The Unpermitted Apology
Arian's genius began to spread little by little through the capital.
Louise, who had learned of Arian's abilities, once asked with a curious smile if she could try the food Arian had made.
Arian grinned broadly and prepared a portion for her without hesitation.
Louise tasted the dish with a doubtful expression, then her eyes widened in instant understanding.
This was not food from this world at all. The child was truly creating something that had never existed before.
“Listen well, Arian could be a genius or even a saint. You’ve probably heard the story of how Princess Petya was incredibly intelligent as a child. It sounds exactly like Arian, doesn’t it?”
Raymond’s words right before he left had finally clicked for Louise.
“People mustn’t know. The royal family or the temples would both snatch Arian away the moment they learned of her. You know what shape Princess Petya is in now, don’t you? Don’t pretend to know her, and lock the mouths of the people in the capital.”
Children could never hide their specialness. Raymond had warned Louise about it, and she understood immediately.
After that, Louise strictly controlled the people inside the city walls.
“Anyone who spreads nonsense about my daughter will have their tongue cut out.”
After a few people were severely frightened, the residents of the capital stopped talking about Arian entirely.
They only whispered that she was pretty and quiet, the daughter of the Danier family.
The moment Raymond and Louise began treating Arian differently, her influence grew.
The city’s cleanliness finally followed her wishes.
Rumors also spread that Arian had demanded a year’s worth of facility usage fees, causing the servants to shower her with unprecedented gratitude.
It was only fair—after all, their families had already benefited greatly.
So the servants began cooperating with Arian more than ever, and she spread various cleaning tools among them.
With the tools’ functions improved, the capital’s cleanliness returned to life.
Once people had experienced living in a clean place, they no longer wanted to live in filth.
Thanks to the improved productivity and labor in the Danier territory, the overall standard of living for the people began to rise.
People only truly felt the change the year Arian turned seven.
A terrible plague had struck the northern region, yet the Danier territory suffered far less damage than neighboring lands.
The probability that those who caught the disease would survive was overwhelmingly higher than in other territories.
Their sanitation was superior, and above all, many had been freed from malnutrition, giving them the strength to withstand the plague.
The people praised the lady of the lord, Louise, for it.
Louise made full use of Arian’s talent as if it belonged to her.
She had no choice. To hide a tree, one must place it in the forest.
By the time David was ten, he could sense that Arian was different from the other children and that his parents were hiding her in some strange way.
But without truly understanding why, he simply tried to follow the others’ lead.
The summer of the year David turned ten, when the jousting tournament was held in the Danier territory.
Louise had insisted that since Arian was still a little child, it would be fine for her to watch.
Raymond, who usually listened to his wife without question, refused this time with unprecedented force.
That night, when Arian was left alone in the capital, David felt an unbearable ache in his chest.
Just imagining David missing the jousting tournament on his own was enough to make him want to scream.
But Arian simply ate dinner as usual, completely unfazed.
No matter how smart she was, she was still a child.
Watching her act as if nothing was wrong hurt too much to bear.
When David tried to explain, his elder brother Bertrand quietly looked at him.
His eyes held both pity and a trace of sorrow.
“Why? Did I think of something wrong again?”
“No. You’re partly right. But David, it might be time to think about things differently. For example…”
Bertrand closed the book he had been reading and carefully placed it on the nearby table.
He sank half his body onto the sofa and, eyes half-closed, began organizing his thoughts before asking.
“You said you would live in Danier your whole life, right?”
“Yeah. I’m going to be the sword of the family. Danier needs strength.”
Danier was located north of Lid.
A beautiful, quiet little territory. The problem was that the king had built a summer palace there.
Every summer the king visited Danier, meddled in everything as if it were his right, and demanded a lot.
The Danier territory was exhausted feeding and supporting the royal party every summer and couldn’t do anything else because they always had to watch the king’s eyes.
They were officially independent, yet in reality they were little different from vassal territories.
Countless Danier lords had tried to break free from the king’s influence, but none had ever succeeded.
His father had even become the chamberlain and lived as the king’s closest aide—a not-bad choice, but every Danier person dreamed of true independence.
David wasn’t particularly smart, but he knew exactly how the territory was treated.
Not just the land, but the people were often dragged into serving the royal party.
The royal party claimed they only demanded what they were given, yet the nobles politely respected them as the king’s subordinates while secretly calling them “the king’s dogs.”
David wanted, before he died, for Danier territory to become a truly independent land.
Bertrand felt the same.
From the moment they were born, they had been raised with the words: “As members of the Danier family, we must nurture our strength and revive the Danier territory.”
Especially Bertrand, who would one day become lord, had the words hammered into his ears.
“Arian has changed Danier. You know she was the one who gave her opinion on the annual usage fees?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you know how much our territory has changed since then? The number of free citizens has more than doubled and keeps growing. Merchants and craftsmen have also increased. You know the ‘Blessing Wing’ inn? It’s the only one nobles are allowed to visit. Such a place has appeared. Do you know how much the territory’s income has increased?”
“…”
“What if we marry Arian off to another territory? Think about the loss when she leaves and the gain when she brings an alliance. She isn’t even the heir, so the men she could marry are ordinary. Yet the benefits Arian brings to the territory are enormous. Can you even compare?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
David asked bluntly. Bertrand stood up from his seat.
“This is a secret only between brothers. Father has no intention of marrying Arian. And I think he made the right judgment. So David.”
Bertrand grabbed the doorknob of the reception room and looked at David.
Only half of his face was visible in the shadow.
David leaped forward and pushed at the door so Bertrand couldn’t open it.
“Then what’s the next part?”
Bertrand’s dark, sinister face couldn’t meet David’s gaze.
He whispered with eyes lowered.
“All those who come near Arian must be removed.”
It was a ruthless declaration to save the family’s future even if it meant killing the territory’s revival.
After that, the people around Arian became more trustworthy.
But the things Arian thought up and did with her fingertips were astonishing, and it was hard to keep quiet about them.
Everyone was growing anxious, thinking that Arian’s existence would soon be known.
Then Arian suddenly said she was going to the temple.
David couldn’t quite name what he felt.
Arian was cute.
When she was born, David had sworn to protect this adorable little brother with all his life.
Arian was smart and often taught him things.
Every time David made a mistake, the three-year-younger sister would toddle over and fiercely side with him.
When Arian started twisting the truth, even adults would throw up their hands.
When David sobbed and apologized, Arian would pat his cheek with her chubby hand and say,
“Everyone makes mistakes. It’s okay. That’s just how it is.”
But on the other hand, David understood what his father and brother meant.
As a knight, David saw Arian as a strategic treasure that must never be lost—a crucial point or a long-term asset.
Danier wanted independence, yet it was so close to the king’s direct territory that it could survive without threats from larger lands.
Independence from the king meant having no force to back it up.
To attempt such dangerous independence, Arian’s intelligence was absolutely necessary.
Danier had been dragged along by the royal party for too long.
The royal party treated Danier like subordinates.
In front of the king, Danier had to be nothing but a dog wearing human skin.
David had watched his father, Raymond, barely endure it.
His father tried to hide it, but David could see it clearly.
There were only two vassals in the Danier territory, and those were the ones Grandfather had painstakingly created.
In return, Grandfather earned the king’s hatred and suffered greatly while alive.
At the time, Danier was on the brink of ruin.
Fortunately, Raymond becoming the king’s closest aide improved the situation.
The royal party believed they were being kind to Danier.
So they thought anything they wanted was allowed.
If the queen wished, Louise would do anything for her.
Bertrand often had to act the fool at royal parties to show his abilities.
David too was forced to participate in the jousting tournament at the king’s command.
That year David won as the prince’s champion and defeated everyone.
The knights who lost to a ten-year-old looked humiliated, their faces twisted.
After the tournament, there was a friendly match between David and the prince.
There David was thoroughly beaten, proving that the prince could easily defeat even the tournament champion.
Actually, David didn’t mind taking the beating.
Everyone knew the prince couldn’t win against him anyway.
But imagining that this life would continue forever and that his children, grandchildren, and even their children would inherit it was unbearable.
This time it had to end no matter what.
From the moment she was born, Arian had been his cute little sister.
At some point he felt so sorry that he would do anything she asked.
I’m sorry for trampling on your future.
David repeated those words in his head tens and hundreds of times, but he never once spoke them aloud.
He simply did as Arian asked, took the hits, laughed stupidly, and only apologized inside.