Chapter 121: After Ren was Taken Away
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Fer’s POV
“Oi! Fer! Ren is going to be okay, right?!”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. Most probably… My elder sister and mothers are just going to play with him. They like cute things after all….”
I was left dumbfounded at the sudden action my elder sister did but after I composed myself, I was confronted by Sig when I was on my way to father and the others. I didn’t know what they were talking about but it seemed they had taken a liking toward Ren-kun. My father and elder brothers were staring at me, the feeling of defeat and tiredness were clear on their faces.
“Really?~”
“My mother has told me she wanted to have a daughter for a long time. I’m sure she’s only going to play dress up with Ren-kun.”
Just like Sig, Chris still looked unconvinced. Well, their feelings were justified after all, Ren-kun was taken without any prior warning. It was natural to be worried. Nikolai, who had been following me from behind, looked like he was feeling troubled.
Ahh… My elder sister only has two sons so…
Lily, she seemed like she didn’t have the same interest as them and big brother Lucien, his daughter was only 12 years old. His daughter was in her difficult period. Both Lily and my other niece, wouldn’t just stand still let my mothers and sister dress them up. My other nieces, the one I had just met for the first time today, one were 4 years old and the other one was still 8 months old. They were too young to be dressed up in the way my mothers and elder sister wanted to be. Which meant….
“Ren-kun is obedient and both my elder sister and mothers knew Ren-kun would look good in adorable clothes. That’s why they aimed for him.”
“That’s right…”
Despite that, she’s still my elder sister…
Nikolai, also let out a sigh together with me.
“Ren-kun might be unwilling to go along with their whim but I’m sure he’s alright. They are always accompanied by a skilled guard whenever they go anyway…”
“Well if that’s the case then… Guess we can only wait.”
“Soo~ We’re going to be able to Ren-chan dressed up in cute clothes?~”
My mothers, who were the queen to the current ruling king, along with my sister who wasn’t only the First Princess of Aspel but also got married to the commander of Aspel Kingdom First Chivalric Order, all of them always had some guards accompanying them even though they might not have noticed it. So unless something extreme happened, they were not in any danger or whatsoever.
When I explained this to them, Chris and Sig sat back on their seats, satisfied with my answer. Especially Chris, he just wouldn’t stop grinning as he imagined Ren-kun became a dress-up doll for my sister and mothers.
“So that’s how you guys usually talk.”
“Your Highness… I apologize for my discourtesy.”
“No, no. In fact, your usual way of speaking would be better for me but I know it’d be hard for you to speak like that with me.”
“Yes… My apologies…”
The two of them, who had been feeling flustered when Ren-kun suddenly got taken away, were talking like how they usually talk with me just a while ago. My elder brother pointed it out and Chris immediately bowed his head as he apologized. As for my elder brother, I knew he’d prefer it if we just spoke to him like how we usually do but of course, it was bound to be difficult. Especially for Chris. He grew up in a duchal household, the formalities and manner between royalty and nobleman had been ingrained into him since he was young….
“Uncle-chama, I’m the daughter of the Third Prince, Ragnar. My name is Sesilia. Ren-chama won’t be coming back any time soon, right? Until he comes back, how about if you play with me?”
“Yes, Princess Sesilia. Please, do call me Chris. What do you want to play? … May I play with her?”
“Yes. I’d be grateful if you would indulge my niece.”
The daughter of my elder brother Ragnar, Sesilia, she had just turned 4 this year. She tugged on Chris’s hand, asking him to play with her. Chris, who had his hand captured by Sesilia, quickly stood from his chair and kneeled in front of Sesilia. He matched his height with Sesilia so the little girl would be staring straight into his eyes before Chris began to address her. Chris then asked for my elder brother’s approval if he could play with Sesilia or not.
Sesilia didn’t resemble my elder brother Ragnar. She actually inherited Ragnar’s spouse’s hair color instead. She might’ve felt some sort of companionship with Chris since they both had the same navy blue hair….
“My name is Tobias, I’m the second son of the First Prince, Lucien. You’re an adventurer too like my uncle, right? Please tell us a story about your adventure!”
“Your Highness Tobias… I understand. I will tell you about the recent subjugation quest that gave Ren the opportunity to become an A-rank adventurer!”
“I wish to hear about it too.”
“I want to join in too!”
It seemed the three boys, Tobias, Nikolai and Ole, were demanding for Sig to tell them about the story of his adventure. The boys led Sig to sit on the plush rug they had been sitting on before Sig began his story.
“My grandchildren seem to have taken a liking toward them.”
“Father…”
“Up until now, you rarely ever visit the royal castle even though you were in town… But from now on, whenever you’re in town, you definitely have to visit us. Sophia had said the same thing but she truly is worried about you.”
“Yes.”
Before I knew it, my father had already been standing beside me. When he said something like that to me, I couldn’t do anything but to obediently nod my head. Fortunately, it seemed Ren, Chris and Sig also liked my family. If they didn’t mind it, I’d surely visit my family whenever we came to the royal capital.
“What are you talking about? Father, you’re the one who’s worried the most about Fer.”
“Wha- T-That’s…”
Elder brother Lucien quipped, making my father stumble on his words.
So my father can act like this… Either it’s because they’ve changed because I haven’t seen them for long or I just never knew about their actual characteristics…
“Uncle, do you think he has any plan on increasing the number of his spouse?”
“Julius? You’ve become so big… By ‘he’ do you mean Ren-kun?”
“I’ve become an adult now. Yes, that’s right. I want to become his spouse too.”
“Pardon me?”
As I was staring at my elder brother teasing my father, Julius came to talk to me. Julius truly had become so big, it seemed we were about the same height now. I was feeling impressed by his growth when I heard him saying something astonishing. My father and my elder brother were also as surprised as me, they were both staring in our direction.
“It was love at first sight. I want to stay by his side as his spouse.”
“But you’re the second in line for the throne. You will most definitely become the next king after my elder brother. Despite that… Do you still choose to enter a polyamorous marriage where you’re not the center of the relationship?”
Love at first sight… Julius was still young but he was only 3 years younger than Ren-kun. His personality was good too. Personally speaking, I saw no issue with him if he wanted to become Ren-kun’s spouse too but… There was one big problem. He would become the future king of this kingdom. Up until now, the king had never entered a polyamorous marriage where they weren’t the center of that relationship. There was the issue with the inheritance, that was why a polyamorous where their spouse had another partner was not allowed.
No matter how hard he tried to insist that only he and Ren-kun used iam fruit, there would be many people who doubted the legitimacy of their children. In that kind of scenario, the one who would be hurt would be Ren-kun and their children. Could it be, he planned on throwing away his status?
“Yes. I’ve been studying hard for the sake of becoming a good king for this kingdom. I knew he couldn’t have more than one spouse if I became the king. If that’s the case then… We can all be together at first then… Later on… I’m sorry for this, uncle and the others too but if he chooses only me later on then there would be no problem.”
“In other words… You want me to divorce him in the future…?”
What a shameless joke he spouted?!
My vision turned red at the sudden burst of anger.
How dare he say that kind of thing to his uncle who’s about to get married?!
“Julius! What are you talking about?!”
“But! If we don’t do that then… I can’t stay together with him… Can I?”
Elder brother Lucien was also angry because of the absurdity Julius had implied. He warned Julius. On the other hand, Julius looked like he was in pain with his eyebrows furrowed together.
Ah… I finally realized how difficult this situation was. As his uncle, of course I also wanted his love to flourish but the person he loved was not good for him. For Julius’ love to come true, that meant our Ren-kun couldn’t have any other spouse but him. At least, if Julius weren’t that high in the succession ladder, there wouldn’t be any problem. The Julius I knew, he was a good kid so there wasn’t any problem with his character….
“Julius… We will never leave Ren-kun.”
“I understand. I’m aware I’ve said some terrible things to my uncle and the others. If it’s impossible now then… If we were to meet again and the chance arises, I can take him for myself, right? I can at least have the liberty to do that, right?”
“If that’s the case then I will prevent him from meeting you ever again. Julius, you have your priorities wrong. You should’ve told us this after we all got closer to you. Because of this, every time you have any chance to meet with Ren-kun, we’re going to say Ren-kun is busy and won’t be able to meet you.”
“…….”
Chance? That meant I only needed to give him no chance at all. I wouldn’t prevent Ren-kun from having another spouse if that spouse was suitable for him but… If Julius would try to pull us apart from Ren-kun, I’d give it my all to prevent him from doing it.
I was glad Ren-kun didn’t get to become close with him yet. If Ren-kun had become close with Julius, Ren-kun would definitely feel bothered if he was unable to see Julius ever again. Today might become the first and last day for Ren-kun to see Julius.
“Or perhaps… You’re planning on taking advantage of your status as royalty? I’m also a royalty and A-rank adventurer, you know? If you forced me to go all out, I would have plenty of cards in my deck.”
Even if I had relinquished my right to the throne, I was still the Fifth Prince. Sure, Julius might become the next king in the future but right now, he was only the first son of the Crown Prince. Not to mention, we were all A-rank adventurers so if push came to shove, we wouldn’t have any problem in emigrating to another kingdom. There were actually many adventurers who moved from country to country while taking on quests.
“Julius, today Fer is here to tell us about his engagement. Stop trying to stir the problem. Fer, I’m sorry but can you please forgive him?”
“…. Yes, father. Uncle, please think of it as mindless rambling of my young self and forget about it….. I truly apologize for what I’ve said.”
“Haah… I will forgive you this time. I will still let you meet with Ren-kun but we will never let you be alone together with him.”
I faced Julius and gave him a piercing and cold gaze. I always yearned for younger siblings because I had stayed as the youngest for the most of my life. I truly loved Julius like a young brother because he had been born before Lily. It was the first time I ever stared at my nephew like this.
My brother then tried to mediate between us and Julius also apologized. Julius might’ve apologized for the sake of keeping up with appearances but I still accepted his apology nonetheless. But still… I wouldn’t forget about this nail he had pierced into me. Still, I was glad Chris and Sig were playing with my nephew and nieces and they were sitting far away from us. They wouldn’t be able to overhear our conversation judging from the distance separating us. Of course I had to tell them about this later but I’d hate it if they were to hear about this together with me now…
“Now, Ferdinand. You’ve finally come home after 5 years. Why don’t you tell your father what you’ve been doing these past few years and about the A-rank promotion test that you had mentioned to us in a letter before?”
“Yes, then I will start telling you about the A-rank promotion test…”
My father tried to change the subject and I also jumped on the board and began telling him my story.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting! Come look over here! This is our masterpiece!”
I didn’t know how long I had talked but quite some time must’ve passed since my sister finally returned and slammed the door open, brimming full with confidence.
I wonder what they’ve done to Ren-kun…
Curious, I stared at the door, waiting for Ren-kun to emerge.
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Name: Sesilia
Age: 4
Height: 105cm
She has navy blue hair and blue eyes. The first daughter of Ragnar, the Third Prince of Aspel.
Name: Tobias
Age: 15
Height: 187cm
He has brown hair and yellow eyes. He’s the second son of Lucien, the Crown Prince of Aspel.
T/N: Lucius sus (≖_≖ ) But I’m glad Fer is able to solve it without getting too enraged. It’s better to solve it quickly without making too much fuss.
Chapter 121: After Ren was Taken Away
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Fer’s POV
“Oi! Fer! Ren is going to be okay, right?!”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. Most probably… My elder sister and mothers are just going to play with him. They like cute things after all….”
I was left dumbfounded at the sudden action my elder sister did but after I composed myself, I was confronted by Sig when I was on my way to father and the others. I didn’t know what they were talking about but it seemed they had taken a liking toward Ren-kun. My father and elder brothers were staring at me, the feeling of defeat and tiredness were clear on their faces.
“Really?~”
“My mother has told me she wanted to have a daughter for a long time. I’m sure she’s only going to play dress up with Ren-kun.”
Just like Sig, Chris still looked unconvinced. Well, their feelings were justified after all, Ren-kun was taken without any prior warning. It was natural to be worried. Nikolai, who had been following me from behind, looked like he was feeling troubled.
Ahh… My elder sister only has two sons so…
Lily, she seemed like she didn’t have the same interest as them and big brother Lucien, his daughter was only 12 years old. His daughter was in her difficult period. Both Lily and my other niece, wouldn’t just stand still let my mothers and sister dress them up. My other nieces, the one I had just met for the first time today, one were 4 years old and the other one was still 8 months old. They were too young to be dressed up in the way my mothers and elder sister wanted to be. Which meant….
“Ren-kun is obedient and both my elder sister and mothers knew Ren-kun would look good in adorable clothes. That’s why they aimed for him.”
“That’s right…”
Despite that, she’s still my elder sister…
Nikolai, also let out a sigh together with me.
“Ren-kun might be unwilling to go along with their whim but I’m sure he’s alright. They are always accompanied by a skilled guard whenever they go anyway…”
“Well if that’s the case then… Guess we can only wait.”
“Soo~ We’re going to be able to Ren-chan dressed up in cute clothes?~”
My mothers, who were the queen to the current ruling king, along with my sister who wasn’t only the First Princess of Aspel but also got married to the commander of Aspel Kingdom First Chivalric Order, all of them always had some guards accompanying them even though they might not have noticed it. So unless something extreme happened, they were not in any danger or whatsoever.
When I explained this to them, Chris and Sig sat back on their seats, satisfied with my answer. Especially Chris, he just wouldn’t stop grinning as he imagined Ren-kun became a dress-up doll for my sister and mothers.
“So that’s how you guys usually talk.”
“Your Highness… I apologize for my discourtesy.”
“No, no. In fact, your usual way of speaking would be better for me but I know it’d be hard for you to speak like that with me.”
“Yes… My apologies…”
The two of them, who had been feeling flustered when Ren-kun suddenly got taken away, were talking like how they usually talk with me just a while ago. My elder brother pointed it out and Chris immediately bowed his head as he apologized. As for my elder brother, I knew he’d prefer it if we just spoke to him like how we usually do but of course, it was bound to be difficult. Especially for Chris. He grew up in a duchal household, the formalities and manner between royalty and nobleman had been ingrained into him since he was young….
“Uncle-chama, I’m the daughter of the Third Prince, Ragnar. My name is Sesilia. Ren-chama won’t be coming back any time soon, right? Until he comes back, how about if you play with me?”
“Yes, Princess Sesilia. Please, do call me Chris. What do you want to play? … May I play with her?”
“Yes. I’d be grateful if you would indulge my niece.”
The daughter of my elder brother Ragnar, Sesilia, she had just turned 4 this year. She tugged on Chris’s hand, asking him to play with her. Chris, who had his hand captured by Sesilia, quickly stood from his chair and kneeled in front of Sesilia. He matched his height with Sesilia so the little girl would be staring straight into his eyes before Chris began to address her. Chris then asked for my elder brother’s approval if he could play with Sesilia or not.
Sesilia didn’t resemble my elder brother Ragnar. She actually inherited Ragnar’s spouse’s hair color instead. She might’ve felt some sort of companionship with Chris since they both had the same navy blue hair….
“My name is Tobias, I’m the second son of the First Prince, Lucien. You’re an adventurer too like my uncle, right? Please tell us a story about your adventure!”
“Your Highness Tobias… I understand. I will tell you about the recent subjugation quest that gave Ren the opportunity to become an A-rank adventurer!”
“I wish to hear about it too.”
“I want to join in too!”
It seemed the three boys, Tobias, Nikolai and Ole, were demanding for Sig to tell them about the story of his adventure. The boys led Sig to sit on the plush rug they had been sitting on before Sig began his story.
“My grandchildren seem to have taken a liking toward them.”
“Father…”
“Up until now, you rarely ever visit the royal castle even though you were in town… But from now on, whenever you’re in town, you definitely have to visit us. Sophia had said the same thing but she truly is worried about you.”
“Yes.”
Before I knew it, my father had already been standing beside me. When he said something like that to me, I couldn’t do anything but to obediently nod my head. Fortunately, it seemed Ren, Chris and Sig also liked my family. If they didn’t mind it, I’d surely visit my family whenever we came to the royal capital.
“What are you talking about? Father, you’re the one who’s worried the most about Fer.”
“Wha- T-That’s…”
Elder brother Lucien quipped, making my father stumble on his words.
So my father can act like this… Either it’s because they’ve changed because I haven’t seen them for long or I just never knew about their actual characteristics…
“Uncle, do you think he has any plan on increasing the number of his spouse?”
“Julius? You’ve become so big… By ‘he’ do you mean Ren-kun?”
“I’ve become an adult now. Yes, that’s right. I want to become his spouse too.”
“Pardon me?”
As I was staring at my elder brother teasing my father, Julius came to talk to me. Julius truly had become so big, it seemed we were about the same height now. I was feeling impressed by his growth when I heard him saying something astonishing. My father and my elder brother were also as surprised as me, they were both staring in our direction.
“It was love at first sight. I want to stay by his side as his spouse.”
“But you’re the second in line for the throne. You will most definitely become the next king after my elder brother. Despite that… Do you still choose to enter a polyamorous marriage where you’re not the center of the relationship?”
Love at first sight… Julius was still young but he was only 3 years younger than Ren-kun. His personality was good too. Personally speaking, I saw no issue with him if he wanted to become Ren-kun’s spouse too but… There was one big problem. He would become the future king of this kingdom. Up until now, the king had never entered a polyamorous marriage where they weren’t the center of that relationship. There was the issue with the inheritance, that was why a polyamorous where their spouse had another partner was not allowed.
No matter how hard he tried to insist that only he and Ren-kun used iam fruit, there would be many people who doubted the legitimacy of their children. In that kind of scenario, the one who would be hurt would be Ren-kun and their children. Could it be, he planned on throwing away his status?
“Yes. I’ve been studying hard for the sake of becoming a good king for this kingdom. I knew he couldn’t have more than one spouse if I became the king. If that’s the case then… We can all be together at first then… Later on… I’m sorry for this, uncle and the others too but if he chooses only me later on then there would be no problem.”
“In other words… You want me to divorce him in the future…?”
What a shameless joke he spouted?!
My vision turned red at the sudden burst of anger.
How dare he say that kind of thing to his uncle who’s about to get married?!
“Julius! What are you talking about?!”
“But! If we don’t do that then… I can’t stay together with him… Can I?”
Elder brother Lucien was also angry because of the absurdity Julius had implied. He warned Julius. On the other hand, Julius looked like he was in pain with his eyebrows furrowed together.
Ah… I finally realized how difficult this situation was. As his uncle, of course I also wanted his love to flourish but the person he loved was not good for him. For Julius’ love to come true, that meant our Ren-kun couldn’t have any other spouse but him. At least, if Julius weren’t that high in the succession ladder, there wouldn’t be any problem. The Julius I knew, he was a good kid so there wasn’t any problem with his character….
“Julius… We will never leave Ren-kun.”
“I understand. I’m aware I’ve said some terrible things to my uncle and the others. If it’s impossible now then… If we were to meet again and the chance arises, I can take him for myself, right? I can at least have the liberty to do that, right?”
“If that’s the case then I will prevent him from meeting you ever again. Julius, you have your priorities wrong. You should’ve told us this after we all got closer to you. Because of this, every time you have any chance to meet with Ren-kun, we’re going to say Ren-kun is busy and won’t be able to meet you.”
“…….”
Chance? That meant I only needed to give him no chance at all. I wouldn’t prevent Ren-kun from having another spouse if that spouse was suitable for him but… If Julius would try to pull us apart from Ren-kun, I’d give it my all to prevent him from doing it.
I was glad Ren-kun didn’t get to become close with him yet. If Ren-kun had become close with Julius, Ren-kun would definitely feel bothered if he was unable to see Julius ever again. Today might become the first and last day for Ren-kun to see Julius.
“Or perhaps… You’re planning on taking advantage of your status as royalty? I’m also a royalty and A-rank adventurer, you know? If you forced me to go all out, I would have plenty of cards in my deck.”
Even if I had relinquished my right to the throne, I was still the Fifth Prince. Sure, Julius might become the next king in the future but right now, he was only the first son of the Crown Prince. Not to mention, we were all A-rank adventurers so if push came to shove, we wouldn’t have any problem in emigrating to another kingdom. There were actually many adventurers who moved from country to country while taking on quests.
“Julius, today Fer is here to tell us about his engagement. Stop trying to stir the problem. Fer, I’m sorry but can you please forgive him?”
“…. Yes, father. Uncle, please think of it as mindless rambling of my young self and forget about it….. I truly apologize for what I’ve said.”
“Haah… I will forgive you this time. I will still let you meet with Ren-kun but we will never let you be alone together with him.”
I faced Julius and gave him a piercing and cold gaze. I always yearned for younger siblings because I had stayed as the youngest for the most of my life. I truly loved Julius like a young brother because he had been born before Lily. It was the first time I ever stared at my nephew like this.
My brother then tried to mediate between us and Julius also apologized. Julius might’ve apologized for the sake of keeping up with appearances but I still accepted his apology nonetheless. But still… I wouldn’t forget about this nail he had pierced into me. Still, I was glad Chris and Sig were playing with my nephew and nieces and they were sitting far away from us. They wouldn’t be able to overhear our conversation judging from the distance separating us. Of course I had to tell them about this later but I’d hate it if they were to hear about this together with me now…
“Now, Ferdinand. You’ve finally come home after 5 years. Why don’t you tell your father what you’ve been doing these past few years and about the A-rank promotion test that you had mentioned to us in a letter before?”
“Yes, then I will start telling you about the A-rank promotion test…”
My father tried to change the subject and I also jumped on the board and began telling him my story.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting! Come look over here! This is our masterpiece!”
I didn’t know how long I had talked but quite some time must’ve passed since my sister finally returned and slammed the door open, brimming full with confidence.
I wonder what they’ve done to Ren-kun…
Curious, I stared at the door, waiting for Ren-kun to emerge.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Name: Sesilia
Age: 4
Height: 105cm
She has navy blue hair and blue eyes. The first daughter of Ragnar, the Third Prince of Aspel.
Name: Tobias
Age: 15
Height: 187cm
He has brown hair and yellow eyes. He’s the second son of Lucien, the Crown Prince of Aspel.
T/N: Lucius sus (≖_≖ ) But I’m glad Fer is able to solve it without getting too enraged. It’s better to solve it quickly without making too much fuss.
