The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 189

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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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Chapter 189
* * *
By the time our conversation ended and we left the Cafe, it was late afternoon.
Sebelena wanted to see more of the Festival and rushed toward the Town Square. Kalid and I exchanged glances before following her.
An arm-wrestling tournament was in full swing at the Town Square.
“….”
The foreign Princess boldly threw down a challenge in front of a gathering of enormous competitors. And then….
“Oh my, this is so much fun!”
“Ughhhh!”
Thud.
She won.
“The prize money is quite generous!”
“Ughhhh!”
Thud.
She kept winning.
“Really? Again?”
“Ughhhh!”
Thud.
She won so much that the exasperated organizer ended up chasing her away….
“Look, please leave. We don’t accept the strongest competitors. Didn’t you read the notice over there?”
The man pointed to a piece of paper fluttering in the wind on the information tent.
[ To protect the mental well-being of participants, registration is strictly forbidden for those who fall into the following categories:
– Heroes and the Strongest
– Meteoric Rising Prodigies
– (Though it’s unlikely) Mages ]
‘Oh. Father, Kalid, and I are all banned from competing?’
Sebelena pounded her chest indignantly.
“But I’m not a Hero, nor am I a rising prodigy Knight or a Mage?”
“Well, regardless, we can’t accept you! It’s bad for morale, you see.”
“What. How cowardly.”
With a sharp click of her tongue, the Princess descended from the Podium. Yet she had accumulated quite a pile of gold coins.
“Your Highness, you’re incredibly strong.”
I offered my genuine admiration.
Sebelena’s expression turned proud.
“To survive in the Forest, one must build strength. Everything requires that!”
“Wow…. A diligent type….”
Her bronzed skin gleamed healthily in the fiery glow of the sunset.
“Your Highness. Have you built houses from logs? Woven rafts? Carved wooden frames? Butchered wild boars?”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Is that how you become so strong?”
“That’s how it works.”
Sebelena let out a soft chuckle.
A beauty brimming with wild charm and physical prowess….
To be honest, she was rather my type.
“Wow! Look, there’s a play over there! Come on, Nova!”
Sebelena dashed off with spirited energy toward the opposite direction. Nova, the Knight carrying a heap of gold coins on his shoulders, ran after her with a pitiful wail.
“The Princess certainly has a lot of energy.”
I murmured to myself as I watched the two figures disappear into the distance.
Kalid, who had been keeping watch over the surroundings, casually asked.
“What do you think?”
“About the Princess?”
“Yes.”
I walked toward where the Princess had gone and smiled slightly.
“Well, it seems like she’s still hiding something.”
“You think she’s concealing something?”
“Probably. Something feels off. I’d say the Princess’s true purpose isn’t clear.”
She’s helping me because of Second’s request?
Is that really the only reason?
‘If that were the case, she could have just sent an anonymous letter or dispatched someone instead.’
Wouldn’t that have been safer?
Why would she need to come all the way to Babylon just to meet me?
‘Of course, I’m not unaware of the Princess’s desperation to prevent the revival of dark magic. After all, the Princess’s childhood was ruined because of dark magic as well.’
Kalid tilted his head slightly.
“Are you saying the Princess is an enemy?”
“I’m just saying it doesn’t seem right to make such a definitive judgment.”
After a moment of thought, I spoke again.
“Did you notice how many times the Princess got the King’s title wrong during our conversation earlier?”
“His title? Now that you mention it….”
At that moment, a cargo cart passed by us. Kalid pushed me deeper toward the inner side of the street and muttered.
“It seems like she never properly called him ‘Father King.'”
“Right. If she finally found her father but was disappointed by how different he was from her expectations, that would make sense.”
So what the Princess said wasn’t entirely a lie. The King of Casalia really must be secretly supporting the Mage Kingdom.
“They say it’s difficult to fabricate such unconscious behaviors in the first place.”
I myself had suffered greatly because of titles that wouldn’t come out the way I wanted.
“For now, let’s keep an eye on the Princess today.”
I turned back to Kalid.
“It might have been fortunate that you became the Princess’s escort. Staying close to her for surveillance wouldn’t look strange….”
My words came to an abrupt stop.
Wait.
“Staying close to her for surveillance….”
Wait.
“From beside me…. Huh?”
Why couldn’t I finish my sentence?
“Rubian?”
Unable to bear it any longer, Kalid stepped forward.
“So what you’re saying is…. You want me to keep watch over the Princess?”
My footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
“Why. Is there something you want to eat?”
Kalid asked casually. We happened to be near a vendor selling festival food, and delicious aromas wafted through the air, yet for some reason, my appetite had vanished.
‘What is this feeling….’
I quietly clenched my fists.
As the silence stretched on, Kalid turned his entire body toward me and looked down with a penetrating gaze.
“Looking at your expression… it seems I’ve done something wrong again.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look here. You’re clenching your molars right now, aren’t you?”
Saying I’d bite my teeth off, Kalid bought me a seasoned chicken skewer from a nearby stall instead.
‘Honestly, the Princess is so beautiful just from her appearance alone that the entire world grows weary and sticky. She has a charm that makes you want to steal glances even when she’s standing still. If I were to protect her from beside her…. I’d feel it even more acutely, wouldn’t I?’
The corners of my eyes? They rose sharply upward.
Her height seemed to easily surpass Hazel’s, and her jawline was sleek and pointed—combined with her slightly tanned skin, her charm flowed forth like an overflowing sea.
‘A beauty overflowing with maturity….’
I wanted to become like that too….
“But Rubian. I’m curious about something.”
While I was caught in complicated emotions and anguish, Kalid placed a spicy skewer in my other hand and asked.
“Who told you that earlier?”
“Huh?”
What are you talking about?
“You said, ‘It’s difficult to fabricate unconscious actions like that,’ didn’t you?”
“Wow, what a memory.”
“It sounds exactly like you heard it from someone.”
“Ah, that’s obviously….”
I swallowed the skewer and answered.
“Licht. Who else around me would say something like that? That’s why he lives being conscious of every single movement of his fingertips.”
Goodness. I don’t know how he manages to be like that.
Even if I watched him do a backflip, he’d still look like Crown Prince material.
“You two… seem to have become quite close.”
“Well, I suppose so?”
Then Kalid fell silent for a moment, keeping his gaze fixed on the ground and pressing his lips into a straight line.
“…This is unfair.”
“What?”
“I’m frustrated.”
“What?”
His words came out muffled because he was clenching his teeth so hard.
I furrowed my brow silently and held out the skewer I’d been gripping in my other hand.
“Here. I don’t know what’s wrong, but you need to eat one of these too.”
Kalid accepted the skewer with a distinctly indignant expression.
“The seasoning is delicious, isn’t it?”
“…Hmph.”
“Ah, that one’s spicy, so it’ll make you feel hot.”
“….”
Munch, munch.
We walked through the streets in silence, chewing on our skewers.
* * *
“Over here, over here!”
Sebelena waved her hand energetically.
Kalid exhaled a low sigh and glanced to the side.
Beneath the cloak, I could see Rubian’s eyes gleaming brilliantly.
The cheeks that had once been plump now appeared slightly sunken, though I couldn’t quite tell if it was from time passing and the baby fat fading away.
After I navigated through the crowd and moved Rubian to a safer spot, Sebelena spoke as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“It’s a play about ancient Babylon mythology. Do you know about it?”
“Yes, roughly.”
“It’s about a war between a goddess and the first Mage King. The Mage King…well, by ancient standards, the Dragon God cursed the goddess, and the goddess fled from it and met the first Emperor of Babylon.”
“Ah….”
Rubian responded brightly.
“That theory is going to change.”
“Really? Is that so?”
“It wasn’t actually a war story—it was a love story. Our Academy Professor recently excavated an ancient text, you see….”
“Ooh, ooh.”
“They did fight, but they also loved each other. You could call it a failed love story, I suppose….”
“Ooh, ooh, ooh!”
The two of them chattered away with unbridled enthusiasm.
‘Goodness. And here I thought she was supposed to be cautious….’
From her expression alone, she already looked like someone who’d fallen in love with the Princess.
‘Is she really that beautiful?’
That was what I had unconsciously murmured while walking over here.
Kalid knew that ever since Rubian was young, whenever she discovered a woman in book illustrations who had that same quality as Sebelena, she would carefully cut them out and paste them into her diary.
In other words…Rubian had wanted to become like that.
‘Eyes, nose, mouth—they’re all in the right places, I’ll give her that.’
Kalid thought while looking at Sebelena.
As for her limbs, well, they move well enough, so I suppose they’re functional.
But no matter how much I look, what I find more beautiful is….
“Kalid. Do I have something on my face?”
“…No.”
I’m Rubian.

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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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