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77. A Small Invitation to the Past
The peaceful chill of a crisp morning was shattered by a scream as sharp as torn silk—the kind of sound that would never usually come from Ms. Rottenmeier.
Her eyes, magnified by her glasses, went wide as she stared at something by my bedside.
“Y-Young Master!? T-that thing!?”
“Oh, this? It’s the Abyssal Spider, Abyss Tarantella. Lady Hyourin gifted it to me last night.”
She pointed a trembling finger at the insect cage sitting on my nightstand, then backed all the way into the hallway, visibly shaken.
“Ms. Rottenmeier… Are you afraid of spiders?”
“I-I…” I can’t stand any kind of bug…!”
“Oh, really? I’m sorry, I didn’t know… But Tara-chan isn’t a bad spider, I promise!”
“T-Tara…chan?”
“Yeah. Short for Tarantella. She spins beautiful silk when you feed her magic.”
“…I-I see.”
Last night, I conducted an experiment with Lady Hyourin to determine the exact amount of magic required for Tara-chan to produce silk.
Turns out, just enough magic to form a tiny fireball was enough to make a full spool’s worth. Incredibly efficient!
And through that process, I also discovered that Tara-chan had intelligence comparable to a dog. She seemed to understand what I said and even responded in her own way.
After I explained that to Ms. Rottenmeier, she still kept her distance but nodded thoughtfully.
“If her habitat is restricted to a designated area… I suppose free-roaming her there would be permissible.”
“Yeah, I don’t want her cooped up in a cage all the time.”
“There is an unused sunroom in a separate wing. I shall arrange for it to be cleaned.”
“There’s a sunroom?”
“Yes. It was once used by your late grandmother, Lady Kiyo of House Kikunoi. However, the mistress of the house isn’t particularly fond of it, so it was sealed off.”
“I see. I’ll help with the cleaning. May I use it then?”
“Certainly.”
And that’s how the plan to clean the sunroom began. While sipping tea after breakfast, I shared the story of Tara-chan, and the presents I received from Lady Hyourin, Igor-sama, and the second son.
The trio of elves all tilted their heads toward the heavens.
“An otherworldly tool and a tailor spider, Taylor Tarantella…”
“You’re keeping a monster… seriously?”
“I give up! I’m too scared to even look at Aatan’s stats anymore!”
Romanov-sensei and Lara-sensei seemed to stare off into the distance, while Viktor-sensei looked positively worn out.
Just then, Ms. Utsunomiya timidly raised her hand.
“Yes, Ms. Utsunomiya?”
“Well, um… When we woke up this morning, there was a strange item beside Lord Regulus’s pillow…”
Encouraged by her words, Regulus handed over what looked like a scroll straight out of a historical drama, and a quill made of rainbow-colored feathers.
“Have you looked at what’s written inside?”
“Utsunomiya tried, but it zapped her.”
“Yes, it shocked me when I tried to touch it!”
Oh my.
I took the scroll, and the string tying it shut unraveled on its own. Inside, beautiful calligraphy read:
“Little chick, help your brother and devote yourself to your studies and swordplay.”
At the end of the message was an inked lotus flower symbol—identical to the marks on Regulus’s and my foreheads. The sender was obvious.
The Princess must have given it to Lady Hyourin, who then left it by Regulus’s pillow while he slept.
When I explained this to Ms. Utsunomiya, the scroll disappeared with a soft, bell-like chime.
I handed the remaining feather pen to Regulus, who cheerfully tried to stash it in an unfamiliar little pouch around his neck.
It looked like a chick-shaped coin purse with a string attached. It clearly couldn’t fit something as long as a quill—but when I moved to stop him, the feather pen slid smoothly inside through the chick’s beak clasp.
“Regulus, that…?”
“I got it for my birfday, from Chenchay!” (*Sensei)
So many “Chenchay”s to choose from.
Now that I think about it, I’d been so distracted by my own birthday, I never even asked Regulus what gifts he’d received—or thanked anyone on his behalf.
“Thank you, Sensei-gata (*plural for sensei). Allow me to extend my father’s gratitude.”
“No need for such formality. From me, he got a magical chick pouch. And from Lara…”
“I figured it was about time to teach him proper archery, so I gave him an Elven archery set.”
I already knew Viktor-sensei had gifted him a paper knife made by a master dwarf craftsman. But apparently, Regulus had received gifts from all three and even remembered to thank them properly.
“He said, ‘Thank you! I’ll keep doing my best!’ just like that.”
"Yes, he spoke without even tripping over his words."
Incredible. He only just turned four!
“Is he… a genius?”
“I think ‘like brother, like brother’ fits here, Aatan. I’m honestly too afraid to look at Reitan’s stats, too.”
“Hey now, you’re making it sound like I’m some kind of bizarre creature…”
I pouted, unable to completely agree with Viktor-sensei's assessment—but Romanov-sensei and Lara-sensei just nodded seriously, and Ms. Rottenmeier wouldn’t even make eye contact. Rude.
After breakfast and a little laughter, we followed Ms. Rottenmeier to the old sunroom in the unused wing.
Since we expected it to be dusty, Elise and Ms. Utsunomiya brought mops, buckets, and rags, while I grabbed a small broom suited for a child.
Ms. Rottenmeier unlocked the long-sealed door, and stale air and dust immediately wafted out.
I coughed instinctively—and so did Viktor-sensei, who then snapped his fingers with a crisp pop.
A breeze stirred, carefully bypassing us while blowing away the dust.
The once-concealed floor came into view: mosaic tiles forming a blooming flower field with fluttering butterflies. A refined space, perfect for a noblewoman.
“I cleared most of the dust with magic, but it’ll still need some proper scrubbing.”
“Thank you. We’ll handle the rest the old-fashioned way.”
I thanked Viktor, and Romanov filled a bucket handed over by Elise.
Rags were wrung out and passed around. Regulus received one too, and even Lara and the others picked up cleaning tools.
I never expected to start the new year with a deep clean, but with enough hands, we finished fairly quickly.
Once the curtains were removed and sent for washing, the stained glass skylight lived up to the name “sunroom,” casting shimmering rainbow light across the room.
As I squinted up at the warmth, someone tugged gently at the hem of my shirt.
It was Regulus, pointing at an oversized picture frame propped backward on an empty bookshelf.
“What’s that, Nii-ni?”
“Let’s find out.”
We toddled over to the frame together, wiped off the dust, and carefully turned it around.
Sure enough, it held a portrait of a noble lady, though dust still clung to its surface.
“Same eyes and hair… as Nii-ni…”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
Her strong gaze and poised brow, flowing black hair, and rose petal lips—all combined to form a dazzling, commanding beauty.
“She always said, ‘Back in the day, they called me the Fairest Lady of the Kihou Empire.’ And even in old age, she was still breathtaking…”
Ms. Rottenmeier’s nostalgic voice drew everyone’s attention to the portrait.
“Truly…” someone whispered in awe.
“So this is… my grandmother?”
“Yes. The late Countess Kiyo Kikunoi—your grandmother, young master.”
…Where did those stunning genes go?
I seemed to be the only one squinting suspiciously at the portrait.
********
EUN: Here's another chapter!! Though I still haven't posted the bonus chapter from Tempeh's dono >.<
Ageha's grandmother looks sooo pretty. The way she's drawn seems unique and contrary to Ageha's thoughts, I can see semblance of Ageha to his grandmother. And just a bit more we'd reach the same arc as the manga~
Thanks for reading, commenting and donating~^^
If you do donate though please include the title of the work so I can queue up extra chapters
I really appreciate it so much and it helps me so much!!
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