The Doll Has a Name – Chapter 22.1 – About Us

Author: Nikss

“It is a tiring path, that of a politician.”

“Still, becoming mayor at that age would surely leave a lasting mark on Merca’s history.”

“You’ll help me, won’t you?”

“So now you’re asking me to be your patron?”

Leonhardt smiled faintly, his eyes meeting hers as if to say, ‘You’re more ambitious than you look,’ and Kise, meeting his gaze directly, conceded, ‘I didn’t know it myself, but I suppose I am.’

As their murmured conversation continued, the carriage rolled on without pause through the square.

Passing the bustling square, then the town lined with restaurants and shops, and climbing the hill called the Hill of the Goddess until they reached the curve of the great canal.

In the glorious light of the city’s afternoon, Kise reflected on her own figure, coming to a foreign place to pursue her life’s ambitions.

Past the glass window with its curtain drawn, instead of street numbers, the various crests and carved decorations affixed to the fronts of houses whizzed by.

‘Was it the house with the golden galleon sign?’

Knowing these mainly symbolized the homeowners’ professions, Kise tried to guess what her new accommodation might be like.

But once again, she was helplessly overcome by a wave of drowsiness.

‘Haaa.’

A small yawn escaped from behind her hand, and her eyelids, which felt like the heaviest things in the world, began to droop.

Perfectly timed, Leonhardt offered his broad shoulder, and as if she had been waiting for it, her round head dropped onto it with a soft thud.

💫

Hmm— a small frown formed on her smooth forehead.

Woken by a jolting shock, Kise blinked her bleary eyes slowly a couple of times to clear her vision She thought she might have faintly heard Tristan’s high-pitched voice from outside saying,

“We’re here. Our house!”

In a half-awake, half-asleep, drowsy state, she mumbled.

“Are we here?”

“Yeah.”

“Do we have to get out?”

“Yeah.”

“But I’m sleepy…”

“Very sleepy?”

“Yep, very.”

“You still need to sleep in a proper bed.”

“…But I’m sleepy.”

“Even if you’re sleepy, you’ll have to bear with it a little.”

“…Can’t bear it.”

“If you keep this up, I’ll have to carry you in.”

“Carrying… can’t do that.”

“Then you have to get up.”

A voice full of sleepiness and a sweet voice that encouraged that sleepiness went back and forth inside the carriage that had come to a stop.

I don’t wanna get up, I’m sleepy. Like she used to, Kise thoroughly threw a sleep-induced tantrum.

Then, starting from the moment her senses began to return, from the point that the voice calling her began to be heard clearly, her mind snapped back to awareness as if cold water had been splashed on her.

…The moment I want to drive a strong spike into my own back.

Ah, not only was I leaning on my superior’s shoulder, but I was even acting spoiled.

The moment I understood the situation, I wanted to pull out a tree, break through Earth’s atmosphere, and escape, but I staunchly ironed out my shrinking dignity and composed my expression completely in one second.

It was an astonishing ability.

“Have we arrived?”

As naturally as if she had said, “The weather is nice today,” she straightened her leaning body and made a show of smoothing out her wrinkled clothes.

“Ah, I was terribly tired and have been so rude as to use your shoulder for a moment. Please consider it the disgraceful behavior of a passerby and kindly forget it happened.”

From the fuss she was making, such a neat position emerged.

There was no way Leonhardt couldn’t understand this flawless excuse. He grinned and asked, “Did you sleep well?”

It was, by any measure, a mischievous indication that he had no intention of forgetting it.

“…Aren’t you getting off?”

“Of course I am.”

Leonhardt, who was sitting on the outside, opened the door and stepped down first.

Naturally expecting him to offer a hand, Kise reached out her arm, but he passed it by, instead putting an arm around her waist, lifting her up, and setting her down so her feet touched the ground.

Startled by this sudden strange behavior, she looked at him as if to ask what he was doing, but he very nonchalantly offered a mischievous explanation.

“I was worried you slept so much your legs might have given out.”

This brat…!

The urge to shake her perfectly fine legs jingle-jangle-jingle burned inside her.

Leonhardt, who had been chuckling almost imperceptibly, had already turned his back and was walking toward the imageer.

Kise, who had been glaring daggers at his retreating back, widened her sharply focused eyes into circles.

‘Could it be?’

As he walked, Leonardt kept touching the area around his shoulder.

It was the very shoulder Kise had been leaning against the whole time. He repeatedly stopped walking and tilted his head as if finding something unsatisfactory…

His actions seemed to suggest something was stuck to his shoulder, making him uncomfortable, as if it was thoroughly soaked and unpleasantly damp…

In an instant, Kise’s face turned ashen.

‘No! That can’t be! It’s impossible!’

He had never in his life developed the nasty habit of drooling on someone’s shoulder while in deep sleep.

As if trying to shake off the bad thought, Kise grabbed his own head with both hands and shook it vigorously.

But she couldn’t help entertaining these vile suspicions.

They say you never know about people, don’t they?

Clutching the unshakable anxiety, Kise quickly ran to catch up with Leonardt.

Hey? Excuse me? Did I really drool on you? Did I drool? Did I?!

Kise grabbed his sleeve and pulled him toward herself.

It wasn’t a strong pull, but Leonardt easily allowed himself to be led as Kise wished.

“Why?”