Leviathan stared blankly for a moment, then cleared his throat.

“Well... if you listen carefully, it’s kind of cute.”

“...You don’t need to make excuses to me.”

“...Don’t tell her. She’ll sulk.”

“...Yes, sir.”

That only made him more curious about what, exactly, she was doing to make a sound like that.

He stepped out into the corridor and looked through the window.

A helpless laugh slipped out of him at once.

“Wahahaha!”

Rubian was gleefully sledding down the snowy hill behind the ducal castle.

On a fertilizer sack.

“...Isn’t she supposed to be a princess, technically?”

“Ahem. Ahem.”

This time Adolf was the one clearing his throat repeatedly.

“So that’s what she ran off so excitedly to do...”

His forehead started throbbing on its own.

“Well, she looks happy, so I suppose that’s enough.”

Nearby, as usual, were Boyd, Khalid, and Liam.

Apparently she had already lured all three of them in after they finished their morning routines.

No wonder she’d been sparkling with anticipation ever since the heavy snow started falling...

And after all that, what?

She was all grown up now, so she should get to go on business trips with him?

Of course, he knew Rubian was a mage with extraordinary power.

But that had nothing to do with this.

Rubian was young, and that made her vulnerable.

That was all.

And all I can do as her father is run around looking for steles.

Whenever he thought of the Kingdom’s mark on his child’s body, it felt like swallowing thousands of needles.

Even more so because he could not erase it himself with his own hands.

Rubian always looked guilty, thinking Leviathan was doing her work in her place.

But honestly, he was the one who felt guilty.

Because he felt like an incompetent father.

“Come to think of it, Your Grace... there was a letter from the Imperial family.”

Adolf spoke quietly to Leviathan, who had sunk into his thoughts.

“What is it?”

“It’s about the Magic Kingdom. The scouting ship they sent this time failed to find the island as well.”

“......”

It wasn’t surprising.

He had expected as much.

An island rising from the middle of the sea.

Arcadia, the kingdom of mages.

It had already been a full year since the Magic Kingdom—now Babilon’s enemy—had vanished completely from the face of the world.

No matter how closely they followed the sea routes, the island never appeared.

Message birds and search magic tools were useless, and the gateway portal leading to the Kingdom had long ago stopped functioning.

It was, quite simply, a perfect disappearance.

The second said they probably activated every barrier protecting the Kingdom... And if they hid the island itself from sight too, it probably means they intend to stay hidden for a very long time... The kind that won’t come undone again until a set period passes once it’s activated...

Rubian’s muttering voice came back to him.

And after that, the child had added, Sorry. I’m still not strong enough to break a barrier like that.

A ridiculous thing to say.

Wherever the Mage King was, Leviathan intended to find him and cut off his head.

No matter where that place might be.

Even if he were buried in hell itself, Leviathan would drag him out and kill him twice.

In any case, a long game of hide-and-seek with the Magic Kingdom had begun.

The Emperor is tracking them with the allied nations. He’ll get results soon enough.

Which meant that, until some new development arrived, they could at least spend a little time living peacefully with the children.

“Was that all His Majesty’s letter said?”

“Ah, there was one other thing...”

Adolf’s gaze drifted naturally toward the window.

“It briefly mentioned that it may be time for House of Zebbert to decide on an heir.”

Leviathan just laughed under his breath.

“Shouldn’t have asked. Ignore it.”

“But...”

“That’s enough. Ignore it.”

It wasn’t as if he didn’t know why the Emperor was saying that.

Other noble houses had already established heirs and were involving children of twelve and thirteen in family affairs early on.

But still.

For some reason, the idea sat poorly with him.

He knew it would be necessary someday.

But right now... not quite.

“Wahaha! First place!”

“Ruby! Save me! I’m turning into a snowman!”

“Big brother, you’re really bad at sledding... But where did Liam go? Don’t tell me he managed to get lost even while sledding...?”

“No idea!”

“Wow, Kal’s really fast! You’re having fun, aren’t you! You kept insisting you didn’t want to ride, but you’re having fun now, right?”

“I’m only doing this because I have to. It’s not that fun.”

“How many times have you ridden already?”

“...Seventeen?”

For now, all he wanted was for those noisy voices to go on just a little longer.

“Little brats are best when they’re running around without a lick of sense.”

Their brief boyhood would pass soon enough anyway.

So what if they were a little thoughtless?

“Turn the fireplaces up. When they come back, we’ll have to spread them out in front of them to dry.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Shaking his head, Leviathan turned away.

*****

I was completely wiped out...

“Haah, huff. Sledding takes so much energy...”

“Get up. You’ll catch cold.”

A pale hand suddenly entered my field of vision as I lay sprawled flat on the snow.

“......”

I grabbed it and got up, then stared straight at the person in front of me.

“...What? Why are you glaring at me like that?”

Kal scratched lightly at the end of his brow and looked away.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong...”

“You. Stay right there.”

“...?”

The moment I strode closer, the boy in training clothes went rigid, like he was holding his breath.

My own heart, meanwhile...

froze solid.

“...How much milk do you drink in a day?”

“Two glasses?”

“I drink three!”

Why, then?!

“...Uh, good job, I guess...?”

Then why can’t I catch up?!

Damn it, nostril height was my peak!

I thought maybe my eye level was finally starting to match his now that I’d been growing so fast.

But as if mocking me, Khalid had spent the past year growing like he was in a full-on sprint.

Can someone really grow this fast? Did the soles of his feet get fat or something?

“What’s this? Why are you two talking by yourselves?”

Just then Boyd cut into our conversation in a dissatisfied tone, resting his chin on top of my head.

“If you bully my little sister, you die!”

“Who’s bullying who, seriously...”

Muttering that the one getting bullied was obviously him, Khalid started dusting off the fertilizer sack.

“Excuse me, please don’t knead my buns. They’ll pop.”

“Huh—! Sorry, I did it without thinking.”

The hand pulled away in alarm.

How humiliating...

Now even Boyd could casually rest a hand on my head without a second thought...

“So, have you decided on your birthday present yet, Ruby?”

Boyd asked as he tightened my muffler for me.

True to his status as the North’s representative grade-schooler, he’d gotten so into the sledding that his nose and the tips of his ears were bright red.

I sniffed and answered,

“Hmm, I’m not sure. There isn’t really anything I want that badly.”

“Then why did you create the one-person-one-present system in the first place? It’s honestly cruel!”

“Because then nothing gets wasted!”

“Do you know Grandpa cries himself hoarse every night trying to think of something?”

“Oh, so that’s what that sound was. I thought some wild animal had gotten into the annex...”

And here I was thinking a beast had shown up over there...

“And besides, as you know, I’ve acquired a modest amount of wealth. So anything I actually need, I can just buy myself.”

Heh.

When I curled one corner of my mouth up, Boyd looked stunned.

“M-magic stone shop owner...”

That’s right.

The pale purple magic stone became a hit all across the Empire...

And then our falling-out with the Magic Kingdom cut off the supply of magic stones for magic tools...

So our shop ended up handling all of it!

So ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) yes, everyone.

I got rich at twelve...

This was around the time Arcadia vanished after throwing up barriers in every direction.

They ordered all stationed mages across the continent to return.

Naturally, I ran straight to Asha.

“Asha! What are you going to do? I heard the Magic Kingdom recalled all the stationed mages!”

“It’s fine! I’ll be a runaway mage!”

“Huh?”

“Why?”

As always, Asha made a major life decision like it was nothing.

It was impossible to tell whether she was brave or had no sense of danger at all.