“Big Sis! Wanna draw?”
“Elissa, remember last time? Your clothes got all covered in paint.”
“That was when I was little! I’m fine now!”
“…Hmph.”
It hasn’t even been three months since then. I mean, why say you were little back then… such a cute daughter.
Astrid’s occasionally adorable moments were nice, but I also loved seeing Elissa’s cuteness all the time.
Well, being my daughter might have something to do with that.
“You’re really cute. There aren’t many kids in the Imperial Palace, so I don’t get to see this.”
“Are there no little kids in the royal family?”
“Well… it’s related to politics, I guess. Kids like Sophia’s are mostly raised away from the system?”
“Oh ho….”
Royal children really are different.
Even ordinary nobles don’t raise their kids like that.
Actually, most of them start serious education from a young age.
After all, there are many children who will eventually become heirs.
“So, did the Crown Prince and Princess have that kind of upbringing too?”
“Well… that’s a different story. Especially for the eldest son and daughter, they start learning about politics from an early age, and as they grow, they sometimes do simple things a future Emperor would do.”
“Then again, the scale might be different, but their jobs are similar to noble kids.”
“Of course, the jobs are similar. The only difference is ruling a country versus managing a territory.”
“Ultimately, it’s all hard work.”
I used to think physical labor was the hardest thing. Manual labor, like… construction work, monster hunting, agriculture… all of that seemed tough.
I mean, I did those jobs!
As a kid, I helped my parents with farming, and as I grew up, I became an adventurer hunting monsters.
But now, my viewpoint has changed.
In the end… everything’s freaking hard!
Sitting in one place processing paperwork and having discussions is ridiculously tough.
Of course, these days, Kyle takes care of most of that, so it doesn’t involve me.
“But still… kids playing like that are the best.”
“That’s the truth.”
“Big Sis! Look! A house!!”
“That doesn’t look like a castle at all… Dad would probably think the same.”
“It totally looks like a castle?!”
Looking at something gray that she’d drawn makes me even more excited about what the kids will be like when they grow up.
Of course, that’s a long way off, but I can’t help but feel excited.
“Sophia, by the way, is there no plan for a third child?”
“Haha… not yet. Since Kyle is about to become the Duke. I can’t just start something new suddenly.”
“Well… that’s true.”
I’ve had a slight thought about wanting a third child lately.
No, more like I started thinking about it after having my daughters.
But given the timing, obviously, there were no plans.
It’s a bit awkward to just suddenly bring something up like in the past… a weird timing.
At least, the first pregnancy was when Adela’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony had just wrapped up.
“Whoa! Big Sis!”
“How’s that? I drew it well, didn’t I? It’s Dad!”
“It looks nothing like him.”
“Ugh….”
Well… once I become the Duke, I can bring it up…
I’m sure I’ll have a good talk with him.
*
“Louise.”
“What?”
“You… your face looks good these days?”
Even though the slave contract had ended, Louise was still staying in the castle.
Working as the castle’s mage earned her quite a bit of money, and she claimed she liked it because there was no work pressure.
Honestly, apart from occasionally presenting papers at the Mage Tower… she was living comfortably.
More comfortably than I was.
“…Well, I guess that could happen.”
“No, it’s more than that… your mouth corners are turning up a lot more.”
“…That could be true.”
“It’s not…!”
The Louise I knew wouldn’t act this way.
I mean, she was just a crazy girl.
Living comfortably in the castle made her easier to handle, but her personality wasn’t this mellow.
Compared to before, her personality had become almost normal.
While she wasn’t exactly gentle, she’d improved vastly.
If I’d said something like this in the past, I would have gotten some curses thrown at me, but she didn’t do that either.
“I wonder why…”
“What are you talking about.”
What on earth made Louise’s personality change like this?
I pondered, contemplating again.
Recent events involving Louise.
Aside from a brief visit to the Mage Tower a month ago… there hadn’t really been anything noteworthy.
So what happened at the Mage Tower?
Could it be…?
“Did you meet a guy?”
“…”
“Louise?”
“Eh?”
“….”
Her reaction was kinda odd.
Normally, she would’ve yelled, throwing a fit.
After all, she was just like me back then; she had no interest in men.
But today? Her reaction was something else entirely.
She wasn’t cursing or ignoring me… more like avoiding.
“…Is it true?”
“…”
“Say something! Should I bring the kids and ask them?!”
She kept avoiding my gaze without answering, driving me nuts!
Did I feel this frustrated before?
Honestly, I’d rather have her yell at me; it would have been easier than this level of frustration.
“Not really… it’s just that… this time at the Mage Tower, I submitted some research material and… I got close with a mage.”
“Hmm….”
“What are you looking at me like that for?!”
“Nothing.”
I just suddenly thought of the preferences Louise mentioned before.
It was shocking, and memorable for sure.
“Anyway, so yeah. We’ve been exchanging letters.”
“Heh….”
Now that’s interesting.
Really.
I’m a bit of a special case, but Louise is truly just an ordinary girl.
There’s nothing weird about her preferring guys.
But she being more indifferent to men is strangely fascinating.
“Really? If you’re getting this attached to the first person you met, they must be a decent person?”
“…Maybe.”
Whoa.
I almost gasped out loud.
Really.
Hearing that kind of shy rejection from Louise was shocking…it was absurd.
“Well, they’ve just studied magic longer and are older than me…”
“So, they must be incredibly skilled then?”
“Well… not really… it’s just that their enthusiasm toward magic is adorably unexpected….”
One thing for sure, listening to a friend’s dating stories is entertaining.
But the problem is, it’s fun at first, but it gets harder to follow as time moves on.
How did my friends handle this kind of situation back in the day?
“Wait, why am I even talking about this!!”
“Oops.”
Finally coming to my senses.
What a waste.
*
“Yawn….”
“Elissa, you gotta cover your mouth when you yawn….”
“I don’t knooow….”
Really… she’s so cute.
I’ve never thought about it before, but ever since I had kids, I’ve wished to have a camera around.
I want to save these moments and keep them as memories.
It’s been on my mind so much because I always regret not having it; there’s nothing like that in the magical tools.
“Mom, Elissa isn’t listening to me.”
“Well, that’s to be expected. We’re not just anyone; we’re family, right?”
“That’s true, but….”
“Elissa, you shouldn’t act like this when other people are around, okay?”
“Yesss~.”
Answering while yawning, Elissa.
She probably played hard today.
That’s why she looks so sleepy yawning like that.
Since it wasn’t even 8 o’clock yet, I thought she would be more energetic.
“Elissa, what did you do with your sister today?”
“Hmm… studying!”
“Studying?”
“I studied with the butler grandpa!”
“Oh, really?”
I already knew everything.
After all, I and Kyle managed the children’s schedules.
I might not know all the details, but I knew most of it.
“What did Astrid do today?”
“She studied… and played with Elissa. And the Princess played too.”
“Oh really…?”
I hadn’t thought the Princess would join in.
The reason I hadn’t seen her today was simply that she was busy playing with the kids.
Well, I was glad they were getting along well.
She was such a nice person, so I expected her to bond well with the kids.
“Sis.”
“Kyle, did you finish up?”
“Yep.”
“Dad!”
“Dad, good evening…”
While chatting with the kids on the bed, Kyle came into the room, already changed into his pajamas.
Though ‘pajamas’ were not the usual kind… they were matching couple shirts for the family.
Of course, Kyle wore blue on his own while we were in pink.
“Astrid, Elissa, did you play well with Mom?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Kyle, come lie down next to us.”
“Haha, got it.”
Anyway… Kyle lay next to us, and finally, we were properly gathered as a family.
Of course, we had gathered in the morning too.
“It’s nice sleeping with Dad after a long time, right?”
“Yup!”
“These days, Dad has been busy working, so we’ve always slept separately. It feels good to sleep together for a change.”
Lately… it was a bit regrettable, but the kids slept in their own rooms.
Sure, Elissa and Astrid would cuddle together in one bed until I came out after waiting for Kyle to finish work.
He might feel off if he came back to find the wife already asleep.
Besides, he wouldn’t be sleepy during the children’s bedtime.
“Sis kept complaining about how he hasn’t been able to sleep with Dad!”
“Elissa! It was supposed to be a secret…!”
“Oops!”
“Well, did it happen?”
“…Yeah.”
Although Astrid was a bit shy, she honestly acknowledged it.
Yeah, she probably wanted to spend more time with her bear-like dad, Kyle.
She was just a kid, and Kyle was her dad.
Of course, she wanted that time with him.
I spent a lot of time with the kids anyway.
“So, today you get to sleep with Dad, so that’s exciting, huh?”
“Yes…!”
“Ha ha….”
“Astrid, cover up with your blanket. If you don’t, mom will scold you again.”
“Oops…!”
“….”
No matter how I looked at it, it wasn’t exactly that serious…
I cared more about their health than the kids did, but I never pushed like that.
Well, after all, I could just take care of it when I needed to.
“Well… whatever.”
We were having a good time, so there was no need to say anything awkward.
“Astrid, Elissa. You have to sleep early today if you want to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Yes….”
“Yes!”
Kids… would obviously want to stay up late, but you can’t let children in their growth periods stay up late.
Now is the age where they’ll grow up significantly; if they don’t sleep early, they won’t grow tall like Kyle.
Even if they’re girls, being tall is advantageous.
It looks better proportioned, cool, and pretty.
“Ha ha….”
“Sis, in the morning….”
“Kyle, let’s talk about it after the kids fall asleep.”
“Okay….”
“Mom….”
While I gently patted the kids’ heads, I waited for them to fall asleep completely.
Talking to Kyle was also nice, but I didn’t want to wake the kids.
I wondered if Kyle agreed with my thoughts because he smiled and started gently rubbing Astrid’s head.
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