Youngest 013
by CristaeEpisode 13
“Sir?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
He scratched the back of his head with a rough hand.
“Surely not.”
He’s just a child born and raised in a remote village. He simply hasn’t had much exposure to imperial clocks.
“So I’m the one still wandering the battlefield.”
A wry, self-deprecating smile flashed across his relaxed features. It was so brief, no one would have noticed.
I was flustered.
“W-what is it?”
The burly maids had appeared holding blades all of a sudden. How could anyone not be startled?
“What do you think? We’re just going to tidy up your unruly hair a bit.”
Hazel said this with a gentle smile.
Every time the scissors clacked, her muscular arms twitched.
Wow, a face soft as tofu, but a body nothing like it…
“You’re going to cut my hair?”
The words slipped out before I realized it. As I yanked my hair as if to shield it, the maids’ eyebrows fell despondently.
“Oh, Rubian, you’ll hurt your scalp.”
Hazel treated me like a wisp of straw that would fly away if she so much as breathed on me.
“The back is all uneven, and your bangs are so long—doesn’t it get bothersome? At lunch earlier, I saw your hair kept falling into your face.”
“Um…”
The back of my hair ended up like this because I had a run-in with a dark beast of flame. When it got scorched and matted, I’d haphazardly cut it, resulting in this mess.
“Do you not want to?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to…”
Still, I couldn’t bring myself to agree.
“That’s strange. I’ve never cared about my hair before.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, pondering for a moment before answering shyly. Hazel met my eyes and waited patiently.
It felt rude to keep her waiting any longer.
“Uh… All right.”
Hazel’s face lit up instantly.
“Then would you come over here?”
“Okay!”
A large, plush chair had somehow been prepared.
Sunlight streaming through the window. I sat upright, hands neatly folded in my lap, as a soft cloth was draped over my shoulders.
“Are you hot, Rubian?”
Hazel asked as she tied a knot at my nape.
“No?”
“Then why are you sweating so much?”
Her voice was puzzled.
“Huh. Now that you mention it…”
I reached up to the back of my neck. My hand came away damp with sweat.
“Am I hot?”
Felt more chilly than hot, actually.
I tilted my head in confusion. The maids conferred briefly about whether to open the window for me.
“Rubian! Come to my room and play cards— Huh?”
At that moment, Void appeared at the open doorway.
His eyes swept quickly around the room. Meeting my gaze, he frowned slightly.
“What are you doing?”
“Young master.”
“Hazel!”
Void, dashing over, glared fiercely at Hazel.
“Why are you bothering my little sister!”
“What? Bothering? I’m just trying to trim Rubian’s hair…”
“Liar!”
What is this? What’s his problem? I stared blankly at Void standing before me.
At that very moment, there was a knocking at the door. Dozens of eyes turned toward it.
“I wondered what the commotion was…”
“Master.”
“So crowded in this tiny room. It’s like a marketplace.”
The owner of the house leaned against the doorway, arms folded.
“Father!”
Void quickly ran up to Mister. Looking down at his son, Mister’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Void, what are you doing here at this hour…”
“Rubian is scared!”
“What?”
Their eyes met in the air.
I simply blinked in confusion.
Mister’s gaze swept slowly but thoroughly around the room.
Void whirled and pointed at me.
Or rather, at Hazel standing behind me.
“The scissors.”
“…”
Ah. Was that it?
An awkward tension filled the room.
Naturally, it was Hazel, standing behind me, who looked the most flustered.
“Ru-Rubian, are you afraid of the scissors? Is that why you were sweating?”
Hazel hastily put the scissors away.
She moved closer, lowering herself to meet my eyes. Her expression was on the verge of tears.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize…”
“No, I didn’t know either…”
I shook my head, answering awkwardly.
“Now that I think about it, I must have been nervous.”
Because a stranger was standing behind me with something sharp.
Even though Hazel meant no harm, it must have frightened me a little.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t want my hair cut.
“Put it away.”
Mister approached in an instant, issuing the command with a fearsome face. His voice and expression were cold as ice.
“Y-yes, sir.”
The maids moved quickly.
“It’s fine, really… It’s just for a moment anyway…”
“I’m sorry, Rubian. I should have been more careful… I startled you.”
Hazel apologized again, as I sat in the huge chair, nervously fiddling with my fingers.
I felt like a coddled child making a fuss.
“I’m fine. Really. I’m not sweating anymore.”
“Rubian.”
Then, a large hand landed on the top of my head. I turned to find deep violet eyes gazing steadily into mine.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“B-but…”
“No one can force you. Not even me.”
I had no idea what to say, so I only nodded with a dazed expression.
“Cut it later. For now, anything bothering you?”
“My hair keeps poking my eyes.”
“Just don’t yank on it.”
Someone muttered from nearby.
“If only we had a hairpin or something…”
Hazel immediately stepped up.
“I can run out and buy one right now!”
“Wait.”
Mister spoke to her as she hurried toward the door.
“…In the east room.”
“Sorry?”
“There should be something useful there. Go and check. Bring whatever you find.”
“…Master.”
It was the butler, Adolf, who had quietly addressed Mister from behind.
But Mister looked unbothered.
“Adolf, give her the key.”
“…Yes, sir.”
In that subtle atmosphere, lips pressed tight, Hazel and Adolf slipped away.
“What’s in the east room, anyway?”
I wondered if there was something from the original story that I’d missed. Nothing came to mind…
Just then, Void quietly came over and pressed my cheek with his finger. His sparkling amethyst eyes were filled with concern.
“Are you okay? Your face is as pale as dough.”
Now that I think about it, Void was the first to notice. Even before I realized how I was feeling.
“Uh… I’m fine.”
Is there a surprisingly sharp side to him?
Anyway, thanks…
“Thank you.”
Void sniffed dismissively, as if to say, what’s the big deal?
Mister, who had been silently watching us, suddenly spoke as if remembering something.
“By the way, Void.”
“Yes, Father!”
“How about your sword training?”
“Huh?”
“Training.”
A brief silence. Void began backing away step by step.
“R-right now…”
“Now?”
“I’m going!”
Off he shot, a child caught skipping drills fleeing like the wind. He moved with the speed of lightning itself.
“…”
Mister watched after Void as he vanished, scratching his brow.
“I just asked, so why does he bolt like that?”
“Weren’t you threatening him with your eyes?”
With that fearsome look and that stern tone, who wouldn’t be frightened?
“Ah, I forgot to let up.”
Mister scratched one eyebrow, looking troubled.
“It’s difficult.”
His voice was tinged with genuine frustration.
“Haa…”
Hazel, maid of House Zevert, was troubled.
“I missed it because she looked so calm.”
Her face was dark with regret, replaying the recent events. Her footsteps down the hall were heavy and listless.
“Idiot.”
She thought she had been careful, but this was the result.
Suddenly, she remembered what the master once told the staff.
“Don’t touch her without permission, and never bring up her past—she hates it.”
Hazel’s eyebrows drooped even further.
“Did something terrible happen to her?”
They said she was a child rescued from a village left in ruins by dark beasts.
So small and frail… she must have suffered terribly.
“I just have to do better.”
Hazel sniffed, nose pinched tight.
“I’m honestly surprised His Grace even mentioned this room.”
At that moment, a fellow maid walking beside her spoke.
In the maid’s hand was an old but untarnished key.
“His Grace must truly treasure Rubian.”
“Of course! She’s so lovable. The way she greets me in the morning, making eye contact—it’s heavenly!”
“I heard from Sir Leon that, on the way north, she gave each knight a handmade balm as a gift.”
“My word. So resourceful, too.”
“Right?”
Hazel pictured Rubian’s sparkling eyes and mysterious silver hair.
Creamy-soft skin, adorably round features, small hands and feet always busily in motion…
“Surely, once grown, she’ll be a beautiful…”
Hmm? Hazel stopped, tripping over her own words.
“A splendid…? Dignified man…?”
It just didn’t sit right on her tongue.
But she couldn’t quite tell what felt off.