~Chapter 83~
That evening.
Liam Zebret was sitting at his desk in the study with a serious face.
“I’m troubled.”
“What is it, sir?”
“Ah! You startled me.”
Liam frowned as he turned to the side. It was just his attendant.
“Who gave you permission to enter the study?”
“Lady Rubian told me to come and tidy things up.”
“Well… it was time anyway.”
He accepted the explanation easily and rose from his seat. The attendant almost laughed. These days, Liam treated Rubian like some kind of magic password.
Even that picky young master had been conquered.
As expected of Lady Rubian, the attendant thought to himself with a grin, opening the window to dust the books.
“But sir, what’s troubling you so much?”
“Whether or not to join the competition.”
“Huh? You’re going to join the competition?”
Liam nodded as he flipped through a book.
“I want to give the youngest fairy the winning prize as a gift. The way her eyes sparkled when she spoke about the prize… they were full of ambition.”
“…That’s really not like you, young master.”
Liam raised one eyebrow.
“What do you mean? Answer properly—introduction, body, conclusion.”
“Uh… well, you normally don’t like people. You prefer being alone. But these days, you seem to enjoy hanging around Lady Rubian.”
“Body?”
“In conclusion, I’m curious what about Lady Rubian has changed you, sir.”
The attendant added quickly. Liam looked unsatisfied but only pushed up his glasses in reply.
“Ruby’s like a fairy. I like fairies. So I liked Ruby from the very beginning.”
“…Ah, I see.”
The attendant made a weary face but then tilted his head.
“Wait—‘from the beginning’? Sir, you only met Lady Rubian in Ipsun, right?”
At that, Liam silently pulled open his desk drawer.
Dozens of folded letters tumbled out.
“What’s this?”
“Void needs to learn how to calm down.”
“Ah… so you’ve been exchanging letters with the second young master down south.”
Liam picked up one of Void’s letters.
Because of his impatient nature, Void often misspelled even the words he knew. He grumbled endlessly about Rubian correcting him every time.
Most of the letters went like this:
Annoying. Noisy. Weak. Clumsy…
But cute. Kind. Admirable. I like her.
The whole atmosphere of the house has completely changed.
You’ll definitely like her too, brother…
Void hadn’t been able to hide his excitement.
So even though Liam hadn’t been in Zerox, it felt like he was there with them.
“Maybe that’s why she already felt familiar.”
“…I see.”
“And besides… she never called me strange.”
He looked at the flickering lamp.
Liam loved researching magical beasts. Digging into their nature, investigating, and studying them was pure joy.
One day, if he dug deep enough, he believed he would discover a way to wipe those monsters out forever.
Only his family ever understood that.
But Rubian understood me from the very start.
On the first day, Liam had been surprised to find his study neatly organized. For his poor sense of direction, the house had stickers of little footprints all over, guiding him.
And more than that—knowing he couldn’t stand disorder, Rubian even fixed his hairpins symmetrically whenever they met alone.
“So, I simply treasure the youngest fairy just as she is.”
“…Sir, you’ve become so dignified.”
Liam quickly turned his head, as if the comment was nonsense.
Knock.
Someone tapped on the study door.
Liam’s whole body jumped. He recognized that knock!
“Brother…”
A small voice.
“Ha. Good thing I moved the study here.”
Liam muttered under his breath. He hadn’t moved it for an entirely proper reason, but now he was deeply satisfied with its location.
When he opened the door, Rubian was standing there with a bashful smile.
“What is it? Explain in as much long-winded detail as possible.”
He tells me to be brief, but makes her ramble… The attendant shook his head.
“Well… I was thinking… do you want to join the competition with me?”
“The competition?”
Liam lowered himself to meet Rubian’s eyes, not caring if his clothes wrinkled.
“Void brother will obviously join, but I thought maybe you wouldn’t. So I came to ask.”
“Hm.”
“If we join together… um, wouldn’t it be a nice memory?”
“A nice memory, huh.”
Yes. He wanted to stack up those memories.
“Let’s start making a strategy to win the competition right away.”
You were already planning to join… The attendant pouted slightly.
“Yay!”
Rubian wrapped her arms around Liam’s neck happily. So that’s what she wanted.
“Secured a top contender!”
“What does that mean?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
When Rubian smiled, Liam smiled too. Then, a thought made him tilt his head.
“But youngest fairy…”
“Hm? What is it?”
“At your current condition, you can’t enter the competition.”
BOOM!
Thunder and lightning struck across Rubian’s face.
“Lies!”
At that same time—
The three adults of the Zebret family were gathered.
“Rose, Father.”
Leviathan’s low voice filled the room.
“Today I finished processing Rubian’s registration papers.”
“But the investigation in Eosia…” Rosetta frowned. Leviathan rested his clasped hands on his knees.
“Rubian is a citizen of the Vamilon Empire. I told His Majesty to approve it that way.”
“…You mean you falsified Rubian’s birth records?” Balrok murmured in a daze.
“Yes. To ensure her past never becomes an obstacle, I prepared at least this much protection.”
“….”
“That way, she’ll also receive the Empire’s protection.”
“Does that mean you won’t dig into Rubian’s past anymore?” Rosetta asked cautiously.
Leviathan stayed silent for a moment.
Before coming here, he had gone to see the child’s face. He had explained about the adoption papers, but somehow, he had also wanted to add this:
“Rubian, if you ever want to tell me something, come anytime. Don’t struggle alone like this time. Alright?”
“Mm…”
“…I promise I will.”
Her answer had been strangely solemn, as if she had made a great decision… or perhaps was still hesitating.
Leviathan thought maybe believing he should know everything about his child was arrogance.
A child had their own world. And as that world grew, they would encounter things unknown to their parents.
If so, then what was a parent’s role?
“To trust… and wait.”
Still—
“I’ll continue investigating Eosia. But separately, I’ll give Rubian a perfect identity and family.”
He would surround her with the widest, strongest shield he could.
Thus, Leviathan decided he would become Rubian’s protector.
He had created her past himself, and as family head he had proven it. Now that even the Emperor had approved, no one could raise an objection.
Soon Rubian’s name would be written in the birth records of the southern Vamilon church.
From there, her name would be added into the Zebret family’s genealogy. No matter what anyone said, Rubian was now his daughter.
“I’ll make sure no one can ever lay a hand on her.”
The only daughter of the Zebret Duke—untouchable.
Reading the determination in Leviathan’s violet eyes, Rosetta nodded in agreement.
“…Yes. We are Rubian’s parents.”
“Of course. She’s worth more than gold. Not even a hair of hers should be harmed!” Balrok nodded so hard it seemed his head might fall off.
“So about this Verdant Festival… Rubian…”
At that moment—
Knock, knock!
From outside came not an actual knock, but a loud voice imitating one.
“Knock, knock, knock! Hey, are you all busy in there?”
