The Youngest Daughter of the Snake Family - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 19
Once the first hurdle was cleared, everything else came easily.
I did as instructed, covering one eye and calling out the numbers and pictures Hestia pointed to.
“Your vision is perfectly normal. Now, let me have you lie back here and say ‘ah’ for me.”
“Ah.”
“No cavities, and all your teeth are accounted for. My, what adorably round canines you have.”
Hestia, who’d been checking for cavities, gave one of my canines a little tap.
I quickly shut my mouth. Was it all over now?
Waiting for permission to get down, I glanced at Hestia—and she smiled before pressing a piece of chocolate into my palm.
“There you are. You were very brave, so this is your reward.”
“Mm, thank you.”
“After you eat that, you’ll need to brush your teeth right away, won’t you?”
“Airin brush brush every day!”
I broke into a radiant smile.
Lately I’d been eating far less candy and chocolate because of my cavity worries.
Isn’t that every child’s complaint? Something so delicious, yet we can’t have much of it.
I’d have to ration it carefully.
I tucked the chocolate into my trouser pocket. But I’d noticed Rosaria’s expression had grown serious.
“Is it all right that Miss Airin’s canines are blunt? I took a quick look earlier, and her molars seemed quite small too.”
At Rosaria’s earnest question, I dashed to the mirror on the Medical Office desk.
Blunt canines must be a bad thing!
Rising onto my tiptoes and opening my mouth wide, I could indeed see small, rounded canines sitting on either side.
“Miss Airin doesn’t hunt like we do, you know. There’s no need to worry, Rosaria.”
“But canines are a basic requirement.”
“That’s only for Feline Beasts. What we should really be paying attention to is something else entirely.”
“Is there something wrong somewhere?”
Hestia’s eyes had grown more serious than ever.
Rosaria leaned in, cupping her ear to listen.
Watching them both reflected in the mirror behind me, I swallowed hard. Their whispers were barely audible.
“The young lady is less than one meter tall.”
“……I beg your pardon?”
Hestia unfolded her palm.
“She barely spans five of my hand-widths.”
Now they were cooing over my height too!
Hestia made no attempt to hide her excitement.
Rosaria’s eyes widened before she smiled slowly.
It was the sort of look that people with means wore—relaxed and assured.
“Well, I’d already sussed that out. It’s the privilege of serving Miss Airin, isn’t it?”
* * *
Recently, the servants working for the Astropel Family had developed a particular affliction.
The symptoms appeared in various forms, but the cause was always the same.
‘I want to show off the youngest miss to the whole world, but I can’t!’
Unless circumstances were extraordinary, children who couldn’t yet fend for themselves were kept strictly away from public exposure.
It was an ironclad rule of the Astropel Family, where heirs were precious.
Which made the meeting now being held extraordinarily significant.
It would be the historic first moment when Airin was officially revealed to the world.
The servants gathered in the hall deliberated carefully—and then deliberated some more—about the Banquet to be held in spring.
“Should we invite only those clans we’ve formally allied with, as planned?”
“That would be for the best.”
“I confess I’m worried. What if those unsavory types take an interest in Miss Airin?”
Now that I thought about it, that was a fair point.
Here was a long-awaited chance to show off the youngest miss, yet it came with such complications.
The servants fell into troubled silence, one and all.
Every clan the Astropel Family had allied with was dangerously unpredictable.
Just considering the immediate alliances—lions from the Western Plains, jaguars and wolf packs from the Eastern Region, and…….
“Did word come that those from the Northern Region will also be attending?”
Kaid spoke, looking toward Durias.
Durias, who bore overall responsibility for the Family’s external affairs, nodded in agreement.
“Yes, a letter arrived this morning.”
“Why did they suddenly decide to attend?”
Baon asked with reluctance. The Northern Region had already been absent from the Banquet for more than a decade.
Durias gave a slight shrug.
“How would I know what lies in their hearts?”
“But why is the letter in such a state?”
Kaid pointed to the tattered Golden Letter.
“Ah, this. I was briefly tempted to tear it to shreds.”
Durias laughed with a hollow sound, handling the letter wistfully. His expression suggested he was still considering ripping it apart.
The Northern Region’s confirmation of attendance would trigger considerable upheaval.
Families eager to forge ties with them would surely announce their attendance in droves.
The assembled crowd stirred at news of the tigers’ sudden participation—creatures whose true intentions remained unknowable.
The household servants, already frantic with preparations for a Banquet less than a month away, knitted their brows in irritation at this unforeseen complication.
“Baon.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Make certain everything possible is done to ensure Airin’s protection.”
Annual or not, it would be an occasion when Feline Beasts gathered in one place.
It was unlikely that any truly powerful figure would dare make trouble in the Southern Region, but exceptions always existed—so caution could do no harm.
“We shall do our utmost.”
“The thought of Lady Airin moving among all those beasts makes my heart uneasy from the start.”
The others nodded in agreement with Jeras’s words.
They seemed to have forgotten that they themselves were classified as a high-risk contingent.
Kaid laughed as if finding the whole thing absurd.
“It’s only a Banquet being held in the Front Courtyard, after all.”
“That much is true.”
If another family had hosted, Kaid might well have hesitated before sending Airin.
But this year’s Banquet would be held in the Southern Region, where they were established.
“Then should we call in the spare personnel remaining at the Border?”
As the meeting drew to a close, Baon ventured the question carefully. Kaid tilted his head in thought.
“Spare personnel? I don’t recall there being any.”
“There are those, though.”
Baon smiled knowingly. Understanding whom he meant, Kaid’s brow furrowed.
“Those creatures have no interest in anything but the battlefield, do they?”
“Rosaria was no different at first.”
That much was true.
She had already earned a reputation in the Black Mamba Clan as a warmonger—so much so that it seemed unbelievable she was now caring for Airin.
Rosaria, whom they had expected to return quickly, now wished to remain with the family more than anyone.
“Would they not be curious as well? Rosaria has not returned in over two months.”
“It doesn’t sound like a particularly good idea.”
“They must be capable of serving as Lady Airin’s guard. With outsiders converging from all directions, we need that level of defensive barrier.”
“That’s fair enough.”
Kaid tapped the table and signaled his approval. He had some reservations about stationing them at Airin’s side, but there were no guards more reliable than they.
“If those creatures return to the family, there would be no need to organize a separate guard detail.”
* * *
Thump-thump.
Thump.
My gait improved with each passing day.
Thanks to my diligent practice, I could now climb the stairs up and down on my own.
Today as well, I eagerly stomped about exploring the mansion, and my cheeks warmed under the affectionate gazes of those around me.
Everyone seems so interested in me!
Affectionate attention always lifted my spirits.
“Lady Airin, taking a solitary stroll again today, I see?”
“Yes! Now I’m all grown up, so I can walk around by myself.”
I beamed and made a clumsy bow to one of the passing servants, and the area erupted in hearty laughter.
Everyone looks so happy. Then I’m happy too!
I stomped forward with vigor.
Thump! Thump-thump!
“You’re brimming with energy today. What did Rosaria put in this for you this time?”
A cool older sister pointed at my plump Bag of snacks and asked.
Hmm. I don’t actually know yet.
I fiddled with the clasp of the Bag, fitted snugly against my chest so it wouldn’t slip.
“……I need to open it and see what’s inside.”
“Oh, what a shame you can’t see the rest. Here, take this too!”
“Thank you kindly.”
I accepted the heart-shaped glass container and examined it carefully.
It was Candy dusted with glittering powder.
I’d never seen anything like it before!
I tucked it away at once and resumed walking. There was still far to go today.
It had already been several days since I began venturing out on my own.
The manor was absurdly vast—I hadn’t yet seen even half of it.
The places I had managed to visit, I’d only learned about by overhearing the servants’ conversations.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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