Chapter 61: The truth that Henry discovered

“How did Miss Carlotta meet and fall in love with His Majesty the King?”

“My mother told me that she had met him while working as a laundry girl. It’s a mystery to me, too, how two people of such different social statuses could have met and how I was born. It is not common for a prince to see or talk to a female servant, even within the castle. I traced it back to the land owner.”

　Mr. Henry changed the direction his horse was going. We arrived at a wide wheat field. The wheat had grown to about 10 cm in length, and the field was tinged green as far as the eye could see. He dismounted his horse in the wheat field just before dusk and sat down on the path.

“When I asked my adoptive father to ‘adopt a child from among his relatives,’ he said that he had already thought of it and that I had land in addition to my real estate, so I didn’t need to worry about my livelihood. I didn’t know that such land existed, so I looked into where it was and from whom I got it.”

“Without asking the Viscount?”

“If I asked him, It would only trouble him. As a result of my investigation, I couldn’t find any such territory in the Viscount Howler family. But I didn’t think that my honest adoptive father would lie, so I checked the records of all the fiefdoms in the castle, focusing on the time of my birth. On the condition that the fiefdom was worth enough to justify accepting a half-breed as an adopted son.”

　I think you, Henry,  would have been successful even if he had been born in that world.

“Among them, there was one territory that was in the name of my adoptive mother. It was far from the royal capital and was supposedly inherited by my  adoptive mother from a nobleman who had no connection to her at all. This happened around the time I was conceived in my mother. The original owner, the nobleman, and both the head of the family and his successor died of an epidemic at around the same time. That nobleman, in turn, had also acquired it from another nobleman.”

“Hmm? Who was the original owner?”

“The first owner who was related to the royal family was a noblewoman who was close to the previous King. She was rumoured to have been the previous King’s lover. After the woman’s death, the territory once belonged to the Third Prince, and when he was promoted to Crown Prince, the ownership was gradually changed and it ended up in the name of my adoptive mother.”

　I wonder if that alone is enough to say that His Majesty the King is the father. As I tilted my head, Mr. Henry explained it to me in an easy-to-understand manner.

“The third prince had a child with the laundry maid, so he insisted on becoming a commoner, or he would have been exiled away to a fief in the countryside. Such a thing was possible because there were two princes above him. But  the two older princes died at almost the same time.”

“Ah …… I see.”

　The third prince, who was to be kicked out of the royal family, suddenly found himself shouldering the responsibility of the country.

“You won’t find any documentary evidence linking me to His Majesty unless someone more enthusiastic than I am appears. I have moved all the documents relating to that territory to another location.”

“Isn’t concealing official documents quite a crime?”

　Mr. Henry shakes his head.

“It’s not hidden because I didn’t take it out of the document storage room. If they find out I moved them, i can just say that I accidentally put it back in the wrong place. It’s on a hard-to-find shelf, so it’s probably been there for about a hundred years or so. Besides, if they try to punish me, it would mean meddling in the land of the former king’s mistress. No one would do something like that, something that would benefit no one.”

　I’m sure you’re right. ……**He’s so thorough*I’m sure you’re right.

“If it were known that the current Majesty had a son, when he was in his teens, and that he was a half-beastman, …… loyalists of various persuasions would try to get rid of me and my mother. They would reject the idea of beastman blood being passed down in the royal family, and they would reject the idea of the next king being siblings with a half-beastman. His Majesty and my mother decided that it would be safer to leave me with the Howlers.”

　I heard the sound of a bell ringing in the distance, signaling five o’clock in the evening. The wind suddenly became cold. Henry-san took off his coat and draped it over me.

 “My mother said she was leaving the country because she wanted to live with her people, but maybe she wanted to erase the line connecting me and His Majesty. Even so, both His Majesty and my mother were in their teens at the time. Seventeen to be exact. I was born as a result of a love affair between these two young people, but they tried desperately to protect me. And of course, my adoptive parents did the same.”

　Henry’s voice is calm. The way he speaks as if it’s nothing at all makes it all the more heartbreaking.

“Why are you crying, Mai?”

“The feelings of the four parents who tried to protect you Is admirable…”

“That’s… thank you. I’m not sad anymore about my upbringing, as far as I’m concerned. When I found out the truth,  I felt like I was touched by the love of my real parents, and it was very healing.”

“I had decided to live alone in this world, but I was so very lucky to met you, Henry. I’m glad that you were born and that you’re alive and well.”

　The sun was setting and it quickly became dark.

“Hey Mai, I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a long time, but I’ve been too Scared to ask. I want to ask it now so that I can clear my mind.”

“What is it?”

　Henry gazed at the waning wheat field as the sun went down, and was reluctant to speak. It was a long time before he finally spoke.

“Mai-san, do you want to go back to your world?”

Was that it? I have a lot of nostalgic feelings. But I have no intention of going back.”

“Why not?”

“The first reason is that I can’t leave you behind. The second reason is that I can’t find any magic that will allow me to travel between worlds among the spells that my Grandmother gave me. The third reason is that the magic is too dangerous for me.”

　

　I answered, counting my fingers. I was able to answer so easily because  I’ve thought about it a lot.

“Even if I could find a way to return there, I’m still a novice wizard with eggshells stuck to my rear. I’m not naïve enough to think I could pull off a difficult spell in my current state.”

“That’s all?”

“Even though I’ve managed to survive, if the spell fails I might die, you know. What’s even more frightening is that I might be transported to another world again. I don’t want that to happen. I would much rather stay here, living happily with you. I’m sure even Grandma would tell me to do that.”*Lit. Translation: laughing with Henry-san

　Mr. Henry stood up silently. (Is he leaving?) I thought, but then he sat down behind me. He put me between his long legs and wrapped his arms around me from behind. His body temperature was high, so I felt warm.

“When I first came to this world, I consciously lived with a smile on my face. But in the back of my mind, there were times when I despaired at the way my life continued to be taken away from me. I was separated from my parents and told that my life would end at twenty-five. In order to survive, I had to leave both my grandmother and my beloved cat. I wondered why it was it just me. But now it’s different. I have you. I’m going to live in this world with a smile.”

　Henry muttered softly.

“I don’t want anyone to steal such a wonderful Mai-san from me.”*

“No one’s  gonna steal me.”

　From there, the two of us watched the wheat field in silence. The dimly lit wheat field soon blended into the night and disappeared from view.

“Mr. Henry, let’s go home.”

“Yes, let’s go home.”

　As I stood up, Henry came up close to my face. He gently placed his lips on mine and then he quickly moved away. Henry got on his horse as if nothing had happened and remained silent.

　I was laughing as I remembered standing on Iris’ back (I wonder if she was embarrassed. If so, how cute), when someone warned me from behind, “

　I wondered if he was shy as we rode on Iris’s back. ( If so, how cute!), I was laughing as I recalled it, when I was warned from behind that “You’re laughing too much.”

　When we arrived at the restaurant, I invited him to dinner. I made arrabbiata with ingredients I had on hand, and we ate it together.

“Mr. Henry, I’m going to hone my magical skills. I want to be proud of my magical skills, just like Rosie is. I don’t know when my life will end, and I want to live doing what I want to do. I don’t mean to shout it out to the world that I’m a Wizard , but I want to stop trying so hard to hide it. I want to be useful to someone as a person in this world.”

　Mr. Henry paused for a moment and then let out a gentle voice.

“I want you to smile, Mai. Do what you want to do and keep being happy. But still, …… even though you’re the same age as me, Mai-san, you always live with such determination.”

“I will probably never forget the regret I felt when death was right in front of me. I’m sorry I’m not the type of person who can keep quiet and withdraw.”

“I have been aware of Mai-san’s character for some time, so there is no need to apologize. If you keep holding it in for a long time, you’ll burst one day. That’s far more frightening to me.”

　The two of us had coffee after dinner.

“I will never forget this day, when I gazed at the wheat fields until day turned to night.”

“Me too.”

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