kscans

Chapter 54 - Little One's New Daily Life, Eight

"I see."

After hearing the whole story from Chihaya, Romel put a finger to his lips.

This was the royal office. While Little One was preoccupied with matters concerning the paper stories, Chihaya had dropped in on Romel through the skylight. Above his head was Tarō-kun the honeybee. The George twins had recently graduated from their ponchos and had taken to wearing the private attire of proper nobles. However, their clothes were made of a special fiber, a brainchild of Little One. Woven from the strong thread spun by Joker's children, they were masterpieces with blade and bullet resistance comparable to plate armor. Furthermore, they were exceptionally resistant to all magic except for flame. Because the silk was plied with spider thread, Chihaya's clothes had a strong luster different from ordinary silk and had garnered intense envy from the nobles at the royal palace.

As a result, a flood of inquiries had poured in to Romel, who was close with the George family, and the twins had stopped entering the royal palace through the main gate. Now, the skylight was their entrance. Given the circumstances, Romel couldn't complain and reluctantly swallowed his objections.

The clothes were made to protect them. He couldn't complain, and their use of the skylight to avoid being seen was, in a larger sense, for Romel's sake as well, who was weary of the inquiries.

Such was Chihaya, now sitting on the sofa and looking up at Romel.

"Chihiro... probably has many enemies this time."

Romel opened his mouth, his gaze cool. The air around him crackled like static electricity, and his quiet tone was heavy and hesitant, as if he were choosing his words carefully.

"In her past life, she was royalty. Even as an adopted daughter, she had the authority to be involved in state affairs, and above all, the title of Golden King gave legitimacy to all her actions."

But it was different now.

She was an ordinary noble with no territory or subjects. Moreover, her father was a cook. From a commoner's perspective, she was someone beyond the clouds, but from a noble's perspective, she was a bottom-tier upstart. In fact, many nobles said such things. There were so many fools who misunderstood that Drago's rank had been raised because he married Sakura, you could sweep them away and still have some left over. While that was undeniably true and there was no room for argument, if one were to argue, the merit of raising Chihiro was greater. Sakura had stayed by the side of Drago, who had become like a walking corpse after losing his beloved daughter. The title was given to allow the two to marry. To comfort Drago. Well, it wasn't the kind of story that could be made public. Above all, Drago himself didn't care, so it was deliberately ignored. But now, the twins were being attacked for it. A report had come from Theodore as well.

"Really, the world is full of fools. You two must be having a hard time."

It was a saving grace that Little One herself didn't care at all... but please, care a little!

With a complicated expression, Romel looked up at the ceiling.

"A while ago, when it was decided that I would be engaged to her, I asked Chihiro if there was any man she was interested in. Just in case, you know."

Though her appearance was that of a little girl, inside she was a woman of marriageable age. Setting aside the age difference, if she had the consciousness of a mature woman, there was a possibility she had a man in her heart. To Romel's question, Little One had let out a faint smile and answered with an annoyed look.

"That whole man and woman thing, huh. To be blunt, it's just tiring. The template sweet nothings, the obligatory gifts. Honestly, I can only think of it as a fever of shallow emotions. People turn on you so easily over the smallest things, I don't need it in my life."

Harsh words, ill-suited for the appearance of a little girl. Romel's eyes widened at Little One's tone, as if she were spitting out the words. He had heard that she was unmarried in the world called Earth, despite being over thirty. In Arcadia, that would be an impossible situation. Here, a woman over twenty was a spinster. People around her wouldn't leave her alone. They would desperately try to arrange a good match. When Romel asked if there hadn't been anyone suitable over there, she glared at him with such intensity. An absolute zero, clear-eyed gaze that made him want to prostrate himself and apologize. The frozen sockets of her eyes were colorless, and the temperature in the room dropped in an instant, sending a shiver down Romel's spine. It seemed he had stepped on one of Little One's landmines.

Since then, Romel had stopped talking to Chihiro about such things.

As Romel spoke haltingly, Chihaya's face broke into a genuinely happy expression.

"Is that so. Then Hiro won't get married. She'll live with us forever."

A guileless smile, accompanied by a soft chuckle.

No, I'm not so sure about that. Is that really the takeaway from this story? A spinster sister-in-law who stays at home without getting married, isn't that normally a bad debt? I think it would affect your marriage prospects too. Ah, but Drago would probably make the same face and say the same thing. And Sakura would probably scowl while hugging her tight.

The closeness of the George family was abnormal. Due to their past life connections, the twins' parents doted on them to the point of obsession. It wasn't a cloying, clingy sort of thing, but its depth was like a bottomless net. Not one that ensnares and binds, but a cunning, calculated trap that builds a comfortable nest to lure you in. You wander in without knowing it, and become so comfortable you lose any desire to leave. The Chihaya before him had grown up watching that. His obsession with Little One was also off the charts.

You have it tough, Chihiro.

Well, it was the giving and receiving of stifling affection that made the George family what it was today. Chihiro herself was also quite attached to her family. In a sense, it was a good relationship.

"According to Prince Theodore, this time it was a blunder by the Cartiña family. It was far too careless, but I have lodged a protest from the royal family. His older sister is at the palace, you know. They won't want to make a big deal of it either."

Aristea's older sister, Miranda, was currently receiving her education as a future consort at the royal palace. With her wedding preparations with Wilfe proceeding smoothly, she was likely the one most pale-faced by this. Perhaps contacted by the duke, she had immediately requested an audience with the king and queen and deeply apologized for her sister's immaturity.

And... the problem was Wilfe.

On the surface, nothing had changed, but it was clear his feelings toward Miranda had. Though he hid it well, Romel had noticed the subtle difference in temperature.

"It is a political marriage. Is it not fine even if there are no feelings involved?"

When he had subtly admonished him, that was the reply he received. Wilfe had averted his gaze and scurried away. Romel couldn't help but sigh at his retreating back. That was the attitude of someone who had issues with the duke's house. He probably intended to put the duke and his family at ease with a marriage in name only, while in reality, not treating her as his wife. In high society, one could have multiple wives. This was even more true for royalty. Rather than rashly breaking off the engagement, his villainous plan was to keep her on a leash until she wasted away. The dynamic of a powerless queen and a favored concubine was not a desirable one, but it would probably turn out that way. Even if they were given the choice, they would probably choose that path. The duke would want his daughter to become queen, and Miranda herself would surely not want the engagement broken.

Unusually for a royal family, Frontier was unified. The throne was not passed down through the thickness of bloodline, but to the one who possessed the radiance of the first king. Therefore, little importance was placed on lineage, and even royalty could choose their partners quite freely. Among them, Wilfe had no particular romantic inclinations and had chosen the daughter of Duke Cartiña purely for political reasons. If there were no others in other families who possessed the radiance, it was preferable to choose a partner from an old bloodline. Old families had a touch of royal blood somewhere, and it was easier for a child who possessed the radiance to be born. Wilfe had simply followed that theory, and had treated Miranda properly as his fiancée, for better or for worse.

That had backfired.

When something happened to a fiancée with whom there was no emotional connection, it only produced negative factors. If Wilfe's child did not possess the radiance, then the child of one of his siblings, or a distant relative. In any case, since the radiance was the condition for inheriting the throne, each noble family wanted to marry their children into the royal family, and even if one married in as a consort, one could not rest easy. With this incident, the possibility of Miranda bearing a child was gone.

And Romel suddenly remembered Chihiro's words.

'People turn on you so easily over the smallest things, I don't need it in my life.'

Ah, he furrowed his brow.

I see. A real life example is right here.

Even without this incident, something similar had probably happened to Little One in the past. Something that would make her distrust men.

This is a heavy responsibility.

He was, for now, Little One's fiancé. He had to play the part of a fiancé well, so as not to add fuel to the fire of her distrust of men. If it was affection for Little One, Romel had more than enough to sell.

And so, another tributary of stifling affection was added, supporting the raft carrying Little One. The river of life that Little One navigated was a turbulent and perilous one, but supported by many people, the little girl proceeded on her way, humming a tune. Her destination was the great ocean called the world.

Performing a carefree dance while accumulating delicious and fun things, Little One is full of energy today.♪