AME 75

Chapter 75

The gatekeepers immediately turned the pulley and opened the castle gates wide. With a heavy rumble, the doors blocking the way swung open, revealing a child who flinched in surprise.

“Looks like a real beggar.”

The impression was short and accurate. The child, covered in dirt as if they had rolled across the ground, looked every bit the beggar the gatekeeper had described.

The black robe they wore was tattered and faded, and their exposed skin was grimy, as though they hadn’t washed in quite some time.

“Red eyes.”

Kaon silently looked down at the child. Though the filthy appearance made it hard to notice at first, the child’s eyes were indeed red. Hair poking out from beneath the robe was white, though dulled by dust.

Red eyes and white hair—by now, those were familiar symbols of Ingelos.

Still, their condition was so poor that one had to look closely to recognize it. From the gatekeeper’s point of view, peering down from the high walls, the child’s claims must have sounded like nonsense.

“What are you staring at! You lowly knight, how dare you look down on a great mage like me!”

Above all else, the way they spat insults at knights as naturally as breathing was proof enough of being a mage. Their claim of being from Ingelos was likely no lie.

“What insolence! This brat dares—!”

“Young Master, shall we drag the little wretch off at once…?”

“Enough. I’ll take them. You all go back to your duties.”

Kaon calmed the incensed gatekeepers and walked toward the child. The child, glaring up at the far taller Kaon, showed a flicker of fear in their eyes.

“If you lay a finger on me, my family won’t—!”

Ignoring the child’s trembling voice full of bluster, Kaon picked them up easily and tucked them under his arm.

“Put me down this instant!”

“A knight himself is escorting you, yet you complain so much.”

“How is this escorting?!”

The child’s indignant protests echoed with every one of Kaon’s strides.

The child thrashed and shouted the entire way back, but Kaon didn’t budge an inch, and in the end, the one who tired first was the child.

When handed over to the maids for a bath, the child followed them quietly. It seemed they no longer had the energy to shout.

Kaon immediately went to Leonidas’s office.

“The third of Ingelos has arrived.”

“There’s been no message in advance, has there?”

“None at all. Not even inquiring about the young lady.”

Leonidas, too, had heard nothing of this visit. As expected. If Ingelos had intended an official visit, they would have sent notice beforehand—and certainly wouldn’t have sent the child in such a state.

At this sudden turn of events, Leonidas rubbed her eyes wearily. She had been gathering intelligence on the monsters and holding daily strategy meetings based on it.

Her days were spent without a moment’s rest, and on top of that, she had to deal with the endless rumors flying about Ferdinand’s leadership. No wonder the fatigue showed.

“And where is the young lady?”

Kaon, who had been watching his sister’s face grow sharper and more gaunt day by day, quickly masked his concern as soon as her gaze met his. Siblings showing worry for each other was nothing but embarrassing.

“She’s at her private training ground. I didn’t want to disturb her right now, but I told them to let her know as soon as she finishes.”

Recently, Alesia had managed, for the first time, to sense her own mana. It was the result of spending all winter pestering Kaon with, ‘Where in my body do you feel the most mana gathered right now?’

Though her mana was still weak and she couldn’t yet gather it, merely sensing it was already a great achievement.

Unlike Kaon, who only ever started training when someone forced him to, Alesia was so earnest that even when told, ‘You’ll collapse if you keep this up, take it easy,’ she never listened.

Her daily routine now included practicing spells with her ring at the training ground, comparing the strange new sensations she felt to the mana she could faintly perceive within herself.

If her training had much time left, Kaon might have interrupted her. But since it would end soon anyway, he let her continue.

“She seems… better these days.”

Lately, Alesia seemed more like a real person. Not that she hadn’t before—but something had changed.

She no longer always bristled with invisible thorns. Sometimes, her smiles were genuine. Sometimes, she even asked him for help.

She still made complicated expressions now and then, but Kaon didn’t mind. After all, no one changes all at once.

“Where is she! You rotten knights! You’ll regret ever laying hands on Nia Ingelos!”

Kaon’s thoughts snapped back at the sharp, ringing voice outside the door. It was unmistakably the child from Ingelos.

After a quick knock, a maid announced the visitor in a troubled tone. Kaon himself opened the door.

“…Alesia?”

He blinked, startled. Cleaned up, the child looked strikingly like Alesia.

Not only the white hair and red eyes, but their features themselves revealed them to be siblings. If not for the furrowed brows and jutting lips twisted in anger, the resemblance would have been even stronger.

“So this is my little fiancé?”

While Kaon stood speechless, Leonidas spoke casually, as if it were nothing.

Nia Ingelos. The ten-year-old third child of Ingelos glared at her and shouted:

“I’m a boy! I’ll only marry a girl!”

Kaon clamped his mouth shut. Leonidas, tall and broad-shouldered as befitted a Ferdinand, with her short-cropped hair for convenience, must indeed have looked like a man to the child.

“Well, that’s convenient. I’m a woman.”

“Liar!”

Nia immediately barked back, but Leonidas only curved her lips in amusement.

“Shall I prove it?”

“Big sister, enough.”

Unable to stand it, Kaon intervened. Leonidas raised a hand lightly, signaling she would stop teasing.

“Well then, young lord of Ingelos. What brings you to Ferdinand?”

“Hmph! The great mage Nia Ingelos has personally come to aid Ferdinand! Show me the proper respect!”

Nia puffed out his chest proudly, declaring in a formal tone. Neither sibling replied.

Kaon was fascinated by how much Alesia’s younger sibling looked like her yet acted completely differently, while Leonidas’s face betrayed nothing but annoyance.

“Do you not hear me? An Ingelos mage offers their help!”

When no answer came, Nia looked between them, flustered.

“May I ask, young lord, if your family has consented to this offer of aid?”

Leonidas finally spoke in her calm, courteous tone.

“…Ingelos mages are free! We’re not bound like knights to a single place!”

The childish words carried an oddly adult intonation—likely mimicked from the grown-ups around him. His contempt for knights must have been learned the same way.

“Then we must confirm this with Ingelos. Please don’t take offense—this is the proper duty between houses.”

“There’s no need for that—!”

At Leonidas’s composed reply, Nia’s bluster faltered, but then he puffed himself up again and shouted louder.

“As a son of Ingelos, I command it!”

Of course, as Ingelos’s third child, he had no right to command Ferdinand’s acting head. Yet his expression showed full confidence that his words would be obeyed.

The siblings were left speechless by the brazen child. Just then, the doors swung open, and someone else entered.

“Who dares—!”

Nia, scowling and posturing like an adult, suddenly froze. His red eyes trembled for the first time as he looked up.

“A… Alesia…”

It seemed that whether in Ferdinand or in Ingelos, the hierarchy between siblings was unshakable. Amused, Kaon chuckled—only to freeze as well when he raised his head.

“Nia Ingelos.”

Alesia gazed at her younger brother with an expression no one had seen before. Her pale, cold face, devoid of any emotion, looked like a finely carved statue.

“Why are you here?”

“I—I sent letters, but there was no reply, so…”

The boy, who had been so bold before, now faltered and lowered his head. It wasn’t fear of Alesia that made his eyes avoid hers—he kept stealing glances at her all the while.

“Lord Leonidas. I apologize for causing you such trouble. I’ll offer proper apologies later, but for now, may I take this child away?”

Her gaze still frozen cold upon Nia, Alesia politely addressed Leonidas.

“If that is more comfortable for you, young lady.”

“Thank you.”

Leonidas gave her permission easily. Without looking at anyone else, Alesia turned her back. Nia hesitated a moment, then shuffled after her.

Kaon stood watching the siblings’ retreating figures—two backs so very alike—for a long time.