By Zephyria 
Perhaps two hours had passed.
As the meal drew to a close, a presence that had been waiting by the door cautiously opened it and entered. Rubel and I, who knew well that the man in butler’s attire had been standing guard like a knight outside the hall where the luncheon was taking place, exchanged a glance.
The butler approached Marquis Murray and whispered in his ear, and the Marquess feigned surprise, acting flustered.
“Oh dear, we have such esteemed guests, and now an urgent matter has arisen. I apologize, but would it be alright if Estria and Vicente assisted with the tea time? I will return as soon as I have resolved it.”
“It cannot be helped, as my visit was so sudden. I shall agree.”
“Thank you so much for your understanding.”
Their intentions were transparent.
This was the proper way to arrange a separate meeting to establish a direct connection between the Prince and Princess and Rubel. If Marquis Murray, who could act as a spokesperson for the Prince and Princess, were present, Rubel would naturally have to prioritize him.
Of course, it was not ideal to scheme with such young children, but it was fortunate that Marquis Murray acted so openly. If the Marquess had been even slightly more polite or less greedy, I would have had to make an effort to lure the children away separately.
Rubel accepted without refusal. The children, who had neatly dabbed their mouths with their napkins, were helped down from their high chairs by a servant. They looked quite adorable, pretending to be demure even though they seemed like they would burst into giggles and run around.
“Then, we shall escort you!”
“This way!”
As the children walked lightly, they kept looking back with an expectant air, seeking praise. I almost reached out to pat one of their heads before stopping myself, but a younger one trotted over and nuzzled its head against my hand.
“…My apologies.”
“It’s alright. Vicente is pretty, so everyone wants to find him cute.”
Watching the child puff up with pride, I suddenly felt a pang of doubt. Hadn’t the children been talking about their appearances excessively since earlier?
Well, it was inevitable they would be influenced if their grandfather said such things every day. Though I knew I couldn’t raise every child in the world to my liking, my hands felt strangely restless.
A servant following behind silently opened the door, and we stepped inside.
It was a greenhouse, stunningly beautiful. The flowers used in the meal must have come from here. Glancing around, the Prince and Princess were already brimming with excitement. As if their earlier demure behavior in the hallway had been a lie, they scampered to the table that had been prepared.
“Please come this way!”
“This is Your Highness’s seat. My sister and I chose the best spot for you.”
“Thank you. Thanks to you two, I will have a wonderful experience.”
“You flatter us!”
Now, how to bring it up?
I glanced at the servant standing beside me. He looked old enough to hold some standing within his family. Typically, when children met guests, a reliable servant was sent along to prevent any mistakes. I thought I might hear something worth noting if I could just get a Blood Point.
However, as soon as the servant’s eyes met mine, he placed his right hand on his cheek and made a simple hand signal. It meant he was an informant for the Nobility Yearbook. I swallowed a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Ivan and Rubel showed no surprise, but Sienna, Ivan’s wife, sat with her eyes wide open. Sienna Bicov turned pale as if she were being strangled the moment she saw the servant’s gesture.
Still, I thought I was better off than her. I forced myself to calm down, looking at Sienna, who was rolling her eyes as if she wanted to faint.
For this reason, there were now only two children, one eight and the other ten years old, inside the greenhouse.
The children asked the servant, with their small hands clasped, to brew tea. The servant quietly filled the teacups of those seated around the table with a milky white liquid. The children, adhering to etiquette, kept their mouths shut and fidgeted with their feet until the tea was fully poured. Their eagerness to chatter was palpable.
As soon as the cups were filled, the younger child asked clearly.
“Um, excuse me. May I call you ‘Oppa’?”
“Vicente! Grandfather told you to wait until we were closer!”
“But we’re already close. The knight petted my head earlier.”
It seemed Marquis Murray had given the children their own mission.
Their intentions were obvious, but the innocent children were so cute that I couldn’t help but smile. The others felt the same, and we all chuckled.
Rubel gently coaxed the children in a very kind tone.
“Of course. You may call me ‘Oppa’ comfortably in private settings.”
“…Then, may I call Your Highness ‘Oppa’ too?”
“Certainly. Princess Estria is this year… ten years old, wasn’t she?”
“Yes! I am ten, and Vicente is eight.”
The fourth Prince quickly chimed in, clearly annoyed that his older sister had revealed her age.
“And the eldest sister is seventeen, and the second brother is fifteen. The youngest is five.”
“Five years old. Is the fifth Prince also blonde like you two?”
Like the Sierran Empire, Yulan did not let children under five years old out of sight. It was natural that there was little information about them. The children answered readily, even sighing as if worried.
“No. It’s a deep purple.”
“That’s why Grandfather is sad. Grandfather worries that Elijah doesn’t resemble his father at all.”
“…Is that so?”
…Is this some important hint? Ivan’s expression was unusual, and I was surprised inwardly.
Rubel smiled kindly as before and asked a few more questions. They were routine questions about what games they usually played and how their studies were going. The two children answered competitively, chirping like hungry fledglings.
“Sometimes my sister and brother give me homework. I got a perfect score on my dictation this time.”
“You all get along very well with your siblings.”
“Yes! Even though our fathers are different, we have the same mother.”
The Princess smiled brightly, puffing out her small shoulders as if to boast, then slumped them immediately, sighing deeply.
“My sister and brother want to be King. I want to be Queen, but it’s a big problem that I can’t marry my brother.”
“Me too. I want to be the King’s Consort, but they say I can’t marry my sister.”
“If your brother becomes King, your sister can’t be Queen.”
“That’s why I want my sister to be King.”
“No, you fool. My brother will be King.”
“You’re the bigger fool…”
To think they would entrust these children to us to build rapport. It was astonishing.
After all, people tend to soften towards cute, young children, so in a normal situation, it might have been helpful. I moved the chairs of the bickering children slightly apart. Still, they knew they shouldn’t fight here, and their ability to compose themselves quickly was quite remarkable.
Rubel waited patiently for the children to calm down and then asked in a hushed voice.
“Shall we talk about secrets?”
“Secrets?”
“Yes. There was something I always wanted to ask when I came to another country.”
“What is it? I like secrets too.”
“About the Divine object.”
The children’s eyes widened.
“The Divine object of the Sierran Empire is incredibly large. So I was curious how large Yulan’s Divine object is.”
“…Uh, well.”
“We share the same secret. As Your Highness, I can only see the Empire’s Divine object, and you, Prince and Princess, can only see Yulan’s Divine object.”
“Even Grandfather doesn’t know that.”
“Of course. Marquis Murray is not a Prince.”
Rubel spoke a lie with a completely innocent demeanor. Watching him deceive these tiny beings made me feel guilty, but Rubel did not hesitate. As Rubel remained composed, the children did not ponder for long.
“Ours… is small. About this big.”
“Yes. I can hold it too. It’s a little longer than my arm.”
“Long? The Empire’s Divine object is round.”
“Yes. Ours… is long.”
“Have you touched it?”
“Yes.”
Rubel looked surprised and asked again.
“In the Empire, you can only touch it when you turn fifteen. Already? That’s amazing.”
“…Fifteen? Why?”
“Your hands hurt if you touch it. It only moves when it’s stained with blood.”
“Hooook.”
“Blood? No, ours isn’t like that! We just blow on it.”
Blow on it?
Rubel didn’t ask for more details. The children chattered away, revealing everything they knew.
“If you just put your mouth to it and blow, a song comes out. If someone else blows, nothing happens, but if my sister, brother, or I blow hard, it’s a flute that plays a song. Every day, everyone must play it twice, or at least once. If my sister and brother were busy with studies, I would go and play it.”
“What kind of song comes out?”
“Well…”
The two children looked at each other once, then hummed simultaneously.
It was a familiar melody. A lullaby used to put the Golden Turtle to sleep. A simple tune without lyrics, just humming. A common street song that any Yulan person, even a woman mending nets, would know, flowed from the lips of the Prince and Princess.
“…Isn’t it bothersome to have to play the flute every day?”
“Uh, it was a bit bothersome at first. But lately… we don’t do it anymore.”
“I wanted to try playing it too.”
“You did try it when you were five. You loved how it made a song just by blowing ‘poo’.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Why?”
“When I play the flute, Elijah gets sick. So… I haven’t played it since I was seven.”
…What?
Elijah Merlin Yulan. The Prince, who was five years old and had purple hair… was affected by the Divine object. The children sighed with worried faces.
“This is a real, real secret. We’re telling you because Your Highness shared a secret, but this… even Andy doesn’t know.”
“Andy?”
“Yes. We have a friend who shares the same wet nurse. Andy is very smart, and he’s thirteen now. He uses many difficult words and gets along well with my sister and brother.”
“…Alright. Shall we make a promise? That what we’ve said will remain a special secret between us?”
The children and Rubel clasped their pinkies tightly and promised. I, along with Ivan and his wife, also clasped fingers with the children and promised to keep the secret.
With the bright-eyed children right in front of me, my mind was a whirl.
Is Yulan’s Divine object still in the Royal Castle? Or was it just that they were prevented from playing the flute for a special reason? But the Sun God said Yulan’s Divine object was circulating.
The youngest Prince had deep purple hair, didn’t he?
…In Sieran, purple hair wasn’t that rare. My maternal uncle, Oscar Valencia, Bill Brown, and Marianne Philodendore all had purple hair. I was frustrated, not understanding why Rubel and Ivan were so surprised.