Chapter 52
That day, Reary had been restless since morning.
"Harden, is there anything I can help with?"
"My lady, I am grateful for the offer, but everything is proceeding without a hitch, and all preparations are well in hand."
"I see. Then I'll go check on Ellie!"
Watching Reary hurry away, unable to contain her excitement, one of the butlers chuckled.
"Lady Reary certainly seems happy."
Harden, who managed the Zodiac household as its head butler, gently chided his colleague, though he too smiled as he watched the head's daughter depart.
"Lady Lapiria is returning home for the first time in quite a while. And Lord Roa=Stein is accompanying her. It's only natural she'd be so excited."
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It was the first time Lapiria-sama and her fiancé, Roa-sama, had come to the Zodiac household since the war with Riflerea.
The Tenth Knight Order was currently one of the pillars supporting Rudek. It was easy to imagine how busy its central figures—my older sister and Roa-sama—were.
They had only managed to find time once Northern Rudek had settled down to some degree, more than half a year after the war.
Autumn had already arrived, and the farmers were breathing sighs of relief at having avoided a harvest as nightmarish as last year's.
―― I have something important to discuss, so I'll come home for a visit. ――
That was what Lapiria-sama's letter said. Given the timing, it was easy even for me, Reary, to guess that this important matter concerned Lapiria-sama and Roa-sama.
Thinking about what they would discuss, I couldn't help smiling. Even when I corrected my expression, thinking it a little unbecoming, it would return before I noticed, so there was nothing I could do.
This would be my second time meeting Roa-sama.
Since he was my older sister's fiancé, I had wished he would come visit with her more often, but considering the war with neighboring Riflerea, it couldn't be helped.
He was probably at the center of this story. I was certain of it. And so, whenever I imagined a story with Roa-sama as its protagonist, my imagination ran wild.
I loved stories. I had my father to thank for that.
My father, Belton, had apparently wanted to become a writer when he was young. He had a huge fight with my grandfather over it and had even run away from home, or so I'd heard.
Unfortunately, he had not been blessed with enough talent to earn people's recognition. Instead of finding success as a writer, he found a life partner in my mother and returned to my grandfather.
I heard it from my mother, so it was probably true.
My father may not have had the talent, but he never stopped reading. As a result, our home was crammed with countless stories that occupied three rooms.
My younger brother, Billian, loved physical activity like our grandfather and never spared a glance for the bookshelves. But to me, these were treasures that glittered like jewels.
Once I opened a page, all sorts of heroes, men and women alike, would perform all sorts of feats and make my heart flutter.
But what had me most enthralled now was neither an invincible hero from a story nor a tale of a beautiful, fleeting queen. It was Roa=Stein-sama himself, a living person.
He looked ordinary, but what he did was anything but.
It would be difficult even to list all that Roa-sama had accomplished. After all, he was someone known as Rudek's savior.
I knew because I had met him myself. There was something a little special about him. To borrow my grandfather's words, he was "an anomaly."
And he was engaged to my older sister.
And soon, the two of them would be coming to our house to discuss something important. Nothing could make my heart dance more.
I wanted to welcome them as perfectly as possible.
I was so keyed up I was practically running in circles, but that same enthusiasm carried me to the big day before I knew it.
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"Reary! Billian! It's been a long time!"
We rushed toward our older sister as she came running to meet us.
"Big Sister!"
"Big Sister!"
My older sister tried to embrace us, but she winced ever so slightly. Seeing her expression, I realized—of course. If I remembered correctly, she had injured her shoulder in the Great Battle of Femas. Perhaps it still hadn't healed.
"What is it?"
I stopped halfway, and my older sister, who was hugging Billian with one arm, looked at me quizzically.
"Does your shoulder still hurt?"
My question seemed to catch my older sister off guard. Then she smiled immediately.
"Thank you for worrying about me. I'm sorry. It's all right now, but it sometimes hurts if I raise my arm the wrong way. Really, I'm fine. Now, come here."
After listening to her and studying her expression, I decided she wasn't lying.
Even so, I hesitated just a little before throwing myself into her arms.
After we had enjoyed our reunion for a while, I pulled away from my older sister and turned to Roa-sama and Wickhart-sama. Apart from my older sister, only the two of them were here. Had they really come with just three people this time?
"Oh, are you perhaps looking for Lufa? Sorry, I didn't bring Lufa this time."
Seeing Roa-sama look apologetic, I hurriedly shook my head.
"N-no! I was just thinking that someone as important as you, Roa-sama, had come with surprisingly few people."
"Ah, is that what you meant? Actually, I'm having the others wait in town until we're finished talking. ...It's a rather important matter, you see."
As Roa-sama said this, he wore the expression of someone who had steeled himself, and somehow I felt myself straighten up as well.