Sorry for making it obvious that I didn’t want to be Dad’s heir. But it wasn’t that I didn’t want to do it—I just didn’t, like, really really want to!

If it’s going to make things hard with His Majesty the Emperor because of that, I can do it instead. I don’t know if I’d be good at it, though. (But I really can cancel later, right?)

Anyway, this is the conclusion.

If you ever need my help, just tell me!

Because I’m a Zebbert too!

The last line was written in tiny, tiny letters, as if she’d been embarrassed by it.

“What are you doing, standing in front of the door like that?”

At that moment, a gentle voice came from behind him.

Rosetta looked at Leviathan, who was standing there with a hand half-covering his mouth, and gave him a puzzled look.

“What’s that?”

“Read it. I’m losing my mind.”

Rosetta read the letter—then burst out laughing.

“Oh no. She must have been worried. Worried it would make things difficult for her father. And all you did was ask in case any of the children actually wanted to inherit the house!”

“That’s exactly my point.”

“Honestly, how can she be so ador— Hm? What’s this?”

Rosetta tilted her head as she stepped into the bedroom.

Looking more closely, there was not just one letter tucked into the crack of the door.

There was Liam’s, torn roughly out of a practice notebook.

And Boyd’s pink letter, which had obviously been written on paper borrowed from Rubian.

The contents were...

almost exactly the same as Rubian’s.

“What is this—why are the children all so adorable?!”

Leviathan let out a low sound, half laugh and half groan. This was happiness of an entirely different kind from the happiness he felt when he loved Rosetta.

“Well, Duke, I suppose you don’t have to worry about your heir. Not when you have such reliable sons and a daughter.”

“Apparently not.”

Swallowing a laugh, he buried his face against Rosetta’s shoulder.

“I’m one lucky bastard.”

*****

Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: Clear / Mood: Good

Hello, this is Rubian.

A little while ago, I turned thirteen!

We had a birthday party, and it was really fun.

“Mm, what should I write next?”

I sat there thinking with a huge cookie stuffed in my mouth. I had finished eating and was now sitting alone with dessert, writing in my diary.

Unfortunately, one of my assignments these days was “keep a diary,” so I had settled down to do exactly that.

And right on time, Boyd had given me a diary as a birthday present.

“Umm... next...”

The pen I’d been hesitating with slowly began to move.

In the morning I had mushroom cream stew, at lunch I had a Southern-style shrimp dish, and for dinner I had seasoned grilled chicken. It was delicious.

“Not bad.”

Hmm.

I grinned and set down my pen.

“Now I have to go visit the magic stone shop!”

Even thirteen-year-old Ruby is busy, busy!

But then, the next day—

“Wh—!”

I froze solid when I saw the dazzling rainbow-colored handwriting that had invaded my diary.

Anyone could tell what this was.

“They snooped!”

“What is this?! Why are you reading somebody else’s diary?!”

And what was with writing confident little opinions all over it too?

The nerve!

I fumed as I shoveled pudding into my mouth.

Damn it. If they read it again, I’m cutting ties with all of them.

Still, it was homework, so I had to write today’s entry too. Scribble scribble.

Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: Clear / Mood: Indignant

My family keeps sneaking looks at my diary, so I am thinking of writing smaller... I mean, that is what I am thinking.

Today I rode the sled Dad bought me, and Mom taught me archery. When will I be able to shoot a bow however I want? That has been a big concern of mine lately...

In the evening I stayed home and read books!

It was an 80% enjoyable day!

Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: / Mood:

Excuse me?!

Why do you all keep sneaking looks at someone else’s diary?!

“I’m so mad!”

I exploded. And because I was mad, I crammed a whole fistful of apple jelly into my mouth.

“Ahem. My lady.”

“Mmf?”

At the careful voice calling me, I turned—and found Butler Adolf.

“I hesitate to say this, but...”

He let his eyes sweep slowly over my diary, the dessert plate lying beside it, and then the broad dining room itself.

“If you write your diary at the dining table and leave it spread wide open...”

“...”

“I’m afraid people may end up looking whether they mean to or not.”

“Ah.”

Right.

Lately I’d gotten hooked on sitting around after dinner, snacking by myself while reading formulas and writing in my diary...

With an embarrassed expression, I hastily gathered up my diary and stood. How mortifying.

“Where are you going?”

“T-to see Khalid!”

Whoosh. My two legs fled the dining room like they were escaping for their lives.

“Even so, that’s no way to treat somebody else’s diary...!”

Once outside the castle, I kicked lightly at the ground as I walked.

Well... I did sneak a look at Brother Boyd’s diary once when I was little...

Hoo hoo. So this is karmic retribution, is it?

Anyway, I should buy a diary with a lock too.

I was already thirteen.

That meant the time had finally come for my privacy to matter.

Huh? But... do I actually have any privacy I absolutely need to protect?

There weren’t really any secrets left between me and my family anymore.

“Hmm.”

Maybe I just wouldn’t bother with the locking diary after all.

Briefly lost in thought, I wandered around near the training ground with the little notebook in one hand.

“More importantly, where is Khalid?”

In the notebook was a list of candidate regions where magic steles might exist—places I had identified with Licht’s help.

But the very last one is being a nuisance...

The ancient language had already been frustrating enough, and even the Imperial Palace archives had yielded no particularly useful hints.

Of course, Khalid didn’t know ancient language well either, but it still felt better to ask him than to sit there worrying alone.

How long had I walked?

Far off in the distance, near a great old tree, I spotted dark blue hair shifting in the light.

“Ah, found—!”

My steps stopped short.

“What? He’s asleep.”

He was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen him sleep like that.

Step by step.

I walked over quietly and crouched in front of the sleeping Khalid. The tree’s shadow swayed across his straight, handsome face.

“He said his legs hurt... Is he okay...?”

My gaze drifted down automatically to his long outstretched legs. There was dirt here and there, like he had trained hard.

Lately, Khalid had «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» been suffering terribly from growing pains.

He said every joint in his body hurt, and that moving was better than sitting still, so he had been throwing himself into training day and night.

...Maybe that’s why, but somehow he just keeps looking more and more...

His eyes were getting longer, his nose sharper, his lips—

“Ghk.”

What is this? What kind of liquor? What am I even looking at?!

I backed away in a fluster and landed hard on my backside with a thump.

At the same time, the eyes that had been closed like part of a painting slid open.

“S-sorry, did I wake you?”

“...”

His gray-blue eyes stared at me for a moment, then drifted away again.

“Probably?”

What kind of vague answer was that supposed to be?

“What? Did something happen?”

Khalid asked as he stretched widely.

“N-no, I just had something I wanted to ask—”

For some reason, I found it hard to finish the sentence.

“...”

“Go on...”

Because Khalid was staring at me again.

So fifteen-year-old Khalid was...

“...Even weirder.”

He really was strange.

Isn’t that supposed to be the age when people look their worst?

That’s what everyone says!

But he only kept giving off a stranger and stranger atmosphere. That in-between time when he was neither boy nor man.

His voice had gotten lower than before, and his shoulders were getting broader too...

“There you go again, saying things that make no sense.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because magic keeps overflowing out of you.”

I glanced down at Khalid’s arm.

Out of the six bracelets, only three remained now.

Khalid had been keeping his promise extremely well. One per year, steadily, one after another.

Day by day, he was growing strong enough to withstand his vast magic even without the bracelets.

At this rate, isn’t he going to take them all off before he’s even an adult?

These days, the one teaching Khalid swordsmanship was Dad. Maybe because of that, both his sword skills and his physical abilities seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.

“But you—don’t you need magic these days?”

Khalid asked, sitting cross-legged as usual, arms folded.

For some reason, I found it hard to hold his gaze, so I sprang abruptly to my feet.

“Uh, right. I guess I really have gotten healthier. I don’t pant and gasp from magic depletion the way I used to.”

“...I see.”

Then, after a moment, Khalid looked up at me and grinned.

“Ruby.”

“What.”

“Help me up.”

“Huh?”

The arm he stuck out so smoothly was absurd.

He squinted one eye like the sunlight streaming down behind me was too bright.

“Hurry.”

“No, what are you—”

“I told you my legs hurt. I haven’t been sleeping much at all lately.”

Come to think of it, Dad had said that if growing pains hit badly, they could hurt a lot.

Then again... if he’s so exhausted he’s falling asleep just anywhere like this...

I felt a little sorry for him.

“Sigh, well, I guess I have no choi—”

The moment I carefully reached out my hand,

his fingertips closed around my index finger as if he had been waiting for it.

At the same instant, a wave-like rush of blue magic flooded into me. My eyes flew wide at the cool, refreshing force that felt as though every sense in my body had sprung open.

“You really don’t need this?”

The corners of Khalid’s eyes curved slightly.