She and I
Alphage’s Point of View
Reluctantly, I let Curtis carry myself and as I dozed off, I had a dream. A long time ago, when I first met her, she was a young child. A strange child who was not afraid of the Holy Beast.
A rare human being who doesn’t bend over backwards for Aldin to accommodate him. Even adults flattered him, the Crown Prince, but she was not like that at all. She had become the only “equal” for Aldin.
It was only by chance that I really became friends with her, not just on surface. On a whim, I was taking a walk in the garden to relax from my studies, and there she was. She was…
Constructing a trap.
What is this three-year-old… no, I knew it when I saw it. It was a wire trap. It will suspend the victim midair when stepped into.
“What are you doing?”
“Uniya!?”
She screamed like a cat when I called out to her, and when she looked at me, her eyes widened… and she giggled.
“…… I am making a trap.”
Yep, I can see that.
“… Who is that trap for?”
I hope it’s not Aldin. She’s interfering with the work all the time, and although I can’t get angry at her, it’s not like I can just overlook it.
“That piggy-looking official…”
“Ah, then that’s fine.”
I was about to walk away when I lost interest and she called out to me. I was about to tell her that she could trap anyone she wanted except Aldin, but she said something I didn’t expect.
“Alphage-sama.”
“What.”
“… Won’t you watch?”
To be honest, I thought it sounded interesting. In fact, it was refreshing to see a pompous old man… a pretentious noble who was also very sarcastic towards me, panicking.
However, when I met him later, it was hard to hold back my laughter, partly because his wig was off.
“Fuhahaha!”
She smiled serenely as I rolled with laughter after the hateful noble was gone.
“Oh, so you can laugh like that too. It’s better that way. I don’t like your fake smile, it’s unnatural.”
“…… Hah?”
She knew I was not smiling sincerely. Since then, she became my prankster companion and fellow idle complainer.
I was comfortable around her. She doesn’t expect anything from me. I can even act bad around her. I don’t have to wear a “goody two-shoes” skin. She said she’d rather have a naughty smile on her face when she’s misbehaving than a fake, gentle one.
One day, she said to me.
“Alphage-sama, you let the cat out of the bag, haven’t you? Let’s conceal it! You let so much black-heartedness out, you turned pitch black!”
“You don’t mind anyway, do you?”
“Ah~ well… it’s still better than the fake gentle smile.”
See, she doesn’t mind.
She’s a genius, but a peaceful person. For example, for pranks, she creates traps that recognize individuals to trigger them. When I told her it could be used for assassination, she immediately destroyed it. She’s a peaceful person, which is why she says things like Aldin.
“You are kindhearted, Alphage-sama.”
That is not true. You and Aldin are the ones who are kind. Kindhearted people wouldn’t be thinking of assassinations.
“Aniue is kindherated.”
That is not true. I…
“Alphage-sama, you finally started to show your true self.”
That’s… true. There are people who are okay with putting themselves out there. It made me feel at ease. Even Aldin doesn’t hate me when I’m a tease. No matter how mean I was, Ru would stop me, but he wouldn’t draw away from me. And she, she doesn’t hate me when I treat her as I do.
All my life I was surrounded by enemies, and I had to act as a good boy, but she… they changed me. My relationship with Aldin, with her and her brother. And she, she gave me an ally.
Curtis Blanc. He’s someone close to me. He will kill if necessary. But I don’t want Curtis to kill as an assassin. I have heard what happened to Curtis. He’s a mess… but he’s decided to live his life as Curtis, not as an assassin, and I have to respect that.
And Curtis also made a difference to me. I owe my reconciliation with my Mother to Curtis. He’s boisterous and capricious, but he tries to help me… I’m too embarrassed to say it, but I consider him a friend for years, not a subordinate.
I have spent my days bored. I have had a lot of bad days… but now I’m never bored. I’m happy having silly conversations with Curtis, taking care of Aldin, bragging about our younger siblings with Ru, and occasionally playing with her…
I woke up from my nostalgic happy dream and saw the reality. This was the volcano Reyde. It was evening. Curtis and others were getting ready the night camp, when she… Miss Rosarin, said they didn’t have to do it, took out a key… and opened a door that was stuck to a tree that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Inside the door, it was clearly a different space. Sometimes, she throws out the most ridiculous secrets. For example, Yggdrasil. I was surprised by that.
“Miss Rosarin, explain.”
“Gladly!”
The Salvation Saintess… the legacy of a Hero. What’s more, the Beneficiary in her is the niece of the Hero. My head hurt even more when I heard the explanation.
Should we return the Hero’s inheritance to her as a memento? I will have to consult with His Majesty when I return. She mistook my silence for anger and began to cringe nervously. It was funny, so I left her alone for a while, and then I told her about the Hero’s inheritance in Christia, and she pouted. What a busy girl.
The next day, she handed out expensive anti-fire magic tools to everyone. I’m not sure how well it will work, but it’s not a bad thing to have.
We were walking in the mountains again, and since I was slowing them down, Curtis had to carry me from the beginning this time. However, it was a pity that I was the only one being carried, even though I was older than them. I told myself that there was something wrong with Miss Rosarin (no, actually, no 7-year-old can walk like this), and I explained to myself that Jend and Ordo were Beastmen, so there wasn’t anything I could do to match their physical abilities.
I was carried, and we reached the summit at a phenomenal speed.
Then I realized again that Miss Rosarin was a freak. She is smart, but what is really going on here?
Rosarin Rosenberg is truly an unusual young lady.