“Enough of this. Push-ups!” Lucie cried. “We agreed the loser had to do push-ups, remember?”
“Aw man.” Arus got down into a push-up position in front of Lucie then began, shouting, “One! Two…!”
It was a rule of the children’s secret training that the loser had to do a basic workout.
“Right, you’re up next, Lara! Hurry up!”
The next opponent was supposed to come out while the loser did their exercises, but Lara said sleepily, “You’ve done five rounds already. Let’s take a break.”
She was slumped against Leo, disinterested in fighting, though it was honestly better when she ignored them by pretending to be asleep. An extremely talented magician, Lara fought using cunning to outwit her opponents. On the flip side, she wasn’t motivated when it came to swordcraft. That didn’t mean she didn’t like to move around; she was pretty energetic when up to her own mischief. Sword fighting just wasn’t her thing.
She’d still come along, though, however reluctantly. Maybe she had her reasons.
“What about you, Sieg?”
“Mm, I’m out too.” Sieg was only eight and had the lowest win rate of the four. That being said, he had unbelievable strength for a boy his age, and when the fight was close, there were moments when that was enough to carry him to victory. His style was also different from Lucie and Arus. Like Arus, his fighting style prioritized his fencing, but from time to time, he moved in ways that clearly were not what Eris taught them.
Of course, the other three were well aware of who was teaching him swordcraft and where.
“Okay, break time,” Lucie said. She sat down next to Arus, who was still doing push-ups. Going over to Clive would have been too embarrassing for words. It was that period in her life. Besides, right then, Clive was talking to Sieg. Lucie didn’t know what they were saying, but Clive, who was calm for his age, was extremely knowledgeable and interesting to talk to. He was probably entertaining Sieg with whatever book he’d read recently.
“Hey, Lucie,” Arus said suddenly as he continued to do push-ups, “What’re you gonna do after you finish school?”
“I’ll go to the next school,” Lucie responded breezily to Arus’s serious question. “It’s like Dada said. After I graduate from the Ranoa University of Magic, I’ll start at the Asura Royal Academy. I don’t know why I have to go there, but I guess because we’re Asuran nobles, I’m to learn about the nobility or something.”
“No, I mean after that.”
Lucie looked at Arus again. His eyes were on the ground as he continued his push-ups.
“You’re going to follow in Dada’s footsteps, right?” she asked him.
“I dunno, but that’s what our mamas say.”
It was mostly Eris saying it. She’d occasionally proclaim, “Arus is the Greyrat heir!” Since then, it’d been assumed that he was. Sylphie and Roxy didn’t seem to have a problem with it. It wasn’t clear what he had to do. Would he work for Orsted like Rudeus?
“What do you mean you ‘dunno’? Arus, everyone is looking to you to be the heir. And Lara is supposed to have some important role too. It’s serious.”
“If you’re going to be like that, why don’t you just be the heir? You’re better than us at sword fighting and magic.”
“I’m not. No one’s expecting anything from me.”
“That’s not true,” Arus blurted out.
“It is!” Lucie said, her voice rising. “I’ve never once had Dada say he expected anything from me or tell me what he wants me to do in the future. Nothing like that! You two got swords and magic staffs for your birthdays, but I…I…!”
Not just Arus but the other three standing away from them all stared wide-eyed at her. She instantly felt a rush of shame. What was she doing saying all this to her little brother? Dada didn’t expect anything from her because she wasn’t working hard enough. It was that simple.
“Oh…!” Tears welled up in Lucie’s eyes. Crying wouldn’t help anything, but they came streaming down her cheeks regardless. Why didn’t Dada expect anything from her? She’d never understood. She tried so hard at both swordcraft and magic. She got nothing but good grades at school. She was a good big sister, but Dada had never once told her what he wanted her to do or what he wanted her to be. He always brushed her off, saying that she should live the life she wanted or she didn’t have to worry about that just because she was the eldest.
“I-it’s not like Dada told me he expected anything,” Arus stammered, glancing around helplessly. To him, his big sister was perfect.
She was the most accomplished of her brothers and sisters. Her being a whole three years older made her seem like a grown-up. Arus couldn’t do the things she’d been able to do at her age, and he didn’t know how to look after their younger sisters Lily and Chris either. Apart from swordcraft, Arus didn’t think there was anything he did better than Lucie. Even then, he couldn’t beat her in a mock battle when she used magic. If no one expected anything from Lucie, they definitely didn’t expect anything from any of the other kids.
But if Dada really didn’t expect anything from Lucie, didn’t that mean he didn’t expect anything from Arus either? Dada had never told Arus he wanted him to be his heir. He sort of assumed it because Red Mama and Aisha said it, and the other mamas didn’t say they were lying. This was how it worked. With Asuran nobility, the oldest boy was the heir.