‘By the way, your expression has been unpleasant.’
I had a vague idea why Hierian didn’t like Dianel. A childhood scar. Trauma as a child.
The noble-born individuals, known as the “Imperials,” had the potential to manifest supernatural powers. However, when they first manifested their powers, they would lose their sanity and become ferocious.
Because of this, young Imperials who had not yet manifested their powers were not allowed to associate with the noble-born children. It was because they could unintentionally harm or even kill them.
To address this issue, young and skilled magicians from the Mage tower stayed in the royal palace and became playmates for the Imperial children. They received prior training on how to safely handle situations when the young Imperial manifested their powers.
The powers manifested by the young Imperial were not particularly impressive, and the young magicians had undergone multiple preparatory pieces of training, allowing them to easily overcome any crisis.
However, there had been a significant exception on a scale big enough to be recorded in history. It was the day when Dianel manifested as a supernatural being.
Just the transformation alone caused the collapse of the secondary palace where young Dianel used to play, and a dark shadow engulfed the entire palace. Several nearby buildings collapsed and caught fire due to the power emanating from his body. Many were injured, and several lost their lives.
In particular, Hierian, who was the closest to the incident, suffered great trauma. Hierian, who was the most prominent young magician at that time, became Dianel’s playmate. However, their relationship became strained after Dianel’s transformation, and Hierian hesitated to visit the palace. According to rumors, he was deeply shocked by the incident.
‘It’s common knowledge for Imperial citizens up to this point.’
Contrary to the rumors, Hierian, whom I had seen in the subjugation force, was someone whose inner thoughts were hard to discern. He always wore a smiling face but occasionally seemed lonely. However, I had never seen Hierian display any signs of hating or fearing Dianel.
‘Is there something else I don’t know?’
After contemplating for a moment, I noticed that Hierian’s expression was not good. Sensing the atmosphere that shouldn’t be pried into, I changed the subject.
At that moment, the sound of military training could be heard from the martial arts field, with Therid also involved. He couldn’t afford to show a sluggish appearance to the Crown Prince and diligently practiced swordsmanship even during festival preparations.
Witnessing his hard work, I felt admiration in my heart.
‘Should I ask for Hierian’s help?’
Seizing the opportunity, I spoke to him.
“Hierian, don’t you want to play outside?”
“Outside?”
“Yeah, wouldn’t it be fun to play with that guy?”
I pointed to Therid.
“…He seems busy. I prefer being with you, Sister.”
Hierian wore a gloomy expression. As I had expected, I gently began to coax him.
“If you help him become stronger, wouldn’t you like that? He had always trained with knights and magicians, right?”
“Still…”
As he elongated his words, Hierian shifted his position and sat closer to me. It was evident that he had no intention of leaving my side.
‘Well, it could be a great opportunity for Therid.’
Magicians like Hierian had a knack for bringing out the knightly spirit in others. Did he know? If Therid could become a user of Aura, it would be rare in the Empire. It would greatly elevate Astita’s reputation.
But for that to happen, some risks had to be taken.
‘High risk, high return.’
After pondering, I subtly opened my mouth.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“He said his fairy dust could cover your eyes, Hierian.”
At that moment, a strange glint flickered in his hazy gray eyes.
“…He said that?”
Following that, a sinister smile emerged. Seeing the genuine Hierian after a long time, I couldn’t help but smile contentedly.
* * *
Hierian ran straight to Therid. He had just finished a fierce duel and was wiping the sweat off with a towel when he approached him, his eyes sparkling.
“I heard about the power you have, the fairy dust. If you sprinkle it on me, will it blind me?”
“Of course, you’d be surprised.”
“Wow, are you really that strong?”
“You can’t even imagine! Even the Demon King would go blind from my Fairy Powder.”
With that, Therid fell into the trap Hierian had set for him, and the moment he did, a giant magic circle appeared behind Hierian. Therid was slightly taken aback when he saw Hierian using magic, but he quickly shrugged it off and taunted him.
“You want to fight with me, kid?”
“Yes!”
“I won’t even bother looking at you if you cry. I’m a really scary person, you know.”
“Well, I’ll let you see a little.”
After that, Hierian’s one-sided training began. Therid was paying the price for his words.
Within Hierian’s protective barrier, all sorts of chaotic sounds could be heard.
“Aaah! Help me!”
“It’s okay. You won’t die.”
“I feel like I’m going to die! Aaaah!”
However, Hierian wasn’t torturing Therid. In the first place, he couldn’t even withstand Hierian’s torment. Instead, Hierian was helping Therid unleash his power. There might have been a hint of personal interest mixed in, though.
Boom!
“Save meeee!”
Amidst the loud shouting, I watched Therid’s training while holding a cup of tea.
‘I’ve had moments like that too.’
I even trained with the three male protagonists. Every day for three months until we left for the expedition.
‘I felt like I was going to die.’
Nevertheless, I survived unscathed. Therid will figure it out on his own.
That way, he will be qualified to become the head of the Astita family.
‘That’s right, that’s right.’
As I was immersed in nostalgic memories, a dazzling rainbow aura faintly emanated from Therid’s body. I was taken aback, as I didn’t expect it to manifest so quickly, and I looked at him with surprise.
‘Did it really manifest?’
It took a long time and patience for the aura to manifest outside the body. But now, it was already manifesting. Even considering Hierian’s assistance, it was a remarkable achievement.
‘He must have worked hard.’
Although it will require a lot of effort and time to properly use the aura, Therid must have set another goal for himself.
As expected, Therid’s eyes widened like torches when he faced the aura that manifested for a moment.
Forgetting about the sparks falling from the sky, he mumbled.
“I… I just manifested the aura… Kgh!”
A spark fell on Therid’s head. It was a tiny fragment, possibly due to Hierian’s mishap while adjusting the trajectory.
Hierian looked troubled.
“I didn’t mean to knock you out…”
Hierian caught on to my gaze and erected a barrier. I checked on Therid lying on the ground. Fortunately, he only lost consciousness temporarily, and there were no other injuries. The bruises from the sparring were also healed thanks to the power Hierian infused.
Hierian nervously stood beside me. Sensing his apprehension, I lightly tapped his back.
“It’s alright. You did well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, as long as he didn’t die.”
Hierian blinked his eyes and nodded with a sparkle in his eyes.
“Yeah!”
* * *
Therid woke up after a full day’s sleep. As soon as he looked at the ceiling of the room, two thoughts came to his mind.
‘Why am I here?’
‘Oh, I came to meet the unknown sorcerer kid!’
He couldn’t remember anything about fighting the unidentified sorcerer kid and getting into trouble. He rubbed his sore head, feeling a slight pain.
“Ouch! It hurts a bit.”
Although he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries, his head was aching a bit. Then he noticed a note placed under the potion on the bedside table.
[Painkiller.]
“Did the doctor bring it?”
Without any suspicion, Therid swallowed the potion. Immediately, with a tingling sensation passing through his throat, even the faint pain disappeared. It worked so well, he glanced at the vial.
‘Where is it?’
As Astita was known for its abundant herbs, there were quite a few shops selling potions. The mansion’s doctor, in particular, used a lot of Titina’s potions. If it was brought by the doctor, Titina’s name would be written on the medicine bottle.
However, there was no name written on the vial. Seeing that it had no brand, he didn’t know if it was personally made in the mansion.
Therid frowned. There were only two types of people who made potions: healers or sorcerers. In that case, it must be Siara or that terrifying little sorcerer.
Therid tried to recall the face of the little sorcerer. With an innocent expression, he had tormented Therid relentlessly. His arrogant fairy dust didn’t work on the little sorcerer either. Remembering the sinister smile he had seen at that time sent shivers down his spine even now.
‘…But it doesn’t seem like him.’
Then, could it be Siara? Therid pursed his lips in dissatisfaction and scratched his head.
“Who could it be?”
Therid remained silent for a moment and then continued.
“But why is she so kind to me?”
When he first saw her, Therid didn’t like how she relied on his mother and acted naively. Therid didn’t passively endure it and confronted Siara. But the more he did, the more he felt like a fool.
His father told him to endure it for his mother’s sake, and it wasn’t like Siara was as arrogant as before.
“Rather than being arrogant… she even cheered me on.”
She asked him if he knew how to use a sword, and told him he would make a great knight. Therid even suspected that Siara was trying to scheme something by driving him out of the mansion. However, she instead gave him a large sum of money. Thanks to that, Astita was able to pay off the debts to Viscount Leven at once.
After that, Therid asked Siara why she gave him such a large sum of money. He secretly wondered if Siara was trying to gain a foothold in the Astita family lineage. But Siara’s answer was simple.
‘Because it’s where I’m staying.’
‘What?’
‘It’s just because I didn’t want to see the gloomy atmosphere in the mansion due to the lack of money.’
‘…Just because of that, you donated such a large sum of money?’
‘It’s my money, so it’s up to me how to use it. But there’s something I want to ask you.’
‘What is it?’
‘If you have any money left, please use it to plant flowers in the backyards.’
Siara was the one who repaid the mansion’s debts. Therid couldn’t refuse such a simple request to plant flowers.
Therid sought his mother’s permission and ordered the gardener to arrange the backyard. The gardener who received the order was delighted at the thought of rearranging it. The maids also gathered together during their break time to discuss the changes in the backyard.
Just by planting a few flowers, the mansion was regaining its liveliness.
Therid had a strange feeling. He felt bad for doing what Siara told him to do. But, on the contrary, things that were messed up seem to be back in place.
“…Why is this happening?”
Suddenly, a question popped into Therid’s head as he scratched the back of his head.
‘Could it be that Siara sent that little kid to help me with my training?’
But soon, he shook his head.
“Nah, that’s unlikely.”
Everyone in Astita knew that Therid’s specialty was fairy dust. The thought that the sorcerer was sent by Siara to see if he could handle it didn’t make sense.
Besides, that little kid was incredibly strong for his age.
‘He was stronger than the royal mage I fought when I was a royal knight.’
At that moment, Therid thought that the little sorcerer might not be a child. The mages were descendants of the dragons, creatures that could transform as easily as polymorphs. Therefore, most mages had a talent for transformation magic. So the mage might have appeared as a child even though he was an adult.
‘What a unique taste.’
Therid’s mouth dropped open as he remembered something.
“He used to follow her, calling her ‘sister.”
He would brazenly cling to her and hold onto her sleeve. She would then pat the head of the young child, without any suspicion. It was an acceptable behavior considering he was a child.
As Therid thought about it, he suddenly stood up from his seat and muttered,
“That brat, isn’t he a pervert?”
