CH 13

13  My Little Sister is Lively Today

TN : 13/15

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I, Theodore Goldberg, proudly announced that I had finally turned five years old this year. Right now, I was in the middle of learning horse riding, and do excuse me for a bit. But I couldn’t help myself!

WOOO, it’s horses! And not only one, but a lot of it!!! It’s so ta~ll!!! And fluffy to boot~!!! Though it’s slightly a shame that Kevin has to ride the horse behind me, I don’t mind overly much since it’s to protect me. Eh? What? Do I hate this activity you asked? Are you kidding me? No way, it’s so~ ama~zi~ng to the point I’m speechless.

“Then, shall we try to finish one lap around the yard, Young Master?” Kevin suddenly asked me, garnering my fervent and hard nod of agreement.

Yes, yes, YES! Please do! OOH! It’s walking! The horse is walking slowly. I practically vibrated in excitement as I looked over the area from my vantage. I could see the flowers blooming beautifully in the courtyard and feel the wind blowing gently past my face.

This feels really nice~! WO~W! While I was deep in my excitement, I was snapped out of my thoughts by Kevin’s following sentences.

“A~nd done~. Shall we end this here today, Young Master?” However, I blatantly directed bright and eager eyes at him, pleading to continue the activity. Kevin couldn’t help but yield to me as he continued speaking. “Or we could do another lap if you don’t mind it… I see, I suppose another lap won’t hurt. I can’t help it when your eyes are literally sparkling like that…”

Welp, sorry about this, but this is really exciting! I can’t help but want more. Even I had never expected that I would get so excited just by riding on a horseback. But it was just so much fun that I wanted to ride them forever.

Still, I had already had so much fun when I was just riding with Kevin, so I wonder how exciting it would be when I have learned how to ride the horse by myself? The more I considered this, the more I think it would be more fun, thus I decided.

Let’s master horse riding as soon as possible! I declared in my mind with a pumped fist.

At this time, we had been going around the courtyard for God knew how many times, as such Kevin finally ran out of his patience and asked, “Aren’t you starting to feel dizzy, Young Master? Tell me, since riding a horse around this small place is really a chore. Why don’t we stop for today? Don’t worry, if you want to ride a horse for a bit longer, I’ll arrange for a long ride at a later time.”

Tch, this guy lacks will power. At first, I harrumphed in my mind when he first spoke. However, the later part of his sentence caught my attention and I brightened up.

SERIOUSLY?! YAAY~! I DID IT!

While I cheered in my mind, my mother was looking at me from the terrace, not even hiding her smile upon seeing my obvious delight. So, when I descended from the horse, I could see her motherly smile after I ran toward her while waving my hand to her.

“Mother! Did you see that? There’s a lot of horses! And Kevin promised that he’ll arrange a long ride for me later!”

“Yes, Mother saw it just now. Although it is a good thing that you like it, it’s not good for you to act selfishly like that, you know? Look, both Kevin and the horse look exhausted because of you.”

You be~t. Well, Kevin aside, I do feel sorry for the poor, tired horse. So, I suppose I should apologize. I thought, bowing my head in contriteness.

“Fufufu, Wendy is so happy to be able to see nii-sama’s gallant figure. Nii-sama, you’re so~ cool!” Mama said, pretending to be Wendy, my one year old little sister. So, she certainly couldn’t talk. Nevertheless, I acted as if I was fooled and took a peek into the cradle holding my precious little sister.

There, I saw my adorable little sister smiling like an angel towards me.

“Really? Then nii-sama will do his best. Thank you for cheering me on, Wendy.”

“Abwu~” Wendy babbled as she clenched her fists.

So cu~te~! Angel, she must be an angel!!! I thought as I blissfully played with her pale blonde hair, causing her to laugh adorably. A~h, why are you so adorable, my sister?

While we were like that, my mother was sitting by the side, giggling at our interaction.

Then, Mother decided to read a picture book for us. And since Wendy seemed to always be looking forward to such moments, Mother was always reading a picture book for her whenever she had the time.

This time, the story she was reading seemed to be the one that was handed down for generations in this country. The ‘Saint’s Legend’.

It started like this:

Once upon a time, when this world was enveloped in the darkness brought upon us due to the demon king’s power, a girl was born. This girl grew up into a lovely and kind girl who wouldn’t discriminate against others.

Due to this nature, she received God’s divine protection, and God chose her to go on a journey to save the villages from the rampaging monsters.

During the course of her journey, she met with a few chads; and together with the help of those chads, she finally defeated the demon king, saving the world.

At the end of her journey, she got married to the prince, who was amongst the chads who helped her save the world and they lived happily ever after.

As I listened, I couldn’t help but liken it to a Cinderella’s story. Or, perhaps I should say that it was a heroic story? Hmm, to me, the saint in that story looked like Jeanne d’Arc and that tale was not a happy one.

Anyway, mother said the saint’s descendant was supposed to be the royal family. However, to me, it sounded like a lie that the royal family propagated.

Regardless of the truth, though, I had to say that I was a bit disappointed. I had hoped I would listen to a heroic story with a prince as the protagonist, yet such stories were in the minority, if there was even such a genre. On the other hand, the story with women as the protagonist was the mainstream in this world. I wondered why?

Welp, it seems Wendy was already fast asleep in the middle of the story. Glancing at my baby sister, I found her fast asleep and my thought immediately switched track onto how adorable and cute she was. Yup, she has such an angelic face. As expected of my sister.

After that, I spent my time with my mother, having fun as we did lacework together. Eh? How did I start doing the lacework you asked?  Well, it started when Mother was knitting baby clothes for Wendy while I only did it as a hobby.

… Fine.

I just did it since I had way too much spare time on my hands. Before you said anything, I did start my training on basic swordsmanship, but I was told to not overdo it. Therefore, I only trained for a short time every day.

And I chose to learn how to ride horses. At that time, my mother was pregnant and loved to stay around here, so I practiced my horse riding in the vicinity so I could stay close to her. Then, Mother suddenly began her lacework, knitting baby clothes for yet-to-be-born baby sister, Wendy.

When I saw her doing that, I was surprisingly overcome with the urge to try it as well, and ended up continuing it since it was really fun.

Once Martha found out about this, she had scolded me while saying it was an unsuitable hobby for a heir of a noble family. However, it really couldn’t be helped as I simply had too much spare time. So I ended up knitting again whenever I got bored.

Especially since my study has become increasingly difficult recently. I fully intend to stop this hobby once Kevin increased the amount of training I was allowed to do, so I wish she would at least allow me to indulge in this hobby for now.

Anyway, I had made a few knitting for my father and mother, surprising them. Still, they happily wore it for me, making me glad that the finished product looked quite nice.

I was very embarrassed when I gave such presents to them though. After all, I was a man! Then again, seeing my parents’ smile when they received my present was worth it.

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Time passed by just like that, and before long, my father had come back. He didn’t come alone. With him, there was a boy around my age following him. And I wondered… Who is this boy?

“You guys are as lively as ever. Is Wendy just sleeping?”

“Welcome back, dear. She fell asleep when Theodore read a story book for her. If you come back just a little bit earlier, you would be able to see her awake, though.”

“Aah, I guess I missed my chance, huh. Well, I guess I’ll just stay till she wakes. Theodore, are you still doing lacework? Wow, you’re already very skilled with your hand, huh. What did you make this time?”

When he heard my father’s words, the boy who was standing beside him showed an extremely surprised expression. Yup, even I had never expected that I was so talented in this kind of activity, but what could you do? It was a talent.

“I’m going to make several lace ribbons for Wendy.” I replied, for now disregarding the boy’s presence.

“Oh my, are you making some for mother, too?”

“Of course I’m making some for Mother as well!”

Please stop looking at our family’s moment with such a weird expression on your face, young man.

“Anyway, I have to apologize for suddenly asking you like this, Theodore. However, will you come to the royal capital with me? We’ll depart one month later, and you can refuse to come, but I prefer you don’t refuse this. So, what do you think?”

Eh, even if you ask for my opinion, hadn’t you said it yourself that I shouldn’t refuse? That means this trip is very important, right? Then, doesn’t that mean that I’ve no choice? Well, I guess, if it’s that important…

“Yes, I’ll go Father. I look forward to it. The sight of the royal capital must be splendid.”

“I see… thank you. In addition, you’ll need an attendant when you come to that place, and this is ―― His name is Richard. He is six years old this year. He’s one year older than you and also Sebas’ grandson. Please take care of him.”

Hohou, an attendant, huh?! How noble-like… whoops, almost forgot that I’m a noble myself. Still, Sebas’ grandson, huh… definitely a bright kid. I judged as I said, “Nice to meet you, Richard, my name is Theodore.”

Yup, let’s get along. I decided, offering a handshake to him.

“―― I’m Richard… nice to meet you, too.”

His voice was almost inaudible when he replied to me. Moreover, the hand that accepted my handshake offer was also trembling. Noticing this, I couldn’t help but think. Are you okay, young man?