My Little Sister's Concerned Plea
I had dozed off a little, but I heard everything. My uncle and father talking about how we wouldn't have much longer before the Reichland Empire absorbed us.
“Yes, back then we didn't get into all the details, but we were together.” Did that bring you here?
“Yes. It was a scary story.”
When Father asked me what I thought the king's role should be, I answered.
No one above you except the gods, I said.
A king's duties are many.
But the part I highlighted was about stability and legitimacy.
Looking at it that way, the king of Solea couldn't truly be called a king.
It was an independent nation, yet Solea had no choice but to respond whenever the Reichland Empire requested military cooperation.
In the end, it was a vassal state.
The king of a vassal state was no different from a subject of the Reichland Empire's emperor.
For that reason, Solea was not a stable country.
On top of that, my grandfather had founded the nation with a fief from the emperor because he had once been a general of the Reichland Empire.
That gave us legitimacy too.
I was pretending to share my thoughts, but I was actually pointing out Solea's painful reality to Father.
Father had fought in countless battlefields alongside Grandfather.
During that time, an infinite trust and expectation in the Reichland Empire, with whom we had always fought together, had taken root, and that was why I couldn't see the reality I was in.
So three years later, Solea fell prey to the Reichland Empire's forced annexation with no countermeasures.
All the royal family members except me and Rua were executed, and Father cried out that it was betrayal, but the Reichland Empire had no conscience to speak of.
To them, Solea was not an equal relationship but one-sided submission.
You talked about those stories, but you didn't mention how to avoid the annexation.
“If I had, you might have fallen asleep and slept right through it. It's too big a story. If I tried to cover everything right there, I'd have to go without sleep for several days and nights.”
“Yes, but somehow I...”
I waited quietly for Rúa to continue.
She was still only eleven years old.
It was the age when serious, heavy matters could be left to the adults.
Yet here she was, coming to talk about it.
“Uncle seems to have already seen through everything.”
“Me? Did I seem that way?”
“It's a girl's intuition.”
“Hmm...”
Not even a girl's intuition, but my little sister's.
If I drank too much, the strong scent would linger in my breath, and people nearby could easily notice.
But how had Rúa known about all the things that were going to happen to me in the future?
“Uncle.”
Rúa's small, clear eyes sparkled.
“Please let me help too.”
I had no choice but to gently stroke Rúa's head without a word.
For now, I had to accept her heart.
“You'll let me help? Right?”
When I didn't answer, Rúa asked again.
“Yes, if there's anything I can do to help, I'll gladly ask.”
“My hands are still small. But if there's anything I can do to help Father and Uncle even a little, I'll do it with all my heart.”
It was a heartwarming thing.
This child who was so excited to help me and Father.
I patted Rúa's back gently.
But suddenly I wondered.
“Rúa.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Do you love me?”
‘Yes, yes?’
The sudden question made Rúa's face turn red again.
“W-why are you asking me something like that all of a sudden?”
“I just felt curious.”
“W-what are you talking about...”
When I stared at her fixedly, Rúa deliberately turned her head to avoid my gaze.
“Ugh.”
But in the direction she turned, there happened to be a mirror.
Because the mirror was showing me looking at Rúa completely, Rúa couldn't avoid my gaze at all.
No, wait a second.
The mirror? Now that I think about it, that mirror was...
In a flash, a fact I had overlooked in the midst of all these thoughts quickly passed through my mind.
That mirror was a magic tool that Rúa had used for some prank.
I didn't know the detailed functions, but thanks to that mirror, Rúa had immediately known what I had been doing in the room the day before.
Then... everything I had done with my master in the room...
“Uncle? Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
I could tell my face had paled from the mirror.
My sister's delighted expression that had been praising me had instantly stiffened.
“Rúa, maybe...”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Do you remember what I ate for breakfast this morning?”
“You only drank water this morning, didn't you?”
“Eh?”
“Ah...”
Rúa's face paled on its own for having answered carelessly.
“How did you know that?”
“Ugh... y-you're right. I asked the nanny! Why are you asking me that, Uncle?”
She had created a perfect excuse in an instant, and instead had turned the question back around to escape the crisis.
Even though she must have known the secret was already out, she had the audacity to play cool.
At least she wasn't acting like an eleven-year-old, but she still had a long way to go.
Rúa would grow up with a head that couldn't keep up with the world, but right now she was just a mischievous little girl.
Still, if I had heard what I and my master were talking about...
“You don't need to worry about that. Stop scolding the child like that.”
My master's voice echoed in my head.
I hadn't expected him to be able to verify even that much?
The moment my sly master had looked cool for the first time.
“It's nothing. I just suddenly thought of it. By the way, you asked the nanny about what I ate this morning. Thank you for caring about me so much.”
“Because I'm your uncle.”
“That means... you love me, right?”
“T-that's why you're talking about that again... huh.”
Rúa turned her head toward the door.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Someone's coming.”
The sound of someone running hurriedly toward my room was approaching.
Thanks to my developed body and senses, I had already known who it was.
At the moment when my little sister was still cute, I had to spoil it with this mood.
Hearing the footsteps, it sounded like a servant who worked in the castle.
Soon the guards knocked on the door.
“Prince, His Majesty the King requests an urgent audience.”
“Understood. I'll be there soon, so wait for me.”
When I answered, Rúa slid down from my lap.
“Father has been calling Uncle often lately.”
“But when it's urgent, it means something has happened.”
“I-I'm afraid it's not good news.”
“There's no choice.”
I hugged Rúa tightly like a doll.
“It's a shame, but I'll have to hear your answer next time.”
“You don't have to.”
“Eh?”
Rúa held a doll in one arm, but she hugged me tightly with the other and said,
“I love Uncle. A lot.”
When I let go of the hugging arm, Rúa smiled shyly, hehe.
That heart of hers was grateful.
But...
“Yes. Big Brother loves you too, Rúa.”
When I received Father's call and went to the study, everyone was there as before.
Father, Guildford, and Sien.
The problem was that all three men's expressions looked bad.
“What has happened?”
“We received a message from the Empire.”
“From the Empire?”
Guildford let out a long sigh full of worry.
“It's all because of this old geezer. If I hadn't been so childish and caused a fuss...”
“That's right. It's all Guildford's fault. You should feel more remorse. More, more!”
Sien supported Guildford's self-blame.
Sien looked very angry.
“Why are you blaming Guildford so much, Sien-nim?”
“Thanks to Guildford, the contract I made with the Prince has become completely useless!”
“How did that happen? The fact that you manifested sword qi has already reached the imperial family. Just now, we received a message through the correction orb.”
Among the three, Father's expression was the darkest.
“Thanks to Guildford's blabbing, the fact that you can use sword qi has been widely spread for a long time. But you must not have revealed that your entire body has become a circle.”
“There's a problem in that part.”
“Yes. For now, we spread the rumor that you reached three circles by using sword qi, but...”
Sien shook his head.
“Reaching three circles at fifteen years old is already outside the norm.”
That's not exactly true.
It might not be unique, but if I searched the entire world, there probably wouldn't be many children who reached three circles or higher by fifteen.
“So what was the message?”
“The proposal is to have you enter the Imperial Academy of the Reichland Empire.”
“Hah...”
It had come too fast.
Too fast.
Father seemed to be having a headache, so he removed his crown and held his head with both hands.
“It's essentially an order.”