Chapter 38

The reason Lily secretly came to hold the cloak in her hands was partly because it was light, and also because it sparkled and was pretty.

Lily liked the cloak so much that she wore it and went around the village by herself, learning many secrets.

To young Lily, the world’s secrets were roughly as follows.

That Hassen from the fruit shop and Luth from the vigilante corps had gotten into a big fight and become enemies because of the woman they liked-Ethea.

That on the day of Gin’s birthday party, in the storage room, when her mother, Solei, was trying to lift a heavy box, the magician Seisil helped her lift it, and their hands touched, and then both their faces turned bright red.

And that today, His Majesty the Emperor had made an astonishing confession to the sleeping Gin.

‘You are precious. Because you are the only one in this world, the son of me and Etty.’

If she picked out only the important things, that was about it.

Lily tried not to pay attention to it.

Especially Hassen from the fruit shop and Luth from the vigilante corps were foolish old men who got jealous as though Ethea were already their sweetheart, without even knowing how she felt.

They were too annoying to even care about.

It was not a big deal either that the magician and her mother had both blushed.

Lily liked that magician.

If that magician became her mother’s pretty friend, Lily would be endlessly grateful.

But…….

“His Majesty is Gin’s father.”

That alone, she absolutely could not ignore.

She had thought her childhood friend had no father, but in fact he did, and that father was none other than His Majesty the Emperor!

No wonder it had been so surprising lately that chances had arisen to see His Majesty the Emperor.

To ordinary adults, the Emperor would simply be the head of the Empire, the greatest power on the continent.

But to Lily, who was still only a little child, the Emperor was the center of the world, in other words, the boss of the universe.

“Wow! Th-this is…… th-this is…….”

After reverently putting away the invisibility cloak in her home’s storage room, Lily went inside the house.

As it happened, Solei was diligently making something while holding a piece of wood in the woodworking shop.

It was a wooden wish doll she was making out of hope that Gin’s pain would turn out to be nothing serious.

Hearing her daughter approach, Solei kept her eyes fixed on the block of wood and asked,

“You’re back. You were so quiet-where were you and what were you doing?”

With a face half-drained of spirit, Lily poked Solei in the side over and over with her tiny pinky finger.

It was only at that silent poking that Solei finally looked down at her daughter.

“Oh my, Lily. Why do you look so blank?”

“Mom, Mom.”

“Yes?”

Lily slowly raised her eyes and looked at her mother.

“You know.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Gin has a f-f-father. He has a fatherrr.”

“What?”

What in the world was this child suddenly talking about?

Was there such a thing as being born without a father?

Well, monsters or some unfamiliar creatures were sometimes born without fathers.

Had the identity of who Gin’s father was perhaps been revealed?

Solei wondered why Lily was saying such strange things with such a dazed expression.

Could it be that while Gin was sick, he had mumbled something in his sleep about his father?

Shaking her head, Lily explained it clearly to her mother.

“Nooo…… Mommm. Gin has the strongest father in the universsse…….”

“The…… strongest in the universe?”

＊  ＊  ＊

When Gin’s pain stopped as if by a lie, Ethea gave thanks to the heavens.

Seeing the child smile brightly and have a small, ordinary conversation with Lyle, she could believe those words.

Seisil was relieved as well.

“To think that the treatment I suggested just in case would actually work-I feel as though I’ve witnessed a miracle. I’ll have to put this matter in a book I write far in the future. Ah, of course, your anonymity will be guaranteed.”

As though moved, Seisil spoke while gripping Lyle’s arm firmly.

Ethea served them tea.

And she did not forget to thank both of them.

“Thank you. I’ll never forget this kindness.”

Seisil answered first.

“If a magician or an alchemist doesn’t step in for something like this, then when exactly are they supposed to? Please don’t thank me. I merely did what was only natural.”

Ethea smiled quietly.

She could feel the sincerity in his words.

Was this just her imagination?

She even felt a little ashamed of herself for always trying to see him only negatively.

“By the way, the fragrance of this tea is excellent. Judging by the tea leaves, it seems you roasted them yourself at home.”

“Yes. As you know, there are many things in this village that can be made into tea, so it became a small hobby of mine in its own way.”

Seisil gave her a firm thumbs-up.

“That’s wonderful. Well then, now that I’ve finished my tea……”

As he said that, Seisil approached Gin.

Then he embraced him as if he were looking at a sweet and adorable little boy, and gave his fluffy hair a brief kiss.

“Now that the little patient is all better too, I should be going. Ah, right, please take this.”

Seisil took out several palm-sized cards from the inner pocket of his robe and handed them over.

Ethea accepted them.

“What are all these?”

“They are summoning cards. They’re similar to the scrolls magicians commonly make. A little simpler and easier. If something like today happens again, please fold one of these in half twice. Then whether alone or with His Majesty, I will definitely come running.”

The hand holding the summoning cards trembled.

She had heard that magicians’ scrolls were terribly expensive, but this seemed even easier to use than those, which made it feel like it ought to be even more expensive-was it really all right for him to hand over several of them so casually?

Ethea asked worriedly,

“But this…… isn’t it very expensive? I feel a little burdened accepting it.”

At that, Seisil waved his hands dismissively and answered as if such worries were needless.

“You really do worry over everything. It all comes from His Majesty’s purse anyway, so you don’t need to feel so burdened toward me.”

Isn’t that right, my friend?

As if saying that, Seisil looked at Lyle.

But Lyle’s eyes were not on Seisil.

For some time now, his gaze had been directed only at Ethea.

Under that heavy gaze she could not understand, she grew self-conscious.

Seisil also saw Lyle’s eyes, then shook his head with a smile and rose to his feet.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way now. It seems I should go tell SoliSoliSolei as well that Gin is safe. Goodbye, then……”

“Ah, farewell. Sir Lint.”

“I told you to call me Seisil. Come to think of it, weren’t we probably the same age too? Haha.”

Like the wind, he left for Solei.