“Uh… I have a daddy and a gweat-gwandpa.”
“I know that.”
“…And brothers too. Thwee of them.”
How had things ended up like this?
Riersha was thoroughly confused, but she pushed through it and focused on introducing herself.
“My name is Riersha.”
“Mm.”
“And… I wike pudding.”
“Pudding?”
Isierd, who had shown no interest whatsoever in her family introduction, reacted for the first time.
Unable to make sense of what captured Isierd’s attention, Riersha let out a small, pained groan.
“And I hate cawwots.”
“…”
“Don’t look at me wike that. I’m not a baby.”
Riersha, feeling called out by her own words, rushed to defend herself first. Isierd responded with a simple shrug.
For some reason, she had the lingering sense that she’d been outmaneuvered the entire time.
Riersha opened her eyes wide in a pout and shot him a sharp glare.
Then she jumped up from her seat.
If she stayed any longer, she was sure she’d end up blurting out things she had absolutely no reason to say.
“I’m going. See you next time.”
“When’s next time?”
“…Isierd, does it bother you? Me coming here?”
Riersha had already climbed down from her chair, ready to head back to her estate, but she paused and asked the question carefully, the mood shifting between them.
Apparently not expecting such a question, Isierd’s eyes widened slightly.
“You were worried about that?”
She shouldn’t have asked.
Riersha felt unsettled.
The Isierd she had first met was nothing like the Isierd standing before her now. The first impression had been so overwhelming that she still couldn’t quite adjust to how he was now.
“You didn’t lie to me. You told me the truth.”
If Riersha’s guess was right, it seemed like it was after that particular conversation that Isierd’s attitude had visibly changed.
Had he always been like this?
If she thought about it, Isierd had been prickly from the very start — and it seemed the knowledge he had absorbed at the Arachrene ducal house had only made that side of him stand out more.
For some reason, Riersha felt as though she’d been deceived.
So, a little flustered, she snapped back.
“No, why would I even cawe about that?”
Riersha turned her head sharply and walked toward the door.
“Alright. See you then.”
Isierd’s voice drifted from behind her.
Riersha had the distinct feeling that she’d been outmaneuvered by him once again.
⁂
“…We definitely saw her go in there, right?”
“We did. But there are knights guarding the entrance — how did Riersha get inside?”
Ricador and Riscal, who had secretly followed Riersha, crouched behind a tree and whispered to each other.
The estate was supposed to be vacant, with no one living there — and yet knights were stationed at the entrance, clearly there to keep outsiders from getting in.
Ricador had been staring at the estate when he noticed that Risideon had gone quiet beside him.
“Risideon, why have you been so silent?”
“…”
“You already knew, didn’t you? That Riersha had been coming and going from there?”
Ricador studied him with open suspicion.
Come to think of it, Risideon being here at all was strange from the start.
He was never the type to involve himself in things like this.
“Things like this” meaning — the childish business of sneaking after someone to find out what they were up to.
And yet, for some reason, Risideon had come along today.
Which could only mean one thing: he had a guilty conscience and had followed them to keep an eye on things.
“When is Riersha coming out? It’s been over an hour since she went in.”
“The conversation must be running long inside.”
“What are you talking about, Risideon? This whole area is supposed to be off-limits to everyone but us.”
“Then why are those knights guarding an empty estate?”
Riscal fell silent.
Then he turned to look at Risideon again.
Every time a question went unanswered, the two of them would exchange a glance with Risideon — and that was happening practically every minute.
A short while later, Riersha came trudging out of the estate.
“Hmph! Let’s see if anyone else comes!”
Her voice was thoroughly sulky.
It seemed more than certain now that someone was inside that estate.
After exchanging a look, Ricador and Riscal stepped out from behind the tree at the same moment.
“Riersha!”
“…Ricador? Riscal?”
Riersha, who had been making her way back toward her own estate, stopped short, her face flooding with surprise.
“Why were you coming out of there?”
“Hm?”
“I said, why were you coming out of there?”
“…W-well, um, that’s because—”
Riersha faltered under Ricador’s question, unable to find an answer.
Just then, Risideon — the only one who had not yet stepped out from behind the tree — seemed to resign himself to his fate and slowly walked forward. In a completely defeated voice, he called out to her.
“…Riersha.”
Riersha’s whole body stiffened.
No. It couldn’t be.
“Risideon oppa…. Did you know I was going there?”
Risideon gave a slow, quiet nod.
⁂
The young duke’s office.
Pernoa tilted his head at a slight angle as he looked at the four heirs who had descended upon him in the middle of the day.
“What’s this about?”
Not one child, but four of them had come streaming into his office all at once.
Pernoa set aside the documents he’d been reviewing and crossed his arms. Then he gave a short command.
“Line up in order.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Yes…”
Among the answers, one voice was noticeably deflated.
Pernoa’s crimson eyes drifted to the owner of that voice.
Shuffling in place, Riersha stood at the very end of the line — the youngest — with her eyebrows drawn together and her gaze fixed on the floor.
Anyone who looked at her could see it plainly: I did something wrong.
The corner of Pernoa’s mouth twitched upward, then smoothed back into a flat line.
“Explain to me why you’ve all come in a group.”
He had already gathered a rough sense of what had happened just from how dejected Riersha’s voice had been, but Pernoa decided to give them the chance to speak.
At his nod, Risideon exhaled a small sigh and opened his mouth.
“Ricador and Riscal discovered that there is a prince staying in one of the estates within the heirs’ domain.”
“Is that so.”
Just as he’d thought.
So that was why she looked so crestfallen.
Pernoa’s gaze lingered on Riersha. Sensing it, she glanced up briefly, then pressed her lips tightly together.
“And how did they find out?”
“…That’s—”
Risideon began to explain, then stopped himself.
He was worried Riersha might get into serious trouble.
At that moment, Pernoa said her name quietly.
“Riersha.”
“Yes…”
“I believe I told you not to get caught?”
“…”
“And yet, you got caught.”
Pernoa clicked his tongue. Riersha flinched and her face crumpled into a look that was dangerously close to tears.
Her hands, fidgeting restlessly at her sides, made for a pitiable sight.
“Come here.”
“Sniff—”
Pernoa extended his arm, and Riersha walked over to him with a small, forlorn trudge and buried herself against his chest.
Holding her, Pernoa looked over at the other children.
Judging by their expressions, Ricador and Riscal were clearly put out that they had been the only ones kept in the dark until now. And they seemed genuinely stunned to learn that the person in that estate was a prince.
“Father… is it true? That there’s a prince staying in an estate guarded by knights?”
Ricador was the first to ask.
“It is.”
“…But there’s only one prince in the entire empire?”
When Pernoa confirmed it, a flustered Ricador pressed back again.
It was understandable. By every measure of common sense, there was no reason for the imperial family to deny or conceal the existence of a prince.
And beyond that, Ricador seemed genuinely puzzled as to why such a prince would be here, in the Arachrene household.
“Yes. There are things you should know. Let me think about where to begin…”
“Are you saying there are more things we don’t know, aside from what’s happening right now?”
Riscal frowned.
“There are.”
“…”
“To put it plainly — I intend to make that prince the Crown Prince. And right now, only a very small number of people know he is here.”
Ricador and Riscal went rigid with shock.
Silence settled over the office.
“If you and the family are to remain safe, the Empress must be removed.”
As Pernoa’s voice grew low and quiet, Riersha — still held in his arms — curled her fingers tightly around his lapel.
“The Empress… is targeting us? Our family?”
“Yes. And it began with Riersha.”
“With Riersha…?”
“Riersha’s awakening of her ability. And every misfortune that followed within the ducal estate after that. Every single one of them was the Empress’s doing.”
After Pernoa finished his explanation, the expressions on Ricador and Riscal’s faces hardened into something cold and rigid.
The fact that Riersha had failed to awaken her ability.
The fact that Risideon had been summoned to the imperial palace to serve as the Crown Prince’s tutor.
All of it — every last piece — had been the Empress’s scheme to fracture the Arachrene family from within.
“Then what should we do?”
Riscal asked, his voice serious.
“Live just as you have been. I didn’t explain this because I need something from you.”
“…But—”
“Your one task is to protect Riersha. That’s enough.”
Listening to the exchange, Ricador gave a solemn nod.
“I think that may indeed be necessary, Father.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Pernoa turned his gaze to Ricador.
Ricador opened his mouth with a grave expression.
“According to Risideon, Riersha has been giving the prince picture books as gifts, bringing him cake, and dropping by every single day like it’s her own home.”
Silence.
“Interesting. Do go on.”
The corner of Pernoa’s mouth curved upward as though he found it amusing — but his eyes were not smiling in the least.
