“…Um, aren’t you taking a bit too many?”
“But how bored must he be?”
“…”
“I’ve already read all of these, so it’s fine to give them to Isierd.”
What Riersha had gathered was the complete collection of fairy tale books from her bookshelf.
He definitely won’t be able to move around freely.
He would need something to pass the time when he grew bored in his room.
Riersha smiled with quiet satisfaction.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Sona carried the collection of fairy tale books and stepped out of the room.
They slipped out through the back gate of the annex, careful not to draw anyone’s attention, and entered the heir’s domain.
“We can’t get caught by my brothers.”
“Understood, Lady Riersha. I’ll alert you if I sense anyone nearby.”
“Okay, Sona. Thank you.”
“Not at all. Your wishes are my purpose.”
Sona smiled gently and extended her senses into the surroundings.
It didn’t take long before she caught something — a presence that didn’t quite belong.
Her gaze drifted to the very last building at the far end of the row of residences.
“There.”
“There?”
“Yes.”
Sona gave a small nod.
Since each residence could only be entered by those with permission, there was no risk of Isierd’s presence being discovered.
No one stood guard at the front of the building.
Someone must be keeping watch from within.
When Riersha stepped through the entrance, the knight who moved to block her way looked caught off guard.
“…Lady Riersha? You are not permitted to enter this place.”
“Move.”
“But the Young Duke has ordered… that no one be allowed inside.”
The knight — whose allegiance to Pernoa’s orders outranked even Riersha’s standing — held his ground firmly, offering his explanation.
Cold sweat gathered at his brow.
If he allowed Riersha to pass, Pernoa’s reprimand would be swift and certain.
Riersha knew this just as well, which was why she didn’t press him further with another command.
“Hmm.”
Wasn’t there some clever way around this?
“When does Brother Risideon come?”
“Pardon?”
“He comes here, doesn’t he.”
Riersha crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow, her expression making it perfectly clear that she already knew everything.
I think Papa does something like this.
She mimicked Pernoa as closely as she could manage.
Sona and the knight exchanged a blank look.
“A-ahem! Ahem! Cough, cough!”
The moment the knight realized what Riersha was doing — impersonating Pernoa himself — he hastily raised a fist to his mouth and feigned a coughing fit.
He had nearly let his smile show.
Sona bit the inside of her cheek and wrestled her own laughter into submission.
Because right now, Riersha was more serious and earnest than anyone in the world.
“Young Lord Risideon comes here every day at one in the afternoon.”
“Then he should be here soon?”
The words had barely left her mouth.
“…What are you doing here, Riersha?”
Risideon had appeared.
Finding Riersha standing there — somewhere she had absolutely no business being — left him visibly caught off guard.
“Brother!”
“…Yes?”
“This.”
Riersha pointed to the complete collection of fairy tale books Sona was holding.
Risideon studied the whimsical, illustrated volumes for a long moment before turning his gaze back to Riersha with a look that asked what on earth they were for.
“Give them to Isierd as a present. And you have to tell him they’re from me — you have to! Understood?”
“Then I leave this in your capable hands, Young Lord Risideon.”
Sona dipped her head politely and extended the books toward him.
Risideon accepted them before he quite knew what was happening, a dazed expression settling over his face.
⁂
It had already been roughly five days since Isierd had come to live in this residence.
“Very good. Your etiquette has reached an acceptable standard — the foundation is in place.”
The etiquette instructor came every single day and corrected Isierd’s posture without fail.
Chin lifted with composure, eyes fixed straight ahead.
Back and spine held perfectly upright, shoulders at ease.
Stride smooth but never slow.
Eyes never permitted to dart about restlessly.
Conduct yourself as though everything comes naturally.
Why do nobles bother learning useless things like this?
He couldn’t understand what purpose any of it served.
“The world that Your Imperial Highness will inhabit going forward requires precisely these formalities.”
Risideon Arachrene had said as much, once, when he noticed the thought behind Isierd’s expression.
That the world Isierd was going to live in would be exactly like this.
“That concludes today’s etiquette lesson.”
The instructor left the room without waiting for a response, as though none had ever been expected.
No one in this place acknowledged Isierd’s existence beyond what was strictly required.
More precisely, they seemed to have been given no information about who he was at all.
And yet each of them carried out Pernoa Arachrene’s instructions to the letter.
Power.
This was what power looked like.
“Your Imperial Highness Isierd.”
Not long after the lesson ended, before Isierd had gotten much rest at all.
He turned toward the voice calling his name.
The only person in this place who actually knew it — Risideon Arachrene — was entering the room, arms laden with something.
“…What’s that?”
Isierd asked, eyebrows drawing together.
“A gift from my younger sister, for Your Imperial Highness.”
“…Your sister?”
“Yes.”
Sister…
Did this man not have more than one or two siblings?
But the moment Isierd saw what the gift actually was, he knew immediately who had sent it.
There was only one person who would give him something this extravagant.
Riersha.
Isierd stared in silence at the fairy tale books arranged on the desk, then, as if drawn in spite of himself, reached out and opened the one on top.
Flutter.
A slip of paper fell from inside.
*“**A gift to celebrate becoming first friends.*
Read it when you’re bored.
*— Riersha —**“*
The problem was—
“Ah. Your Imperial Highness has not yet learned to read.”
“…”
“Then it seems you will need to study diligently so that you may read the letter and the gift my sister has given you.”
Isierd had no knowledge of letters.
Risideon stated the fact plainly and without inflection. Isierd flinched.
“Letters.”
Isierd opened his mouth.
“I want to know how to read that.”
Risideon paused.
It was the first time, in all the days since Isierd had arrived, that he had asked for something. Until now, he had simply and silently absorbed whatever Risideon saw fit to teach him.
⁂
The advancement examination — one of the Arachrene family’s annual traditions — had come to its end at last.
Children filed out of the annex in a steady stream. Several of them were crying openly, tears streaming down their faces.
“Sob — I read through every single past exam paper and not one question showed up!”
“How can it be this hard?”
The knights standing guard at the annex entrance shook their heads slowly.
This year’s a wash.
It looked as though the final number of successful candidates might just barely scrape into double digits.
That was, after all, simply how it was — the Arachrene family only ever admitted enough applicants to fill a number that barely crossed into the tens.
Not that those children would know that.
The knight clicked his tongue quietly.
It wasn’t as though these children’s futures were entirely shut off. Only this particular path — the path to becoming a retainer of the Arachrene family — had been closed to them forever.
Even if that was precisely the future they had been hoping for.
And of course — it went without saying — the knights standing guard outside the annex right now were themselves people who had cleared every tier of the Arachrene family’s rigorous advancement examinations.
“Good work today.”
“You too.”
The knights who had been stationed at the annex all day began to prepare to take their leave.
“The examination committee members should be heading back soon.”
“I’d think so.”
It seemed safe, at last, to let the tension unwind.
These men had been keeping watch over the ducal estate for well over a month, and fatigue had accumulated to its very limit.
Honestly. You’d have to be uncommonly sharp to pull anything off here. Maybe it really is time for me to retire.
The schemes these people had devised to commit their violations had been clever enough to make him shudder — each one meticulously planned, breathtakingly audacious in its cunning.
The Arachrene family’s retainers, who had caught every last one of them, were equally unsettling in their thoroughness.
They had hunted down every would-be cheat with the relentless, almost joyful energy of people releasing an entire year’s worth of pent-up tension.
They’re enjoying themselves. No question about it.
The knights were shaking their heads as they made to leave the annex behind — when another knight passing nearby spotted them and raised a hand in greeting.
