The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 96

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

Chapter 96
“How am I supposed to manage this….”
Father rose slowly to his feet.
“The kidnapping happened not long ago. Everyone’s being far too careless. Wouldn’t you say?”
Mother also murmured with a distinctly chilled expression.
“Then go. Lebi.”
“Okay.”
At Mother’s cryptic farewell, Father vanished in a gust of wind. I blinked rapidly.
“Father…. Where are you going?”
“To coordinate…. To align things.”
“Huh?”
“Opinions. It seems he just thought of something to discuss with the Emperor.”
“Ah.”
I see. Well, that could happen.
But somehow….
‘Emperor, fighting spirit!’
I found myself oddly wanting to cheer for the Emperor….
* * *
Rosetta headed to the Hot Spring with Rubian. A warm soak in the hot spring while watching the sunset with her daughter seemed like it would be absolutely blissful.
Rubian had been absolutely remarkable today.
She’d boldly stamped her participation in the Maze Competition, then rushed through the Garden with the force of a whirlwind and was the first to throw open the exit door.
‘Everyone said the Fourth Prince would win.’
Of course, I believed in my daughter!
“Oh, how impressive!”
Rosetta hugged Rubian’s head tightly and planted kisses on her cheeks. Rubian squirmed and blushed with embarrassment.
But seeing the badge she kept clutching to her chest, it was clear she was quite proud of herself too.
“Now then, shall we change?”
“Yes!”
Upon arriving at the Hot Spring, she pulled back the changing curtain set up on one side. The Maids assisting with dressing had already arrived and were preparing.
Rubian followed cheerfully and began to undress when she suddenly stopped.
“Um, Mother….”
“What?”
The child clutched her clothes tightly and stepped back hesitantly. She seemed oddly anxious.
“What’s wrong? Rubian.”
“I… need the restroom….”
Rosetta’s brow furrowed.
“Does your stomach hurt? Did you overexert yourself today? Let me see. Your mother will….”
“No! I really do need to use the restroom!”
Rubian turned away sharply. Rosetta couldn’t approach further and raised her eyebrows.
“I’ll go use the restroom at the Mansion!”
“What? There’s one nearby too….”
Whoosh. Rubian vanished before I could even finish speaking. I let out a soft sigh and shook my head.
She does that sometimes.
Like she’s being chased by something.
Like she’s hiding something….
“Wait a moment.”
Rosetta lifted her head.
Could she have been injured in the Competition earlier?
The wounds on the child’s body flashed through my mind. Seeing them, Rosetta had wept without thinking. At that moment, Rubian had looked so apologetic….
So perhaps she was holding back her words out of concern?
Suddenly, I felt deeply worried.
“Children, I’m going to follow Rubian for a moment.”
“Yes.”
Rosetta quickened her pace.
I walked briskly along the narrow shortcut path leading to the Zebert Mansion, when suddenly a silver head caught my eye.
Rosetta was utterly startled.
“Rubian! Did you fall?”
“Oh, you scared me….”
The child quickly turned around. Having apparently mistepped somewhere, Rubian had been crouching behind the grass, and now she yanked her clothes down and sprang to her feet.
“Let me see.”
“No, I’m fine!”
Though Rubian insisted she was fine, Rosetta examined her daughter’s body carefully.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any wounds.
“What were you doing here?”
“I just remembered… there’s a restroom near the hot spring too, so I was going back.”
The child smiled sheepishly. Rosetta felt the tension drain from her shoulders.
“That’s right. You should have listened to what Mother was saying before running off.”
“I’m sorry.”
The child apologized dejectedly. Rosetta took Rubian’s hand firmly and headed toward the hot spring.
“I want to get in quickly!”
Rubian seemed excited again.
“Can I go into the pink hot spring?”
“Of course.”
“Yay!”
Hmm, perhaps I was mistaken.
Rosetta smiled and gazed forward.
She had a rather colorful and eventful past.
It would be tedious to recount every detail, but the point was that through various experiences, she had developed exceptional dynamic visual acuity and other skills.
‘Before she pulled her clothes down… wasn’t there something like a mark?’
A mark? A pattern?
It was as if it had vanished in an instant.
‘Something… it looked like a tree shape.’
Rosetta narrowed her eyes slightly. Since she was planning to enter the hot spring with the child anyway, she decided she’d check again later.
‘Ah, I must have been mistaken.’
And the suspicion quickly faded away.
When the child undressed and she looked again, the area below her back was simply pale and smooth.
She attributed what she’d seen to a tree shadow cast by the sunset. If it were anything else, it couldn’t have disappeared so suddenly.
Phew. I exhaled in relief.
‘I forgot to conceal the mark…’
In that maze, I had been struck by a nullification spell. It was magic that dissolved every magical device layered upon my body.
Naturally, the magical veil concealing the mark on my lower back must have been stripped away as well.
And ridiculously, I’d forgotten to reapply it.
‘I can’t afford to lose focus.’
I steeled myself once more.
The Tracking Mage was still in Ipson.
Just like in that maze, she could find me again at any moment without warning.
The thought made my hands and feet go cold again, my expression hardening. Truth be told, it had been that way since earlier at the mansion.
It was a small mercy that Father and Mother seemed to think I was simply exhausted from the competition.
I concealed my anxious, unsettled heart and sank deeply into the warm hot spring.
As bubbles gurgled around me, I glanced up at Rosetta, who had settled beside me.
‘That really startled me earlier.’
Mother had suddenly appeared while I was trying to discreetly tend to the mark in the grass, and I was genuinely shocked.
Fortunately, my magic activated quickly enough that I wasn’t discovered.
‘But…’
I lifted my lips from the water’s surface and pondered.
‘Hasn’t the mark grown a bit larger?’
It seemed like the branches had extended slightly.
Or was it just my imagination…
I’d never even heard of a mark that grows.
Yet in that moment, quite unexpectedly, the mark of the mage from my dream came to mind. The branches of the World Tree that had been faintly visible on her slender forearm.
‘Huh? Why suddenly?’
I tilted my head in confusion. Perhaps I was overthinking the mark…
“Rubian, let’s eat spicy stew!”
Then, Rosetta’s bright face suddenly intruded.
I jolted from my reverie and nodded vigorously. If I showed any more of this withdrawn demeanor, Mother might sense something was amiss.
“Wow, hot spring cuisine!”
I rose with a broad smile. My shadow stretched long in the sunset’s glow.
‘Ah.’
As I took Rosetta’s hand and walked, I thought dimly.
‘Perhaps the mark didn’t grow at all…’
Perhaps I’d simply misread the shadow stretching across my back.
* * *
The following evening.
At last, the day of the Competition’s awards ceremony and celebration had arrived.
My mother Rosetta burst into my room that afternoon, throwing herself into the task of preparing me with fervent enthusiasm.
“Do we really need to go this far?”
“This is your first banquet, of course you need to look absolutely adorable. And you’re the overall champion of the New Leaf Festival, no less!”
“Ugh.”
My body twisted uncomfortably of its own accord.
That was right.
Earlier, an Attendant from the Imperial Palace had visited and subtly informed me that based on the total star sticker count, I had secured first place overall.
What do I do? First place in my very first competition.
It had actually happened.
“I never expected to actually win first place… This is all thanks to your support, and I wish to share this honor with my family…”
“Right. Save your acceptance speech for when we get there! We need to hurry with preparations. Hazel!”
“Yes. I have been awaiting your call.”
Soon Hazel and the maids filed in like a string of pearls. I was reborn as Rubian once more—scrubbed clean and polished, draped in layers of finery.
This time I wore a pale yellow striped children’s dress.
Once again, a terrible heart ailment swept through the Duke’s Residence. Only after Borbel, the Northern Region’s renowned physician, rushed about frantically could we finally depart for the Banquet Hall.
As we rode in an open carriage, the dusky twilight scenery rushed past us.
‘The awards ceremony. And the evening banquet!’
I felt a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.
‘I just hope nothing exhausting happens.’
Ugh.
I fidgeted with the pale rose-colored cloth covering my mouth.

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