After calming the crying children, Tommy and Selena were finally able to sit on the sofa. Tommy sat next to the child and asked Jack for cookies and tea, and it was not until the snacks were served that the four children each held a cookie and became quiet.
The child still huffed at Jerome but didn’t say anything as Tommy had scolded him sharply, making Tommy realize that the child had grown once again.
“Anyway, so you are raising that child?”
“Yes. Pretty, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. What’s the name?”
“Actually, that’s why I contacted you. I haven’t been able to decide on the child’s name until now. It seems to be a problem beyond my capacity, so I wanted to ask for the young lady’s help.”
“I see. Oh, now that I think about it, I haven’t introduced our kids yet.”
Selena clapped her hands as if she remembered she hadn’t introduced the children yet during her conversation with Tommy. She glanced at Ruth shrugging her shoulders and began introducing the children to Tommy.
“The one sitting on the far left reading a book is Hermia. Her nickname is Heri. She is a twin sister who was born about 10 seconds before Jerome and is six years old. And the one sitting next to her is Charlina, her nickname is Charl. She is three years old and reads so well that I’m contemplating whether to move her up a grade sooner than the other kids.”
“She looks just like the young lady when she was little.”
“No, but the kid’s personality is just like Ruth’s. I was surprised once when I thought the child was reading a fairy tale, but when I checked, it was a book on economics that was opened and being read. Of course, being a child, I doubt the content was understood, but perhaps there was a desire to read something with a lot of words.”
“The young lady read newspapers too. If you think about it that way, it’s not too much. You don’t know how surprised the Duchess was at that time, do you?”
Tommy smiled at Charles, who looked just like Selena. A mysterious nostalgia wandered through his heart and then disappeared. He thought he would never see such a sight again, so he was glad to see it this way.
Charles, looking embarrassed under Tommy’s gaze, fidgeted with his fingers and then, as if asking for permission from Ruth, made a gesture with his fingers.
A worm?
As Tommy was puzzling over the mysterious gesture, Ruth took a sip of tea and then explained.
“It’s a heart.”
“…What?”
“I’m not sure myself, but he saw it somewhere and has been making it whenever he wants something. Isn’t it cute?”
“So, there’s something he wants from me now.”
“That seems to be the case. Charles, what do you want from the master of the mage tower?”
As Ruth asked while magically removing dust from Charles’s head, Charles ran down from the sofa towards Tommy.
“I want to do it too, magic.”
“Huh?”
“A wizard. Me too.”
“Charles dreams of becoming a wizard. It seems she thought magic looked cool when she saw Ruth use it. That’s why she hasn’t been able to sleep for days since she heard she’s going to meet you, the tower master. She’s been too excited.”
“Ahh.”
Only then did Tommy realize what Charles’s affection meant and burst out laughing, skillfully lifting Charles onto his lap. He then gently stroked the girl’s hair.
“Charles. Right now, you’re too young, and if you learn magic, the mana will run wild inside your body. So, how about you eat well and sleep well for now, and when you’re a bit older, I’ll teach you magic myself?”
“…Okay.”
Charles, feeling a bit disappointed, muttered his agreement and then relaxed comfortably in Tommy’s embrace.
Tommy, reminded of Selena from their childhood by the girl’s actions, barely held back a laugh that threatened to escape through his lips. After a moment’s hesitation, he gently pressed Charles’s soft cheek with his long index finger. The white cheek that indented at his touch was just like milk pudding.
“Cute, isn’t it?”
Selena noticed Tommy’s unspoken sentiment and asked with a smile in her voice.
About to nod in agreement, he swiftly changed his response upon noticing the sulking child next to him. After all, if the child threw a tantrum, it would last for days.
“I still think my child is the best.”
“Well… all parents think that, don’t they? Is that why you called me here today, to name your child?”
“Yes. I would like the name to be special if possible. Something that, as soon as you hear it, you think, ‘Ah, this is our child’s name.'”
“That’s tough. But looking at it, your child seems a bit grown up already. Why haven’t you decided on a name yet?”
“…I guess. It just seemed like any name I came up with wasn’t good enough.”
The desire to give everything to their child and the wish to only give something special to such a special child, nurturing them with care—these two conflicting desires resulted in the child remaining unnamed.
It was then, after delaying and delaying, that he realized he could delay no more and called for Selena.
Despite the potential for misunderstanding, Selena nodded in understanding after hearing this and then was silent for a moment. The gaze directed downwards and the fingers absently touching her lips seemed to indicate she was deeply contemplating something.
Once, a long time ago in the past, Tommy had loved seeing Selena like this. Now, though he needed to use magic to see what someone was doing, there was a time he could see her with his own eyes.
He couldn’t remember when that was, though.
Tommy shrugged his shoulders lightly and let out an empty sigh. He hadn’t known before that being trapped in finite time was so frustrating for humans.
Nor had he anticipated regretting the fleeting time, missing the moments as his child grew, and not naming his child while time passed by.
Eventually, after finishing her contemplation, Selena clapped her hands and uttered a name.
“…Estel. How about it?”
“Estel… Estel.”
“It means a star in the sky. That’s a nice meaning. It suits her, too.”
Ruth chuckled softly as he glanced at Tommy, who kept repeating the name Estel, seemingly tickled by it in his heart.
He related to the moment, having named his own children once. Tommy looked at the child sitting next to him and called out, “Estel.”
The child brightened up with a smile and snuggled closer to him. Estel. My star.
“How about it? Do you like it?”
Selena eagerly asked, seeing Tommy take a deep breath to calm the surge of emotions. He slowly nodded and said, “I really like it. Thank you.”
“Good. Now that we’ve decided on the child’s name, shall we send the kids to play elsewhere and have a talk among ourselves? Ruth said he wanted to discuss something about the barrier with you.”
“Ah. I almost forgot. Then, the children can go to the playroom… Is there a playroom?”
“Yes, there is. I’ve prepared an artificial garden for the child, no, for Estel. I’ll send the kids there and come back.”
“Let it be so.”
After pressing a quick kiss to Estelle’s forehead, who somehow had quickly turned into an expression full of displeasure, Tomi cast a teleportation spell on the children. All the while, he was still calling out to Estelle, Estelle, in his heart.
It seemed as if the glass, which had been shattered into tens of thousands of pieces, was slowly finding its way back to its place.
***
“Hey, what are you?”
As soon as Estelle arrived in the garden, she approached Jerome. Jerome, who was holding cookies in both hands, was startled by Estelle approaching like a bull and shrugged his shoulders.
Estelle, who showed a formidable spirit, nearly burst into tears again, but he held back because he knew his parents would be sad if he cried. Jerome, who counted to ten in his mind, eventually opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
“Uh, yeah?”
It was just one word, but it took all his baby strength to utter it.
Estelle, who had been blankly staring at Jerome’s transparent barrier, quickly came to her senses and asked with a slightly reddened face in a snappy tone, “Are you the prince?”
“Uh, so what if I am?”
“How could a crybaby like you be a prince.”
“I am, I am a prince! And I’m not a crybaby.”
“Right, crybaby.”
Charles, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, quickly retorted to Jerome’s yelling and then ran off to Hermia, who was reading a book in a corner. Despite Hermia might find it bothersome, he did not reject Charles running to him and let him sit on his lap.
Watching such a sister with envious eyes, Jerome eventually dropped a cookie when Estelle suddenly tapped on his shoulder.
“Hey. So, you’re really a prince then?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Alright. In that case, I’ll personally be friends with you.”
“……Huh?”
Jerome wondered if he had accidentally asked her to be friends with him. No matter how much he pondered, the answer was definitely no.
“I-I’m fine with that?”
“Why do you keep stammering your words? Am I that scary?”
“No, it’s not that… My speech is a bit, a bit hesitant.”
“It seems that way. Anyway, I said I’d be your friend. This is a rare opportunity, isn’t it?”
It was a lie. Up until now, Estel had never encountered any living beings other than the decaying elders and wizards in the magic tower.
This had led to a slight lack of social skills. It was impossible for social skills to develop normally in a place full of people obsessed with magic.
Jerome’s eyes widened at the mention of a rare opportunity. Estel, seeing him, thought that he looked a lot like his mother.
He’s tolerable.
The rather arrogant thought remained unspoken, for fear that Jerome might cry again.
“Listen well. I’m the daughter of the Tower Master, and you are the son of the Emperor. So, what happens if we become friends? We become the most powerful people in the world.”
“Huh, hmm… But why? Why do we have to become such strong people?”
“Are you dumb? Obviously, so that nobody can look down on us! And if no one can look down on us, then we can protect our dad… well, your parents too, properly.”
“……”
“Also, you can eat lots of cookies in your hand.”
“Okay.”
After Estelle’s passionate persuasion, the response that came back was affirmative. It seemed Jerome was more interested in cookies than in protecting his parents, but that didn’t matter to her.
Estelle, who had been reading greed-filled adventure stories given by magicians since childhood, had her dream set a long time ago.
She aimed to rise higher than the highest position known for a woman, becoming an empress and then ascending to a Mage Tower Master.
And for that, she needed a connection with the royal family.
Estelle stretched out her hand to Jerome with a bright smile.
“So from now on, we are friends.”
“Uh-huh!”
Unknowingly where this bond would lead.
The beginning of everything is complete.
