By Zephyria 
Benjamin laughed quite a lot after learning the full story.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared, I felt strangely wronged. To think that the one person who knows better than anyone the hardships I endured to get Ruben would say such a thing.
As I glared at him with dissatisfaction, Benjamin—his face flushed red and his eyes moist from laughing so hard—tried to soothe me, waving his hands with a lingering smile on his face.
Baffled by the sight, I let out a deep sigh, to which he quickly replied.
“Of course, I didn’t actually think Mikael would do such a thing. But since Your Highness spoke of it in that manner, I just thought, well, perhaps something happened that would lead His Imperial Majesty to greatly misunderstand. After all, he is someone who avoids staying out overnight unless absolutely necessary, no matter how busy he is.”
“Hmm.”
That was true. It wasn’t frequent for Ruben to stay away for this long. No matter how busy things got, he struggled to return home within four days, and usually within two. It was understandable that Benjamin might have misunderstood after hearing about Ruben’s schedule.
The child’s slip of the tongue was cute, and I found myself smiling too. As I was chuckling, Titi, who was clinging to my chest with her ears twitching, complained softly.
“I said that too.”
“Yes, I’m sure you did. But words can cause misunderstandings if you aren’t detailed. Ruben’s daddy didn’t leave because of a romantic scandal; he went to solve a romantic scandal. To be precise, he’s busy checking various other problems that started because of that issue.”
“…Hmph.”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you look so grumpy?”
“How many nights are left?”
Even without a subject, I knew exactly what she meant.
“He said a week, so there are five days left. He’ll be back within that time.”
“I miss Daddy.”
“Daddy probably misses Titi very much too. Since Ruben’s daddy is enduring it well, let’s be patient too, Titi.”
“…”
The child nodded twice and snuggled deep into my arms. I stroked the back of her round head for a long while.
The child ate her dinner well and said her goodnights properly. I also lay down in my bed, pretending to go to sleep.
The problem occurred in the early hours of that morning.
I heard the sound of a window opening, not the door to the child’s room in the distance.
Titi can fly. However, due to Ruben’s strict discipline and my interference, she had never flown for long. Naturally, she always walked and ran through the hallways like a human, and she had never climbed through a window until now.
Right, she wouldn’t be Justitia if she stayed well-behaved all day.
However, I also knew how sorrowful the child had been over the past two days. I wondered what this tiny thing wanted to do in the middle of the night.
Planning to let her play until her heart felt better and then bring her back at the right moment, I quietly opened my window as well.
Justitia flew quite well.
When she crossed the walls of the Duke’s residence, I thought about catching her immediately, but I couldn’t step forward right away because the child sat atop the wall, letting out deep sighs while looking back toward the mansion where I was.
With the white, shattering starlight resting upon her head, she looked as if she were embracing all the sorrows of the world alone. What on earth was she thinking with that small head? No matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t possibly know.
After crouching there for a while, the child began to fly again toward the distance.
I followed behind her.
The nights in the Duchy were quiet and dark.
Since the population was large, they could have kept the magic lamps lit all night, but alchemists and wizards were naturally a noisy lot who stayed up through the night. I had previously restricted the night paths, fearing that Ruben, who was sensitive to sleep, might be inconvenienced by their mistakes.
Aside from the knights patrolling at regular intervals, no one was out.
Titi acted as if she knew the knights’ positions perfectly without even facing them. When a knight approached two alleys away, she would flatten herself against the wall to hide, and only after they passed would she flutter away again.
Seeing her perceive the location of mana users without being taught, it seemed blood couldn’t be deceived. I swallowed a laugh.
Wondering just how far she would go, I followed leisurely, only to be struck speechless.
Between three towering Sacred Trees, a magic circle glowed blue even in the pitch-black night.
She had come to the portal of Duke Ernhardt’s Territory.
Once again, my heart felt a pang of pity. Not long ago, the child had learned about the change in the merchant guild’s role resulting from the discovery of the portal. Although I had interpreted it in simple language suited for her level, she must have understood that Ruben uses this portal to travel between the Imperial Palace and home.
Does she miss Ruben so much that she intends to wait here? Her heart was pitiful, but this was out of the question.
Deciding I must catch her before she was spotted by the wizards in charge of the portal, I stepped out from the darkness.
Sensing my presence, the child turned around, her eyes widening. I opened my arms to tell her to come here.
At that moment, pitch-black mana gathered in the child’s hand. My own eyes widened.
“Titi!”
I hurriedly leaped through the air and snatched the child. The ground vibrated faintly. As a vibration, like a dragon’s roar, surged from deep below, I tried to seize the surrounding mana to calm it, but it was useless.
A loud warning alarm began to ring everywhere.
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
The wizards in charge practically tumbled out near the magic circle and knelt to inspect the array. Their eyes, glancing around in panic, were filled with fear. The knights on guard began to rush toward this side.
Having caused such a disaster, could I simply run away and pretend I didn’t know?
I stopped first and hurriedly scanned the surroundings. Those who recognized my face slowed down.
I pulled the child deeper into my embrace and glared.
Powerful mana began to leak from one axis of the twisted and broken circle.
Hurriedly blocking it with my own power, I searched through the memories of the Ninth God. However, even if I knew the portal magic formula, I had never tried—nor intended to try—weaving and calculating a magic circle myself, so reconnecting the already collapsed axis was not easy at all.
The power of the child, possessing the energy of a dragon, was strong enough to instill her will into a 10th Circle magic circle.
However, because she was young, she was lacking.
If opening a portal according to a set formula could be compared to floating a small boat on a calm lake, what the child had just done was no different from throwing a massive boulder onto the lake’s surface.
No matter how capable I was, could I suppress every single splashing droplet?
“…Hic.”
The frightened child clung to me, gripping the collar of my chest tightly.
I grit my teeth. If Titi hadn’t been here, I would have tried to grab the space that had begun to tear and twist with my bare hands, but since that wasn’t feasible, I only felt urgent.
With all my might, I gathered mana to press down and hold the erratic magic circle.
It was then.
“What are you doing right now! Call Peter! Immediately!”
I snapped awake at Marianne’s sharp scream—no, her shout.
[Sister! Sister! Where are you right now!]
An answer didn’t come immediately. I shouted as if I were shaking the gods of the entire continent awake.
[Spiritus! Peter! Help, please help me!]
[What? What’s going on?]
[Suddenly what… The youngest?]
[Wow, it’s the Blue Star! It’s been so long, you. How have you been? Still newlyweds?]
[Yawn.]
The one I actually needed to hear from wasn’t listening, and the leisurely voices of other gods began to penetrate my mind one by one.
Having seen my predicament, Marianne directed the people, assigning them positions and quickly reciting a magic formula.
The wizards began to pour in their own meager mana. My ears felt muffled by the sound of all sorts of people shouting and chanting formulas.
Blood burst from the mouths of a few. The knights formed a circular perimeter to prepare for an explosion. From the swords they drew, sword energy of all colors began to scatter brilliant light.
After several minutes.
Fortunately, a corner of space opened before I could wail in despair. Spiritus, with her flaming golden hair disheveled, looked to anyone like she had just woken up.
Peter, popping out from the other side, reached his hand toward the hole on this side. Once the twisted and misaligned axes locked together, suppressing the rampaging mana was no longer difficult. The unknown things that had been stirring deep underground scattered as if melting away.
Only then did I have the leisure to look around.
I wasn’t the only one who looked frazzled. Marianne seemed to have come here held in Benjamin’s arms. She was still leaning one hand on Benjamin’s shoulder, being carried by him. Both were in their pajamas.
In that short time, besides the Philodendore couple, all eight elders of the Magic Tower had come out.
Surrounding the wizards were my knights. Among them were Hugh and Elvin.
Half of them had rushed out without even dressing properly after waking up, and the other half had run over from their guard posts.
And Spiritus. Standing there blankly, she changed her clothes with a single gesture.
Instead of Spiritus, who wrinkled her face with a short yawn, Marianne asked in a sharp voice.
“May I ask why, on earth, Your Highness is here at this hour?”
“…That is.”
“…”
“…”
It was the first time I realized Marianne Philodendore could produce such a chilling voice.
By ‘Your Highness,’ she was referring to Titi. Titi, who had never heard such a formal title from Marianne before, seemed confused as to whether she was talking about her or not.
Titi, who had been hiding in my arms, looked up and glanced at Marianne.
However, Marianne didn’t spare a single glance toward the child. She stared straight into my eyes, gritting her teeth as if suppressing her anger. Seeing this, Titi became terrified and swallowed a hiccuping sob.
As I remained silent, unable to say anything, Marianne slowly rubbed her face to compose her expression.
“No… whatever it is, now is not the time to discuss it. I will handle things here, so please return to the mansion for now. This is something His Majesty must explain to His Majesty personally.”
“…Yes. I will do so. Thank you, and I am sorry, Marquess Philodendore.”
“Once your report to His Majesty is finished, please make sure to call me separately as well. Then, please be on your way, Your Majesty.”
“…Yes.”
I retreated awkwardly under the firm order to leave. Marianne was so angry that she didn’t even look at Spiritus, whom she usually liked and followed so much.
Spiritus, who had been called out of sleep and accidentally scolded along with me, looked at the top of Titi’s head.
She whispered so only I could hear.
[I mean, kids grow up by causing accidents and all that.]
“…”
[It’s no big deal. Since she’s a dragon, she can read 10th Circle magic as naturally as breathing. It’s what they call dragon language, right? Constructing magic with a few words. It works even on completed magic circles, but a portal magic circle can’t implement ambiguous activation words like ‘I want to go to Daddy.’ Because of that, the formula routine got tangled up quite badly. Still, it probably would have just ended with one simple explosion. Seeing her already use dragon language, our Titi is definitely a genius. Right?]
“…”
[Of course, well, the fact that it happened in the middle of a city is a bit much, but for a dragon, it’s something that happens at least once in a lifetime. My eldest sister did something similar early on in the continent because of a lack of resources. The Sun burned down several countries in the beginning, and I’ve blown up a few cities myself. So don’t scold the child too much.]
“…”
[But seriously, why the hell were you out here with her?]
I’m in big trouble.