Azrean stared at her in disbelief after hearing what she said.
"What duke family…? You mean the highest noble title below royalty?"
Sumi nodded, a relaxed smile spreading across her face. She slowly lay back on the soft bed, sinking into the silk sheets, and spoke in a cheerful tone.
"Yes. That's why I'm telling you not to worry about money."
She stretched her tiny arms slightly before continuing.
"And about the marriage… I already decided that I'll marry whoever my parents choose. Whether it's you or someone else."
"Because I'm putting my parents above myself."
Azrean looked at her carefully when she said that. Sumi kept speaking, her voice softer this time.
"Because… I couldn't do that in my past life."
For a moment her eyes drifted toward the ceiling.
"So now that I've been given another chance, I want to do everything right. I want to become a good daughter this time."
"I see…" Azrean replied quietly.
He released a slow breath. Before he could say anything else, Sumi continued talking.
"And you already saw how close our parents are. They're more than just noble allies."
She turned her head toward him again.
"Our fathers are basically like brothers. They worked together for years to reach the position they have now."
She paused before finishing her thought.
"So this marriage isn't really political. It's more like a way to keep that bond between their families going."
Azrean nodded slowly.
"I see. That makes sense."
He thought about what he had witnessed earlier.
"I noticed it too. They really are close."
"Right!" Sumi replied immediately.
Then she suddenly sat upright again. Raising one tiny finger in the air, she looked at him with excitement.
"But you know what's even more exciting about this world?"
Azrean tilted his head slightly. "What?"
Sumi's face lit up with a huge smile.
"Magic!"
Azrean's eyes instantly began to shine. Both of his small hands clenched into fists as excitement rushed through him.
"What?! Really!?" he blurted out. "Magic like the kind in video games and TV shows?"
Sumi nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! Didn't you notice something already?" She leaned closer toward him.
"We're talking normally even though we're still babies."
She pointed at herself. "That's because this world has magic and we may already have it building inside us."
Azrean thought about it for a moment. Then he nodded.
"You're right…" A grin spread across his face.
"That's so cool. Magic…"
Sumi clapped her hands happily like an excited child.
"I'm so excited!" she said. "I can't wait to grow up enough to start learning magic."
Azrean didn't answer right away. He lowered his gaze and stared at the bed. Just imagining magic made his chest feel warm with excitement. A quiet smile formed on his face.
"Well," he said after a moment, "I'm used to lying in bed and doing nothing anyway."
He shrugged lightly. "So I can wait."
Sumi stared at him for a moment. Then she crawled closer and began lightly smacking his head with her tiny hands.
"Hey! That's not fair!"
Azrean raised his arms, trying to shield himself.
"Hey—what are you doing!?"
"You can't just relax like that!" she complained while continuing the soft hits.
"From now on you have to save me from boredom."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Azrean asked while trying to avoid her attacks.
"I don't know!" she replied. "Just talk with me. That's all I need."
She crossed her arms. "Otherwise I'm going to die from boredom."
After saying that, she stopped and sat back down. She looked at him for a moment before speaking again.
"Oh, and there's one more thing."
Azrean looked at her. "What?"
"You should drink milk from your mother's breasts," Sumi said in a serious tone.
Azrean froze instantly. A deep blush spread across his tiny face. He shook his hands rapidly.
"No—no! That's way too embarrassing!"
Sumi pointed her finger straight at him.
"You can't avoid it." She spoke with a serious expression.
"They're not going to feed a baby anything except milk."
She leaned slightly closer.
"When I first woke up here, I reacted the same way you did." Her voice turned matter-of-fact.
"But eventually I realized something."
"This baby's body can't survive without drinking milk."
Azrean stared at her in complete shock. His expression slowly collapsed into pure despair.
"What…?" His voice came out weak.
"No way…"
Sumi slowly curled her fingers together and said, "And if you don't drink milk, they might end up telling that to your father… and your father…"
Azrean looked at her in confusion. "What about him?"
Sumi forced an awkward smile onto her face. Her voice wavered slightly as she answered.
"My dad is pretty normal, like anyone else… but your dad… he's something else."
Azrean felt a chill creep up his spine. The way she said it made his chest tighten.
"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Sumi looked away from him, the strange smile still lingering on her face.
"Well… you'll find out soon. Don't worry."
"Don't say it like that…" Azrean muttered.
He slowly raised his head and began looking around the room. Until now he had been too distracted to properly notice his surroundings. Now that his mind had calmed down a little, curiosity started creeping in.
The room was enormous. The ivory-colored walls were decorated with intricate golden patterns that ran across the panels like vines. Tall fluted columns stood along the sides, giving the room an almost palace-like appearance. Above the bed stretched a magnificent canopy made of deep emerald-green velvet that hung elegantly over the massive bed.
Beautiful paintings were placed neatly along the walls, each framed in polished gold. The carpet covering the floor was a rich shade of green, soft and perfectly clean.
And in one corner of the room stood several tall bookshelves filled with neatly arranged books.
Azrean blinked slowly. "Is this… a bedroom?"
Sumi scratched her head before shaking it. "No, I don't think so."
She looked around casually.
"I think this is just a room made specifically to keep us."
Azrean's eyes widened. He pointed around the room at all the decorations.
"Oh… I see. So all of this is just decoration?"
Sumi nodded. "Yep. That's what rich families are like."
Azrean gave a small, awkward smile.
"Anyway… how did you even find out this world has magic?"
Sumi rolled lazily across the bed, lying on her side.
"I heard our moms talking about it a bunch of times," she replied casually. "Though I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet."
Azrean nodded thoughtfully.
"Yeah… maybe they're not showing it to us because they think we'll get scared."
"Hey, Azrean." Sumi called out.
He looked at her. "What is it?"
Sumi grinned mischievously.
"Why don't we climb down from the bed and look around?"
Azrean's eyes widened immediately.
"What?! Are you crazy?" he said in a panicked voice. "What if they come back while we're doing that?"
"It'll be fine," Sumi replied calmly. "I know roughly when they'll return."
She pointed toward the corner of the room.
"I can see those bookshelves over there. We could sneak over there and grab a book to read."
"Book…" Azrean repeated quietly.
He hesitated. His eyes drifted toward the bookshelves. For a moment he stayed silent.
Then he sighed. "Alright… fine…"