TGBAP 51

“Ah, this is nice~”

Having filled his belly and grown drowsy, Dio lay sprawled on the grass, basking in the sunlight.

“Aren’t you going home?”

“Is that something you say to a friend you’re seeing after a long time?”

“What do you mean ‘a long time’? It hasn’t even been a week.”

“Ah, seriously. What’s with you lately? Did puberty hit you hard? Keep that up and Ria will end up hating you, you know?”

“Why is Ria’s name coming up out of nowhere!”

“Why else? The old little mutt is gone and all that’s left is a vicious dog.”

“……Could you not compare a person to a dog?”

“Anyway. Let’s just rest a bit more before I go. Or should I sleep over tonight?”

When Lucian, who normally would have answered “Do whatever,” showed a hesitant expression, Dio’s eyes sharpened.

“You really do have something, don’t you? Hurry and tell me! What the hell are you hiding?!”

“What’s wrong with you. It’s nothing, so stop making a fuss.”

“Still not going to talk?”

Dio curled his fingers like claws and started tickling Lucian’s side. Lucian twitched, then burst into laughter.

Ria, in the middle of hanging laundry, looked at the two boys rolling around on the grass.

[Good times.]

Lucian’s worries had more or less been resolved, and he’d ended up forming ties with his real older brother too, so things were going smoothly.

It had been a while since she’d seen Lucian laugh like that, without a care, and it looked good on him.

[I wish every day were like today…….]

Rustle-

“I’m here!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Leopold appeared from the bushes beyond the fence, a leaf stuck to his head.

Ria, startled out of her wits, stared blankly at him—and the same went for the two boys who’d been having fun on their own.

In that instant, she realized.

[Eyes! Cover his eyes!]

Even if Leopold disguised himself, the traits of the imperial family stood out. Unlike Lucian, who hid his hair and eye color with a magical item.

Worse still, he’d always come dressed as an attendant, but for some reason today he’d come in different clothes. At a glance it was high-class, practically advertising, “I’m a noble.”

“……Huh? Lucian, who’s that next to you?”

Leopold tilted his head, looking at Dio beside Lucian.

Lucian had already covered Dio’s eyes.

“M-my friend…….”

Lucian’s eyes spun in circles. He begged Ria for help with his gaze.

‘No, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do either!’

“Let go, you punk!”

Squirming, Dio finally broke free of Lucian’s grip. Then Dio and Leopold’s eyes met directly.

Leopold was looking at Dio with a slightly pouty expression, and Dio, seeing Leopold who looked exactly like Lucian, dropped his jaw.

Then Dio’s finger pointed back and forth between Lucian and Leopold.

“S-same face…… huh? But white hair and golden eyes…… hic! I-im, imperial……?”

Hic-

So shocked that he hiccupped.

“Th-this isn’t a dream, right? If it’s an imperial family member around our age, then it’s the Crown Prince…… guh.”

[Dio! You can’t faint!]

Dio, so startled he toppled backward, and Ria hurriedly caught him. Lucian left Dio with her and approached Leopold.

“Haah, shouldn’t you at least disguise yourself when you come?”

“I did disguise myself.”

“You didn’t cover the important part—your eyes! And your hair too! That white hair stands out no matter what, so you should’ve at least worn a wig.”

“You’re going to nag someone you’re seeing after three days? Harry’s nagging is more than enough.”

“Who’s Harry.”

“Hmph, he exists, my friend. And I came thinking it was just you here. I don’t even come through the village, so why go through the trouble of wearing a wig?”

He had a point, so she couldn’t refute him. But still—was it really fine for the Crown Prince to be that sloppy?

“Then why did you come only now?”

“Huh?”

“……You came every day, so why is it three days this time?”

Leopold blinked, then his face lit up. He wiggled his eyebrows and lightly bumped Lucian.

“You missed me, huh?”

“W-who said I missed you……!”

“After I went back to the imperial palace, I got a fever, so I couldn’t leave my room for a whole day. They told me they’d scold me if I wandered around again.”

[And you escaped again in less than three days?]

“Of course, that’s not something I’m going to listen to!”

At his sheer confidence, Ria and Lucian had nothing to say. Then Dio came to his senses and warily glanced at Leopold.

Noticing his gaze, Leopold strode right up.

“C-Crown Prince…….”

“Yeah, I’m the Crown Prince. You’re Lucian’s friend?”

Still confused, Dio looked back and forth between Leopold and Lucian. No matter how he looked, the two were frighteningly alike.

“Am I dreaming right now?”

“Isn’t it amazing? I don’t even know how shocked I was the first time I saw Lucian!”

He’d been scared stiff at the fact Leopold was imperial, but when Leopold treated him warmly like a neighborhood friend, Dio gradually lowered his guard.

“But how did Your Highness find out about this place?”

“I heard rumors about a ghost mansion, so I got curious and came to see. Then I found Lucian who looks exactly like me. And just call me Leopold. If you’re Lucian’s friend, you’re basically my friend too.”

Dio found it newly fascinating. Except for hair and eye color, they looked exactly the same, but their personalities were completely different.

Of course, Lucian had gotten pricklier than before, but Leopold seemed nothing but innocent and pure.

As the two started talking naturally, Lucian was dumbfounded.

“No matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem like an imperial. Are all Crown Princes like that?”

[No way. Leopold is the odd one. And strictly speaking, you’re imperial too, Lucian.]

“……I’ve been abandoned. I’m different from him.”

She wondered if she’d said something unnecessary, but Lucian was fine. Soon he went over to the two of them.

The three talked cheerfully, like close friends of ten years, as if nothing had happened.

Especially Dio and Leopold became close at lightning speed, and before long they had their arms slung over each other’s shoulders.

[Maybe because they’re kids, they become close fast.]

Come to think of it, Dio and Leopold had similar sides.

Both simple, mischievous, friendly. And since Dio had nothing to do with the world of nobles and imperials, he seemed able to treat him even more casually.

If anything, it looked like Dio and Leopold had known each other from the start.

“Oh, you learned swordsmanship. I heard there aren’t many commoners who can use a sword.”

“My dad runs a weapons shop. So I learned some from mercenary uncles who come by a lot, and I spar with Lucian sometimes.”

“Huh? Lucian can use a sword too?”

“He’s insanely good. We used to be pretty even, but now it’s hard to beat him.”

“Ohh, is that so?”

“Since you’re imperial, you must be good with a sword too, right?”

“I told you to call me Leopold. A sword…… I learned since I was little, but I don’t have any talent. It’s enough if I can take care of myself, right?”

“We were just about to spar—want to join too, Leopold?”

“I’d love to!”

“I won’t go easy on you, so be ready!”

“Just what I wanted!”

Seeing how well the two bantered back and forth, Lucian frowned without realizing it.

“When did those two get so close?”

[Isn’t it good if they get along?]

“……It pisses me off.”

Whether it was that seeing them get along somehow irritated him, or that it felt like his friend, or his brother, was being taken away, Lucian was jealous of both of them.

They looked like kids his age, and without realizing it, a laugh escaped her.

“Why are you laughing.”

[Just because. Because you’re cute.]

Lucian flushed and snapped his head away.

[Oh my, are you embarrassed right now?]

“E-embarrassed? Who’s embarrassed! I’m not, okay?”

No matter what he said, with a face red as a carrot, it wasn’t convincing.

She wanted to tease him more, but the two boys who’d been chattering noisily were now looking this way.

It was a familiar sight to Dio, but it would look strange to Leopold.

Sure enough, she could see Dio whispering something about ghosts and whatnot into Leopold’s ear.

[Lucian, be honest. You were going to use me as an excuse and chase Leopold out, weren’t you?]

“It’s obvious he’ll keep coming, so you can’t pretend you’re not here every time. And it’s not like I can’t see him—he just can’t see me.”

It was a boldly shameless remark with not a shred of consideration. No matter how she thought about it, it felt like he’d been aiming for a double kill.

[Well, spilled water can’t be gathered back.]

Lucian would handle it on his own. Whether he persuaded Leopold or failed, it wasn’t something she needed to interfere with.

[Still, don’t tease him too much. At this rate, His Highness might run away.]

Lucian said he’d handle it and went over to Leopold and Dio.

Having already heard something from Dio, Leopold turned pale and looked around in alarm.

It seemed it would take time for Leopold to get used to this place.

* * *

-So you ended up getting close to the Crown Prince?

[Well, yeah. Now they really get along like real brothers.]

A leisurely afternoon. Ria, receiving a message from Kaiser for the first time in a while, told him what had happened in the meantime.

By now, about a month had passed since Lucian and Leopold started coming and going.

A lot of little things had happened.

Leopold had once acted cocky, saying he wasn’t afraid of ghosts, then fainted after seeing Ria cooking. He’d made a huge fuss after seeing Lucian’s childhood drawings, saying he looked exactly the same even when he was little. He’d suddenly brought a boy named Harry and caused an uproar too.

[Isn’t all of that Leopold’s doing?]

-Leoopooold?

[……What’s with that sarcastic tone?]

-Then should I speak nicely? You’ve only met that Crown Prince how many times, and you’re making such a fuss calling him by name! Did you forget? That brat is the family that abandoned Lucian!

Ah, was that why?

She could understand Kaiser’s hostility toward Leopold to a degree.

Because she herself had been like that when she first faced him.

[Leopold isn’t like that.]

-There you go again!

[Calm down and listen to me first, you punk!]

Kaiser flinched and grumbled.

He’d been a holy dragon for two years now and still hadn’t grown up, seriously.

[Leopold doesn’t know that Lucian is his little brother.]

-Huh? Why wouldn’t he know that?

[Everyone around him kept their mouths tightly shut. So he doesn’t know he has a twin younger brother, and he doesn’t know that that brother is Lucian, who he’s been hanging out with like a friend.]

-……Those damned imperial bastards!

Only now understanding the situation, Kaiser turned his arrows not on Leopold, but on the imperial family.

After rampaging for a while, he swallowed his anger and spoke.

-Does Lucian know that fact?

[How could he not. Leopold keeps saying he’s a doppelgänger to Lucian’s face.]

-…….

[At first, I also wondered if it was okay for Lucian to be close to Leopold, but I think it isn’t my place to intervene. Leopold is Lucian’s real family. There might be feelings that can only be fulfilled by real family.]

-……Did you say that to Lucian?

Ria shook her head. A sigh burst out of the crystal ball.

-Just in case, don’t say that to Lucian.

[Why?]

-Why else? Because he’ll feel hurt, that’s why.

‘Hurt? Lucian? If anyone should feel hurt, it should be me—how is it Lucian who has reason to feel hurt?’

Seeing Ria’s expression, Kaiser told her to just obey without a word. Since she didn’t plan to say it anyway, she nodded readily.

-So how is Lucian now?

[So far, he’s doing well. At first, it was hard for him that Leopold didn’t recognize him, but now he seems fine. Today too, the kids all went down to the village together.]

-No wonder. I was thinking it was strange the brat who usually shows up wasn’t here.

[Aren’t you coming here?]

-I’m busy. Once you become a holy dragon, there’s so much to do. I thought the moment I became a holy dragon I’d be free. But it’s not like that, you know?

He complained that he’d been dragged around by the elders lately, suffering for it.

-So I probably won’t be able to go to Lucian’s birthday this time. I have to go check on that Javier guy too.

[Ah, that priest?]

Javier—the one who had infiltrated the mansion basement five years ago and then, by force, became Kaiser’s underling.

[You haven’t found out anything from him?]

-Not yet. Still, it seems that because of what happened five years ago he’s been put in charge of various tasks, but he can’t even get close to the really important stuff.

[So he still hasn’t earned their trust.]

-This isn’t something you can rush. We just have to wait calmly.