I shot upright.
“Oh, crap.”
What the hell was that?
I hurriedly kicked off the blanket, ran to the window, and swept the curtains open.
The dimly brightening sun, birds chirping peacefully, and the shouts of the senior knights who seemed to have been training since long before dawn.
It was the usual morning scenery of the Zebbert ducal estate.
“What kind of dream...”
My body sank heavily to the floor.
What kind of dream was that vividly awful?
What on earth was that?
My fingertips had gone cold.
It really seemed like a dream about the original story, didn’t it?
So... from the seventh’s point of view after killing Leviathan Zebbert?
And the rude bastard who appeared at the very end.
That was obviously Khalid’s voice, no matter who heard it.
Was it because I received Khalid’s magic before sleeping? Why would I suddenly have a dream like that...
Could that dream be the content of Part Two of < The Sword Planted Upon Ruins >?
In my previous life, I died after reading only the first chapter of Part Two, so I did not know exactly what came after.
But why was it from the seventh’s point of view, of all people?
Could an original story I had not even read come to mind like this?
...Was it just a stupid nightmare?
I could not tell at all. While rubbing my dry face, my gaze suddenly fell to the back of my hand.
The mark of the Magic Kingdom that had grown long in the dream.
Because I suddenly felt uneasy, I quickly went to the mirror and checked the mark on my lower back once more.
The size and shape were unchanged.
I swallowed hard.
As expected, once I get through today’s coming-of-age ceremony, I should go to the memorial garden in Zelox.
The final clue had to be there.
My guess had become certainty.
In the dream.
The place where Leviathan had died was the memorial garden.
The formula Khalid had brought back was incomplete somehow, so no matter how much I thought about it, that had to be the only answer.
In any case.
“Ugh, that feels disgusting! On a day like today!”
It was my birthday!
I remembered the seventh’s smashed piece of cake from the dream. The seventh in the original story had never eaten cake even once.
For some reason, a strange defiance rose in me.
I’m going to devour it.
Two tiers, three tiers, whatever it is, I’m going to destroy it all!
With that vow, I smacked both my cheeks.
Then I composed my expression, picked up my outer garment and put it on, and took two deep breaths.
The truth was, there had been bustling signs of people outside my door for a while now. It was something I had to go through every birthday morning.
I calmly opened the door. Then—
Pop, pop!
As though they had been waiting, celebratory crackers burst open.
“Rubian! Happy birthday!”
My family’s brightly smiling faces!
I forced myself to erase the dark, gloomy image of the Zebbert ducal castle I had seen in the dream.
Likewise, the face of the seventh, who had looked as though she might die at any moment.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you blowing it out?”
Dad spoke casually while holding a mini cake. For a moment, I froze as I remembered the black blood that had soaked his hands so gruesomely, but of course I erased that from my head too.
“It’s your favorite strawberry cream.”
Once I shook off every last bit of the filthy nightmare, a smile finally bloomed across my whole face.
“Ahem. Family, everyone.”
I cleared my throat and lifted my chin.
As an eighteen-year-old adult who had now come of age, I knew I ought to respond with elegance and dignity, but...
This was my family, so who cared!
“Ehehe, thank you!”
I just bounced up and down and rejoiced!
*****
As always, birthday mornings were noisy.
I blew out the cake, hugged Mom and Dad in one lump, soothed my sentimental Grandpa after he dabbed at tears over my growth, and then had to be loaded onto Liam’s flower-decorated cart for a mansion parade with my older brothers... Hm. Starting next year, I really had to put an end to the parade.
At any rate, after I finished my meal thoroughly as well, I began getting ready for the afternoon banquet.
“My lady, this.”
Hazel handed me something as I sat in front of the mirror.
It was a small potion bottle.
“Someone came from the Imperial Palace this morning. I think they were from... Casalia?”
Sebelena sent it.
The fact that she sent this meant everything had gone well.
I shook the potion bottle once. Brilliant opal-colored sparkles swirled like a vortex.
“So this is the real one.”
The blood-relationship-determining potion.
“Are you going to use it right away? On that mage.”
Hazel, who immediately recognized what the potion was, asked in a low voice, then suddenly looked depressed.
“But if he really is your birth father... what then? That makes it even worse. He came all this way to hand his own daughter over to the Mage King...”
Hazel stopped there and bit her lip again.
“Nothing we can do about it.”
I grinned.
“I’ll just think, ‘Guess I had no luck with parents,’ and move on.”
After saying that, I tilted my head.
Or not?
Since I met Dad and Mom here, maybe I did have some luck with parents after all?
Hazel pulled me into a tight hug, then began combing my hair with renewed determination.
“Then when are you going to use the potion?”
“After today’s party, for now. He’s locked up properly anyway, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He requested permission to go out this morning, so we shut his mouth with a three-hour breakfast. He’s probably still eating right now.”
Whoa.
That was truly shutting his mouth.
“He’ll probably ask to go out again this evening, claiming he wants to attend your party...”
Hazel’s lips curled up thinly.
“So this afternoon, I’m going to treat him to a luxuuurious northern-style spa massage. Enough to make his mind go blank.”
Crack. The muscular maid’s hand bulged with veins.
“J-just keep him alive. And his joints attached.”
“Yeees. It’s fine if I separate them for a little while and put them back together, right?”
Would that be fine?
Since the mage thinks he sent the letter anyway, he won’t get too impatient. He’ll assume the King of Casalia will follow the instructions.
Without knowing that His Majesty the Emperor must have caught everything by now.
Anyway.
I looked back into the mirror.
“Today, please make me look like an elegant noblewoman.”
Since the birthday party came first regardless, I decided to focus on the matter at hand.
Hazel began unleashing all kinds of skills, twisting, turning, braiding, tying, and letting my hair fall this way and that. At the same time, she chattered about the dress I would wear today.
They said other noble young ladies usually had one or two maids attending them, but Hazel, a hybrid talent capable of multitasking, was enough for me.
It’s not like I’ve had many occasions to go to parties until now either.
Today was both my coming-of-age ceremony and my debutante ball.
Now that I thought about it, fear suddenly struck me.
“What if I step on Dad’s foot while dancing?”
I had a record. At the Academy presentation...
I had bought Dad thick shoes just in case, but still.
“Oh, come on, you practiced hard. Surely you won’t?”
“Hazel. Don’t underestimate someone with two left feet.”
No matter how many times I memorized the set movements, I was perfectly capable of turning stiff at any moment.
Following the rhythm? It wasn’t a carriage, so how was I supposed to ride a rhythm?
Let’s just not embarrass myself.
I mentally went over the dance steps one more time.
“All right, your hair is mostly ready to be finished... Shall we have you put on your dress and do the final touches? Girls!”
Bang. As though they had been waiting, the maids appeared with their eyes gleaming.
“Hehehehe. We’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Why are you cracking your neck when you came to help me get ready?
Huh? Why are you suddenly loosening up your arm muscles?
Crack, crack.
Huh? That does not sound like something I should be hearing?
“...”
Question!
Do maids in other houses also come to help their lady get dressed like they’re about to bury someone?
*****
Licht was standing in front of the mirror.
“...My face...”
Why did he look so ugly today?
He, very rarely, frowned and stared hard into the mirror.
“Oh, Your Highness. Did something get in your eye? Why are you suddenly looking in the mirror?”
A maid who had come in to clean asked. She had served him since he was young, so for Licht, she was relatively comfortable to be around.
“Emma. Can you tell me objectively?”
“Yes, of course. What is it?”
“I’m getting uglier and uglier, aren’t I?”
“...”
Emma froze for a moment.
“...Pardon?”
“I feel like it’s worse today.”
What in the world was this prince saying, with a face like the incarnation of an angel who had only fallen to earth by mistake because he lacked wings?
“Is it because of my hairstyle...?”
Licht muttered, fiddling with his fluffy blond hair. Emma nearly burst out laughing.
Goodness, even our blade-sharp prince is helpless when it comes to liking someone.
To think he would care about his appearance.
“You are still dazzlingly, beaauuutifully, perfectly handsome, so don’t worry!”
“I don’t know.”
Licht smiled faintly in the mirror. It was a smile that seemed to scatter bright light everywhere like a blessing, though he himself did not seem to know it.
“It would be a problem if I’m only beautiful to Emma.”
Emma swallowed her laughter once more.
