“I was really worried you might be sick for more than a month.”

“Yeah. It’s a relief.”

A month sounded short when you said it like that, but when you spent an entire month lying there sick and wasting away, it was no life at all.

If it had gone on any longer, she really might have lost her mind.

“So now tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Why are you playing dumb? You still have something to tell me, don’t you?”

When she fixed Dorman with a steady glare, he gave an awkward smile.

As Camilla’s eyes sharpened further, he let out a silent sigh. Not that her glaring in that form was particularly frightening.

“It’s not exactly something to hide... It’s basically a kind of spirit fever.”

“Spirit fever?”

“It’s like a symptom the Mirror of Truth experiences periodically.”

“Periodically? Then does that mean I’m going to have to go through this again later?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh.”

I’m not some shaman, so what the hell is this spirit fever? How annoying.

“Fine. Let’s say that explains me.”

Then why had the past Camilla, the one who used to occupy this body, been sick?

She could not make sense of it. She was the Mirror of Truth, so fine, let’s say that explained her—but that child? Why?

“Even if the soul had left, the vessel itself was still the Mirror of Truth, so it was affected by it. Still, Lady Isia was only sick for a short while when she was here.”

And this time she had been sick for almost a month.

But according to Ravi, Isia, who had originally been in this body, had only been ill for about half a month.

“Tch.”

So when the original owner occupied the body, it had been sick for a full month just the same. What an absurdly honest body.

“So when am I going to get sick again later? What’s the cycle?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“You don’t know?”

“They all died before that.”

“Ah...”

For a moment, she had forgotten how the Mirrors of Truth born into this world all met their ends.

“But try not to worry too much. Even when you lived as Isia, you went a long time without any symptoms.”

“That’s true.”

At least after the age of four, she had not really been sick again.

“But...”

Camilla looked around. The room, usually noisy, was strangely quiet today.

“Where is everyone else?”

“Who do you mean? Lord Dive and the Duke of Esclara?”

“Yeah.”

At Camilla’s question, Dorman smiled oddly.

“They joined the battle.”

“The battle?”

What the hell was he talking about all of a sudden? Had they gone off to war or something?

At the startled look in Camilla’s eyes, Dorman let out a small laugh and continued.

“The fight over sons.”

“What?”

*****

“Would you like to try some more of this too?”

“Huh? Ah, yes!”

“If there’s anything you want to eat or anything you need, don’t feel burdened—just say whatever it is.”

“Yes...”

Dive, with a fork in his mouth, kept casting wavering glances at the Duke of Sorpel seated in front of him.

“Do I look like someone who let my child grow up half-starved?”

Trying to win him over with food. How childish.

The Duke of Esclara threw a sharp look at the Duke of Sorpel. After mocking him inwardly for such a pathetic move, the man opened his mouth, clearly mindful of someone else sitting here.

“I happened to acquire a very rare grimoire this time.”

“...A grimoire?”

“Interested? If you come to the Gracia Empire, I’d gladly give it to you as a gift.”

“Huh?”

At the sight of the Duke of Esclara giving him a gaze so intent it was almost burdensome, Ravi looked flustered in a way that did not suit him.

“Our empire has plenty of grimoires too!”

Trying to sound out my son’s heart with a grimoire. What a dirty move!

The Duke of Sorpel ground his teeth. He knew all too well why that bastard kept making moves on Ravi.

And what about you?

The Duke of Esclara felt exactly the same.

How could he not know what the Duke of Sorpel was after, smiling one forced, ill-fitting smile after another at Dive while showering him with gifts?

Because he’s a child Camilla cherishes...

Because he’s the only one she considers family...

Dive and Ravi. Both of them were precious to Camilla, and both held an enormous share in her emotional stability, which was why each duke wanted to take one of them to his own empire.

The Duke of Sorpel wanted Dive to remain here, while the Duke of Esclara wanted to take Ravi away.

Because if that happened, the chances of Camilla choosing to stay with them would become very high.

“Our Dive really does take after his big sister.”

“Our? Since when did my child become your Dive?”

“What does time matter? From the moment I first met him, all I could think was that child is my son.”

“How is my son your son?”

“How childish. And you have no room to talk—why do you keep hanging around our Ravi?”

“Ravi and I go back a long way. He was once my son too.”

“And who was it that abandoned that son and left?”

“Haven’t you heard yet? There was an accident. I lost my memories, so I simply didn’t know. If that hadn’t happened, then certainly—”

“You think that excuses it? What about the wounds of a child who believed he’d been abandoned?”

The Duke of Esclara’s face, calm until now, darkened heavily.

No matter the reason, there was no excuse for the years he had spent having forgotten Ravi and Camilla.

Still, it was not as though he had nothing to say in return. As if the other man were in any position to speak.

“And what about you? Is it enough just to take care of Camilla now, after all this time? You, who used to ignore her and turn away from her? You said you didn’t even know the servants below you were tormenting the child.”

“...”

This time, it was the Duke of Sorpel who clamped his mouth shut. That was one of the points he still blamed himself for from time to time, so he had nothing to say.

After trading one blow each in perfect fairness, sparks flew from the eyes of the two dukes.

“Dive, try a little more of this. It’s very rare.”

“Ravi, if you want, I’ll even attach a high-ranking mage to you as a teacher.”

“Our empire has plenty of mages too!”

“My house isn’t poor either! Why do you keep trying to tempt the child with food?”

Ravi and Dive, watching the two men repeat lines no different from before as they fought, ended up meeting each other’s eyes.

“...”

“...”

Then, without either one clearly going first, they quietly rose from their seats and fled the place as if escaping.

“He’s my son, I said!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Whether they did or not, the fight over sons showed not the slightest sign of stopping.

“Ah.”

Out in ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the garden for the first time in a while, Camilla drew in a deep breath of the cold air.

The weather was bitterly cold, but after being shut in her room for so long because of her illness, she did not particularly want to go back inside.

“It really is winter.”

Looking at the tree that stood there with nothing left but barren branches, she felt the changing of the seasons anew.

[Is it very cold? Then shall I postpone the snow a little?]

“Snow?”

Aisla, the Winter Spirit King, who had been toddling along behind her, suddenly said something unexpected.

[Yes. I’m going to make it snow in a little while.]

“Oh.”

Come to think of it, the sky was full of clouds. Was this the first snowfall of the year?

“Big sister!”

Just then, someone came running toward Camilla from afar, calling out to her.

“Dive.”

The sight of the child racing toward her so fast she worried he might trip made a smile slip from her without her realizing it.

Behind Dive, she could see Ludvill and Ravi. Apparently they had escorted him themselves, worried that he might get lost.

“Big sister, are you really okay now? Are you really all better?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a relief!”

She had wanted to give him a tight hug after not seeing him for so long, but instead, she wound up getting tightly hugged by the child.

Being smaller really was inconvenient in all sorts of ways.

“Dive.”

“Yes.”

Standing on her toes, she lightly stroked the head of the child looking down at her.

They said children grew bigger by the day, but really—when had he gotten this big?

“I missed you.”

“Really?”

At Camilla’s words, a bright smile spread across Dive’s face.

Ludvill and Ravi, on the other hand, went wide-eyed. They looked thoroughly stunned.

That brat can say things like that?

Maybe when she blatantly wanted to score points with Father once in a while, but under normal circumstances she would never say something like that.

And yet...

“I really missed you too, big sister.”

“I bet I missed you more.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did.”

What was with that sickeningly sweet exchange?

Watching Camilla and Dive casually trade lines that made them want to scrub at their skin, Ludvill’s and Ravi’s eyes grew sharper and sharper.

“...Brother.”

“Mm.”

“Don’t you think the way that little brat acts is kind of annoying? He’s practically grown, and yet he’s laying it on with the clinginess...”

“...”

At that time, no one knew.

“Big sister! Let’s have tea together.”

“All right.”

“...”

“...”

That another struggle had already begun.

*****

“Aisla.”

[What?]

“You’re not thinking of turning this place into a winter kingdom too, are you?”

Staring at the snow piled thickly outside the window, Camilla let out a long sigh.

It had piled up so heavily that some branches had even snapped under the weight, which really said it all.