Youngest 198
by CristaeEpisode 198
Around the same time, at the Zevert ducal residence.
“Hmm, so this is the man presumed to be the youngest fairy’s real father.”
Liam murmured to himself.
“We need to decide how our family should respond to this situation.”
In the large inner chamber, a round table stood at the center. The family was gathered around it.
“We will now begin an emergency strategy meeting.”
A family council of House Zevert was convening.
“Just do what Ruby says and keep him confined in the mansion.”
The remark came in a low voice from Khalid, who was sitting cross-legged. He had just returned after escorting Rubian to the outskirts.
“Confinement? That’s easy!”
Balok shouted. The old man’s sharp eyes gleamed, ready to list off every imprisonment device he knew, but Khalid cut him off with a long sigh.
“…You heard how Ruby wants it done. We’re supposed to make it look like a warm welcome. Just like how the Kasalian spud has been stuck in the imperial palace for weeks now.”
Ah, that.
“Khalid is right, Father.”
Rosetta agreed.
“That way, he won’t get any reckless ideas and will stay out of trouble. We still don’t know his true motives, and with Ruby’s coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow, it’s best to keep him reined in for the time being.”
Her tone was calm, yet there was a definite chill to it.
Just then, Void, who had been listening quietly, raised his arm.
“I have a question.”
“Yes, Void?”
Liam granted him the floor. Void’s violet gaze swept the room, coming to rest on Khalid’s face.
“Why is Kal at this family meeting?”
There was a hint of displeasure in his expression. Khalid, unsurprisingly, didn’t even bat an eye.
Rosetta smiled gently.
“Void, Kal is part of our family, too.”
“Huh?”
“The truth is… I’m going to adopt him soon.”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t that right, Kaaaal…”
Suddenly!
For a man who seemed unshakable, Khalid’s face twisted in obvious discomfort as he abruptly stood up.
It looked like he wanted to make a cutting remark or pick a fight, but since it was Rosetta, he couldn’t.
“…I’ve got to go. The horses need feeding.”
Watching his sturdy back grow distant, Rosetta covered her mouth to hide her amusement.
“So cute.”
“I have another question!”
“All right, Void. I’m glad you’re participating.”
Liam nodded in encouragement.
“About the mage presumed to be the real father. Is it all right if I insult him to his face? Whether he’s real or not. I just… don’t like anyone targeting our Ruby.”
Liam nearly nodded in agreement. But once again, Rosetta added,
“Void, didn’t Khalid just say we need to make it look like a warm welcome?”
“Then what do I do with this anxious lump in my chest over possibly losing my little sister?”
“I feel the same way!”
Balok crashed a fist against his chest, roaring.
“Void, boy! At last we are of one mind!”
“Liar!”
“What did you say?”
“I mean—I like it!”
“Hahaha! You rascal! As it happens, I have just the method for times like this! I always wanted to use it on that bratty former emperor… but…”
Void’s ears perked up.
“…What is it?”
In their own odd way, the pair fell into conspiratorial whispers.
“Hmm, I suppose there isn’t much left to discuss,” Rosetta murmured. It seemed each person could welcome the newcomer in their own way.
She twirled a lock of pink hair absentmindedly, then turned abruptly to Liam.
“By the way, Liam.”
“Yes, Mother?”
“Have you written your graduation thesis yet?”
“……”
Liam calmly pushed his glasses up with both hands.
“Mother. I hate to say this, but in the council chamber, please secure the floor before you speak. That’s the rule. And as today is Friday, the chair is…”
A sparkle glinted in his glasses.
“Me.”
Rosetta’s smile deepened. Rising with picturesque deliberation, she said,
“Why are you suddenly picking up your arrows…?”
Sensing the change in atmosphere, Liam cautiously backed away.
“Well… I think the youngest fairy should be arriving soon…”
Whoosh. The two swiftly disappeared into the distance.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” Balok dabbed at tears as he watched their fading figures.
“He was a good eldest son, that snot…”
The mage arrived at the mansion with the duke and Rubian.
And was promptly disconcerted.
‘What is… with all these splendid servants?’
Before the grand manor, rows of servants stood lined up.
Somehow, word must have spread; every servant in the mansion was out to greet him with warmth.
‘Why are they welcoming me? I’m a fake!’
He kept repeating the thought, moving forward in a daze.
Even as he reassured himself that everything was going according to plan, something felt off. He scanned for opportunities to escape, but the duke walked right by his side, with the princess and the blue-haired knight nearby, and behind him stood a man radiating a staggering energy—making even a quick glance around suspicious.
‘That man in back… is he a mage, too?’
He sensed a powerful aura.
‘It feels similar to the princess’s magic.’
He was a low-level mage, not especially skilled at detecting such things.
“Well, for now, please rest! I’m actually really busy organizing a big birthday party for tomorrow. Khalid, let’s go!”
Rubian chirped brightly, bounding into the mansion.
“Use whichever room you like. Everyone will guide you kindly.”
The duke gave his own shoulder a reassuring pat and disappeared into the house. The knight and the dark blue-haired swordsman did likewise.
“Let’s go in, Mage.”
The mage trudged up the stairs, feeling strangely entranced. He briefly admired the grand, glittering lobby.
“My, so you are—”
A voice so enchanting it made his head spin approached with a smile.
“G-greetings, Duchess…”
“None of that. Don’t bother. You’re Ruby’s real…whatever.”
“Um, why are you sharpening arrows…?”
“Oh, that’s my hobby.”
With a wink, the duchess suddenly raised her bow.
“Like this!”
Swish—thunk!
“Eep!”
“I shoot them around the house sometimes. Whenever I’m stressed. It’s the same for you mages, right?”
Who shoots arrows for a hobby… inside the house?
“Wait, why are you aiming at people!”
“People? Do I seem uncivilized enough for that? I was aiming at the ornament behind you, obviously.”
Rosetta drew again.
The mage bolted for safety, but the arrowhead tracked him as he fled.
“Eek!”
“Hm? Why do my arrows keep following you? Do you want to get skewered?”
He wanted to say that it was her arrows chasing him, but fear that his forehead would actually get pierced left him speechless.
“Oh, sometimes I do accidentally shoot at people, but… Surely you can dodge, right? Ruby avoids them with her eyes closed. Both mages, you know. You should be better at it.”
He briefly, seriously wondered if failing to dodge arrows made him the odd one out.
The maids tittered behind their hands: “Oh, Lady Rosetta, really!”
He scrambled up the nearest stairs before he could end up as target practice.
A gentle voice called after him, “Please rest well, then!”
‘Something’s…’
The duchess is not sane.
He scanned for an exit.
“Grandfather, this is the score I’ve been obsessed with lately.”
At the end of the hall, a soft voice. Then a rasping reply,
“After the storybooks and poetry, now it’s sheet music? Hmph! Let’s see!”
“I get confused at this part.”
Grandfather and grandson approached, consulting the score side by side—he recognized them instantly.
“Cluck, cluck. Your musical sense is not even on par with mine! This here is—”
The old man raised his eyelids, fixing a glare on the mage.
“Mi!”
What are they doing?
“Mi! Isn’t it! Mi!”
“Aha! Mi!”
The second son also stared him down and shouted. Then Balok pointed dramatically at the mage.
“Well now? That there’s the mage presumed to be our Ruby’s real father!”
The second son glanced at his music, then cried out,
“Mi!”
“Real father!”
“……”
What is this—this feeling of being cursed to my face?
Trapped in an endless repeat of ‘do-re-mi’ and ‘real father,’ the mage choked down a surge of emotion.
Realizing the act would never let up, he bit his lip and fled for the third floor.
‘I—maybe there’s a bedroom here.’
Now he was alone. The third floor was fully dark—surely meant for bedrooms or guests’ rooms.
“Who are you?”
Step, step.
A low voice. Someone approached.
Under the dim light, a pale face emerged. Glasses flashed coldly.
Slick.
The man pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.
It felt odd, but the mage spoke politely.
“I, uh, was told to use any room. I’d like to stay on this floor.”
“I see. Allow me to guide you.”
“Thank you!”
‘Phew… finally.’
He’d met a sane person!
Black hair, violet eyes—
‘Ah.’
It was Liam Zevert.
He had heard the young lord was eccentric, but compared to the others, Liam was the most normal person so far.
Following Liam, the mage walked down the corridor.
And walked.
And walked—without pause.
“Excuse me, how much farther—?”
“Well… Possibly the day after tomorrow?”
“What?”
Is he teasing me!
A little scared and frustrated, the mage pointed at the nearest door.
“I’ll just take this room!”
He flung the door wide.
“…Oh.”
He froze in place.
Inside were stuffed magical beasts and bizarre creatures everywhere…
“M-m-monsters…”
“Ah, guests just seem to find their way into my lab. Thank you for escorting me here.”
“Eek, s-save me!”
The mage fled in terror.
Left behind, Liam blinked slowly at the empty space.
“Isn’t it polite to thank someone?”
Gesturing with his well-shaped middle finger to adjust his glasses, he muttered,
“Such an unpleasant man.”
He was definitely an enemy.
Gasping for breath, the man ended up in the stables.
‘I’d rather sleep in here!’
He paused, halted by the sight of a white, elegant mare in the distance.
And beside her, a man was grooming her with excessive diligence—
Approaching, the mage spoke up,
“Excuse me, are you a guest—”
“Are you a horse thief?”
It was the blue-black-haired man he’d seen at the mansion’s entrance earlier.
‘His name… Sir Khalid, wasn’t it?’
He suddenly remembered as he watched him. With such striking looks, both name and face were hard to forget.
“I’m not a horse thief!”
“Then why are you stealing Kal’s view?”
“……”
An adult man who refers to himself in the third person…
The mage was baffled.
Is everyone here insane?
“W-well, I’ll just—”
“Correct.”
Could he hear my thoughts?!
“Aaagh! A swarm of rats!”
The air seemed to ripple, and suddenly a horde of jet-black rats swarmed in from somewhere.
The mage fled once more, panic-stricken.
Sob, sob.
I want to go home.
He finally ended up in the wide training yard, collapsed under a stump and wiping away tears.
“My, you’re having a hard time. The barrier to entry in this house is rather high.”
He flinched as someone addressed him.
What now? What is it now?
He looked up to see a man, a patch over one eye, chewing grass with a somewhat friendly expression.
“I joined as a latecomer, myself… Felt a bit of the cold shoulder.”
He introduced himself as Allen.
“Well, uh, I wasn’t exactly looking to join…”
I didn’t come here by choice.
They dragged me here, calling me ‘real father’… I never asked to be part of this group…
Still, it was oddly comforting to meet someone who’d been in a similar position.
“See that maid?”
The man pointed somewhere with his chin.
“Huh? Yes…”
He was referring to the woman sweeping busily by the mansion entrance—bigger than most, and a diligent worker.
“That’s Hazel. She’s extremely kind. Try explaining your situation to her—she’ll likely help you out.”
“Thank you, thank you…”
The mage stood up.
At least it seemed the staff here were kind, which was a relief.
So he never realized.
The silent exchange of glances between a former mercenary and a current one.
‘Fresh prey’s coming.’
‘Go ahead.’
A soundless handover between those in the same trade…