Chapter 5
Childcare Leave
By the time she had frantically brought the child in, taken off her coat, and removed her gloves, the child remained standing on the small mat in the training ground's entrance, not moving an inch.
Even the most oblivious person would have noticed the child's strange behavior, and Lucia seemed to understand why.
'……It wasn't this bad, I think.'
The child before her looked as if they had fallen into a cesspool, covered in all sorts of filth. The only clean things were the child's wary eyes.
“……”
Those clear eyes turned towards the white gloves Lucia had taken off.
Her black clothes were fine, but the gloves were covered in dark and brownish, unidentifiable substances.
Seeing this, the child seemed startled by their own mess and quickly lowered their head.
Lucia could roughly guess what had happened, but it was a bit of a problem.
She was supposed to go to the Imperial Palace soon to meet with the Emperor, and the time was barely enough for her to change her clothes.
"Shall I show you where to wash?"
As if waiting for those words, the child nodded eagerly.
Lucia went to the bathroom and filled it with warm water.
The child, who had been standing motionless, shrunk back as she came out of the bathroom, then carefully entered, lifting their heels with their small feet, and closed the door.
'At that age... did I wash myself?'
Trying to recall her distant childhood, Lucia suddenly felt her head spinning.
She first changed into her uniform in the dressing room to handle today's business.
Then, she heard a voice from the bathroom.
“……Um…….”
It seemed the child had finished washing.
Soaked to the bone, the child peeked out from the bathroom door with a face like pale tofu covered in seaweed.
"What's wrong?"
“……”
When there was no answer, Lucia approached to check on the child.
-Knock knock
"Commander. Are you awake? It's time to go to the Imperial Palace."
It was Vice Commander Berl.
The child, startled like a cat, quickly closed the bathroom door.
"Yes. I understand."
She was concerned about the child, but given Berl's personality, he had arrived at a time when they had to leave immediately, so there was no time to delay.
"Child. I won't be long, so stay here without moving. Do you understand?"
Lucia whispered to the bathroom door, and the child inside replied softly.
Confirming the response, she sighed softly, opened the front door, and said to Berl, who was waiting respectfully.
"Let's go."
*
Inside the swaying carriage.
It was close enough to the Imperial Palace to walk, but Berl had already prepared the carriage, so she had no choice but to get in.
As a result, Lucia was sitting face to face with Berl.
She had been watching Berl, who had been fidgeting in his seat across from her, for some time.
Right now, his head was filled with questions about whose funeral she had attended, but he couldn't dare to ask about the Commander's whereabouts.
'Berl... was he in his 30s?'
Not at all.
Lucia, with some confidence, thought she knew her members well.
But that was just wishful thinking; she wasn't a very perceptive person when it came to others.
Berl had dark brown hair neatly combed back from his forehead.
In contrast to him, the image of the Black Knights in the Imperial family was quite arrogant.
Therefore, he always made sure to look neat and tidy so as not to cause trouble for the Commander.
And that was the problem.
His neat executive hairstyle often created this misunderstanding, despite being in his 20s.
"Berl."
"Y-yes! Commander."
Berl, who had been restless, was startled and replied when his Commander spoke to him.
"How old is your child?"
'I'm sure he said he had the child before entering the training ground.'
Lucia was confident, but Berl wasn't even married yet.
Ironically, Berl seemed deeply moved by her question, clasping his large hands together.
"Commander! To think you remembered... Cezar is five years old this year!"
'I see. His name is Cezar, so it's a son? It's a shame it's not a daughter, but I'm glad I have someone to ask.'
"Berl, when raising a child..."
Just as Lucia was about to speak, Berl suddenly bowed his head deeply.
"Commander! Thank you once again! Thanks to your consideration, my sister is doing well during her childcare leave and has returned to work!"
She almost choked, even though she hadn't eaten anything.
Hearing his words, she realized that the story she remembered was about his sister five years ago.
"…I see. Is everything alright?"
"Yes! Of course. Thanks to you, she has proudly returned to her position as an administrator in the White Wizard Division!"
Lucia was quite embarrassed, though it didn't show on her face.
Berl's eyes became moist as he looked at her.
'Sniff... How grueling must the training have been for her to have the spirit of a veteran in her speech. I'm struggling just to fill in for the Commander, and I'm counting the days until her return... I still have a long way to go. A long way to go.'
He pitied her, as her atmosphere had changed so much from five years ago, even though she had always been quiet.
Berl, who didn't know the Vice Commander's age or anything else, sent her eyes full of respect.
Once again, he was deeply moved and swore his loyalty from the bottom of his heart.
Looking at Berl's strange gaze, Lucia suddenly remembered something that bothered her.
"…By the way, did you just say childcare leave?"
"Ah, yes, Commander. Didn't you come to an agreement with the White Commander? Thanks to that, my sister spent quality time with her child."
White Commander?
'Ah, Leon Luwins?'
Lucia remembered the time she competed against the White Commander, who was once called her rival.
It must have been the day they dueled with some kind of wish at stake.
She had agreed because she was bored at the time and won, but since she had no wish to make from him, she had briefly granted a leave of absence to the unfortunate woman who had to quit due to her pregnancy.
"…That's a good idea."
Lucia seemed to have thought of something, and a slight curve appeared at the corners of her firm lips.
*
Childcare leave.
It was the most powerful move in recent years.
Because of that, the Emperor seemed to take quite a while to regain his senses after the shock to the back of his head.
The reason she took childcare leave was simple.
It was absurd to stay by the child's side for decades.
If she did that, the child would become estranged from ordinary children, and might even run away from home during adolescence.
So, to create an environment where the child could live freely even without her, she had to eliminate those involved in the Saintess Sealing Plan, and being a knight in the Imperial family was a good way to obtain information.
And, the Control Stone.
The Divine Power the child possessed was immense.
It was probably safe to say that even at that young age, the child had power comparable to that of a high-ranking priest.
It would be good if the child could hide their power like them, but it was difficult to expect that at such a young age.
So, she already had a Control Stone stolen from the temple, but it would take even the genius Heath at least half a year to process it.
And this problem was solved by the unexpected Berl.
Half a year of childcare leave.
The Emperor had a dazed look, as if he had been hit, until Lucia finished organizing her plans in her head.
But she had already stated her opinion, so she didn't have time to wait for such an Emperor.
It was because of the Saintess alone in the training ground.
Just as she was about to bow her head appropriately to the Emperor and leave,
"…W-wait. Stop! Stop right there!"
The Emperor, regaining his senses at the sight of her smooth crown, became flustered.
"You. Are you making fun of me? Childcare leave? Asking for childcare leave when the child is 5 years old, such a preposterous..."
"No, no. That's not it, is it? Then did you give birth and raise a child for 5 years? In that training ground on the hill?"
The Emperor, who was pouring out words without a break, pointed to the small training ground on the hill visible from the terrace.
It was the place he had been warmly watching every morning, envisioning the future of having a Sword Master.
Lucia, confirming the direction of his hand, nodded lightly in agreement.
"…Unbelievable. Then who is the husband! Tell me!"
The Emperor, still not letting go of his small hope, waited for her words with half-doubt and half-belief.
However,
"Yes. He was a herbalist who came to gather herbs. But the herbalist fell while gathering herbs on a cliff and ended up not being able to gather herbs and died. I heard that in his last moments, he was holding not herbs, but a bunch of herb-like weeds…"
It was truly absurd.
She, who had lived a life where she never had to lie, was shamelessly making up an excuse she had briefly thought of in the carriage.
And without any sign of sadness, even though she was clearly a widow.
A brief silence fell between them.
And,
"Right now. Are you kidding me!? Do you even know how much of that damn medicinal herb is in what you're saying!"
The Emperor, his face contorted with rage, stamped his feet as if unable to believe the current situation.
Then, as if trying to calm down, he sighed, ran a hand over his face, and then leaned in close to Lucia, his expression hardening.
"You. That had better be a joke. If it's true, if you had a child, you wouldn't have been able to reach Sword Master. And if that's the case..."
The Emperor coldly turned his face away from Lucia.
And, as if looking at a distant mountain, he put his hands behind his back and picked up his crystal glass.
To anyone watching, it would have looked like the tormented back of a cold and ruthless Monarch about to cast aside his cherished subordinate.
But she saw it.
The three fingers that were pretentiously holding the top of the heavy crystal glass were trembling terribly.
He was higher in status than anyone, but more insignificant than anyone.
She knew well that he was overdoing it, having become the first Emperor of the Empire.
A man who was recklessly affectionate, even going on expeditions with no power.
Lucia had personally experienced his troublesome and insignificant nature, as she had saved his life countless times thanks to it.
"You have committed a great crime by abandoning your duties and living a personal life in the Imperial Palace's training grounds."
He, trying to create a nonsensical atmosphere and putting on airs, awkwardly continued, as if imitating a lonely figure he had seen somewhere.
It seemed he really wanted to imitate the image of a charismatic Monarch.
'Tsk. So, his early death was due to alcohol.'
Lucia didn't want to play along with his lonely act, but in the end, she had no choice but to pick up a large feather pen next to the approval documents.
And she infused Sword Aura into the feather pen in her hand.
Before long, the red Sword Aura made the feathers dance finely, and then it was swiftly swung towards the Emperor's glass.
-Thwack.
"What, what is it!! You! What did you do? Are you finally crazy!?"
The Emperor screamed, thinking that she was attacking him because he felt something pass by in an instant.
Then Lucia showed the Emperor the smaller crystal glass in her hand.
The crystal glass was filled to the brim with the whiskey that the Emperor had only half-filled.
It was strange.
It was definitely the one he was holding...
"...?!"
The Emperor was left with only the round and transparent top part of the heavy crystal glass, which he had been struggling to hold with only three fingers to look stylish.
And what had cut this off was... not a sword, but a feather.
The feather in Lucia's hand was overflowing with red Sword Aura.
The Emperor couldn't hide his astonishment.
Even a Sword Master couldn't keep the fluctuating Sword Aura in place unless it was a hard material like mithril.
That was basic knowledge that even an Emperor who couldn't wield a sword knew.
But a feather?
The sound of the Emperor, who was quick with calculations, racking his brain began to echo in the large hall.
Lucia might have become something beyond a Sword Master, that thought swirled in his head.
The legendary Grand Sword Master, whose power alone was greater than the power of all the knights of a kingdom.
If Lucia, at the young age of 25, had approached that...
The Emperor's face instantly bloomed brighter than the flowers that had bloomed throughout the Imperial Palace.
"...I know. I know! As expected, you are...!"
"100% paid childcare leave. Maintenance of the training ground accommodation. And,"
She quickly brought his glass close to his face, as the Emperor was about to approach her with open arms,
"Here. I've reduced the size of the glass to match your age. You can't go around not being able to lift a glass, can you, Your Majesty."
The Emperor checked the size of the glass at her words that she had reduced it to match his age.
It was almost half the size.
"...You really. Today, I'm going to sew that mouth of yours shut...!"
To think that a subject would dare to openly discuss the Emperor's lifespan, he fumed and trembled, having been teased by her again today.
But even though she was like that, he knew that she was worried about him and meant for him to drink less, so he simply snorted as he looked at the door she had left through.
