“……But don’t call me brother.”

At His’ chubby voice, Lucia, who seemed to vaguely know what he meant, smiled faintly.

“Master, why are you there? Are you having fun?”

“Shh, shh, shh, shh! Ah, Ivanne. Will you go over there and tell them it’s time to leave?”

Emily, who quickly hid on the podium when she saw Lucia, whispered softly.

But Ivanne, who seemed to find it fun, ignored her words and squeezed in next to her.

In that narrow space, Ivanne proudly handed the picture she had drawn to Emily.

“It’s teacher.”

In a moment of thrill, Emily unfolded the picture, and in it…

On a solid black background, something that could be called a corpse as well as a person lay down, with pale, empty gray eyes filling its face.

“…….”

Did you draw a funeral for me in advance, Ivanne?

Emily, who would really have no way to make a living if she left this country.

She thought she’d try to hold out for the first semester, but a tear flowed as she saw herself, who looked just like the picture, in Ivanne’s twinkling eyes.

Near the capital, the great temple that worships the goddess Ashir.

In the high priest’s office there, the priest Mordo, who had attended the baptismal ceremony, handed the documents to the person sitting opposite him.

“High Priest Ahilrun. Here is the child’s information.”

“Hmm. The child of the Black Knight Commander, and the Emperor himself is the witness. It is unique, but…….”

Ahilrun, the High Priest, who had removed his mask and was checking the documents, replied.

He was a man with calmly flowing long blonde hair, more slender and beautiful than a woman, with an enigmatic atmosphere that made his age hard to guess.

“I want to investigate further.”

Mordo, even though the child had shown no reaction to the divine power, could not forget the strange energy he had felt in that golden eye.

Furthermore, the sudden appearance of a child, despite being the daughter of the most infamous black monster in the Empire.

That’s why he had deliberately used his connections in the royal family to get information about Nia.
But the documents contained no such information, and the only thing that was registered was the Emperor as a witness to prove the birth of an already grown child.

The reason for that was that she had practiced alone for five years, and because she had undoubtedly become a Sword Master through that training, no one could even ask why a child had suddenly appeared.

“Is that so? I heard there was no response to the divine power, but something seems off?”

In place of suspicion without reason, the Grand Vizier Ahilrun always asked kindly, in his usual smooth and slow tone.

From infancy, he was a talented person of virtue who possessed enormous divine power, used it not carelessly, served people, and rose to the position of Grand Vizier at a young age.

As this legendary figure calmly asked about the situation, Mordo realized his mistake and his face turned red.

“Ah, I’m sorry. That is, I mean……”

As he struggled to hide his confusion and tried to explain,

Knock Knock

Someone knocked on the door.

“Our guest has arrived, so shall we talk more next time? Ah, and it would be best to shred the paper with your Majesty’s name on it. You worked hard today. Priest Mordo.”

As if someone had promised to come, Grand Vizier Ahilrun hurriedly concluded.

At his firm attitude, Mordo could say no more and turned around.

He left the office with a bitter taste, and sure enough, the guest was waiting right in front of him.

Though he had expected it, the guest was indeed Duke Anton Artiam Kilgis.

As he was the duke who inherited the blood of the first priest who worshiped the Goddess Asir, it was not strange for him to come and go in the temple like his own house.

But the moment he brushed past him, Mordo froze.

For some reason, his whole body shivered with a dark chill, contrasting with the warm feeling he had with the child he saw today.

Knights of the Black, Knight Commander’s Office.

Lucia, who had come to work after a long time, sent Nia to school early in the morning, changed her clothes in her room.

It was fortunate that she could leave her at the kindergarten attached to the palace even at an early hour, and she opened the window leisurely stretching herself.

The dustless appearance in the incoming wind seemed to be wellmanaged even though the place had been vacant for half a year.

Then, sitting in her chair, she naturally picked up a parenting book.

Since she had less leisure to read the book than she thought, she intended to continue reading it here.

“……Children’s quarrels. Nia is a timid child, so there won’t be any fights. Is this really such a big problem?”

Seeing quite a number of pages about children’s fights, Lucia quickly skimmed through.

Gulp

“Huh? Commander? Are you here? I’m sorry. I thought you were not here and came in to clean…….”

It was Vernon, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Lucia silently pointed to the twopiece hanging behind her.