Chapter 1: He May Be a Child...

I’m surrounded on all fronts!

The breeze today had the definite cool of fall, and I was here on a heavenly order to speak with Fabian Oltenberg. With the young son of a viscount before me, I was panicking more than I ever had before. Here, too, stood an enemy.

“Then, Miss Liese, what do I do if they attack me with ice?”

“Well, let us think. Ice magic has to do with more than just temperature. It includes physical attacks that...”

At the end of my gaze, Fabian and Lieselotte were having a grand old time. The two of them had been excitedly talking about magic and its applications in combat for some time. The boy genius had never had to put much thought into his spells; Lieselotte’s perspective—honed through years of diligent effort—struck his fancy.

“Huuuh?! I didn’t think these two would get along this well!”

“Now that I think about it more carefully, Liese-tan is the big sister to end all big sisters. Maybe that part of her meshes well with little Fabby-boo, who’s the youngest in his entire family.”

Watching them get along so well that it even surprised the gods made me feel pitifully left out. The two of them had opened up to a degree far beyond coincidental alignment of interests. The aloof prodigy looked just like any other innocent boy his age; my strict fiancée was smiling so tenderly. Why?!

Perhaps in part due to her free-spirited mother, Lieselotte’s senses of justice and responsibility were rooted deep within. That may have caused her to want to spoil young Fabian, who shouldered burdens unbefitting of his age.

Actually, on second thought, she did the same to Fiene. Maybe she was just sweeter toward those younger than her. While Lieselotte and Fiene were only separated by a few months (they were in the same school year, after all), Fiene did look young for her age.

“So cute,” Lieselotte mumbled.

Oh... Lieselotte simply had a soft spot for cuteness. The wide-eyed boy was indeed very cute. I could try for the rest of eternity and I would fail to imitate what made him so adorable. But if nothing else, surely I must have had equal charm when I’d first met Lieselotte...

Wait, no. I’m clearly confused. What even is this line of reasoning?

As I battled my own train of thought, the two of them continued merrily chatting. My plan to have Lieselotte open up the boy’s heart was a resounding success, but it was so successful that I felt like I’d failed.

I rewound my mind to try and think of how this came to be.

────

Fabian Oltenberg was a genius. This was a verifiable fact that anyone who knew of his existence could attest to.

At eleven years old, he ordinarily would not be allowed into the royal academy. Commoner children of his age went to state or Church-sponsored elementary schools, and most aristocrats would be receiving lessons from private tutors. Some noble houses, like the Riefenstahls, would hire combat instructors around this point and have their children begin training.

However, Fabian was so gifted that he’d received permission to attend this academy early—or so it seemed on the surface. Truthfully, the crown had ordered him to enroll so that he could learn how to control the terrifyingly huge pool of mana unbefitting for someone of his age. Despite not being fully grown, he was already strong enough to burn a whole town to ashes.

Fabian himself was still a weak little boy. Balancing his physical capabilities with his astronomical magical talent was a daunting task. Bluntly put, a mere viscountcy could not hope to protect him.

As a result, his father was sworn in as a court mage. From there, the academy, the state, and his family all worked in tandem to carefully cultivate Fabian Oltenberg’s natural endowments.

“...So that’s why we want you to go ask Fabby-boo for help against the Witch of Yore!”

When Lady Kobayashee had explained her request to me, I’d been in the middle of talking to Lieselotte. The first thought I had was about the nickname “Fabby-boo.” I’d been thinking this ever since first hearing her call my fiancée “Liese-tan,” but Lady Kobayashee had a very unique naming sense. I suppose it was only fitting for a goddess to reduce this prodigal bundle of raw talent to a mere eleven-year-old.

Not to say he didn’t look the part, of course. His shoulder-length glossy black hair and sapphire eyes gave him a childish androgyny. He was cute—enough to mistake him for a girl at first glance. In fact, an eccentric aristocrat from abroad had once attempted to kidnap him for his looks instead of his unfathomable power.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could discount the numerous occasions when he had to be rescued from deranged people trying to use his talents for their own gain. There were countless villains trying to kidnap the young boy so they could brainwash him into a weapon of mass destruction.

“...Ah.” At this point, I realized that there was a problem with the goddess’s request. I’d heard that Fabian Oltenberg’s many run-ins with attempted (and realized) kidnappings had left him with a fear of tall men. There was a decent chance he wouldn’t even hear me out.

“Is there something wrong?” Lieselotte asked. She seemed puzzled by my sudden moment of realization.

“Ah, you see, I have to speak with young Fabian of the Oltenberg Viscounty. Unfortunately, I recall that he has a fear of tall men.”

My short and simple explanation made Lieselotte fall into quiet contemplation for a moment. Eventually, she looked up at me with a cheerful smile.

“Your Highness, allow me to speak to him on your behalf,” she offered with pride.

While being my fiancée was credential enough to speak for me, Lieselotte was prone to causing all sorts of misunderstandings. I hope Fabian won’t be scared of her. Perhaps my rude thoughts were leaking out in my expression, because Lieselotte huffed at me, upset.

“I will have you know that I have four whole sisters, all of them younger. Of them, I practically raised three on my own—handling young children is my forte.”

She was right, I supposed.

“Hmm... Okay, I’ll leave it to you.” My approval was met with a smug grin. “With how kind you are at heart, I’m sure you’ll be a good mother one day.”

“Holy moly, the prince is going full throttle!”

“In my opinion, pointing that out to your fiancée skips straight past declaring the obvious and lands in the realm of minor sexual harassment.”

I could practically hear the fumes puff out of Lieselotte’s head as she turned bright red. Hearing the gods’ explanation, I could only think one thing: drat.

I had only meant to give an honest opinion.

“Wh-What in the world are you on about?! O-Of course, I have every intention of treating our own children with the utmost love and care, but I fear the time is not yet... I know full well that there are all manner of circumstances that could see a couple wed in their time as students, and I know that I am of legal age as per royal law, but, Your Highness, you haven’t even graduated yet... I couldn’t!”

“Never mind, I take it back. If anything, Liese-tan looks like she appreciated the comment, so we’ll call it fair play.”

Lieselotte’s rapid-fire speech paired with Lady Kobayashee’s remark had me smirking so much that I had to cover my mouth.

Gods, she’s cute.

Truthfully, there were plenty of couples that married before leaving the nest, primarily due to gaps in age. After graduating from the academy and entering high society, the presence of a legal wife would certainly smooth over quite a few social situations—though, honestly, I just wanted an excuse to marry her sooner.

“Oh! Enough of this!” Lieselotte shouted, cutting off my train of thought. “Let us put this to rest and hurry forward!”

She sprang to her feet and marched off in search of Fabian. Just when I rose to hurry after her, she stopped dead in her tracks. I wondered what had happened. Glancing back at me, she hesitated for a few moments and averted her gaze before mumbling in a tiny voice.

“...I swear to live up to your expectations, Your Highness.”

With that said, Lieselotte turned away with her usual straight spine and marched off. I couldn’t tell if she was referring to negotiations with Fabian Oltenberg or our future child, but even I had enough sense to know that was not something I could ask. Silently, I followed after her.

────

...And so, we return to the scene of Lieselotte and Fabian opening up to one another. They were growing so close that I seriously began to worry. In their short time chatting away at this and that, he’d already begun calling her “Miss Liese,” and their usage of formal language was disappearing by the second. What in the world is happening?!

“Oh man, I’ve never seen Sieg make a face like that!” Lord Endoh’s voice was trembling. With laughter.

Fair enough, I suppose—I could tell that my expression was not very pleasant. At least Fiene was a girl, legally her sister, and (although cousins were somewhat removed) a blood relation. On the other hand, Fabian Oltenberg held exactly none of those qualities. The level of danger was radically different.

He may have been a child, but this was no laughing matter. Who could blame me for making a face like never before?

“No, no, I’m sure it’s fine...for now. But who knows what’ll happen in five years?” I could hear the smirk on Lady Kobayashee’s face.

In five years, Lieselotte would be twenty-one, and Fabian sixteen. Oh, I can’t do this.

“Lieselotte,” I said, losing to my sense of urgency.

“Is something the matter, Your Highness?” she asked, totally unaware of my state of panic. Beside her, Fabian innocently peered up at me with similar confusion, causing me to feel rather awkward.

“Nothing at all,” I said, with an excessively gentle smile. I pushed through my discomfort and went on, “Your enthusiastic conversation piqued my interest. What were you two speaking about?”

“My sisters,” Lieselotte answered, beaming. “The twins are only a year older than Fabian, and my youngest is two years below him. Don’t you think they’d be perfect to marry?”

“I couldn’t,” Fabian said. “I don’t think I’d be a good fit for a marquis princess.”

“No need to worry. My sisters aren’t very princess-like at all—in fact, they’re so knightly that you can hardly call them ladies.”

There is a definite cause for worry in that statement. Still, it seemed like Lieselotte had managed to alleviate some of Fabian’s fears, as he was sighing in relief. Then, my fiancée leaned to my ear.

“I’m sure my sisters can serve as both sword and shield to protect him; in fact, I doubt anyone else would be up to the task of staying by his side. Don’t you agree?”

Now that you mention it... With how frequently people targeted Fabian, the young noble ladies that could be paired with him were few and far between. The younger daughters of Marquis Riefenstahl had both the physical and political power to manage, but I doubted the same could be said of others.

Where they had once been in a limbo of pseudo-engagement with Baldur, all three of them were now free to pursue marriage. Best of all, Lieselotte’s enthusiasm for pairing Fabian with her sisters meant she had absolutely no interest in taking him herself.

“I agree,” I said with a relieved smile. “That’s a wonderful idea.”

All of a sudden, Lieselotte’s face flushed red. I couldn’t understand why she was shrinking away so meekly until Lady Kobayashee stepped in to explain.

“It looks like she’s finally realized how close she got to Sieg and is eating a delayed wave of embarrassment.”

So that’s what it was!

Reminded once more of my fiancée’s infinite capacity for cuteness, I quickly began devising a strategy to move Fabian from “rival” to “future brother-in-law.”

“...Does that mean you’ll be my sister-in-law, Miss Liese?” The adorable tilt of Fabian’s head as he spoke almost felt calculated.

“It does,” Lieselotte said. “Won’t that be wonderful?”

Watching the two giggle together like they were already siblings warmed my heart. It did, but they were still so close that I seriously considered trying to find another young lady to pair him with for the sake of my own sanity.

“You should just seal the deal with Lieselotte already if it bothers you that much.”

Lord Endoh’s words hit a soft spot for me. I knew how deplorable it was to abuse my engagement and sit on my laurels without telling her my true feelings. And I didn’t like how narrow-minded it was of me to be jealous in spite of my inaction.

“But Liese-tan’s the type to bashfully run away when you try advancing. She literally lost consciousness the last time Sieg kissed her on the cheek.”

Lady Kobayashee’s cheeriness also had some merit to it. Still, I wanted to capture Lieselotte with my own two hands before the Witch of Yore had any chance to interrupt us. I would not let some formless evil take her body.

“So,” I whispered to myself, “I’d like to have her by the end of autumn.”

Lieselotte was mine—I would ensure it, no matter who or what tried to steal her away. I put on my trademark smile and watched my fiancée happily converse with the young boy. As I gazed on this peaceful scene, I finally awoke to my own desire.