Chapter 21

After dinner, surrounded by birds, I was being held on Father's lap in the living room, with Mother, my siblings, and Daru around.

"Father! I have a request!"

"A request? What is it?"

"I want to practice swordsmanship!"

"Swordsmanship? Why suddenly?"

Father looked puzzled, and Mother smiled gently.

"Perhaps Lulia wanted to imitate after watching my swordsmanship training today."

"Lulia wants to be like Gilbert, huh."

Mother smiled and stroked Daru.

"The world is full of dangers. You need to be able to protect yourself."

"That's true, but you have guards, so you don't need to be afraid, right?"

Father said this gently, as if trying to reason with me.

"But, we don't know when an attack might come."

At this, Father and Mother exchanged glances. My brother and sister looked at me with concern, perhaps remembering the time I was attacked when I was just a baby.

"Still, Lulia, girls don't learn swordsmanship. Even your sister didn't."

"Sister should practice too. You could be kidnapped. Even inside the house, it's not safe."

My sister is very cute. She could be taken by bad people. It's important to be able to protect yourself in an emergency.

This isn't about being a girl or a boy. The enemy won't show mercy just because you're weak; they'll only be happy about it.

"I need more than just a sword! I want to practice magic too!"

"No way!"

Father suddenly shouted, startling me.

"I'm sorry, Lulia. But no, you can't practice magic."

"Why? Magic is strong."

"It's not that you can never practice. You're only three years old. Magic can be harmful to a young child's body."

"Is that so?"

In my previous life, I started practicing major magic at around five years old, twice a week. But I didn't have any problems.

"You won't grow tall."

"Wh-what!"

I made a strange sound. Indeed, in my previous life, I was quite short, even shorter than my younger cousin.

"... Was it because of magic?"

This was a shocking revelation. If magic prevented growth, it made sense why I was so small in my previous life.

"Anyway, no magic for now."

"Even Brother just started practicing magic recently. Lulia, you can't start until you're around thirteen."

"Okay!"

I decided not to practice magic, as suggested by Father and Brother, because I didn't want to stop growing.

"Then, Lulia, do you really want to learn swordsmanship?"

"Yes, I do!"

"You should let her, dear. It's safer than having her use magic in secret, right?"

"Thank you, Mother."

Mother was on my side, which made me very happy.

"Hmm. You're right. Alright, Lulia. I'll ask Gilbert's teacher to teach you too."

"Thank you, Father! Oh, and while we're at it, I want to learn to read and write too!"

"Ah, sure, of course."

"Yay!"

Thanks to my request for swordsmanship, which was harder to get permission for, learning to read and write was easily approved. If I had asked the other way around, it might have been "Isn't it too early to teach a three-year-old to read and write?"

"Lulia, you're quite strategic... hehe."

"You're right, Lulia is a strategist."

"Lulia is so cute."

For some reason, Father and Brother patted my head.