“ARE you going shopping, Lady Marialite? I’d like to come.”
“Thank you, Sirius, but…are you sure?” she replied, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. “Don’t you want to finish reading your book?”
“No, I want to help you,” he said firmly. In the next moment, he marched over to Marialite, took the basket from her hand, and grinned. Marialite returned his smile, overjoyed to see how polite he’d become as he grew up.
He was now far taller than Marialite, and his marshmallow-like cheeks had lost their baby fat to reveal a strong, handsome bone structure. He was still rather thin in build, but there was no missing the solid muscle that stood out under his skin. His voice had also broken, and it now commanded a low, sonorous tone.
One day, his scarlet horns suddenly disappeared. When Marialite asked what happened to them, he simply said, “I thought things would be easier for you this way.”
At first, she worried that he’d cut them off, but thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case. He claimed that as he grew, he gained control over growing and shrinking them.
It was fortunate since he could walk around town without attracting any untoward attention, but Marialite thought it was a shame. When she told him that, his entire body went rigid, for some reason.
“Still, you really have grown,” she added softly, the words falling out of her mouth of their own accord.
It had only been half a year since they had met.
The reason for his extraordinarily fast growth had to be something to do with being a halfling. Although, she could hardly complain. He’d grown to be such a sensible young man, after all. Most people would probably be scared of the sheer speed of his growth, but Marialite simply took it in stride.
“That’s all thanks to you,” he murmured gently.
“Me?” she blinked.
“The fruits you grow are full of strong magical properties. Thanks to that, I managed to absorb all the magic I needed to develop into an adult,” he explained.
“What?”
This was the first she’d heard of this.
“My kind grows faster than humans by nature, but from here on out, our aging process slows down dramatically.”
“I had a suspicion that your kind grew faster,” Marialite nodded. “But I have to say, that is a relief. I thought I would have an old man on my hands in a couple of years or so.”
“Lady Marialite… Thank you for caring for me,” Sirius murmured in earnest, meeting her gaze as he tightly grasped both of her hands. She blinked in surprise.
His appearance might have changed beyond recognition, but inside, he was almost exactly the same.
Looking up at him with an affectionate fondness, Marialite stroked his silvery hair. A few months ago, she did it with no effort whatsoever, but now, she had to stretch just to reach the top of his head.
She was certain he’d be able to find a partner who was just as gorgeous as him.
She reached up to place both her hands on his cheeks. For a split second, his jade-green eyes seemed to flash red—but Marialite quickly shook herself and forgot about it. She must have been seeing things.