Chapter 94
It was a view one could never see unless riding a spirit, and Leponia couldn’t take her eyes off it.
A gentle breeze brushed against her cheeks. A ticklish feeling seeped into her heart.
“Ponia. Is it fun?”
“Yeah. It’s fun, and it makes me feel really good.”
The ashes she had forced herself to swallow because of Pope Pretes felt as if they were being blown away by the wind, leaving everything light and fresh.
This was a feeling only Ryudeum could give her.
Only Ryudeum, who handled spirits, could make someone fly through the sky like this.
“Ryudeum, you see this every day, so it must be boring for you.”
“…I thought it was. But it’s fun.”
“Huh?”
“Ponia. You make me feel a lot of things. That’s what’s strange.”
The wind blew.
“I’ve never lived this desperately before. I didn’t really have a goal for living in the first place.”
Ryudeum lifted his head.
“When I opened my eyes again, I only thought I should at least stop the world from being destroyed.”
“Huh? Stop destruction? What?”
…Did he have a nightmare before coming to the estate today?
“But these days, I’m enjoying myself. Thanks to you, Ponia.”
Leponia’s eyes widened.
She had heard people say things like because of you, my mood is ruined or because of you, my whole day went badly, but she had never heard thanks to you, I’m happy before.
Maybe because she was up in the sky, her chest felt soft and fluffy, as if she were a cloud.
She had always thought he was someone who only made others uncomfortable—but that wasn’t true.
“Even though these aren’t things I’m doing for the first time, it feels new when I’m with you. It’s like the world I’ve known is being reorganized.”
At just ten years old, it was natural to feel something new whenever you did something.
But Leponia understood what Ryudeum meant.
She felt the same way.
The new stimuli Ryudeum gave her were breaking apart the world she had lived in and rebuilding it anew.
“I’m glad I’m friends with you, Ryudeum.”
Ryudeum stared at Leponia.
“…Me too.”
His voice was so small it scattered like a breath.
After murmuring quietly, Ryudeum clenched his fist.
“Ponia.”
“Yeah?”
“I won’t let you die.”
At the solemn voice, Leponia turned her head. Ryudeum was looking at her with a serious expression.
“A lot has already changed, so I don’t know what kind of winds might blow from now on, but still—I’ll protect you.”
“Did you read a war book before sleeping yesterday or something?”
He must’ve had a really bad nightmare. Even at her words, Ryudeum just smiled silently.
And if we’re talking about the two of us, shouldn’t I be the one protecting Ryudeum instead?
Ryudeum lived every day in danger, threatened by assassins and other risks. And she had more experience with situations like this than he did.
“So when I turn eleven, I decided to attend the military academy. There are dorm assignments and things to prepare, so I think I’ll leave around the time winter starts this year.”
“What? Not the academy?”
Noble children usually attended the academy at age eleven. After studying there for about four years, they either moved on to the military academy or graduated.
Of course, heirs often entered the academy earlier, but starting at the military academy at eleven was still unusual.
“Is it possible to skip the academy?”
“I’m the Duke of Villemont. But I can’t graduate through the standard four-year course—it’ll take six years.”
Normally, it took four years from admission to graduation.
Six years was two years longer than that.
Still, it was much faster than attending the academy first and then going to the military academy.
“To give justification to everything I do, I think I need at least a military academy diploma. If I go to the academy too, it’ll take too long. I want to finish quickly and come back.”
Ryudeum continued, his expression serious.
It seemed he had thought a lot after the last academy consultation.
This was far better than giving up altogether.
“At first, I just thought it’d be enough if you survived somehow. But now, I want to protect you. Being with you is fun and enjoyable.”
Leponia could feel that Ryudeum had formed a new goal, even if she didn’t know exactly what it was.
Winter this year… that’s not very far away.
She had never felt reluctant about parting before, but maybe because he was her first friend, she felt sad.
“Then this year… what about the snowman?”
Leponia asked hesitantly.
“You promised you’d make my snowman, Ryudeum. You said if I made one, you’d come see it.”
Ryudeum smiled and placed his hand on her head.
“You remembered well. Good girl.”
“I never forget a promise once I make one.”
“Then can you remember it even six years from now?”
Leponia lifted her head.
“Not now—six years later.”
Ryudeum spoke confidently, as if meeting again in six years was a given.
“Make my snowman for me in six years.”
People who gain a goal and start imagining the future shine.
Seeing Ryudeum shining so brightly, Leponia burst into laughter.
How could she say she’d miss him, when he shone like this?
“Okay.”
Leponia smiled and nodded. Then she reached out and lightly tapped Ryudeum’s head.
“Then I’ll protect you too, Ryudeum. It’s unfair if only one person does the protecting.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Me protecting you.”
Earlier, Ryudeum had clearly said no one at the Villemont estate worried about him.
“I’ll be on your side, Ryudeum.”
That meant no one had ever truly been on his side before.
“If you try to do something bad, I’ll scold you and set you straight. And if someone tries to bully you, I’ll protect you. I’ll be your ally.”
Ryudeum quietly looked at Leponia, who was much smaller than him, then smiled and nodded.
“That’s reassuring.”
Ryudeum held out his pinky.
“It’s a promise, Ponia.”
“Just trust me.”
Six-year-old Leponia spoke firmly as she hooked pinkies with ten-year-old Ryudeum.
“So if there are guys who bully me at the military academy, I can tell you everything, Ponia?”
“Of course. Tell me everything.”
“You’ll keep protecting me from now on too?”
“Yeah. You’re good at surviving on your own anyway—but if you need my help, I’ll help you anytime.”
“You’ll keep me alive so I don’t die?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Leponia laughed in disbelief.
“You told me to live too. I want you to live as well, Ryudeum.”
“……”
Ryudeum’s eyes deepened. Looking at their intertwined pinkies, he gently shook them.
“You have to keep your promise, Ponia. You said you want me to live.”
“Yeah.”
“You said you never forget a promise once you make one, right?”
Maybe this was the first time Ryudeum had ever heard words like that.
Leponia nodded.
“I told you—just trust me.”
Ryudeum smiled.
The two of them flew through the sky a few more times before returning together.
Then they were thoroughly scolded by Havelian and Pellens, who had been worried sick after only seeing the letter.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Brother Havelian.”
Before going to sleep, Leponia called out to Havelian, who was reading her a fairy tale. He put the book down and answered lightly.
“Hm?”
“If you enter the military academy, should I assume we won’t be able to see each other during training?”
“The military academy? Yeah. There are vacations, but training is so exhausting that everyone’s busy resting.”
Six years.
Once Ryudeum turned eleven, it would be hard to meet him for the next six years.
What if I leave during that time?
Would she part without even saying goodbye and become strangers? People said childhood friends often drifted apart as they grew up, but it still felt sad.
“Why? Ponia, are you thinking of going to the military academy?”
“Huh?”
“I won’t stop you from doing what you want, but if you’re thinking about going, tell me. Then I’ll say I’m returning to service too.”
“Huh? But you already quit. And weren’t you going to focus on being the family heir now?”
“It’s fine. If our youngest is going, of course I should go too.”
Havelian naturally began planning what age would be good for her to enter.
Leponia smiled and shook her head.
“I’m not going. I have no intention of going.”
She was sick of training now. If anything, she’d go to the academy—not the military academy.
“Then?”
“Ryudeum is going next year. He said he’s leaving before winter starts this year.”
“Ah. Right. The Duke of Villemont has to go. It’ll make commanding knights easier. Skipping the academy and going straight to the military academy is very… Duke of Villemont-like.”
Havelian was right. All the titles that followed Ryudeum were extraordinary.
The youngest duke at the time of succession. The man who opened a new maritime trade route. A duke surrounded by assassins—now entering the military academy directly instead of the academy.
“Ponia.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you upset that the Duke of Villemont is entering the military academy?”
Upset…
Leponia hesitated, unable to answer quickly. She had never voiced her honest feelings before.
“…I know I should congratulate him.”
Havelian smiled and nodded at his sister’s muttering.
“But… when I think we won’t be able to see each other often once he enters the military academy, it feels strange.”
“That’s what being upset feels like, Ponia. You and the Duke of Villemont got along well from the start and played well together.”
“Upset… yeah.”
“But not seeing each other for a while doesn’t mean you’re no longer friends. Friends are people you’re happy to see even after a long time.”
Havelian gently patted Leponia’s head, amused by her sulking. Leponia looked up at him.
“But you don’t have any friends, Brother.”
“…How did you know?”
Havelian laughed.
Pellens had no friends either—and true to form, Havelian didn’t have any either.
My brothers don’t have friends…
Leponia patted Havelian’s shoulder sympathetically. Smiling, Havelian hugged her tightly.
“Even six-year-old me has a friend…”
“Our Ponia is smarter and more amazing than her brothers. Making friends is really hard, you know? Right? Our youngest can be my friend too, and my family, and my little sister—everything. Okay?”
Leponia patted Havelian’s back as she hugged him tightly.
“It’s okay, brother. I only have one friend too—Ryudeum.”
Maybe that was why Pellens and Havelian kept asking her to play with them—they didn’t have friends either.
Poor brothers. I should play with them more.
Leponia made up her mind.
