Chapter 10
The first attack…
“Why?”
This was my so-called ‘Why?’ attack.
As expected, the knights were flustered by it.
Knights were used to obeying orders, and the word “why” didn’t even exist in their vocabulary.
“Uh…? Why, you ask?”
“Well, if Lady Rahel is curious about something, why are you asking me? You could just ask her directly.”
When I hit the nail right on the head, the men’s faces showed awkwardness.
Hmph, of course.
They can’t exactly say: ‘Well, His Majesty is afraid the young lady and the Duke might start a rebellion, so we’re here to spy on her!’
The captain frowned, unable to answer, so the man behind him spoke up instead.
“Um, His Majesty and the young lady… don’t get along very well. That’s why he’s asking you instead of her directly.”
“Gasp! The young lady and His Majesty don’t get along? Why?”
“Uh, well… the reason is…”
One man, caught up in my way of talking, almost answered without thinking.
At that moment, another knight shoved him aside and quickly cut in.
“No, no—forget what he just said. His Majesty is a compassionate ruler who cares for all his people. He simply wanted to know how the young lady, who’s traveled far, is doing.”
Oh, that was a pretty convincing excuse.
If this were before I regained my past life’s memories, I might have believed it.
In that case, time for my second attack—
“I see. But then, why doesn’t he care about me?”
Time to nitpick and cling to their words!
“…Huh?”
“My dad and I are also His Majesty’s subjects, right? Doesn’t he wonder how we’re doing here in this village?”
The man looked a little flustered, then answered,
“O-of course he does! Are you doing well here? Are you getting along with the young lady?”
Oh-ho. Slipping Rahel’s name into the conversation, huh? This guy wasn’t going to be easy.
In that case… for my final move—
“I’m doing great! I even fought with the village kids and became the alley boss. And recently, I went on a courage test at an abandoned house in the forest…”
Talking about things they didn’t ask about!
As I chattered on about totally irrelevant stories, I could almost see the souls draining from their eyes in real time.
I thought I’d succeeded in trapping them in my feedback hell, but then…
The captain regained focus and asked,
“Was the young lady with you for that courage test?”
“No? She wasn’t in our village at the time.”
“…”
The men’s faces turned red. It was obvious their patience had run out.
“Then why are you even telling us this?!”
“Tch. You’re the ones who asked if I was doing well… Fine, then I won’t tell you anything.”
I pouted and turned my head away. They looked flustered.
“Ahem! No, that’s not it. We just wanted to know if you were getting along with her.”
“Have you ever seen the young lady use magic?”
While one man was trying to calm me, another slipped in the real question.
I narrowed my eyes.
Finally getting to the point, huh?
The first emperor of the Hildeon Empire was a great mage.
Thanks to that, most of his descendants were born with enormous mana.
Usually, the one with the strongest power among them would inherit the throne.
However, sometimes a descendant would rebel against that system.
One such person was the former prince—Rahel’s father.
He was as powerful a mage as the emperor, but he desired the throne and tried to start a rebellion. He was caught and executed.
…At least, that’s what the original novel said about Rahel’s family.
Because of this, the emperor constantly kept Rahel under watch, fearing she might also rebel like her father.
But what does her father’s rebellion have to do with her?
She was just born into the wrong family, yet she was branded a traitor’s child.
I felt unfair on her behalf, but I answered as innocently as I could.
“Hmm… I don’t think I’ve ever seen her use magic…”
“Think more carefully before answering—!”
Just as they were about to pressure me further—
“That’s enough.”
My father, who had been quietly watching, stepped forward to block them.
“You won’t get the answer you want from a nine-year-old child.”
The knights’ eyes turned cold toward him.
Yikes, the atmosphere just got tense again!
It seemed they were even more annoyed now after getting stuck in my feedback hell.
“Oh! Can you guys use magic? I’ve never seen a mage before! Could you show me?”
I quickly cut in, breaking the tense standoff between Dad and the knights.
The men stepped back, clearly unwilling, and seemed to lose interest in questioning me further.
“Kids these days… What a waste of time.”
“Anyway, you’d better be careful about how you handle what happened today.”
With a final warning to my dad, they left the shop.
Victory!
I stuck my tongue out at their backs—
But then—
“By the way.”
The captain, who was the last to leave, suddenly turned back toward my father as if something had just occurred to him.
Startled, I quickly hid my tongue.
“You look familiar. Haven’t we met somewhere before?”
There was a moment of quiet tension between them before my father replied,
“I don’t think so. This is my first time meeting you.”
I tilted my head.
Dad definitely doesn’t have a common face.
The man studied my father for a moment longer, then finally turned away and left.
The shop was quiet at last.
“Vivi, let’s not go to the Duke’s estate for a while,” Dad said, setting me down. He looked worried.
But that wasn’t a problem—
“The butler already told me it’d be better not to come for now, since they have guests to receive.”
After the Duke left first, I was about to go home when the butler told me—
[For now, it’s better if you don’t visit. The household will be busy receiving guests from the Imperial Palace.]
He said it was just because of the guests…
But what if they’re suspicious of me?
It made sense—right after I became Rahel’s playmate, people from the palace showed up.
But it’s not fair!
I’d worked hard to get this friend!
What if I got kicked out of her life?
Ugh… isn’t there some way to clear the Duke’s doubts?
An idea suddenly popped into my head.
“Vivi, you’re home early. Have you had dinner—Vivi?”
“I already ate, so don’t worry and eat without me, Dad!”
I ran upstairs to my room and opened my notebook.
“Alright, with this, I can clear the Duke’s suspicions.”
My hand scribbled quickly across the page.
A week had passed since the inspectors from the Imperial Palace came.
During that time, Vivian hadn’t visited the estate.
Owen had told her not to come while the guests were staying, but Rahel was used to this situation.
When she lived in the capital townhouse, she’d had other noble children as playmates—
But they all eventually stopped coming.
The excuses varied—poor health, a new sibling, visiting relatives…
At first, she believed them.
She even sent letters, worried.
But one day—
When she was waiting for a reply that never came, her nanny told her the truth.
[In truth, they all stop coming because you’re the child of a traitor. They’re afraid His Majesty will punish anyone who gets close to you.]
[…]
[My poor young lady… But don’t worry. Sally and I will always be by your side.]
From that day on, Rahel decided never to expect anything from anyone.
She even thought her grandfather had given up on her.
And then—
[I like you, Lady Rahel!]
That strange girl had appeared out of nowhere.
Unlike the well-mannered children she was used to, Vivian was different.
But Rahel didn’t expect much this time either.
Yes—she knew Vivian would leave her soon too.
So she wouldn’t be hurt.
She told herself she was fine.
She should have been fine…
Then why… am I so annoyed?
As she read a book, Rahel found herself glancing toward the window, irritation prickling at her.
The words on the page wouldn’t sink in.
In the end, she closed it and picked up another book—
Knock, knock.
A sudden knock echoed through the room.
