Youngest 006
by CristaeEpisode 6
“Yes.”
It was an answer without the slightest hesitation.
“…”
Peeking out from under the rustling blanket, I saw Mister look at me and let out a long sigh.
“There’s something wrong with your eyes and the back of your head.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Neither do I.”
His voice drooped in resignation.
As heat simmered in my body, I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. The simple fact that he’d come looking for me somehow made me happy.
I pulled the blanket up tightly so he couldn’t see my smiling mouth.
“Don’t laugh. Go to sleep. You have a fever.”
His cool hand brushed my forehead.
“Turns out you’re just a total troublemaker. I never should have picked you up.”
“Think of it as karma.”
“You talk like an old soul in a child’s body.”
Ha, so is this his way of trying to get rid of me now?
“Karma, I say…”
“It’s no use being cute. The problem is your word choice.”
Ah, I see how it is.
“I wanted an adorable youngest child, but no luck there. Dreams really don’t come true.”
That snapped me right out of my daze.
“You’re taking me with you? To the north?!”
I shot up before I even realized it. For a moment, my vision flashed white, but none of that mattered anymore!
“If you sit up all of a sudden…! Just take it easy, okay? My heart’s going to give out.”
“You can’t die! But… why? Why did you suddenly change your mind? You hated the idea before…!”
With another long sigh, Mister gently eased me back down. His awkward, comforting pats quickly calmed me.
“It’s not that I hated you.”
Another deep sigh.
“Really… I just wanted you to be all right.”
“…”
“The world is finally quiet, for once.”
I closed my mouth.
If the face of a hero returned from war appeared somehow desolate in this moment… was it just my imagination?
Wherever the sword was swung, only ruins remained.
Perhaps it was Leviathan Zevert who understood that sense of emptiness best of all.
His reluctance to take me in, of course, was partly because taking responsibility for a child wasn’t simple…
‘Maybe it was also because he didn’t want to increase the number of people at his side.’
He must have thought that his side was nothing but ruins.
“Mister, I think…”
As my eyelids grew heavy, I whispered softly. Sleep rose in waves—impossible to resist any longer.
“It feels quietest of all by your side.”
Leviathan fell silent for a moment.
“I see.”
His large, warm hand closed gently over my eyelids.
Several days passed.
I’d made a complete recovery.
True, I still had a slight fever and was stuck in bed, but… it felt like even that would pass today!
“Hehehe…”
I lay in bed, letting out a dark little laugh.
The Zevert Knights’ building in the capital was every bit as grand and imposing as its reputation suggested.
Lying in the inner chambers, I stretched out my limbs, fluttering them back and forth, tracing butterfly patterns in the air.
“You seem cheerful today.”
There came a knock, and before long, a familiar face appeared.
“Oh, the blond kid?”
What was he doing here?
“Hello.”
His eyes, peeking through the doorway, crinkled softly.
“May I come in for a moment?”
He asked politely. I sat up in bed, straightening my posture for no real reason.
“How did you get here?”
“Hmm, by walking.”
“…”
Did he think I’d ask if he’d flown here instead?
“Looks like things worked out for you. That’s a relief.”
“Mm. Well…”
I replied awkwardly, looking the boy up and down. He was no longer wearing the clothes supplied by the shelter.
I’d suspected it ever since I first saw him, but this boy…
“I heard you’re joining the Zevert family?”
“Huh? Yeah… That’s how it turned out.”
“So, you’re being adopted into the Zevert family?”
“I guess…?”
“Ahaha. Why do you sound so unsure?”
Well, the paperwork hasn’t exactly been stamped yet.
Knowing that prickly Mister, he could always change his mind.
At that moment, the blond boy, who’d been gazing at me, suddenly bent at the waist.
“What, what are you doing? All of a sudden…”
His sparkling mint eyes filled my whole view.
“…As I thought.”
Too close! Way too close!
“W-what?”
“Hmm, nothing… I’m sure you have your reasons as well.”
Murmuring something I couldn’t understand, he straightened up again.
“Sorry for interrupting your rest. I’ll be going.”
“Uh…”
“See you again.”
Not intending to stay long from the start, he left without a backward glance. Even his steps were graceful, thanks to years of practiced etiquette.
‘What in the world did he come for?’
Frowning, I stared at the spot where he’d stood.
‘More importantly… he is the fourth prince, isn’t he?’
Licht Babylon, the fourth prince of the Babylon Empire.
‘Next in line for crown prince.’
In the original story, Licht gradually overcame his rivals to become crown prince.
No one ever imagined the ambition hidden beneath his gentle, fragile appearance.
‘So why was the prince at the orphanage in the first place?’
The deeper I dug, the more of a mystery it became.
“I don’t get it.”
I flopped back on the covers.
Not like the battle for the throne had anything to do with me anyway.
“Might as well enjoy this peace while I can!”
A few more days passed, and at last, departure day arrived!
Mister had been out since morning. I heard he’d swept through the imperial palace like a storm.
“So, in the end, he’s really going to open a nursery!”
That the emperor clutched his neck in exasperation was something I only learned much later.
With the abrupt return of the duke, all talk of mana testing disappeared.
The traits of the fugitive mage and mine had nothing in common, which helped a great deal.
“How’s your head?”
“It’s fine.”
“Any nausea?”
“None.”
“Cough…”
“Oh, stop fussing already!”
I smacked his broad shoulder. It felt like punching a stone wall.
We were stopping by the central church in the capital.
“Who’s fussing?”
Mister shot me a sharp look.
A single sheet of paper lay before us, marked with the imperial seal.
Its contents were simple: Leviathan Zevert would vouch for my identity and pledge to protect and support me until I reached adulthood.
In short, he was officially becoming my guardian.
‘Just as I thought.’
Well, it made sense.
It wasn’t so simple for a high noble house to adopt a child of unknown birth as a daughter (or son).
‘Not that it matters to me.’
At any rate, it meant I could stay by Mister’s side!
My plan had always been to leave once my goal was accomplished, so in a way, this was a neater arrangement.
‘Reminds me of life at the orphanage…’
In my previous life, I’d grown up in an orphanage.
When you turned eighteen, you had to become independent. Frankly, it seemed overwhelming at the time.
The world was harsh and I had nothing. Maybe being hit by that reincarnation truck was a blessing after all.
‘This time, I’ll prepare thoroughly and become independent!’
But first, I have to stop the ending from happening.
Clenching both fists, I renewed my resolve.
With me nestled on one arm, Mister signed with a sweeping hand. I couldn’t stop squirming.
I want to sign too! I want to complete that paperwork!
“Impatient thing.”
Mister chuckled and set me down. I quickly grabbed the pen and dove at the paper.
Ru. Bi. An.
In shaky, messy letters, with a final dot, I carefully wrote out my name.
“…A worm? Is that Eosia script?”
“It’s Imperial script!”
With arms folded, Mister squinted at the paper as if he were looking at a cipher. Ignoring him, I handed the document over to the priest waiting nearby.
With the church’s stamp thumped in the last empty space, at last—
“Legal effect achieved!”
Elated, I jumped up and down, waving the paper.
“You really know how to say anything.”
“Hehe.”
“Arms.”
At my outstretched hands, Mister deftly lifted me up.
Handing the papers to the priest, we left the church together.
Mister reminded me once again:
“As I said earlier, Ruby—you have the choice.”
I recalled the conversation we’d had before coming here.
“Think about whether you really want to live with me up north. That’s why I’m not adopting you immediately.”
It meant he was giving me the option to refuse at any time, in case I didn’t like his home.
“I still want to be by your side…”
As I murmured, wrapping my arms around his neck, I heard a soft laugh in response.
“All right. I don’t know why you’re so attached to me, though.”
Not as if I’d imprinted on him like a baby bird or anything. The warmth of his hand ruffling the back of my head was already familiar.
“Anyway…”
“…”
“For now, you’re the youngest in our family.”
It felt as though a cozy fire had sprung to life in my heart.
“Hehe.”
A smile escaped me. Mister tapped the tip of my nose.
“Let’s go. To Zevert territory.”
At last, we were leaving the capital. Together with a hero!
“Yes!”
Mister, I will save you. So please, save this world too!
Northern Zevert Duchy.
In the deepest recesses of the castle, suffused with a damp, oppressive air.
In a pitch-black bedchamber, without even the light of a lamp, a massive figure stirred.
“Bringing something home, you say?”
A low, rough voice, as if scraping against gravel.
The old butler delivering his report involuntarily shuddered.
At last, the man rose from the bed, vertebrae cracking audibly as he stretched his neck.
“A child?”
The flame of the candlestick in the butler’s hand trembled violently.
Eyes gleamed in that feeble light—predatory, bestial.
The butler flinched once more.
“Hmph. He is my own son, but the foolishness he gets up to knows no bounds.”
“W-what shall I do, sir?”
The great body moved slowly, like a beast roused from a long slumber.
The Old Lord of Zevert twisted his lips into a smile.
“What do you mean, what to do? Time to give them a taste of our hospitality.”
But sir, it’s just a child…
The butler pressed a handkerchief to the back of his neck.
That uniquely fierce and ominous aura—such was the hallmark of those with Zevert blood.
“Well now, let’s see if this one is worthy to become a knight of our northern lands.”
A flash of bared canine teeth.
Ah, let it be a child of strong mettle.
With desperate hope, the butler lowered his gaze.
‘This house will be noisy again.’
He sighed, seeing in his mind the future unfurling before him.