Chapter 4
At three in the afternoon, the most ordinary furniture factory in the capital suddenly received a visit from a secretary sent by the royal family. The managers were so frightened they nearly lost their souls, trembling as they cooperated with the other party’s “investigation.”
The factory director in particular was terrified. The moment he saw that small silhouette picture the other party showed him, he immediately thought of the boy named Yomi, as well as Prince Joseph, who had come to record a variety show there before.
Yomi’s first day at work had happened to be the last day of filming for Prince Joseph’s episode. But as far as he remembered, Yomi’s job had involved no contact with the prince at all… no, wait. Yomi had just arrived at the time and did not know his way around. He seemed to have gone into the wrong workshop once!
The factory director was scared out of his wits. He knew Yomi came from some godforsaken wilderness village, so there was no way he could have any connection to the royal nobility.
If someone from the royal family had suddenly come to investigate him, then most likely that little fellow, who knew nothing, had accidentally offended the prince!
Sure enough, the other party got straight to the point and asked only about Yomi’s whereabouts.
Wiping away sweat, the factory director said, “He-he was dismissed long ago. That boy isn’t from the capital, and he couldn’t find work. Maybe he’s already left the main city district…”
At those words, Ansius’s secretary, Karl, frowned at once. “Why was he dismissed? Did he make a mistake?”
“Not at all!” another manager hurriedly waved his hand. “That kid was very obedient, and he worked seriously too. He was especially energetic on the job. It’s just that he’s too weak, and only one meter seventy… not being able to do heavy work was a minor issue. But if one day he got stepped on to death by another employee, then we…” then we would have to pay a huge amount in compensation!
Karl understood. With a dark expression, he asked, “Did he have any friends here?”
“No. He was so small, and had never seen the world. He didn’t understand anything. Probably no one would be willing to be friends with him, right?” The manager naturally knew Lynn and Yomi were close, but he still did not want his own employee dragged into trouble.
Karl knew this bunch were all slippery old hands. He would not get the information he wanted by asking questions, so he gave a cold laugh and simply went to check the surveillance footage.
Patiently, he filtered through the recordings for Yomi’s figure. This tiny little thing was unexpectedly serious during work hours. He had never once chatted with others or slacked off! Because of that, just from the workshop footage alone, it was impossible to tell who he might have been close to… There were no cameras in the employee rest area, and the outside cameras had limited angles. Yomi was small as well, so there were only a few short clips of him.
On the day he was dismissed, it had still been work hours. Yomi had pushed away the little cart the furniture factory no longer wanted and left by himself.
Using his light-brain access privileges, Karl continued pulling surveillance from the surrounding area.
After leaving the factory, Yomi had then shaken milk tea for half a day at a milk tea shop, only to be dismissed again. That same evening, the little fellow pushed his cart and left the main city district…
Could he really have gone back to his hometown?
Not every place in the capital had surveillance. Since Snaran had two forms, and Karl did not know Yomi’s monster form, even if Yomi transformed back into a monster and walked right past him, he might not recognize him at all.
Trying to find this little guy was no different from looking for a needle in the sea!
Karl immediately contacted the local government.
They quickly searched all Sna citizen records under the name Yomi… But aside from people with the same name whose heights were completely different, there was still nothing.
Karl had a headache.
It seemed the factory director had not lied. Yomi really did come from some wilderness outside the main city district. There was no household registration for him here, and he did not even have any light-brain information, so there was no way to track his location at all.
This was probably just a passing whim on His Highness Ansius’s part, but no matter what, it was the only request he had made after being injured. It was merely to see a commoner. All they could do was try their utmost to make it happen.
Yet what they had thought would be an extremely easy matter had somehow become so thorny.
They could not make a grand public search for him. Issuing a reward notice was completely out of the question. If the public found out, it would definitely affect the crown prince’s prestige.
In the eyes of all Snaran, Crown Prince Ansius was still the empire’s greatest glory, the one with the strongest combat power. The matter of him being so gravely injured that he could no longer transform into human form was the royal family’s greatest secret.
Karl walked out of the furniture factory in sorrow. The moment he thought of Ansius’s terrifying expression when displeased, his heart turned cold. Muttering to himself, he said, “Forget it. Better send people to search the Black Miasma Wasteland…”
At the same time, Lynn, who had no idea that the furniture factory had received such a “distinguished guest,” was in the restroom using his light-brain to answer a call made from a public phone booth:
“You passed the interview? That’s amazing! I’m getting off work right away. How about we meet at the new fast-food place near your home?”
Half an hour later.
Standing at the entrance of the fast-food restaurant, Yomi frowned deeply. In his excitement over wanting to find someone to celebrate with, he had suddenly forgotten one thing: he could not eat together with Lynn, because his mouth would expose him.
When Lynn rode over on his bicycle, all he saw was the small figure at the entrance looking miserable. In confusion, he asked, “Why are you waiting outside? You can sit inside.”
Yomi covered his stomach and shook his head.
The moment Lynn saw that, he jumped off the bicycle. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t tell me you’re sick?”
Yomi guiltily shook his head and stared at the ground. “I’m fine. Maybe I ate something bad… But I’ve always wanted to try this place’s signature set meal. How about we take it home instead? I’ll eat later after I feel better.”
Without a second thought, Lynn said, “Okay. I’ll take you back, and we can buy some medicine on the way.”
Yomi stayed silent for quite a while.
Lynn became even more worried. “Are you really okay?”
“Once I finish working at the restaurant, I’ll be able to buy a light-brain…” Yomi raised his head slightly to look at him and spoke in a low voice.
Lynn said, “Of course! By then you’ll have money, and you can buy a really good light-brain!” He did not catch the deeper meaning in Yomi’s words: Before I buy the light-brain, I’ll definitely have already bought the horns. Then we’ll be able to eat together.
Not long after, Lynn hung the two packed meals at the front of the bicycle and rode Yomi home.
When they arrived, Yomi lifted his takeaway box and said, “Lynn, use your light-brain to issue me a transport receipt.”
“…What?”
“The manager said my transport costs can be reimbursed starting today. From now on, I’ll take your ride to and from work.”
Lynn froze, and only after a good while did he react. “If your manager finds out… finds out that the transportation fare you’re claiming was issued by a bicycle-riding driver, he’ll laugh himself to death. Hahahahaha…” His body tilted, and he started laughing so hard first himself.
Seeing him laugh so hard that his tentacles flew everywhere, Yomi grinned too.
After getting home, Yomi finished eating and then started using the wristband projection to carefully watch the posture of ballet dancers, seriously studying their poses.
After practicing inside the room for a while, he stepped out of his little wooden house and continued rehearsing again and again on the spacious wooden platform outside.
After some time, there came a click, and Lili upstairs took a picture of him with a camera. “Mimi is dancing! So amazing!”
While moving on tiptoe, Yomi shook his head. “It’s not dancing. It’s work.”
At seven in the morning, inside Garo Restaurant in the city center, a music box with a real person standing inside it appeared.
Yomi had already changed into the snow-white ballet tutu provided by the manager. The layered skirt stopped above his knees, as if it were enclosing a slender doll-like figure inside it, without the slightest sense of mismatch.
The new white mask also had an extra layer of lace trim, making his overall look even more unified.
Yomi’s working hours had already begun. He stood on the wooden floor inside the music box.
When the music box rotated, the ballerina above seemed to come alive. His limbs changed poses in time with the music. Though he could not match the skill of a professional ballet dancer, it still gave people the illusion that he was the dancer inside the music box rather than a member of staff.
The staff from the Exchange Life production team had arrived not long before. At first, nearly everyone’s gaze was drawn to the tiny figure inside the music box. They were so pleasantly surprised that they were about to go closer, only to be dragged back to reality by the director’s urging voice, and had no choice but to busy themselves setting up the scene.
The guests had not arrived yet. The director told the cameramen to begin recording. In order to capture some more natural footage, he smiled and said to the manager, “We won’t start for another half hour. You can go ahead and work first.”
It was also the manager’s first time appearing on a show. Just in case, he went around one by one reminding the employees of what they should be doing. In the end, he looked toward the restaurant’s most eye-catching feature, the music box, stepped forward, and asked softly, “You remembered everything, right?”
The exquisitely dressed young man atop the music box remained motionless, like a doll.
The manager immediately felt reassured.
He really ought to let those previous performers who kept breaking character see what true professionalism looked like!
Ten minutes later, a handsome man with blond hair and blue eyes pushed open the door and entered. He was neatly dressed and greeted the staff and servers with gentlemanly politeness. When one waiter nearly slipped and fell in nervousness, he reached out in time to steady him and smiled. “The floor really is too slippery. I nearly fell myself.”
The waiter he had caught blushed slightly. “Thank you, Your Highness Joseph…” Compared with the cold and severe His Highness Ansius in the news, Prince Joseph was practically like a ray of spring sunlight.
“Just call me Joseph. Starting today, I’m your colleague.”
A wave of laughter and soft exclamations rose around them.
Joseph smiled and walked through the staff. Just as he was about to head toward the director, his peripheral vision paused, and he suddenly noticed the music box with a person standing inside it…
As a guest, he only knew the task and the location for this episode. As for the extra music box with a person inside it… since it had nothing to do with the task, he knew nothing about it.
At a glance, it was obviously a gimmick the restaurant had put together to attract customers’ attention.
But even so, Joseph’s gaze could not move away from that tiny figure.
By the time he came back to himself, he had already walked over. “This is practically a work of art… Good morning, little beauty.”
The little beauty atop the music box remained motionless, like a sculpture. Let alone replying, he did not even look at him.
Joseph thought he must be nervous, so he turned and smiled at the camera. “This can’t really be a doll, can it?”
The cameraman said, “No. I’ve seen him move.”
Joseph looked at Yomi again. With a soft chuckle, his magnetic voice carried a kind, comfortable warmth. “This isn’t live. You don’t need to be nervous.”
At that point, no matter who it was, they would have found it impossible to keep ignoring the concern and greeting of such an honored prince.
And yet the little figure atop the music box still did not move.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, the manager hurried over to explain, “Your Highness Joseph, he is not intentionally slighting you. He is playing the dancer inside the music box, so naturally he can’t speak to people! The moment he opens his mouth, people will instinctively think of him as an actor… Actually, interacting with him is very simple. You only need to wind the spring!” As he spoke, he immediately turned the winding key beneath the music box.
The next second, an ethereal melody rang out, the floor in the center of the music box began to rotate, and Yomi started changing poses.
“Your Highness, you see? Like this,” the manager said, wiping his sweat.
Joseph’s smile stiffened a little. “I was too abrupt. But I’ve already exchanged lives with that waiter. Right now I’m Waiter Joseph, so Manager, please stop calling me ‘Your Highness.’”
“Ah! Sorry, sorry…”
Joseph went straight to the staff rest area.
The other four guests soon arrived. They were a singer group, two men and two women.
Once everything was ready, the host came out to go through the program flow. First he boldly interacted with the guests, then he made a few funny faces in front of the motionless Yomi. After everyone laughed nonstop and the atmosphere warmed up, he finally got to the main point:
“Welcome, everyone! The name Garo is surely familiar to all of you. Garo Restaurant has a long history in the capital of our Sna Planet. It is said that its original founder was a ballet dancer who had lost both legs. After falling into despair again and again, she chose to open a restaurant and begin life anew under the encouragement of her family…”
A red-haired singer could not help interrupting. “I know! In order to continue her old ballet dream, did the restaurant put out a music box with a ballet dancer on it? Who would have thought her former dance career would help her succeed in her new business…”
The host smiled and shook his head. “Wrong answer. At the time, technology was limited, and the founder’s prosthetic legs were not easy to use. Because of her difficulty moving and various other issues, this restaurant nearly failed from the very beginning. It was only later, when a little girl playing with a music box in the restaurant appeared, that things took a turn…”
“That day, the founder noticed that no matter what happened, the dancer atop the music box would never leave it. So long as the spring was wound, the dancer would rotate with the music… That gave her inspiration. She then modified the machinery by hand and created the only ‘music-box’-style fast-food restaurant on the entire Sna Planet—after customers ordered, all they had to do was turn the spring at the table, and along with a beautiful melody, their own meal would arrive through the rotating track.”
“A restaurant this novel soon became a sensation in the capital through word of mouth. Although many other restaurants later copied the concept, and advances in technology brought about even more dreamy and imaginative dining experiences, the ‘music-box’ fast-food style gradually fell out of fashion. By now, Garo no longer serves fast food at all. But there is no doubt that without the idea of that music box, the founder would never have earned the first bucket of gold that changed her life, much less gone on to create all the legendary changes that followed…”
Amid the sighs and astonishment of the guests, the host raised his voice toward the camera with a laugh. “Whether it’s the old restaurant model or the music box, neither is popular anymore today. But Garo headquarters still wants to show everyone its original idea—that no matter how much time passes, or how the world changes, so long as you are willing to turn the spring, the dancer in the music box will always dance for you, just as we, along with our food, will always be here waiting for you!”
The guests laughed and applauded. Then they received their tasks and began serving customers, joking around and teasing one another… Some clownishly told jokes to the camera. Some got into conflict with the chefs in the kitchen. Some broke bowls and chopsticks and shouted noisily… And two of the guests deliberately tried to make the “doll” on the music box laugh, telling jokes one moment and making exaggerated ugly faces the next. But when they realized the doll performer never reacted, they could only laugh awkwardly and leave…
The restaurant was extremely noisy.
But the corner with the music box remained quiet from beginning to end.
At first, the people who had been very interested in Yomi gradually stopped paying attention after realizing that he only moved along with the winding spring atop the music box.
Until one little girl noticed something was wrong.
The little girl had come to eat with her mother. After the meal, her mother ordered her a dessert. She happily ate a small strawberry cake, but after only a few bites, she felt that someone was looking at her.
The little girl raised her head and saw the tiny doll atop the music box quickly move his gaze away, then return to standing gracefully in pose.
Her eyes slowly widened.
She had thought earlier that it was fake! Without a second thought, she ran over holding her cake and asked, “Are you hungry? Do you want a little?”
Yomi stayed perfectly still.
The little girl laughed. “I saw it!”
Yomi grew a little flustered.
The little girl was about to keep talking when her mother came over. “Don’t disturb him, okay? Hurry back and finish eating.”
The little girl returned to her seat, turning back every few steps. After finishing her cake, she pointed at Yomi and said to her mother, “For my birthday present, I want a doll just like that. I want to feed him cake…”
“Dolls don’t eat cake,” her mother said. “Dolls don’t get hungry.”
Yomi did get hungry. But the reason for his unprofessional behavior in staring at someone else’s little cake earlier was only because he had not eaten dessert in a long time.
Fortunately, lunch included dessert.
The morning recording session ended. The moment the cameramen stopped working, the guests dropped their professional smiles and all returned to the hotel to rest.
The director and the staff also left, looking exhausted.
Before one guest left, he turned the spring once more. Yomi immediately began moving through his poses again, and the wooden platform rotated along with the music.
Joseph had injured his finger not long ago and had just had it bandaged in the employee break room. He was the last one out, and when he lifted his head, he saw that eye-catching music box in the restaurant was still turning.
The little figure atop it was still holding his pose. His arms were slender yet strong, and the eyes visible outside the mask were still bright with life, as though they were full of longing for this world.
Joseph froze for a moment, then walked over and could not help saying, “There’s no one left. Go ahead and rest for a while… Don’t be afraid the boss will give you trouble. Just say I gave permission.”
Yomi seemed to hear nothing. The manager had already told him that his mealtime would be half an hour later, and that he should use the back passage to go to the staff break room when the music box was shut down.
It was not time yet.
He was only a tiny bit hungry anyway. Besides, the moment he thought about how rich the lunch would be, his mood kept getting better and better.
The melody came to a stop, and Yomi quietly and softly drew his pose closed.
It was as if this tiny body contained countless springs. Within the tracks of the music box, he would forever remain full of strength.
