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Nick was startled.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince! What are you doing in a place like that?”
Unlike Nick, who was stuttering, Cian greeted him calmly.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Atreille grinned, satisfied.
“As expected, uncle! You’re not even a bit surprised by something like this, are you?”
“It would be difficult to be Your Highness’s uncle if I were to be surprised by such things.”
“Huh. How are you always so cool?”
“What were you doing there?”
“Today is the day the Noble Council meets! I’ve been waiting to see my uncle. I’d planned to hide and wait in the bushes, but that didn’t seem very fun, so I tried hiding in a new place! I’m so out of breath!”
“… Huh.”
Nick looked back at Cian with a ‘tell me what’s wrong with the crown prince’ look on his face.
Nick hadn’t had much interaction with Atreille, and the child’s behavior was baffling to him.
Atreille’s behavior was the result of a combination of his playful nature and his rebellious spirit.
He’d been hurt by Sigar’s abuse in the name of affection and needed an outlet.
‘If someone were to warmly embrace Atreille, things might be a little easier for him… Even when I want to meet Atreille, I have to get Sigar’s approval.’
Atreille’s eyes were shining, unaware of Cian’s thoughts. He seemed quite happy to see his uncle after so long.
Sighing inwardly, Cian rose from his bow.
“It was impressive. How have you been?”
“I’ve missed you terribly, uncle, and I hear you’ve been very busy lately?”
Atreille whined, resting his chin on the fountain’s railing.
“I had to wait here because uncle never comes to see me. Sheesh. I got in so much trouble when I asked dad to send for uncle.”
Oh, no.
Sure enough, Atreille’s right cheek was swollen.
Cian lowered his head, feeling his insides boil.
“I apologize. I’ll make sure to visit you more in the future.”
“Hehe. I’ll be waiting!”
Cian motioned for Nick to wait a short distance away and leaned against the fountain’s railing.
Atreille splashed his feet as if he were swimming in the large fountain.
“Uncle, uncle. I have a question for you.”
“Please speak.”
“Are you popular with the ladies?”
“Not really.”
“Really? I heard you’re popular because you’re rich, handsome, polite, young, and of high status.”
That may’ve been the case at one time, but not now. After adopting Dolorosa, Cian was shunned in social circles.
… At least, that’s what he thought, but in fact, he was still popular. The favor and affection were as great as the scandals that followed him.
Though seemingly invisible now, if not for Sigar’s interference and Dolorosa’s presence, Cian would have been subjected to the irrational and political courtships of countless young women.
Cian looked at his nephew with a kind gaze.
“Are you here to assess my reputation in social circles?”
“No! That’s not it! If you’re popular, you’d have met a lot of people. If you’ve met a lot of people, you’d know what women like.”
Oh my.
It seemed like there was a young lady he was interested in.
Atreille was going to become the emperor, so there was a high probability that he would not end up with the person he was interested in, but it didn’t matter. Cian wanted to help his beloved nephew with his first love.
“I don’t know if I’m popular, but if it’s something the young ladies like, I can tell you. After all, I’m the chief informant of the guild.”
“Oh! Good, good! What is it? What do women like?”
“Well, it varies from person to person, but usually they like shiny things, fragrant things like flowers, or sweets like cookies.”
“Shiny things? Like diamonds?”
“Yes, like diamonds.”
“Okay, let’s go with diamonds, then! Where do you buy diamonds? I want lots of them!”
“A lot… Would be burdensome, just one is good enough. Are you thinking of giving it as a gift?”
Atreille nodded with a clear face.
“Yes! I’m giving it to Rachel!”
Rachel?
Did Atreille just say Rachel?
Cian hid his confusion and asked calmly.
“Are you referring to Theodore’s ex-wife Rachel, who ruined Your Royal Highness’s birthday banquet last time?”
” Yes! I want to give Rachel diamonds, lots of them!”
Why would Atreille want to give Rachel diamonds?
Atreille was a mischievous and unpredictable child, but he was not irrational enough to want to give expensive gifts to strangers.
“Why do you suddenly want to give Rachel a diamond?”
“Because I want to be friends.”
Atreille hesitated and spoke in an uncharacteristically low voice.
“Rachel was a very interesting person. She hugs tightly, and doesn’t hit when she scolds! She scolds so quietly that it makes me want to listen to her. I’d never seen that before.”
“… Is that so?”
Sigar taught the next emperor, Atreille, his ways.
An emperor must be brutal.
If someone did something wrong, it was natural to be taken away, beaten, or killed.
Emperors and crown princes can get away with anything, but they don’t forgive others.
Rachel must’ve been refreshing to Atreille, who was learning about the world in a crooked way. If it were her, she would’ve been gentle and kind even in situations where she was angry.
Rachel was merciless toward Theodore and Jane, while being sweeter and kinder than a sugar cookie to everyone else. She was so generous and kind that she seemed like a fool at times.
He wondered if this was the reason he hadn’t noticed her wisdom before.
‘Rachel…’
He was grateful to Rachel for giving warmth to his precious little niece, but at the same time, he felt strangely jealous. His heart pounded in his chest with a dull thud.
“I see you’ve met Countess Rachel, did you slip out of the palace?”
“…”
After a brief silence, Atreille quickly raised his voice and shook his head.
“No, no, no, no, no, I didn’t!”
“You’re still a bad liar, I see. Be careful not to speak of Countess Rachel in front of His Majesty. He’ll be furious.”
“Hehe. Of course he would be, that’s only natural. Will uncle keep my secret as well?”
Atreille was an excellent crown prince, intelligent and perceptive. He studied hard subjects like history, culture, social studies, and law with great diligence.
But no matter how smart he was, ten years old was still ten years old. The child was allowed to roam free when there was no Sigar to watch over him. Like now.
Cian wanted to be Atreille’s safe place.
“I will guard your secret with my life.”
“Good, good. Buy me a diamond as a bonus!”
“Please leave it to me. I’ll get you something really nice. If you don’t mind, I’ll also look into other things Count Rachel might like.”
“As always, my uncle is the best!”
Atreille beamed and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was imperial paper, soaking wet and tattered. The writing had disappeared due to the water.
“Here, since you did me a favor again today, I’ll give you a wish coupon!”
“You do realize that this is already the hundredth wish coupon?”
“It’s great that you’ve collected a hundred of Crown Prince Atreille’s wish coupons, uncle! Next time, make a wish. Okay?”
Is it even possible for such a small child to grant a wish?
Cian laughed lightly.
* * *
“Grandpa has to lose this time too! Okay? Rock Paper Scissors!”
Graham shouted loudly and held out his fist. Lylus, who was laughing, held out scissors at the same time.
“Wow! I won! I won again!”
“Hey, kid. Are you really that happy to be beating your grandpa?”
“Yes! It’s great! I love it because when I play rock-paper-scissors with Grandpa, I win every time!”
Rachel was listening to the conversation between Graham and Lylus a short distance away from the garden bench where they were sitting. It was such a heartwarming and enjoyable sight that she couldn’t bring herself to disturb it.
“Let’s do it again! Grandpa, let’s play rock, paper, scissors again!”
Graham had been excited every day since Lylus began visiting the manor. The child who was always trying to look dignified in front of Rachel was now laughing and chatting like a child his age.
Lylus used his foresight generously for Graham. He took on the role of the loser in rock-paper-scissors and made fireworks with his mana.
It was a peaceful and beautiful day.
Once again, Graham won the game of rock-paper-scissors, and was laughing and cheering when he noticed Rachel standing behind him.
“Oh, it’s Mom! Mom!”
Graham jumped off the bench and ran towards Rachel, hugging her tightly.
“Mom, I was playing rock, paper, scissors with Grandpa!”
“Did you have fun?”
“Yes! It was fun! Grandpa is so amazing and funny!”
“Really? If it’s so much fun, should mom tell His Highness the Archduke to delay your sword practice?”
“That’s okay, we can come back here and play again.”
Graham replied cheerfully and waved wildly at Lylus on the bench.
“Grandpa, I’m going to go practice my swordsmanship!”
“Alright. Go on.”
Graham ran across the garden toward the training grounds.
Rachel and Lylus smiled as they watched him go.
“Thank you. I can’t believe how much brighter Graham is these days.”
“I see. I didn’t realize how useful Yenis’ powers were.”
“Yenis probably didn’t know either.”
He never thought he’d be using the power of God to play rock, paper, scissors or make fireworks.
Rachel smiled and sat down next to Lylus. The chair, warmed by the sun, was comfortable.
“By the way, is it really okay to use your foresight like this? I mean, isn’t foresight supposed to be…”
“Well, who knows. It’s up me to decide how I want to use what’s mine. It’s not like you’d want to crawl around on all fours just because you can’t walk on two feet, right.”
“Is it really like that?”
“Well, yeah. Foresight is like one of my limbs, after all.”
As always, Rachel laughed at the casual remark.
Lylus looked at her expectantly, then said.
“Come to think of it, I’ve never used my powers of foresight on you. Are you disappointed?”
“No, I’m fine, though I am a little curious.”
She wondered what the future would look like. Would he see the original future, or something else?
“Hmm.”
After thinking for a moment, Lylus stretched out his hands and held them out in front of him. A brilliant silver light emanated from his fingertips, and three cards with strange patterns appeared out of thin air.
“Wow, that’s really amazing.”
“These cards show your past, present, and future. Turn them over to see.”
“Hmm…”
Without thinking, Rachel grabbed the rightmost card representing the future, flipping it over.
And flash!
A bolt of lightning struck from the clear sky, shredding the card Rachel held.
“Uh…”
Panicked, Rachel froze in place. Only a small corner of the card remained in her hand.
She lifted her eyes and met Lylus’s gaze.
“I’m sorry, did I break it?”
“Oh.”
Lylus’s reaction was unexpected. He clutched his stomach and laughed hard.
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