Kays Translations

Chapter 141: A Brief Farewell

It seemed that Father and Mother staying in the Heine Margraviate this year was already settled. If custom required them to remain in mourning, there was no overturning that decision.

After missing the horse-racing season, they were going to miss the social season as well.

“Julius, there’s no need to look so disappointed. I’ve already arranged things. They said you may use the compounding room at the royal castle as freely as you like.”

Father raised one eyebrow and grinned. He probably thought he’d pulled off something wonderful for me.

Yay. I wasn’t actually all that happy about it.

Personally, I didn’t want to get too close to the royal family, yet the royal family kept coming closer to me instead. If our relationship became too close, I might eventually be made a member of the Royal Magic Pharmacists’ Corps.

If that happened, would I still be free to make whatever magic potions I wanted? And would I be free to spread those potions throughout the world? There were far too many uncertainties.

If I became the Heine Margraviate’s resident magic pharmacist instead, I’d have much more freedom in that regard. I was the lord’s son, after all. Within the territory, Father’s authority was at the very top. Power was power. At the royal castle, however, there would be any number of powerful people above me. Some of them would undoubtedly dislike seeing me rise too far.

But still…

“I understand.”

If Father had already arranged everything, I had no choice but to go. Refusing now might embarrass him after he’d gone to the trouble of securing permission for me to use the compounding room. Getting on Father’s bad side would be a terrible idea.

The real problem was Mira. There was no way I could simply take Mira to the royal capital with me. If a Holy Dragon appeared there, it would definitely cause an enormous uproar. The only reason Mira wasn’t drawing that much attention now was because they lived out here on the frontier.

Would Mira accept being left behind? That was my only real worry.

Preparations for the journey to the royal capital moved ahead steadily. Brother Cain was extremely busy preparing for the new term at the academy. Since he lived in a dormitory, he wouldn’t normally return to House Heine’s townhouse in the royal capital. The same was true of Brother Alex.

In other words, I’d be all alone at the townhouse.

That sounded lonely.

Maybe I really should take Mira with me.

“Kyu?”

“It looks like we’ll have to say goodbye for a while, Mira.”

“Kyu!? Kyuu!”

Mira clung to me as if determined not to let me escape.

All right, all right. This guilt was terrible.

Since there was nothing else I could do, I made a doll in my own likeness as a substitute for me. If I left it in my room, perhaps it would help whenever Mira felt lonely.

“Brother Julius, this doll is very well made, isn’t it?”

“I’m not making another one, all right? Rosalia, please look after Mira for me.”

“O-of course.”

Apparently, I’d hit the mark. Rosalia looked away from me, and her gaze landed on the doll modelled after me. I only hoped she wouldn’t do anything strange to that not-very-convincing little copy.

Preparations for the royal capital were finally complete, and the day of departure arrived. I obviously couldn’t take Giles and Christopher with me, so once I reached the capital I’d be on my own.

Well, Princess Chloe and Caro might be there.

That sounded troublesome in an entirely different way.

If I had a formally recognised prospective fiancée like Brother Alex did, I could meet the two of them openly without worrying. My position was vague enough that I had to stay on guard whenever I met either girl. It would be extremely bad if some strange rumour started about them because of me.

Ah. My stomach was starting to hurt.

Good thing I’d prepared a special stomach medicine for exactly this sort of situation.

I gave Mira a firm explanation one last time and entrusted them to Rosalia. Rosalia held Mira securely in her arms. Mira’s eyes looked as though they might fill with tears at any moment.

I felt like crying too.

How did things end up like this?

“Julius, you don’t need to worry about anything once you arrive. Alex will have everything properly arranged. Cain, make sure you take good care of Julius.”

“I know, Father.”

Brother Cain answered with a smile. He was in an excellent mood, probably because he was looking forward to returning to the academy.

Was academy life really that much fun? It didn’t look enjoyable to me at all, what with all the rules.

Our carriage departed. Lionel wasn’t accompanying us on this trip either.

To be honest, that made me uneasy.

Several days after leaving the Heine Margraviate, we stopped in a certain town and set aside an entire day for rest.

Even in the latest model of carriage, travelling put a considerable burden on a child’s body. Unless there was some urgent reason to hurry, it was normal to take a full rest day like this along the way.

“Julius, this town has hot springs. If I remember correctly, you’ve never been to one before, have you?”

“Hot springs? No, I haven’t. Is that why so many people stop to rest in this town?”

“That’s right. It’s normal to soak in the hot springs here, recover from the journey, and then continue on.”

I hadn’t expected there to be hot springs here at all. Every time I’d travelled to the royal capital before, it had been because of something urgent, so I’d never had a proper rest day on the way.

For future reference as well, I decided to make the most of this one.

Our carriage headed towards a brick inn that looked almost like an aristocrat’s country villa.

I never imagined I’d be staying at an inn this luxurious. You really never knew what life had in store for you.

“The inn we’re staying at is the most prestigious one in town,” Brother Cain explained. “Our family always uses it whenever we take a rest day here.”

“I see. I thought it looked unusually magnificent. Is the hot spring inside the inn?”

“No, the hot springs are somewhere else. They’re very close, though, so we can use them whenever we like. There are private bathing rooms you can rent.”

Apparently, the hot-spring district in this town was larger than I’d imagined.

It might be nice to take my time and relax in a hot spring for once. Maybe I should give this body a little reward after ten years of use.

Wait, I’m only ten.

Isn’t it a little early for this body to need maintenance?

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