#9.
Inside the carriage.
The irregular clatter of horses’ hooves tickled at his ears.
Sitting with his legs crossed and gazing out the window, Helios soon drew the curtain shut, laced his fingers behind his head, and leaned back.
With his eyes closed, he let out a deep sigh before speaking slowly.
“I know you’re there, Judah.”
“Of course you do, High Priest.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the empty seat beside Helios shimmered with a hazy outline, which soon solidified into a beautiful young man with golden hair.
The young man, neatly dressed in a pristine white uniform, looked almost like a noble lady at first glance.
Beneath his long eyelashes, his dark eyes curved into a playful crescent.
“But why take a carriage? One spell and you’d be there in no time.”
“I’m more curious why you, a priest, are here. Shouldn’t you be busy right now?”
“Is that really something you should be saying, High Priest? You’re always busy yourself.”
“…I came to see my daughter.”
Helios smiled faintly and sweetly, thinking of Veronica’s plump cheeks.
“That’s more important to me than anything else.”
“Then shouldn’t you use magic to hurry back to the temple once you’re done?”
“The Elders are bound to nag me—I hardly want to go back early.”
“It may feel easier now, but you’ll get scolded all the same in the end.”
“Ugh.”
Helios let out a short groan.
“Anyway, I am heading back now, so pass that along to the Elders.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’? It’s not like this is your real body here, is it?”
Without warning, Helios stretched out his hand and thrust it straight into where Judah’s heart would be.
With a wet squelch, dark red blood poured down his arm in a rush.
Helios didn’t even blink—just clicked his tongue with a flat expression.
“Who do you think I am?”
“Cough!”
“Cut the games.”
“Hmm… Shall I?”
At Helios’s rebuke, Judah lifted his head.
Glancing down at his heart, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gave a nonchalant shrug.
The wound and the blood had already vanished.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Who would fall for such a crude spell?”
“Well, you’ve got a point.”
“Anyway—pass the message along.”
“A crude spell,” huh…
Helios turned his gaze back to the window, indifferent, while Judah looked at him with a glint of intrigue.
Illusions, whether hallucinations or glamour magic, were indeed easy to break.
But the one who had taught Judah magic was one of the most skilled Elders in the entire Empire’s temple.
For someone’s spell like that to be dismissed as merely “crude” by Helios…
It spoke of an overwhelming gap in ability—and perhaps a hidden message in his words.
Was that… a warning?
A silent threat to stay out of his affairs.
As a priest serving an Elder, I can’t exactly do that…
But since Helios was already heading to the temple, Judah decided it was better to leave things at that for today.
A commoner by birth, yet an unorthodox High Priest.
In other words—his origin, his position, and his ability were so exceptional that no one could touch him.
That meant he was freer than anyone else, and could wield his strength as he pleased.
While most people saw Helios’s blue eyes as the fresh, free wind, Judah thought differently.
They were a dark blue lake, impossible to gauge the depth of—one misstep and you could sink and drown.
“High Priest.”
Judah bowed his head respectfully to Helios.
“I’ll see you at the temple.”
Helios said nothing in reply.
It wasn’t so much ignoring him as…
Pass the message along.
After that, he had completely shut out Judah’s mental intrusion—most likely couldn’t even hear him now.
They were in the same space, but Helios had in effect shut him out entirely.
Every time I see him, it’s absurd.
Judah let out a dry laugh and shook his head.
His golden hair shimmered with the movement—fading until he disappeared completely.
“Phew… ugh!”
Only after Judah’s presence vanished completely did Helios stretch his arms wide.
Cracking his joints, he rested his chin on one hand, looking absent-minded.
I’m sure of it.
The Emperor had clearly tried to hide it, but he could feel it.
Veronica, the Emperor, Helios… and someone else in that garden.
Someone he knew very well.
They could’ve just come out and said hello.
Helios muttered with a bitter smile.
“That’s exactly what makes it more unpleasant…”
***
“Mary.”
“Yes?”
“Shall we send Veronica to school?”
“Yes. …What?”
Mary was so startled she froze mid-task, half-folded pajamas in her hands, and turned to look.
The Emperor’s face lit up as he glanced at the bunny-eared pajamas in her grasp.
“Mary, this is adorable.”
“Right? …Wait—didn’t Your Majesty just say you were going to send Her Highness to school?”
Even as she questioned him, Mary carefully set the bunny-eared pajamas aside before continuing.
“Isn’t it a bit early? She’s still…”
“True, but she speaks quite well now, and…”
The Emperor looked over at Veronica, who was flipping through books in the distance.
“Lately, I think she’s even been reading.”
“Surely not. She’s just looking at the pictures.”
“She’s my daughter. Are you sure about that?”
Rustling parchment, the Emperor grinned proudly as he stood.
Worried she might be disappointed, Mary addressed him as he approached Veronica.
“Her Highness has just passed her first birthday, Your Majesty.”
“I know, I know. You think I don’t?”
He sat beside Veronica and placed her on his knee.
“Sion could read at about this age, too.”
His Highness learned quickly, yes, but only after he turned two…
“Now then, Veronica.”
Gently placing her small hands together between his legs, the Emperor pointed to a line in the book.
“This one.”
“Mm?”
“What’s this?”
“It’s pwetty! Vewy pwetty!”
“See, Mary?”
He pointed at the line: “The princess was wearing a beautiful dress.” and shrugged smugly.
“She’s reading it.”
“Sure she is!”
“That doesn’t prove whether she read the words or just saw the picture of the dress.”
“She read the letters.”
“Hmm…”
Mary’s skeptical gaze met the Emperor’s confident one.
She moved first.
Crawling over to Veronica, Mary set the book in her lap and pointed to another part of the page.
“Your Highness.”
“Mm?”
“What’s this?”
Veronica pressed her finger to her lips, murmuring.
Tension built—
“Worm?”
“A worm?”
“Mm.”
“I see…”
Mary’s mouth quirked to one side. Folding her arms, she turned to the Emperor.
“Well? I told you.”
“Urgh…”
“When it comes to Her Highness, you completely lose your usual calm and composure, Your Majesty.”
“Hmph… When you become a mother, you’ll understand my feelings.”
Mm.
Meanwhile, Veronica flicked through the pages, glancing sidelong at the Emperor and Mary with the air of an innocent child.
Surely this was enough to make her look like a guileless baby still?
Phew… pretending not to know things is exhausting.
Her blue eyes drifted to the window, where flowers were just beginning to bloom.
Suddenly she thought—Sion had been quiet lately.
Even when he visited to read, or when they happened to meet in the hall while she was in Mary’s or the Emperor’s arms, he hadn’t been as curt or grumbling as usual.
In fact, he sometimes came to see her of his own accord.
A good thing, perhaps—but it was also making her relax too much.
Even if things are good now… Sion is like a volcano that can erupt at any moment.
She could never afford to let her guard down.
Better late than never—she decided she’d have to play up the “clueless baby” act more.
And just then—
Speak of the devil, as the saying goes—someone knocked at the door.
“Mother?”
“Sion?”
At the Emperor’s beckoning, the grand, ornate office doors swung open.
There stood Sion, neatly dressed in his school’s black shirt and white trousers, fresh from classes.
“I just heard you were…”
“Hm?”
“Ah—never mind.”
Heading toward Veronica, Sion caught sight of Mary, stopped, and corrected himself.
“Your Majesty, I heard you were going to send her to school?”
“I was thinking about it, but…”
Flipping through Veronica’s picture book, the Emperor smiled faintly and shook his head.
“Not just yet.”
“Ah…”
“Why? Would you like her to go to school, Sion?”
“N-no! Why would I…”
He shook his head vigorously.
“It’s just… If she went, and had no one to rely on because everyone was busy, I thought I could help her…”
“Hm?”
“It’d be a hassle, sure, but I wanted to lessen Your Majesty’s burden.”
With that awkward explanation, Sion clamped his mouth shut.
The Emperor looked at the boy’s flushed ears and smiled.
My son—your words and your face don’t match.
“Hmm… What to do. Commuting daily would be too much right now.”
“Oh…”
“Then how about this?”
His eyes brightened, then dimmed again in disappointment—
Seeing the emotions play out openly in those crimson eyes, the Emperor clapped her hands together.
All three—Mary, Veronica, and Sion—looked at her.
Seating both Veronica and Sion on her lap, the Emperor raised an index finger.
“You’ll just visit the school. For a day… maybe two?”
“A… visit? Is that necessary?”
Mary’s eyes went wide.
“Her Highness is still very young. She’s at an age where she can’t even leave her chambers without Your Majesty.”
“True. The Soloran Empire has magic—and that means the outside world is dangerous. Without sufficient strength, it’s hard to protect her from sudden incidents.”
“Exactly, so—?”
“Which is why…”
The Emperor ruffled Sion’s black hair gently.
“There’s someone else here just as strong as me, isn’t there?”
“W-well…”
“If the boy who made several noble tutors flee in terror can’t do it, who can?”
Looking down at Sion with affection, she asked—
“Right?”
“Uh…”
Lowering his head, Sion mumbled—
“If Your Majesty commands it…”
“Then it’s settled.”
“I suppose… That might not be so bad. Since Her Highness will attend school eventually, she may as well see it in advance.”
Oh, please…
Meanwhile, from the Emperor’s lap, Veronica narrowed her eyes at the unusually quiet Sion.
No one—neither the Emperor, nor Mary, nor Sion—seemed opposed to her going.
But the person actually going? Not okay with this at all.
Let’s think this through.
-
Go to school.
-
Obviously, a one-year-old baby at school draws attention.
-
Because of her cute looks, Veronica gets swarmed by countless students.
-
Even Mary’s fussing alone is exhausting—being surrounded by dozens would be unbearable.
That’s the obvious outcome.
Then there was another scenario—
-
Go to school.
-
Get attention.
-
Students crowd around and annoy her, Sion gets angry.
-
Sion’s relationships sour.
-
That isolation later becomes one of the butterfly effects that lead to his eventual corruption.
Just a thought… but not impossible.
Either way, right now there were far too many issues with her going.
But more than anything—
It’s a hassle.
Yes, truly bothersome.
Earlier in the garden, the Emperor had said Mary was too busy to read to her, but that wasn’t entirely true.
Mary would carve time from her packed schedule to drop by Veronica’s chambers—
Usually to shake a rattle, read a short picture book, or play peek-a-boo.
All things that would help a baby’s development—
If I were just an ordinary baby.
But even that much is a bother to me right now.
And now they wanted her to go to school?
Desperate, Veronica tugged at the Emperor’s sleeve.
“Uh… Mama.”
Mama, can’t I not go to school?
“Yes, Veronica.”
Of course, it didn’t work.
The Emperor adjusted her hold on the girl and kissed her cheek.
“You’re looking forward to visiting school with your brother, aren’t you?”
Not at all.
“Oh my, Her Highness is smiling.”
Out of disbelief.
“W-what are you looking at.”
Sion muttered gruffly—but didn’t strongly deny it.
Why wasn’t he, as usual, saying it was a hassle, or that he needed to study?
For a moment, Veronica wondered—should she flaunt her genius and ask for a professor instead, to learn what she couldn’t in her past life?
But no—why step closer to death of her own accord?
Veronica sighed inwardly as she gazed at Sion.
Ah… I just want to be alone.
