Charlotte, who had officially become the Crown Princess and was handling an excessive schedule, sat at her desk in her room in the middle of the night.

The lessons with her private tutors were progressing rapidly, and the amount of time she needed to review areas where her understanding was insufficient was increasing. However, the level of her understanding was never taken into account in the schedule, and if it was found that she had not perfectly mastered something she had once learned, she would be severely reprimanded and given additional assignments.  She had no choice but to cut into her sleep to make time to review.

Every day, she fought against sleep deprivation and dizziness, relentlessly moving her pen. The many pains brought on by such a lifestyle was very harsh for the young Charlotte.

She was burdened with expectations far too great for her small body. Forbidden from running away or seeking comfort in any form, she had no choice but to simply do her best. Even when her sister was playing with their father, Charlotte was always studying, studying, and studying.

How many times was she overwhelmed by the impulse to throw her pen against the wall? How many times had she fought against the urge to tear up her study notebooks? How many times had she suppressed the desire to yell at her little sister, who would selfishly say, “Older Sister, I want to play with you,” and ruin Charlotte’s schedule? How many times had she endured anger towards her father when he dismissed her pleas for a short rest with a sharp, “Stop acting spoiled”?

Her hand stopped. Overwhelmed by emotions that had nowhere to go, her grip on the pen tightened into a squeeze

I never wanted to become the Crown Princess.

Her eyes started to grow hot, but she held it in.

Crying wouldn’t change anything. No one would comfort her. She would simply be scolded.

She stared at her notebook and once more set her pen to the paper.

Then, after a short while, something plopped onto the paper—a red drop of liquid.

…Ah.

She wasn’t crying. She had a nosebleed.

Unfazed, Charlotte pressed a handkerchief to her nose.

She was probably overexerting herself. Having nosebleeds several times a week probably wasn’t normal, but she had long grown used to it.

“How disgraceful. You can’t even manage your own health.”

She knew that was all anyone would say to her, so all she could do was endure.

***

“Fel’s capacity for holding magical power is so outrageously vast that if you don’t release power regularly, the amount of magic power generated inside your body will surpass what can naturally leak out. That will lead to a state where you exceed magical saturation, and the magic power that has nowhere to go will run wild inside your body, resulting in magical rampage or a magic fever. This hasn’t happened before because you’ve been unconsciously consuming magic power to strengthen your body and heal the fatigue brought about by that harsh, overworked, and inhumane schedule. Without that, you would have died from overwork.  If anything, falling into magic deficiency from consuming too much magical power wouldn’t have been too surprising.”

“I see…”

“But now, there’s no need—or intention—to impose such a merciless schedule on Fel. Instead, with everything you’ve endured, proper rest is what you need. However, your magical power will only continue to build, and since you have never received any training in magic manipulation, you can’t intentionally release it on your own. Someone else either has to release it for you, or receive it—and to do that, touch is required.”

“I understand.”

“In other words, this is a medical treatment.”

“No, you just want to flirt with her.”

Ethelbert sat cross-legged on the sofa, his arms wrapped around Felicity’s shoulders, and declared firmly. However, Brandon denied it sharply with his eyes half-narrowed.

Even though they were right in front of Brandon, Ethelbert clung to Felicity. It must’ve been an infuriating sight for Brandon who was busy traveling back and forth between the duchy and the imperial capital in place of Ethelbert who was taking a vacation.

Knowing full well his retainer’s feelings yet still flaunting, Felicity once again felt that Ethelbert had quite the personality.

Even so, she couldn’t help but also feel that Ethelbert and Brandon had a good relationship that went beyond their positions. She never thought the distance between the Imperial Brother and his retainer could be so close.

I wonder, do relationships normally develop like this after being together for a long time?

Charlotte had no experience herself, so she couldn’t understand. Still, even when taking the special standing of royalty into consideration, not having even a single trustworthy person had to, by any measure, be abnormal.

“While I understand that you want to cherish the time you spend with your loved one, you should still master manipulating your magic as soon as possible. It is for the young madam’s sake.”

“Mad…”

Felicity’s eyes widened in surprise at being called a “young madam.”

“…Please don’t refer to me like that. I’m not Lord Ethel’s wife yet.”

She asked while growing embarrassed, but Ethelbert seemed pleased as he said, “It’s fine, isn’t it? That’s how everyone will be calling you in the end, anyway.”

“That may be true, but regardless.”

“You should get used to it. Actually, seeing you embarrassed is cute too, so I’m fine with it if you don’t.”

“…How mean.”

“I don’t really understand your standards for embarrassment, so this is valuable to me. Forgive me.”

Ethelbert had no intention in the slightest of heeding her request, leading to Felicity to pout.

Brandon sighed. “Have you forgotten about me?”

“No, not at all.”  Ethelbert replied. Rather, he stared at Brandon with a gaze that seemed to tell him to read the mood and go away. Brandon completely ignored it and directed his attention to Felicity.

“So then, what are your thoughts on magic manipulation, Young Madam?”

Brandon didn’t seem to have any intention of changing the way he addressed her. Felicity gave up trying to correct him and thought aloud.

“Well… if I am causing trouble, of course I’d like to master it as soon as possible, but… this person hasn’t once even for a second thought that I’m a bother.”

She glanced meaningfully at Ethelbert who looked entirely unconcerned.

Brandon, having expected her to take his side, faltered some.

“Except, His Highness can’t always be by your side…”

“Knowing Lord Ethel, he has surely already made preparations for the times when he absolutely cannot be with me. After all, this concerns my health. He would never neglect that.”

Hearing this, Ethelbert leaned his face close to her head with a smile. “How very perceptive. As expected of you.”

Coming from the surprisingly clingy Ethelbert, it wasn’t unexpected. She had already received various magical tools from him. Clearly, he had made thorough preparations.

“I believe it’s fine to let him spoil me as much as he wants for now.”

“No, that man will never be satisfied, no matter how much you let him.” Brandon retorted sharply.

Even though Ethelbert was referred to as that man, he was in such a good mood that he overlooked it without a word.

“If I say I want to train, he’ll immediately agree. It might be selfish, but I want to indulge in being pampered a little more for now.”

Brandon knew full well the sort of life Felicity had lived. He must have understood how much she needed this rest, which was probably why he didn’t press the matter. As expected, he remained silent despite looking conflicted.

Felicity smiled softly, then pulled away slightly from the still-clinging Ethelbert to meet his eyes.

“Speaking of which, is receiving my magical power like this really alright for you, Lord Ethel? I’ve heard that you also possess a substantial amount of magic as well…”

“Even though I’m technically taking a vacation, I’m still continuing several of my projects, such as magical arts research and the development of magical tools. They’ve become hobbies of mine. I am not troubled with consuming magic power. In fact, I don’t mind having as much as I can.”

“So, by sharing my magic with you, I’m actually helping with your research. That’s good.”

“Indeed. So don’t feel any need to hold back, touch me as much as you want. I’d also be happy if you’d accept my touching you as well.”

Ethelbert’s hands slide down to her waist, drawing her even closer. She stared into his passionate violet eyes.

“Alright, I’ll remove myself, then.”

Seemingly unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, Brandon left the room exasperated.

“He’s finally gone.”

Ethelbert leaned back against the sofa and started to run his fingers through Felicity’s hair, enjoying the sensation. He had most likely intentionally created that sweet atmosphere just to drive Brandon away.

“Fel, would you like to go for a long ride on horseback tomorrow?”

“That sounds lovely.”

“At some point, we should also learn horseback riding.”

Felicity blinked.

“…Is that really alright?”

“Yeah. You’re interested, aren’t you?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

Her expression naturally softened from happiness. Ethelbert, gazing at Felicity, also had a very gentle expression.

“Would you like to learn swordsmanship too, Fel?”

“I’d like to learn enough for self-defense, at least.”

“Got it.”

With that, Ethelbert released her hair and took her hand instead. He stroked her palm and fingers, tickling them a little.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

At those words, Felicity found herself agreeing, thinking “I see.”

If she were to learn swordsmanship, her hands would grow callused and such—that was what he was probably worried about. But even so, he didn’t forbid her from doing it, and instead suggested various activities, asking about anything she wanted to do. He respected her wishes.

“Yes.”

His feelings made her so happy, her expression naturally brightened.

Things that were once taken away from her. Things she had no choice but to give up when she was Charlotte. Horsemanship and swordsmanship, yes, but also love, family, and a leisurely lifestyle.

Both Ethelbert and the duke family gave these to her as if that were a given.

In the past, her nose would often suddenly start bleeding. She would even collapse from time to time. When she told Ethelbert it usually happened when she was alone, he hypothesized she’d been unconsciously using magic to recover from fatigue, and once she was alone, her tension would ease, leading to the symptoms. As she grew, her magic power increased, her magic manipulation improved, and her body became stronger, so she stopped collapsing.

She again thought to herself how harsh life had been in the Kingdom of Lymore.

The members of the Duke of Adilenon family never once brought up the topic in front of her. Surely, word had already spread around the world, and must had even reached the empire by now. At the same time, the servants and knights must have been thoroughly instructed to remain silent about it.

The Kingdom of Lymore was a neighboring country. Once she entered into high society, she would inevitably hear all sorts of things whether she liked it or not.  So, until then, she wanted to enjoy this peaceful vacation.

---

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