Time Healer Ceres

“He ran away.”

“Ran away?”

“Yeah, because he was afraid he’d get scolded.”

“...You call that running away?”

They say some birds cover their eyes when a hunter appears, leaving the rest of their bodies completely exposed. He was exactly like that.

Ceres gave Sooty an incredulous look. If you wanted to hide, you could’ve just slipped into the shadows like you always do. What are you even doing?

Poke.

Flinch!

Ceres walked over and poked Sooty in the back. The little dragon flinched.

Even then, Sooty kept his hands over his eyes. Apparently, he thought this was the best way to avoid getting caught and scolded.

...What am I supposed to do with you?

“Sooty.”

Flinch.

“Who told you to steal everyone else’s snacks again? Did I ever say you could take food from the others?”

Sooty curled up even tighter as Ceres scolded him, still keeping both hands firmly over him eyes.

“And you broke a plate, too. What are you going to do about that?”

Poke, poke.

Flinch, flinch.

“From now on, you only get one snack a day.”

[Bbu, buuu!]

Sooty had stubbornly ignored Ceres even while she kept poking his backside, but the moment he heard his snacks were being cut down, his head shot up.

[Bueeeeee!]

Sooty finally plopped down and burst into tears.

“What are you crying about? You’re the one who did something wrong.”

[Bbue!]

“Did you do something wrong or not?”

[Buuu...]

“Then go stand over there with your hands up.”

[Bueeee...]

Sooty went back to the corner where he had been hiding, raised his short arms, and started crying again. By then, Colin had finished cleaning up and brought over some fresh snacks. He set them on the table.

“Sit down and eat.”

“Alright.”

“......”

Unlike Julia, who happily took her seat with a grin, Zien didn’t move. He just kept his head down while avoiding everyone’s gaze.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to eat? Is there something you can’t eat?”

At Ceres’s question, the boy looked at her with the same puzzled expression.

...What now?

Why was he looking at her like that again? She had a feeling another headache was coming.

“If there’s any leftover... I’m supposed to eat it.”

Once again, her feelings had been right.

“...Damn it...”

Haaah. I’ve really been swearing a lot lately.

Ceres swallowed the curse that almost slipped out. She really should look into the orphanage this child came from.

That damn orphanage director. You and I need to have a long talk.

“Eat. It’s yours.”

“......”

The boy’s eyes widened slightly, then trembled. Even after Ceres told him to eat, Zien still couldn’t bring himself to reach for the snack in front of him. It was as if he’d never been given a proper serving before.

His expression seemed to ask, can I really eat this?

“Sooty, come here.”

Ceres sighed quietly as she watched him, then called Sooty, who had been crying even more pitifully since the new snacks arrived.

[Bu!]

Sooty immediately fluttered over, as if he’d been waiting for her to call. Ceres pushed the snack Colin had set aside for Sooty toward the little dragon.

Chomp, chomp!

Sooty immediately buried himself in the cake and started devouring it.

“You’d better eat quickly, or this little guy will eat yours, too.”

“......”

Sooty finished an entire slice in no time and immediately fixed his eyes on Zien’s portion. Only then did the boy pick up his fork.

Haaah.

Ceres let out another silent sigh as she watched him awkwardly bring the cake to his mouth.

She had a feeling she was going to have a lot to teach him.

***

“Yaaawn...”

...I’m thirsty.

“Water...”

...There’s none.

Ceres woke early with a dry throat. When she found the glass beside her bed empty, she got up.

Still half asleep, Ceres wandered into the kitchen. Sensing someone there, she spoke without looking.

“Jay, get me some water.”

Naturally, she assumed it was Jay. The maid was always up at this hour, getting ready to open the shop.

Clack.

“Thanks.”

Ceres felt a glass being set down in front of her. With her eyes still half-closed, she picked it up and took another long yawn.

Gulp.

“Slow down. You don’t want to choke on your water.”

“—!”

The unfamiliar voice made her freeze.

Pfft!

Ceres spat out her water without meaning to. She didn’t even think to wipe her mouth as she stared toward the voice.

“I didn’t mean for you to spit it out.”

The man smiled and held out a handkerchief. It was none other than Crown Prince Aseraian.

“...What are you doing?”

Still too stunned to take the handkerchief, Ceres stared at him in disbelief.

What are you doing here? This early in the morning, of all times?

“And what’s with the ladle?”

Her bewilderment only grew when she noticed the ladle in his hand. Was he actually cooking here?

No way... This is unreal.

“When I get married, I plan to make breakfast myself every morning.”

“...You’ll make a good husband.”

Ceres couldn’t hide her bemused expression as she finally wiped her mouth.

Ah, this is too much.

What on earth was going on this early in the morning? Why didn’t anyone tell her he was here? And why did they let him into the kitchen?

Do we really just let anyone take over our kitchen like this?

Ceres hurriedly looked for the butler. She needed to figure out what was going on. But before she could find him, the Crown Prince said something utterly ridiculous.

“I told them not to wake you. I didn’t want to bother you so early in the morning.”

...You’re the one bothering me the most right now.

Ceres stared at him incredulously and sighed.

“I thought we could have breakfast together. It’ll be ready soon, so just wait a little.”

With that, Crown Prince Aseraian returned to the pot and slowly stirred it with the ladle. He looked so completely at ease that it somehow made the whole thing even stranger.

Why was the Crown Prince so used to cooking?

“......”

Ceres stared at him in a daze before quickly making her escape. She just needed to get out of there and clear her head.

***

“I hope the breakfast was to your liking.”

“Yeah. It was good.”

It tasted good, at least.

...Everyone else was so uncomfortable, though.

Antonian walked into the dining room for breakfast and froze when he saw the Crown Prince setting the dishes on the table. He immediately turned and ran.

Only after remembering that this was his own house did he cautiously creep back into the kitchen.

“Ceres, why is he here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are we... supposed to eat this?”

“Who knows? Want to make a run for it?”

“What? W-why would we do that? We’d be in serious trouble if we ran away after throwing out food made by the Crown Prince!”

...Would we really get in that much trouble? Just for not eating?

Seeing Antonian reluctantly force down his breakfast, Ceres had no choice but to sit down and eat with him.

“Wow! This is really good!”

“Thank you. Unlike someone else, you’re refreshingly honest, little lady.”

Julia was the only one who genuinely enjoyed breakfast. Ceres had been preparing her meals herself lately, but with the chaos that morning, she hadn’t been able to.

So, just for today, they gave her the breakfast the Crown Prince had made. To Ceres’s surprise, Julia ate it quite happily.

“Urgh!”

“...Take this.”

Once breakfast was over, Ceres gave Antonian some medicine for his upset stomach before finally sitting down across from Aseraian.

“The tea is good as always. I could get addicted to this.”

He leaned back comfortably in his chair as though he were at home, leisurely sipping his tea. Ceres, sitting across from him, still looked very unimpressed. Why did this man always show up so early in the morning?

Is he doing this on purpose? Does he know I’m not a morning person?

“I’m busy in the afternoon, you see.”

The Crown Prince smiled as though he’d read her thoughts.

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