Youngest 116
by Cristae116
“A… portrait?”
His sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
Regardless, I strode straight up to the artist Mister, who was sketching portraits beneath a tent, and greeted him brightly.
“Hello!”
“Oh my, such adorable visitors… Miss?”
“Oh, do you know me?”
“Of course, of course! I often come to the manor to restore the murals. I’ve seen you a few times from afar.”
“Oh, really?”
I thought I was disguised well enough, but somehow he recognized me.
The artist Mister laughed warmly and smiled kindly.
“Have you come to have a portrait drawn?”
“Yes! For me and my friend! Please draw us together!”
“You can count on me!”
I dragged the still-bewildered Khalid to sit next to me.
“Ruby, why a portrait all of a sudden?”
“You know! When you’re hanging out with friends, you sometimes get these photos taken… I mean, portraits!”
To preserve our lives in four panels… or in this case, just one.
Khalid looked at me, not understanding.
“Sit nicely. You have to look good to come out well.”
When I pressed my shoulder against his, Khalid stiffened and sat ramrod straight.
The artist’s hands flew swiftly. A formal portrait would take days, but a street portrait—speed is everything.
“You really get portraits like this with your friends, as keepsakes?”
He mouthed the question softly.
Somehow exhilarated, I nodded eagerly.
“I’m telling you, it’s totally a thing! Of course, it’s also for… dates—! Oops.”
I quickly bit my lip. Khalid was still staring straight ahead.
‘He didn’t hear that, did he?’
I’d let the excitement get the better of me.
“I see… with friends…”
A low murmur drifted from beside me.
Then, I felt his gaze slide over to me.
“So what was the improper thought?”
What, he’s still stuck on that?
“You’re so obsessed.”
“Is a date improper to you?”
“…….”
Out of the corner of my stiff vision, I sensed Khalid tilting his head.
“Why…”
“…….”
“What do people even do on a date?”
On my rigid thighs, I furtively clenched my fist.
Somehow my scalp felt hot.
Khalid seemed to hope I’d reply to anything, but I just couldn’t meet his eyes.
Oh, little lamb… May you remain as innocent as you are.
I, however, am beyond saving.
The next day, my birthday party was held in the grand, resplendent ballroom!
Because of the last-minute arrangements, there were no outside guests, but being together with my family and everyone from the manor was enough to make me happy.
“Rubian, happy birthday—even if it’s late!”
“Kyaa! Thank you so much!”
The glittering chandelier, the lavish decorations, the heaps of rich food!
Everything was there just for me.
Was this why people loved birthdays so much?
Wearing a party hat, I blew out the candles on the cake. Asher’s fireworks burst into blue sparks.
Amid showers of colored confetti, a bright laugh escaped me.
“Happy birthday, Ruby.”
Khalid whispered to me. That day, we’d drawn two portraits and shared one between us.
He didn’t stop there—he gave me all the items I’d fiddled with while we were out in town. It made me deeply concerned for his financial sensibilities.
“Thank you, Khalid. But from now on, you have to keep an expense book, all right?”
“…? I’ll try.”
“You two are close.”
With narrowed eyes, Void butted in.
“Where did you two go yesterday anyway?”
Lately, Void had been obsessively monitoring my and Khalid’s every move.
Khalid, sitting next to me, replied nonchalantly.
“A da—”
“We just looked around nearby!”
I quickly clapped my hand over Khalid’s mouth.
Rosetta, cradling a glass of red wine, tilted her head coyly.
“Oh? I’d actually like to hear the rest of what our Khal was going to say.”
“He was going to say da—”
“Khalid, don’t fall for it. That smile hides arrows behind her back.”
“…?”
I yanked hard on his collar and whispered. Khalid looked puzzled. Void dragged his chair right in between us.
“Right then! All set! Time to open the presents—everyone, gather around!”
Grandfather waved from across the ballroom.
“Preseeents!”
I immediately jumped out of my seat.
When I ran over, the entire wall was stacked high with sparkling gift boxes.
Wow, it’d take a year just to open them all!
“These are just a taste—the rest are in my annex—”
“What? There’s more?”
“My son, maybe I should just turn my annex into Ruby’s present storage. I can sleep anywhere, really. That seems best, doesn’t it?”
“Sounds good! There’s no fun if it’s not empty to start.”
“What are you talking about!”
Drawing a frantic X with my arms, I managed to protect Grandfather’s nest.
Each colorful box came with a little card. Most boasted the names of senior knights or staff from the manor.
I picked them out and tucked them close to my heart.
I don’t like excess, but things like this… I really do love.
“Oh, that’s right. There really is one thing I want!”
As we started the family gift session, the thought suddenly hit me and I spun around.
“Huh?”
My family was visibly startled by my abrupt outburst.
“Ruby, you should have told us sooner! What do we do, Liam?!”
“Calm down, Void. Considering our family’s combined resources and influence, we can get literally anything within a day—”
“No way you could get it in a day.”
“What?”
Liam’s glasses slipped off center.
Watching, Father crouched down to my level, laying a hand on my shoulder. He looked slightly—somewhat—crestfallen.
“What is it? Tell us, Ruby.”
Grinning broadly, I said,
“Heh. Come in, please!”
Creeeak. The door opened, and the artist Mister peeked in.
“Uh, how do you do…”
“Who’s that?”
I puffed up my chest and made the announcement.
“For my birthday, I want… a family portrait!”
When we entered the portrait studio, my eyes grew huge.
“Wow!”
“Haha, you’re impressed already? It’s not even finished; there’s a long way to go.”
The artist Mister scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
He’d just finished the sketch, and though you could only barely recognize the figures, I was already amazed!
“It’s still wonderful!”
With two thumbs up, I coaxed a heartier laugh from the artist.
“Thank you. I expect it’ll be finished by summer.”
How wonderful—a family portrait!
At first, everyone seemed a little awkward, but now I think they were as excited as I was.
Since Father and my two older brothers would be away from the castle during spring, we decided to finish the portraits of myself, Rosetta, and Grandfather first.
‘Once it’s all in color, it’ll be perfect, right?’
It was a little funny that I was placed in the middle of the composition for some reason…
“Come to think of it, His Excellency departs today, doesn’t he?”
The artist asked, packing away his brushes.
“Yes…”
My shoulders, as I admired the portrait, drooped a little.
“Oh, he leaves every year, doesn’t he? I’m sure he’ll be fine. Try not to worry.”
“Yes… Ah! Is the piece I mentioned finished?”
“It is, indeed. Here you are.”
He took a small sheet of paper from his bag. It was a drawing version of the family portrait that fit in my palm.
“Thank you!”
Bowing my head in thanks, I left the studio.
Walking the corridor, I held the drawing up to the light and studied it.
The warm-colored paper shone in the morning sun—the rough texture of charcoal clear under my fingertips.
“Hehe. It’s just a drawing, but still. A family photo!”
Maybe I’ll trim off a corner and give it to Father.
There’s only one, unfortunately…
“Young Lady! Were you just in the portrait studio?”
Just then, I ran into Hazel coming out of my room.
“Yep!”
“It’s all aired out, so hurry in and rest a while.”
“Thanks, Hazel!”
I dashed into my room and rolled about on the freshly cleaned bedspread.
“Kyaah, I love this!”
My east room was several times bigger than my old one.
It was chock full of cute things, too, and even though Father and Mother told me to throw out anything I didn’t need, I’d absolutely refused.
‘They spent so much effort picking every last item for this room.’
Father, that scatterbrain, even remembered exactly where everything was in here—says it all.
And you want me to throw them away? Impossible!
‘Besides, strictly speaking, none of this is really mine anyway.’
For the child of a mother and father long gone.
There was no way I could discard them as I pleased.
“Hm…”
After rolling around for a while, a certain thought made me rub my back.
‘I need to get moving. If I want to break free from the Crest’s shackles…’
Pondering, I sat up. My gaze fell to the desk placed in the center of the room.
My lips parted slightly.
“That’s…”
I walked over and picked up the Academy pamphlet.
“Oh, I still haven’t thrown this away.”
I thought I had.
The bold promotional slogan caught my eye.
‘Come to think of it, Void and Liam will soon be heading back to the Academy.’
School…
To be honest, I had no fond memories from my previous life, so I wasn’t very interested.
Besides, the capital’s land was barren of magic. If I had to go anywhere, the southern academy seemed the better choice.
I idly leafed through the pamphlet, then turned back to the cover.
‘…Heart…?’
Suddenly, for some reason, that word seemed to catch in my mind.