Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Youngest's Heart Sways Like a Reed
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After Mother arrived, events unfolded with lightning speed.
The Cardinal said something, but there was no way our mother would listen to him.
"It's really not true! Please believe me!"
"Then why not have the Empire's side take the Saintess and run a proper examination?"
"That's...!"
"I'll speak with the Pope separately."
With that, Mother dismissed the Cardinal's words and turned her gaze to quietly regard Isfil.
"..."
Isfil met Mother's eyes with a tense expression.
I couldn't shake the worry that Mother might suddenly make some bizarre decision.
Just then,
"You've gotten so thin."
Mother murmured in a calm voice and beckoned with her hand.
"Go and serve her well. And make sure to thoroughly check her health."
"Casually examining the Saintess's body is a grave sin, even within the Holy Kingdom—"
-Crunch!
Before the Cardinal could finish, Mother swung her sword, embedding it straight between his legs.
"Eek!"
The Cardinal froze on the spot.
"If you talk back once more, I'll make it an unfortunate incident—killing the Cardinal and abducting the Saintess."
"..."
"You don't think I would, do you?"
With those words, Mother pulled her sword free and turned to me.
"Theodor!"
Her face lit up with a radiant smile, as if nothing had happened.
"You've guarded the country so well for this one day! As your mother, I'm overjoyed to see you growing by leaps and bounds every single day!"
"Ah, yes... Mother..."
"Mommy."
"M-Moth..."
"Mommy."
"...Mommy..."
"What a good boy you are, Theodor."
Mother knelt down, meeting my eyes at eye level, and stroked my head until it felt worn smooth before turning her gaze to Gordolf.
"You've worked hard."
"Not at all. It was thanks to Prince Theodor's keen insight..."
Gordolf looked at me with shining eyes, but I realized right then that if he kept talking, it would only prolong the time Mother had me in her grasp.
See? My sisters Lily and Ravire, who had followed along, were already glaring at me.
They probably resented me for hogging all of Mother's love.
The reason was obvious.
Kids naturally resent the baby of the family at a young age.
Because they get all the parents' love.
Of course, my sisters and I got along well, but they were surely closer to Mother.
I had to earn their resentment quickly before that.
"Then I'll leave the Saintess to you! I'm off to play with my sisters! Sisters!"
I said brightly, turning to my two sisters.
See? They were beaming now.
"What should we play?"
I looked at the two of them,
"Great idea! Instead of playing with Mother, let's practice magic with me!"
"No! Let's practice swordsmanship with me instead!"
How perfectly did their words align?
As I thought that, I was dragged off by my sisters and glanced back at Isfil.
Isfil just stared at me with a bewildered expression.
A bit more time passed, and to cut to the conclusion, there were no signs of abuse.
The Cardinal must have had his head screwed on right, at least—he hadn't physically tormented Isfil.
But.
"It seems they didn't feed her properly."
Gordolf whispered to me.
"Her development is lagging behind her peers, and overall, she looks malnourished. We can't underestimate the Empire's mages."
Gordolf whispered secretly to me.
But.
"I... see."
Why come all the way to my room to whisper it so secretly?
It was burdensome.
"I figured the Prince would worry."
I was worried, sure.
But why say it so secretly, like it was some hidden secret he was sharing only because it was me?
"By the way, the Empress ordered this kept confidential."
It really was a secret.
As I stared quietly at Gordolf, he spoke again.
"That's why the Empress has decided to detain the Saintess for the time being."
"Pardon?"
What did I just hear?
Detain her?
"Ah, 'detain' might be too difficult a word for the Prince. It mainly means confining someone."
"No, I know what it means, but why..."
"You know it? As expected, so astute."
Gordolf nodded with sparkling eyes.
To sum up Gordolf's explanation:
Mother examined Isfil's body with magic, confirmed her health, and sent only the Cardinal back.
Pope enraged, excommunicates Cardinal.
Additionally, declaring that she would temporarily take custody of Isfil due to unknown future treatment in the Holy Kingdom, then cut off contact channels.
Pope flies into a towering rage. Tries to escalate to political war immediately, but gets caught in Mother's planted scandals and retreats for now.
"All thanks to the Empress's brilliant judgment."
It sounded insane to me.
I turned away from Gordolf, who was nodding enthusiastically.
Anyway.
"Of course, 'detain' is just the word— in reality, she'll have free status within the palace."
"That's... a relief."
I would have been pretty shocked if it were actual confinement.
I might have even gone to plead with Mother.
But why?
"Why... did Mother decide to keep the Saintess here?"
Was there some political reason?
Lost in thought, I noticed Gordolf looking at me with a meaningful expression.
"You don't know."
"...No, I don't."
"Then it's fine."
Why was he acting like that? It was unsettling.
"Um, Gordolf..."
"Yes?"
"By any chance..."
"Theodor! Let's play!"
Bam! Ravire burst through the door.
Thanks to her, my chance to ask Gordolf about that look vanished,
and my life returned to its daily routine.
Time flew by like an arrow, and a year passed.
Nothing much happened in that time.
I just lived my daily life, training as I went.
Of course, it wasn't just any training.
It was intense training.
Thanks to that, I could now handle not just the four basic elements, but some variations too.
I heard the Tower Lord's direct disciples handled magic at this level.
Even disciples started young, it seemed.
Other than that, nothing special.
Playing with my sisters, spending time with Mother.
Just the life of a young child.
If there was one change...
"Theodor..."
The door creaked open with a timid voice from Isfil.
"Ah, Isfil."
"Yeah..."
I'd asked her to speak comfortably with me.
Isfil said she'd be staying here for about five years.
More precisely, Mother had notified her of that.
And whatever leverage Mother had, the Pope had gritted his teeth and accepted the terms.
That aside, in this imperial family with no one she knew, how many people could she rely on?
At the very least, I had to treat her kindly.
So I always tried to approach her more warmly.
Because of that, playing with my two sisters had gotten a bit harder lately, but I believed they'd understand since I'd explained it well.
"What are you up to, Theodor?"
"Practicing magic."
I lifted the Diamond Orb Mother had given me the day after the Cardinal was sent packing.
She'd apologized for being late and insisted on giving me an extra gift—I'd had to work hard to dissuade her.
I gazed at the Diamond Orb.
It was an utterly absurd item.
"Hup...!"
Gripping the handle of the Diamond Orb, I closed my eyes and focused my mind.
Magic was ultimately about imagery.
The result depended on the image I formed.
Soon, a pulling sensation in my lower abdomen coincided with a gentle breeze.
"Wha-what!"
I heard Isfil's startled voice.
Peeking with one eye, I saw her floating gently in the air, carried by the wind.
"How's that?"
"Amazing...!"
Isfil's eyes sparkled.
"It's magic!"
"Yeah, it is."
"I heard from the other maids that you're a magic genius, Theodor...!"
"G-genius? No. Lily's around."
I gave a wry smile as I replied.
I meant it.
The real genius was someone else.
Word was, Lily had achieved great mastery in magic once more.
Rumors even said the Tower Lord's eyes were rolling back, ready to whisk her away any moment.
In fact, whenever I practiced magic with Lily now, I was starting to feel the wall of her ever-growing skill.
Probably until now, I'd progressed faster just because adults had an easier time grasping concepts.
Ravire was the same.
She'd started learning swordsmanship from the Knight Commander.
I'd known since she supported my body back then.
I'd considered learning swordsmanship myself, but I couldn't even keep up with her toes.
Of course, the Knight Commander, being a good guy, offered to teach me too.
But knowing I'd never catch up to Ravire, I put it off for now.
As those thoughts crossed my mind,
"No!"
Isfil's words snapped me out of it, and I looked at her.
"You are a genius, Theodor!"
"Ah... yeah. Thanks."
"It's true!"
She was trying to cheer me up.
I had no intention of dismissing a child's goodwill.
I nodded gratefully, then noticed her pouting lips and spoke up.
"What have you been up to lately, Isfil?"
"Lately... nothing much. No orders, so I'm just resting."
I looked at Isfil as she said that.
She'd gained a healthy amount of weight in the past half year.
Not fat, just finally looking like a kid her age.
"I see."
I nodded.
Yeah. She looked much better this way.
As I thought that,
"Theodor..."
"Yeah?"
"You really are a genius."
"Ah, yeah, got it."
You don't have to be so serious about it.
Smiling at her childlike consideration, I resumed my magic training.
If you asked for the hottest topic among the maids lately, it had to be the ever-present talk of the princesses.
"Did you hear?"
"What?"
"They say Princess Lily was selected by the Tower Lord this time."
"Is she going?"
"Not sure. And Princess Ravire awakened her martial talent too, apparently."
"Really?"
"That's why the Knight Commander..."
The maids buzzed with chatter.
And whenever princess talk came up, there was one topic that was never absent.
"Prince Theodor goes without saying."
"Right. They say he's the next best after Princess Lily in magic."
"That's not all? Even when he sparred with Princess Ravire recently, the Knight Commander was impressed."
"And he's diligent with his studies too."
A prodigy in both pen and sword.
That was Theodor in the eyes of the maids.
Unlike the other princesses, he treated them with genuine care.
It wasn't that the princesses were unkind.
If anything, Theodor's consideration carried a deeper sense of empathy.
Like the quiet struggles of someone who's been in the job for years slipping out now and then.
"So mature."
"And he always says his skills fall short."
"Humble to a fault..."
The maids didn't know.
That Theodor compared himself to continent-shaking prodigies.
So he sincerely believed his talents were lacking.
Thus, more time passed.
And Theodor's seventh birthday arrived.
"...This time will be different."
Lily Castina's eyes gleamed.
Now a proud two-digit age, she planned to finally give her beloved little brother a gift.
Then he'd play with her.
It was her chance to reclaim her adorable brother from that annoying Ravire, the mystery Saintess, and their mother who kept driving a wedge between them.
Ravire felt the same.
"...I'm an adult now too!"
Just one step from two digits.
She was practically grown.
So she aimed to capture Theodor's heart as well.
"..."
Isfil closed her eyes.
Her age was a full twelve.
Time to show adult poise.
"He'll love this gift."
She picked up a wrapped package.
And.
"...Heh."
The Empress, looking not a day older but somehow even younger with the years, leaned back and eyed her gift package.
"Squirm all you like."
My son's heart belongs to me anyway.
If he'd just say "I love Mommy" once, how wonderful that would be?
And so, the birthday arrived.
A grand occasion worthy of a full paragraph in the Empire's history books.