Chapter 72 · Memory (3)

A week later, during lunch at the academy.

“My mother says she’s sorry she couldn’t attend the dinner because she wasn’t feeling well, and asks me to convey her apologies.”

Melvian looked apologetic.

“Of couwse it’s fine. Has the lady wecovewed now?”

“Yes, thank you for understanding. And next time you come, I’ll introduce you to my grandmother and little sister as well. Both of them are still in the western territory.”

Just the thought of having to go to that estate again made me dizzy, but when I heard about the little sister, I asked in surprise.

“Melvian has a wittle sistew?”

“Yes. She’s my twin, and she’s a bit immature.”

A ten-year-old boy calling his younger sibling immature nearly made me burst out laughing, but I held it in.

“That child is dying to see the princess. Honestly, I’m a little afraid to introduce her because I don’t know what rude things she might do.”

Melvian always acted like a gentleman and seemed mature, but seeing him grumble about his younger sibling made him look his age.

Hmm, but if she was a twin who looked just like Melvian, she must be a truly sweet-looking little girl.

“Haaa…”

Just then, Mila, who had been opening a letter beside me, let out a sigh that seemed to make the ground sink. Her face, always cheerful with a bright smile, was covered in dark clouds.

“Mila, what’s wong? Did something bad happen?”

“Well… a letter came from my family home…”

She set the letter on the table and made a tearful face.

“People in our territory have come down with a strange plague, so the royal family has dispatched people.”

“What?!”

The timing was around now, but it had come about two weeks early. I suppose I was receiving the information earlier than in my past lives.

“Then summer vacation really won’t be possible, will it? They say I shouldn’t come home for the time being.”

“Do you know what the symptoms of that strange plague are?”

Freesia asked worriedly. Her mother lived alone in the capital, so it was understandable she’d be concerned.

“The letter doesn’t say exactly. But if the royal family even dispatched people because it’s dangerous, it must be serious, right? It sounds like chaos, with healers and priests and everything.”

“It would be good if it’s cleared up before it spreads to the capital.”

At Melvian’s words, Ark answered indifferently.

“What kind of country is Santra? The priests and healers are the best in the world. It’ll surely be no problem.”

‘That disease is one the priests can’t cure either, you fool!’

How many Santran people had died because of royals and nobles with the same mindset as Ark? I hadn’t experienced the tragedy firsthand, but even the news I’d picked up by eavesdropping had been truly horrific.

‘But soon I’ll find a way to make the herb of life bloom.’

Over the past few days, Leo had taught me several basic mental magics I needed to learn before using memory magic. My rate of mastery wasn’t bad, so I felt I’d soon be able to learn the target spell.

Looking at Mila, who was making a tearful face and writing a reply to the letter, I thought quietly to myself.

‘Wait, Mila. I’ll protect Mila’s summer vacation.’

◇ ◆ ◇

“This is impossible…”

Leo muttered in a low voice.

“To master this much in just a few days. And someone who’s never used mental magic in their life.”

His praise made my shoulders perk up a little. I do have some skill, you know. There’s no one who can match me even in the academy’s upperclassmen class!

‘But why hasn’t Leo said anything since then?’

Leo had never once brought up that day’s events first. It was strange how he hadn’t said a single thing related to my regression. Honestly, it was more comfortable that he pretended not to know, but not knowing what he was thinking made me anxious too.

Still, I was so grateful that he treated me exactly the same as before. If it were me, I would have been so dumbfounded and disbelieving that I’d have interrogated him endlessly. Especially considering his scholarly curiosity, he should have been dying to know more about the phenomenon of regression itself.

‘Could this be Leo’s way of being considerate? Anyway, what a kind boy…’

Leo spoke in a calm voice.

“I think you can try it now.”

I was startled. Of course, the situation was urgent so I needed to hurry, but I hadn’t expected to attempt that magic today, so I was very nervous.

“Weally? Can I alweady?”

“Have you ever failed at a magic you tried for the first time?”

“Um… I haven’t, but…”

It might sound a little smug, but it was true. Except for the portal magic Stella had interfered with, I had succeeded on my first try at every high-level magic, no matter how difficult.

‘It must be thanks to inheriting my mother’s talent. Is this what they call the luck of bloodlines?’

Carrying the terrible curse of infinite regression, I should at least have this much ability to balance things out, shouldn’t I?

“All wight, I’ll twy it!”

I prepared myself and sat before Leo.

“First, let’s start with something other than your three-year-old memories. The earlier the memory, the harder it is to attempt.”

“Got it. But what memowy is Weo going to show me?”

He hesitated with a slightly taken-aback look. He apparently hadn’t thought of anything in particular.

“Thewe’s something I want to see.”

“…What?”

“I want to see what Weo was wike when he was in Kawisa! Is thewe a way? With memowy magic, you can’t see youw own face, wight?”

“Why on earth do you want to see what I was like in Kalisa?”

“Because… you’d be cute?”

He frowned as if dumbfounded.

“…Well, I’ll try to think of something.”

Wow, I’m really curious. Leo in his days as a prince in the Kalisan royal palace!

I was full of anticipation, but I took several deep breaths so I wouldn’t ruin the magic by getting excited. And recalling the formula I had practiced so hard, I closed my eyes and recited the activation word.

“Inspícĭo memórĭa.”

After going through the multi-stage formula, the memory magic activated. Being the caster of memory magic felt as strange as being the subject.

In the pitch-black void where nothing should be visible with my eyes closed, countless shimmering threads filled the space endlessly. I had to find the memory Leo wanted to show me. As I floundered through the void, wandering for a long while, my mana drained in great gulps. Mental magic really did consume an enormous amount of mana.

‘Is that it?’

A thread of memory fluttering especially conspicuously came into my sight, and I quickly caught it.

Fwaaash!

In an instant, my vision filled with light. Having been in darkness for so long, the dazzling light pouring in made me dizzy as I couldn’t adjust. Only after some time passed could I figure out where this was.

‘It must be Weo’s woom.’

Before my eyes was a large golden mirror. And the little child reflected in it was…

‘It’s Weo!’

He must have been about six. His eyes were as sharp as now, but his cheeks were much rounder and his body much smaller. And instead of the hair sticking out this way and that like now, it was glossy, very well-groomed black hair. He looked exactly like a little prince.

He was at the vanity, and a black-haired beauty who looked so much like him had him on her lap and was brushing his hair.

‘So cute!’

Memory magic required not letting go of the tension even while viewing the memory, but the moment I saw Leo, I nearly released the spell with a whoosh. He was so incredibly cute I wanted to pinch those soft-looking cheeks.

“Mother, you could leave this to the maids.”

Leo said with his adorable lips. To speak so maturely at such a young age—he must have been a precocious child from the start, not just matured by hardship.

“Leo still doesn’t understand. A mother’s heart that wants to brush her son’s hair herself.”

The black-haired beauty said with a chuckle. She was a woman with slightly dark olive skin, large, crisply opened eyes, and golden eyes sparkling within them—truly beautiful.

So that’s Leo’s mother!

“But Leo, why is your expression so dark? Today is your happy birthday.”

“…”

Gasp, it was Leo’s birthday. But just as the queen said, he looked truly gloomy.

“Is it because of your father?”

“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“No. It must be hard for you.”

The queen let out a deep sigh.

“The war is dragging on longer than expected.”

Well, this must be the middle of the war.

“It’s not the first or second time Father has gone to war… and he’s always come back safely, but I’m scared every time.”

Leo said in a sullen voice.

“In case, in case bad news comes…”

The queen silently stroked his hair. Her face too was full of worry.

“I’m sorry.”

Seeing his mother like that, Leo quickly climbed down from her lap.

“You must be having a hard time too, Mother, and here I am being childish…”

“It’s all right to be childish, Leo.”

She pulled him into a tight hug.

“You shouldn’t try to carry the burden alone already just because you’re a prince.”

And she added with blazing eyes.

“Let’s talk with your father over the communication stone later. This man hasn’t contacted us for a week—I’ll have to give him a good scolding!”

“B-but won’t that interfere with Father…”

“Whether the enemy commander is chasing him or not, a father who can’t celebrate his son’s birthday has no right to be a father!”

She was truly a woman as spirited as her appearance. And I could feel that they truly loved each other, and I was a little… no, actually very envious.

Is that what family love is? If my mother were alive and my father weren’t a holy knight, would I have received love like that?

“Now, let’s go to the banquet hall. Today I had them make lots of lemon pie, specially because it’s your favorite, Leo.”

The two walked out of the room hand in hand.

Feeling I had seen enough, I gently released the memory magic. With the sensation of my body dropping through the air, I felt the cold stone floor. When I opened my eyes and looked ahead, Leo was sitting blankly. Having vividly seen his mother again after so long, his feelings must be complicated. How much must he have missed her?

To lighten the mood, I spoke loudly.

“Weo, you weally wewe so cute!”

“What?”

“So cute I wanted to bite you.”

Leo’s face turned rose-pink in an instant. He bowed his head and muttered quietly.

“Who’s calling whom that…”

Huh? I think I just heard something strange?