Episode 17. Liam Is. (1)
Early the next morning, I woke naturally.
It was still a little strange that my eyes opened on their own now, without anyone having to wake me first.
There wasn’t a phone alarm, let alone a wind-up clock, yet my body seemed to have grown used to this life as I pushed myself up from bed.
And then, as always, I heard a familiar voice.
“You’re awake, Young Master?”
“Sion, you don’t have to wait here like this.”
“How could I not, when I’m your wet nurse?”
Sion came closer with a smile and helped me change.
My movements, which used to stiffen awkwardly with embarrassment at little things like this, had long since learned to accept them as natural.
“So, the letter?”
“Of course it arrived. The young lady really is relentless, isn’t she?”
“She’s a menace. If I tell her not to send them, how is that being relentless?”
“Ahaha, Young Master, you can be relentless too, you know.”
After changing me completely, Sion took a single letter from her bosom and handed it over.
“Please be sure to reply in time, so it can be delivered today, Young Master.”
“You tell me that every time. I know.”
I’d exchanged letters with her enough times by now that I wasn’t stupid enough not to know that much.
“I only say it because even when you know, you still end up writing late. If you keep doing that, the young lady gets hurt feelings.”
“Sure she does.”
I said that, then tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter.
“Hey, seriously! There’s a paper knife right there! Honestly, you and madam are exactly the same.”
Sion smacked my shoulder lightly, and I let out a small laugh before starting to read.
Dear Liam Nirheim,
Spring has already arrived, and the buds are blooming green and bright.
On a day like this, I finally made my debut in society.
It was a little late, at fourteen, but there were no problems.
Who do you think I am? The sole heir of Duke Havier von Bricht, a genius of magic. The woman destined to become the empire’s greatest mage—Eshir von Bricht!
It began, as always, with that shameless tone.
“Pffft!”
I burst out laughing again.
Part of it was because I could already guess what was coming next, along with the way she would say it.
All the pretense aside.
No, Liam, listen. I’ve been saying I made my debut in society, and these girls are on another level with their act.
Maybe it’s because I’m a young lady? All kinds of strange people gathered around me, and even though I didn’t do a thing, they kept buttering me up until I wanted to gag.
I really thought there might be someone who would just treat me normally. But there wasn’t a single one—not one.
So what I’m trying to say is...
It made me miss you a little.
I do kind of miss having someone who sees me as Eshir, not just the Bricht young lady.
Of course, this is me giving you a hint, so stop hiding away at the marquis’s estate and come visit the capital when I’m being nice about it. You promised, remember?
And when you come, bring three skewers from that market alley and wrap them up to go.
Hmph. Then that is all for me, the young lady.
See you next time, Liam Nirheim.
— The beautiful and elegant Eshir von Bricht.
After reading to the very end, I gave a snort of laughter and set the letter on the desk.
She really hadn’t changed at all.
“Honestly, that’s all thanks to Mother.”
“Mm, I think so too....”
Sion and I exchanged one look, equally amused, and before long we were both laughing aloud.
Even after she’d returned to the ducal house, you were still the same Eshir I knew.
She’d learned all of Mother’s bad habits and become unladylike in the most lovable way, always the first to come over and greet me.
She was the one who had cried her eyes out, saying she’d miss me terribly when it was time for her to leave again.
That side of her was always welcome, and always familiar.
Before I knew it, I was twelve years old.
Today was early spring, with three full years having already slipped by.
Eshir returned in the summer when I turned ten.
It wasn’t because anything had happened; it was simply that the time had come for her to fulfill her duties as a young lady.
Honestly, if I put it bluntly, the fact that she had stayed at the marquis’s estate with me for three whole years in the first place was already absurd, so leaving then had been late by any measure.
“Sob... sniff... Liam, can’t I go with you...?”
The words she had said to me as I climbed into the carriage bound for the ducal house, waving off her tears with all the warmth of a block of wood, still remained in my head.
She cried terribly hard.
It wasn’t as if we were parting forever, but Eshir sobbed like this was the last time she would ever see me.
She cried that pitifully, just as I had after losing you forever.
And so I think I smiled.
“Eshir, see you later. I’ll come visit the ducal house next time.”
“You have to, sniff. You have to come.... Promise....”
“Yeah. I promise.”
I hooked my little finger with hers and made that promise.
Only then did Eshir manage to stop her tears, and she kept waving at me until the carriage lurched forward and pulled away.
Of course, even after making that promise, I still hadn’t gone to visit her two years later.
I was too busy with sword training, and if I were being honest, I also just found it a little troublesome.
Because of that, she kept nagging me through letters every time.
Still.
I set those thoughts aside and swung my sword again.
A grey aura rippled along the blade.
...
It wasn’t as beautiful as the auras of the knights around me, or even my mother’s.
It was dense.
The color was so deep that the wavering energy almost looked sorrowful.
Maybe it was because it had begun from a thought as heavy as my own buried feelings—the determination to protect you.
My aura always glowed in that dark grey shade, flowing along the blade as I moved.
As training continued and the aura grew more distinct, that color only grew heavier.
I kept swinging my sword in silence, watching that light.
And the time I could spend lost in thought here was never very long.
“Hah, it’s unbelievable that someone that young can handle aura so freely, Young Master.”
As always, Jackson’s voice rang out.
“Stop making such a fuss every time. Mother and Father were both handling aura from a young age too.”
“Exactly. That’s why they’re among the strongest in the empire. You just don’t realize how incredible it is to earn a marquisate with nothing but a sword, Young Master.”
“I hadn’t seen any nobles besides Eshir until I was twelve, so how would I know whether that’s impressive or not?”
“Ah, fair enough. Anyway, Young Master, you really are a blessing to the family~”
“Sure.”
I gave a snort at Jackson’s flattery and slid my sword away.
He wouldn’t be interrupting my training for no reason, and chances were he’d come with a message from Mother.
“Mother called for me, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she said it was a family meeting.”
“All right. Thanks.”
I thanked Jackson and headed back toward the manor.
The maids and butlers I passed along the way all greeted me with bright smiles.
As always, we exchanged cheerful hellos.
Family meeting.
For all that grand-sounding phrasing, it was really nothing more than Mother’s bored stubbornness.
In other words, to put it simply.
She’d called in my already-busy father and me, and since two years ago she’d been trying to create a family communication gathering so the three of us could talk and live like human beings.
And the organizer of this little club was now looking at me with a deeply serious expression as she began to speak.
“Mm, son. How old are you now again...?”
“Twelve.”
“Ah... I’m doomed.”
“Mother, that’s not really polite to say to someone’s face.”
It was so very Mother-like to blurt out that I was doomed before she’d even gotten to the point.
“When I only saw you as a little child, I was certain you’d be a cute son who took after me. But why... why did Asher get copied instead...? You’re twelve and already this big?”
...
“You’re twelve, so why are you already this tall, son...? At this rate, Mom won’t be able to hug you properly....”
“I’m fine without the hug.”
“It’s not about you, it’s about me, Asher No. 2!”
Mother went on with that nonsense.
Still, I knew why she was saying it.
The day we went hunting in the forest, I awakened aura for the first time, and after that my body grew at a ridiculous pace.
At the age of only twelve, I had already shot past Mother’s height of over 170 centimeters.
So I could understand her feelings a little.
I just didn’t know why she felt the need to complain about it in front of Father and me.
“Wife, I’m here too.”
“Not wife, Ellie. We agreed you’d use my pet name, Asher.”
“...Ellie. In any case, I’m here as well.”
Father was looking at Mother with that same wounded expression, wasn’t he?
Even knowing she was the sort of person who paid that no mind, the corners of Father’s mouth still drooped a little.
And, as expected, Mother ignored that expression completely and went right on speaking.
“Hmph, no matter how I look at it, the men in our family are hopeless. So maybe I should just have a cute daughter like Eshir....”
“...Ellie?”
It sounded less like a joke and more like she was taking out a bigger bomb to drop on us.
“Asher, how about a daughter?”
“Ellie.”
“Yes, Asher. How about a daughter?”
“We already have a splendid eldest son who’s grown well, so that alone should be....”
“Let’s have a daughter. Asher, is that really so hard to understand?”
It was getting hard to breathe.
I had a sudden intuition that this was no longer a place where I should remain.
“...Liam.”
“Liam, our son. Your mother and I seem like we’ll be busy from here on out. Why don’t you head out for today?”
So, hearing Mother and Father call to me at the same time, I rose carefully from my seat.
“...Liam. Don’t leave. That is the head of the family’s order.”
“Go on and run along, Liam.”
Father’s voice was desperate, but the one I feared was Mother.
And so I spoke and moved toward the door.
“Ah, um. I haven’t finished training for today, so I think I should go now. Father always says training should never be skipped.”
Besides, I had a convenient excuse in training.
“Ah....”
“Yes, I see. Our son, training is important, so hurry and go on!”
I slipped away in the middle of those contradictory answers, and the desperate look in Father’s eyes when I last saw him still hasn’t left me.
Less than a month later, we heard the news that Mother was pregnant.
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