BSGE 76

As Beatty tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why her father was acting this way, she confidently declared, “Human form isn’t difficult for me at all!”

“…I see. If you say so.”

The duke, deciding to let his little one have her way, silently resolved to increase her attendants, guards, and medical staff once again.

“?”

Beatty looked at her father quizzically, wondering why he suddenly seemed to have made some sort of decision. Then, with a small gasp, she lowered her head towards her bag.

It was that golden acorn bag she always carried everywhere.

Everyone was curious about what might be inside the young lady’s cherished bag, which she guarded as preciously as a squirrel hiding food in its cheeks.

“Oh, right! I have something to give you.”

“What is it?”

As Beatty rummaged through her bag, flustered by her brother’s unexpected approach when she was about to present a gift to her father, she fumbled.

“Ah!”

The accidentally opened bag tilted, spilling its contents onto the floor.

“Huh?”

“Why are these…?”

Question marks appeared on Carl and the duke’s faces as they saw what had spilled from the bag Beatty always carried as if it contained her last acorn.

“Th-th-these are…!”

Beatty frantically waved her arms, trying in vain to block their view, but of course, eyes were faster than arms.

“Letters?”

“!”

At her father’s puzzled voice pointing to what had fallen on the floor, Beatty’s face burst into a bright red blush.

With lightning-fast movements like a squirrel whose acorn stash had been discovered, Beatty gathered up the letters.

“…?”

“Here.”

Not understanding what was happening, but noticing Beatty’s face burning red as if about to explode, the two men of Aslan also picked up the fallen letters.

“…”

Finally, after collecting the last fallen letter, Beatty sat back down on the chair with a thump.

Pretending nothing had happened, Beatty turned her head sideways, feeling the prickling gazes of her family on her cheeks. Her feet tingled as she raised her voice.

“Wh-what! Haven’t you ever seen a beastkin carrying letters before?”

“Nope.”

Carl’s straightforward nod left Beatty at a loss for words.

“Is there a need to carry such a bundle around?”

Finally meeting her father’s eyes, filled with genuine curiosity, Beatty couldn’t bear the awkwardness and confessed.

“W-well… they’re Father’s letters, so…”

Clutching the bag of letters that no one was trying to take, Beatty recalled her memories from before.

Memories from before her regression, when she thought she had never received a single letter from her father.

“If you’ve never received a single handwritten letter, is the duke really your father?”

The words of an unnamed maid, probably just meant to mock her, had somehow been coming to mind lately, making her check the letters each time.

‘It’s not just because of those words. It’s just… I’m curious if he’s doing well.’

Anyway, it was something she had never had before. Isn’t it normal for people to cherish such things?

Beatty thought that she no longer had any particular feelings about her childhood when she never received a single letter from her father. It was a thing of the distant past now.

This time, that past didn’t exist, so of course, it was fine.

The unnecessary worry that they might disappear if she didn’t look at them was just because she was overly concerned.

“So why do you carry those around?”

Carl, treating his father’s letters as mere ‘those’, asked with an expression of complete incomprehension.

“Well, carrying them around and checking them makes me feel reassured…?”

She couldn’t explain well a reason she didn’t fully understand herself.

At Beatty’s statement that ended as a question, Carl snorted dismissively.

“What’s that about? Are they talismans or something?”

Though he couldn’t relate at all, Carl nodded slightly, thinking, ‘Well, if that’s what my little squirrel wants,’ and boldly opened his mouth.

“Carry mine around instead.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll write you letters too.”

“Th-thank you?”

“So carry mine instead of those now. Mine will work better.”

To Beatty, who looked confused by his words, Carl confidently presented his reasoning.

“Usually, talisman effectiveness is proportional to the sorcerer’s power, right?”

“I don’t really think of the letters as talismans…”

“Soon I’ll be stronger, and anyway, I’ll live longer than Father.”

“?!”

As Carl puffed out his chest, saying his letters would have a longer-lasting charm effect, the duke gazed at him with complicated eyes.

“You understand, right?”

“No, well…”

Beatty was stunned by Carl’s words, truly befitting a filial son of the fire attribute.

“Carl. Don’t force your sister to answer.”

The duke pushed back Carl, who was pressing close to Beatty like a puppy rather than a lion, and took the seat next to his little one. He opened his mouth in a solemn voice.

“My child.”

“Father?”

“If it’s letters you want, I shall write them daily—no, ten times a day from now on.”

The thought of his precious child carrying his letters close like talismans was so adorable that the duke’s eyes burned with determination to write more letters after waking up, after washing his face, after breakfast, after snacks, and whenever else he thought of it.

“No, that’s fine!”

That’s too much!

Beatty firmly refused.

If Father delayed paperwork to write letters, there would be several people crying ‘If this doesn’t get approved, my after-hours life…! *sob sob*’

And so, the Squirrel Princess’s swift and firm decision once again saved the evening lives of the office vassals.

The duke, who had been deeply moved by his ‘adorable child preciously carrying daddy’s letters everywhere close to her heart’, spoke again.

“Is there nothing you’d like as a gift?”

“Huh?”

A gift? All of a sudden?

To the puzzled-looking Beatty, the duke explained.

“It came up in today’s meeting. Starting with how excellently you prepared the recent banquet…”

Unlike his usual habit of stating only the essential points, the duke conveyed in great detail, with specific examples, how everyone at the meeting had praised his child’s achievements.

“…they marveled thus. A once-in-a-century genius? They said.”

“Th-thank you.”

Beatty’s cheeks turned slightly pink at her father’s intense praise, delivered as if he were merely relating completely objective facts.

“So the conclusion was that you should receive a reward.”

The duke spoke as if it were the result of a fair discussion, when in fact he had made the decision himself.

“So, is there anything you want?”

“Um…”

As Beatty hedged, unable to think of anything in particular, the duke somehow interpreted her response differently.

“Ahem. Even a large castle or territory would be fine.”

“Eh?”

Thinking she might be hesitating because the gift seemed too extravagant, the duke preemptively gave permission and added ‘reasons why his child should receive gifts’ to help her feel more comfortable speaking up.

“Yes. Your birthday is approaching too. You can tell me anything you wish for without hesitation.”

“Right. Ask for the spoils from the Zarnok Kingdom as a birthday gift. They had some decent swords.”

“Carl.”

While the duke cautioned Carl not to put ideas in his young sister’s head as he offered gift suggestions by his own standards…

“Birthday gift…?”

Beatty wore a puzzled expression.

“Hmm. While a real sword might be too early, if you really want one, perhaps a wooden sword with an orichalcum core…”

“Um… do you actually receive gifts on birthdays?”

“What?”

The duke paused at this unexpected response and studied his child’s expression.

“Was receiving birthday gifts actually real?”

Her face held genuine confusion.

“…What do you mean?”

“I thought getting gifts on birthdays was made up, like the tooth fairy or fairy godmother in storybooks.”

Realizing something was wrong, Beatty sheepishly admitted her ignorance.

“…”

Both the duke and Carl fell silent.

It was to avoid showing Beatty their rising anger.

“Have you never received a birthday gift?”

“Um, was I supposed to…?”

Clatter.

Beatty’s round black eyes rolled to the side as she watched her father’s face harden.

“…”

The duke closed his eyes tightly.

‘I let them off too easily.’

While the duke kept his mouth shut to hide his boiling rage from his child, Carl muttered his inner thoughts in a low voice:

“I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them. Even if they’re already dead, I’ll kill them again.”

“B-big brother?”

*

Thud.

When their lord, who had gone out to talk with the young lady, returned, the vassals wore puzzled expressions.

‘Huh? Didn’t he usually not come back once he went out to see the young lady?’

‘We expected him to return after the young lady’s nap at the earliest. What’s going on today?’

In front of his bewildered subordinates, the duke, with a terrifying expression, opened his mouth in a low voice.

“There is a crucial matter we need to investigate from now on.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Responding crisply to their lord’s more serious than ever face, the subordinates thought.

‘He came back quickly, so something urgent and important must have come up.’

“Please give us your orders.”

“We will investigate with all our hearts!”

The subordinates, inwardly steeling themselves, responded in firm voices.

Nodding at his reliable subordinates’ prompt reactions, the duke spoke.

“What you will investigate is-“

‘What could it be? The undercurrent of the Holy Empire’s suspicious lack of movement since the last battle?’

‘It might be an internal matter of the kingdom… Perhaps a negotiation with the central snake? If so, it must be a top-secret operation to uncover dark royal secrets!’

As they waited with pounding hearts, wondering what enormous and incredible mission it would be, the duke’s order that reached their ears was…

“-a list of the most popular gifts for children on the continent right now.”

“Excuse me?”

…It was quite different from what they had been expecting.

Facing his stunned subordinates, the duke gave instructions in an unwavering voice.

“Find the best birthday gift for my little one.”