𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝟏
“The country was on the verge of falling.
So, His Majesty decided to enact the Barrier Maiden.”
ㅤ
“Is that, by any chance. . .”
ㅤ
“Sofia was also. . . in that tower?”
ㅤ
“I was there. However, it wasn’t that tower, but the one on the border with Ahrens.”
ㅤ
“Uh!! Is it Lilia?!”
ㅤ
ㅤ
Chris restrains Kyle, who involuntarily lifts his body, and makes him sit down.
He apologizes as if embarrassed by his excitement.
. . .No need to apologize.
There were four barrier towers with Kokodia, but only one tower with Tyrnia.
It wouldn’t be strange if Kyle, who was reading the remaining books, noticed.
ㅤ
“Yes. It’s Lilia. . .To be precise, it was Lilia.”
ㅤ
“. . .Ah, I see. That’s what it is.
Thinking about it, isn’t Lilia just like Sofia in every way?”
ㅤ
“Impression?”
ㅤ
“Small, adorable when she laughs, happy when the merchant couple visits.
Although she should be lonely all the time, she never shows any signs of it.
Excited to inform the palace by letter when she develops new magic for the country.
Even if she couldn’t see the results,
She continued to use her knowledge for the country until the end. . .”
ㅤ
“That’s the Princess. It doesn’t feel out of place at all.”
ㅤ
“. . . . .That’s how that couple wrote it.”
ㅤ
The merchant couple who worried about me until the end.
Although I was much older, I was treated like a child every time I met them.
Are you eating, are you sleeping properly at night,
Do you need books other than magic. . .
I started drinking tea because that couple brought it to me.
How peaceful and prosperous we had become, to be able to drink something other than water,
We laughed as we drank tea together.
ㅤ
“I see. Lilia was Sofia, so she had an incredible amount of knowledge.
She must have continued her research for over fifty years on her own.
It’s different from being taught by someone.
Because she builds on the full understanding of all the basics. . .
A terrifying amount of information and control ability would be needed.”
ㅤ
“As for me, I understood why Princess is so naive about the world.
She’s been stuck at ten years old, hasn’t she?
Always a child. . . Well, that’s definitely a genuine Princess.”
ㅤ
“Chris, what are you saying?
I have a soul that’s over seventy years old, right? I’m a grandma, aren’t I?”
ㅤ
“Huh? Princess is a grandma?”
ㅤ
“Well, Lilia died at sixty-three, and now I’m eighteen.
If you add that up, it’s over seventy years old, isn’t it?”
ㅤ
I’m eighteen now, and I will turn nineteen this year, but inside, it’s different.
I didn’t want to say that I was a witch because I didn’t want anyone to know.
I was afraid of being called disgusting or accused of deceiving them.
I’ve come to accept that I was a witch, but
I wonder if people won’t say it’s disgusting when they think about it more closely. . .
ㅤ
As I was feeling anxious, Chris and Kyle looked at each other and nodded.
. . .Why did both of them nod?
ㅤ
“Sofia, no matter how you look at it, you’re still a child.”
ㅤ
“Eh.”
ㅤ
“A normal eighteen-year-old would know a little more about various things, wouldn’t they?”
ㅤ
“Eh?”
ㅤ
“What’s so grandma about you?
A normal grandma wouldn’t make a fuss just by seeing a house with a triangular roof.”
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“. . .Ugh.”
ㅤ
I definitely made a fuss.
Seeing a small and cute house with a red triangular roof just outside the capital city, I shouted how adorable it was.
After all, I had never seen such a small and cute house before.
ㅤ
“If you see a flock of sheep, you say you want to touch the fluffy ones,
And you’re noisy about what the flock of birds returning in the evening is. . .”
ㅤ
“Uuuu. . . but it’s because I saw them all for the first time.”
ㅤ
“See? Princess has never known the outside world.
Of course, her magical knowledge is impressive. I’ve known that all along.
But she doesn’t know what a normal young lady would learn in fifty years of becoming an adult.
When she was a witch, she was locked in a tower, and now Princess is confined to the palace.
You can’t see the outside world when you’re kept in a birdcage.”
ㅤ
So. . . Chris slowly stroked my head.
Chris, who doesn’t usually smile, is smiling at me.
ㅤ
“Living long doesn’t mean you grow old.
Sure, the body will deteriorate.
But you grow old by experiencing various things, learning various things,
And having your heart moved.”
ㅤ
“That’s right. Sofia will grow up from now on.
You’ll learn various things, experience them, and finally, the time that has stopped will start moving.”
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“From now on. . . I’ll become an adult?”
ㅤ
“That’s right. You’ve realized it on this journey.
You didn’t know anything, you hadn’t experienced anything.”
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“. . .Yeah.”
ㅤ
“You went on a journey, and everything was unknown, wasn’t it?
Don’t you feel like you’ve become more of an adult than when you were in the palace?”
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“I do.”
ㅤ
“That’s what it’s all about.”
ㅤ
I didn’t feel a hint of falsehood in those words.
They weren’t trying to console me or deceive me.
I knew both of them genuinely thought so.
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“I see. . . that’s how it is.”
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“You don’t have to rush. We’ll always be by your side.
You can grow up slowly.”
ㅤ
“Yeah.”
ㅤ
“Let’s go to sleep now.”
ㅤ
I might have wanted to talk more.
But somehow, I felt content and thought it was fine.
ㅤ
“Come on. It’s my turn today.”
ㅤ
Called by Chris, I was picked up and held sideways on his lap.
After saying goodnight to both of them, I was quickly drawn into my dreams.
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