This and that happened, and six years had passed. I also had turned 10 years old, and was already fluent in another world’s language. My speech had completely improved; I could now speak clearly, and even reading and writing weren’t a hitch.
I’d also gotten a lot of growth in magic. In addition to daily mana manipulation training, I had also thoroughly learned about the theory of and how to use magic. Even in ‘The Complete Book of Magic,’ which had ‘The Basics,’ ‘The Standard,’ and ‘The Application,’ I had already progressed to the ‘The Application.’ With only about a half left to go, I’d be able to finish ‘The Application,’ and before I knew it, I’d become able to use a lot of magic.
Also, self-study was really hard. Although it couldn’t be helped, as an amateur when it came to magic, Alisa was slightly unreliable, so at first I’d tried to do my best with self-study. However, it was terribly difficult to convert mana into magic.
So when I’d asked my dear mother about it, she’d got surprised that I was already interested in magic. And when I’d showed her I already could write, she’d got even more surprised.
That had ended up disastrously (?) with me being given private tutors, however, it was as to be expected just from anyone employed by a prestigious noble family; unlike some maids, they were all very good at teaching. Well, they were all education professionals and all, so it would be a problem if they weren’t good at it, though.
And then, that some maid Alisa had been highly praised by my parents for discovering my talent and such. Thanks to this, Alisa had been assigned as my personal maid, and it looked like there would be no more reassignment. As for me, it was comforting to have someone I was familiar with by my side.
Now then, in these six years, I had grown considerably. And here was my status.
Eberhard Karlheinz von Flensburg Fahrenheit
Life Force : 351 / 351
Mana : 35,020 / 35,020
Physical Ability : 96
Magic Attribute : —
Inherent Magic : Shock
Inherent Ability : Perseverance Makes One Stronger
Overall, my status had greatly improved; especially so for Life Force and Physical Ability. A four year old to a ten year old kid. The development from a kid in a kindergarten to an elementary school was huge. At least, my resistance to colds and injuries had definitely improved. It seemed I wouldn’t have to be afraid of the high mortality rate of babies and young children anymore, which was a factor in greatly lowering life expectancy in the Middle Ages. Though, since my family was a noble family, we had a considerable advantage in terms of hygiene, medical care, food, and other things compared to common peasants, so the risk of death was much better, though.
My Mana had also improved considerably. I had been training everyday in these six years, so it’d be strange if it hadn’t improved. The amount was already nine times that of my father. If I hadn’t habitually hidden it with mana manipulation, the pressure of the mana leaking out of my body alone would soon be enough to make even ordinary people with low ability to sense mana uncomfortable. But it looked like my parents had already found out about it, though. It wasn’t like both of them had a great mana. They seemed to be remarkable mages—it seemed to be what they called a magician in this world—, and seemed to be able to faintly see through my hidden talent.
That was not all that had changed in these six years. Lo and behold, I got a little brother and sister!
When I’d imagined that dad and mom were no doubt going at it every night since they were still young and all, sure enough, those two had popped out. I’d been five years old when my little brother was born, and seven years old when my little sister was born. My little brother was now five years old, and my little sister was three years old. Since there was also an older sister two years above me, now this made us four siblings. I had a feeling that this was a small number for this time period, but yeah, I supposed it wouldn’t be weird if another two or three were born. Actually they would definitely be born. Why would my parents even bother giving their very young children their own room, while my parents got their own separate bedroom? It need not be said!
And such, as I was thinking about our bright family planning, there was a knock on my door. Right now I was in the middle of my self-study. I was just immersing myself in my study break. Maybe the private tutor has arrived? There shouldn’t be any plan for a lesson today, though.
“Har-sama, are you in here?”
It was Alisa’s voice.
“Yep, I’m here. Come in.”
“Please excuse me.”
Clack—the door opened and Alisa walked in. Six years had passed since then. Alisa as well, who had been a bit too young in those days, was now a fully mature woman. Perhaps a little older than 20. When I’d tried to ask her age before, she’d ended up sidestepping it, so I had no idea of her exact age. Around 22 years old maybe?
“The lunch is ready, so I have come to call you. Also, the Master and Madam are looking for you. I believe they would like to have a talk with you after lunch.”
“A talk? I wonder what it is. Maybe the back garden prank was found out?”
“No, they didn’t seem to be angry, so I don’t think it would be to scold you… Actually, what’s with the back garden prank; it is us servants who will have to clean it up!”
“I’m calling it a prank, but it’s not anything bad, you know? I just opened up a big hole from some magic practice.”
“It’s a big enough problem! It’s dangerous, so please don’t be too reckless.”
“Nnn, I will make every effort to.”
“Goodness, I don’t see any sign of remorse at all…”
“That aside, it’s meal time. I’m starving.”
“Yes, let us go.”
As expected of a Margrave House, the meal standard was also high; the quality was even enough to satisfy me, who was familiar with the globally highly regarded gourmet food of present day Japan. Thanks to this, I would always look forward to meal time every day and praise the cooks each time I was done eating. But apparently, this was a motivating factor for them, and I was very satisfied that the taste of the food was improving day by day.
I went down the stairs—the location of my room had also changed in these six years; now it was on the second floor—, walked down the corridor, and headed for the dining room. There were my parents, older sister, younger brother, and younger sister in the dining room; the whole family was there except me, and apparently I was the last one.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
“No, don’t mind it,” said my dad, the current head of the House of Margrave Fahrenheit; Karlheinz Claus von Fahrenheit. He certainly didn’t feel imposing. He was the same old dignified, yet somewhat gentle dad.
“Now then, our gratitude to nature.”
“““““Our gratitude to nature.”””””
This was like the ‘thank you for the mealitadakimasu’ in Japan. In this country rich in nature, it was customary to give our gratitude to nature before a meal.
The main dish for today’s lunch was stewed mountain bird caught in our territory, and fluffy bread baked with fine quality wheat also harvested in our territory. For the side dish, there was a salad that looked like you’d find in a fancy restaurant, and several slices of what looked like roast beef—it was not strictly beef because it was not a cow; but an animal that looked like a cow; even if they got iron horns!
To have these kinda dishes just for lunch, being a noble is the best~!
After the very delicious lunch, I was having an after lunch tea break where dad suddenly spoke up. “Eberhard.”
“Wh-what is it?”
He doesn’t look angry, but it makes me a bit nervous when getting called out so formally like this, doesn’t it.
“There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Someone you want me to meet?”
“Yeah, I want you to… Or rather, someone I want you to be friends with, I guess.”
“Friends…?”
For me who hadn’t had anyone that close to me in my previous life, I got a certain amount of yearning for the word ‘friend.’ It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted to have friends. Just, I hadn’t got the time to.
“As you also already know, our House of Margrave Fahrenheit is a prestigious noble house, which is entrusted with the protection of the northern part of the Heiland Empire.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
In addition to the usual five peerages of Baron, Viscount, Marquis, and Duke, there was another one called Margrave in the Empire—there were another two, strictly speaking; there were the peerage of ‘Knight’ and ‘Semi-Baron,’ but these got a slightly different nature from that of an ordinary nobility, so I’d skip them for now.
A margrave was treated as the same rank as a marquis, but as probably could be guessed, the role was somewhat different from that of other nobles.
The territory of a margrave house was literally on the frontier of the Empire. It was a prestigious military noble family that was heavily trusted by the Emperor, and entrusted with the defending of the Empire on the front lines against threats coming from the four cardinal directions; east, west, north, and south. That was the peerage of a margrave.
And then, our House of Margrave Fahrenheit had been entrusted with the defense of the north; even among the margrave houses called The Four Generals, we had assumed the strongest and famous status known as the North General. In the north of the House of Margrave Fahrenheit’s territory was the Great Mountain Range, and from the foot of the Great Mountain Range in the north to the northeast was a danger zone called the Demon Forest, and in the east was the border line with the Dukedom Confederation; and we were always ready for their threats and protecting the Empire—by the way, there was another country in the southeast, which was guarded by the East General.
And that Margrave House of ours, as had been mentioned earlier, possessed a considerably high family status even among nobles in the Empire. As such, we had various socialization and trades to do. In addition to having the character as a military officer, we must also behave as a civil official. In that sense, being a leading noble was also not easy.
“From the looks of it, you look like you have some idea, but I’ll tell you just in case. This time, the person you will meet is someone who may become your fiancée in the future.”
“Fiancée?”
I didn’t see that coming. I’d thought it would surely be a hostage situation like the relationship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Actually when I thought about it calmly, the political affairs in the Empire were quite stable, so there shouldn’t be any frequent dangerous thing happening like hostage bargaining in the first place. The situation was completely different from that of Japan during the Warring States period.
“Be surprised, she is from a duke’s house! She is not entitled to the throne because she was demoted, but she is a member of the imperial family by blood. She is the eldest daughter of the previous His Highness the Emperor’s younger brother’s family lineage, and she is the same age as you. This occasion, I’m happy to say that we are in the process of discussing the engagement.”
The scale was big. In Japan, this was like being told that I would be a relative of the imperial family.
“Hahaha, so even you are that surprised, huh. Well, no worries. His Excellency the Duke is a gentle man. And I also heard the girl you’re going to get engaged to is a good girl and cute, though a tomboy. I’m sure you must be interested, too.”
“Uh-uhuh.”
“What, are you nervous?”
‘Course I am! I never once got something like a girlfriend even once, including my previous life after all. The fact that I’ve got the memories of my unsatisfying previous life makes it all the more sad it hurts. I’m gonna be troubled if you expect things like communication skills from a complete virgin.
“If I get disliked for being rude to the girl, don’t disown me, okay…”
“Disown? Fuhahahah, that’s really rare, seeing you so lacking in confidence.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Hal-kun. You look like your dad and are very handsome after all.”
“Teresia… You’re making me blush.”
“Dear…”
“Mom…”
Geez this lovey-dovey couple, they got the nerve to get all lovey-dovey without a care even in front of their kids; it’s making me tired. It ain’t good for enrichment education!
…No, maintaining a good marital relationship and setting an example of being honest in expressing love and affection will help with the formation of an open-minded character… It’s not like there isn’t such an aspect to it, so it can’t be totally denied, though…
It’s just, setting aside my still mentally young brother and sisters, it’s a bit too sweet for the mentally adult me and giving me heartburn. It’s not a bad thing, okay. But do it in moderation!
“When’s that girl gonna come?”
“It’s tomorrow.”
“That’s just too sudden…”
“Not really, the plan itself has been arranged quite some time ago. It’s just, it’s not fixed yet, so it’s not even certain when it might get called off. And given the situation, I couldn’t let you get any faint expectation, so I didn’t tell you.”
I was grateful for the consideration, but I would like to have a bit more time to prepare my heart.
“Therefore, I have prepared a fitting clothing for you, Hal-sama; so let us try it after this.”
In the right timing, Alisa, who was standing by in the background, barged in. Damn, so this means you’re not gonna let me off no matter what, huh.
“Mm-hmm, come to the salon after you change. Go show it to your siblings as well.”
“I’m also looking forward to it~!”
While being seen off by my doting, or rather, as bubbly as ever mother, I was taken by Alisa to change my clothes.
By the way, the clothes that Alisa and the other servants had brought in were very fashionable, and I personally liked them very much. This was certainly a handsome boy. Being popular would be inevitable. It was also very well received by my siblings.
＊
The next day. After eating breakfast and dressing up with Alisa’s help, I was standing by the front door. The time was about ten in the morning. If they had departed the neighboring inn town early in the morning, they should’ve arrived at the castle town right about now.
“Hmm? Looks like they’ve arrived,” my dad muttered next to me.
From the gate of the vast garden, I could see a magnificent carriage slowly approaching, pulled by splendid white horses.
“Although friendly, the other party is of higher rank duke. Make sure not to be disrespectful. Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine, though.”
“I’ll be careful.”
I was already well-versed in fine etiquette as part of my noble education, and when it came to attentiveness, my mental age was also that of an adult so I could handle it without a problem. It would be difficult to give an incredible reception like the professionals in the hospitality industry, but a degree of formal interpersonal skills should do fine..
The carriage came upto in front of us and stopped. The coachman alighted first and opened the carriage’s door. First, a gentleman around his late thirties came down from the inside, followed by a girl about my age—in fact, we seemed to be the same age.
I received a shock. How should I put it; I indeed got shocked often, but I doubted I’d ever had that much in all my life. That was just how big the shock was.
An elegantly designed dress with white frills. Bright brown, cute leather shoes. White porcelain skin like a bisque doll. Blonde hair with gentle curves, shining like a rainbow bathed in sunlight. Eyes like see-through blue glass marbles.
I stood there like an idiot, having the greeting I had prepared completely blown away out of my head while thinking such a thing like: probably, this is what they call a fateful meeting I suppose.
“Hello. Nice to meet you.”
In my dazed head, I thought: hey, ain’t she a real princess…
TL notes:
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