1.
Ruby decided to draw attention for Lionel’s sake.
Truthfully, she was not the sort of person who enjoyed putting herself forward either.
It was not that she liked it, but there was nothing she could not do.
Well, if it was to help Lionel.
Click.
As Ruby, wearing her dainty shoes, walked over beside the curtain,
children her age began following after her one by one.
It was only natural.
After all, aside from the imperial family, she was the highest-ranking child here.
The sole... no, now one of two heirs to Duke Dolores’s household.
The children of most families were cautious even about speaking to her first.
"Which ranker’s Tower-climbing lectures have you been taking lately?"
"My older brother always says that you have to diligently prepare for five years before climbing the Tower."
Ruby gave suitably vague responses to the words pouring in from every direction.
Ruby did not attend teachers’ lectures, nor was she preparing diligently.
That sort of talk was neither interesting nor of any interest to her.
She only intended to stall for time.
But that Lionel is just eating chocolate.
‘...Honestly, what would he do without me?’
He was a child who required quite a lot of looking after.
Swish.
At that moment, a boy pushed through the crowd and stepped forward.
He was the eldest son of Count Valmon’s family, with an ostentatious family crest embroidered across his chest.
"Lady Ruby. It is truly an honor to meet you like this."
"...Yes."
Her reply was short, because she had nothing more to say.
But the boy did not mind, continuing to speak in a friendly tone.
"But, my lady. I heard that His Grace the Duke recently took in another child."
"......"
The eldest son’s gaze turned toward Lionel, sitting alone some distance away.
"Oh dear... It seems he is unfamiliar with occasions like this. Seeing as he is sitting apart from everyone..."
Ruby’s eyes narrowed.
His tone was polite—and the contents sounded like concern, at least.
But she was not so young that she could not understand what he really meant.
Ruby knew the best way to deal with situations like this.
Namely...
"......"
Indifference.
Not answering at all was also an effective method.
Because talking about Lionel would only end up drawing Lionel into this place.
Thus began the most tiresome kind of conversation at the gathering.
As Ruby, with a half-vacant expression, idly let it all wash over her...
"...?!"
One young lady looked toward the opposite side and covered her mouth.
Ruby turned her head to look that way.
Somehow, Lionel had already sweet-talked the princess into handing over her necklace.
He certainly had a talent for it.
They had barely been together, and he was already getting an imperial family member’s possession out of her.
Then...
After staring at Lionel for a while, the princess turned as though she had made up her mind.
She walked straight over to the prince.
Whisper, whisper.
The princess whispered something in the prince’s ear, and his face hardened.
The prince shook his head, but...
Jingle.
Before long, the necklace around his neck was taken from him.
Holding the necklace between her fingertips as though it had something filthy on it, the princess returned to Lionel.
‘What?’
But before thirteen-year-old brat Ruby could grasp the situation,
the princess, clutching the necklace, took Lionel...
out through the back stairs of the banquet hall.
Murmur, murmur.
In an instant, the banquet hall erupted in a stir.
It was not only the Hall of Heirs that was buzzing; attention from the main hall had gathered there as well.
After all, the princess—the star of today’s event—was leaving the banquet hall with a child from a ducal family.
"Her Highness..."
"Where is she taking the Duke’s child...?"
Forcing herself to look away, Ruby muttered inwardly.
‘He succeeded.’
But why did her head throb and her stomach churn?
Ever since she had begun living with Lionel, there had been no end to the things she could not understand.
Yet this time, more than any other, she somehow did not want to understand.
2.
Upon hearing that the prince’s necklace was in more serious condition, the princess suddenly ran off somewhere.
Where are you going?
For a moment, I thought she might be going to tell the Emperor everything.
But she approached the prince and got the necklace from him after only a few words.
He seemed somewhat reluctant to give it to her, but she got it from him in an instant.
"The attention is making you uncomfortable, isn’t it?"
"Yes, a little."
Actually, it was more than a little.
The gazes focused on me since earlier had been incredibly burdensome.
"Follow me."
"Pardon?"
"If we go out through those stairs, there is a corridor and a terrace. Let us speak there."
Watching her prepare to lead the way, something suddenly occurred to me.
Was I supposed to escort her? I felt like I had heard something about that somewhere.
That when walking with a woman at an event like this, etiquette required you to offer her your hand.
I naturally started to hold out my hand, but...
[Don’t hold out your hand!!]
At Yuna’s roar, I stopped my hand.
Yet the princess took hold of my wrist and gently pulled me along instead.
"?"
"Hurry, follow me."
Did royalty normally drag people around like this?
[...No.]
Yuna’s answer was firm.
[Maybe it’s because you’re young.]
In any case, grasped by the hand of the princess who seemed to be in a hurry, I climbed the stairs.
She looked uncomfortable walking while holding the necklace, so I took it and held it for her.
At the top of the stairs was a long corridor.
It was a colonnade lined with pillars.
Lights cast their glow at even intervals below them.
The sun had set at some point, and moonlight streamed in through the windows, shining down on us.
The noisy clamor faded with every step we took.
And at the end of the colonnade...
Rustle.
When we drew aside the curtain, the night wind swept across my face.
It was a broad, open terrace.
Only then did I notice.
[Someone keeps following us from behind?]
A very tall man was silently following us from the rear.
He was seriously frightening. Walking in the moonlight’s shadows, he gave off an immense sense of pressure.
"Do not mind him. He is my guardian knight."
"Ah, I see."
Noticing my gaze, the princess spoke calmly.
"Of course, that is assuming Mr. Lionel does not do anything untoward?"
"Haha."
"I am joking."
The princess teased me, the corners of her lips curling upward.
Sorry, but if I had been planning to do something bad, I would not have bothered telling her about the necklace.
If I had kept my mouth shut, the princess would have withered away on her own.
The guardian knight crossed the terrace entrance and came right beside us.
It felt a bit burdensome in that instant. Like having a test proctor standing right at your side.
I did not think there was any need to worry, though. A guardian knight of the imperial family was unlikely to have a loose tongue.
It was simply burdensome.
Only then did I get a clear look at his face.
His black hair was brushed carelessly back.
Perhaps because he had his back to the moonlight, his face was shrouded in shadow, though his visible eyes were sharp.
"Richard, do not tell anyone what you see here."
"...I shall not."
At the princess’s request,
the three of us moved toward the terrace railing.
A small table stood beside the railing.
I naturally placed the two pieces of jewelry on top of it.
Clatter.
"Will you explain now? What exactly is wrong with these two pieces of jewelry, and why is my brother’s necklace more serious?"
"Of course."
Her voice was calm, but the princess appeared to be in quite a hurry.
I reached for the necklace on the table.
Well, it did not matter even if someone besides the princess was present. If that made you nervous, it was because you were a fraud.
I only spoke the truth.
"The two pieces of jewelry operate on similar principles. They both restore the wearer’s vitality."
"But why...?"
"However, Your Highness, where do you think that vitality comes from?"
Tap, tap.
When I tapped the Moonlight Essence Necklace,
Hummm.
the necklace hummed as though it were throwing a tantrum.
"Let me explain in greater detail. These two pieces of jewelry restore the wearer’s vitality by using the ‘essence’ stored inside them."
"......"
"And that essence is bound to be depleted someday. This is where the difference between the two pieces of jewelry arises."
Tap, tap.
Hummmmm!
This time, the necklace vibrated far more strongly than before.
"The Moonlight Essence, from the moment its stored essence runs dry, draws out the wearer’s essence to replenish itself."
"...My brother’s."
"It would be one thing if it merely took back as much as it restored... but it instead drains every last bit of the wearer’s vitality as well."
I gave her a moment to process it.
That feeling of being fine at first, then gradually getting worse.
Even though there was a difference between the princess and prince, she had probably felt it too.
"Then what about the pendant?"
Tap.
The princess asked as she touched the Sun Rising Pendant.
This one was a little difficult to explain.
To explain it in words, I would have to go on at length about sibling gods and incompatible forces. It would be tedious and pedantic.
Since it seemed best to demonstrate it through action,
I briefly organized my thoughts before immediately beginning the experiment.
I picked up the Moonlight Essence Necklace.
Then I placed it directly atop the Sun Rising Pendant, lining them up precisely.
It would be nice if there was an immediate reaction.
As we waited for a moment...
Hummmmmm!
Suddenly, the Moonlight Essence Necklace glowed blue.
Whoosh!
A red aura unfurled from the Sun Rising Pendant like threads, then was sucked into the Moonlight Essence Necklace.
Humm.
Having swallowed the red aura, the Moonlight Essence Necklace gave a single satisfied hum.
Humm... humm...
Meanwhile, the Sun Rising Pendant trembled.
Wow.
I had not expected such an obvious, easy-to-understand display.
It was quite intuitive. The essence that came from the princess’s pendant had been sucked into the prince’s necklace.
What further explanation could possibly be needed?
The princess could only look down at the sight without saying a word.
She was a person with quite an expressive face. It must be difficult for her to hide it.
Unlike her, the guardian knight watched the current situation with an expressionless face.
I had no idea what he was thinking over there either.
"They definitely said the two pieces of jewelry were for siblings. That they would have synergy."
"Uh... they are siblings’ jewelry, that much is true."
I replied while scratching my head.
I did not have a younger sister, so I did not know whether siblings were normally like that.
[????]
Ah, of course, Yuna is an exception.
[......ㅠ]
You are my soul partner.
[!!]
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