shoulders stiffened.

A rustling sound came from behind me. Clutching the baby dragon doll tightly, I turned toward the direction of the sound.

In the dawn draped in gentle light, emerging through the cold air was a young knight clad in light armor.

Seeing me, his eyes widened. After opening and closing his mouth in silence for a moment, he asked in a slightly excited yet soft voice:

〈Why is a young child here? Where did the giant dragon go?〉

Recalling the colossal dragon, Petuanis, tears began to stream down my face once more. Sniffling, I answered:

〈I-I don’t know. He suddenly disappeared.〉

〈I see.〉

Hesitant at first, he quickly stepped up to me, kneeling down to meet my eyes. With a face flushed with excitement, he held my shoulders firmly and asked:

〈What is your name?〉

〈Yvonne.〉

〈Yvonne.〉

Repeating my name meaningfully once more, he held out a large hand toward me.

〈If you have nowhere to go, shall you come with me? I have a son who is the same age as you. It would be wonderful if Yvonne could become his friend.〉

After a moment’s hesitation, I had no choice but to take that hand. This was inside a forest, and neither my mother nor Petuanis was by my side.

The person who picked me up in the forest was Count Cline of the East.

Thus, I came to rely on the hospitality of Count Cline’s household. Despite knowing neither my identity nor my social standing, the Count and Countess Cline treated me with warm kindness.

And around the time I grew from a young girl into a woman, a dramatic turning point arrived in my life.

〈Yvonne, marry me.〉

Count and Countess Cline’s only son, Emile Cline, had proposed to me.