Chapter 10: Signs of Change

A few days later, I heard from Sebas that Father had proudly gone to the castle with the kusudama I made hanging from his chest.

Please stop.
It hurts to imagine.
No matter how fine the materials, it is still paper!

When Father goes to court, his chest is usually adorned with rows of glittering medals from collar to waist.
And alongside them, my amateur handmade craft dangling there…

Father is apparently a super-multitalented duke, excelling both as a military officer and as a civil official.
He suppresses monster outbreaks, mediates border skirmishes, drafts famine countermeasures, and devises crime policies.
His influence in politics is not merely due to his ducal title but backed by undeniable achievements as a pillar of the nation.

Which makes it all the more baffling that the royal family let Albertina be kidnapped so carelessly.

Lattiche Territory is now a cutting-edge metropolis of gastronomy, art, and innovation.
They even call it the Second Royal Capital.

Its finances are flourishing.
Immigrants arrive daily.
Festivals draw visitors from neighboring countries.

I insisted on proper urban planning—road maintenance, residential expansion, sanitation, and sewage systems.
If cleanliness lapses, disease spreads.
I absolutely refuse plagues in Father’s lands.

Sanitation and disease correlation may not yet be understood in this world, but Father nodded at once.
Clean is better than filthy.

Our finances are strong enough to afford it.
Other territories are not so fortunate.

No wonder the original Albertina strutted arrogantly.
This is wealth beyond reason.

Still, without Kishtarial and Julius nearby, the days feel strangely quiet.
Peaceful.
And lonely.

To fill the time, I immersed myself in developing new Rose Brand products and expanding culinary variety.

This kingdom wastes wheat by baking only simple bread.
No butter rolls.
No croissants.
No brioche.
No savory quiches.

My past-life knowledge, roar!

The chefs, once despairing like condemned prisoners, now fight each other over my recipe drafts.

I even began searching for rice.
True rice.
Soft, sticky japonica rice.

I miss white rice.
Soul food is irreplaceable.

Raven, my new attendant, is younger than Julius and slightly younger than I.
Dark hair, dark eyes, sharp features with a foreign air.
Quiet, but strong enough to lift me easily.

Is carrying me a prerequisite for my attendants?

He even spun me around when I requested it.
A good boy.

I sometimes wonder how Kishtarial spends his academy days.
Has the heroine appeared?
Are romance flags sprouting?

Letters arrive regularly.
School life.
Royal Capital gossip.
Battlefields of noble ladies vying for eligible bachelors.

Apparently Kishtarial and Michaelis are highly sought-after matches.
Every party is a battlefield.

I asked timidly whether Father had thought of Kishtarial’s future bride.
Everyone deflected with strained smiles.

I will not ask Father.
He might assign some poor woman obligated to worship me for life.

Seasons turn.
Letters continue.
And then they return during long breaks.

“Albel? Why are you making that face?”

“You have grown taller. Again!”

I knew it.
Even in heels, my gaze angles upward now.

Michaelis is the tallest.
Then Julius and Kishtarial.

Michaelis’s build has thickened with knightly training.

“Only you gentlemen keep growing…”

I gripped my fan until my knuckles whitened.

“Albel-sama has grown as well,” Julius said dryly.

Compared to them, it is negligible!

They used to be beautiful boys.
Now they are unmistakably men.

My secret plan to put them in dresses—foiled!

“Unfair! All of you!”

I lunged at Julius and shook his shoulders.
He did not budge.

Is his core made of steel?

I turned to Kishtarial.
He wobbled briefly, then steadied effortlessly.
He looked at me with indulgent warmth.

Infuriating.
I am the elder sister!

Finally, Michaelis.

His chest felt solid beneath my hands.
Perhaps broader than mine.

“I will not lose…”

I clung to him in stubborn defiance.

His heartbeat was fast.
I glanced up.
Ruby eyes fixed intensely on me.

I tried to step back.
A hand encircled my waist.

…Excuse me?

Heat rushed to my face.
Michaelis smiled faintly, arms around me.

This posture is not dangerous at all, is it!?

Before panic could escalate—

“Excuse me.”

A sharp sound cracked.

Raven peeled Michaelis’s arm away as if removing a vine.
He guided me gently to a nearby chair.

“Albel Ojou-sama, even with close acquaintances, a lady must not touch a gentleman carelessly.”

That stung.
He was right.

“I apologize… I behaved childishly.”

The truth settled heavily in my chest.

These three may already have fiancées arranged.
I simply do not know.

And I…

I bear a scar from the kidnapping.
A blemish upon a noble body.
In this kingdom, that reduces a lady’s value, regardless of fault.

Perhaps Father never intends to marry me off.
Perhaps I am to remain within Lattiche’s gilded cage.

A useless only daughter.

Cold realization swept through me.

Kishtarial, the future duke.
Michaelis, the celebrated swordsman.
Julius, the brilliant and elegant genius.

And me.

“Albel Onee-sama, how about me?”

Jibril’s bright red hair filled my vision.

“You are, as always, the cutest in the world.”

She is radiant.
Adorable beyond measure.

I hugged her tightly.
Her warmth soothed the storm inside me.

I led her away to show new Rose Brand designs, unaware of the gazes following us.

Michaelis teased me lightly afterward.

Of course.
I am Albertina von Lattiche.

No matter how friendly, there are lines that cannot be crossed.

I have always known that ordinary happiness may never be mine.
That ruin may come at any moment.

Childhood is ending.

I had sealed away that fear.

Unaware that someone was patiently waiting to pry it open.