TYHL 169

~Chapter 169~

Void was just as shaken.

She’d been running for her life this whole time?

Back when the academy was half-destroyed, when that chaos hit, Rubian had been in real danger.

Thinking about it now made his stomach twist. He could’ve just stood by, clueless, while his little sister got hurt.

Of course, Leviathan told them not to worry. He said anything that threatened Rubian would be taken care of by the adults, so just live as usual.

The brothers nodded along, because when your dad’s that big and strong, he must be right.

So, for now, they nodded.

“Ahem, let’s see… there are so many circles, and more circles, and then even more circles.”

“Liam, are you actually interested in this?”

Honestly, not at all. He’d rather read his monster encyclopedia.

He just wanted to try and understand Rubian’s world, so he sat with her anyway.

“What’s this? Is this even writing?”

“That’s a smudge—! Wait, why are you suddenly so interested in magic stuff?”

Rubian grumbled, lips pouting, face squished into a cushion as her brother ruffled her hair.

“So annoying…”

Her pale cheeks were all squished, lips pursed like a bird as she muttered nonsense with half-closed eyes—she probably wasn’t even making sense anymore.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he could do for her right now.

He’d only just realized there were “enemies” out there to fight, and the truth was, nobody even knew where those enemies were at the moment.

But one thing was clear—

If anyone touches our fairy, they’re dead.

If anyone bullies my little sister, I’ll take them all down!

The two of them made that promise in their hearts, faces perfectly calm. For the first time, they had a real reason to get strong.

“All right, Ruby. Start over from the top. So these are… letters, right?”

Void leaned over, running his hand across the paper, only to stop when someone shushed him.

“She’s asleep.”

It was Khalid, who’d been quiet the whole time.

Sure enough, Rubian had drifted off, sound asleep.

After all that running around and drinking something warm, it was the perfect setting for a nap.

“Oh, you’re right.”

Void shifted away, looking for a blanket. Liam seized the opportunity to go back to his book.

For a moment, Khalid found himself reaching out to brush the hair off Rubian’s face.

But he stopped short of actually touching her.

“Hey, Khalid! Hands off her hair, you hear me?”

The would-be protectors snapped to attention, glaring at each other.

“Void, tie his hands. You’ve got that rope for capturing monsters, right?”

“Huh? Wait, why do I have to do it?”

“Just quiet down, both of you.”

Khalid’s voice dropped, dead serious.

“Fine. Then let’s all move her hair at once. Divide it into thirds.”

“Hm. Sounds fair.”

Gently, softly, winter settled in around them.

That summer.

Dad suddenly called a family meeting.

What’s going on?

Was it something serious?

But when we got there, Grandpa was yawning wide and Mom was just quietly sipping her tea with a little smile.

Of course, my brothers were there too.

Dad sat at the head of the table and finally spoke in a low voice.

“I’ve been getting a lot of nasty letters lately.”

My eyes flew wide open.

“What?! Who would dare—? I’ll use magic on whoever’s bothering you, Dad!”

“The Emperor.”

“…”

You could’ve led with that.

I quickly sat back down.

“Hurry up and teach them a lesson, Ruby.”

Dad rested his chin on the arm of his chair, looking amused. I grinned and gave a flick of my fingers in the air.

“Zap. I just did.”

“You’re ignoring your dad because he’s not a magician, aren’t you?”

Bonk. The inevitable flick to my forehead.

“Whatever… So, what’s this about, Dad?”

He straightened up and slid a letter onto the table.

It shimmered with a bright, golden light.

Yep, it was really from the Emperor.

“Well, it’s not a huge deal.”

“How could something from the Imperial Palace not be a big deal?”

Even as I grumbled, Dad just leaned back in his chair and continued, sounding totally unconcerned.

“I’m just asking, in case anyone’s interested.”

“Okay.”

“So… among you all… anyone want to be heir?”

“…Excuse me?”

Yeah, right. Not a big deal.

“If you change your mind later, you can always back out, so just let me know.”

Completely absurd.

“What kind of noble family picks an heir like this…?”

“What does it matter? My house, my rules.”

Well, that was… weirdly convincing.

Grandpa turned away, grumbling that this is what he called them for. Mom just sipped her tea, calm as ever.

Honestly, I’d never seen a less dramatic heir selection in my life.

Honestly, a pudding fight at dinner would be more competitive than this.

And judging by the vibe, Dad only called us because the Emperor kept nagging.

“So, Ruby, want to do it? You even have the heir’s sword, after all.”

Whoa, why is the spotlight suddenly on me?

“I’m not really into titles…”

Being the center of attention is not my thing!

“Fair enough.” Dad nodded, then looked at the next candidate.

“Liam, you do it. You’re the eldest.”

Boom.

Liam—who planned to devote his soul to university research—looked like the world was ending.

“In that case, I’ll run away from home in exactly one week.”

He’d need to pack his books—and probably me, too.

Dad sighed.

“Void, what about you? Zebert is a knight’s house, so honestly, your sword skills are the best fit.”

“Me? I want to be a writer when I grow up.”

Dad looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“When did you change your dream again?”

“Yeah, you wanted to be an adventurer last time!”

“Ruby, you said my writing was good!”

I meant your diary…

Void’s dreams changed every month, but “Duke of Zebert” had never made the list.

“Sigh… What now?”

Dad pulled the gold letter back, sighing deeply.

Wow, is this awkward? He has three kids and none of them want the job…

I snuck a worried glance at him.

“Well, there’s no helping it.”

Without hesitation, Dad picked up a pen and scrawled out his reply.

“Once again, this year’s heir is… me.”

Zebert family heir:
Leviathan Zebert

“Huh.”

Is this allowed?

What is this, the Leviathan Show? Starring Leviathan, produced by Leviathan, with special support by Leviathan?

I glanced around the room, and Liam nodded solemnly, even clapped.

“Of course. No one’s better suited to be Duke of Zebert than you, Father.”

“For once, I agree with him,” Void said.

Grandpa couldn’t hold in his laughter.

“Haha! You’d better keep running the house even if you become a ghost, son!”

“Dad, I don’t want to be a ghost bride.”

“Is that so?”

Well… maybe this is fine.

“Hang in there, Dad!”

Void darted over to massage his right shoulder. I rushed to take the other side.

“Dad… you’re going to live a long, long time, okay?”

And so, it looked like Duke Leviathan Zebert would be the head of our family for a good long while.

Unbelievable…

Typical for our family, though.

The Emperor’s going to throw out his back over this.

I knew exactly what he was worried about.

Lately, there’d been a surge in monster attacks across the continent, especially in the south.

He’s probably anxious with Dad fighting all over the place, worried something will happen to him and the heir’s spot will be left empty.

Even the strongest man on the continent isn’t invincible.

And if Dad’s away, it’s always convenient for the Emperor to have a “little Duke” he can order around…

Dad knew all this, so he kept putting it off.

Maybe I overdid it…

Suddenly, I felt a little guilty.

I mean, I have the Zebert name—I can’t just live for myself.

What if Dad gets in trouble because of this?

My brothers were clear on why they didn’t want the job. As for me…

“Hmm.”

I pondered for a second, then hurried up to my room. I took out a small notepad and started writing.

“Huh?”

Leviathan paused in the hallway, heading to his room.

He could’ve sworn he saw something round dart around the corner.

“…Ruby?”

That fluff ball was definitely Rubian.

What was she up to now?

He was about to step into his room when he noticed a pink envelope wedged in the door.

“….”

Dad, hello. It’s me.

Now what’s this about?

Frowning, he started to read—and couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“So cute…”

The letter was short and sweet.