Chapter 108: If You Lift Your Head

I seemed to have looked very down, since even Nii-sama, who was opposed to me going to the castle, changed his mind, “Why don’t you think about it after you visit the castle?” He concluded that I wasn’t allowed to be left alone at home.

“Won’th shomeone come pway ath our houshe?” I asked if someone could come over, but it was quite tricky because I had already been kidnapped once. The Albans don’t let unidentified people into their home, but people were terrified of letting their children come over and play with me because I was at risk of getting kidnapped.

I think the royal family who wants to let a dangerous child play with their child is useless. But, getting kidnapped in the castle was a trust issue for the royal family, so they were fine with me visiting.

It’s difficult. If I really think about it, I had fun playing with the children in Wester, and I got along with Amy and the children in Lentforce, so it should be fine for me to play with another boy. It should also be interesting to explore the castle, and I’m sure they have many books.

Strangely, even though I was able to quickly adapt to the new environment when I got kidnapped, I don’t know what to do now that I’ve returned home. I was desperate to get back, but I didn’t realise that I shouldn’t cause any more trouble since I’ve already imposed on a lot of people. However, I didn’t realise that I’ve been keeping my head down and shutting everyone out.

On the other hand, the castle would be in an uproar since Otou-sama was hesitant on who would be my playmate, but I suddenly asked him to bring someone over.

“I think I can bring him over straight away, but they’ve started talking about increasing his guards and who his maids should be.”

“Tuthor.”

“When the royal family turns three, they start reading, writing and learning other things.”

“Didn’th Nii-shyama awsho shtharth ath thhere?” I included the words, he isn’t the Prince, in my question, and Otou-sama looked embarrassed.

“Luke, well, he wanted a tutor, but other children start around five.”

“Well, yeah.”

My feelings gradually lightened up when I thought that the royal family was really incompetent for not making appropriate preparations for the Prince to go out of the castle. Somehow, having a change of environment worked out positively for me.

It took a week for the castle to do their preparations. I lived my life normally in the meantime with a subtle sense of expectation, enjoyed the weekends, and was finally taken to the castle. I was probably looking forward to this, and the feeling hadn’t been subtle at all.

Natalie and a guard will be accompanying me. Natalie seemed nervous about coming to the castle unexpectedly. She looked more expressionless than usual.

I’ve spent two weeks with her now, and I was starting to understand her more and more. In short, she was a diligent worker, but she was serious and wasn’t flexible at all, and she can’t secretly enjoy snacks with me like Hannah did. On the other hand, among the guards, Hans usually accompanied me at lunchtime. He’s over 40, but a bit mischievous. He was in the convoy, but he had already resigned and was now being employed as a guard for nobles.

I saw off my weeping Nii-sama at the end of the weekend and entered the carriage with Otou-sama while dressing up a little more than usual. I had a ribbon wrapped around my head that held down my fluffy hair a bit.

Otou-sama usually rides the Rug Dragon to the castle, but he was using the carriage today. Otou-sama, Natalie and I fit snugly inside the four-person carriage, and the coachman and guard were outside.

“Otou-syama, no guardsh?”

“I don’t need them. Aren’t they annoying?”

“Buufo.” I’m sure that voice was coming from the guard outside. It seemed like he could hear what we were saying. It’s strange for a doting parent who makes his daughter have a guard to say they’re annoying. It’s rude to the guards, but Otou-sama ignored this.

“The Albans have raised Rug Dragons for generations, that’s why our mansion is a little far from town. And it’s annoying that they always call me to the castle because I’m close.”

“Guh.”

The guard held it down this time.

“Come to think of it, it’ll be your first time seeing the royal capital this afternoon, right?”

“Ai.”

I did pass through it when I came back from Wester, but I didn’t have time to get a good look around.

“Here, come to the window.”

Otou-sama stood me up and supported me from behind.

“Wow.”

The royal capital was more relaxed than Frontier. There were a lot of people heading to work at this time. People couldn’t work at night in Frontier, so they started really early in the morning. I also leisurely have breakfast with Otou-sama before he leaves, so it should be around 9am now? If this were Lentforce, then everyone would already be working.

The further we got away from the mansion, the more carriages I see carrying people and vegetables. The people looked bright and lively.

It must still be time for breakfast because I could smell freshly baked bread and a faint scent of meat, and there were stalls on the side of the road.

“Everyone hash magic.” I couldn’t help but say.

“Is it that different? I’m sure Hunters in Frontier have magic.”

“Ai. Hunthersh hunth Howwowsh buth thheir magic ish differenth.” (Ai. Hunters hunt Hollows but their magic is different.)

“What about the townspeople?”

“None.”

There’s no disadvantage to having no magic in a barrier. Why do the people of Kingdom have so many magic users when they don’t even think about using it? I’ll keep this question in mind until I get the answer someday. I thought, but I was mainly checking out the stalls. I’ll come here to eat someday.

“Ojou-sama, do you like lively places?” Natalie reluctantly asked to no one in particular. She probably thought it was rude to interrupt a family conversation.

“That’s probably not the case… Lei is just curious and interested in a lot of things.” Otou-sama answered for me since I was busy staring at the town. As a maid, she was probably worried about how to handle a child who is okay with reading alone.

I see. I looked at Natalie. Natalie never let her uneasiness show on her face, and she looked a bit younger than usual. It wasn’t like she wasn’t interested in me, or that she thought I was troublesome, she just didn’t know what to do with me.

I didn’t realise anything because I’ve been looking down.

“Nathawie.”

Natalie looked at me in surprise.

“Yes, what is it, Ojou-sama?”

“Lei wanthsh tho go tho thhe shthawwsh.” (Lei wants to go to the stalls.)

“Huh, shthawwsh?”

“Over thhere.”

Natalie seemed confused when I suddenly looked at her with sparkling eyes. She should say that I can’t right now, but she might be disappointed as well.

“I’m glad I brought Lei.”

Otou-sama’s hands, which were supporting me, wrapped around me.

“Outhshide fun.”

“Is it? That’s good.”

We completely forgot about Natalie and smiled.