The same size as when I was little. The mark imbued with blue magic had a spell of stopped time laid over it.

“Whew.”

I knew it was the only part of my body that had stopped growing, but every time I saw it, I got tense for some reason. There was no telling when it might break through my magic and start growing again.

“More importantly...”

I was really turning eighteen.

Feeling oddly moved, I stared at my face in the mirror.

A round-faced girl with blue eyes stared back at me.

The riper the grain, the lower it bowed its head. And so, in the spirit of humility, the dumpling that had once sat perched on the crown of my head had slowly lowered itself until it now rested beneath my ears.

Mm, overall... not bad. But.

“A sharp, sleek jawline!”

—was nowhere to be found.

Why was it still round?

“Swift, fierce eyes!”

—didn’t exist either.

Why did the corners of my eyes look so sad?

“Fine, then at least a height as tall as Hazel’s!”

“Miss!”

“Ah! You startled me.”

Fwoomp. As always, I ended up lightly buried in Hazel. Though I supposed it was some comfort that I only came up to her chest now...

How humiliating.

I’d wanted to become a sexy beauty.

Still, it wasn’t as if there were no options.

“All right. Hazel. I think I need to switch to a bulk-up route.”

“Pardon? A what-up route?”

With grim resolve, I rolled up my sleeve, bent my arm, and put all my strength into it.

Pop.

“Look, look! My arm muscle popped out! Ha! At last, the results of my special training are showing.”

“...?”

“Would you mind not responding with a question mark when someone’s proudly showing something off?”

“Oh! Sorry.”

Hazel laughed, hugged me one more time, then checked the fireplace and windows in my room.

“You’re not cold, are you?”

“No!”

“But, Miss.”

Hazel, who had been about to leave with the lamp, tilted her head.

“What?”

“Have you lost weight?”

I’d just been showing off my muscles. What kind of question was that?

“No?”

“Hm. It feels like there’s less squish.”

“How are you even measuring a person’s body weight?”

“Hm, for now, please just get some sleep. I think I’ll have to tell them to prepare a very, very luxurious meal for you tomorrow.”

I just smiled at Hazel, who had gone all fiery with determination.

She finished checking over the bedroom, then came toward me saying she’d tidy my hair in whatever way suited her best when there came a knock, and Dad walked in.

“I’ll do it, so go on out.”

“Yes, my lord.”

At some point, Dad had already changed cleanly out of the clothes that had gotten ice cream on them.

Was he here to scold me?

I was only cautiously reading the room when Dad dropped heavily onto the sofa and tapped the seat beside him.

“Come here so I can burst your dumplings.”

“Yes, sir.”

I obediently went and sat beside him.

With that large hand of his, he whisked every pin out of my hair with absolute precision.

A touch that was both ticklish and careful.

“It really is cotton candy.”

“...Don’t eat it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Hurriedly, I pulled my long silver hair forward and clutched it beneath my chin.

I heard him snort.

“So, Ruby.”

His low voice drifted over from behind me.

“Yeah?”

“Tell me why you’ve been in such a bad mood today.”

“......”

The expression that had been floating vaguely on my face finally froze solid.

*****

Leviathan stared quietly at Rubian as she turned to sit facing him.

“I’m in a good mood, though...”

A hollow laugh slipped out of him.

“Your dad may not have a sharp eye, but he’s good at noticing things.”

They’d lived together for years already.

“Especially when it comes to his youngest daughter’s mood.”

“Ohoho...”

Rubian covered her mouth and laughed with a clumsy little gesture.

It was a very peculiar laugh, the sort where she half-turned her head and pressed the back of her hand to her lips.

She’s been reading again.

His gaze naturally drifted toward the bedside table.

There lay a book titled < The First Step to Becoming a Wonderful Adult >, so Leviathan was certain that laugh must have come from there.

He flicked his gaze wider and looked over Rubian’s bookshelf. Another incredulous laugh escaped him.

The lineup was largely the same as ever.

< 101 Ways to Start an Eighteen-Year-Old Life with No Regrets >, < Eighteen: Delivering a Sharp Rebuke to the World! >, < Become an Adult Who’s Easy to Talk To >, < Eighteen: Run Toward Wealth >, things of that sort...

“Pant, pant. Being an adult is really busy. You have to deliver a sharp rebuke to the world, be easy to talk to, and run toward wealth too...!”

“What exactly did you buy at the bookstore?”

The day Rubian had practically looted the bookstore—

right beside her, Liam, who had lent her a book cart, had been smiling with enormous satisfaction. Then the two of them had shut themselves up in the library for two nights and three days and done nothing but read.

Honestly, there’s nothing she doesn’t throw herself into.

Why was she trying this hard even to become an adult?

Or else...

Leviathan studied Rubian’s face more closely.

Is something making her anxious?

“You can’t have sweet-talked Boyd into drinking with you for no reason. Was it really just because of the coming-of-age ceremony?”

When Leviathan asked about earlier, Rubian pressed her lips tightly shut. He started to lift her into his arms to soothe her, then stopped.

To his eyes, she was still nothing but a tiny, adorable child. But she was seventeen now, in every official sense, so he had been trying to be a little more careful about picking her up first...

“...Delmon died.”

The words came out hesitantly.

Leviathan stopped hesitating and pulled Rubian into a tight embrace.

Not long ago.

Rubian had gone to a funeral for the first time.

Delmon had been one of the members of the Zebbert knights.

Years ago, he had taken the entrance test alongside Khalid, then remained in the knight order training as a low-ranking knight and building up his skill.

But not long ago, he had lost his life in a magical beast attack near the capital. It had happened when the beasts descended on some farmers returning home nearby, and he’d died tragically trying to save them.

At the time, Rubian had cried terribly. So much that no one had known what to do.

“I thought I was better, but sometimes it suddenly comes back to me.”

Rubian continued in a calm voice.

At times like this... Leviathan felt a strange emotion, as though he were looking at a child who had suddenly grown very tall.

“What comes back?”

“That he always used to say alcohol was sweet whenever he drank.”

“......”

“And I kept asking how alcohol could possibly be sweet... so he said once I was all grown up, I should try it myself and tell him whether it was true...”

Rubian sniffed. Judging by the way she bit hard into her lip, she seemed to be holding back tears.

Leviathan gently stroked her forehead. No matter how grown she seemed, to him she was still only his tiny, tender, pitiful daughter.

“Ruby, that was... something that couldn’t be helped. It was an accident.”

“I know...”

Rubian spoke in a muffled voice.

“I know that too.”

Her damp blue eyes turned toward him. A child who had experienced loss, ironically, had eyes a little steadier than before.

He’d wanted her to grow up knowing only joy and happiness.

Though he knew that was impossible, Leviathan swallowed a # Nоvеlight # low sigh. All he could do was stay by the side of a grieving child and watch over her.

After patting and soothing her for a while, Rubian seemed to feel a little better.

The proof was that her lips pushed out in a pout and she muttered, “I’m not a little kid, though...”

“Dad will tell you something that’ll make you feel better right away.”

“What is it...?”

“I got a letter just now. Rosetta will arrive the day after tomorrow. Father will get here the week after that.”

Sure enough.

Rubian sprang upright.

“Really? Mom and Grandpa? What time? What minute? What second?”

“Rose will get here early in the morning. Not sure about Father. So when Rosetta arrives, the two of you go out and refresh yourselves.”

Unless something serious came up, Rosetta spent the time from summer to late autumn caring for children at the newly established shelter in the south.

“That’s amazing.”

Rubian’s blue eyes sparkled brightly. Seeing that, Leviathan suddenly felt a chill of fear and hurried to add,

“No dyeing.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t just go dyeing things. Keep it normal.”

“Oh... how did you know?”

Rubian covered her mouth and let out another ohoho laugh. Leviathan rose to his feet, vowing that he would absolutely burn those books.

“Now that you feel better, get some sleep.”

“Okaaay.”

“Oh, right... There’s going to be a big banquet at the Imperial Palace soon. Before your coming-of-age ceremony.”

“A banquet? What kind?”

“A victory celebration.”

Rubian’s eyes went impossibly wide.

“Khalid’s coming back.”

“Ah...!”

Khalid was coming back.

Rubian clenched the hand that had been hanging limp at her side. A brief laugh slipped from Leviathan.

“For a brat, he pulled off quite a feat.”