CHAPTER 26
The questions Louis had asked were all ones Eatrice found difficult to answer.
She opened her mouth to make up something reasonable, but Louis broke the tension between them first with a soft smile.
“Well, I know you won’t tell me anyway.”
He brushed aside the pink hair falling near his eyes with a grin.
“I guess I’ll just have to keep guessing what your true intentions are.”
Once the atmosphere lightened, time passed quickly.
The two sat on the library balcony, sipping tea and discussing the books they had read.
After a long conversation, Eatrice realized that Louis could keep up with the knowledge she had gained from all the books she had read before her regression.
Considering he was only fourteen years old, it was an impressive feat.
“Professor Heolian’s treatise on writing…”
“Probably on the top shelf of the second bookcase.”
When she muttered absentmindedly while looking for a book, Louis answered without hesitation.
After it happened several more times, Eatrice realized that Louis had memorized the locations of most of the books.
Each time he answered, Eatrice looked at him intently, and the boy simply smiled back without concern.
Curious if she could gather any information about eyesight, Eatrice asked Louis casually,
“Louis, what would you do if you suddenly lost your hearing or couldn’t move your legs?”
“Well… I’m aiming to be a battle-type mage, so I don’t know much about medicine. But first, I’d check if there was poison in the food or on the clothes.”
“And what if neither showed any trace of poison?”
“Is this a riddle or something?”
Louis tapped his lips, intrigued, before giving his answer.
“I heard a while ago that some hunters were temporarily paralyzed while fighting magical beasts in a mana-polluted area. If no poison is found, I’d get a mana contamination test.”
Mana contamination!
When mana becomes unrefined and the levels spike, it could be harmful to humans. Louis’s answer was a plausible theory.
But the capital doesn’t have high enough mana levels for that to be a risk…
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check.
She made a mental note to have a cleric test Adrian’s food and clothing for mana contamination later.
“What do you think? Did I get it right? Do I get a prize for solving your riddle?”
Louis teased. Eatrice replied dryly,
“There’s no prize.”
She stood up, clearly not planning to humor him.
“Heading back already? It’s still early.”
It was just past noon—tea time.
“Yeah, that’s enough for today.”
I should ask His Highness to summon a cleric himself. If I summon one and send them to him, it’ll be seen as a political statement of support.
The more the noble faction believed Adrian to be isolated, the less they would feel threatened by him. That would keep him safer.
Eatrice left the grand library, passed the fountain and the nearby garden, and headed back to the annex.
There were many paths winding through well-kept shrubs, like a maze, but the distinct statues lining them made it easy to avoid getting lost.
As she walked between the beautifully sculpted marble figures and bushes, she paused.
Rustle.
A bush a short distance away shook.
“A squirrel?”
She had seen rabbits and squirrels in the area before.
Assuming it was another animal, she started walking again—until…
“…Milady! Where are you?”
A middle-aged woman’s voice called out, and Eatrice froze.
“Shh, hurry, hide!”
Suddenly, a child’s voice followed.
At the same moment, a small hand tugged at the hem of Eatrice’s skirt.
“?”
It was too weak a pull to actually drag her, but when she looked down and saw the child, she bent down willingly.
“Hurry, I’m playing hide-and-seek!”
The child who had pulled her skirt was tiny, barely bigger than a rabbit, hiding beside a raspberry bush.
His panicked tone and clumsy speech, and the small hands clutching her skirt—he was clearly very young.
“Little one, what’s going on?”
“Shuel! Where are you?”
The woman’s voice called out again.
Shuel?
The name gave Eatrice pause.
Of all names… Shuel.
A strange feeling crept over her.
Because that name…
It was the same as a certain traitor she despised.
“Hey, could you be—”
But she didn’t get to finish.
Thmp.
“No! Don’t speak! She’ll hear us!”
The child covered Eatrice’s mouth with his tiny palm before she could say more. The hand was absurdly small and warm, barely covering her lips.
With emerald eyes wide in urgency, he pleaded.
“Shhh! You have to whisper sneaky!”
Whisper… sneaky?
Eatrice, who had lived her whole life as a knight and had never raised children, found the child’s logic baffling.
The child’s golden curls swayed as he peeked over the bush, his big green eyes darting around. Curled up like a squirrel, he looked like one too.
Eatrice decided to stay still—for now.
Soon, the woman’s voice grew distant.
Only then did the boy exhale loudly and remove his hand from her mouth.
“Thanks for being quiet—wah!”
He gasped, suddenly alarmed, pointing at Eatrice’s face.
“Your eyes…!”
Ah. My eyes.
She quickly understood the child’s reaction.
Red eyes were rare. They were more common among northerners—foreigners in the empire.
A pampered noble child from the capital might have found them frightening.
But her assumption was wrong.
“So pretty! Like bunny eyes! Like strawberries!”
The child grabbed Eatrice’s cheeks and pulled her closer.
His reaction startled her. With sparkling emerald eyes, he examined her face in awe.
“Bunny eyes! Strawberry eyes!”
You’re the one acting like a bunny.
He hummed happily, clearly pleased with his discovery.
“How old are you? You’ll get lost if you wander too far in the palace.”
Still held by the cheeks, Eatrice mumbled.
“Twelve!”
He looked much younger than that—closer to seven—with his small frame and innocent expression.
To think she had suspected this child of being that person…
She felt ridiculous for even entertaining the thought.
As the cheerful boy answered, Eatrice gently removed his hands and stood.
“I’ll help you find your nanny or parents. Let’s go.”
“But my house is close by.”
The boy tilted his head, fluffy curls bouncing.
Well, if he arrived asleep in a carriage, he might think his home is nearby.
That sort of misunderstanding was common at his age.
“Come on. I’ll take you to your guardians.”
Before seeing Adrian, it made sense to return the child first.
Eatrice held out her hand.
She couldn’t just leave this overly bright, air-headed kid alone in the palace gardens.
“Let’s go.”
The boy beamed and grabbed her hand eagerly.
That’s the kind of personality that gets kidnapped…
She briefly considered warning him not to follow strangers so easily.
“Let’s retrace your steps first.”
“I know the way!”
He swung her hand cheerfully and hummed a tune.
After walking for about five minutes, they spotted a particularly ornate palace building in the distance.
His parents must be visiting that palace.
Even as they neared it, the boy bombarded her with questions.
“Where are you from? Why are your eyes so pretty? If I eat lots of strawberries, will my eyes look like that too? If I catch the first snow, will my hair turn that color too? What’s your name?”
Judging by how he checked her reaction occasionally, he probably wasn’t usually this outgoing.
He seemed like a shy child, but curiosity overcame his hesitation with Eatrice.
“My name is Eatrice Bellanelle. No, eating strawberries won’t make your eyes red. But if you grow up strong and healthy, your hair might turn white like mine, even without seeing the first snow.”
She answered everything, but his questions never stopped.
“Why are you here? Did you come to see me?”
He looked at her like she was a fairy from a legend.
“I didn’t come to see you.”
“Then someone else? Who?”
She didn’t respond, but the child chattered on regardless.
“My nanny said more people will come to see me in the future, so I need to behave and dress well! So even if you didn’t come to see me today, maybe you will someday!”
Then he burst into laughter—and more questions followed.
Eatrice finally felt the need to change the subject to stop the endless curiosity.
The boy’s innocent questions were exhausting.
“We’re almost there now, so how about I ask something?”
She cut in to stop his chatter and catch her breath. Now she had to think of something to ask.
“I still don’t know your full name. What is it?”
“My name is Shuel! It’s a Legacy Name! Cool, right?”
Eatrice froze mid-step, still holding his hand.
“A Legacy Name?”
Legacy Names were those passed down from emperors who ruled during the peaceful first hundred years of the Empire’s founding. They were given with the hope that the royal family member would contribute to the Empire just as those early emperors had.
The essential condition for receiving one was:
Being a direct descendant of the imperial family.
A chill climbed up her spine as realization hit.
So my suspicion was right all along.
This child was that person.
Overcome by a sudden wave of revulsion, Eatrice let go of his hand.
“Why… what’s wrong?”
The boy blinked, puzzled.
At the same moment, a woman called out to him using the very name Eatrice had just remembered.
“Vincent Shuel Roanest! There you are.”
Prince Vincent, second son of Empress Nersia.
The very one who, in her previous life, had been seduced by Headon and took part in the rebellion that ended in Adrian’s death.
