“Grandfather said that the navy should exist as a deterrent, not to cause wars. General Maximilian is deemed the hero of Azelia, but in Belisario, grandfather is deemed the true hero as the one who prevented war.”
I was too young to understand absolutely everything at the time, but I at least realized that it sounded incredible. Grandfather was incredible. Belisario was incredible. Father was incredible for continuing to protect Belisario even after grandfather had returned to his hometown. Chris was incredible for understanding all this while he was still only five. Deir was incredible for giving me this opportunity to talk to my brother just by calling my name.
Knowing I was a member of this family brought me pride and happiness.
“An army that exists to prevent war...” I murmured.
“Alan, why have you pretended to be a normal child until now?” Chris suddenly asked.
“What?” I said, startled. Chris was grinning at me, but I averted my gaze as I tried to think of how to answer. “Because I don’t like studying.”
“Ah ha ha ha ha! That’s why? It definitely can be boring sometimes. But knowledge is just as much of a weapon as a sword or spear.”
How many times did I have to say that the words coming out of Chris’s mouth did not suit his age?
“Alan!” Just as I was figuring out how to respond, our father came bursting into the room, calling for me. “Is it true that you never knew your hair color was inherited from your grandfather?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Oh, this is terrible!” he moaned. “I really did think you knew...”
Mother rushed into the room shortly after, crying out, “Is it also true that people were saying horrible things about you because of that?”
Sebas, Rex, and our parents’ valets and ladies-in-waiting followed behind them. Chris’s valets and guards were present too. Suddenly, the room was crowded with people.
“Mother, father, I believe we should tell all the castle’s servants about grandfather,” Chris said. “Sebas, you’ve already told the valets the stories, haven’t you?”
“But of course.” Sebas, standing as tall as always, was looking at father in surprise. It must have been hard for him to believe that there were those in the castle who weren’t aware of grandfather’s achievements.
“The sons of Viscount Collier and his cronies, who were some of my prospective retainers, said some terrible things to Alan. I think this is reason enough to throw them out.”
After Chris’s declaration, Luther approached father and whispered something in his ear. The more father heard, the further his face fell—there was no way he could let mother hear that she had been accused of cheating on him.
“And what happened to those boys?” father finally asked.
“I had them thrown into the dungeon,” Chris said. “Not only did they purposefully spread disparaging rumors about our family, but they also picked on Alan. They had the nerve to speak to him like he was a commoner.”
“Good. Keep them there for several days. We will take that time to lodge a complaint with the viscount.”
The whole time Chris and father were talking, mother was hugging me close and apologizing profusely. Seeing just how worried I’d made her, I decided from then on that if anything else happened, I would tell my family immediately.
After that day, my brother and I became much closer. Deir’s presence helped greatly with that. We two brothers both loved Belisario, we both loved our family, and we both wanted to protect our little sister.
Deir began to walk, then she began to run, and then she began falling over basically every day. By that point, we’d realized where each other’s strengths lay and had begun cooperating more. Not only were we brothers, we were also partners in crime.
We didn’t exactly have a whole lot of time together, though. Both of us were busy meeting more people to increase the size of our social circles, and I was learning surveillance skills from Luther.
As someone who didn’t like studying, I wasn’t a genius like Chris, and my mana wasn’t as plentiful or as strong as Deir’s. Since I was the one who most took after our grandfather, those around me thought I would only have talent with the sword. In front of my brother, nobles would be careful with their speech, but in my case, even when I was playing nearby, they thought that I wouldn’t hear them if they just kept their faces turned away from me. They seemed so certain that even if I did hear them, I wouldn’t understand what they were saying.
What they failed to consider was that even if I didn’t understand, I could just remember what they’d said and ask someone about it later.
Around the time Deir started accompanying us to the training field, more servants appeared who decided to make a big deal about my hair color. It was different this time, though. They knew who my grandfather was. My parents and Sebas now made absolutely certain that anyone working here was taught during training about our grandparents’ histories.
“Oh, I have to go. The home tutor will be here soon,” Chris said.
“Are there any days that you don’t study?” Deir griped.
“When I learn one thing, I end up wanting to learn about other things.”
“Boooooo.” Deir pouted as she made clear her dissatisfaction. She probably didn’t like studying very much herself.
There were times she would act somewhat childish like this, especially when she was around those she wasn’t close to. Dana and Cynthia were out today, so two of mother’s ladies-in-waiting were taking their place in the meantime. Rex was still around, so I wasn’t too worried, but I didn’t have a good feeling about those two.