Youngest 216

Episode 216

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Rustle, rustle.

Someone was brushing my hair aside.

I slowly lifted my eyelids.

It was dawn; after confessing the truth to Grandfather and insisting I had to head south, perhaps due to the release of tension, my condition had suddenly worsened.

In the end, it seemed I’d taken the strong medicine Borvel gave me and fallen asleep.

Sleep comes, even in a situation like this.

I thought it was rather absurd as I gazed through the darkness at the figure seated by my bedside.

“…Mother?”

The hand paused, startled.

“Oh, you’re awake? Oh dear. Borvel gave strict orders not to wake you.”

When I tried to sit up, Mother pulled the covers up as if telling me to stay down.

“When did you get here?”

“A little while ago. This morning.”

Her fingers as they touched my forehead were wrapped in bandages. I fiddled with them.

“Did you hurt your hand? But… Why is it so dark in here? Is it already afternoon?”

Then something soft came to rest on my forehead.

“Yes. They said not to pull back the curtains. Our Ruby needs a deep sleep. Otherwise, Borvel looked like he’d kill me.”

“Huh. The famously boastful Borvel…”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Mother seemed to laugh softly. Her gentle hand patted the thick blanket.

“Come on, sleep a little longer.”

“Mom… I have something to say, though.”

I swallowed dryly and tried to raise my body a little, but once again was stopped.

“Unh-unh. Not now. Later.”

“No, it’s really important—”

“Aigoo, this won’t do. Looks like I’ll have to make you sleep. My daughter’s eyes are shining so brightly.”

I couldn’t see Mother’s face at all, but it was as if she could see mine perfectly.

Mother burrowed into the blanket, her body carrying a faint scent of earth.

“You act all grown up, but you’re still just a baby.”

Her hands gently tapped all over me.

“To me, Ruby will always be a little child.”

“…”

“My goodness. Look at how thin you’ve gotten. You shouldn’t have rushed if you weren’t well. There’s nothing but bones left.”

“Mom…”

Burying myself in that warm, soft embrace, my eyes only rolled about. Against my cheek, Mother’s heartbeat hammered wildly.

“Could it be…”

My voice broke a little. I’d felt a strange sense of discomfort for some time now.

Why is Mother here?

How did her hand get injured, and what is this earthy smell?

“Did you… happen to meet Princess Sevelena in the capital? Did she tell you something?”

At that moment, Mother’s hand abruptly stopped, and a heavy silence descended.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“She told you, didn’t she…”

Mother was perceptive. She must have checked the grave and then come straight to find me…

“I’ll explain as much as I know—”

“Yes. But let’s wait just a little longer.”

Mother hugged me tightly.

“Let’s just sleep a little, just for now.”

Her weary voice, her hand patting me again—gentle as if soothing a baby…

I started to say something more but ended up clutching her clothes and burying my face in her bosom.

Mother took a deep breath in, then out.

“Ruby, my baby…”

“…”

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice wavered with tears.

“I’m sorry for losing you…”

There was a familiar fragrance. The scent I had always wanted to return to, that comforted and held me close.

I called out, “Mom,” in a trembling voice.

A muffled answer returned. And the moment I realized Mother was truly there, my tears started falling in earnest.

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That evening.

I…

Am I perhaps made of steel?

“Wow.”

Looking out at the darkness that had fallen outside, a hollow sigh escaped me.

‘I fell asleep again.’

And on waking, I’d been hungry enough to empty a whole bowl of soup.

‘Even after all this, I still have an appetite.’

Or perhaps, having faced things, my mind had steadied.

“That’s right. No matter what happens, eating and sleeping well is important. It clears the thoughts.”

“Oh, did I… say that out loud?”

“We’re completely connected now, daughter.”

Mother tapped my nose lightly.

“It’s written all over your face.”

Mother’s smiling eyes, though gentle, were bloodshot and deeply red.

In the wake of the storm of truth, there were indeed immense traces left behind.

But inevitably, stillness follows any storm. Endless pain does not exist; all that remains is how to cope with what’s left.

Mother, more than anyone, seemed to understand that. She dusted herself off and stood with resolve.

‘Good.’

I, too, braced my heart sturdily, following Mother’s lead.

‘Mother is right.’

Truly, after some sleep, I felt much better.

With clarity returning, I could now see just how panicked I’d been.

Of course, there was still something weighing heavily on me.

‘Father…’

I would have to tell Father, too.

I hesitated, almost lifting my hand to my earlobe, but Mother reached out gently and held my hand.

She must have been thinking the same thing.

“Ruby, let’s do this step by step. As for Leviathan… After we sort out the situation a little, it would be best for me to talk to him directly.”

I nodded.

I understood the unstated meaning behind her words.

‘If Father hears this, there’s no telling what he’ll do…’

In his fury, he might cross the sea alone. Right now, of all people, Father was closest to the Mage Kingdom. Even for him, that would be dangerous in the extreme.

Besides, the first thing was to discuss this with the family here and now.

‘Yes. One thing at a time.’

I washed up quickly and went down to the sitting room.

In the warm, cozy sitting room, Grandfather and Void were waiting, both with serious faces.

I embraced them in turn, then sat down.

Slowly, I explained everything, from meeting Princess Sevelena to what had happened at the lake.

Of course, I was also told what happened in the Imperial Palace while I’d been asleep.

‘Licht…’

The fourth prince had apparently become a completely different person.

Despite vomiting blood from the aftereffects of poison, he was storming through the palace, desperate to send the First Prince not into exile but to the executioner’s block.

The nobles who had supported the First Prince fell silent before the fury of the prince, and even the emperor was astonished.

‘It’s not easy to execute a royal unless it’s for treason.’

I was a little worried for Licht.

But for now, there was nothing I could do but focus on what was before me.

“Ruby, what’s your theory?”

Mother’s words broke my train of thought.

“How did the Mage King… manage to dig up that grave?”

I set down my warm mug.

“Until now, I didn’t know what the scar on my side was.”

“…”

“But if, like with the southern incident, the Mage King deliberately unleashed magical beasts, and in the chaos, tried to steal my body—if that’s when I got this wound…”

“Phew. A wound from a magical beast… doesn’t heal easily…”

Grandfather, still trembling, spat out the words.

At that, Void, who had roughly wiped his eyes, cautiously spoke up.

“But Ruby, as you know—”

“Yes?”

“Magical beasts can’t be controlled by human will. Not unless they’re dark beasts manipulated by dark magic…”

If Liam were here, he would have said such a thing—I nodded accordingly.

“I know. But… there is summoning magic that can command familiars.”

“Summoning magic?”

“Yes. Usually, it’s just used to tether an animal’s spirit for a short time.”

“That magic… could it work on a magical beast too?”

Mother interjected.

I nibbled at my fingertip and nodded.

“Yes. But I’ve heard that doing so contaminates one’s mana. One suffers eternal agony, as if cursed… In the worst case, you can end up bearing a magical beast’s energy and be devoured by the beast instead.”

“I’ve heard of this.”

Void said.

Perhaps because they’d unintentionally raised two child mages, my family was rather knowledgeable about magic for imperial subjects.

“Isn’t that the magic Kal uses? If Kal was involved in that incident…”

“It wasn’t Kal.”

I cut him off firmly.

“Kal was practically a child back then. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Unless there’s some secret I don’t know about Kal.

“Ah… That’s true.”

I drank some of the warm milk in my mug and spoke again.

“There are missing numbers among the Mage King’s children.”

“Missing… numbers?”

“‘First,’ ‘Second,’ ‘Fourth,’ and me. ‘Seventh.’”

I folded my fingers one by one.

At the mention of ‘Seventh,’ Mother and Grandfather squeezed their eyes shut.

“I don’t know about the rest, but the ‘third’ and ‘fifth’ are unaccounted for.”

“…Which means.”

“I think, eighteen years ago, they forced them to use summoning magic on magical beasts. After being contaminated, they were killed.”

At the time, the Mage King had still been pretending to be good.

‘He was acting like an upstanding, gentle human, scraping and bowing to the whole continent…’

He wouldn’t have left any evidence of illicit magic.

This time, I turned to Mother.

“Mother, can you tell me about the carriage accident again? In detail.”

Mother nodded and began to speak.