Chapter 59
“Your Majesty is spending time with Her Highness the Princess in the Garden.”
No doubt he’s watching the Princess’s Magic Demonstration again. Fathers are usually doting on their daughters, but he takes it to an extreme.
Thinking so, Franz immediately headed towards the Garden, and there he found the Emperor. Sure enough, he was watching the Princess’s Magic Demonstration.
“Father! How was it?!”
“Oh, my daughter is doing so well.”
The Emperor’s face was beaming with smiles.
It feels a bit wrong to interrupt their happy time.
Perhaps for the Emperor, this was the only time he could genuinely smile all day. The last time Franz saw him, he looked half-dead, so it was entirely possible.
Then I’ll just wait a little longer.
The Emperor must have other duties anyway, so it wouldn’t take too long.
And if he thought about it, the problem was with himself for coming unannounced without an appointment, so it was only right to adjust to the Emperor’s schedule.
It was then. Suddenly, the Emperor’s gaze turned towards Franz.
The Emperor, as if surprised, blinked a few times, then began to approach.
In response, Franz knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
“Magic Tower Lord Franz Gilbert greets the Sun of the Empire.”
“The greeting is done; you may rise.”
At the Emperor’s command, Franz rose.
“I don’t know why you’ve come, but it’s difficult to talk right now. As you can see, I’m playing with my daughter.”
“Isn’t spending time with Her Highness the Princess the most important thing? It’s my fault for coming unannounced, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“That’s why I’m saying, if it’s alright, would you mind watching my daughter with me? She’s happy because she’s learned a new spell, and she’d be pleased if you, the Magic Tower Lord, watched her.”
The Emperor probably thought he was making a request, but to Franz, it felt no different from a command. Moreover, since the Princess was involved in the justification, the option to refuse didn’t even exist.
Franz had known this would happen and tried to escape. But just his luck, the Emperor suddenly turned around, and he was caught without a chance to move.
“It would be an honor to witness Her Highness the Princess’s magic...”
Just as Franz was about to reluctantly agree.
“M-Magic Tower Lord?!”
Before he knew it, the Princess was right in front of him. Her eyes wide, she stared at Franz.
“It’s been a long time, Your Highness. Have you been well?”
“I, I’ve been well, but Magic Tower Lord, what brings you here again...?”
The Princess faltered, as if something were bothering her.
Well, that’s understandable.
Whether Franz sought the Emperor or the Emperor sought Franz, it was a given that something would happen whenever they met. So, it was natural for the Princess to be anxious about what might happen again. The fact that she was already worrying about such things at the age of 11 was both regrettable and admirable.
However,
“I heard that Your Highness has learned a new spell; how could I possibly remain still?”
Franz offered a smile. Even if there was a problem, there was no reason to tell her. No, he actually didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to make the young Princess worry.
“I-Is that really true...?”
“Yes, and please just call me Magic Tower Lord. Even though I am the Master of the Magic Tower, I am beneath the Sun of the Empire, so how could Your Highness use honorifics?”
“Th-That’s that...! I-It’s a sign of respect for a Legendary Mage...!”
The Princess, flustered, blushed.
When you’re young, it’s hard to admit your mistakes. Hmm, I understand completely. After all, I had experienced that period twice.
But rather than pointing out her mistake in the first place, he had asked her to change the honorific because it made him uncomfortable, so Franz immediately got to the point.
“Then, if I may be so bold, would you please show me the new spell you’ve learned?”
“O-Of course...! I’ll show you anything you want!”
The Princess began to skip ahead. As she moved so far away that her voice could no longer be heard, the Emperor spoke.
“Excellent.”
“I can confidently say my social skills are excellent.”
“I see it too, to the point where I’d like to learn a thing or two from you.”
“L-Learn from me? How could you say such a thing...?”
“My daughter has caused me no end of trouble, you see...”
A sense of sorrow and hardship was evident in the Emperor’s voice.
Indeed, they say the smarter the child, the harder they are to raise. If the Princess were that smart, the Emperor must have no end of worries. Raising a child truly seemed like no ordinary task.
“Hurry up and come!”
As he was talking with the Emperor, the Princess called out impatiently from afar.
“It seems we should go.”
“Yes, a daughter’s resentment is a fearsome thing, you see.”
Franz and the Emperor belatedly followed.
Soon, in a wide clearing in the Garden, the Princess’s Magic Demonstration began.
<F1>How did I end up here...?</F1>
He certainly hadn’t come for this purpose, but somehow, this was how it turned out. Well, they say you shouldn’t go against fate, don’t they? So it seemed easier to just accept it. Fighting against fate like that is something only Heroes do.
Inhale, exhale.
The Princess, as if nervous, took a long breath in and out.
“Magic Tower Lord, watch closely!”
“Yes, I will watch with wide-open eyes.”
The Princess took out a short wooden staff from her waist. But the aura emanating from that staff was unusual. It seemed to greatly amplify the flow of mana; it was clearly quite a significant item.
“Your Majesty.”
“As for that staff, my daughter apparently found it while exploring the Imperial Palace’s Treasure Vault. She pestered me for it, so I just gave it to her for now, but I’d appreciate it if you could assess it and tell me about it.”
“...Understood.”
Franz said so, but his thoughts were quite tangled.
Why did he have to do what the doting Emperor couldn’t? Of course, he was well-versed in magic, but that didn’t qualify him to say anything to the Princess, did it? Well, no matter what, since the Emperor had asked, there was no option but to do it.
While he was thinking that, the Princess’s Magic Demonstration began.
The mana flowing within her body spread out from the tip of the short wooden staff. Red dots gathered to form lines, and the lines met to draw a circle. Magic Script and shapes were etched within it, and finally, a Magic Circle was completed.
<F1>A 1st Circle spell, I see.</F1>
1st Circle Magic Fire.
It’s a spell that creates a small flame.
Of course, depending on the user, the flame could be made enormous, but with the Princess’s current skill, a very small flame would be all she could manage. If there were a variable, it would be that wooden staff the Princess was holding.
Soon, a flickering flame appeared from the Magic Circle. What was initially just a tiny spark fed on the Princess’s mana and gradually grew in size.
She seems to be pushing herself a bit too hard.
Each person has a fixed total amount of mana they can use. But the Princess had already used more than half of her allotted amount and was still pouring mana into the spell.
If she continues like this, she’ll probably collapse from Mana Depletion. It’s something that often happens when learning magic for the first time, because they get excited and cast spells recklessly.
“Ugh...”
Sure enough, the Princess lost her balance and staggered. And that immediately meant her concentration had broken.
The enormous fireball, which had been steadily growing in size, left the Magic Circle. If that were left unchecked, the entire area would turn into a sea of flames.
I could have stopped it midway, but that wouldn’t be a good lesson.
The Princess, with wide eyes, watched the flying fireball. Soon, fear began to creep into her expression.
It was then.
<F1>Snap.</F1>
As Franz snapped his fingers, the fireball vanished without a trace.
The Princess’s gaze, which had been watching the scene, turned towards Franz belatedly.
Franz, who had approached the Princess, then spoke.
“Princess.”
“Th-That is...!”
“Are you alright? Are you out of breath or anything?”
“...Yes, I’m fine.”
The Princess, bowing her head deeply, replied.
She probably knew well enough that she had made a mistake. If so, rather than scolding her directly, he should educate her.
“You went a bit overboard. You know that, don’t you?”
“B-But I wanted Magic Tower Lord to look at me again...”
Franz’s mind was filled with questions. She used too much magic because of him? What on earth did that mean?
“As for me, I’m watching Princess very closely. Your talent for magic is outstanding, and you are a wise person.”
“That’s not it...! I, I want the Magic Tower Lord to see me as a woman!”
“...Pardon?”
“There are so many women in the Magic Tower who are good at magic, aren’t there?! Among them, if I want to become Magic Tower Lord’s bride, I have no choice but to be good at magic somehow...”
What the... It was the most bewildering thing he’d heard since the quest to save the world from the villainess.
And now it feels like someone is piercing me with daggers from behind; I really hope it’s just my imagination.