Chapter 73
73
I took out the gloves Leah had knitted for me on my fifth birthday from the dressing room. I was trying to prepare to go up to The Capital.
Dad said he would go up to The Capital after taking care of the affairs of the territory. Of course, I would go with him.
'It will take Dad quite a while to handle things, but I should send things little by little in advance.'
Even Dubled's Magic Carriage takes two days to get from the territory to The Capital, so a round trip is four days.
Moreover, the weight of the luggage that can be carried is not much, so if I don't send things little by little in advance, I will suffer when I go to The Capital.
"This too!"
I shouted while running, holding the gloves, and Leah chuckled.
"If you put that in, won't the bag not close?"
She glanced at the luggage bag and said, so I swallowed a groan.
The luggage bag to be sent this time was already so full that not even a scarf would fit.
There was a limit to the luggage that could be taken by Magic Carriage, so I couldn't pack as much as I wanted.
"Let's send the gloves next time."
"Then, you have to tell me to make sure to pack the gloves next time so I don't forget?"
"Yes."
These gloves are precious.
Leah was not very skilled since she was a knight, but she unraveled and re-knitted them several times to make them for me. She reduced her already insufficient sleep and rubbed her eyes all night long.
The finished gloves were very crude for a noble child, but they were very, very precious to me.
I wish there was a Long-Distance Teleportation Array.
"Is there anything else you need?"
I nodded, saying, "Ah!"
'I have to take that too.'
I left the room.
The destination was the portrait room I saw when I first looked around the West Wing.
I stared intently at the magnificent portrait, no matter how many times I saw it.
It was an old man with graying hair and the blue eyes that were the symbol of the Dubled family.
'I know who Grandpa is now.'
I didn't know when I first saw it, but later the employees told me. That the man in this portrait was the first Head of the Dubled family.
I stared at the portrait and put my hands together and thought as if praying.
'Great-Grandfather, excuse me.'
And then I pulled up a chair and climbed on it. And I reached out to the Amethyst embedded in the center of the top of the frame.
When I was four years old, I had heard a 'voice' as soon as I saw the portrait here and fainted.
'At first, I thought it was Bune's voice.'
But when I thought about it carefully, it wasn't.
I clearly remember the first words Bune, who came out of the sleeping mineral, said.
[I finally met the baby.]
-That's what she said.
'That means she couldn't meet me before then.'
So, it is highly likely that the 'voice' is from another demon, not Bune.
Until now, I had been within the Dubled fence, and there was no crisis situation to summon a demon.
Above all, if I didn't grant the demon's wish, I couldn't send it back, so in the worst case, there was a risk that my Divine Power would be completely depleted because I couldn't grant the wish and had to maintain the demon.
So I didn't touch it, but I was thinking of taking it with me because I didn't know what dangers might be lurking when I lived in The Capital in the future.
'I got permission from Dad too.'
"I can almost reach it... Ugh."
I struggled and stood on tiptoe as hard as I could.
'I got it!'
Just as I managed to pull the Amethyst out of the portrait frame.
"What are you doing."
I heard an unfamiliar voice.
Startled, I jumped and lost my balance.
"Kyaa-!"
I staggered and fell.
Bang! The chair fell with a sound, and I fell face down like a frog.
'W-Who?'
When I raised my head,
"You're doing strange things."
As soon as I saw the boy who said that, I knew it at first sight.
Even if he didn't have the cold silver hair that seemed to have gathered winter, and the deep cyan blue eyes that were the symbol of Dubled, I could have known him. Because.
'It's Dad...'
Because it was Dad's boy version!
The one among the Dubled brothers who resembled Dad the most...
'Yohan Dubled.'
I froze.
It was when Yohan was staring at me without answering.
"Young Master!"
Viscount Dubois, who had rushed over in a hurry, was about to open his mouth to Yohan when he found me.
"Oh, isn't that the Little Miss. Haha, have you already greeted the Young Master? This is the first time you two have met. This is the Little Miss's eldest brother, Yohan. And Yohan, this person is..."
"I know."
"Yes?"
"A thief."
He glanced at the Amethyst in my hand and said.
Five years after crossing the mountains of Dad and my two older brothers. I finally met the last mountain I had to climb.
'Why did I have to look like a thief!'
The entire Dubled family gathered in the dining room.
Dad sat at the head of the round table, with Henri and Isaac to his left, and Yohan to his right.
I sat across from Dad and watched Yohan carefully.
Isaac, who saw me, frowned and said.
"Are you still not over your suspicion of the brat? It's true that Father told her to do as she pleases. I heard it."
Yohan cut the meat with a knife without any particular change in expression.
"Unless you're an idiot, you know it without being told twice."
Henri, who had wiped his mouth with a napkin, put down his fork and smiled at his brother.
"But what's going on in the territory? I heard you were attacked on the way to The Capital, so you must have been very anxious."
That was a sneer, 'Were you so scared that you came home to hide?' Even at those words, Yohan replied nonchalantly.
"Henri."
"Yes, please speak."
"Don't strain your eyes. You'll get caught being scared."
Henri's complexion changed immediately.
Isaac clicked his tongue and sat crookedly.
"Then what are you up to?"
"It's better to be scared than to reveal all your intentions in a pathetic way."
"Are you talking to me? Want to fight?"
A blue spark rose from Isaac's arm. At that moment, there was a sharp sound of tableware being placed. It was Dad.
"When you fight in front of me, I told you to be prepared to kill someone, not just a trivial fight like this."
At Dad's words, the spark rising from Isaac's arm subsided.
And I choked up.
'I think I'm going to get indigestion...'
Dad and my brothers had been uncomfortable with each other before, but I was very embarrassed because the atmosphere was not so sharp.
In my previous life, there was a rumor that the Dubled family's relationship was colder than the winter wind, and it seemed to be true.
'Well, Henri and Isaac weren't very close at first either.'
They weren't exactly overflowing with brotherly love now either.
When his sons fell silent, Dad picked up his tableware again and asked.
"So Yohan, what is the reason you came?"
"This is the third time I've been attacked near the border."
Isaac frowned and asked.
"So what? A few years ago, Henri and I were also attacked when we went to and from the Academy."
"That's the problem."
Yohan stabbed the lump of meat and said.
"It has become natural for Dubled to be attacked."
"Noble children are always at risk of being kidnapped. There are all kinds of people, from those who try to threaten their parents by using their children to bandits who attack expensive carriages."
"Who would have dared to attack Dubled's carriage even five years ago?"
As his voice lowered to the floor, Henri and Isaac's expressions changed.
"Do I have to tell you, you idiot, why Dubled alone was an exception?"
Henri narrowed his brows and answered instead of Isaac.
"Because the guys who harmed us were exterminated. Even those who receive requests were afraid."
Yohan looked at Dad and said.
"To be honest, it's annoying. Dealing with the little guys."
"So?"
"A tiger with missing teeth gets its skin peeled off."
"Are you talking to me?"
Dad and Yohan's gazes collided coldly in the air.
I quickly lowered my head and focused on my meal.
'Let's eat quickly and run away.'
There was a reason why they said that the shrimp's back gets broken in a whale fight. But I couldn't just slip away because I was aware of the situation, so I quickly chewed the meat thoroughly.
"You've lost your fear in the time I haven't seen you."
"If you were someone who was afraid, I wouldn't have had to bother."
Quickly, quickly.
It was just as I was chewing almost like I was grinding it. My gums tingled and I heard a cracking sound from inside.
I bit my tongue in surprise.
"Kyaa!"
"Brat!"
"LeBlaine."
Henri and Isaac approached, asking, "Are you okay?"
"Did you bite your tongue? Let me see."
I made a tearful face and opened my mouth. At that time, something fell onto the plate and rolled away.
"..."
"..."
"A toof?"
Huh! Why is my pronunciation like this?
Surprised, I looked at the plate and two of my adult teeth were missing.
'That's right, it was time for me to lose my teeth.'
My physical growth was slow, so the teeth that usually fall out around the age of eight were falling out now.
I made a tearful face and looked at my brothers. Isaac, who was looking back and forth between me and my missing teeth with a flustered face, burst out laughing, "Pfft." Henri also turned his head and trembled slightly.
"Don't laugh! (Don't laugh!)"
My pronunciation is all messed up because two teeth are missing.
"We were talking about tiger teeth, and teeth really..."
Isaac hit the table and laughed. Henri's shoulders also shook more violently.
I glared at Dad.
'Look at my brothers!'
I looked at him with a pleading expression, but Dad's mouth was crumbling.
After the meal, the maids surrounded me.
"Little Miss, don't be too depressed."
"That's right. Everyone loses their teeth. You were okay when you lost your front teeth."
"But ith thith not funny? (But isn't this funny?)"
I have to go to The Capital now, wouldn't it be funny if I was missing two teeth?
'My goal was to be a dignified Dubled Young Lady.'
As I became gloomy, the maids quickly said.
"Not at all!"
If that's the case, it might be comforting...
"Really? (Really?)"
As soon as I opened my mouth, laughter was heard from all directions, "Pfft!", "Hehe!", "Cough...!"
Liars. It's funny after all!
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Direct translation, sharing prohibited. If I find out it's been shared, I'll stop sharing~ hehe