Chapter 11

I'm thrilled to have received your first impressions, so I'll post another episode!

Thank you so much!

After clearing the magic control, I practiced a bit more, and both Arshain and I became almost perfect at it!

I can now change colors clearly like flipping a switch, and I can also create a gradient by mixing intermediate colors and gradually changing the hue!

We tried various things, and while we were playing, Shelle came and said it was time for dinner, so the three of us moved to the dining room.

As soon as we entered the dining room, Anneliese hugged me, but she seemed to have learned her lesson a bit,

as it wasn't so tight that I couldn't breathe. When I let her hug me, she rubbed her cheek against mine, and her breathing became heavier and heavier... Honestly, it was really creepy! No matter how much of a beautiful girl or princess she is, it's still creepy!

I couldn't help but put my hand on Anneliese's face to try to avoid her, and I think that should be allowed, right?

While the men were backing away from the panting Anneliese, it was the Queen who came to my rescue.

"Anneliese, calm down a bit! It's disgusting when you get so excited and breathe so heavily!"

"Disgusting, Mother? That's so mean!"

"What's mean is your attitude and expression just now! Wouldn't you find it disgusting if an older man rubbed his face against yours while breathing heavily?"

"Well, that's true, but I'm not a man!"

"No matter how beautiful a person is, if their behavior is perverted, it's still disgusting!"

Anneliese, who has probably never been called a pervert in her life, was shocked and frozen.

The Queen ignored her, sat me next to Arshain, and then sat down herself, giving instructions to Duran to serve the meal.

The meal proceeded calmly, with Anneliese still in a daze and not as lively as yesterday. The men were drinking tea in silence.

I, being bored, started playing with the fantasy ball I had in my pocket, changing its color as I did so!

The twin princes came over to watch, their eyes sparkling.

Finally, Anneliese reacted, saw me changing the ball's color, and froze for a different reason.

Unaware of this, I continued changing the color of the ball.

"Lord Kaita, you are quite skilled. I doubt there are more than a few people in the Magic Bureau who can do such a trick?"

The King praised me.

"Yes, perhaps only the Director and Deputy Director. If we were to change colors in sequence, everyone could do it, but to throw and change colors like this... it's quite difficult. I couldn't do it at all! Ha ha!"

Ingried laughed heartily.

"Y-Yes, that's true! No one can do it normally!"

Anneliese, who had recovered, agreed with Ingried, looking relieved.

Ingried may look like a brainless muscle, but she seems to be bad at magic control, just like Anneliese.

"Bad at it?"

When I asked, she replied,

"I-I'm not good at it, but I can change between blue and green. Other than that, I still can't..."

I gave her the ball and had her try changing the color, and indeed, she could only change between blue and green.

I nodded to Arshain, sat on the armrest of the sofa where Anneliese was sitting, and overlapped my hand with hers to show her how to change the color. She was very surprised, froze for a moment, and then tried it herself, successfully changing the color to blue, green, yellow, and white, before freezing again.

Afraid she might hug me again in excitement, I asked Arshain to hold me.

By the time I was sitting on Arshain's lap,

"Wh-What? I did it! Why? Why did I do it?"

She tried a few more times, succeeding half the time, and then froze again.

"......What is this? What did you do, Lord Kaita?"

The King asked Arshain, not me.

"I don't know. This afternoon, Director Tailsmya gave me this ball. At first, it only turned red, but when I returned to my room and started throwing it with both hands, I improved rapidly. Eventually, I got bored and started messing with the ball I was practicing with, and then, as just now, I overlapped my hands with hers, and I could do it too."

"......Is that so? Not everyone can do that, can they? Could Director Tailsmya do it?......"

The King muttered, and when I tried the same thing with Ingried, he succeeded one out of three times.

"Whoa! I did it! I did it! I did it too!"

He threw me in the air in joy.

Feeling safer being thrown than being hugged by Anneliese, I reverted to my childlike self and laughed.

The twin princes soon joined us, and the three of us laughed together.

"I plan to consult with the Director about this during tomorrow's magic training."

"Yes, that's a good idea."

Arshain summarized, and the King agreed, so we dispersed for the day.

Back in the room, Shelle helped me take a bath and change clothes.

I can't bathe alone because the tub is too deep, and it takes a long time to change by myself! It's not just because it's fun... but that's part of it too!

After getting ready for bed, Arshain, who was still awake, made me promise not to show anyone else the method I used to teach color-changing, as it was special and could cause a commotion if everyone asked me to do it.

I agreed and said goodnight.

Good morning.

It's the third day since I became a toddler, and I'm feeling very refreshed.

In my previous life, I couldn't get proper sleep or meals for the last six months, so my health was always poor. But now, my body is incredibly flexible, I don't feel tired or stiff, and the chronic pain in my eyes, shoulders, and back is gone.

I was doing some stretching at the edge of the large bed when Arshain woke up.

I saw him this morning, and at 15, he's unnecessarily handsome.

While doing a forward bend, I peeked from under his legs and was giggled at, so I did a somersault and landed on his stomach, but he didn't budge.

Eventually, Shelle came and prepared my morning routine. Today's outfit was a soft, long-sleeved shirt, a blue short-sleeved jumpsuit, white socks, and slip-on shoes.

In the living room, the Queen, Anneliese, and the twin princes were there, as usual. The maids behind them greeted us with a smile, as if they had just rushed in.

We had breakfast together, and since it was a slow morning, Arshain went to work, and I spent the time looking at an encyclopedia-like book on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf, which Shelle had arranged for me.

The encyclopedia was entirely handwritten!

The monster and plant encyclopedias were like the setting books from the RPG games my brothers used to play, which I found very interesting!

For lunch, the usual group was joined by Ingried.

I was impressed by her hearty eating, which, despite its volume, didn't seem vulgar. Truly, she is royal!

In the afternoon, as planned, we had magic training with Director Tailsmya!

The training ground was located behind the abandoned hotel, which turned out to be part of the Magic Bureau.

When we arrived, no one was there yet, so I looked around.

The area was surrounded by high walls, with targets at the far end.

The rest was a vast stone courtyard with no ceiling.

Arshain put me down, and we started practicing walking.

Indeed, my current height is about 40 centimeters, the same as a newborn in my previous life.

Being so small, it's hard to hold hands, and I can be carried with one hand, so it's natural to carry me.

So, I practiced walking in this unfamiliar toddler body! I grabbed Arshain's leg, tried to stand up, and took a step, but my knees and hips wobbled, and I fell on my bottom.

It didn't hurt, but the impact was significant.

This toddler's physical abilities seem to be around one year old. Compared to my nephews, I'm quite small, but I don't know how children grow in this world.

The adults I've seen here seem much larger than in my previous life. Is it because they are born small and grow larger?

Will I grow larger too?

I think my limb movements are pretty good.

Among my nephews, some could walk at around one year old, while others couldn't. They couldn't do something like juggling, and throwing a ball 2-3 meters was considered impressive.

I have endless questions and concerns!

After about 20 minutes of practice, I was sweating and decided to stop.

I could now move sideways by holding on.

Voices and the presence of people were approaching from the other side of the wall.

To avoid being caught if something happened, I asked Shelle to carry me.

The first to enter was Director Tailsmya, looking tired, followed by three knights I hadn't seen before, and then the two-timing saint with Cavendish.

Even though I hadn't seen her in a day, the two-timing saint was wearing a frilly red dress, shiny accessories, and heavy makeup, looking very trashy.

The way she walked, swishing her frilly dress, was very vulgar. Anneliese, even when running, didn't make such a swishing sound, which made me realize there must be a specific way to walk in a dress.

She seemed unhappy about being picked up, complaining loudly, preventing the training from starting.

It was very annoying.

Cavendish, noticing us, looked down at Arshain and me with a clearly condescending and mocking face.

But before she could say anything, Director Tailsmya clapped his hands to change the atmosphere.

"Since everyone is here, let's start the training!"

The knights who came with the two-timing saint moved to a distance.

"Please show us how well you can use the magic control ball I gave you yesterday. Don't be embarrassed if you haven't improved much, as you only had one day. Saint, please go first."

The two-timing saint took out a magic control ball, about the size of a baseball, from her dress pocket, held it in front of her, and changed its color to green, blue, and purple in sequence, looking very proud and snickering.

Cavendish immediately clapped and praised her.

She's an idiot, I'm annoyed, and I'm irritated!

"Next, Prince Arshain, please."

At Director Tailsmya's voice, Arshain placed the ball in his palm and changed its color to white, yellow, green, blue, and red in sequence, then to red, purple, blue, teal, green, yellow-green, yellow, lemon yellow, and white in a gradient.

The two-timing saint was stunned, and Cavendish looked shocked.

"Next, Lord Kaita, please."

Director Tailsmya's voice was surprised but slightly pleased.

I also did it, showing the same clear and gradient color changes as Arshain, with a smug expression added for good measure!

Director Tailsmya was so surprised he almost clapped, but stopped himself in front of the two-timing saint and her group.

"Yes, Saint, you need a bit more practice, but you have good potential. Prince Arshain and Lord Kaita are already at a level where they can move on to practical training. Let's start with magic conversion practice. There are people near the targets, so please move over there..."

"Hold it! What did you do?! How could you change colors so clearly after just one day with the ball? You must have cheated! Confess! My eyes aren't fooled!!"

She started accusing us.

She's an idiot, her eyes are blind, and I don't want to deal with her!