Chapter 26

This is the second chapter of today.

I will post again at the same time tomorrow.

One month later.

On the day of the swordsmanship tournament.

A carriage from the royal family arrived to pick them up.

When the royal family learned that the three of them would be going from Jeth, they kindly sent a carriage to pick them up.

While she had hoped to get to know the royal princes, this was beyond her expectations. In Sariel's imagination, it was supposed to be a chance to mingle with many other nobles and noble heirs.

Sariel, thinking she didn't want to stand out, didn't have the courage to refuse. Deep down, she was grateful for their consideration, which made it even harder to decline.

During the Zelaphi incident, Sariel was healed by Sirius.

Since then, she had become a bit closer to her brothers.

For some reason, Sirius had apologized to her.

"For not understanding your pain. I'm sorry."

It was Sariel who should have apologized.

She was a prince who seemed to bring nothing but trouble to the queen.

To Sariel, the First and Second Princes were "real princes," distant and dazzling figures, so much so that she couldn't even envy them.

The Third Prince, Robert, was still someone she considered close.

Even so, he was in a completely different position from her. With a mother from a prestigious marquis family and a talent for magic, Robert was elusive and rarely seen.

Despite this, she had been able to converse with her brilliant brothers.

It was enough.

Her heart's album would shine with the memories of that time alone.

...But then she received a friendly letter saying, "We have seats prepared for the day. I look forward to meeting Lucian."

◇◇◇◇◇ (Noel's Perspective)

Noel and Sirius were looking forward to meeting Sariel and the others.

Noel had never had a good impression of Prince Sariel. The only information she had was that he was "Zelaphi's fiancé, who was submissive to the queen."

After the incident, Sirius told her that it would have been difficult for anyone to go against the queen until the king stopped siding with her. She also heard from a close aide that Sariel had been subjected to magical training that bordered on abuse.

Sariel was a prince who protected the young ladies at the cost of his own safety, yet no one knew this.

Lucian is officially said to be a distant relative of the Vionne family, taken in by Sariel.

They only spread this rumor gently and did not forge any documents.

It was decided that the truth should remain hidden until the memory of the Zelaphi incident faded.

Not only because of the casualties, but also because Zelaphi had made enemies in all directions due to her personality.

This was a consideration for Lucian's safety, but since Lucian resembles Sariel, it might eventually be known that he is Sariel's biological child.

Given these circumstances, Noel and the others avoided visiting the Vionne family, and Sariel did not bring Lucian to them. Therefore, they only knew what the shadows reported from time to time.

Sariel works to apply earth magic to nearby farmland to support his family.

Noel heard that he had visited a village in the Vionne territory, applied earth magic to the fields, and was thanked by the villagers. He did not accept any payment, as it was his own territory.

The village in the Vionne territory is exempt from taxes for the next three years, as compensation for the previous Vionne marquis.

After that, the tax revenue from the territory will go to Sariel, the marquis.

It's not a large amount, as the village was originally poor.

Sariel told the government officials, "We can live without it, but it is the duty of a lord to receive and save the taxes determined by the country's land laws to prepare for disasters in the territory."

The shadows showed Noel and the others images taken with magical devices of Sariel and his family.

The three of them were peacefully in the fields.

The report said that the butler, Heine, was raising Lucian like a mother or grandfather.

When Sariel was away on work, Heine served as Lucian's playmate.

Noel remembered Heine's gentle smile.

—Come to think of it, Heine was the only one who didn't scare me.

The Vionne family was full of painful memories for Noel.

She did not trust anyone in the Vionne family.

Her parents and sister were enemies who wanted to harm her.

The servants who sided with her parents were the same.

The servants who pretended not to see could not be trusted.

Even the servants who were only superficially kind were the same.

Servants who looked pitiful and seemed to be suffering could be trusted a little, but only a little.

There was a reason why Noel wasn't afraid of Heine.

She had forgotten about it.

However, when she wanted to skip her chores and go to the town library, she would loudly tell the other servants, "Heine gave me a task," and go out.

This way, she wouldn't be scolded.

In fact, she was never scolded.

This meant that Heine never reported her.

Noel was made to do potato-carrying work from around the age of six.

She had to carry potatoes from the woodshed to the food storage and the warehouse, but the next day, the potatoes she had left behind were mostly carried.

The following year, the backyard was cleaned up, the shrubs were cut down, and the carriage from the territory could drive all the way to the warehouse. As a result, Noel only had to carry the potatoes to the food storage, which helped her a lot.

Who gave the order for this?

It wasn't one of the lower-ranking servants, that was for sure.

There were several possibilities, but the "someone" had helped her without being seen or heard, and she never knew who it was.

The burn ointment that appeared in her room from time to time—what was it?

She had often wondered, but at that time, Noel was still a child, and she was hurt and exhausted.

She interpreted it as a capricious servant's favor and gave up on thinking about it.

—Shouldn't the "culprit" be a bit more obvious?

Noel thinks this now, belatedly.