"Angela, wake up. Come on."Angela felt like she had barely fallen asleep when a shaking sensation made her force her eyes open."Eddy…?"Am I dreaming right now?Angela, who saw the clock behind Eddy pointing its hour hand at the number nine, drifted into that hazy thought."It’s morning. Get up.""Are you really Eddy?"The vivid feel of him and the warmth of his body were reality, not a dream. Meeting Eddy at a time they normally never could, Angela sprang up, forgetting she’d hardly slept at all."Wh-why at this hour… is it…."Rather than being happy to see him at an unusual time, she felt uneasy. A sudden meeting could end in a sudden goodbye without being strange at all.Angela’s voice trembled like a poplar leaf as she watched Eddy’s mouth."I want to go outside. Will you take me?""Uh…?"The fear that he might say this was their last time together eased at once. But another worry rolled in immediately and darkened her face."By outside… do you mean you want to go into town?"Angela knew it too. No one likes being cooped up only in this narrow workshop. Even if he was a doll, Eddy, who for now was no different from a person, would be the same.Eddy was so self-directed and unhurried in everything, with all kinds of curiosities, that it was hard to believe he had been a doll. So it wasn’t as if she had never thought a day like this might come."Yeah. I want to go into town and try that thing called a date with you. In every book you looked at, there was always a scene where a man and woman go on a date downtown—""E—E—Eddy!"Her mood, which had sunk low, blasted away in an instant at the unexpected remark.“In every book,” he said. However you heard it, it sounded like he’d handled more than a single volume.Ever since Eddy had caught her private hobby, Angela had carefully hidden every book she owned. She’d even separated out only the adventure novels so it wouldn’t be suspicious if everything suddenly vanished.But she couldn’t understand how he had ended up seeing her books anyway."I looked in the box in the farthest corner of the second-floor storage. You kept them there so they wouldn’t get damaged, right? I was bored while you slept, so I read a bit—carefully, so I wouldn’t harm them. You don’t have to worry."What Angela was worried about wasn’t whether the books were damaged, but there was no way he’d know that.With Eddy speaking so matter-of-factly, Angela had nothing to say back. She buried her face against her knees and suffered silently for a while."Angela, what’s wrong? Do you not want to go on a date?""That’s not it….""Of course, in your books the scenes in bed overwhelmingly outnumbered the date scenes, so I figured that could—mmph.""L-let’s go out! To town!"Angela’s face had flushed so red it looked like you could prick it and draw blood. At her reaction, Eddy, his mouth clamped shut by her small hand, tilted his head and smiled with his eyes.***She let out one deep sigh after another, so many she’d lost count."Hoo…."Not only had her private hobby been found out, it was on the verge of being dug into; and without even realizing it, Angela had promised to go out with Eddy.Even though it was a promise, going out into town was still something very frightening and difficult for her, and she couldn’t bring herself to step out readily—especially not with Eddy."Angela.""Mm?""Will you let me pick your outfit for going out?"An outfit? Whatever she wore, she’d be covering herself from head to toe with a cape anyway, so what would be the point?"Mm, Eddy, I….""I was thinking—what if both you and I dressed so we look different from usual?""Why—ah…."Living only here, apart from other people, she’d forgotten for a moment that Eddy had the same appearance as Edgar de Grace, the most famous man in Portigios.So if he went into town and showed himself with Angela, it would be anything but safe."Eddy, maybe we really shouldn’t go out together….""I know what you’re worried about, Angela. Leave it to me."Eddy cut her off with a charming smile, as if he understood her concern perfectly. Strangely, when he said it, it really felt like nothing to worry about would happen.Without thinking, Angela nodded and pressed down her anxiety."Ah, no!""This has bothered me from the start. It hides your pretty eyes."And a few minutes later, Angela found herself abruptly led by the hand into the yard. A chair was set there; he sat her down, and even had a white cloth draped around her neck to her feet before she understood what he was intending."I grew it out to hide them…."Among the kingdom’s people with their many-colored eyes, Angela’s golden eyes were especially unusual. Those who shunned her had plenty to say about that eye color too.That she was possessed by a demon, that they’d seen her pupils narrow vertically.To avoid the pain of hearing such things, she had chosen to grow her bangs long to cover her eyes.Rumor had shifted to say she was hiding a disfigured face, but she liked that it at least blocked other people’s gazes a bit, so she hadn’t cut them and just kept them."You know this, Angela. Even if you hide like this, the people looking to find fault will find some way to run you down."Because that was true to the letter, Angela’s face fell and she dropped her head. She felt ashamed that someone who was a doll had caught how weak and stopgap her coping method was."Angela."Eddy lowered himself so their eyes met, then gently framed her face and raised her head."Even without hiding behind your hair, there’s plenty to hide with instead. A hat, for one. Or glasses.""Eddy….""It just makes me sad that you’re living while giving up so much because of other people. I want you to see that there are more enjoyable, better things beyond this forest than you think."At the unexpected words, Angela’s eyes went round. He himself had only recently been able to move like a person.Now and then, Eddy spoke as if he had lived in the human world more properly than she had.A life that doesn’t give up. Walking around town like anyone else, talking with people, riding the tram she’d long wanted to try but had never even attempted to board—was that what he meant?But no matter how she tried to think hopefully, she couldn’t summon the courage."Eddy, the truth is…."Eddy waited until Angela, struggling to get the words out, could speak properly."I don’t actually like growing my bangs. They keep falling forward and getting in the way of my work, and they jab my eyes—it’s uncomfortable."Under the white cloth, Angela fidgeted with her hands and forced herself to continue. She knew it was childish, but for someone not used to laying her heart bare, breaking the habit was hard."And I… I really like my eyes. Do you know gold is the color I get asked for the most on doll commissions? Yet the person who actually has this color gets called a monster…."At those words, Eddy clenched his fists hard, as if holding something back. Meeting his gaze, Angela’s eyes pooled with moisture."Like you said—I want to show my eyes, put on a pretty dress, and walk proudly beside you. But the way I get treated in town, how miserable it is… I don’t want you to see that. You, of all people…."As if something had struck him, Eddy’s face twisted with pain. Guilt, regret, and apology tangled across his features."I’m sorry, Angela."Eddy pulled her into as tight an embrace as he could. Even though it was fierce, she didn’t feel smothered.If anything, the faint woody scent that drifted from him was oddly familiar and comforting, giving her deep solace and calm."I should have explained my plan properly, but I got excited picturing how surprised you’d be and didn’t. Listen to what I’m thinking, and if it feels all right after that, we’ll go together. How about it?"Because of the cloth already wrapped for cutting her bangs, Angela couldn’t wrap her arms around him in return. She just rested her head lightly on his shoulder and nodded.Holding her like that, Eddy let her go and brushed a brief kiss to her forehead. She felt strangely both alien to herself—already so trained that even his kisses didn’t startle her—and ticklishly warm at the same time.

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