For My One and Only Side

“How is it that he inherited even her utter lack of fear?”

With a heavy sigh, I set out into the dark forest to find the boy, still clad in my pajamas.

If he chanced upon a monster along the way, that would actually be a stroke of luck. Compared to demonic beasts, native monsters were relatively docile; given their natural instincts, it was easy enough to make them back down if you showed greater strength. If the creature was intelligent, you could even reason with it.

But a demonic beast was a different story entirely.

Many ordinary folk used the terms ‘monster’ and ‘demonic beast’ interchangeably, a conflation that never failed to infuriate anyone who actually knew the difference.

Demonic beasts were monsters born of the Demon Realm. Unlike the native monsters of the Middle Realm, they were driven purely by a primal instinct for destruction, never satisfied unless they were devouring everything in their line of sight.

The Monster Forest was named as such because it was home to these very demonic beasts—the descendants of those that had crossed over and survived since the Great Demonic Invasion. When they weren’t hunting for prey, these creatures spent most of their time sleeping like corpses beneath the thick mud or fallen leaves. Because the demonic energy in the Middle Realm was sparse, they couldn’t remain active for very long.

‘But if he accidentally steps on one and wakes it up…’

Lucalis’s survival would be far from guaranteed. No matter how immense his latent power, he was still young and untrained. His raw strength alone wasn’t anywhere near the level required to contend with a demonic beast. Besides, crossing paths with the wrong native monster was just as lethal. They were only ‘better’ strictly when compared to the horrors of the Demon Realm.

‘Just thinking about it gives me an ulcer…’

My stomach churned, struggling to digest the anxiety I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Deliberately ignoring the fragments of the past that the mirror of my inner self flashed before my eyes like stray sparks, I hurried to track the boy’s trail.

Fortunately, I discovered Lucalis not too far away in a marshland. He had taken refuge up a tree, completely surrounded by a pack of crocodile-like monsters. The heavy, brutish creatures were actively snapping their jaws at the trunk, which was on the verge of splintering. If I had been even a moment later, I might have found Lucalis in pieces. Quietly breathing a sigh of relief, I drew my wand.

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, boys, but that child happens to be my guest.”

Flash!

The wand spat a sphere of brilliant white light, scattering the startled monsters back into the marsh. Lucalis glared down at me with an expression twice as murderous as the one he had directed at the pack.

Hey, I just saved your skin, why the look…?

“Go back. I don’t need your help.”

“If I go back, it won’t be long before you end up inside a monster’s belly, you know.”

“Those things just now were nothing special, they only had numbers on their side. I was simply conserving my strength for later.”

Leaping down from the branch with a light thud, the boy trudged deeper into the midnight forest. Over the next few hours, Lucalis ran into a patch of vicious man-eating vines, a pack of giant hyenas, and a Fairy Golem adorned with a thick crown of flower bushes.

I didn’t step in right away. A sunfish can never afford to be conceited. My body is so fragile that if a friendly dog leapt up to greet me, the sheer impact could kill me. Taking a direct hit from a monster? A single misplaced blow would send me straight to the afterlife.

Only when the boy’s strength was thoroughly depleted did my wand finally spit its light. Lucalis, who was rescued right after being squeezed like a plush doll by the Fairy Golem, didn’t say a word. To be precise, it looked like he didn’t even have the energy left to speak.

Tucking the completely exhausted, limp child dangling under my arm, I made my way back. Judging by the intermittent sound of grinding teeth, he seemed to have been awake for at least part of the journey, but by the time we reached the cabin, he was fast asleep.

‘Though it feels less like sleeping and more like he passed out.’

Regardless, I thoroughly washed his mud-and-dust-caked body, changed him into clean pajamas, and tucked him beneath the sheets. Recognizing the plush, fresh bedding, the tight knit of his brow finally smoothed out into a peaceful line.

Lucalis’s escape attempts continued even after that. He didn’t care whether it was day or night. I would turn around while simmering a stew only to find him gone; I would send him into the yard to watch the herbs, and he’d vanish; when mealtime arrived, he was nowhere to be found.

No matter how much I scolded or reasoned with him, it was no use. Yet, forcing a magical vow upon a child this young left a bad taste in my mouth. In the end, I was the one to wave the white flag.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“A braided bracelet I made. As long as you wear this, the monsters of the forest won’t attack you.”

I began to add that the demonic beasts and the monsters outside the forest were entirely separate matters so he still needed to be careful, but the boy—who normally would have thrown a sharp retort my way—was uncharacteristically silent. I paused, about to ask if something was wrong. Lucalis was staring at the bracelet with a raw, unfamiliar expression I hadn’t seen on him before.

He touched and examined the braided bracelet as if handling an incredibly foreign object. The small piece of obsidian dangling from the end swayed with his movements, gleaming with a dark luster. Lucalis’s face filled with a pure, unadulterated curiosity. For the first time, a child who had grown up far too quickly under the harsh winds of the world actually looked his age.

Ultimately, losing out to his curiosity, Lucalis asked, “Can no other raw gemstones or jewels be used? Why did it have to be obsidian?”

Well… because it matches your eyes and hair color.

Afraid of sounding like a total creep, I kept my mouth shut. Lucalis looked back and forth between me and the bracelet before tossing out a casual remark.

“I see. You used the same color as your own eyes. Does doing so perhaps amplify the magical power further?”

It was a misunderstanding, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. My eyes are a dark brown-black, while Vanessa and Lucalis possess eyes of a pure, pitch-black, but they still belong to the same spectrum. For some reason, the comment put me in a good mood.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Oh, I just have a naturally cheerful face.”

“…….”

I didn’t think what I said warranted that level of sheer disdain.

“…To answer your question, it doesn’t make the magic any stronger. There’s no grand meaning behind it. It’s just as you said—it simply happens to be the same color as our eyes.”

Lucalis froze instantly.

Considering his track record so far, it wouldn’t be surprising if a torrent of harsh words followed this revelation. Will he curse at me? He probably will. I had even steeled myself for him to hurl the bracelet at the floor out of disgust.

Yet, Lucalis’s reaction was surprisingly muted.

“I assume this isn’t embedded with a tracking spell, right?”

Ah. I didn’t think of that.

Catching the look on my face, Lucalis swiftly snapped the bracelet onto his wrist.

“It seems acceptable enough.”

“…Come to think of it, that was actually an unfinished prototype. Give it back, and I’ll make you a proper one.”

He pretended not to hear me. Though my plan to weave a fresh tracking spell into it was utterly foiled, my mood remained bright. The child hadn’t thrown the bracelet away, nor had he torn it off. Seeing the band resting against his slender wrist, a fierce desire welled up within me to feed him well and fatten those cheeks up.

At any rate, getting Lucalis to accept the bracelet was a massive victory. Furthermore, perhaps thanks to the charm, Lucalis was remarkably well-behaved for the rest of the day. There were no sudden disappearances or escape attempts.

Whenever I paused in the middle of my household chores and turned around, I could see his small frame buried deep within the hammock. The bright afternoon sun cast a vivid silhouette through the fabric.

Lucalis was still staring at the bracelet on his arm. I could feel from across the room that his entire attention was utterly consumed by it.

Even after the afternoon sun dipped below the horizon and dinner time arrived, Lucalis’s fixation persisted. As we sat at the table eating our meal, the round crown of his head kept tilting to the side. He was trying to eat while simultaneously peeking at the bracelet on his wrist.

In the end, I burst out laughing. He instantly fixed me with a sharp glare.

“Why do you keep laughing?”

“Because you’re cute.”

His dark eyebrows, remarkably striking for a child, shot upward.

“I am not cute at all.”

If I told him that saying things like that is exactly what makes him cute, he’d probably curse at me, wouldn’t he?

Yeah. He definitely would.

Dropping the subject, I gestured toward the bracelet with my chin.

“Do you really like it that much?”

I expected him to stiffen up and snap, ‘As if,’ but he merely blinked a few times, sinking deep into thought. I instantly regretted asking. At this rate, his soup was going to get cold.

“You don’t have to answer, just finish your meal fir—”

“I see. So I actually do like this.”

Lucalis spoke in a soft tone of quiet realization. In that brief instant, the reality of his upbringing flashed across my mind. I didn’t know the exact details, but even without knowing, it was easy enough to surmise.

I should have realized it the moment he showed such profound joy over a simple braided bracelet made of cloth. A bitter ache flared in my chest, and my throat burned. I had to desperately suppress an overwhelming urge to teleport straight into the Imperial Palace and tear it apart.

“Hearing you say that makes me glad I gave it to you. I’ll make you something much better next time.”

“Is there anything better than this?”

“Of course there is.”

The boy pondered for a brief moment before asking, “Then, if I receive that, will it be even more…?”

“Hmm?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

I was curious about the words that trailed off, but I didn’t press him. Instead, I simply relished the rare, softened charm of a compliant Lucalis.

“Lucalis. Do you like sweet things?”

“…Sweet things?”

“Desserts. Like the pancakes I make for you in the morning.”

Lucalis always ate far more pancakes than scrambled eggs. The ratio was usually about ten pancakes for every single plate of eggs.

“Are there other foods like that?”

His eyes, which usually held the gravity of distant stars, suddenly lit up like brilliant midday sunshine. Once again, I found myself washed over by an indescribable wave of emotion.

“It looks like I’ll have to properly show off my skills for once in a long time.”

After clearing the dinner table in record time, I practically turned the kitchen upside down. The magical lamps hummed to life automatically, casting a warm, bright glow inside and outside the house. As the rich aroma of flour and melting butter began to permeate the air, I could feel Lucalis peeking over from the living room, his curiosity thoroughly piqued.

I intended to call him over in a bit, but not just yet. Baking required meticulous measurements, after all. Kneading the dough, I drifted into a quiet revery. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I last baked. When living alone, I almost never bothered.

Even for Vanessa, I hadn’t made her treats since she was very small. She had entered the Imperial Palace at the age of twelve, and from that moment onward, she had a small army of dedicated chefs at her beck and call. It wasn’t just the cooks, either. Every single thing I used to do for her was gradually replaced by personnel far more qualified than myself.

‘Maybe it’s fine for me to leave now.’

Thinking it was time, I had quietly made preparations to depart, but Vanessa had sensed it with a near-supernatural intuition. Her small, fragile hand had reached out, tightly gripping the hem of my robe. The tiny girl had looked up at me, wearing an expression as anxious and pitiful as she could manage.

‘Honestly, you don’t really need me anymore. All the people here are on your side now.’

‘Are you saying that sincerely, Master?’

Vanessa had shot me a sharp, piercing glare.

‘Those people are merely subjects I can command. Each of them is a titan in their respective fields, so they will undoubtedly produce results incomparable to the trivial things you used to do for me.’

It was entirely true. But still, did she really have to put it so bluntly?

Just as I was beginning to feel a wave of bitterness, feeling like a useless sunfish who possessed nothing but a collection of superficial, mediocre hobbies, Vanessa spoke again. It was the most resonant, powerful tone I had ever heard from her.

‘But they are not on my side. In this desolate Imperial Palace, my Master is the only true ally I have.’

Her unyielding eyes had looked straight up into mine. Her gaze was brimming with fierce conviction and desperate yearning.

‘So please, remain as my Master. Master.’

And yet, that very Vanessa was dead.