Myne's Return

「Come back soon, and of course, make sure you bring Ferdinand-sama again too.」

I called out to Myne, to which she muttered, “Maybe at the end of autumn.” The cheerful, tipsy Gunther replied, “Next time, you prepare the drinks,” while playfully ruffling Ferdinand-sama’s head.

……His facial expression hardly changes at all, but it seems he won’t get angry at such rough treatment.

Dealing with drunkards would be annoying even with family members, yet Ferdinand-sama just went along with Gunther’s antics. We all knew he accepted the ways of us commoners, so none of us questioned this sort of disrespect towards a noble.

「See you later, Myne.」

「Yeah. Later, everyone!」

Myne waved her hands with a smile, entering the door that appeared on the wall with Ferdinand-sama. The door closed and vanished suddenly, leaving nothing but a blank white wall. It felt like all the time we had spent together vanished along with it.

「The door disappeared!」

Kamil and I were not used to seeing noble magic, so we were surprised. Meanwhile, Lutz and Tuuli were unfazed due to having positions closer to Myne.

「Noble magic is just like that. It’s better for us commoners to think of it as a convenient power we’ll never be able to understand.」

「I think the magic from earlier was more amazing. Having water gush out and clean everything is super convenient. If I could use magic, that’s the one I want.」

Indeed, Myne and Ferdinand-sama had used magic to clean the dirty dishes and floor just before they left. I gasped when some sort of stick suddenly appeared in their hands. All they did was wave their hands and say a word, then water came out of nowhere to wash everything miraculously clean.

「Honestly, I still find the door’s sudden appearance and disappearance surprising. I don’t think I can get used to it that easily.」

「Well, if you compare it to that time when she built a small temple in an instant…」

Benno-san and Mark-san had apparently been taken to the site via Highbeast when the small temple was built. According to them, Ferdinand-sama just waved the stick and chanted something, then the forest melted away and was replaced by a white building.

「After all, those Highbeasts the nobles ride were originally transformed from small stones that fit into a child’s palm. More importantly, be careful not to place any shelves or stands in this position. That might prevent the door from opening.」

Mark-san warned us about blocking the door. Those of us who were born and raised in the slums had never thought about decorating our homes, but in the Plantin Company and the Gilberta Company, it seems placing such things in the hallway is common sense.

「This house is pretty spacious, so I was thinking the hallway was bland without at least one decorative shelf or something. I was about to comment on it, but it seems better if you live as you did before.」

「As we did before?」

Kamil blinked in confusion, looking up at Tuuli.

「As in the life we had with Myne in Ehrenfest. No shelves or hiring maids and such. You know how troublesome it would be if we had someone else in the house right now?」

We had moved from the slums of Ehrenfest to the affluent central district of Alexandria. Setting up shops and workshops involves taking care of Dapla, so it’s common to hire help. The Plantin Company, the Gilberta Company, and even the workshops of the Gutenbergs employ female servants to handle household chores.

Benno-san had suggested that we hire someone for our home as well, but I refused. It wasn’t an issue of income. I simply felt uneasy about having strangers coming in and doing chores. That decision ended up saving us here.

「Someone might catch a glance of her when she shows up out of nowhere. We won’t hire anyone for the foreseeable future.」

「Well, I guess that’s fine while Mom is still up and moving.」

「That shouldn’t be a problem if they let us know in advance when they’re coming. We can just give them the day off.」

While continuing the discussion, we returned to the dining room from the corridor. By then, the sixth bell had begun to ring. Upon hearing it, Lutz and the others began preparing to leave. What was initially planned as lunch together after Lutz’s coming-of-age ceremony turned into a prolonged stay due to the unexpected visit from Myne and Ferdinand-sama.

「We’ve overstayed quite a bit.」

「Though unexpected, it was a pleasant time. Judging by the conversation we had about work, it seems we’ll be busy tomorrow.」

「Thank you for celebrating my coming-of-age. Kamil, see you again tomorrow.」

Lutz expressed his gratitude to us, then returned to the second floor of the Plantin Company with Benno-san and Mark-san. Perhaps because we had so many visitors, the room felt incredibly spacious with only our family left.

「The house became quiet all of a sudden.」

「This is usually the time for preparing dinner, but we don’t need that today, right?」

Although Kamil agreed, Gunther quietly muttered, “I want some snacks with my drink.” It seems that while dinner is unnecessary, he’s not ready to part with his alcohol just yet.

「It was really an eventful day, huh.」

Myne returned for Lutz’s coming-of-age ceremony, and we tied up her hair to celebrate hers as well. Then Ferdinand-sama did the commoner engagement… Truly, it was an unbelievable day. As I sighed, Kamil grabbed the hem of my skirt.

「Mom, please explain everything properly. I still have no idea what’s going on.」

After recalling how the out-of-the-loop Kamil was bewildered by Myne, I exchanged glances with Tuuli and smiled softly.

「Shall we make some tea? Sharing Myne’s story might take a while.」

Tuuli and I arranged the cups on the table, while temporarily snatching Gunther’s drink. He looked reluctant, but there’s no need for alcohol with this sort of serious conversation. Kamil pulled the teacup closer as he looked around at us with a sulking face.

「This is supposed to be about my family, so why am I the only one who doesn’t know? Even Benno-san and Mark-san knew.」

「We should start from when Myne was a commoner, when we still lived together in that house in Ehrenfest. In order to understand the reason behind the secret, you’ll need to understand why she became a noble.」

「True. Kamil, you see, Myne was frail since birth, to the point where it wouldn’t be strange for her to die at any time. She had constant fevers, due to the Devouring…」

We began explaining everything. How the Devouring refers to a child with mana, and Myne had a body that couldn’t survive without the magical tools that nobles possess. Her excessive love for books, resulting in her meeting with Benno-san and others while trying to make her own. How she found the library during her baptism and joined the temple just to read books. How she became an apprentice blue-robed priestess to quell the fever caused by the Devouring, which was supposed to save her life.

However, that’s when she got targeted by nobles from the outside. Having gone against a noble, she was forced to become the adopted daughter of the archduke of Ehrenfest to protect her family. At that time, we were prohibited from treating her as family through contract magic, and her name changed from Myne to Rozemyne upon becoming a noble.

Gunther, Tuuli, and I took turns sharing our memories of Myne.

「You hid something so important from me?」

「Don’t blame Mom and Dad, Kamil. They wanted to tell you about it after your baptism. But I opposed it.」

「Why?」

Tuuli sighed softly and told the story about when she went to pick up Myne and got kidnapped. She went to the temple intending to protect her sister from imminent danger, but her actions inadvertently accelerated the timing of Myne becoming a noble.

「Tuuli, that’s not your fault. You just wanted to protect your little sister…」

「Remember, Kamil. No matter how much excuses you make, it doesn’t turn back time or undo your mistakes.」

Kamil frowned, as Gunther and I turned to face Tuuli.

「Tuuli, are you still blaming yourself for that?」

「I’ve sorted things out in my mind now. But the fear of the impact caused by a child’s misunderstandings and sense of justice remains ingrained in my heart. That’s why I thought it would be better for Kamil to remain ignorant about Myne. Without knowing, he can’t possibly violate the contract magic, right?」

Whether Kamil agreed with Tuuli’s words or not, he fell silent. Gunther lightly patted his son’s head with a thump.

「I also agreed with Tuuli’s opinion. We had no clue what exactly might happen if we unconsciously violated the contract magic, and we couldn’t afford to cause trouble for Myne, not when she was doing her best in noble society. But now that Myne herself spilled the beans, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.」

Everyone chuckled at Gunther’s words. Myne was always the one who blew everything away. Despite all our earnest efforts to maintain the secret, who could have thought it would get revealed like this?

「Kamil, we’ll answer anything about Myne and won’t keep any secrets from you anymore. But please continue to keep it hidden from the people around us. Especially don’t mention anything within the Plantin Company. Benno-san, Mark-san, and Lutz know about Myne, but they have many workers going in and out all the time.」

「The issue with the contract magic seems to have been resolved, but the fact remains that we are a vulnerability for Myne. This secret needs to be kept.」

Upon hearing my and Gunther’s words, Kamil nodded solemnly and said, “I understand.” It was no longer a punishable offense to treat Myne as family. However, that didn’t mean it was acceptable to casually disclose our relationship.

「Oh right. Since Myne only visits about once a season, try not to be too cold to her. All the books and toys Lutz brought you were what Myne wanted to make for you. They’re the crystallization of your big sister’s love.」

Tuuli said this while glancing towards Kamil’s room. This house was spacious enough for each child to have their own room, and Kamil currently had a room to himself, which contained many toys and books given by Lutz.

「You mean those samples made in the temple, courtesy of Rozemyne-sama? Hold on! So those weren’t samples, but made specifically for me!? No way!」

Kamil exclaimed in a voice resembling a scream, alternating between looking at his room and us. I can understand why he feels flustered. Still, I wanted him to understand Myne’s feelings and efforts.

「When Myne said goodbye to you, she promised to “make lots of books for you to read”, didn’t she? And she’s making plenty, as promised.」

「Myne used to read picture books to you, even when you were still in Mom’s belly. At that time, I even thought diapers would be more useful than weird picture books no one could understand.」

「I remember Myne and Lutz’s bookmaking started from making paper and ink. That took a considerable amount of effort, love, and money.」

Reflecting on it, Myne had done something truly incredible. I thought she was only playing around in the woods with Lutz, but it ended up being the roots of a new industry for the duchy.

「Even I know the price of the products I handle. “A sister’s love” must be really scary.」

Once Kamil started working as an apprentice at the Plantin Company, he learned of their high value and changed his treatment of those gifts. As his mother, I would also appreciate it if he changes how he interacts with Myne.

「…I’ve always wondered why our family adored Rozemyne-sama so much, despite me finding it hard to feel the same way. It all makes sense now.」

「I see. Kamil, you were feeling puzzled and troubled in your own way.」

Upon hearing Gunther’s words, I also felt a sense of guilt towards Kamil. I hadn’t realized that Kamil was feeling alienated amidst our family’s avid interest in the seemingly trivial topic of “Rozemyne-sama”.

「I’m sorry, Kamil.」

「It’s fine now that I know why you couldn’t say anything… Ugh, I’m suddenly feeling sleepy.」

Having expressed what he wanted to say and with the excitement settling, sleepiness began taking over. Kamil laid his head heavily on the table. Unlike Myne, Kamil was large for his age, so it would be quite a task to carry him to his room if he fell asleep here.

「All that running from Myne must have been tiring. Come on, don’t sleep here. At least change before going to bed.」

I lightly tapped Kamil’s back to wake him up and led him to his room. After pushing him into a change of clothes, I laid him down on the bed. I could hear Kamil’s sleepy breaths as I tidied up the discarded clothes.

……I hope Myne and Kamil can get closer to each other.

Tuuli, Myne, and Kamil are all my adorable children, but I realize it’s difficult for two people who have never lived together to be as close as commoner siblings. Myne is currently fixated on being a big sister, and Kamil can’t erase his recognition of Rozemyne-sama, but I hope they can settle into a distance similar to that of relatives who meet occasionally.

「I should go downstairs too. Good night.」

While Kamil was being put to sleep, Tuuli seems to have taken care of the cups. Gunther had his drink again too.

Tuuli went back to the Dapla room on the second floor, so it was only me and my husband.

「You wanna drink too, Effa? You haven’t had much today, right? It must have been tough on you.」

I took the cup Gunther offered, only taking a small sip of the alcohol. Gunther was drinking the alcohol brought by Benno-san, which tastes completely different from our usual stuff.

「Yeah, it really was tough.」

I had prepared lunch together with Tuuli to celebrate Lutz’s coming-of-age ceremony. It was only natural to invite Benno-san and Mark-san since they were our neighbors as well as Lutz’s guardians, but the two have refined tastes. When deciding the menu, Tuuli and I focused on the labor-intensive and peculiar dishes Myne used to make, and we were mindful of the ingredients.

「Since I had prepared a bit extra, we managed to accommodate Myne and Ferdinand-sama when they came. But I never imagined my food would get served to a noble like Ferdinand-sama.」

「Well, yeah.」

「At least let us know in advance if you’re going to come. Don’t bring such a high-ranking noble casually just because you wanted to surprise us… I felt like I could get a heart attack.」

「But that’s just like Myne.」

I glared at Gunther, who laughed lightly, and took another sip of the drink. I could feel the warmth of the alcohol passing through my throat.

To her, she was simply returning home. She hadn’t thought at all about notifying us in advance. She wholeheartedly believed that we would accept her just like we did back then.

「…That really was Myne, right?」

「Yeah, not Rozemyne-sama. That was our daughter.」

Gunther accurately understood what I wanted to convey, and my eyes began welling up with tears.

「Myne has truly come back, right?」

「Well, I wouldn’t say she’s back for good. She said she’ll be here about once a season, and all we can do is wait. We can’t simply go see her.」

Gunther furrowed his brows slightly, showing a bit of dissatisfaction. Indeed, Myne visiting us is a one-sided road, and we won’t be able to see her often.

「But we don’t have to watch from afar anymore. We can touch her and talk to her normally.」

Due to the contract magic that prohibited treating her as family, we were allowed only to engage with her through work.

Tuuli was her hair ornament craftswoman. She desperately practiced speech and manners to be presentable in front of the nobles, and she continually made various hair ornaments to avoid losing her exclusive status. Or rather, she still is making all sorts of efforts to present herself before Rozemyne-sama. Upon coming of age, she was allowed into the castle, and there were times when she assisted the seamstresses with measurements. She had opportunities to see her face, hear her voice, and feel her touch.

Gunther had been entrusted with the escort of gray priests and priestesses from the temple to the small temple of Hasse during the prayer ceremony and harvest festival. Even though it was just a short time, he had the opportunity to interact directly with Rozemyne-sama, when she offered rewards and words of encouragement to the soldiers.

Lutz was able to interact with Myne the longest, since not being a family member exempted him from the contract magic. Although it was eventually prohibited as he grew older, there was a time when they could talk intimately in the hidden room of the temple, even after Rozemyne-sama became a noble. Even afterward, there were occasions during merchant negotiations where they could see each other and converse. He even used Rozemyne-sama’s Highbeast for transportation during the Gutenberg’s extended business trips.

……But I, on the other hand……

Despite gaining the title of Renaissance and being able to slightly involve myself in my daughter’s clothing making, I am a dye craftsman who hasn’t received the proper education to appear before nobles, unlike everyone else. Around the time Kamil grew up, it became difficult to visit the temple each time a ceremony took place, and I lost almost all opportunities to see her directly. The only support I had was hearing about her from Gunther, Tuuli, and Lutz.

「Even if I can’t visit her, even if it’s only once per season. I get to see her much more than before.」

Even if we’re separated, even if I can barely see her face, and even if we can’t interact as a family. It’s enough as long as she’s alive. Anything is better than Myne dying.

That’s what I’ve been telling myself all this time. No, it’s what I had to tell myself. Who could have predicted a day where we could escape from the contract magic set by the archduke?

「I never thought the day would come when Myne would call me ‘Mom’ again.」

The tears fell one by one, and I couldn’t hold them back. There was no need to hold back. I shed tears with overflowing joy. Gunther was also crying beside me.

「As Ferdinand-sama said, Myne has always been reckless. And, it’s things like this that only Myne can do…」

According to Ferdinand-sama, the effects of the contract magic were nullified immediately once we left Ehrenfest. However, that wouldn’t be enough to let us meet as family.

「But Ferdinand-sama, you’re the one that told me I could meet my family secretly by connecting a teleportation circle from my secret room to the downtown house.」

「Even so, it would be impossible for you to set up a teleportation circle for people unless you became the archduke. Going to the Sovereignty as the king’s adopted daughter wouldn’t have allowed this.」

I recalled the conversation between Myne and Ferdinand-sama. Although the magical terms they used were difficult to understand, I somehow grasped that Myne did some strange things that normal nobles wouldn’t, and Ferdinand-sama managed to bring about this arrangement by making full use of the circumstances.

「Entrusting Myne to Ferdinand-sama was the right decision after all. A mother’s intuition is not to be underestimated, right?」

I wiped away my tears and picked up the cup with a chuckle, as Gunther frowned with a hint of displeasure. We both thought back to the time when Myne had to get adopted by a noble in order to live.

「I never imagined Myne would end up getting engaged to that same Ferdinand-sama though.」

Ferdinand-sama said he wanted to be “true family instead of a political marriage between nobles” and that he was “envious of our relationship where we cherish each other even when apart”. Hearing that a noble envied us was extremely surprising, but I’m glad that Myne’s fiance was someone who takes care of her.

「I bet Myne wouldn’t have ever come back if any other nobleman was her fiance.」

Ferdinand-sama supported Myne from the time she was a commoner. He knew how important her connection to her family was. I believe that’s why he brought Myne back to us.

「He helped Myne survive as a noble and brought her back safely… I guess I can acknowledge his efforts there.」

「Oh, Gunther, what are you saying? I know how grateful you really are.」

It seems Myne had faced numerous life-threatening situations, and he saved her every time. Myne boasted about how amazing “her Ferdinand-sama” was and got teased by Benno-san saying “Your Ferdinand-sama, eh?”

「I never thought Myne would live to see adulthood. So, to see her growing up into a normal adult, coming back with a lively smile, and being able to celebrate Lutz’s coming-of-age ceremony today made me so incredibly happy…」

Myne used to be so weak, with her delicate appetite and small build. After becoming a noble, she spent two years soaking in medicine and sleeping without any signs of growth. Yet, now my daughter has grown into an adult woman, at least in appearance. I couldn’t believe my own eyes.

「Just like I said she would.」

Gunther tended to exaggerate everything he said about Myne, so I didn’t place much trust in his words. However, she had truly grown into a beautiful woman. It happened so fast that I had no clue what to say.

「Still, I wonder when she’ll grow on the inside.」

The returned Myne hadn’t changed one bit from back then. Perhaps it’s because her tone and gestures were the same as the ones I remembered, but she seemed childish and clingy for her age. This contrast became especially noticeable when compared to Tuuli and Lutz, who were about the same age as her.

「A normal girl her age wouldn’t hug her father like that in front of her fiance.」

「Ergh… I think she’s fine as she is. Myne can no longer grow up as a commoner. If we want to see her grow up, it would be as a grown-up noble. I for one, don’t want to see that.」

She is the archduke after all, which means she has a noble face that cannot be shown to her family. As she grows with her experiences in noble society, she will become a grown-up “noble”. No matter what might happen, we will never be able to see our daughter as a grown-up “commoner”.

「True. I don’t particularly want to see the noble version of her either. I just want the same old Myne when she comes home.」

It’s only once a season. Spoiling her that rarely shouldn’t be a problem.

「I’m already looking forward to Myne’s next visit.」

Perhaps the drink was getting to me, as everything felt so unreal. Meanwhile, Gunther refilled my dwindling cup and handed it back to me.

「Cheers, Effa. A toast to Myne’s return and our gratitude to Vantole.」

I asked “How many times have you said that today?” as I lightly tapped my cup with Gunther’s.

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