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At the Border of an Adult (1)
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
My father came up to the capital.
It must have something to do with Caesar, but I wasn’t sure because he didn’t tell me or Leonard about it. No, maybe he talked to Leonard.
When it was time for dinner, my father confirmed our well-being with his usual gentle and dignified tone.
“I heard the results of the gladiatorial competition. The runner-up is also great. Good job, Leonard.”
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to Helena who taught me well.”
“When are you going to go back to school?”
“I’m going back next week.”
“Have you decided on a career path after graduation?”
“For now, I’d like to go to the Red Knights in Sir Dalton’s favor.”
Leonard seemed to have decided on a career path as a knight of the Order of the Imperial Knights. It was quite a unique move for Peresca, who had never taken such a role before.
Umm, come to think of it, I was born into a family with a knack for swords, but with no ties to swords.
“How has Helena been? There must have been quite a bit of commotion in this gladiatorial competition.”
“It was a simple happening.”
“I’m worried that you might be caught up in some kind of quarrel.”
“Thanks to His Highness who took care of blocking it, that didn’t happen.”
“I see. It’s something to be thankful for.”
Let’s put aside the fact that I met the empress and about her ‘deal’. I don’t want to be on her side anyway.
More than that, another story was urgent now.
“Father.”
“Yes, Helena.”
“I’m thinking of staying in the capital.”
The rattling sound of dishes stopped at my words in an instant.
Father, as well as Leonard, looked at me with round eyes.
“Let’s hear what the reason is.”
“As I become an adult, I want to go out to socialize from time to time. Brother will also be living in the capital after graduation, and I hate living apart because it will be lonely.”
“You’re going out to socialize? Helena, you? Did anyone threaten you for this?”
“No… I’m not the type to be threatened by anyone.”
My family knows my competence better than anyone. Since I was a child, I have lived my life without regrets, with nothing to hide.
“Well, not right now. I have to go back to the main house and pack my things, and there are things to organize…”
“Leonard. Our Helena is coming to the capital on her own. Did I hear it right?”
“Yes, Father. Unless both of us are possessed by something.”
“Hey, are you two going to be like that?”
My face is getting hot. Of course, this was a life in which I never wanted to do something or showed any willingness for anything, but it wasn’t something to be made fun of.
“Do you not like me doing something?”
At the same time as my question, my father and Leonard shouted.
“No way!”
If my mother had been here, the three of them would have shouted at the same time.
“If you need anything, tell me! Your mother and I will support you with anything!”
“Yes, Helena! If there is anything difficult, Brother will help too!”
“Look… Calm down, both of you. It’s not that I’m leaving to save the world.”
I’m just going to move my living place to the separate residence in the capital.
I had to give up dinner that night to calm the two men.
***
After convincing or notifying my father and Leonard, next is Hamilton.
I waited for Hamilton at a restaurant downtown.
It wasn’t dinner time yet, so the store was quiet.
“Oh, my. Am I late?”
Almost at the appointed time, Hamilton appeared. I smiled at him and shook my head.
“No. I just came early. I’m a little free these days.”
One of the three pupils is busy with school and the other is busy fighting the empress, so I, as a master, have no choice but to relax.
As if understanding the meaning, Hamilton said “haha” and sat down with a smile.
Instead of eating, we simply ordered tea and refreshments and resumed the conversation.
“You will be returning to the duchy soon.”
“Yes. I’m leaving in four days.”
“If you go this time, when will you come again? It’s a pity that His Highness isn’t coming down to the duchy because he’s busy these days.”
Hamilton, who came down with Caesar whenever Caesar came to the duke’s mansion, seems to have gotten quite attached to us.
We used to often tease Hamilton for being inflexible and upright, but we also admitted that he was the most reliable person.
“I will be back soon, Viscount.”
“What? To the capital?”
“Yes.”
“No, for what purpose?”
“Isn’t it common for an aristocratic young girl to come and go in and out of the capital, the center of society?”
“Oh, that’s the case, but somehow isn’t Princess a little… Uhm… different?”
“You don’t have to try to wrap up the word ‘lazy’ properly.”
“Well, if you know…”
Hamilton coughed in vain with a ‘hmmm’. I couldn’t help but laugh at his embarrassment.
“Viscount, you said that you would serve as an informant to me a while ago. Is that agreement still in effect?”
“Of course. But…”
“But?”
“If my information is used so Princess can weigh between His Highness and the empress, then there’s nothing I can give you.”
“Oh gosh, my lord.”
I said to Hamilton with a smile that didn’t hide my anger.
“Do you see me as that kind of person?”
Joining hands with the enemy to harass my beloved student?
Did he feel my anger? Hamilton wrinkled his nose and grinned bitterly, then nodded his head.
“Excuse me. Please understand that it was just an old person trying to protect His Highness.”
“I know. That is why I believe in Viscount.”
There is a reason why Hamilton is His Highness closest aide.
“Is there any information you want?”
“Yes, this is it.”
I put a bunch of paper on the table and pushed it to Hamilton. After Hamilton looked at it and me alternately, he picked up the paper and read it down carefully.
“…What’s on this list?”
Hamilton glanced at the paper and looked at me again, as if he didn’t understand.
“This is a list of nobles and groups who have sent me invitations since the last Crown Prince’s coronation ceremony.”
Sending me an invitation would, of course, have a simple social purpose.
However, there are no gatherings purely for socializing, at least among those that put forward the name of a nobility or organization.
“It includes groups, guilds, various gatherings under the guise of hobbies, and artist groups and schools.”
“No… I knew you received a lot of invitations, but to this extent…”
Hamilton opened his mouth in amazement.
“Actually, many of them came after the gladiatorial competition. Well, now, no matter what Caesar did, it’s not working at all.”
“How did you remember all this?”
“I don’t remember. I organized them when writing rejection letters.”
Oh, I’m reminded of another sad memory.
I really thought my arm was going to fall out while writing those rejection replies. At that time, I even wanted to borrow a cat’s hands.
“What’s your intention to show this to me?”
“Look at the list and tell me where I should go and where I shouldn’t.”
“What?”
Hamilton asked the question in a puzzled voice.
“Give His Highness a seat that may or may not be helpful.”
In the end, Hamilton’s eyes widened only after I gave a straight-forward explanation.
“Are you serious? You want to go out to social gatherings?”
…Oh, it wasn’t because he didn’t understand, it was because he didn’t believe it.
What on earth is my image in these people’s heads? Well, it’s mostly my fault though.
“What Caesar lacks is the power to support him. I think many of the nobles on Caesar’s side are unreliable.”
“Correct. They are attached to this side because His Highness was crowned as the crownpPrince, and they will leave at any time if they are at a disadvantage.”
“Yes, so we need to secure a force that will support us without wavering.”
Mediators should be careful anywhere. Because once the scale of power is tilted, it takes a lot of time to reverse it.
“But if Princess says she will step up, I’m sure His Highness will oppose it.”
“You mean Caesar?”
“I’ve already told His Highness about this. But he got so angry and told me not to get you involved in the power struggle, I couldn’t even say a word again.”
Saying that, Hamilton quickly became pale.
Caesar told me that he would not choose me.
I guess that’s what he meant. That he doesn’t want me to be dragged into a swordless battlefield.
“I’ll take care of my own life, do I need Caesar’s permission?”
“No. However, if His Highness asks you later, I think I will have to make an excuse that I tried to stop you.”
Hamilton said with a straight face.
Well, that honesty. I like it.
“Then, please do it within three days. I have to go back to the main house in four days.”
“Leave it to me. I will give you an answer within two days.”
Hamilton took the paper and stored it. I can trust Hamilton with it.
In fact, Rowena is a bit smarter in handling things, but she’s still someone I don’t know well enough to trust.
“Haa, if we keep going like this and let Princess become the crown princess, there will be nothing else that I want.”
“Why is Viscount asking for something that my parents don’t even want?”
“Do you not want it, Princess? It’s the place of supreme power that a woman can have.”
“You mean being someone’s wife?”
I smiled bitterly and asked.
“Can’t a woman have power unless she becomes someone’s wife?”
“Oh, dear, I’m sorry if you were offended. That’s not what I meant, but…”
Hamilton faltered near the end.
I didn’t mean to reproach Hamilton, so I switched the topic with a bright smile, trying to evoke the mood.
“Anyway, there will be a lot of troublesome things in the future.”
Well, I brought this on myself.
It’s not easy to live a lazy life even if you’re born with a different body or life.
With that in mind, I drank the tea as if to swallow my resignation.
***
When I left the restaurant, the sun was setting and the street was dark. I left a little early, so the carriage hadn’t arrived yet.
“The weather is cool, should we walk?”
Hamilton put on a hat and made an offer to me, and I gladly accepted the offer.
The night in the capital was as bright and colorful as the day. It was a rare sight in a rural duchy.
Occasionally, I saw dirty children running through the crowd, and I smiled without realizing it.
“There are vagrants in this big city too.”
“They’re everywhere.”
“Emperor Dante Renatus was a vagrant. Do any of these vagrant sons dream of becoming a ruler of a country?”
“Isn’t Emperor Dante a very special person? I don’t know, but I think our blood color should be different.”
I burst out laughing out loud at Hamilton’s joke.
“Well, perhaps you’re right. She was the one who sealed the dragon.”
I pretended I didn’t know. However, at my words, Hamilton briefly exclaimed, “Ahh,” as if thinking of something else.
“Come to think of it, a strange religious group that worships dragons has emerged these days.”
“A religious group?”
“Yes. It seems to be gaining power among the common people… the scale is not large and it does not cause any major accidents, so it seems to be neglected in the country.”
“They won’t just stay still at churches, right?”
I worked so hard to beat those dragons for the sake of humans, but now there are people worshiping it?
Awesome.
‘I didn’t risk my life and seal the dragon to see this.’
Somehow I feel bitter.
“Well… Hopefully it’s a religion that will only be popular for a while before disappearing.”
“I hope so as well.”
Hamilton lightly affirmed my words, and soon laughed out loud and added.
“If Emperor Dante had seen this, she might have jumped out of her tomb.”
I just chuckled and laughed.
Even though it was my own story, I felt like I was listening to someone else’s story.
Maybe I’ve gradually moved away from Dante and getting used to Helena’s life.
A life that is rich, warm, and one where I don’t have to live tenaciously. A life different from Dante. Over time, Dante and Helena’s lives are separated.
Somehow I thought it was a little sad, so I smiled bitterly.
‘Why do I feel sad?’
Maybe it was just the night, so I became a little sentimental.
Embarrassed to reveal those feelings, I quickly brought up another topic, and walked  through perhaps my last lazy person night.