But the young master merely grinned from ear to ear. With a boastful curve, the round eyes of the child—who stood a whole head taller than me—crinkled into crescents.
“Let’s wrap up the greetings and head inside. The wind is getting chilly as the sun sets.”
Uncle placed a hand on my and Void’s heads with a light pat. He suddenly furrowed his brows.
“The height difference…”
It was glaringly obvious.
He seemed to mutter as much, but I was too preoccupied observing Void.
“And the old lord?”
At the uncle’s question, the old butler wearing handsome rimless glasses stepped forward.
“The old lord has been in poor health for some time now and has remained in the northern annex…”
It was a low whisper. Uncle nodded briefly.
“I see. I’ll have to pay my respects later.”
His tone suggested this was familiar.
“For now, we should get them washed and fed. The journey here was quite rough.”
“Yes, I shall prepare at once.”
The old butler bowed respectfully.
“Um… Father, may I visit your study later?”
Void squirmed, his face bashful. In his eyes as he looked at his father after so long, respect and fear coexisted.
“Sure.”
Beaming brightly, Void dashed straight up the stairs.
“Elto! Where is my hundred-point test? My swordsmanship record?”
“Oh my, young master! Don’t run! And there is no hundred-point test!”
As expected, quite the bundle of energy.
“You’ve become quite close with the young master.”
The old butler said in a voice laced with laughter. Uncle Leviathan rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.
“Well… I suppose so.”
“Huh? Weren’t you two close?”
I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.
“It was less ‘not close’ and more like there was nothing at all.”
“Then?”
“Well, you see.”
The old butler bent down to meet me at eye level.
“It was closer to the Lord avoiding the young master. The young master would burst into tears at the mere sight of the Lord, so the Lord thought he was being considerate by keeping his distance…”
“Aha.”
“Well, that too is entirely the Lord’s fault. When a grown man opens his eyes like this—who wouldn’t be scared?”
The old butler playfully pulled up the corners of his eyes with both index fingers.
“Right?”
A soft, affectionate smile. I nodded vigorously.
That’s right, that’s right.
I know very well how ill-tempered he is.
“Only now has the awkwardness faded. The Madam had quite a hard time bridging the gap.”
“…Adolf, you’re quite talkative today.”
Uncle said disapprovingly.
The interior was filled with warm heat, making my body flush. The old butler smiled as he gently removed my cloak.
“That’s why everyone is so surprised.”
“Huh?”
“Because you are the first child to arrive nestled in the Lord’s arms without a care in the world.”
“Oh, it was more comfortable than I thought…”
*Gasp.* I suddenly realized.
Should I have walked on my own two feet! I should have looked dignified in the North!
“Just ‘comfortable’? You certainly know how to talk back.”
Uncle ruffled my head so much that static flew, making my hair poof up like a lion’s mane.
“Stop it!”
“See? A beast, just as I said.”
Uncle cackled like a villain, which annoyed me. Even the old butler adjusted his glasses and laughed along.
“Then shall we get you washed and have something to eat? Hazel.”
A brown-haired maid stepped forward.
“Rubian. Would you like to bathe first?”
*A bath!*
It was a welcome sound, but I couldn’t readily nod.
As I hesitated, unsure of what to do, Uncle Leviathan added,
“Um, only assist her with bathing or dressing if Rubian permits it.”
The servants’ gazes flickered toward one another.
As if driving his point home, the uncle emphasized once more.
“Do not force her.”
At times like that, he seemed a little less ill-natured.
“Understood, my Lord.”
I sniffled once and took the maid’s hand.
Slowly, I climbed the stairs leading to the second floor.
Count Zebert’s estate, despite its stiff exterior, had a bright and warm atmosphere inside.
Yellow lights from ornate chandeliers illuminated every corner of the castle, and well-kept carpets and marble hallways with a subtle sheen stretched out before me.
“This way, Lady Rubian.”
Looking at the crest of the House of Duke Zebert embroidered everywhere… I felt strangely odd.
Had I truly entered the House of Duke Zebert safely?
*From now on, I have to find the reason Uncle dies.*
The real game started now.
* * *
“Then, shall we wait outside?”
I nodded obediently.
“Please ring the bell if you need anything.”
The maids turned back to look at me several times with deeply worried faces.
*I know they’re concerned because I look young, but…*
For all my looks, I had bathed alone countless times across my past and present lives.
In fact, this was more comfortable.
*It smells nice.*
The bathroom was filled with white steam and a pleasant fragrance. I took off my clothes and entered the bathtub.
The white bubbles were incredibly soft.
As I leaned back in the tub, my body relaxed drowsily.
“Ah, this is nice…”
While enjoying the brief comfort, I suddenly thought of Kalid.
Since I was alone, I pressed my earlobe firmly and tried calling him, but as expected, there was no response.
*He really blocked me.*
I was slowly starting to get genuinely pissed.
Honestly, what I feared most was him suddenly appearing out of nowhere. There was something unpredictable about him…
I soaked a bit more before getting up.
I looked at my body in the large mirror. A skinny, frail body was revealed. And the wound across my right side as well.
*Well, it’s not a complete lie.*
There were small scratches here and there, but this wound was by far the largest. I had gotten it somewhere… Honestly, I could barely remember.
*It must have hurt a lot…?*
Was it fortunate that I couldn’t remember?
I slowly turned around to check my back.
“But this is the bigger problem.”
The small crest of the Magical Kingdom stamped on my lower back.
*I have to do something about this somehow.*
I had to prepare for any eventuality.
If it became known that I was the runaway mage the Magical Kingdom of Arcadia was looking for—
I still hadn’t found the cause of Uncle Leviathan’s death, nor changed the destruction ending.
I pondered deeply.
*The worst thing would be getting caught with the identity and power of a mage.*
That would truly be a bad ending.
If that happened, I would be driven back to the Magical Kingdom and fail to achieve any of my goals.
I obviously wouldn’t be able to stop the destruction either.
*Then, what if my past of participating in the war became known?*
I looked again at the wound on my side.
“Ugh.”
Since that meant I was a child soldier of Arcadia, the chances of being discovered as a mage were high.
In the end, the same bad ending as before.
*Then, what about getting caught as a girl?*
That was, among the things I hid, the lightest secret.
But since it was public knowledge that the runaway mage from the Magical Kingdom was a girl, there was no need to give unnecessary cause for suspicion.
*On top of that…*
I thought of Leviathan from the original story.
Yes, the truth is.
*It’s not that I never considered telling Uncle Leviathan everything.*
But I simply couldn’t.
Because Leviathan had lost his child in a carriage accident caused by a runaway mage.
“A little… girl.”
To be precise, the child Rosetta was carrying in her womb.
The Duchess had given birth to a dead child.
It was a fact known to all citizens of the Empire.
*How desperate Leviathan had been in the original story.*
No one knew it better than I.
It was from that point on.
That Leviathan and Duchess Rosetta began adopting children.
*But they were all boys.*
The eldest and the second son.
The meaning was clear.
“Sigh…”
I didn’t want to become a trauma for Uncle. I didn’t want to be anything that reminded him of his dead daughter.
Furthermore, because of that incident, not only Uncle but all Northern people came to hate mages.
*I don’t want to be hated…*
Uncle had a kind heart despite his appearance, so his attitude wouldn’t change immediately.
But if he showed even the slightest sign of recoiling from me…
*I somehow don’t think I could bear it.*
So at least, while I am here.
“I’ll become an ordinary child.”
I ended up keeping quite a few secrets… but it couldn’t be helped.
Splash! I splashed water on my face to wake myself up.
*Fortunately, the mana here isn’t as thin as in the capital.*
Was it because this place was originally the land of magical beasts?
Throughout the journey, I had tried moving mana bit by bit, and it wasn’t as suffocating or laborious as in the capital.
*Maybe that’s why I could even contact Kalid.*
Though I got blocked, of course. Damn it.
“Alright. First, concealment magic.”
I manipulated mana.
The feeling of my mana pathways being blocked inside my body remained, but using the mana in the air made it much easier.
Besides, concealment magic is the most basic of basics.
I created a thin veil of a color similar to my skin. Then I covered the mage’s mark and the wound on my side.
*As long as my condition doesn’t drop too much, I should be able to maintain it.*
For what it was worth, I was quite an excellent mage.
Probably, quite.
I had knowledge of countless magic circles and circuits in my head.
I hadn’t been born with an especially large amount of mana, but thanks to that knowledge, I was recognized as a fairly outstanding mage in the kingdom.
*Since my internal mana is low, it gets difficult when ambient mana is scarce…*
As long as it’s not the Imperial capital, it’s fine.
This much is enough.
*Find a circuit that resonates my mana with the ambient mana in real time.*
If I connect it to this concealment magic…
My head spun fiercely.
When I glanced in the mirror, a red light was swirling in my eyes.
My pupils changed like this not when using ordinary magic, but when borrowing knowledge from my head. I didn’t know the reason.
*Fwish.*
The magic light flashed briefly and disappeared.
I completed a new array that would allow my concealment magic to be maintained constantly using ambient mana.
With this, it should be fine even if I’m suddenly made to undress!
*I can’t… attach what isn’t there, so I still have to be careful, but.*
I looked down below(?) with a slightly embarrassed heart.
*Anyway, it’s a relief that the Northerners are ignorant of magic.*
Exerting power without getting caught feels amazing!
“Rubian? Haven’t you been in there too long?”
“I-I’m coming out!”
I shouted back in a hurry.
“Ah, don’t run! It’s dangerous!”
I escaped the bathroom amidst the maids’ anxious voices.
It was a rather meaningful first bath.
* * *
When I came out, Hazel was waiting.
“Rubian, allow me to greet you again. I am Hazel, and I have been assigned to attend to you.”
“Yes! Hello, Hazel!”
“Please speak comfortably.”
“Um, I’ll speak slowly.”
Hazel smiled and said she understood.
Somehow, I end up being shy around characters who didn’t appear much in the original story…
“Then shall we go for dinner? I can’t imagine how much effort the chef put in knowing you were coming, Rubian.”
Oh my. There was no need to go through all that.
As Hazel wiped the water from my arms and legs, she suddenly tilted her brows.
“Hmm… As I thought, the clothes are too big. I should have prepared a smaller size.”
The maids behind her nodded in agreement.
None of the clothes prepared in advance fit my body.
“They were tailored to Young Master Void’s size when he was young… It seems we’ll have to place a new order.”
“I’m fine, though. Like this…”
I rolled up the long sleeves with a series of folds.
“—it works!”
*Ta-da!*
“Urrgh…”
Hazel let out a strange groan and wiggled all ten fingers.
“You are very, very, very cute, but no! You must wear clothes that fit. I must contact the boutique immediately!”
Hazel’s eyes blazed fiercely.
Hmm, is it really that important?
Since I couldn’t understand, I just stayed still.
“Shall we go eat then?”
“Yes!”
I went down to the dining room with Hazel.
“But where’s Uncle?”
“The Lord said he has much urgent business to attend to and will eat separately.”
“Ah, I see.”
Well, he had returned after a very long time, so he must be swamped.
I sat down obediently.
After sitting for a moment in the spacious dining hall that looked almost desolate, soon, the second son of this house,
Void Zebert appeared.