SEVL 9

Chapter – 9

Joshua watched Kiana slowly climb into the carriage.

“Take care. And don’t forget what I asked you earlier.”

Kiana opened the carriage window and said it as her final words.

“Kiana, it’s been six years. Six years.”

Investigating the Crown Prince and Hiton, was it? Joshua sighed and shook his head.

“Nothing happened, and nothing is going to happen. Matters of the imperial family… leave dangerous and complicated things like that to Grandfather.”

Lowering his voice, he added in a whisper,

“His Majesty the Emperor will pass away soon, and Prince Hiton will ascend the throne. The position of the missing Crown Prince holds no meaning. Only His Majesty is clinging to that empty hope.”

Kiana shrugged as if she hadn’t heard a word.

As Joshua watched her, it suddenly struck him that her face was far too pale. At first he thought it was because of motion sickness, but even as time passed, the color never returned to her complexion.

“Kiana, but still…”

Looking closer, he noticed that her arms, visible beyond the checkered dress, were unnaturally thin.

“You really did well at the Academy? Why are you this skinny, and why do you look so pale? And you say even riding a carriage like this is exhausting—what’s going on with your physical condition?”

“I was fine. And my complexion has always been bad.”

Kiana replied calmly, as if it were nothing.

“What, are you worried now, all of a sudden? And hey, keep it to one verse.”

Then she snorted lightly and added,

“You barely contacted me properly for six years, and now you’re acting like this…”

The window shut sharply. The carriage immediately departed. Carrying Kiana away, it rolled smoothly down the hill and soon disappeared.

Joshua didn’t go straight back into the mansion. His refined brows furrowed slightly as he stared at the dust kicked up by the wheels.

<What’s wrong?>

Leia tilted her head and asked.

<Something bothering you?>

“She just looks too thin… She gained a bit of weight compared to the first time I saw her, but isn’t her frame still way too small?”

<Hmm. I’m voting for your ill-tempered little sister’s words.>

“What do you mean?”

<You say you barely contacted her for six years—what’s with pretending to worry now?>

Joshua swept his hair back and frowned.

“What are you talking about? I sent her a letter every single month.”

<Really?>

“On anniversaries, I invited her to the ducal estate, asked if we could visit the Academy… She was the one who found it bothersome. Isn’t that strange?”

<She found it bothersome?>

“Yes. She replied maybe once out of twenty letters. It got so bad that professors, unable to stand it anymore, sent us letters themselves saying, ‘Do not provoke Kiana. She strongly dislikes seeing her family.’”

<Seriously?>

“The Academy is extremely closed off, so we couldn’t just barge in. But if she doesn’t invite us, how are we supposed to go? Later, when I heard that families were allowed to attend her first thesis presentation, I felt a bit betrayed. Did she really have to live like complete strangers? Well, I live like one too, of course.”

In the end, the only thing Scarry could do was receive updates about Kiana from the Academy professors. They said she was doing extremely well, skipping grades repeatedly. Every month, news arrived of yet another high-quality thesis she had produced.

Naturally, none of this was told to Melissa. Melissa was a victim, after all, and there was no reason to bring up Kiana. Besides, Joshua had never really had deep conversations with Melissa on any topic.

<Ahh, I see.>

Leia accepted it easily and yawned.

But Joshua bit his lip once, staring blankly down the road where the carriage had vanished, troubled by an inexplicable unease. His instincts—honed through years of handling information—were screaming that this uneasiness should not be ignored.

“…I think I should follow her.”

<Huh? Follow her where?>

“To Kiana.”

Joshua muttered quietly.

“I need to go and ask her properly. What exactly made her seem so completely uninterested.”

“Miss, shall we return home now? It’s nearly lunchtime—”

“Let’s grab a cup of coffee and stop by the general store. There are things I need to buy before going home.”

After giving directions to the maid spy, I sank back into thought inside the carriage. Joshua’s overly sensitive reaction to my request about the Crown Prince bothered me.

He seemed more worried than expected. Is he hiding something by calling it dangerous?

Of course, it was a dangerous topic. Still, I’d thought Joshua wouldn’t care much.

After all, we hadn’t seen each other even once during my years at the Academy. Not a single family member told me to come to the ducal estate, and none of them attended my graduation. I hadn’t even received ten letters in all that time. I’d even written to say families could attend my first thesis presentation—and they ignored it…

Then why is he suddenly acting worried now? Uselessly so.

On top of that, Joshua lacked insight entirely.

“Leave dangerous and complicated matters of the imperial family to Grandfather.”

Just as he said—leaving everything to an old, sick grandfather was exactly how the entire family ended up on the gallows.

“His Majesty will soon pass away, and Prince Hiton will ascend the throne. The missing Crown Prince’s position means nothing. Only the Emperor is clinging to a futile hope.”

Futile hope…

That, too, was wrong. I slowly began to recall the past.

I still clearly remember the moment I first met Melissa, when I was thirteen.

“This is Melissa, who will be living with us from today. She’s the same age as Kiana. Get along like real siblings.”

She was said to be the daughter of my uncle, who had left the family after insisting on marrying against their wishes. After my uncle and his wife died while hiding among commoners, Grandfather took their daughter in.

When Melissa, dressed in shabby clothes, shyly greeted us, the nanny warmly took her hand.

“Welcome, Lady Melissa. From now on, you’ll be a proud member of the Prelai family. You look so much like the young master.”

The “young master” referred to Loki—my father’s younger brother and Melissa’s father.

“The direct line of the Prelai family can command familiars. Occasionally, even collateral members can summon them. So first, you’ll need to understand the concept of familiars—”

At that, Melissa said awkwardly,

“Actually… I already have a familiar. Ppyak, want to come out?”

A yellow lark perched in a tree flew down and gently settled on her shoulder.

<Don’t be afraid of the new environment. Everyone will love you, Melissa.>

The Prelai ducal house designated only one heir, and only that heir’s children were considered direct lineage. My father had already been named heir. Therefore, Melissa belonged to a collateral branch.

Though rare, collateral members occasionally summoned familiars, so it wasn’t unheard of. Still, those who could do so were treated almost like direct descendants within the family.

As Melissa stroked Ppyak, she smiled brightly at us.

“I want to see everyone else’s familiars too. Especially yours, Kiana. We’re the same age, right? What’s your familiar?”

At that innocent question, I spun around and ran straight to my room.

From that day on, I dreamed every night of Ppyak shouting, “I belong to Kiana!” And whenever I saw Melissa, I was seized by a strange impulse, constantly tormenting her with words like, “Ppyak was originally mine—did you steal it?”

Then, when I was sixteen—six years ago from now—I finally charged at Melissa with a knife late one night and was caught by the servants. Everyone thought it was just another instance of my excessive cruelty. After all, I’d always crossed the line.

But back then, I had a purpose that no one knew.

“What… this actually worked?”

Since Melissa arrived at thirteen, I had secretly studied magitech on my own and created a magic tool. I spent years obsessively working on it.

The magic tool changed eye color.

I didn’t want to turn my own eyes red. I wasn’t foolish enough to suddenly alter my eye color and become a laughingstock.

My target from the beginning had been Melissa.

I wanted to change her eye color—so that no one could ever say, “Melissa looks more like a true Prelai lady.”

People would naturally find it strange when Melissa’s eye color suddenly changed one day—but that wasn’t my concern. No one would ever imagine that eye color could be artificially altered.

To activate the magic tool, the user’s blood was required. That was why, that night, I charged at Melissa with a knife—only to be restrained by the servants.

And that was the first time Grandfather ever truly scolded me.