Chapter 137
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: My Beloved
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“...Ugh.”
A considerable amount of time had passed since Imperial Princess Lia had proudly entered the Belverk Ducal House alongside Kairen and finally stepped into the matriarch's office.
“Kairen, are you okay?”
“......”
“...Kairen?”
But for Imperial Princess Lia, before she could fully savor the joy of becoming the winner of the Imperial Heir Selection Tournament, there was something she had to do first.
“I want blood.... Mmph?”
“Here, drink.”
“...Mmph.”
It was to take care of Kairen, who was still suffering from the aftereffects of his demon lord transformation.
“You like sucking my blood, right?”
- *Suck suck*...
Imperial Princess Lia slipped her finger into Kairen's small mouth, her face flushing slightly at the ticklish sensation that began instead of the expected pain.
“Don't bite, just suck the blood.”
“......”
“I-It tickles...”
Just as the two youngest were flirting like that again, a cold voice came from ahead.
“Third Imperial Princess Lia Lumen Shinehardt has entered the matriarch's office, so the Imperial Heir Selection Tournament is hereby officially concluded.”
With Astridje's direct declaration on behalf of Kairen, who was too busy sucking on her finger, the tournament that had heated the empire for a while came to an official end.
“The next imperial heir... no, imperial princess, is you. Youngest imperial princess.”
“......”
“Word has already been sent to the imperial family. Before nightfall, you will be officially recognized as the empire's next in line for the throne.”
Only then did she realize she was the winner of the imperial prince race, her face stiffening with sudden tension.
“By the way, for the second prince, the imperial guard will take him into custody directly.”
“...Yes.”
“They say he'll lose his imperial status at the trial to be held soon. My eldest and second daughters will also participate in the escort and trial, so rest assured.”
Even after hearing about the downfall of the second prince, who was practically the empire's black curtain, and his treatment, her expression wasn't particularly bright.
“So, what's your impression?”
No matter how much it was for Kairen, the position of the empire's number one was equally heavy.
“...Now, finally, I can stand on equal footing with Kairen.”
Even so, after taking a moment to steady her breathing and calm her mind, Imperial Princess Lia spoke her thoughts in a composed voice.
“A truly clean and concise answer.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, quite the opposite. I like it.”
Astridje nodded with an unexpectedly approving expression.
“But I wonder if your next answer will be as clean.”
Suddenly, her eyes turned red.
“If you marry Kairen, will you take him as a son-in-law?”
“......?”
“Or will you come to the Belverk Ducal House as a daughter-in-law?”
At the sudden sensitive topic, Imperial Princess Lia's expression grew even more tense.
“That would be discussed with the ministers...”
She tried to dodge it somehow, even using diplomatic rhetoric for the first time in her life.
“Remember just one thing.”
“...Ah?”
“We have no intention of letting Kairen be taken by the imperial family.”
At that very moment, Kairen, who had been sitting next to Imperial Princess Lia, floated up lightly due to Astridje's telekinesis and was moved toward her.
“Huh?”
Kairen looked up at Astridje with a bewildered expression, but her gaze had been fixed solely on Imperial Princess Lia from earlier.
“Did you think becoming emperor would naturally bring the boy along?”
“Hehe... If you'd like to experience a civil war in the empire right from your first day as emperor, then by all means.”
“...I don't want to never see my little brother again.”
Instead of Astridje, the Belverk three sisters began chiming in one by one with cold expressions, protectively shielding their brother.
“We'll reach a satisfactory agreement between both families.”
“No, not 'we'll.' You must.”
“...Yes.”
Imperial Princess Lia, realizing the difficulty of dealing with the Belverks—a headache that had plagued generations of emperors—clutched her head and lowered it.
“Then... you all, step out for a moment.”
Astridje, still fixing her gaze on Imperial Princess Lia, suddenly said,
“...I have something to ask you personally.”
Sensing something in those words, the Belverk three sisters dragged the still-tilting-headed Kairen out of the matriarch's office.
“Lia Lumen Shinehardt.”
In the silence that followed for a moment, Astridje finally spoke.
“Do you remember your mother?”
Imperial Princess Lia's eyes widened for a moment, then she continued in an uncertain voice.
“My mother is the current emperor, Justina...”
“No, you're not the child of the current emperor.”
But Astridje cut her off and stated it definitively.
“And your real mother is definitely connected to the person I'm looking for.”
“......”
“So I'll ask again, Imperial Princess Lia.”
Anxiety was now seeping into Astridje's expression.
“Do you know anything about your mother?”
Realizing there was no malice in her, Imperial Princess Lia opened her mouth with some discomfort.
“...I don't know why you're suddenly poking at someone's sore spot, but I'm sorry.”
At her following words, Astridje's eyes widened in shock.
“I'm an orphan.”
“What?”
“An orphan with the eyes and power of imperial blood, but no known parents.”
At her shocking confession, Astridje's face paled for a moment.
“I see...”
But she quickly regained her composure, muttering with a bitter face.
“...I'm sorry.”
“No, it doesn't matter much anymore...”
Then, as Imperial Princess Lia examined Astridje's face,
“More than me, you seem the one who's shocked.”
At those words, Astridje fell silent for a moment, then quietly turned her back.
“Youngest imperial princess.”
“......”
“One piece of advice.”
As she stepped toward the door of the matriarch's office, she suddenly turned her head and spoke.
“From now until you come of age, you need to become several times stronger.”
With that, she gave a quiet wry smile and truly left the matriarch's office.
“...Until the moment comes when you have to choose between love and responsibility.”
Dragged back to my room by my sisters on Mother's orders, I was huddling up in an ominous atmosphere.
“S-Sisters...”
“......”
“What's wrong with everyone?”
And rightly so, because my sisters were silently surrounding me with an atmosphere different from usual.
“Ahem.”
“Hehe...”
“Hmm.”
Even their mere hums and chuckles in response to my question felt scary for some reason, and the bloodlust I'd felt earlier had long since vanished.
“I-I'm getting scared now...”
Just as I was timidly trying to gauge their intentions while watching their faces,
“Y-Yes, um... Young Master.”
“Excuse me, but ahhh. I can't say it.”
“...I prefer the cute little Young Master.”
Even the maids standing in the back began spouting incomprehensible nonsense.
“Kairen, would you mind taking a look in the mirror for a moment?”
In my growing confusion about what was happening, Uriel sister suddenly held a mirror up to me.
“...Huh?”
I unconsciously took the mirror and looked down, then tilted my head with a blank expression.
“Who is this?”
Because a face I'd never seen before, yet somehow familiar, was reflected in the mirror.
“It's you, Kairen.”
“Huh?”
Wait, what did she just say?
“B-But... the reflection in the mirror...”
I knew Uriel sister was very smart and didn't mince words... but even so, this didn't make sense.
Because the face in the mirror looked less like me at 12... and more like...
“A cool guy, tall and handsome, looks like he's in his twenties.”
“...Kid, you'll be popular with the ladies when you grow up.”
“As expected, little brother has Belverk blood too.”
Doubting my eyes at this appearance that I'd need at least 8 more years to achieve—and even then, no guarantee—I muttered again.
“...This is me?”
But seeing my reflection in the mirror mouthing the same words with a blank look, it seemed I really looked like this now.
“Am I tall now?”
“......”
“Wooow! I'm excited!”
So, did the personal maids release some restriction that made me grow taller?
“...Normally you'd be cute like a kid.”
“...My face keeps flushing, Lilien.”
“Second sister, yours is flushed too.”
As I excitedly raised both hands in a fighting pose with that thought, murmurs came from my sisters ahead.
“But then, does that mean the kid stays like that forever?”
In the midst of that, Lilien sister spoke while watching me, and suddenly the personal maids lined up behind me spoke in unison.
“Pursuant to Article 1, Clause 11 of the Founding Accord, the power must be reclaimed.”
“Demand recharge by infusing demonic energy.”
“Reinitialization required to reclaim power.”
Ah, of course. As expected of a romance fantasy child-rearing world, I can't keep this cool look forever...
“Yes! Young Master must stay small forever!”
“Tall Young Master isn't Young Master!”
“Come back come back come back come back...”
Before my thought finished, the maids suddenly went berserk, and I widened my eyes and looked up.
“St-Staying like this for a few days might be nice too!”
“R-Right! It's a fresh appeal!”
“Young Master, don't listen to those perverts!!!”
Before I knew it, the maids had split into factions, glaring at each other murderously.
“I-I kind of want to keep the kid's grown form...”
“...I agree.”
“No, little brother must stay squishy forever.”
Even my sisters' opinions began to divide, creating a tense atmosphere in the room.
- *Rumble rumble rumble*...
In that atmosphere, just as I was confused about whose side to take,
“That's enough.”
Fortunately, Mother—the only one who could control this situation—appeared like a savior.
“...I came wondering why killing intent was leaking again when everything was already settled...”
“......”
“Personal maids, swiftly reclaim Kairen's power...”
Just Mother's appearance quelled the quarrel, and with the matriarch's presence, the power-charged personal maids began creaking toward me.
“......Wait.”
Suddenly, a voice almost shocked came from Mother's mouth.
“Mother?”
Wondering what was wrong, as I tilted my head watching her,
“...Ah.”
Mother began walking toward me with trembling steps.
“This is...”
She suddenly caressed my face wildly, and then something unbelievable happened right before my eyes.
- *Drip*...
Tears began flowing from Mother's eyes as she stared at me blankly.
“Mother!?”
I called out to her in even greater surprise, but Mother remained unmoved.
“Wh-Why?”
“......?”
“...Hmm?”
My sisters watching the scene in bewilderment also seemed clueless about why Mother was acting this way.
“...No, it's not.”
How much time passed like that?
“It can't be... right.”
After the awkward silence ended, Mother quietly stepped away from me, muttering to herself as she turned.
“...It must be my imagination.”
“......?”
“I have some business... I'll go.”
And then a quiet silence began.
“Matriarch's command confirmed.”
“Restrict the qualified one's freedom again.”
“Pardon the imposition.”
“......?”
Mother left the room, leaving the fully charged personal maids slowly approaching me behind, and didn't return for a while.
“......”
Astridje left Kairen's room with a pale face and walked the corridor in silence for a long time.
“...Hic.”
Then, she suddenly leaned against the window like collapsing and let out a breath.
“What am I thinking right now?”
Her face filled with self-loathing, she clutched her head.
“No matter how much I miss him...”
She bit her lip with a pained expression, then spat out words full of self-disgust and banged her head against the window.
“...To my precious son, what vulgarity.”
And silence settled in the corridor for a moment.
“But...”
In that silence, Astridje, breathing raggedly, muttered in a trembling voice.
“He resembles the memories of that day so much...”
But unable to finish, she stared blankly out the window for a moment.
“...It can't be.”
Regaining her reason at last, she muttered softly and stepped away from the window, resuming her walk.
- *Thump, thump, thump*...
But her wildly pounding heartbeat remained unchanged.