Youngest 159
by CristaeEpisode 159
That evening.
“Huuuuhhng!”
The unfamiliar sound of crying filled the parlor.
‘What should I do?’
My eyes rolled restlessly.
It had been an overwhelming day.
Meeting the Second for the second time wasn’t enough; I had even suffered an attack from the Mage King.
Upon assessing the situation, the Emperor declared Arcadia an enemy, and carrier pigeons bearing this news soared in unison toward each of the allied nations.
The Academy was nearly half-destroyed.
Despite the extraordinary event of two magical beasts appearing right in the heart of the capital, fortunately, no serious injuries had occurred.
From what I heard, the exploits of the Zevert Order and the royal palace knights led by the Fourth Prince were to thank.
Since I was the only one who knew what happened in the old library, the real reason for the Mage King’s intrusion here would remain secret.
Of course, all camp activities were canceled.
The Academy would now go on indefinite break until the buildings could be restored.
‘It truly… was incredible.’
As soon as I returned to the townhouse, I received a brief examination by a physician. Then, I sat in the parlor with the adults.
That was fine, as far as it went.
“Uuuhhng.”
“Um…”
Fidgeting with my fingers, I looked up at my father, who dabbed my cheeks with a wet towel.
“…What should we do?”
“Indeed. I’m not sure, either.”
A troubled expression flickered in his upright gaze.
“Oh dear, Roze. Stop crying, now. Why are you weeping so miserably…?”
Unable to watch any longer, Grandfather stepped in.
Indeed.
Mother had been burying her face in the table and sobbing hard this whole time.
It had started the instant the physician assured her there was nothing wrong with me.
In the end, as soon as my father finished wiping the dust from my face, he stepped forward.
“Rosetta.”
As if waiting for this, Mother jerked her head up. Face a mess of tears and snot…
“My heart nearly stopped! I’ve been retired so long, I’m not used to being startled like this anymore! Don’t you realize that?!”
“I know. I know it very well. Please, just stop crying. It’s all my fault.”
“Why do you apologize so meekly…”
Bawling.
Father let out a long sigh, stroking Mother’s shoulder.
When I saw those blue eyes threatening to spill more tears, I hurried over.
“Um, Mom. Why are you… I’m not even hurt…”
As I gently touched her thin arm and spoke, Rosetta looked at me, sniffling.
“Ruby…”
She turned her body. Her long arms reached out.
“…Come here.”
Thinking she was going to hug me, I moved a little closer—only for her hand to grab my shoulder out of nowhere.
“You… you, you deserve a scolding.”
“Huh?”
All of a sudden?
I froze, unsure what to do, as my mother gripped me tightly and feebly tapped my rear.
“Your grandfather was near the lakeshore. And your father was in a building nearby.”
Tap. Tap.
Tears fell along with the words.
“Professors and knights were around too…”
“….”
“So why didn’t you come to them…?”
Finally, her hand lost strength and dropped.
“With a bad person chasing you, why did you run the other way… Why…?”
Rosetta muttered in agony, and at last clung tightly to me. My shoulder was soon soaked.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt, but I truly thought I’d lost you…”
“….”
“I thought I’d lost my daughter again…”
Somehow, those words made my own eyes well up.
Apparently, Mother had been far more frightened than I’d imagined.
My lips moved wordlessly. At a loss for what to say, I simply hugged her in return.
“I—I’m sorry…”
Mumbling an apology, Mother quickly pulled back and shook her head.
“Sniff—not at all. Don’t apologize. I’m sorry. I should’ve come faster.”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry…”
“No, I’m the one… more sorry…”
Bwaaaaah.
And once again, a sea of tears.
We wept, hugging each other, locked in a contest of apologies.
“It certainly is… a scene to make one cry.”
Watching us, my father cleared his throat.
“Why does it seem almost funny, though…”
“Well, there sure are plenty of tears, that’s for sure.”
Grandfather awkwardly scratched his chin.
For a moment, time passed in this way.
Knock-knock—the door opened cautiously after a soft knock.
“Your Grace—oh my.”
It was Butler Adolf. Seeing Mother and me holding each other, both with puffy, tear-stained faces, he gasped in surprise.
Father was pouring tea, overseeing the care of our swollen eyes.
“What is it?”
“Young Masters Liam and Void have finished their checkups and gone upstairs. Neither is injured.”
“Thank goodness.”
“I only barely managed to prevent them from coming here.”
“They must be shaken as well. Get some food into them, have them wash up, and let them come down afterwards.”
“Yes, and… His Majesty the Emperor requests your presence. Says he urgently needs to discuss matters.”
Father let out another deep sigh.
His expression, somehow, was as if this was inevitable.
“Understood. Make ready.”
As he rose, I reflexively gripped the hem of his robe.
The grip was feeble, but my father noticed and looked at me.
“Father, when you return…”
I brought up the topic I couldn’t finish at the Academy.
“There’s something I want to say… Something I couldn’t say earlier…”
I had resolved to say what I needed to.
And now, what had to be said must be said.
“….”
“To Grandfather and Mother as well.”
My heart pounded hard.
It was a secret they all already knew, but even so, I wanted to end it with my own voice.
Gathering the courage, I remained a little tense.
“Adolf.”
Father gently embraced my shoulder and spoke quietly.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Tell His Majesty I’ll come tomorrow instead.”
“But he said it was urgent…”
Yet Father settled back into his seat.
“Hearing this is more urgent. More important.”
Reading the mood, Butler Adolf bowed deeply.
“I will convey it well.”
“Clear the area. Admit no one.”
“Yes, sir.”
Click. The door shut.
“Well then…”
“….”
“Shall we talk?”
Father said. I clenched my fists and nodded.
My heart pounded in my chest.
To be honest, I was so nervous I wanted to run.
Just as always, I wanted to shrink behind a wall and wave my fingers, pointing somewhere far away.
But I decided to be brave.
This time, I would walk forward on my own.
“…This…”
My hand crept slowly to the hem of my shirt. With all protective magic removed, my lower back was exposed.
“….”
There, the Mage Kingdom’s crest was revealed, vivid and clear.
“Oh my…”
Rosetta clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a sob. Father was silent, the veins in his forehead standing out menacingly; Grandfather’s eyes were opened wide, his whole body rigid.
The mark I had so desperately wanted to hide.
The past I wished to conceal.
But now, I had realized that hiding and covering was not everything.
A wound must be revealed before it can be healed. To admit pain hurts, or to confess fears and seek help—these too are acts of courage.
Here, I had grown.
Slowly, but surely. And I wanted to show them it was more than just my body that had changed.
“Father, Mother, Grandfather…”
“….”
“I—I am from the Mage Kingdom.”
To my precious family.
“But I hated it there… so I ran away, and made it all the way here…”
It was the start of a long story.
The three adults of the ducal house watched over the sleeping child.
“….”
None of them found it easy to speak.
Rubian, in a voice small yet clear, explained that she was actually a mage, that she’d run away from the kingdom, met Leviathan in Eosia, and come here.
And that she’d concealed everything, even her gender, to avoid being tracked.
“If it was discovered I was a mage, I’d be dragged back to the kingdom… I… was the Mage King’s ‘Seventh.’”
It was devastating.
Yet they showed no reaction, listening calmly.
Rubian seemed a little frightened, but didn’t give up until the end, telling it all.
And then, with a slightly more unburdened face, she fell asleep in exhaustion; after all that had happened, she seemed to fall into deepest sleep, utterly spent.
The child had done her part.
Now it was up to the adults to accept it.
“What a thing…”
Balok groaned softly, clutching his forehead.
Rosetta, though braced for this, was frozen in place, unable to speak.
Only Leviathan, endlessly stroking Rubian’s sleeping head, remained composed.
“Nothing changes.”
A slightly hoarse voice emerged.
“No matter what past Rubian has, nothing changes.”
The child who unexpectedly ran into his arms one day.
He had resolved long ago to protect her.
“Of course. Naturally.”
Balok growled.
“Rubian is of our family. Absolutely… no one will lay a finger on her.”
Rosetta nodded her agreement.
“But at ten years old… To have been in that war…”
With a painful groan, Balok struck his forehead with his fist.
“…She was so small.”
When he first saw Rubian’s bright, clear eyes—
She seemed at most six or seven years old, no more.
“All because of those damned mages.”
The thought made him furious inside.
Once more, the image of that dreadful crest rose in their minds.
Balok gnashed his teeth, eyes gleaming. Rosetta quietly wiped away her tears, while Leviathan remained silent.
“My son.”
That broad back, stationed by the child’s bedside, somehow looked more unsteady tonight.
He heaved a deep sigh and put a hand on Leviathan’s shoulder.
“You have to keep your wits about you. Everything begins now. You must be firmly resolved to protect this child from those accursed mages.”
“Yes. I will.”
A low voice responded. Then, after a moment—
“But, Father…”
Leviathan suddenly hung his head.
Tap, tap.
Thick stains were left on the sheets.
“I was there. On that battlefield…”
Rubian, whom he first met in that border village of Eosia.
So small, so fragile, so unremarkable, that child.
He realized that image would haunt him for a long, long time.
The past he had failed to protect with his own hands… would linger like a ghost.
“If only I had resisted the kingdom, protested, argued to the end…”
“….”
“Maybe Rubian never would have been there…”
I regret it so much.
A blood-tinged sob escaped him.
Watching, Balok and Rosetta could no longer suppress their own swelling emotions.
Where did we go wrong?
A quiet, unvoiced grief, too much to let the child hear, lingered in the room for a long, long time before it faded away.