Youngest 209

Episode 209

“Your Majesty.”

A knight approached hurriedly.

“What is it?”

“Well…”

After hearing the report, the Emperor set down the goblet he had been holding, his face suddenly hardened. And he spoke.

“A large horde of magical beasts has appeared near the southern coast.”

Leviathan instinctively furrowed his brow as he glanced at Rubian. The Emperor’s cloak fluttered in the breeze.

“I must return. I’d appreciate it if you could tell the young lady I’m sorry I cannot stay with her until the end.”

“Will you be all right?”

When asked, the Emperor smiled gently and patted the duke’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. The Imperial family will send troops, and the Southern Border Count is already responding. Many of the southern forces distinguished themselves in the Human–Dark Beast War, so there should be little to worry about. However…”

“However?”

Unusually, the Emperor weighed his words.

“The Border Count’s accompanying message was a little peculiar.”

“Peculiar?”

Leviathan’s hand tightened over his goblet.

“…Some soldiers testified that they sensed the aura of Dark Beasts from the beast carcasses… Ah, please. Calm down.”

Crack.

As the goblet crumbled to powder in his hand, the Emperor pressed his forehead. From a distance, he could feel Rosetta, who had been watching, glance over.

A shard from the shattered glass nicked his finger. As crimson blood welled up, the breeze brushed against the open wound. A nearby maid quickly wrapped a bandage around his hand.

“Haaaah.”

With his uninjured hand, Leviathan swept down his face.

Through his fingers, he glimpsed Rubian, who was now spinning around with Liam and Void.

I shouldn’t have listened. I should have pretended not to know.

“Damn it. Of all days, why today?”

But when it came to matters involving the Dark Beasts, he could not simply sit by as if watching a fire across the river.

Guarding the sanctuary where Rubian resided was his duty.

“Where is the messenger now?”

His firm hand gripped his sword. Etching the image of his daughter’s bright smile into his memory once more, Leviathan forced his reluctant steps forward.

---

Things seem a bit chaotic.

After the family ball ended, there was a brief intermission.

I still don’t know how I managed to dance.

No, perhaps the real tumult was within my own mind.

Ever since the princess had talked to me about the potion, I’d been unable to focus on the ball at all.

“Haa…”

A heavy sigh escaped me without thinking.

I wondered if I should simply skip the second half of the ball. Just then, a familiar head of sky-blue hair appeared right before my eyes.

“Rubian!”

“Titi.”

Sortiea beamed as she complimented me on my recent dancing, then glanced around and discreetly handed me something.

“Here. What you asked for.”

On a white handkerchief lay several strands of long and short sky-blue hair.

I folded the handkerchief carefully and gripped it tightly.

“Thank you.”

“But why do you suddenly need Dad’s and my hair…?”

Sortiea asked, her expression uncertain.

Before the ball began, I’d asked Sortiea for some of Count Camellan’s and her own hair.

“Ah, Asha said she needed it as material for making a magical tool!”

“My hair… for a magical tool?”

“She’s making something for the stage props for our play! I think?”

I offered the excuse I’d prepared in advance with an innocent smile.

“Asha’s inventions are always a bit unusual, you know.”

“Ah, I see?”

Sortiea tilted her head.

“But why Dad’s hair too… Rubian?”

Pretending not to hear, I hurried away, and behind me, I sensed Jerdin approaching.

“Titi! There you are. Want to dance with me in the second half?”

“Ah, Jerdin. Once again, you look absolutely wonderful today. Will you marry me?”

“We’re not even engaged.”

“Then will you get engaged?”

“We’re not even dating.”

“Then will you date me?”

They really haven’t changed at all.

Thinking as much, I made my way up to the second-floor lounge.

“They’re mixing…”

A tiny tempest stirred in the water-filled dish before me.

In moments, the swirling column bound itself tightly, forming a single united strand.

Gripping the vial Sortiea had given me in one hand, I bit my lip.

The new potion from Cebellena was definitely the genuine article.

Since Count Camellan’s and Sortiea’s hair were blending, there could be no doubt.

I tried mixing my hair with Count Camellan’s too.

That did not mix.

“…”

What am I missing?

My heart thudded with restless unease.

Cebellena’s voice kept scratching at my ears.

“True parents and children never mix.”

I need to… test it again with Father.

In truth, I’d wanted to suggest it to Father during the earlier dance, but the words failed me.

But if it does mix—

How am I supposed to accept what that would mean?

Suddenly, the black tombstone of the child resting in the Zevert memorial flashed through my mind. As did this morning’s dream of the original story.

If there was still another tale unknown to me, like that—

All sorts of fears rose unexpectedly.

The scariest thought: what if I had somehow harmed Father?

If the Mage King’s puppet that I was had stolen something from the child—and so inflicted irreparable wounds on my family—

The possibility struck terror into me. If that were true, whose side would Father’s heart ultimately favor: mine, or the child’s?

My thoughts raced out of control.

Even as I knew the carriage accident that had taken the child’s life happened before I was born, such wild imaginings left me utterly unsettled.

Unless this was all—

Of course.

I hadn’t overlooked another possibility.

There was one scenario—a possibility I never once considered in my whole life.

That I might be—

—myself.

I collapsed onto the sofa.

“Ah, I’m dizzy.”

A spell of vertigo washed over me.

Having slept poorly last night, and been on edge about everything, my condition had steadily deteriorated.

There was a metallic taste in my mouth. Worried, I wiped under my nose, but there was no nosebleed.

“Just one more…”

I needed to confirm just one more thing.

Only when I had gathered every shred of information could I draw a conclusion.

That was when—

Knock, knock, knock.

A thunderous knocking jolted my body upright.

“My lady? Are you in there?”

It was a maid from the ballroom.

“What is it?”

“Someone’s come from the estate.”

I hurried to open the door. The maid stood with a letter resting atop a silver tray.

After giving her a tip and ordering secrecy, I quickly tore open the letter.

I had already sent Hazel back to the house.

Just as Cebellena said, to see if the potion left at home truly—

—had the opposite effect.

To check.

“Hazel, please try the potion I left in my room on the servants I mentioned, and let me know what happens.”

“Hm? My lady, these people are…”

“Yes. Direct parent and child.”

Among the ducal servants, many eventually married and settled down. There should be plenty of samples.

With trembling eyes, I read the letter, line by line.

It felt as if someone was rubbing ice through my brain. Goosebumps pricked my skin; my whole mind went numb.

In that instant, I felt something inside me shatter and splinter apart. Perhaps everything I had ever accepted as truth until now.

Thud! I shot to my feet.

After that, honestly—

I don’t remember if I crawled, walked, or ran.

“Rubian?”

As I tumbled down the stairs, I ran into Licht, who was looking for me.

“Why do you look so pale?”

“Father…”

Vigeria.

Answer me.

“Where is my father?”

What in the world is happening?

Answer me, Vigeria! I know you know!

“Rubian!”

Startled, Licht pressed a handkerchief to my face. Seeing it stain red, my vision seemed to blur with the color of blood.

You hold the truth in your hands.

I stared down desperately at the vial I clung to like a lifeline. Drops of blood fell, one by one, onto the clear glass.

What am I?

I am the Mage King’s seventh child, a weapon, a fugitive mage, the adopted daughter of the Zevert family…

Someone reincarnated into this novel, who’s changed the original story…

Really?

A tidal wave crashed over me.

Rubian, the truth was always within you.

Always.

Always.