TPHO 88

CHAPTER 88……………………………….

When Ares’s practice sword finally flew out of his hand, Minte declared the result.

“His Highness Alcyone wins.”

“Hey! Blue-eyes, are you kidding me?”

“What did I do?”

Kallion wiped the sweat running down his chin.

Maybe because he was the oldest among us, Kallion was now about a hand taller than Ares.

…And more than a whole head taller than me.

Ares gritted his teeth, his face red and blue with anger.

“I told you not to use such cheap tricks! That’s cheating!”

“Cheating? What a word. It’s a perfectly valid tactic, you know?”

“Tactic? If that counts as tactics, then every strategist in history should’ve died of shame.”

“Tsk. How half-hearted must your studying be? Ah, perhaps the delicate young master wouldn’t know?”

Should I… stop those two from fighting, or not…?

“Hey. I’m gonna use magic, I swear. I’ll roast you like a chicken today.”

“Try it. I’ll dunk you in that pond first.”

Never mind. I couldn’t be bothered today.

I chose to look away, holding Eos in my arms.

Maybe companion dragons really do take after their masters.

“Kyuuu… haaam.”

Even Eos, after glancing between the two boys, began to yawn.

For the first few months, he’d watched their fights with genuine interest.

But, well, anything that happens every day stops being fun after a while.

“Aren’t they tired of fighting every single hour of every single day?”

“Kyik.”

“If it were me, I’d quit just from boredom. Right?”

“Kyik!”

But as their arguing grew louder, my head began to pound.

Still hugging Eos, I marched over and yelled—

“Okay, both of you, stop it already! Today’s match goes to Kallion—Ares! Stop the flames, right now!”

“Whose side are you even on, Sion?!”

“Don’t go running to Lady Sion, you weakling.”

“Why don’t you shut up?!”

I sighed and started nagging Ares.

“I’m… on my own side, Ares.”

“Tch…!”

“And if you end up burning down my garden again, I’m really going to get mad this time, okay?”

I’d just learned new landscaping techniques!

“I even planted new roses with Lethe, and that brat’s about to roast them all!”

When I scolded him, Ares looked away and clicked his tongue.

“…Damn it.”

“Language! And you too, Kallion!”

I shot Kallion a warning look.

But he only smiled sweetly as if he didn’t notice.

“Lady Sion, aren’t you thirsty?”

“Kallion, don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not~.”

Still smiling with those pretty eyes, he tilted his head.

Anyone would think he was some smooth older brother teasing a cranky little sister.

And now he was trying to placate me again.

“I’ll make you some mint tea. You like it when I brew it, right?”

“Urgh.”

“Shall we go inside?”

“Ugh…”

Why on earth did a prince insist on playing my tea servant?

Though… it’s so good I can’t really say no.

Our tea times were always held up in the treehouse.

Each year, the table and chairs had to be resized as we grew.

Soon, the three of us—me and the two boys, now in casual clothes—sat down together.

Even Ares, despite his scowl, waited quietly for Kallion’s tea.

He never flatters, but he never lies either.

But just as Kallion finished pouring—

“Ah.”

His brows twitched slightly.

“Kallion, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Oh, no. Just… growing pains again, I think.”

He smiled awkwardly and tapped his knees.

Ares twitched beside me.

Oh boy. Here we go again.

Ares hated that he still hadn’t caught up to Kallion’s height.

He clenched his teeth, then suddenly smirked.

“Wow, old man. Must be nice, feeling the wind in your bones already.”

“…”

“Be careful on rainy days, yeah? You might snap, and at your age, it won’t heal easy.”

“Haha. You sure talk big for a child.”

Kallion’s smile cooled, and thanks to them, my tea did too…

I looked up at the ceiling and groaned.

“Both of you, stop. Before I use magic myself.”

Do I really have to stop them while my nose bleeds again?

Thankfully, they both froze at once.

“Tch.”
“Yes, Lady Sion.”

sigh So exhausting.

Is this what an ordinary ten-year-old’s life is supposed to be like?

I glanced at the round mirror hanging on the wall.

I wasn’t a chubby little kid anymore.

My silvery hair, softly curled at the ends, now reached my waist.

Long lashes framed my large teal eyes.

If someone asked whether I was pretty… hmm.

The Epikus sisters always said, “Our princess is the most beautiful in the world!”

Yeah, even hedgehogs think their babies are soft.

Then Ares’s voice snapped me from my thoughts.

“Oh, right. Sion.”

“Hm? What?”

“Are you going to Belled today? To check out that place?”

“Ah, yeah!”

I pulled a stack of papers from the pocket of my pink pinafore dress.

The dazzlingly titled:

Proposal No. 74 – Aspasia Academy Foundation Plan (2nd Revision)

For a moment, the three of us observed a brief, solemn silence.

“Lord Erebus, honestly…”
“You’re just as bad, Sion.”

No—what they were really doing was silently pitying me.

I pouted and glared.

“I don’t need your pity!”

What this big sister needed was money, land, and—

“Father’s approval!”

Honestly, I thought I’d be the youngest heir ever to get a business plan approved.

But when I showed him my seventy-fourth proposal—

“Your funding still seems unstable.”

He smiled so kindly as he rejected it.

“Didn’t you have your own savings, Lady Sion?”

“Mm-hmm. But it’s still not enough on just the Princess Palace budget.”

“I see…”

Kallion trailed off, sipping his tea quietly.

I snuck a glance at him.

Does Kallion have something on his mind too?

He’d always been a deep thinker…

But lately, he seems more troubled than ever.

Maybe I should gently pry sometime.

* * *

When Phobos entered Lord Hades’s office, he let out a startled cry.

“Whoa. What’s all this? Letters, Your Highness?”

Lord Erebus was scowling furiously at a mountain of letters.

Even at a glance, the stationery was all high-quality—each one sealed with the crests of foreign royal families and great noble houses.

“Marriage proposals. For Elysion.”

“Huh. Our princess sure is popular.”

At his friend’s casual tone, Erebus gave him a you can’t be serious look.

“…Is that really what you have to say right now, Phobos? She’s ten years old. Ten! And there are already people trying to arrange marriages with her?”

“Uh, well…”

What exactly was he supposed to say to that?

Instead, Phobos just shrugged.

“It’s not that early for royalty—Your Highness!”

He jumped back as dark demonic energy rippled across the floor at Erebus’s feet.

“Please send that killing intent toward the ones who wrote the letters, not me!”

“You’re the one saying nonsense in front of me, Phobos.”

“Says the man who proudly admitted he fell for Lia when he was three! Why am I the bad guy here?”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“Ah. Right. Of course…”

Phobos muttered inwardly,
‘So your own free romance doesn’t count, but arranged marriages are evil, huh?’

But he wisely kept that to himself.

With Erebus, it was better for everyone’s safety to stay quiet during these moods.

Royalty are born bound by marriage contracts, after all…

Still, even Phobos was surprised.

So many proposals—for such a young princess.

Even human kingdoms sent some?

Not that Erebus would ever consider anyone from the human realm. Total waste of paper.

Phobos silently pitied his youngest sister.

She doesn’t know it yet, but every flower in her path is going to turn into thorns.

As she grows up, every man she meets will be seen as a rival.

In fact, she already has one right next to her—
Prince Deucalion.