Chapter 172: Arrival
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam
Normally, at times like this I would properly say, “Leth go.” But this six-year-old boy, Lawk, doesn’t listen to what I say at all. Knowing that it was useless to say it to him, I let him catch me like I was dead fish.
“Prince Nico is here too! Let’s get out of this stuffy place and play outside!”
“Lawk-dono. I don’t mind playing outside. But you have to let go of Lei first. We have to take care of the young ones.”
“Huh? Why?”
Don’t ask why. I became more sluggish. Do children from Farland not understand words?
“Don’t ask why. Isn’t it sore for Lei?”
Lawk probably looked at the caught me when he heard Prince Nico say this, but all I can see is the hand around my stomach.
“Because this girl will run away straight away, right?”
“She runs away because she doesn’t like it. And it’s not this girl. You should call her Lei.”
A three-year-old treating a six-year-old like this. I feel like Kingdom has a bright future.
“Tsk. Fine.”
Thank G.o.d. I tottered over to Hans since Lawk let go of me. Hans picked me up so that I wouldn’t be caught again. Honestly, my guard shouldn’t be holding onto me because they had their hands full, but in this case, it was the only way to protect me from Lawk.
“Hmph. Annoying.”
“Lei-sama, I can hear what you’re thinking. Pretend to be a baby, pretend to be a baby.”
“Hansh. Lei ish a baby.”
“So you are.”
That’s not what you’re supposed to say. The people around me don’t do much because they think I’m having fun, so it’s really tiring.
“Lei-sama, you only have smart people around you like Prince Nico. This is a life experience.”
“Ith’sh noth an experience,” I mumbled under Hans’s chin.
“But you’re getting what you deserve too. You were so into it because you were taught a fun game.”
“Hmph.”
I sighed and remembered our first meeting.
We went through a lot before we left Earl Coulter’s mansion, and I had a lot of fun riding the Rug Dragon to Ojii-sama’s mansion. Prince Albert became a little more honest and he seemed to enjoy playing and talking to Nico during breaks. Above all, I’m glad Nico looked like he was having fun.
Won’t you miss having Nico taken away from you, you ask? I had Nii-sama, so I didn’t mind at all. Nii-sama usually stayed in the dormitory, so I can only be with him on the weekends, but I made some reason to be with him and it was fun even if we weren’t doing anything. I don’t mind if we just sing and dance. Family is a good thing.
“Hmm, hmm, hmmm.”
“What is this strange movement,” Gill looked at me and mumbled, but isn’t he being rude? I did my best to explain it to him.
“Fun feewing.” (Fun feeling)
“Fun feeling.”
“We’re nearwy ath Ojii-syama’s mans.h.i.+on.” (We’re nearly at Ojii-sama’s mansion)
“Earl Neville’s mansion?”
That was why I showed it with this fun dance. Gill crossed his arms and tilted his head.
“It’s a lovely dance filled with Lei’s feelings.”
“Is there something wrong with your eyes?”
Compared to Nii-sama’s smile, Gill was a failure. I looked at him with pity.
“Why are you looking at me like I’m the dumbest person around just because I don’t understand your weird dance? I don’t understand.”
“Isn’t it because you’re not knowledgeable enough?”
“Why?”
It’s fine as long as Nii-sama is smiling.
But, a fast dragon, instead of a fast horse, arrived from the mansion before we arrived at Ojii-sama’s mansion. They delivered a message that stated that unexpected guests had arrived from Farland.
Honestly, I underestimated the situation. No one bothered me when I was in a n.o.ble’s mansion last time, and the youngest was six-years-old. While Nii-sama and Gill were being sociable and everyone was interacting with each other, I thought I would get someone to show me something with Okaa-sama on it. I’m sure they have portraits of her here.
I got off the dragon and went into the carriage since I couldn’t appear on a dragon at the mansion.
“Are dere picthures of Okaa-syama?” (Are there pictures of Okaa-sama)
“I think I saw several on display when I came here last time. Especially the picture you could see clearly from the staircase, we’ll go look at it first.”
“I woow forward tho ith.” (I look forward to it)
What does Okaa-sama look like?
“It’s a picture of her holding flowers and smiling. You really look like her even though her eyes and hair are a different colour.”
Nii-sama squinted his eyes and looked off into the distance.
“Indeed. She looked very fleeting in that picture holding a bundle of early spring white-bellied cypress, but it’s strange how she now looks naughty once you look at it after seeing Lei.”
Come to think of it, didn’t Gill also come to Ojii-sama’s mansion last summer? But still, isn’t that comment rude?
While we were talking about such things, the carriage eventually approached a mansion in the middle of the prairie. Looking closely, I could see four towers of some sort standing at equidistant intervals from the mansion. There seemed to be a town in front of those towers.
“Nii-syama, whath’sh thhath?”
“I’m surprised you can see them. They appear to be watchtowers. They were made to watch over the distance since it’s impossible to build an enclosure on the prairie. Even now, people take turns to guard all directions.”
That’s cool. There was one wide street leading from the entrance of the town to the mansion. The road was neatly laid out like a grid. There were a lot of houses on both sides, and a lot of people too.
“This is the centre of town. It’s not as lively as the royal capital, but it’s still lively.”
“It’s because Farland is the transit point for trade.”
Nii-sama and Gill went out of their way to explain this to help me understand.
“We’re in a hurry right now, but there will be a parade to introduce us to the people while we’re here. Aside from us, it’s rare for the royal family to visit, even if it is unofficial.”
Nico really has it tough, I thought as if it was someone else’s problem.
We pa.s.sed through town, and there was a front yard which looked like a courtyard. Ojii-sama’s mansion was there.
“Big.”
“It’s not much different from ours, no it’s bigger than ours.”
“It was probably built to protect the fief on the northern border.”
I’ll probably learn about Kingdom’s history when I get a little bigger. It seems like there’s a lot of history to learn.
Then, Nii-sama got off the carriage and helped me down. People who lived in the mansion, and those who lived in Farland were there to greet us.