Chapter 109 - To the Castle

Chapter 109: To the Castle
After that, I pointed at various places around town, and it took about 30 minutes to get to the castle. I didn’t think anything of it since it was my first time, but I might get tired of it if I were to visit every day. 30 minutes is a pretty long time for a baby.
“Wow, big!”
It was as big as the castle in Wester. We passed through the large gate without a hitch, since Otou-sama was pretty well-known, and reached a vast garden.
“No Howwowsh come here.”
“Mm? What’s wrong, Lei?”
“Garden in Sebew wash shmaww, becaushe Howwowsh appear.” (Garden in Sebel was small, because Hollows appear.)
“Really? Lei knows something father doesn’t,” Otou-sama said a little sadly. Otou-sama actually wants to go to Frontier too. However, just like in my previous world, if you’re going to travel then you should travel in your own country first. Even if he doesn’t force himself to go to Frontier, there’s lots of places for him to visit here.
“Otou-sama, weth’sh thravew thogethher.” (Otou-sama, let’s travel together.)
“Travelling, huh?”
“You haven’th vishithed pwacesh around here, righth?” (You haven’t visited places around here, right?)
Otou-sama looked shocked as if he had just realised something.
“Come to think of it, I can go anywhere I want as long as I don’t go out to Frontier. Yeah, let’s travel together.”
“Ai.”
“People would probably get fussy if they know we’re visiting, huh. Alright, let’s go incognito.”
“Ai. Oway.”
Well, guards will follow us no matter where we go, so it’s impossible to go incognito. But, now I have something to look forward to.
“We should visit the northern fiefs first. Claire’s fief.”
Otou-sama looked at me, apologetically.
“Lei’s mother’s home. Your grandfather and uncle are there, and it’s close to Frontier. We’ll take Luke with us. I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
“Ojii-syama!”
I have relatives. I was happy and hopped on my seat. Well, the distance between the gate and castle was that long since we were able to talk like this.
There was a large fountain in the vast garden and neatly arranged plants all over the place. I stared at the scenery while talking to Otou-sama, so I didn’t notice that there were people lined up in front of the castle.
“We’ve reached the castle.”
“Ai!”
I could sense that the guard, Hans, had gotten off and was in front of the door, and Otou-sama opened the door before someone else could open it.
“This is…”
Otou-sama stopped for a moment and got off before Natalie, who was nervous.
“Lei, come out.”
“Ai.”
I reached out for Otou-sama’s hands, and he quickly lifted me up. I looked up at Otou-sama with a smile, but he had one side of his mouth raised up, and he looked slightly sarcastic.
“Otou-syama, whath’sh wrong?”
Otou-sama looked at the castle with me still in his arms. I also looked over.
“Uoah.”
“Buufo.”
“Hans, no.”
I turned to look at Hans. This guard laughs too easily. Doesn’t that disqualify him from being a guard? However, he might have guts for acting like that in front of all these people.
Yes, there are a lot of people in front of the castle. Some had nobles auras, while others were retainers and maids. In front of them were one tall and slender civil official, three guards, and a maid who looked around Dory’s age.
Five people came to greet us, and the rest are just curious onlookers?
“Too fwee.”
“They are.”
Otou-sama and I muttered, and Hans choked up. He seemed to have just recalled that he was a guard. He placed himself to our left while looking serious. Natalie was to our right.
“You’re quite late, Albans.”
“It’s not like I’m supposed to be here by a certain time, and I didn’t ask you to come to greet us.”
Is he a little younger than Otou-sama? The person with straight brown hair tied to the back had a pointless argument with Otou-sama.
“Is that Leila-sama? I see, her eyes are violet just like the rumours say they are.”
He looked down at me as I was being held by Otou-sama. I was used to being told things about my eyes, but it didn’t feel nice. I was a little annoyed. I turned my face away and buried myself into Otou-sama’s chest.
The crowd of curious onlookers started chatting. Most of them liked me because small children are cute. I wasn’t like I was aiming to be cute.
“We’re pressed for time. Now then, we’ll take care of Leila-sama.” The civil official said, and a guard stepped out front. I don’t want to be held by a stranger. I clung to Otou-sama.
“It’s fine. I’ll take her to where Prince Nicholas is.”
“His Highness is always alone in his study room. It would be unfair on him if his playmate is taken there by her father.”
“As you said, Leila is his playmate. She can just stay with him when it’s playtime. Babies are noisy, so it doesn’t make sense to separate them from their parents for the day.”
I also heard that I would be his playmate, so I thought that I would only play with him for two hours or so in the evening, like in Lentforce, or in the morning. And then I would spend the rest of the day with Otou-sama.
“Anyways, we’re going to get them to spend the day together to see how they get along, right?”
“I haven’t heard that.”
“What?”
There seems to be a misunderstanding. The Prince’s side who were excited that he was getting a playmate, and Otou-sama who was worried about how to protect me. They haven’t reconciled their ideas at all.
I looked up from Otou-sama’s chest in amazement. I saw Hans holding back his laughter with a serious face. Did Otou-sama not listen, or were people at the castle incompetent? Now then…
At that time, a civil official quickly rushed out of the castle. He went straight to Otou-sama. What happened?