Volume 6 Chapter 5 Part 8
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Translation and editing by Team Foxsunes
The medium is a kind boy, he would certainly be a wonderful partner for the princess ih he matures a bit mentally. Maybe, certainly, perhaps. It isn’t parroting Heinrich but I would do my best to make it come true. The youth Heinrich squinted quietly upon hearing my words. His mocking and pitying eyes aren’t to be honest pleasant at all. But I can’t fall back here, I glared back at him. He let out a deep sigh dramatically, it was as if it was telling me that I still didn’t understand things.
｢Even if the princess becomes all alone, she would stand up mightily using her abilities. She is fine with being alone at the top. If someone needs to support her then we the retainers will take that responsibility. She doesn’t need an emotional support, love is something that sounds absurd…..｣
｢H-Heinrich-sama!｣
｢Yes?｣
I shouted reflexively to stop him from finishing his sentence. He didn’t budge even after hearing me shout and tilted his head. That gesture of his was extremely irritating. I took a deep breath and looked up at his oddly coloured eyes.
｢The princess is someone who knows the joy and the sorrows of love. Even if she has lost love once, there is a possibility of her falling in love again. Not just once but I want her to fall in love multiple times. I would want her to fall in love like that especially since she has wonderful people supporting her starting with you.｣
That mouth of yours said that you will support the princess. So, isn’t it a job of a retainer to assist her love? It might not be possible but if the princess gets infatuated with love then you can make her come back to her senses and also support her love. If Heinrich truly wants to be someone who supports the princess then I think that that much of the work wouldn’t be an issue.
I wonder how the youth will answer the points I’ve made. He might mock me and say that I’m still being naive. But I have no intention of taking it back, I thought that and looked up at him. After a little pause, I was stunned. It was because Heinrich’s expressions were way different than what I had expected. He had abandoned the calm expression that he had now, his jaw had dropped and his eyes were wide open. It seemed like he was stunned from the bottom of his heart. It was as if he hadn’t expected to hear what he had heard. It was a dumb expression ruining his handsome face. I wonder what happened to him?
｢Heinrich-sama?｣
Can it be that my words had surprised him? Were my words so unexpected? No, no that can’t be. I don’t think I said anything weird. This youth must have predicted me saying something like this.
I tilted my head and kept staring at the youth, after a long silence his open lips trembled.
｢―Love?｣
｢Eh?｣
His words were faint like a sigh and it made my eardrums vibrate faintly.
｢You mean, that princess was in, love?｣
His voice was different from the Heinrich I knew. His voice was so stunned that it made me irritated. I glared at the youth who had completely forgotten to smile.
｢As I said before, the princess is also a young lady in her prime. Her status is different from others but it isn’t weird for her to have a hidden affair once or twice even if society doesn’t allow it.｣
Or is this youth saying that she isn’t allowed such a right. I kept staring into his eyes but it seemed like he wasn’t looking at me as his eyes flickered in confusion.
｢…..No, yes. Yes, you are right.｣
He repeated my words in order to understand it, ｢Love, love…..｣ He abruptly widened his eyes after repeating it for a couple of times and his hands grabbed my shoulders with vigor. I reflexively shivered, he looked into my face and his expression was desperate, more than I’ve ever witnessed.
｢Who is it that the princess fell in love with? Did she say that she wanted to live with him? Was she prepared to run away with…..｣
｢Eh, eh.｣
｢Tell me, Filmina-dono.｣
It was a barrage of questions and it seemed like he had abandoned his calm tone. This time I was the confused one.
｢Wait, I don’t know the person either. She said that it had ended so I don’t think that would be the case…..｣
｢―I see.｣
His grip loosened after he heard my answer and I was freed at last.
｢I’m sorry.｣
Heinrich looked relieved, looking at him, I’m not like the princess from before but I felt like messing around with him. I looked up at him and smiled.
｢But Heinrich-sama, as I stated before, love isn’t something that can happen only once. I think the princess will fall in love many times and keep becoming beautiful.｣
｢――!｣
The youth widened his eyes and silently turned his back on me. He walked towards the door like that, his steps were shaky and it made me hesitant to even call him back. I could do nothing but see him off.
***
No matter what the past is, I have decided to be strict to the medium. I made up my mind to be strict with him in today’s lesson. To tell the conclusion, the medium gave up due to my strict ways and looked away with tears in his eyes and that’s all.
It isn’t a funny situation at all. I knew that being too strict would just make him rebel so I was strict only a bit but I feel like I was made to realize how much I had spoiled this child. I seriously need to reflect upon my actions regarding that. Spoiling too much isn’t a good thing. Regardless of his mental age, he is twelve nevertheless. It is my fault for not interacting with him keeping that in my mind.
I looked at him wondering what to do while he munched on the cheese cookies that I took out to make his mood better. I had made them to have it with Edi for our tea time tonight but I guess it can’t be helped. I am being made to realize how difficult it is to use the carrot and the stick as we speak. Mother’s face came into my mind, who is an expert at that. She once said that I am too kind but now I know that she was subtly saying that I am too soft. Mother, you were right.
｢Snow-sama, please cheer up. Let us commence with the lesson when you are done eating that, ok?｣
｢No.｣
｢Snow-sama…..｣
I somehow held back from sighing after looking at the medium who kept eating the cookies while looking away. Ah, what should I do now?I sipped the herb tea to stay mentally stable and kept looking at the medium. It must have been a reproachful stare without me intending it to be, then glanced at it with his copper-red eyes and then lowered his gaze onto his knees.
｢It’s not like I want to.｣
｢Pardon?｣
｢It’s not like I want to go to the royal capital.｣
｢――What?｣
His tearful voice froze my train of thought. What did this boy just say? If it isn’t me hearing it wrong then did he say『It’s not like I want to go to the royal capital.』?
It seems like the medium who was looking at his knees didn’t realize that I had turned into a statue but I could see his clenched fists shivering on his knees and that was speaking volumes about what he had said was what he truly wanted.
｢Snow-sama, you don’t want to go to the royal capital?｣
It was something I was asking too late. I saw the medium’s shoulders trembling and I lost all my words this time. At, come to think about it. Come to think about it, I had been prioritizing the princess’ feelings all along and didn’t think even a bit about how this boy felt about marrying the princess and moving to the capital. The medium will rebel if a selfish person like me becomes strict suddenly. Especially if he doesn’t want to move to the capital.
｢I like this Azure Desert. Some might say that it is inhospitable but it doesn’t only have bad things. I like this land that has nurtured me and I like the people living on it. The reason I decided to move to the capital is that I wanted to repay the people who had taken care of me as the medium, there is no more reason to it.｣
I couldn’t find any word to throw at the medium who had finished saying what he wanted to say in a trembling voice. This boy who seemingly looked carefree was bearing something all along. Why didn’t I try to notice that? How self-centered can I be?
Edi told this boy about the responsibilities he needs to bear but isn’t he bearing it with his young body without realizing it? About his position as the medium, the gift of being the beloved child of the spirits. There was something similar between him and Edi who was called Pure Black from a young age who went to the academy himself at a young age. Yeah, that was the case with him, he thought about his powers again after I got burnt and he gave away his freedom and got enrolled in the academy to fulfill his responsibility. That man, to this day, is carrying the burden of his responsibilities. That mature princess has a thing or two to say about the marriage so there’s no way the young medium would be perfectly fine with it. The burden carried by people with power is far more than a commoner like I can imagine.
｢Snow-sama.｣
｢…..What is it? Are you going to scold me?｣
｢No, not at all. Please forgive my foolish existence, I said things selfishly, oblivious of what others were feeling.｣
｢You haven’t said anything weird though.｣
So why are you apologizing? His gaze was questioning me, I extended my hand towards the medium and rubbed his head. He was at first, wearing the turban properly when he was with me. I wonder when he took it off exposing his rare yet beautiful iridescent hair. Things I can do for the princess and the things I can do for this boy are really scarce. But, even so, ｢Please remember this. I want to be your and the princess’s ally.｣
I want them to know that despite them not being normal they are definitely not alone. The medium’s beautiful copper red eyes sparkled and he gave me a deep nod upon hearing my wish. That was a salvation for me.
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