This was even worse than Siegwald missing out on Lieselotte’s beauty in combat. The Voices of the Gods hadn’t been heard for quite some time since the revival of the Goddess Lirenna and the sealing of the evil god Kuon in late autumn. Siegwald, who had known them longer than Fiene had, missed them so much that he would look up at the sky and pray for them every day.
Their sudden return threw Fiene into a panic, but Aoto and Shihono themselves continued to speak casually, the way they always had, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
“Is Fabian’s wand that bow-like thing Fiene’s holding?” Aoto asked.
“Yep, it’s got a bit of a weird shape,” Shihono said. “It’s partly because a wand that can handle Fabby-boo’s firepower has to be that big. Oh, and you know how he’s a prime target for kidnappers? That’s why his wand was made to look like a bow—people will be intimidated if he’s clearly armed with a weapon.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that,” Fiene said, impressed. She glanced at the wand in her hands.
“Not only is it a valuable weapon that can bring out his full potential, the kidnappings went down in frequency a lot after he started carrying it around, so he thinks of it as a protective charm,” Shihono said. “From what the game showed, he never ever sets it aside in front of someone he’s wary of. In fact, he holds it firmly so he’s ready to shoot a flaming arrow at any time. Letting go of it means he must feel really secure here.”
“Didn’t he take his hands off his bow the very first time he talked to Lieselotte?”
“That was a special exception. In the game, he doesn’t do it until the end, when you’ve raised his affection a lot. Even then, he keeps it within reach. Basically, Fabby-boo thinks this is the safest place he can be!”
Fiene mulled over Shihono’s words. First of all, House Riefenstahl was a protector of the country, and this castle of theirs was well guarded. On top of that, the people present included Lieselotte, who doted on him, and his fiancée Cecilie, who boasted about protecting him for the rest of her life. He wasn’t on close terms with Adelina and Katrina yet, but he wasn’t scared of or uncomfortable around them either. As for Fiene herself, they were comrades-in-arms who had “defeated” the witch together. Thinking about it, he’d been speaking to her without his wand in hand ever since that fateful day, and they had gradually stopped using formalities with each other.
For Fabian, this must’ve been a place where he could let go of his protective charm and play freely like any other kid his age.
“Wait, I’m missing someone, aren’t I?” Fiene said.
The moment the words left her mouth, the person in question approached her from behind.
“Oh, a snowball fight, huh?” Baldur said.
“That looks like fun,” Lieselotte said.
The cousins, who had been fighting to the death under the guise of training, shockingly appeared to be unharmed.
Cecilie, Adelina, and Katrina, who had been hurling snowballs at each other with such force it was impossible to judge who was winning or losing, suddenly jumped out of the court to block Baldur’s way.
“Bal, don’t get close to Fabian!”
“Hey, Bal, crouch down before you come here!”
“You know Fabian’s uncomfortable with tall men!”
The trauma from all of the repeated kidnappings had left Fabian with a fear of tall men, and his emotional support—his wand—was currently in Fiene’s care. Even if Baldur wasn’t approaching with malicious intent, his strong physique made him exactly the kind of person that made Fabian uncomfortable.
Fiene turned pale at the thought of how terrified the boy must be. She ran up to him with the wand. “Fabian, you can have this back!”
“No, it’s fine,” Fabian said. “Hold on to it until the snowball fight is over, Miss Fiene. Bal—er, Sir Baldur...is like a brother to Ceci, so I’m...not scared.”
The boy’s reserved smile made Fiene, Cecilie, Adelina, Katrina, and Baldur—who had gone stiff upon realizing he’d done something wrong—all breathe a sigh of relief.
“Thanks for trying to protect me, Ceci, Adelina, Katrina, and Miss Fiene. It’s because you’re all here that I’m fine without my wand.”
“Oh, Fabian, you’re growing up by the day,” Cecilie gushed. “I’ll have to work hard to keep up with you!”
The boy gave a strained smile and tilted his head. “Hmm, am I? I hope so. I know Baldur isn’t scary, but when I’m faced with someone as big and strong as him, I can’t help but feel small and powerless. My body starts shaking on its own...” He shook his head and put on a stern expression. “But that’s right—I’m growing up every day! One day, I’ll be even bigger than Baldur, and nothing will scare me anymore. I’ll become your ideal husband, the strongest in the world. Will you marry me then, Ceci?”
“I want to right now! Literally, right now! Oh, I love you so much, I already want to live with you forever. I don’t want to be apart from you for even a day!”
“Hmm, it’s not possible right now. I’m sorry, okay?” Fabian patted Cecilie on the head.
“It’s fine.” The girl regained her composure. “If that’s what you say, I can wait. I will wait. I also have to do my best to become worthy of the strongest husband in the world.”
“They really are getting on my nerves,” Adelina said. “I’m going to beat them up, Katrina.”
“After all that, they’re back to flirting,” Katrina said. “Let’s beat them up together, Adelina.”
The twins dashed back to their positions on the court.
“Hm, so the game’s back on,” Baldur said. “I’ll join Addy and Katty’s side, then. You don’t need to hold back, Fabian. See if you can defeat someone who makes you uncomfortable.” He grinned boldly.
Lieselotte gave him an even more confident smile. “I’ll go with Cecilie and Fabian, then. Prepare yourself. You may have the size advantage, but I’ll show you it’s not enough to win.”
The two went to their declared sides. Cecilie and Fabian looked at each other, giggled, and returned to the court, where Lieselotte was waiting.
“Leave this to me, Fabian,” Cecilie said. “Bal’s tall, but that means his guard is weak down below. If I break one of his knees or shins, he won’t be scary anymore. I’ll do it—I’ll defeat all of your enemies.”
“I appreciate the thought, Ceci, but don’t break anything. This is just a game. Well, I do think it’d be more fun to go all out...”
Fiene nodded in agreement.
“Fiene should be able to heal a broken kneecap with ease, right?” Aoto asked.
“I think it’d be better to practice breaking bones now rather than be too scared to do it when a real enemy shows up,” Shihono said. “Getting targeted by kidnappers is basically a regular occurrence for Fabby-boo, after all.”
“I see...” Fiene nodded again. She faced the court, where the two teams were having strategy meetings. “Um, if you break any bones, I’ll be able to heal them, so don’t hold back, everyone! I’ll be on standby right here.”
The Riefenstahls’ eyes suddenly took on a different color. Fabian, the outlier, was confused by the sudden bloodlust he was sensing from everyone else on the court.
Fiene smiled at the boy. “Fabian, I’m short too, so I know how it feels to be intimidated by big people. But that’s exactly why you should borrow Sir Bal, watch how Cecilie and the others move, and learn how to use your small stature to your advantage. I can teach you later too, if you want. I’m sure it’ll give you confidence and expand your world a little. Like you said, this is a game, not a battle of life and death—but that’s why you should give it your all, so you’ll be ready when the time comes to fight for real.”
“Yeah! Thanks, Miss Fiene. I’ll do my best!” Fabian put on a belligerent grin like the others.
“Ahhh, this is great,” Shihono said. “Fabby-boo’s like a member of the family now. Fiene sounded just like a future marquise too!”
That was the last Fiene heard from the gods as their voices melted away like snow.
Yeah, she thought. A broken bone can be healed in a flash. If fighting is the Riefenstahl way of communication, then I’ll just heal all of the injuries that result from it. I’m sure they use their full abilities against each other so they’ll be prepared to do it when they face enemies trying to take their lives.
By resolving things one by one like this, I’ll grow up—just like how Fabian was able to let go of his wand—and become a worthy marquise. Despite having the Riefenstahl blood, I wasn’t raised here, so I’m nervous. But I’ll live here, together with everyone else.
“Even if their injuries are healed, they’ll still need warm drinks and a bath,” Fiene said. “Instead of preparing them myself, I should tell someone else to do it. Especially with this many people. I can’t leave this spot anyway. I need to get accustomed to making use of other people.”
She smiled gently and prayed to the gods from another world. “Thank you, Lady Kobayashi and Lord Endo. Please let me hear your voices again sometime. Well, if possible, it’d be nice if you’d visit His Highness next time. He’s definitely sulking. He even glares at me sometimes when I’m too close to Lieselotte. You’d be surprised how narrow-minded he is. You might be thinking, ‘He won’t know we came today as long as no one tells him,’ but I feel like he still might find out. He’s narrow-minded and his senses are too sharp for his own good. It’s such a pain.”
Somewhere far, far away—as distant as another world—the laughter of two people rang through the air.