Chapter 6: Before the Wedding ⑤ ~Chronos and the Teacher~

Looking out the window, Chronos saw raindrops beginning to fall, one by one.

Remembering that Aria, who had become his mother, said she was heading to the mines, he felt uneasy and wondered if she would be all right.

Edel had once told him that heavy rain in the mountains could cause landslides and be dangerous.

“Professor Rudolf, what kind of place is the Harte Mine?”

“The Harte Mine?
Ah, you mean where Aria is right now.”

The teacher who mainly taught Chronos about the clan’s history and the Empire’s history was a man who was Aria’s uncle, making him Chronos’s great-uncle as well.

In his youth, he had taught at a school in the imperial capital of Escala, and after returning to the borderlands, he now served as someone who passed down the clan’s history.

“That place has been one of our country’s main gemstone mines since before the Empire existed.
There have been many wars over the mine in the past.
Originally, the Lordknight family was the clan that discovered that mine, and the armed group they organized to guard it became the borderland army, which eventually grew large enough to form a nation.
That nation later merged with the neighboring Twilight Kingdom to form the Eelshahar Empire.”

When Rudolf said “our country,” he was referring to the former Lordknight Kingdom, which became the foundation of the Border Marquis family.

The current Border Marquis family corresponds to the royal family of the old Lordknight Kingdom, which is why the Emperor and the Border Marquis are said to be equals.

“The two royal houses are equal in every sense.
Lordknight rules the borderlands as a king, using military might to protect the Empire from magical beasts and foreign threats, while Twilight rules as the public king, governing the nation as a whole.
That is the ancient pact, but many young people these days mistakenly believe that the imperial capital of Escala is everything.”

Since the center of governance is concentrated in Escala, many nobles who have lived there for generations look down on the borderlands.

They do not even try to learn the history behind why Aria is called the Empress of the Borderlands.

Many even believe that the Border Marquis family should bow its head to the Emperor.

Foolish.

The Border Marquis has never bowed to the Emperor.

When the Emperor and the Border Marquis attend an official event together, the seat prepared for the Border Marquis is a throne placed beside the Emperor.

Many mistake it for the seat of the Empress Consort, but the two thrones in the castle of Escala are seats meant for two kings.

However, since the Border Marquis has not attended official events alongside the Emperor for many years, it is secretly called the empty throne.

Before long, rumors spread that only the true Empress Consort could sit on that throne, and successive empresses apparently clung to the Emperor, trying to obtain permission to sit there.

Naturally, the Emperor, who understood the meaning of the throne, never granted such permission.

It seems that during empress education, they are never taught why the title is “queen” rather than “empress,” which could also be considered part of the central government’s arrogance.

“The Harte Mine itself isn’t home to particularly dangerous magical beasts, and aside from being riddled with tunnels from long years of mining, it’s a safe mountain.
The town at its base is bustling with merchants seeking gemstones and jewel craftsmen, so if you get the chance, you should visit it sometime.”

“Doesn’t a mountain full of holes like the Harte Mine collapse when it rains?”

“Ah, I see.
You were worried about Aria.
It’s fine.
Since it’s a gemstone mine, the ground is very solid.
Rain at this level won’t faze it at all.”

What a kind child.

It was hard to believe he was that woman’s son.

It might have been his natural disposition, but it was likely also the influence of Edel, with whom he had lived together for the past year.

Edel himself was a strange young man.

Having traveled constantly, he possessed abundant practical knowledge that could never be learned from books, making him endlessly interesting to talk to.

And somehow… he saw his surroundings far too clearly.

At times, Rudolf even felt that Edel viewed himself as just another piece on a game board.

For the sake of keeping things running smoothly, he would even cross-dress for the wedding without hesitation.

If Aria and Chronos could become his anchor, that would be ideal.

Rudolf let out a small sigh.

There was no point in thinking about it now.

Pulling himself together, he continued telling Chronos about the history of the Harte Mine.

“Many of the highest-grade crowns and necklaces currently owned by the imperial family were produced from the Harte Mine.
Every noble house wants it desperately, but since the Border Marquis guards it, no one can lay a hand on it.
Oh, and in the past, there was even an emperor who tried to make unreasonable demands, saying things like ‘Just hand over the Harte Mine.’
There are records showing he was swiftly stripped of his position and confined somewhere.”

…It was immediately clear which house was responsible.

As expected of the Border Marquis family.

They seemed to follow a principle of buying any provocation at more than double the price.

Will I have to get used to that as well?

For just a moment, the boy who would one day be called the Demon King in the future shuddered.

Would he really be able to do such things to protect the Border Marquis family?

“Chronos, the borderlands are not everything, but one day you will be a king who rules this land.
Every king before you guided this borderland while hesitating and believing that their choices were the best they could make at the time.
Aria, too, continues to rule while struggling with many worries.
Well, I won’t tell you to decide everything as instantly as Aria does, but there will be times when you must make judgments quickly.
For those decisions, knowledge is essential.
Learn thoroughly and experience many things.”

“Yes, Professor.
Um… did you teach m-my… Mother as well?”

Good.

He had managed to call Aria “Mother” even when speaking to someone else.

He had succeeded in calling her that before she left for the Harte Mine, albeit in an extremely small voice, but he had still felt embarrassed saying it in front of others.

Now that he had done it once, he felt that when Aria returned, he could say it more confidently.

“No, at that time I was in the imperial capital of Escala, so I did not teach Aria.
Her teacher was likely the Border Marquis of that era.”

“Professor, you’re my great-uncle, right?
I don’t really understand how we’re related by blood…”

Aria and Chronos’s mother were not related by blood, and Chronos’s biological father was Aria’s cousin.

Rudolf was a sibling of the parent of both Aria and Chronos’s biological father, but the connections were confusing.

“Right.
Next time I’ll bring a detailed family tree, but the direct bloodline of the Border Marquis family was carried by Aria’s mother, her younger sister who would be your grandmother, and myself, the youngest of the three.”

Being called the youngest while looking like that was not very endearing.

“My two older sisters and I had a significant age gap and different mothers.
To avoid misunderstanding, my mother was from a branch family.
After giving birth to my sisters, the legal wife fell ill and could no longer bear children, so at her request, my mother joined my father.
When I was born, the legal wife was delighted, and I was raised alongside my sisters under her care.
Originally, my eldest sister was to take a husband and inherit the house, but she fell ill and passed away some time after giving birth to Aria.
As a result, the title of Border Marquis passed directly from my father to his granddaughter, Aria.”

At the time, Rudolf had been in Escala and only learned of events in the borderlands through letters, but he had gone to protest the Emperor several times over the worthless husband forced upon his sister.

For a while, he had seriously wondered if the Emperor intended to destroy the Border Marquis family.

Apparently, the man had been earnest to a fault while in Escala, and only lost control after coming to the borderlands.

After realizing that marrying into the Border Marquis family did not grant him the title nor real authority, and that nothing went his way, he began keeping a mistress.

If not for the Emperor’s interference, his elder sister had planned to choose a suitable husband from among the branch families.

She had not sought ability in a husband, whether soldier or civil official, and had bluntly told him, “I don’t need your heart or your abilities.
Just give me a child, and do as you please.”

She herself bore some blame.

“Your grandmother is still alive, so you should visit her someday.”

“She’s your older sister, right, Professor?
Don’t you go see her?”

“…The heart of a younger brother with two much older sisters is complicated.”

Rudolf had been raised by his sisters in place of his busy parents.

Even now, he would be scolded if he failed to straighten his back in front of them.

Being scolded at his age was not something he welcomed.

“More importantly, you’ve finally started calling Aria ‘Mother.’”

Sensing he was about to dig his own grave, he changed the subject.

Chronos, who had always called her “Lady Aria,” had finally begun calling her “Mother.”

“Y-Yes.
I finally understand that Mother won’t abandon me.”

“I’ve heard that your biological mother was rarely at home.”

“Yes.
Ede—no, Father stayed with me, so I wasn’t lonely lately, but um… my mother often disappeared.”

Rudolf had heard the story from Edel as well.

Chronos had only known a biological mother who vanished without warning, so in his mind, “mother” meant someone who would leave him behind.

That was why he had been unable to call Aria “Mother,” fearing that doing so would make her disappear as well.

But Aria always returned and spoke to him, and at last, he understood that she would not leave.

Because his heart had accepted it, he could finally call her “Mother.”

“Aria must be very happy.
Your mother is Aria alone.
Never forget that.”

“Yes, Professor.”

The child once called Kuro was gone.

Here stood Chronos Lordknight, Aria’s son.

“Professor, will I get a little brother or sister?”

“Listen, Chronos.
That is something only the gods know.
It’s better not to say anything about that.”

It was fortunate that Chronos carried the blood of the Border Marquis family.

For the time being, the likelihood of Chronos gaining a younger sibling was vanishingly small.