Celebrating your birthday by having a party and giving presents are a custom in this world.
Since I was born from a high-ranking noble family, our birthdays were celebrated in a grand way.
It seems like from this year onward, I will be celebrating my birthday like my older brothers.
Until now, I celebrated my birthday with my relatives and only adults were invited.
Three years old is too young to entertain guests for hours. Even playing with fellow children, they’re still at an age where they feel anxious because of the separation anxiety, aren’t they?
Compared to modern Japan, this world’s life expectancy is shorter and it makes us seem to grow up faster.
Even though I’m only four years old, my body is about the size of a young elementary schooler.
My brother Alan is six years old and he’s quite big. There’s not much height difference between him and Kris. While Kris is nine years old, he looked like he just started junior high school. Asians have a youthful appearance, don’t they?
The Empire’s educational institutions are concentrated in the surrounding capital area. Primary education started at the ages of 10 and 15 for higher education.
Children from wealthy commoner families could also attend school until they finish primary education. Most children start helping their parents with their work from 15, or learning skills and trades.
For the nobles, 15 is when the battle for marriage started.
Until their children are 15 years old, parents aren’t allowed to decide their kids’ future spouses. I’m sure there are some families that do that under the table, but it isn’t uncommon to marry for love.
You never know if a child under 15 has a promising future. I think it’s a good system.
They’re looking for their future spouse while attending higher education and it’s common to get married upon graduation. Most of them got engaged when they were fifteen.
I wonder who I’m going to marry?
I want to fall in love.
Four days before my birthday party, I was sitting in front of the dresser that my father had given me as a present.
Who gave a dresser to four years old as a birthday present?
Isn’t it a luxury item? Especially the one with a big clear mirror.
The dresser has an oval mirror surrounded by decorations and small lights, it even has drawers for jewelry and cosmetics.
You don’t need this kind of stuff for a four years old!
Thank you for the gift. I’m happy.
Even though I said I’m happy, wouldn’t it be better if he had given it to me ten years later?
But thanks to the dresser, I could finally see my own face properly for the first time in my life.
I did take a look at my appearance a little since there are mirrors in the hallway and there are some on the walls.
But a kid who wasn’t even four years old wouldn’t stop in front of the mirrors in the hallway. Sometimes I peek from the distance wondering if I was blond and looked like my mother? That’s what I thought. People often told me that I’m cute and I don’t really take that to heart because what could they say to a young lady?
When I finally got a good look on my face, it didn’t really do it justice.
How can I be anything but attractive when I share the same genes with my parents and brothers.
My chest-length hair is an almost silvery blonde like my father’s and glistens like a halo when the light hits it.
The eyebrows are shaped like my mother’s and have a smaller nose. My eyes are almost as big as kittens with downturned corners, giving me a charming and friendly vibe. I have purple eyes and eyelashes that look like they could hold five matches, making me look like a doll.
While my mother has this dignified beauty with an out-of-your-league vibe, I gave the impression of a dainty young lady who will wake your protective instinct. Only in appearance, tho.
A wild child that awakens your protective instinct.
Beautiful girl with round and big kitten-like eyes. And inside, I’m a thirty years old auntie. Sometimes when I run out of mana it feels unpleasant, making me want to vomit.
My appearance is a scam.
Wait a minute.
The reason why Rex was taking his babysitting duty seriously was because he wanted to become a full-fledged butler as soon as possible, wasn’t he? And not because he can take care of a beautiful girl, right? I can put my trust in him, right?
The two guards that I had were provided as escorts. It’s not like I was in danger from kidnapping, isn’t I?
Recently they increased my butler. His name is Brad and he’ll turn twenty-two this year. He had piercing eyes that make you think you’re not strong enough if you look into his eyes.
Did they increase them because I will start to have more contact with people outside of my family?
Back when I was Japanese, I was an ordinary person that didn’t stand out.
The company where I worked had uniforms that buried my character, making it difficult for people to remember my name.
And suddenly I was told, this cute ojou-sama is you! And that didn’t really sink in me.
The only time I look in the mirror is in the morning, it’s not something that I care about.
Today I found out why my family sometimes looks so disappointed.
I asked Cynthia to braid my hair, put on some comfortable clothes before heading to the training grounds.
In the mornings, I have a private tutor coming to help me learn magic and etiquette, thus I can only do the activities I want in the afternoons.
When I run, the guards follow along. Somehow Brad was running with me. After all, he isn’t an ordinary butler.
We ran at least five laps around the large training grounds while watching the knights train.
It’s a nice view.
Strong men sweat and train hard.
There are a lot of handsome guys, too. It’s a great way to keep your eyes busy and your stamina up. Wonderful.
The round light spirits flying on their shoulders are cute, too.
There are two types of spirits, sword spirits and demon spirits.
Most people have a demon spirit. But I have two spirits contracted with me.
People probably aren’t consciously feeding them magic. That’s why they have only grown about four centimeters in diameter.
My spirits are double that size.
My brother, Kris, asked me why my spirits grew so big and I told him that I feed them my magic and my family was surprised when they heard my answer. I guess they didn’t know this information.
They said the family will try it first to make sure it’s legit, and later teach the nobles and knights in our territory if they succeed.
I was told to keep my mouth shut because this kind of information is useful for networking.
Since I had no interest in standing out, I’ll gladly keep quiet.
But now that Kris’s spirit is getting bigger, isn’t it the time to teach the knights in the castle? It’s not a bad thing for them to get stronger, right?
Among our family, Alan was the only one who didn’t have a spirit yet.
Lately, whether it’s because he’s worried about it or he’s going through puberty, Alan has been avoiding me.
Kris probably has a high IQ.
Unlike me, who has memories from a previous life and is said to be smart, he’s a natural.
He has a good memory and is quick-witted. This is why he stands out from the rest of the children.
The second son is sandwiched between the eldest son, the genius who is said to be the top student at school and the little sister, the eccentric sister who set in her ways. I feel bad for him.
Alan is smart enough and his swordsmanship is definitely better than Kris but he has an older brother and little sister as a comparison.
Maybe that’s why he doesn’t like me.
I love my straight-laced and broad-minded brother, though.
I was watching my brothers being taught swordsmanship by a knight while having these thoughts in mind. As I run. Followed by two big guards and a butler.
When the sword was swung, Alan’s hand slightly glowed emerald green.
I stopped in my tracks to stare at it, did I see that wrong? And then it glowed again. Nope, my eyes didn’t deceive me.
“Are you tired?”
“Diadora-sama?”
“I have to teach them.”
“Huh?”
And from there, we went full speed.
The guards didn’t know what’s going on when I’m in a crouching start position.
Regardless of my age, I was fast because I had studied and practiced the form properly. The guards follow suit.
The knights who were training were watching to see what was going on.
Shouldn’t you guys focus on your training? That’s your job. Leave me alone.
“Diadora?”
Kris, who is usually calm and collected, was surprised to see three men running towards him at full speed with beautiful forms trailing behind a four years old kid.
Alan stopped swinging his sword to take a break, probably because I was approaching and he’s been avoiding me. But nope, I would have none of it.
“Alan onii-sama?”
“Eh, me?”
He didn’t think I would have any business with him.
“Are you… done… with practice?”
After running as fast as I could, it was indeed tough. I grabbed Alan’s arm firmly and folded my upper body, gasping and unable to continue speaking.
“Are you okay?”
“I want to watch your practice!”
“Today I already….”
“Alan onii-sama is so cool!”
This sly thirty old woman is using my current youthful looks for maximum damage.
My purple eyes watered and I looked up at him with lowered eyebrows.
But I’m dripping with sweat. And gasping.
“Onii-sama is so strong and cool. I want to watch you practice swordsmanship.”
“…If you say so.”
“Uwaaa.”
Eh? What about me? I heard Kris say that, wait a minute.
I know girls compliment how handsome you are.
You don’t have to ask me for a compliment you know. Don’t give me a long face.
The attention made Alan nervous, but he was more focused than before as he readied his sword.
He began to swing his sword again.
“It glowsss!!!”
When I saw his hand glowing green again, I squealed and instinctively grabbed his hand, which had stiffened in surprise.
“It’s a sword spirit, a wind sword spirit! Alan onii-sama has a knack for swordsmanship after all!”
Although I said some new vocabulary, people probably didn’t notice it because they were stunned. It’s okay.
“Sword spirit? Really?”
As I thought, he was worried that he was the only one in the family without a contracted spirit, wasn’t he?
My brother is so cute, he looked at me with anticipation in his eyes but there’s a look of uneasiness on his face. I have this urge to smother him in a hug!!
“Yup! Put some mana in your hand, like when you use a magic tool.”
“Like this?”
Alan put the sword back in its sheath. He held his hands in front of his chest, palms up and started gathering the mana. The result was his hands were enveloped in green light up to his wrists.
This is the sword spirit.
When developed, it wraps the entire body to increase defense while also giving the weapon attributes. However, they must be fed with mana. Neglecting mana practice simply because you use a sword, you will never get stronger.
Even demon spirits can learn magic to strengthen the body and the more demon spirits you have, the more protection they have and the stronger they become. That’s all the info I got from Wiki-chan.
“How did you know?”
“I saw your hands glowing.”
I tilted my head and answered when Kris asked me. Anyone would have noticed if they paid any attention.
“Ano, can you see that I have a spirit?”
The middle-aged knight who taught my brothers’ swordsmanship asked.
“Mhm, you also have one. It’s yellow, so Earth?”
“Yes! That’s what the mage told me before, but I couldn’t see it myself.”
“It’s just like Alan’s.”
“Diadora.”
“Ano, is there anyone in our unit who has a sword spirit? Nowadays, many of us don’t have spirit.”
“That’s not true. Most of them….”
“Diadora. Shall we go tell father that Alan had a sword spirit?”
“…Okay.”
Um? Was I not supposed to say that?
I didn’t accidentally tell them that they’re supposed to feed them, did I?
“Captain, we can talk about the other knights’ spirits another day.”
“Oh, will you please do that?”
“Okay. We are glad that the knights are getting stronger, too. But since Diadora is only four years old, it would be difficult to do it all at once. And I’d like to discuss this with my father as well.”
Wow. I can’t believe I heard that from a nine years old boy.
And it was accompanied by a smile and a pressure to end the conversation.
“Lead Diadora away.”
Out of habit, Kris ordered one of his guards. As soon as his guard was about to approach me, Brad moved to block the way between this guard and me.
“This is our job. I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch Diadora-sama without permission even if you are Kris-sama’s guard.”
Eh? Ehhh??
Is that really what you’re worried about?
Oh, my guards are nodding with a look of approval.
“Right, sorry. I should have asked for you.”
They got into a bit of a staring contest, Kris was as good as he could be for giving in. He just has a wicked smile.
He’s the type of person who smiles kindly at everyone, but deep down he’s a calculative person.
“Alan and Diadora will be joining us, right?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Brad, will you take them with you?”
When I reached out for him to carry me, Brad looked surprised and coughed as he looked away.
“Right away, sir.”
“Hold on. I’ll take her.”
This time, Kris stepped in between Brad and me.
“Onii-sama?”
“Let me give you a piggyback ride.”
“Okay.”
When I hugged him, his eyes became gentler than before, and he patted my head happily.
We are family, I always miss my gentle brother when he’s being all calculating.
“The distance is quite far, please take it easy.”
Brad casually put his hand on my shoulder as he looked at Kris who was patting my head.
Well, I don’t think I could do a piggyback ride either.
But why does everyone have such a serious expression? I’m sure Alan is wondering, too.
“You aren’t thinking anything weird about my precious sister, are you?”
“What do you mean? It’s just children who are always scared of me and I never had one.”
“Please take care of my sister.”
“You can count on me.”
Regardless, you guys need to stop putting on such a gentle expression when you look at me.
Why is everyone so nice to little girls?
What’s with the weird conversation we just had?
“Huh? Diadora, there are more spirits here.”
Alan turned around and I noticed a fluffy green light floating in the air.
“It’s a wind spirit like mine.”
“I wonder if it’s acquainted with your spirit.”
“Then they won’t be lonely when we go to the house together.”
Alan is my solace.
I have to get Kris on my side as soon as possible.
t/n: unedited since my editor is on vacation.
Thanks for the new chapter!