kscans

Chapter 34 - The Little One and Those Around Her

"That is why I believe it would be best for me to become your foster parent."

Before the Little One, already surrounded by complicated people, was a new complicated person.

When she answered the king’s summons, he once again said he wanted to become Chihiro’s foster parent. A foster parent was one who declared guardianship over the child, promising support no different from a real child. A person could have any number of them, and receiving guardianship from many foster parents was a great source of strength.

However, the parties in question were the king and queen.

If this were to be misinterpreted and draw attention, it was certain to make it difficult for her to move around. As the Little One was perplexed, support fire came from an unexpected direction.

"I don’t think it’s a bad idea, you know."

It was Romel, who had been summoned along with his parents.

He looked at the Little One with a rare, serious gaze.

"You will be traveling the world from now on, won’t you? There may be unexpected predicaments waiting for you. In such times, if you have the backing of the royal family, you can handle most things."

The Little One felt a hah of realization at Romel’s explanation. It was true that if she pushed forward with brute force with the monsters, a strain would eventually occur. As a card to avoid making waves, borrowing the authority of His Majesty the King was a valid option.

The little girl, correctly guessing Romel’s intentions, thought deeply.

Rumors of the Little One’s return were sweeping through the castle town, and it was no longer something that could be hidden. Just by looking at her, it was clear she was no ordinary little girl. No fool would judge her by looks alone, and if by some chance someone did, it would be nothing but misfortune for them. If they knew the meaning of reincarnation, which was spreading from Kilfan, everyone would look at her with wide eyes.

Because a hint of that had already been delivered to the royal palace.

‘I wish to inquire about the Countess Jourdain.’

A formal letter from the neighboring country of Flowers.

It was a near-secret letter addressed not to the king, but to Romel, from His Highness Crown Prince Marcello.

The content was a question of whether it was true that the rumored little girl was close to monsters and possessed all attributes. And also about her being called the Little One.

In Frontier, the little girl formerly known as the Little One had grown up and become Princess Fatima. But her memories were lost, and Fatima lived in the royal palace as just another princess. That was why the members of the royal palace had accepted the Countess Jourdain as a new Little One, not the former one. But her eccentric actions and words, down to the atmosphere she exuded and her way of speaking, were so similar to the past Little One that not a few people were suspicious. Furthermore, the people of the castle town, who knew the Little One well, recognized her as the Little One.

Not the former, not a new, but the one and only Little One.

That had spread, giving rise to many rumors, which had apparently reached as far as Flowers. It was a country with diplomatic relations, where merchants and adventurers came and went. You can’t stop people from talking. It was famous that Prince Marcello, who had heartfelt gratitude and respect for the Little One, had proposed to Fatima and become her fiancé to act as her support after she lost her memories. The young ninth princess. And her grandfather had become a traitor and disappeared. The youngest princess, having lost her grandfather who was her support, and her own memories, Prince Marcello had worked himself to the bone to become Fatima’s support, worried about her future, where she could be looked down upon as someone connected to a criminal.

Prince Marcello felt an extraordinary debt of gratitude to the little girl who had saved the border forest.

But with the information about the Little One that had appeared this time, he feared that it might have been a misunderstanding. In the letter, Prince Marcello was in agony. The Little One he knew was undoubtedly Princess Fatima. However, he couldn’t understand the talk or the logic that the person inside might be different. What was the truth behind the rumor that the Little One had returned? Everyone connected the stories of the Countess Jourdain to the Little One of ten years ago. Was it true that Her Highness Princess Fatima was the then Baroness Jourdain? Who was the Countess Jourdain? What was the relationship between Her Highness Princess Fatima, who was once the Golden King, and the rumored little girl?

And so on.

Without knowing the principles of reincarnation or the person herself, it would be impossible to answer these questions.

This has become a hassle. The other party is royalty. To counter them, I need authority equivalent to royalty.

To protect Chihiro, who was scheduled to go to the Flowers frontier, from those in power, Romel welcomed the king and queen becoming her foster parents.

With Romel’s backing, the Little One once again applied to be the king and queen’s foster child. With quasi-royal authority, she could also use the knight order, and she had a free pass everywhere in the royal palace except for the personal palaces. A new room was prepared for the Little One, and the Little One gave a wry smile at the fact that the room the chamberlain said was "cramped" was larger than the drawing room of the count’s house.

"I’ll prepare your personal belongings as well, just in case, but is it alright if it’s the same style as before?"

Nodding at Romel, who was looking around the room with a ledger in hand, the Little One lightly gathered strength in her legs and jumped pon onto his back. Then she peeked at the ledger over his shoulder and checked off the unnecessary items.

"Minimum jewelry. Two dresses for each season. Don’t underestimate a toddler’s growth spurt. She’ll outgrow them in one season."

It was likely pure goodwill, but the ledger had three times what the Little One specified, and her small hand scribbled washi washi rejections. When the Little One said she wanted them to be made larger if possible, so they could be adjusted with shoulder and waist tucks, Romel was the one to reject it.

"That would ruin the silhouette. It would look like the clothes are wearing you. It would cast doubt on Frontier’s national strength, so please don’t."

To a discerning eye, it would be obvious at a glance whether the fit was perfect or not. It could easily lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, like the clothes being makeshift or borrowed from someone else. It was certain to lead to gossip about the king not being able to provide satisfactory attire for his child. The Little One’s mouth formed a muun pucker, but Romel would not yield on this point.

As a compromise, they settled on two dresses and half the jewelry specified in the ledger. Unlike dresses, jewelry was easy to remodel. Even if she had a lot, two pieces could be combined to create a new piece of jewelry. This way, she could continue to use them even as she grew. Occasionally adding a little would be enough. Unlike the previous Little One, she had time in this life. Though busy, life was far more relaxed than in her previous life.

There were so many problems and successive commotions that I didn't even have time to rest in my previous life.

Just being able to talk at length like this, with her on his back, was deeply moving. There were many problems and commotions now, too, but compared to her previous life, both their urgency and number were small. It was safe to say it was less than half of before. Compared to ten years ago, when difficult problems had rained down like an avalanche without any room for discussion, the days were passing with unimaginable calm.

"I’d like to have tea again. With everyone."

"Here? No way, everyone has too much time on their hands. They just show up wara wara, you know. If we’re having tea, let’s do it at home."

Wara wara, she says. They were royalty and your family, though. And they weren't free, they came for tea and then screamed at the backlog of work later. Well, whatever.

It was the fault of those who abandoned their duties to have tea with the Little One.

With the incredibly annoyed-looking little girl on his back, Romel walked her to the kitchen, as she said she wanted to eat the staff meal. Then, he had the same meal served to him and enjoyed a moment of peace. The staff meal was a simple one, with multiple dishes served on a single plate.

Stewed rabbit meat was served with grilled vegetables, with two slices of bread on the side. In the upper right was a dessert pie, and it looked quite delicious. As the surrounding servants, who were also eating the staff meal, looked on with strange eyes, he elegantly brought the dessert pie from the edge of the plate to the Little One’s mouth.

"Is it good?"

"Yup!"

Today’s pie was apple. The Little One’s favorite. As the bite-sized piece of pie was brought to her mouth, she ate it moh moh, and the Little One also offered a piece of her cut pie to Romel.

"Here!"

"…"

"Romel? Aahn."

"…"

Staring at the piece offered to him with a "here, here," Romel tentatively opened his mouth. A pie was tossed posu inside. An involuntary smile broke out on his face, and he savored this happiness.

"…It’s delicious."

"Right? Our chefs are the best, aren’t they?"

Romel’s blissful smile was one of deep emotion.

The Little One returned it with a bright, pakiii smile and started eating moh moh again. She didn’t notice the clear disappointment on the faces of those around her.

No, that’s not it.

It was a moment when the feelings of the servants, including the head chef, who were watching from the side, were united.

But well, as long as the two of them are happy, anything goes. Oblivious to the people watching over them with lukewarm smiles, the two in question continued their meal happily.

The Little One and Romel smiled at each other with smiles of different vectors. It was a scene filled with overflowing happiness, like a single captured painting. If it weren’t for the two pairs of eyes glaring from the shadows of the kitchen.

"Head Chef! Adonis! How childish!"

The Little One didn’t notice the two pairs of eyes shining brightly in the back of the kitchen. Romel did notice, and as if enjoying it, he fed the Little One. As the three different intentions crossed, the vice head chef who was chiding the two in the kitchen was the biggest victim.

And a short while later, Chihiro departed for the Flowers frontier. Welcoming the knight order forced upon them by the king and queen, and Zakk, who stood silently like a Nio statue, as new members, the Little One’s squad, leading monsters, raced across the land with a silent shaka shaka.

The people of Frontier, accustomed to the little girl soaring through the sky, quickly got used to the carriage as well and waved them off. It was surprising that there were people in the castle town this early in the morning. Everyone was a hard worker.

This feels kind of nostalgic.

Remembering being seen off like this ten years ago, the Little One felt a little embarrassed.

However, the Little One had no idea that Crown Prince Marcello was waiting ahead, determined to ascertain the truth for himself.

Spring is dawn. In the early spring, which had just become warm, the Little One gazed at the still-pale sky before the sun had fully risen, her heart dancing with the thrill of a new adventure.