Chapter 30
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Mount Hua Sect's Lady
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Come to think of it, didn't that prickly prince just suggest we live together?
I might feel an inner closeness to Prince Joseph from reading so much about him in the book, but it was still a bit strange for him to suddenly act this friendly toward me.
"Because you like me?"
Charlotte pointed at herself with a finger as she asked, and the prince slowly rested his chin on his hand, staring intently at her.
His answer came after a long pause.
"Let's say that's the case."
"...Huh? What do you mean 'let's say'? It's either yes or no."
"As you said, I'm in no position to grill you about it. I'll just observe you in my own way."
"...Observe?"
Observe? What was that supposed to mean?
Charlotte's mind flashed to the time one of the Mount Hua Sect elders had caught a rabbit, put it in a cage, and kept an observation log.
'Don't normal people usually not use the word 'observe' for other humans?'
"Anyway, seeing as you came all the way out here today, you must be planning to train or something."
She figured Joseph was casually changing the subject with a straight face, but the mention of training perked up her ears.
"What about you?"
"What?"
"I heard you're entering the tournament. On Shadow Blade Day."
"Yeah."
"You need to train too, right? I can be your sparring partner."
"You're getting harder and harder to read."
Joseph let out a faint smile as he folded his napkin.
Charlotte hurriedly held out her open palm toward Joseph, who was starting to rise from his seat.
"No, wait. Hold on a sec."
"Why?"
"Well..."
She desperately wanted to head off for training right then and there, but in that instant, she caught sight of the prince's skinny arm peeking through his loose sleeve.
'...He hasn't even picked up his fork yet. And when he's stuck in that imperial family he hates so much, does he even eat properly? Probably not even at the Setia House.'
That thought made her even more determined to visit him often and make sure he ate well.
After all, you grow better with good food, and people stay healthier and less tormented, which keeps them from turning into tyrants.
"Finish eating. Let's go after you've cleaned your plate."
Joseph glanced at the food laid out on the table.
"I'm not that hungry. More importantly..."
"No, I'm not going anywhere. So eat."
"...Fine."
Charlotte watched as Joseph slowly picked up his fork, then resumed her own meal, which she'd paused.
She even ordered them to reheat the cooled soup, nagging Joseph to eat more.
Joseph looked like he might set down his utensils after a few pokes with the fork, but with Charlotte constantly urging him to eat plenty, he kept at it with a reluctant expression for quite a while.
Clink.
"I can't eat any more."
"Ah, I'm stuffed too now. Taking care of you made me overeat."
Joseph patted his full belly and stared at Charlotte as she flopped face-down onto the table, then suddenly asked,
"Do you have a little sibling or something?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you act like that out of habit. You even prefer speaking casually."
Charlotte swallowed the urge to say, 'It's because this body is actually three years older than you, big sis.' She just gave an awkward smile.
"...Ah. No, nothing like that. I just think you're cute."
Joseph closed his eyes tightly for a moment on his unreadable face, then opened them without a word, folded his napkin, and stood up.
"Let's go."
"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah."
By the time the two finished their long meal and left the restaurant, quite some time had passed.
'We left early morning when it was chilly, and lunch is already over.'
Charlotte clicked her tongue as she looked for her carriage, then belatedly remembered it was with the Great Bear Knight Order.
"...Oh no. Guess I have to swing by the knights' side first?"
Joseph nodded toward the white horse he'd arrived on.
"Just ride Aslan like before."
"Oh, its name is Aslan?"
Horses were an important means of travel even in the martial world.
No matter how advanced lightness skills were at Mount Hua Sect, you couldn't rely on them for every trip, and with plenty of non-martial folk coming and going, she was plenty familiar with horses.
Charlotte approached Aslan with practiced ease.
She hadn't gotten a good look earlier amid the chaos, but Aslan was a beautiful white horse.
White horses were rare near Mount Hua Sect, where mostly brown breeds roamed.
Indeed, even a disfavored royal had their distinctive colors.
"Whoa, what a pretty horse."
Aslan, who had surrendered its back to Charlotte in an instant the first time, seemed wary at first but softened as she approached slowly from the left and stroked its neck, nuzzling her head affectionately.
Charlotte glanced at the saddle, far too high for her height, then coaxed Aslan to lower its head.
Aslan complied without resistance, bending its neck and front legs as she guided.
A glint of interest flashed in Joseph's eyes.
"It's a stubborn horse that ignores most people... You handle them well."
"I rode it earlier. It's not that big a deal."
Charlotte laughed as she mounted first, and Joseph shook his head slightly before climbing on behind her.
News of the incident at the Great Bear Knight Order's training grounds quickly spread by word of mouth until it reached Camilla Setia, the head of the Setia House.
Camilla looked mildly surprised but not shocked.
She tilted her teacup casually and asked Jerome,
"What happened? I thought she seemed a bit different since I met her myself last time."
Jerome blinked.
If only he had the authority to answer that clearly—but even he had no idea what had happened to Charlotte.
Camilla stared at Jerome's face for a long moment, then curved her red lips into a smile.
"Well, whatever. It's just a minor incident, nothing major. A little fun is nice, though."
Jerome knew it too.
The tournament outcome was set in stone anyway, and Charlotte would be chased out on Shadow Blade Day.
Jerome bowed his head with a complicated mind.
By the time Charlotte and Joseph returned to the Setia House, quite some time had passed, and it was already afternoon.
The front courtyard of the Setia House was bustling noisily.
"Where does this go?"
"We need a mage who can use levitation magic."
Workers were hauling furniture here and there, shouting loudly as they shuttled between the annex and main building. Several merchant carriages loaded with new purchases were also parked in front of the garden.
"A ducal house is always this noisy, huh."
Charlotte spoke of Setia House matters as if they were someone else's business and headed toward the annex where Joseph was staying.
Clop, clop.
The white horse carrying only Joseph and Charlotte leisurely crossed the narrow path.
The sight of the two children riding the white horse down the trail was like a painting.
Especially since they were relatively young—nine and twelve.
Charlotte's pink hair was braided up top and loose below in a half-up style, and with Joseph's arms around her holding the reins, his expression softened as if melting into the moment.
Perhaps because of the three-year age gap, Joseph's slender frame was half a head taller even sitting.
'...So peaceful.'
Even with Joseph's two escort knights following, it was a truly quiet, intimate time.
Both were the type to get bullied just for catching someone's eye, so time alone felt even quieter.
And Charlotte, the chattier of the two, was staring blankly at the scenery without a word.
Charlotte liked the forest.
Maybe because Mount Hua Sect was nestled in deep mountains, or because she always sought quiet woods for training... but to her, without family or friends, the forest was like her one true companion.
A place she could visit freely, where her heart opened wide.
As she lifted her head to watch the sunlight filtering through the towering trees above, Joseph suddenly tossed out a question.
"But if I ask why you're doing all this for me, will you actually answer?"
"...Huh?"
Clop, clop.
Charlotte, who'd been gazing upward, tried to turn further to look at Joseph behind her and ended up leaning back into him.
'Almost fell off.'
She resolved to break the habit of moving carelessly because she kept thinking of her past self, then readjusted her posture.
She properly turned her head sideways to look back.
Joseph's quiet gaze, holding the reins, met hers.
"I asked why you're being so nice to me right now."
"Yeah."
"What have I done to deserve all that?"
"Yeah."
It was a flat response.
Charlotte reflexively reflected on her memories.
When Lancelot and the other kids fought, she'd jumped in too. She'd leaped in front of the empress without a second thought to shield Joseph, fussed over treating his body, and collapsed.
'...Even I think I've been weirdly nice out of nowhere.'
Charlotte let out a small chuckle.
"That's because I like you."
"What does that..."
"What do you call it? You know..."
Charlotte recalled something the bookstore owner, who often lent her romance novels, used to say and quickly continued.
"Motherly love?"
"...What?"
Joseph let out a dumbfounded sound.