6 - The Youngest is Hiding a Lot
Episode 6
"Okay."
The answer came without a moment's hesitation.
"......"
I peeked out from under the crisp blanket, revealing only my eyes, and Uncle sighed deeply as he looked at me.
"I think there's something wrong with your eyes and the back of your head."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Neither do I."
His voice was laced with resignation.
Even as my body burned with fever, I couldn't help but giggle. I was simply glad that he had come to find me.
I grabbed a handful of the blanket and pulled it up, hiding the corners of my mouth.
"Don't laugh and go to sleep. You have a fever."
A cool hand brushed against my forehead.
"Now that I see it, you're just a troublemaking brat. I picked up the wrong thing."
"Consider it karma."
"You talk like an old man."
Ha, so is he going to get rid of me now?
"Considew it kawma......"
"It doesn't work even if you say it cutely. It means your word choice was the problem."
Oh, is that so.
"I wanted to get an adorable youngest, but it's hopeless. Dreams don't come true after all."
That was a statement that instantly woke up my hazy mind.
"Are you going to take me? To the North?!"
I jumped up without realizing it. My vision went white for a moment, but that didn't matter now!
"If you get up suddenly......! Ha, please have mercy. Uncle's heart is going to explode."
"You can't die! But...... why? Why did you suddenly change your mind? You hated me so much......!"
Uncle sighed deeply and carefully laid me back down. I quickly calmed down at the clumsy patting.
"I didn't hate you."
Another deep sigh.
"I really...... just wanted you to be well."
"......"
"The world is finally quiet, you know."
I closed my mouth.
If the face of the hero who returned victorious from the war seemed somehow pathetic at this moment...... was it just my imagination?
Ruins remain where the sword was swung.
Leviathan Zebert was perhaps the one who understood that emptiness best.
The reason he said he didn't want to take me was, of course, partly because taking responsibility for a child was not an easy task, but......
'It might have been that he didn't want to increase the number of people staying by his side......'
Because he would think that his side is a ruin.
"Uncle, I."
Feeling my eyelids gradually growing heavy, I whispered softly. It was no longer possible to resist the sleep that washed over me like a wave.
"I think it's the quietest next to Uncle."
Leviathan was silent for a moment.
"Is that so."
A large, warm hand covered my eyelids.
\ \ \
Several days passed.
I had fully recovered my condition.
Of course, I still had a slight fever, so I was still stuck in bed...... but it seemed like it would all be gone today!
"Hehehe......"
I lay in bed and let out a dark laugh.
The Zeberth Knights building in the capital was very large and magnificent, befitting its reputation.
I was occupying the inner room there, lying down and flapping my arms and legs, drawing butterfly patterns.
"You seem to be in a good mood today?"
Just as I heard a knock, a familiar face appeared.
"Oh, Blonde?"
What's he doing here?
"Hello."
The eyes that peeked out from between the door folded gently.
"May I be excused for a moment?"
It was a polite question. I got up from the bed and straightened my posture for no reason.
"How did you get here?"
"Um, by walking."
"......"
Did he think I was asking if he flew here?
"It seems like the thing you were worried about worked out well. I'm glad."
"Yeah. Well......"
I answered awkwardly and scanned the boy in front of me. He was no longer wearing the clothes provided by the orphanage.
I felt it from the first time I saw him, but he's really......
"I heard on the way that you're going to the Zebert family?"
"Huh? Uh-huh. That's what happened."
"So you're being adopted into Zebert?"
"I guess...... so?"
"Ahaha. Why do you sound so unsure?"
Because the stamp hasn't been put on yet.
There's no telling how that mean Uncle might change his mind again.
At that moment, Blonde, who had been staring at me, suddenly bent over.
"Wh-what? Suddenly."
Sparkling mint-colored eyes filled my vision.
"......I knew it."
Close! Too close!
"Wh-what did you say?"
"Um, never mind. ......His Grace must have his reasons."
Blonde muttered something incomprehensible and then stood up.
"Sorry to bother you while you're resting. I'll be going now."
"Uh......"
"Then see you later."
As if he had no intention of staying long in the first place, he walked away without regret. Thanks to the etiquette he had learned, even his gait was elegant.
'What did he come here for?'
I stared at the spot where the boy had left with a wary look.
'More than that, he's really...... the 4th Prince, right?'
The fourth prince of the Barmillon Empire.
Licht Bamilron.
'The next Crown Prince.'
In the original story, Licht gradually defeats other competitors and becomes the Crown Prince.
No one could have imagined the ambition hidden beneath his gentle and soft impression.
'Why was that prince in the orphanage?'
The more I dig, the more mysterious it becomes.
"I don't know."
I lay back down on the blanket.
Anyway, the fight for the throne is a distant story for me.
"Okay, I should just enjoy this peace!"
\ \ \
Several more days passed, and finally the day of departure arrived!
Uncle was away from his seat since morning. I heard that he swept through the Imperial Palace like a storm.
"He's determined to open a daycare center!"
I only found out much later that the Emperor grabbed the back of his neck.
With the sudden return journey of the Duke, the story of the Magic Power Examination disappeared completely.
The fact that none of the characteristics of the runaway magician matched my characteristics also played a part.
"Head?"
"I'm okay."
"Vomiting?"
"I won't."
"Coughing......"
"Ah, don't dawdle for no reason!"
I patted his solid shoulder. It felt like punching a stone wall.
We had stopped by the Central Church in the capital.
"Who said I was dawdling?"
Uncle glared at me with fierce eyes.
In front of us was a document stamped with the Imperial Seal.
The content was simple. It meant that Leviathan Zebert would prove my identity and protect and support me until I became an adult.
In short, it meant that he would become my guardian.
'I knew it.'
Well.
It's not easy to bring a child of unknown origin into a noble ducal family as an adopted daughter (or son?).
'Well, it doesn't matter.'
Anyway, I can stay by Uncle's side!
Since I was going to leave anyway once I achieved my goal, this might be a cleaner method.
'It's like being in an orphanage......'
In my previous life, I grew up in an orphanage.
I had to become independent when I became an adult, but honestly, I was overwhelmed at the time.
The world was rough and I had nothing. Maybe it was a good thing that I was hit by the reincarnation truck.
'I'm going to prepare thoroughly and become independent this time!'
Before that, I have to stop the ending first.
I clenched my fists and strengthened my will.
Uncle signed the document with a fluent handwriting while holding me in one arm. My butt kept wiggling.
I want to sign too! I want to complete that document quickly!
"You're impatient."
Uncle chuckled and put me down on the floor. I quickly grabbed the pen and ran to the paper.
Ruby An.
I wrote my name carefully in crooked letters, even adding dots.
"......Earthworm? Is it Iosian Script?"
"It's the Imperial language!"
Uncle crossed his arms and looked at the paper as if it were a difficult code. Whether he did or not, I handed the document to the priest who was waiting nearby.
Finally, when the church's stamp was stamped in the blank space.
"Legal effect occurs!"
I was so happy that I jumped up with the paper in my hand.
"You really know all sorts of things."
"Hehe."
"Arms."
When I spread them wide to the sides, Uncle skillfully picked me up.
After submitting the document I was holding to the priest, we left the church.
Uncle said to me again as if to remind me.
"As I said before, Ruby. The choice is yours."
I recalled the conversation we had before going to the church.
"See for yourself if you think you can live with me in the North. That's why I'm not adopting you right away."
That meant that he was giving me the choice to refuse at any time if I didn't like Uncle's house.
"I'm still going to be next to Uncle......"
As I blurred the end of my words and hugged his neck, I heard a low laugh.
"Yeah. I don't know why you're so obsessed with me."
It's not like I'm an imprinted baby bird. The warmth of the hand stroking the back of my head was already familiar.
"Anyway......"
"......"
"For the time being, you're the youngest in our house."
It felt like a bonfire was lit in my heart.
"Hehe."
I couldn't help but smile. Uncle flicked the tip of my nose.
"Let's go. To the Territory of Zebert."
Finally, I'm leaving this capital. With the hero!
"Yeah!"
Uncle, I'll definitely save you. So please save this world too!
