Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Heir of the Family (2)
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Lady Rozier mentioned not only her own mana attribute but mine as well, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She immersed herself in her book for a while longer, then suddenly pulled out another piece of news out of nowhere, as if it had just occurred to her.
“Ah, right. And I got a little brother.”
“…I see.”
…At least this story fell within the realm of predictability.
It was the expected outcome. The Rozier family had no heirs besides her. Now that Elena had become my fiancée, they naturally needed another child to carry on the line.
About two years had passed since our engagement was decided—more than enough time for a new heir to come along.
“Since Elena became engaged to me, they must have decided a successor was necessary, right?”
“Yeah, something like that. We're breaking it off anyway.”
“…Come to think of it, after the breakup, wouldn't Elena lose her standing in the family? The successor position would already have gone to your brother by then.”
“Who cares? No more annoying hassles means it's good for me. I can just manage some backwater territory on the border or whatever.”
“……”
It seemed shaking her up with talk of a breakup or her position in the family wouldn't work.
The more I learned about her, the more her weaknesses seemed to vanish one by one. It even had me wondering how I could get her to take her role as my fiancée seriously.
“In any case, congratulations. I should send a birth gift to the Duchess Rozier from the palace soon.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? Why would my mom give birth?”
“…Didn't you just say you got a little brother?”
“Yeah. We adopted one from a branch family. A boy, so no successor headaches.”
“…Then the age gap is…”
“One year younger. Whatever, no need to worry. Rinel shows up in the original story too.”
That was the kind of statement that made it impossible not to worry, despite her insistence otherwise.
…To the point where I might need to pay a direct visit to the Rozier family soon to check things out myself.
About a month passed since the day I heard that Lady Rozier had gained a one-year-younger brother.
I hadn't been able to schedule a visit to her family due to my studies, so I'd had no choice but to send Hadi to get the lay of the land first.
-Knock knock knock.
“It's me, Your Highness.”
“…Come in.”
Hadi entered my room with a polite bow at my words.
The bundle of documents in his hand suggested he'd gathered a fair amount of information on her brother.
“How was he? Elena's new little brother.”
“Quite sharp for a boy his age. He has an aptitude for dark mana and seems to have self-taught himself magic from a young age.”
“……”
Self-taught magic from childhood, with a dark magic aptitude to boot.
And sharp compared to his peers, no less.
“Anything else stand out?”
“He's the third son of the Ardor branch family in the provinces. Born to a concubine rather than the main wife, so he grew up facing discrimination. They say his hair color was seen as ominous, and he wasn't treated well in his family.”
“Duke Rozier sure took a shine to a kid like that.”
“The family has a longstanding reputation with dark magic. The aptitude matched, and they might have had their eye on him ever since hearing about a dark mana prodigy in the branch.”
“Is that why they arranged the engagement without even testing Elena's mana aptitude?”
“It seems connected. She says hardly anyone at the mansion speaks openly with her—she knows her place all too well.”
“…Sigh.”
I'd only wanted information on her brother, but now I felt like I'd glimpsed the ugly underbelly of her family too. It left a bitter taste.
Still, this could be something I put to good use. If I let her vent her frustrations about the family to me freely, she might at least start looking forward to our meetings.
She was probably feeling lonely amid all that stifling family tension. The way she'd acted so relaxed when we first met… maybe she'd been hoping I'd be someone she could open up to.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
That line of thinking sparked an unsettling intuition that flashed through my mind.
Lady Rozier, feeling alienated in her own family.
And her brother, who'd been mistreated in his previous family before being adopted.
“Hadi.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“We leave for the Rozier ducal residence in one week. Send word ahead.”
“…But in a week is Your Highness's mana aptitude test…”
“I'll handle rescheduling. Just set the itinerary.”
…I hoped it would end as just a nagging hunch.
But my intuitions like this usually turned out to be spot on.
The Rozier mansion, visited after nearly half a year.
It looked much the same on the surface—the buildings, the grounds, everything.
But today, there was one glaring new addition that caught the eye.
“Welcome, Prince Cedric. You must be weary from the long journey.”
“Not at all. A trip like this to see Elena is one I look forward to.”
“Hehe, I'm truly grateful for your words.”
Lady Rozier bowed with her usual smile and shameless flattery, exactly as always.
…The problem was the black-haired boy peeking out from behind her, gauging the situation.
“Rinel, you should greet the prince. He might become your brother-in-law someday.”
“…Hello.”
“Good. Nice to meet you, Rinel.”
“……”
-Rustle.
The moment our eyes met, he averted his gaze and slipped further behind his sister—Rinel Ardor… no, Rinel Rozier now.
Black hair, red eyes, and an eerie, hollow expression that gave off an unsettling vibe.
Hard to judge from appearances alone. At least when I'd first met Elena, I'd thought she looked like a doll.
…If anything, Rinel felt more like a cursed voodoo doll.
“Today, I'd like to speak with Elena alone. Is that alright, Duke Rozier?”
“If you'll have the boy despite his shortcomings, by all means. Elena, escort the prince.”
“Yes, Father.”
We moved to the parlor, watching the father and daughter exchange words that felt distinctly cold for family.
The moment we were alone, Lady Rozier scowled with obvious annoyance.
“Hey, are you insane? Scheduling a meeting with five days' notice? Trying to get yourself killed?”
“Sorry, Elena. There's something I needed to confirm.”
“Why are you so obsessed with Rinel anyway? I told you there's no need to care.”
“…Did I ever say I wanted to see Rinel?”
“You were staring at him all weird earlier—it was obvious. And you sent someone to dig into his background recently, didn't you?”
“……”
“Did you? Or didn't you?”
“…Sorry. Yes, I did.”
Lying would only sour her mood further, so I had no choice but to admit it.
Hadi's investigations were usually airtight—how had she found out?
“If it's not rude, could you tell me how you knew?”
“He came crying and clinging to me, saying creepy people were following him around. Rinel's got killer instincts thanks to his dark magic aptitude. At first I thought it was just a kid throwing a tantrum in a new house, but it went on for almost two weeks straight. Got suspicious.”
“……”
“So I figured, who around now would investigate Rinel? Only one person came to mind, no matter how I thought about it.”
“…I have nothing to say.”
“Yeah, if you know, then shut it. Anyway, I'm exhausted from consoling him every night when he sneaks into my room scared, begging to sleep together…”
“…What?! What on earth does that mean?!”
“Goddamn it. Why are you yelling again?”
It felt like I'd just overheard something I really shouldn't have.
“D-does that mean Elena is sharing a bed with Rinel or something?!”
“What? Are you nuts? Why would I?”
“B-but according to what you just said, every night Rinel comes to Elena's bedroom…”
“He does, but I sweet-talk him and send him back, obviously. He's eight—he knows better. How could I sleep with him? Gross.”
“…I see.”
Good. At least no actual co-sleeping was going on.
She's only nine; nothing untoward would happen with her brother. Still, it had nearly unsettled me all the same.
…Especially since Lady Rozier was far more precocious than other girls her age. She'd brought up bedroom matters right from our first meeting, after all.
“No, wait—this is hilarious. Whether I share a bed with my brother or not, what's it to you? Overreacting to something so trivial.”
“…I'm your fiancée.”
“Yeah, I know. Fake engagement. That's why we agreed not to bother each other.”
…She really was an iron fortress on matters like this.
In any case, if I wanted to keep her brother from doing anything suspicious, it looked like I needed to call off the background check. No point stirring up trouble.
“If you're curious about something, just ask me. I probably know way more than whatever your spies dig up.”
“…Is that alright? Even sharing Rinel's information like that…”
“So what? He's a capture target too—once he's older, he'll be fawning over some commoner girl. Better for you to know ahead and counter it if you don't want to lose out.”
“…Huh? What does that mean? Capture target?”
“…Oh, right. Guess I have to explain from there too.”
She grabbed her head and scowled, as if realizing some tiresome truth.
Then she launched into an explanation of what the “capture targets” were in that “Romance Fantasy Game” she'd mentioned before.