“You two don’t seem too worried about what’s going to happen in the future.”
If it had been some other noble instead of Leo, they would have turned pale like Leo did and fainted.
No matter how weak human rights awareness was and how strong the imperial power was in this era, there is still a line. The original game was fundamentally a family-friendly game; it probably wouldn’t have had a commercial adult-oriented setting operating human farms. Still, having a child with the royal family that one might have brought down would be a huge political issue.
Maybe that’s the reason the Emperor didn’t directly tell his children about it. He revealed the truth to me as if it were obvious, but that’s because he was confident I wouldn’t disclose the truth to the other children.
Setting aside the moral problems regarding the Emperor himself, if other nobles wanted to form factions around the ‘children’ who have the imperial blood—
—Hmm. Upon further thought, that probably won’t happen.
Bella, Damien, Lucas, and Jayden all have their unique personalities, so it’s hard to say for sure, but they likely aren’t considering “I want to be Emperor!” Instead, they might be more inclined to enjoy their current free life.
The one with the most ambition among them is definitely Jayden… But Jayden lived the most uneventful life among the Emperor’s children. Though he certainly had a rougher life than typical noble kids, compared to the other three—especially Bella—he wasn’t enduring as much hardship.
It was probably because of that personality that he could take the lead among the kids. If word got out about the alliance of kids and nobles, it would actually indicate suspicion towards the Emperor. It would mean the nobles were planning to deal with all of them at once.
While I was momentarily lost in thought, Leo’s expression had somewhat returned to normal. Though he still looked like he could break out in a sweat any second, he wasn’t as pale as when we first met—now he was at least capable of speaking.
“Uh, well…”
Leo contemplated for a moment before speaking.
“I was thinking that maybe it’s as Claire said…”
“…If it’s not an official setting, you don’t need to use honorifics.”
“R-Really?”
He still seemed a bit confused about his position. But even without Leo, it appeared other kids in the academy felt similarly. If they had consistently used honorifics from the beginning, they could continue to do so when they met again later; however, Leo didn’t have that kind of personality.
“So what does it mean when you say ‘as Claire said’?”
Alice, listening to the conversation, asked, looking frustrated.
“It means that no matter which family Claire’s true bloodline comes from, she’s still my sister.”
Having resolved to drop the formalities, it seemed Leo decided to say that, and Claire shot him a glare. But this time, she didn’t raise any particular objections.
“Our parents raised Claire without treating me differently. Of course, they distinguished between whether it was a son or a daughter, but Claire’s bloodline wasn’t part of that distinction.”
It was obvious that Baron Grace and his wife would have acted that way. In the original story, there was no character who was Leo’s sister, but even if such a setting didn’t exist in the original, considering their straightforward character, they must have done so.
“Even if it’s said that Claire has the blood of commoners instead of royal blood, Claire is still Claire. So no matter who her true father is, it wouldn’t mean much to question that now. Especially if Claire herself thinks that way.”
“Leo…”
Claire wore a genuinely rare expression of being moved by Leo’s words. And that expression was strikingly similar to one Claire had shown Leo just once in the original.
Of course, this expression was far more vivid. While every major character had their own models, the facial expression presets in that game felt somewhat recycled; however, Claire’s expression here was much more animated.
That goes without saying. Unlike the devices and settings that blatantly reveal that this is a game, the characters here truly exist in reality. They were, quite literally, ‘alive.’
“But still, the fact that I’m your older brother doesn’t change.”
“No, now that you can even find out when you were born, isn’t it about time we figure this out?”
“I told you, I’m not a Fanggriffon; I’m a Grace.”
“…If you put it that way, you’re the one who came into Grace’s family later. Aren’t you my brother then?”
But right after such an emotional scene, seeing them bickering again, it seemed siblings really are siblings. I had never had a younger sister or an older brother, so I had no real experience of it.
And this ability to create such an atmosphere was Leo’s forte. A talent he probably didn’t even know he had, one that others couldn’t easily imitate.
In the original, Leo didn’t have much chance to get entangled with other characters. The story followed a strict boys meet girls harem format, and as a son of a lowly noble, Leo merely existed within his role in the academy. He gradually got pulled into various situations with all the characters in the academy.
He met Alice, became rivals with Claire, developed connections with Charlotte and Mia, and even got involved with the teachers, embroiled in all sorts of incidents.
Despite having no political advantages, Leo, by simply treating those around him comfortably and supporting them from behind, became the ‘center’ of the story, a character I quite liked.
I envied him.
Even if Claire… Even if she escaped such a grim past because of me, would she have grown up this brightly if she had gone to a different clan, not the Grace family?
“……”
“Uh, um, Sylvia?”
Since I was quietly observing the two without saying anything, Claire and Leo had stopped arguing and were now glancing at me.
Well, we were having a somewhat serious conversation, and then suddenly jumped into a petty debate, so it made sense they would notice me.
There really was no need to do so.
It was still early. It wasn’t like we were departing today; we had plenty of time left. It wouldn’t hurt to relax a little.
Because soon enough, we wouldn’t have the chance to do that.
However, once the mood was broken, it’s hard to regain it.
Feeling a slight regret in my heart, I pushed the goblet I had on the table toward Claire.
Even in broad daylight, the blue glow was vivid. The light still gleamed brighter towards Claire.
At this point, even if someone didn’t know exactly what that goblet was, they could guess what it ‘meant.’
It meant that the blood on Claire’s side was closer to royal blood.
I noticed Alice slightly biting her lip, but I intentionally pretended not to see it.
“The reason I called you all here is because of this.”
As I began to speak formally, all three of them fell silent.
“The Emperor gathered the capable ones among his scattered seeds to form a group called ‘the Emperor’s children.’ Of course, that name itself was merely assigned by others to refer to people like Alice and me.”
“…But there have been such groups in previous generations, right? Did their blood mix like this back then?”
“We can’t know that.”
Since those from previous generations had died decades ago.
“However, it is clear that this generation’s existence has mixed blood. Among the Emperor’s children, all except ‘me’ have the Emperor’s blood in them.”
I could almost see a question mark pop up above Leo’s head. Only then did Leo’s eyes widen as he looked back and forth between me and the goblet.
No light beam from the goblet was directed toward me at all.
“So, that means…?”
“That’s right.”
I addressed Leo, who was starting to turn pale again.
“It means the Emperor was mistaking me for Claire. Due to a series of coincidences from our childhood event, the places where Claire and I should have been have switched.”
“……”
Already having an inkling of the situation, Alice closed her eyes tightly.
Claire was covering her mouth with her hand, and Leo looked at me, somewhat dumbfounded, as if he were worried about his jaw dropping.
Yeah, the situation really is a mess, isn’t it?
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