Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Festival Promise
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“Duchess, why the long face? Are you okay?”
Lark’s gentle voice faded away, stirring up a long-buried memory.
* * *
Rubettria Diorus, eight years old.
That day was when young Rubette had gone out to see the festival and gotten lost.
“G-Grandmother. Riki, Lilli..., Ah!”
Pushing through the throng of people—so dense she could barely take a step—was far too overwhelming a task for an eight-year-old child.
‘I-I got lost like an idiot.’
Terror gripped Rubette.
More frightening than being lost itself was the fact that she’d let go of Grandmother’s hand like a fool.
“You’re such an idiot, so stupid and dim-witted. Look at your brothers, the twins. See how smart and capable they are.”
“Now you understand why your father dislikes you, don’t you?”
She heard such things every single day.
“H-How, how do I...”
Rubette pressed herself flat against the stone wall of a rundown building, trembling violently as she scanned her surroundings.
It was evening, but the street blazed with light from the lantern-lit stalls.
“Scary.... Sniff.”
Yet the sight of people towering over her, each wearing bizarre masks that hid their faces, filled the street with an alien terror.
Rubette clutched the small butterfly mask covering her eyes, shrinking in on herself again and again.
Even the pitying glances from a few passersby felt frightening.
“Ugh. Sniff....”
“Why are you crying here all alone?”
Just then, a hand thrust out toward Rubette.
She looked up, following it.
“Eek!”
“Whoa, calm down.”
A fearsome lion with a wild, uneven mane stood there.
No—precisely, a boy wearing a lion mask.
He was a head taller than Rubette, and though his voice was boyish, it was fairly gentle.
“Why are you crying? Did you lose your mom?”
“Sniff. Sniff. Hic....”
“Oh dear.”
The boy looked troubled before the terrified, weeping Rubette, then soon led her into a narrow alley.
For over half an hour as she wept inside the quieted alley, away from the noisy crowds, the boy simply sat beside her, keeping watch.
“Are you calmed down now?”
“......”
“Maybe you got lost—”
“I-I didn’t get lost! I wasn’t crying because I let go of Grandmother’s hand like an idiot! I know the way! I’m not an idiot!”
“......Pfft. Alright.”
She had to get home.
But if she accepted someone’s help and it got out that she’d gotten lost, she’d be called an idiot again and scolded.
As if reading Rubette’s mind, the boy spoke very kindly.
“I’ll take you home.”
“I didn’t get lost—”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. But it’s getting dark, so I should ensure a lady gets home safely. That’s what I was taught is a gentleman’s duty.”
“......”
The boy peered right into Rubette’s face with a chuckle, then suddenly froze.
“Your eyes....”
“......”
“They’re pretty. Golden.”
Rubette’s head drooped with an “oh no.”
Unlike the boy’s mask, which hid his entire face, Rubette’s butterfly mask left her eyes visible.
The boy had seen her golden eyes of a Spirit User straight on—he might even guess her identity.
‘No, no. Rubettria Diorus will be known as a fool who can’t even find her way and just cries. Then Grandmother will get mad again, and Father, Father will....’
“Are you Rubettria Duchess, by any chance?”
“D-Don’t tell anyone!”
“Huh?”
“That I got lost like an idiot and let go of Grandmother’s hand and was crying! Don’t tell a soul....”
“Hm? Got lost? Well, you’ll get home safe tonight, letting go of Grandmother’s hand was so you could play with me, and I didn’t see any crying.”
“......”
The boy thrust a single rose toward the stunned, gaping Rubette, smiling.
“I bought it earlier because it looked pretty. Here, it suits you better.”
“Ah....”
Pointing at Rubette’s hair, the boy added with a grin, “The color matches.”
“Shall I take you home now? Your family must be worried.”
“......”
Home....
The boy wouldn’t know, but there was no one there to welcome Rubette, worry about her, or wait for her.
And there probably never would be.
“No.”
“Hm?”
“No one’s worried.”
“......”
The boy fell silent for a long moment after Rubette’s reply, then extended his hand with a smile.
“Then how about we enjoy the festival more, since we’re already out?”
The boy’s kind voice and single rose.
And behind him, the enchanting night of the festival.
“......”
After a very brief hesitation, Rubette took the boy’s hand.
“......Let’s play.”
“Great.”
It was Rubette’s first real taste of rebellion.
The wondrous, dazzling lights thrilled her young heart; the clowns’ silly performances were fun; and the sugar-coated fruit skewers were the sweetest dessert she’d ever tasted.
Clutching the boy’s hand tight, Rubette reveled in the festival until deep into the night.
“Say, big brother.”
“Yeah.”
Rubette had grown close enough to the boy that she was curious about his name.
“What’s your name, big brother?”
“Me? Well, I’m....”
But for some reason, the boy hesitated, looking embarrassed.
“It’s a secret.”
“A secret? No fair! You know my name.”
“Sorry. Truth is, I snuck out without telling my father, so I can’t let anyone find out. I’ll tell you if we meet again later.”
“Aw....”
Rubette felt disappointed but didn’t press the boy further.
Truth be told, even without asking, she vaguely sensed he was a young master from a high noble house.
From how he’d easily guessed her status just from her golden eyes, how he treated her without reserve despite knowing who she was, and his innate noble gestures.
“Wow....”
“You like it?”
A small stall in front of a trinket shop that caught the eye with its cute decorations.
The boy found Rubette adorable as she gazed, sparkling-eyed, at the cheap brass pendant necklaces, so he told her to pick one.
“Um, I’ll take....”
Among the necklaces engraved with flowers, butterflies, or clouds—shapes little girls would like—Rubette suddenly snatched one up.
“That one, really?”
“Yeah!”
“Hahaha....”
It was a pendant necklace carved with a majestic lion’s head. Just like the boy’s mask.
“To remember our meeting today!”
“Heh heh. Okay, okay.”
And so the two wandered the festival streets once more.
That day’s memories were so joyful that for the first time, Rubette wished time would stop.
“Time to head home.”
“......”
Parting was heartbreaking.
True to his word, even after the boy escorted her all the way to the Diorus Ducal House, Rubette couldn’t let go of his hand.
“Hey, big brother.”
“Yeah.”
“Wanna sleep over at my house today?”
“What?”
“Our house is huge!”
“No, I know it’s big.”
“I don’t wanna say goodbye....”
There was no one at home who treated Rubette as kindly as the boy.
Grandmother would scold her for being a stupid, dim-witted girl again, the twins would tease and torment her from the sidelines.
Father groaned in his room every day, her eldest brother was always busy, her second brother spent from morning till night swinging a wooden sword with single-minded focus....
“Waaah....!”
“Hey, don’t cry. Stop it.”
“D-Don’t go! Sniff! Live with me at my house! Okay?”
The boy looked troubled as Rubette clung to his arm.
“I have to go home too.”
“Just tell your parents and live at my house.”
“Hm, that won’t work.”
“Why not!”
How could it not?
Rubette just wanted to throw a tantrum. She didn’t want to part with the boy that much.
Even amid Rubette’s absurd whining, the boy gently stroked her head to soothe her.
“Only family lives together in one house. We’re not family.”
“Then we can be family. Be my big brother.”
“But we have different parents....”
“Waaah....!”
“Shh, shh. No means no.”
Rubette swallowed her tears, intimidated by the boy’s uncharacteristically firm tone.
Perhaps pitying her, the hesitant boy spoke again, his voice kind yet stern.
“Listen well. The only ones who live together in one house are husbands and wives, parents and children, or siblings. Got it? You’re lucky I’m not some shady guy—don’t go saying stuff like sleep over or live together to just anyone, okay?”
“So I can never, ever live with you, big brother?”
“That’s right. We’re not siblings, or parent and child, or husband and wife—”
“Then we’ll be husband and wife!”
“What?”
“You’re not my dad, and you can’t be my real brother, but you can be my husband!”
“......”
“See? Sleep over!”
Before the sulking Rubette, the boy could only chuckle in bewilderment.
“Being husband and wife doesn’t happen overnight just because you say so....”
“Waaah....! You liar! You said husbands and wives can live together! You did!”
“Rubette.”
When the boy’s chuckling voice first called her name.
For some reason, Rubette’s heart went thump with a pleasant beat, startling her into stopping her tears.
The boy, surely smiling beneath his mask, carefully removed Rubette’s butterfly mask and met her eyes.
“Ah.”
“......”
Gently caressing the tear mark beneath her left eye, the boy said.
“You have a beauty mark here. Is that why you cry so much?”
“......”
“It’s time to say goodbye today, sadly. Let’s head home. We’ll meet again.”
“Ugh.... But you said we can’t live together....”
“Wow, you like me that much?”
“Yeah!”
The boy paused at Rubette’s immediate reply, then burst out laughing.
“Alright, then let’s do this.”
“......?”
“When you grow up, I’ll come propose to you.”