Bonus Short Story

Maya’s Close Encounter of the Doll Kind

Kiara had returned. Maya heard as much while she was dashing around atop the castle walls.

“Maya, go to Kiara! I can take care of Vayne!”

“At once, milady!”

Once she had climbed down from the castle walls and into the courtyard, Maya parted ways with Beatrice and headed for the gates. Évrard’s courtyard was normally a very spacious area, but it was currently packed to the brim with evacuees from the town. That meant she had to waste time taking the long way around.

But along the way, a path suddenly opened up for her. At the end of it was Prince Reginald, cradling Kiara close to his chest.

Kiara was pale, dangling limply in his arms. She’d lost consciousness, apparently.

Maya nearly screamed, afraid that she had been grievously injured—or even worse, killed. “Kiara?! Is she alright?!” Maya shouted before she could stop herself.

Reginald nodded. “Don’t worry. She only passed out from exhaustion. Can I leave her with you?”

“Certainly, Your Grace! I’ll take good care of her!”

Maya took Kiara from Reginald, carrying the girl in her arms. The prince’s and Alan’s knights held out their own hands, offering to take over the task, but Kiara was so light that it was hardly an issue.

Even now that she had come of age, Kiara was so small compared to Maya that she practically seemed like a little girl. If Maya hadn’t witnessed this fragile child defending Évrard and its castle with her own two eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it.

“Focus on tending to your own wounds first. There’s no telling when they may strike again,” Maya insisted, rushing into the manor with Kiara in her arms.

With the help of a servant, she changed Kiara into a nightgown and wiped the dirt from her limbs, her hair, and her face. Kiara didn’t so much as stir as Maya worked to get her dressed. Surely she had just fallen into a dreadfully deep sleep, but it was rather unnerving that she showed no signs of waking whatsoever.

After laying her down on the bed and pulling up the covers, Maya opted to stay and watch over Kiara for a while. The girl was running a slight fever, but she was fast asleep at the moment, so there wasn’t much Maya could do for her.

Thus, Maya decided to pass the time by tidying up.

She started with the outfit Kiara had been wearing. The clothes were borrowed, so she just had to wash and return them; she folded them up and set them aside.

Next came Kiara’s luggage. Several items had been stuffed inside a small rucksack. Maya emptied it of its contents... and was petrified for a few brief seconds.

What on earth was this doll supposed to be? It felt like unglazed pottery to the touch. The eyes of the reddish-brown statue were freakishly large; in fact, they looked almost like last-minute add-ons. The head-to-body ratio was far too small, and there was a strange pattern all over its body.

Maya didn’t find it the least bit cute, yet the shape and pattern were so bizarre they bordered on novel, giving it an almost fascinating quality.

As she held it in both hands and stared, entranced, she got the feeling the doll had turned its head ever so slightly to the side.

“Hm?”

She kept a close eye on it after that, but it showed no more signs of movement.

“Was I just seeing things? Setting that aside, I wonder if this doll belongs to Kiara. Though it’s hardly something I’d expect a girl to own...”

It didn’t look like something you would willingly decorate your room with.

Thus, Maya wondered if it might have belonged to someone else. After a servant came in carrying a pitcher of water, Maya asked her to stay in the room and then left to go find the doll’s owner. She figured it made the most sense to ask Wentworth, who had been accompanying Kiara, so she went looking for him straightaway.

On the stairs, she passed Felix and Lyle, Reginald and Alan’s respective knights, both of whom shot startled glances at the doll she was holding. She could hardly blame them. Neither of them had been with Kiara earlier, so it was their first time laying eyes on the thing, and they had no idea where it had come from.

Maya found Wentworth in no time.

She never would have guessed it, but was there a chance it actually belonged to him? If so, it meant she had new material to tease him with. Her excitement building, she asked, “Is this yours, Sir Wentworth?”

“Ah...”

Wentworth averted his gaze, wearing the look of someone who had just seen something they wished they hadn’t. Maya could have sworn she felt the doll vibrate, but there was always the possibility her hands had just twitched, so she couldn’t be sure.

He answered her almost apologetically, “It’s somewhat difficult to explain. The doll belongs to Kiara, so you ought to ask her for the details.”

“My, so it truly is Kiara’s.”

She had always found the girl a little odd, sure, but she hadn’t imagined her taste in dolls would be equally strange. Thinking back on it, Maya had attempted to bequeath one of her own dolls to Kiara in the past, but the girl had politely turned her down.

I see... So it’s because it wasn’t to her tastes. Looking down at the doll in her hands, everything suddenly made a lot more sense to Maya.

“So this is what Kiara likes...”

Maya looked carefully at the doll one last time. Knowing now that it was one of Kiara’s things, she decided to leave it somewhere in her room. Kiara’s tastes were beyond her comprehension, but perhaps to her, this doll was a comforting sight.

Bearing that in mind, she neatly set the statue on top of the fireplace.