By Zephyria 
Lucilla Anti Sierran, whom I met in Rubel’s office, looked surprisingly disheveled.
Even with Clean Magic cast upon her, her worn clothes wouldn’t mend themselves. Whatever she had gone through, the front and back plates of her light armor were heavily scuffed, and the padding on her left elbow had completely fallen off. It was obvious she had rolled around in the dirt, relying on a Healing Artifact.
Despite it all, her expression was as cheerful and bright as a puppy that had just rolled in a mud puddle.
“Brother-in-law!”
“Who’s your brother-in-law?”
Rubel blocked Lucilla with his entire body as she tried to leap and cling to me.
Rubel’s aides, who were working with him, sat quietly in a corner, their gazes deliberately lowered. Lucilla, her view blocked by his broad shoulders, bounced up and down, waving her hands at me with the same unreserved demeanor she had in our Academy days.
“It’s been a while, Senior.”
“Or brother-in-law. Feel free to call me whatever you like. Lucilla, or sister-in-law.”
“We’re not married yet, so I’ll maintain a bit more formality.”
“Oh, you’re still as ungracious as ever. Rubel is truly amazing. To have chased you like that, and finally…”
“Lucilla.”
“Uh-huh. You should show me a bit more respect.”
Knowing full well we didn’t need to stand on ceremony, I wondered why she was being so earnest.
However, Lucilla pushed Rubel’s shoulder and approached me, suddenly pulling something from her pocket. As I accepted it without thinking, I found myself holding two pieces of a transparent stone. What was this? But when Rubel looked over and his eyes widened in surprise, I was startled along with him.
“What is this?”
“Freshly dug Pink Diamond Rough, still warm. And a bonus, two of them. They look like they’re each about 5 carats, right?”
“…We won’t know until they’re cut. Maybe about 3 carats each.”
Even as he chided her, Rubel’s gaze didn’t leave the rough stones.
I handed the rough stones to Rubel. He turned them over and over, his eyes sparkling as he examined them. Both Rubel and I have rather thick fingers, making it difficult to find matching gemstones, so this was perfect. But was this really diamond? It looked so peculiar.
“…The purity is decent.”
“I told you. I even dug with a shovel for the first time in my life to find these.”
“You did it yourself?”
“If I’d made someone else do it, would I be in this state? My back nearly broke.”
Glancing again, to my eyes they were just lumps of stone, their color unclear between pink and silvery-grey, but Rubel’s face bloomed with joy. After fiddling with the rough stones for a long time, he expressed his gratitude in a voice that seemed to boil up from within.
“Thank you, Lucilla.”
“Don’t mention it. A unique, untouched pair of Pink Diamonds. You go crazy for this stuff. Congratulations on your marriage, Rubel.”
“…Mm.”
I received something truly precious.
Lucilla was one of those who volunteered for the search party organized to find me. In her words, she couldn’t stand seeing Rubel floundering so pathetically. At first, I thought I might have been injured and washed out to sea, so I focused my search along the coast, but then she seemed to become interested in abandoned mines.
She explained that while searching for usable gemstones with the hope that I would return alive, she eventually ended up wandering Grimsvein looking more like a member of a mining crew than a search party. Hearing her explanation, my gratitude deepened, and I bowed repeatedly.
Lucilla, having received the wedding invitation personally written by Rubel, stretched out.
“Anyway, I’ve given what I came to give and received what I came to receive, so I’m off.”
“Already?”
“I was so worried I might lose this, I couldn’t even catch my breath before coming straight here. Now I need to go back to my palace, wash up properly, and rest.”
“Uh, if you have time, let’s grab a meal sometime.”
“What will go into that mouth now?”
“…Of course.”
The weight of Rubel’s recent hardships hit me anew, and my throat tightened.
Leaving Rubel to get back to work, I followed Lucilla out under the pretense of seeing her off. She appraised me from head to toe with the discerning eye of someone inspecting a fine horse, then let out a whinnying sound.
“You came back more intact than I expected. I knew it.”
“Um, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Me?”
Rubel considers Lucilla much closer than he does the Empress Dowager. It would be best if I did the same. With that in mind, I proceeded with utmost caution.
“If Rubel were to become close with the Empress Dowager, would Senior Lucilla feel upset?”
“…Me? Why?”
“Just… in case, you know.”
“Ah. Ah~! No?”
Lucilla put on a mischievous face and barged into a random room.
It was a spare reception room, perhaps, or something similar. The neatly arranged inner chamber showed no signs of use. White cloths were even draped neatly over the sofa and furniture, but Lucilla sat down directly on the covered sofa.
She sat amidst the dust, but only giggled, without a single cough.
“When did you hear about that? Three? Five? Seven? Eight? Eleven? Fourteen?”
“…Huh?”
“I asked what Rubel said.”
“…When he was five…”
“Ah, that.”
Did that happen often?
Lucilla, chuckling at my bewildered expression, rubbed her face vigorously with both hands and let out a sigh. Her face, devoid of any shadow, was puzzling.
“From what I see, Mom and Rubel are exactly the same.”
“Huh?”
“Both of them hold grudges over the smallest things. Honestly, is it human to say you want to cut ties because you were scolded a bit by your mother when you were little? I don’t even remember it anymore.”
…Hmm.
When you put it that way… it does seem like it.
“Doesn’t he say that? That it seems like Mom doesn’t want children who aren’t the Emperor, and that she pays more attention to him than to me, so she feels sorry for me?”
“…He did.”
“My mom likes me.”
“…Huh?”
“Of course. Am I a stranger? I’m her daughter, born from her womb. Do you know how charming, cute, and lovely a baby I was? Mom is human too, of course she grew fond of me.”
“Uh-huh…”
“When you live together, bumping into each other, there are bound to be unpleasant and pleasant things. How can you live if you hold onto every little thing? Mom and Rubel both have prickly personalities. They remember the bad things vividly, and if they have even a small worry, they’ll dwell on it all day and bury it in their hearts for years.”
“…”
“I’m not like that. That’s why they both dislike each other but like me more. They both complain to me and get angry at me, so they see each other as hateful. They’re truly peculiar.”
I observed Lucilla closely, wondering if she was mistaken or perhaps seemed resigned. But despite her flightiness, Lucilla was utterly confident. Her tanned face was illuminated by the white gleam of her even teeth.
“Of course, Mom wanted Rubel to be Emperor. But I felt the same way. From my perspective, Rubel had more potential than I did.”
“…That’s…”
“Didn’t he tell you that? About how the three of us used to go up to a place like an attic every New Year’s festival before my Debutante and eat snacks?”
I didn’t know about eating snacks, but I had heard about it. The memory of climbing to a high place with Rubel on New Year’s festival day to watch the sunrise remained a precious memory. What had Rubel said then? He had mentioned that before his Debutante, he and his mother and Lucilla used to wait for the sunrise together.
Without needing to think, I nodded awkwardly.
“What does he say about that?”
“Just… that it happened.”
“See? Rubel is a bit sensitive. Once he dislikes something, he’ll bring up ancient history and torment everyone around him until they’re at their wit’s end. But when something good happens, he hoards it selfishly in his heart and doesn’t share it. Even though there are more good things when you live together.”
“…”
“He might act like that towards you too, even if he’s being coy now.”
Her face turned serious for a moment.
“Still, be kind to him. He’s a bit delicate, but he’s not a bad person.”
“…Yes. I know.”
So this was what she truly wanted to say.
It’s a good thing Rubel has such a good sibling.
“Uh-huh, please take care of him. Anything else you’re curious about?”
“Well… no, I think it’s been resolved.”
“Really? Then, shall I tell you an interesting story?”
“…What kind?”
“Rubel crying is also like his mother.”
“…Huh?”
What was this now?
Lucilla, leaning her arm on the back of the sofa, stifled a laugh as I stood there dumbfounded. As if recalling something very amusing, she tilted her chin up, looked at the ceiling, and spoke with a relaxed expression.
“Ruby Palace also had… ah, the palace where Mom, I, and Rubel lived until we were five… it had a space like an attic. Mom, being a noble lady who didn’t care about such small places, and Rubel not liking confined spaces either, it was my private hideout. It was just an empty space with no sofa or cushions, but the window was beautifully sparkly.”
“…”
“On our fifth birthday, after Rubel threw a tantrum in front of our father, whom he had never seen before… Mom’s expression was absolutely priceless. So I took Mom up to the attic.”
“…Ah.”
“I just told her, ‘You can cry now!’ And Mom said, her eyes narrowed, her voice choked, glaring at me, ‘You really don’t seem like you were born from my womb.’ So what did I say?”
“…What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Even a hundred times over, I’d still recognize you as my mother.'”
“…”!
She straightened up again.
Her face was still brimming with a mischievous and refreshing smile.
“We’re quite close. Both Mom and Rubel have high expectations. For themselves and for others. But I find that rather cute and funny. Who is perfect in this world? It’s just tormenting oneself for no reason.”
“…”
“Now that I think about it, I should go wash up and visit my lady. Should I wear a skirt for the first time in a while?”
Now I smiled too. The answer was right here, and I had been searching for it so hard elsewhere.
“I thought of something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“What’s the best way to get close to your mother-in-law?”
“Well, it’s ordinary.”
“Ordinary…?”
“Just like any other mother in the world. Just, treat Rubel well. Then Mom will have no choice but to like you too. Look at me. Even though you’ve done nothing for me, you like me.”