—And then, that night.

“The souvenir sweets are delicious. This is a specialty of Asatida, right?”

“…”

“In the end, all’s well that ends well? Thanks to the letter you brought, the case seemed to be solved easily… or rather, it will be, tomorrow—or the day after, so don’t worry. In the end, the culprit is…”

“Could you please be quiet for a bit? I’m not making progress in my studies?”

When I complained, god half-closed his eye while nonchalantly stuffing his cheeks with sweets.

“But your pen hasn’t moved since earlier?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Over basic problems you could solve yesterday?”

“…”

“What are you so depressed about?”

I was going to pretend that I was depressed.

God had no manners whatsoever and would lick the crumbs off his fingers. But when he looked at me with such sincerity, I couldn’t resist his golden beauty and my words just came out.

“I thought His Highness would’ve gotten a lot angrier with me.”

“No, I think he has scolded you enough…”

“I was expecting him to yell at me more, and say something like, ‘Idiot!”

His Highness sure has a low boiling point for anger…

In fact, I remembered him almost exploding at me a few dozen days ago and coming close to calling me just that. So, when this plan failed, I was prepared to be yelled at in the same manner.

But he just calmly explained the truth. He should have had a lot of trouble cleaning up after me, but the voice I heard through the door was very gentle, without any hints of irritation.

Prince Sazanjill had changed so much, he’d grown stronger.

I felt so lonely seeing him grow up like that.

I gently placed my pen between the pages I was tired of looking at.

“Somehow… I feel like I’m the only one being left behind.”

Nothing had changed about me. I was just an existence fated to die like this.

But Prince Sazanjill was different. He’d become so fine in such a short time… No, maybe he had always been, and I just didn’t realize it… I simply didn’t understand him…

“That’s strange, isn’t it? I’m the only one who has been left behind.”

I looked up, forcing the corners of my mouth to turn up.

He wasn’t the only one who’d grown.

Lumiere had also grown stronger. I never thought the day would come when she’d comfort me. Maybe that just show how much I underestimated her, but I was sure that she’d grow into a more beautiful young lady.

She had left me a long time ago.

As I smiled, god spoke.

“That’s not true. Aren’t those feelings normal?”

“Hehe, then am I normal?”

I was sure that the day before yesterday, when I visited Asatida, Lumiere had pointed out that I wasn’t normal. Then, god reached for the sweets again.

“Huh? You are. Well, you can be a bit stubborn, too curious, and hyperactive… but if you consider the fact that you’re still 16, isn’t that normal?”

But god, as always, just said whatever came to mind.

And I, as always, just said something flippant.

“His Highness Sazanjill is 18, isn’t he?”

“That’s right. He’s the older brother, after all. It’s only natural that he’s better than you.”

“But didn’t he make a lot of mistakes after being manipulated by his wicked little brother?”

“Well, he’s in his growth period!”

God pointlessly clapped his hands, and I burst out laughing.

“Hey, god, aren’t you being a bit too casual?”

“Am I?”

“Geez, talking to a god like this is just a waste of time.”

God sulked after that. As expected.

“Hmph. Then study quietly.”

“I’ll do so!”

I emphasized the end of my sentence and picked up my pen again.

I tried hard to suppress my laughter and concentrated on my studies with a frown on my face.

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