Youngest 179
by CristaeEpisode 179
I left the archives and took a light stroll through the palace gardens with Licht.
Perhaps because I’d been buried in documents for so long, I suddenly felt dizzy.
“Just looking at all those letters makes me feel like I’m going to be sick.”
But a breath of cold air quickly cleared my head.
In the distance, I saw the children of noble families who had come to the palace with their parents, each claiming a greenhouse to themselves and enjoying teatime.
My eyes widened at the sight.
“Licht, Licht! Do you see that? That’s it! Please make sure to tell the person who makes the macarons to fill them with exactly that texture and that amount of filling!”
“…So the macarons were really that bad, huh.”
“They had potential. I mean it.”
I only wanted to help someone I knew improve, yet for some reason he pressed his lips tight, face flushing.
We walked quietly through the gardens and chatted about this and that.
Licht was always a good listener and replied thoughtfully, making him easy to talk to.
I was chattering on about how I’d be acting in the graduation academic festival’s play, when suddenly I felt someone’s gaze fixed on me.
“What is it?”
“Rubian, I’ve been thinking…”
Licht turned to face me, gazing straight into my eyes.
“You look a bit tired today. Are you alright?”
“Gasp, is it that obvious?”
I touched beneath my eye.
“Guess it’s because I stayed up all night chatting with Mother.”
“Ah… Now that you mention it, the duchess came home, didn’t she?”
Licht let out a quiet laugh.
“What on earth did you have so much to talk about?”
“I told her about the love letter, and she got incredibly excited…”
“…Love confession…?”
His laugh vanished as if it had never been.
“Did you… get another one? Who was it this time?”
“It was anonymous. I couldn’t tell.”
“Of all the ones you’ve gotten so far…”
Why does he sound like his throat suddenly tightened?
“Was there anyone among them that you liked?”
“Hmm.”
An impossibly difficult question.
I remembered the yellow stationery that had been in my locker a few days ago.
Some love confessions included a name; many, like this one, remained anonymous.
Since I would graduate from the Academy after the coming of age ceremony, they wanted to confess before then or something like that.
I couldn’t help but find them curious, for more than one reason.
I’d even discussed something similar with Mother last night.
“How can you tell if you like someone? Is there some sure marker? I really don’t know… What makes them so certain, what do they believe in when they say they like me?”
“Well, feelings of love are hard to explain in words, but do you want to hear how it was for me?”
“Yes!”
Mother smiled broadly, stroking my hair as we lay under the covers.
“For me… I wanted to bite your father.”
“Bite… Sorry?”
“Rawr! And that’s when I realized it was love.”
“…Huh?”
“Rawr!”
“Aaah!”
So my question only deepened the mystery…
Hmmm.
It’s really a hard field.
I don’t think I’ll ever figure it out.
I felt as though the world was spinning before my eyes.
Licht felt anxious.
‘Why… is she thinking for so long?’
Had he asked something unnecessary?
She didn’t seem to have thought about it much before; had he given her too much time and now she was about to reach some realization? What would he do then?
His nerves on fire, he lightly grasped Rubian’s shoulder.
“Rubian. Wh-what’s there to think about so deeply?”
Quickly, her blue eyes refocused on him.
“Ah, sorry. But why… why are you sweating like that?”
Good question.
Why am I sweating so much?
Rubian shrugged lightly.
“There’s never been anyone I liked. I’m grateful, but I turned them all down politely.”
Then she looked me in the eye and broke into a sunny smile.
“I suppose I just like my family more for now. Maybe I’ll always feel that way.”
Licht curled his fingers into a light fist.
His heart pounded, every blood vessel in his body seeming to expand.
‘Just because she flashed a brief smile…’
He laughed at himself, inwardly.
‘I’m hopeless.’
He walked on beside her, sneaking glances as Rubian chattered away at his side.
A member of the imperial family should always carry themselves upright, never letting their gaze wander.
But his body had long since disobeyed him.
‘She smells nice…’
Rubian always smelled clean and gentle—a hint of sparkling lemon, or perhaps a faint floral scent.
Her silver hair, tied high, her gentle, mild features, those eyes shining with sunlight.
‘But she still looks unwell.’
Her paleness bothered him all the more.
‘She says it’s just one night’s lost sleep, but is it really?’
He was about to suggest that she head home and rest, when suddenly—
“Well, well, who do we have here… Licht.”
A familiar voice, and Licht swore quietly to himself.
It was the First Prince.
He’d heard he would be out at the hunting grounds this morning.
‘So there’s a spy near me.’
Licht came to a cold conclusion and immediately started planning to root them out.
“I heard some foolish whispering and wondered what it could be…”
The First Prince’s mocking tone faltered as his steps stopped dead.
He had spotted Rubian, who had been hidden by Licht’s body.
“Ah.”
Rubian peeked out from behind Licht, then offered a polite bow.
“Greetings, Your Highness the First Prince.”
“Ahem! Y-yes, my lady.”
Licht smiled to himself at the awkward reply.
Of all the palace’s residents, Rubian was the last person the arrogant First Prince wanted to encounter.
‘Although he certainly wasn’t like that at first.’
Licht had been deeply worried the first time Rubian had come to the palace and met the First Prince.
He never knew what wounds that sly tongue might inflict on her.
But he needn’t have worried.
“My lady, you seem close with Licht.”
“Of course. We’re friends.”
“Well… You’re no longer a child. You ought to give careful thought to your choices.”
His tone was laced with slick mockery about Rubian’s closeness with Licht.
“If you keep things that are bound to spoil beside you, won’t their stench rub off on you as well?”
“Oh? I don’t use things that long—never until they spoil.”
But it didn’t land.
“Surely Your Highness uses things until they spoil? How surprisingly frugal. Should I go outside and spread a rumor or two?”
“…”
The First Prince wore the look of a man who had just tried to punch a jelly as hard as he could.
He felt nothing, while his opponent had put in their full strength…
“Hrm! Lady, you are truly the picture of innocence! Lord Zevert must have been quite lax in raising his children. Even as the youngest, you’ve clearly been coddled far too much!”
Sounds like your family’s education was a mess, too.
He attacked again.
“Ah… Is it that obvious?”
“Huh? Why are you blushing?”
“So it is obvious… that I’ve been raised well.”
“Except, I never used the word ‘well’…”
“Thank you. As you know, I’m adopted, so such praise means a lot to me. I’ll be sure to tell my father.”
As Rubian bashfully traced circles with her toe, the First Prince stared at her in dismay.
He seemed to realize for the first time that to pick a fight, the target has to recognize it as a fight.
After a few more such encounters, the First Prince began to avoid Rubian on his own.
Today, he’d simply run into her.
“Not even an attendant in sight, just the two of you…”
The First Prince looked Rubian and Licht up and down in turn.
“Freedom is fine, but I would suggest that you compose yourself more properly, my lady.”
“Excuse me? I’m wearing new clothes today. Perfectly proper.”
“I mean, what are a grown man and woman doing together in such a secluded place…”
“In a garden open on all four sides, what could we possibly do besides walk and talk?”
“Well, I—”
“So Your Highness, you must have done many things besides walking and talking in secluded gardens?”
Her pointed tone made even passersby stop and look.
His Highness has been doing what in secluded places? What could it be? Who knows.
Murmuring. Whispering.
“What is it you do? Hide-and-seek?”
“…”
The First Prince’s face twitched. Licht, as usual, had to jab himself in the thigh to suppress his laughter.
In the end, the First Prince, having come to pick a fight with Licht, made a hasty retreat after being burned by Rubian.
He would’ve argued for ages with Licht in the old days.
‘Ah.’
Suddenly, Licht caught his breath.
He saw neat fingers lightly clutching the hem of his robes.
As if to say, Don’t get involved, or, Don’t get hurt.
No one in the palace had ever taken his side for no reason at all. He had thought it would always be that way.
‘…And yet here she is.’
Licht tried to suppress his pounding heart.
‘How could anyone not fall for her, after all this.’
The love letters Rubian had received.
Licht remembered the letters he used to send Rubian when she stayed in the north.
He had searched for the finest stationery, practiced endlessly to write in his neatest script.
Now, looking back, perhaps those had been his first love letters.
I dusted off my hands while watching the First Prince weave away in a daze.
It was a bit much for me, but seeing Licht laugh so freely gave me a certain satisfaction.
‘There’s no need for our future crown prince to step forward unnecessarily.’
Besides, I really couldn’t stand the First Prince.
The first time we met, it was all too clear that he was trying to win me over—to pull my father, Duke Zevert, to his side.
I hated being treated like some cord he could use to draw in the House of Zevert.
‘Am I supposed to be my family’s weak spot?’
It was, truly, an insult to my pride.
In any case, Licht had been carefully gathering evidence on the First Prince’s weaknesses. He would surely make use of it soon.
‘But in the original story, wasn’t there a more decisive incident that led to the First Prince’s downfall…?’
“…Bian.”
Hmm. What was it?
The original story had changed so much anyway.
Maybe it didn’t matter if I remembered, but if the information was worth anything, I wanted to recall it.
“Rubian?”
‘I have to do my best, too.’
I’m not a child anymore—I’m an adult.
Lost in thought, I was suddenly jostled by a voice.
“Ruby!”
“Huh?”
The low call of my name startled me out of my reverie.
As my focus cleared, I realized Licht’s teal eyes were locked on mine, his hand gripping mine tightly.
What was that?
‘Was my vision blurred just now?’
“Are you alright? What’s wrong?”
“Ah, maybe I was just thinking too hard.”
Or maybe the First Prince had drained my energy without my even noticing.
“This won’t do. Let’s call it a day. I’ll see you home.”
I shook my head to clear it and tried to shake off my lethargy.
Thud.
“Ah!”
Something hot was running down my nose.
Oh, no.
“Rubian!”
I quickly pulled out my handkerchief and pinched my nose, but when I saw the spreading stain of red, I felt myself slip into a mild panic.
“Your Highness, what is the matter?”
Maidservants came running at the commotion.
“My lady?!”
“No, I-I’m fine…”
At that moment, a familiar hand gripped my shoulder from behind. A large book shielded my face at the same time.
“It’s alright. Keep your head down.”
That familiar scent of ink and paper.
“Brother?”
Looking up, I found Liam gazing down at me, his face deathly pale.