Only Four Candies Left
The main hall of Hugo’s manor. A great table dominated the room.
Siriel counted the yellow candies inside the red pouch out loud.
“One, two, three, fo…”
The numbers came out a little soft and mashed together. For a ten-year-old who so often carried herself with crisp, precise manners, it was an unusually childish sound—yet whenever the time came to savor the candies her brother had given her, she could not help slipping into that unguarded, faintly silly state.
Only four left now. When is Oppa ever coming back…?
The pretty package of sweets she had received from the lovely maid-sister had originally held sixty-eight candies. One a day—so Encia, who proudly called herself Shiron’s faithful servant, had instructed her. Unfortunately, Siriel never managed to take those words at face value.
Then… once I’ve finished every last candy, I’ll get to see Shiron Oppa, right?
A slightly absurd notion had taken root in a head that was not yet fully grown.
I might actually be a genius!
And so the red pouch emptied far faster than Shiron had expected. One after morning training. Another after dinner, right before she brushed her teeth. Bit by bit the candies dwindled until only four remained—and only then did Siriel finally realize.
Come to think of it… Shiron Oppa has no idea how many I’ve already eaten.
“Am I… an idiot…?”
She heaved a long sigh and collapsed face-first onto the table. The surface, laden with mouth-watering dishes, rattled loudly.
It was hardly the behavior of a young lady of high station. Across from her, Eldrina cleared her throat delicately.
“Siriel. Sit up properly. That is not how one behaves at the table.”
“…Yes, Mother.”
With a limp reply, Siriel pushed her upper body upright, looking thoroughly dejected. Still sighing heavily, she took up her fork and knife.
“…Nom.”
Peck, peck. She sliced a piece of meat, put it in her mouth, tore off a bit of bread and chewed it a few times. The entire process was enough to drain the energy from anyone watching.
“…”
Even Hugo, seated to her right, was no exception. He narrowed his eyes and studied his daughter. In the ten years he had watched her grow, he had never seen her like this. Watching his girl shoot up day by day usually filled him with quiet pride at each new expression she revealed—yet because he did not understand why she was so listless, the sight only left him uneasy.
Simply asking how she felt was already a heavy burden for him. Perhaps it was the lifelong habits of a warrior; he was still clumsy when it came to dealing with a daughter who had begun to grow more sensitive.
After a few more half-hearted bites, Siriel set down her utensils.
“…I’m finished.”
“Siriel.”
She made to rise, but Eldrina stopped her.
“You’ve looked so downcast lately. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Eldrina already knew perfectly well why her daughter was moping, yet she deliberately opened the door to conversation. With Hugo so often away and still awkward around their child, she decided to take the lead.
“Pardon?”
The rather sudden question made Siriel’s eyes widen a fraction.
“I’m… not hurt anywhere. If anything, I have so much energy every day that it’s a problem.”
“Is that so? From where I’m sitting, it doesn’t quite look that way…”
Eldrina smiled with her eyes and glanced at the plate in front of Siriel. Until only recently the girl never left a scrap. A growing child through and through. But now? Half-eaten steak, half a dinner roll, and the dessert that always followed the meal had not even been touched.
“This mother of yours worries a great deal. Losing one’s appetite at the age when one should be growing is a serious matter. If something is troubling you, won’t you tell me?”
“Ahem.”
Hugo cleared his throat with a hint of urgency, and Siriel’s lips began to move.
“It’s just… I keep wondering when Shiron Oppa will come home. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? Being alone again after so long feels a little empty.”
“…I see.”
Hugo gave a small nod. Yet even though the mystery of what weighed on his daughter’s heart had been solved, his own heart remained unsettled. The loneliness she carried was still unresolved.
“What about the Third Prince… Viktor? I heard the two of you have grown rather close lately.”
“Hmm?”
At her father’s concerned question Siriel pursed her lips and put on a faintly sulky face.
“Viktor said he doesn’t want to get beaten to death by Shiron Oppa, so he can’t come play until Oppa comes back.”
“…”
“Why would he get beaten to death? Oppa can be a little mean with his pranks sometimes, but he’s never once hit anyone.”
“Hah…”
“He’s such a strange boy, honestly. Who’s supposed to be hitting whom?”
What a weakling, talking trash the moment Oppa’s gone. Siriel furrowed her pretty brow and gave a few firm little nods.
“…”
Hugo looked back and forth between Siriel and Eldrina with a slightly dazed expression. Everyone in the manor knew about Shiron’s troublemaking—everyone except Siriel. He silently demanded an explanation with his eyes, but Eldrina merely smiled and pretended not to notice his gaze.
“No wonder you’ve been bored.”
“Exactly. Grandpa Yohan went with Oppa, and all the older brothers and sisters of the knight order left on leave, saying they’d be back before spring…”
Siriel puffed her cheeks a little and sighed softly.
“May I be excused now? The maid-sister at the annex promised to watch my sword practice.”
“Very well…”
Hugo nodded and saw his daughter off.
“My dear.”
Once Siriel had gone and the household staff began clearing the dishes, Hugo and Eldrina remained seated. A more serious atmosphere settled between them.
Eldrina took a few sips of coffee, then offered Hugo a faint smile.
“You were staring at me earlier. Is something troubling you?”
“…Stop teasing me. You already know everything.”
Hugo narrowed his eyes, letting his discomfort show. His fox-like wife always noticed even the slightest change in his expression and acted on it with uncanny timing. Yet the moment Shiron’s name had come up, she had deliberately played dumb and ignored his pointed looks.
Hugo could not understand it. Shiron’s delinquencies were common knowledge throughout the manor—himself included. Yet from their daughter’s words just now, only Siriel seemed to have stars in her eyes, blindly believing in the boy.
Eldrina chuckled softly and smiled at him with her eyes.
“You once said you wanted to give our daughter friends, did you not? That bringing the children from the main house here was partly for that reason.”
“…That’s true.”
“I was reluctant to take other people’s children into our home, but in the end I did not oppose your decision. Growing up without a single friend is simply too cruel. It would surely hinder her social skills and emotional development in all sorts of ways.”
Eldrina lightly pressed her fingertips to her forehead and sighed.
Hugo had protected Siriel to a degree that bordered on excessive. Even a simple outing meant dozens of knights trailing after her, and any guest who visited the manor was subjected to inspections that felt overdone. As a result, Siriel had naturally gone out less and less, and she had made few friends her own age.
Yet Eldrina never resented him for it. Knowing that Hugo belonged to the special house of Prien, and loving him truly, she had sworn before the gods to endure every inconvenience that came with him.
“…In five years, once her coming-of-age ceremony is over, everything will be resolved. It is not far off. When that day comes, Siriel will be able to go outside as freely as any other child.”
Hugo closed his eyes with a heavy expression. He always carried guilt toward his daughter and his wife.
“Yes. When that time comes she will attend the Academy, go to balls, wear beautiful dresses, dance with someone, fall in love…”
“…”
“But there’s something rather amusing I’ve noticed—something you seem to have missed.”
Eldrina covered her mouth with her fan and laughed quietly.
“Siriel has fallen head over heels for the boy named Shiron.”
“……What?”
The news was so sudden that Hugo’s eyes flew wide open. Eldrina savored the flustered look on his face.
“What on earth do you mean, ‘fallen head over heels’?”
“You truly haven’t noticed? Siriel likes Shiron. She’s still young, so she hasn’t realized it herself, but… think back for a moment. Just now she never once mentioned the name of her cousin Lucia.”
“…”
Hugo replayed the conversation with his daughter in his mind.
Shiron Oppa… Shiron Oppa…
Her voice began to echo inside his head.
“Has she got stars in her eyes or something?”
Hugo swallowed a faintly bitter feeling and spoke toward Eldrina.
“Well, the more one likes someone, the less one sees their flaws, don’t you think? And it would be rather undignified for me to speak ill of the boy to her face.”
“Th-that’s true enough…”
Hugo felt an unpleasant sensation rise in his gut and forced it back down. He turned toward the window and surveyed the garden. He could sense many footsteps approaching the manor.
“…Shiron, is it?”
In the distance, Shiron was coming. Yet rather than joy, something closer to irritation began to stir in Hugo’s heart.
What is this…?
Startled, he shook his head while still seated. Why should he feel this way? Even he did not know. This was the moment to welcome his exhausted nephews and nieces after their long journey, was it not?
As if casting off the unwelcome feeling, Hugo gave his head a few firm shakes and rose with his solid frame.