Falk

Although Ellie’s pace was a little slow, it wasn’t slow enough to resemble a snail.

After successfully overtaking an elderly lady leaning on a cane, she actually felt a small sense of accomplishment.

The last time she remembered feeling accomplished like this was when she had blocked one of Solor’s major projects.

Or when she had stirred up trouble for the knight commander.

But now, the source of her sense of achievement was overtaking an old lady with a cane?

That was a serious downgrade…

Next time, maybe she’d try overtaking an old man with a cane instead.

After walking for a while, she finally arrived at the church.

Everything was just as she remembered it.

There was no difference from the last time she had come.

If the church ever changed, it was usually only during special festivals.

Or during certain grand ceremonies.

In the past, this place had originally been under her management.

So whenever there were celebrations, she was the one who proposed the plans.

Because this was a place where both nobles and commoners gathered, decorating it properly, arranging the space, or holding events required satisfying both sides.

To be honest, it was heavy work.

Every time a festival came up, she found it rather troublesome.

But for the sake of her image, she had no choice but to handle it personally.

Still, she was an excellent imperial prince.

This kind of task was something she could manage.

Every celebration.

Every arrangement.

No one had ever expressed dissatisfaction with her plans.

Well… that probably counted as a sense of achievement too.

Much more so than overtaking an old lady.

Though, to be fair, it was also possible that no one dared to voice dissatisfaction.

After all, she had been the infamous Second Prince.

But it was undeniable that, as Eric, the Second Prince, whenever there was something that needed doing, he always did it exceptionally well.

It was like an obsession.

He needed his brother’s recognition.

He wanted to surpass his brother.

He even wanted his brother to rely on him.

So everything had to be done perfectly.

So his brother would see him clearly.

I’m strong.

I’m reliable.

Become my friend.

Become my closest ally.

I can do anything for you.

I can even play the hero-and-dragon game with you.

So please… look at me a little more.

Yet no matter how outstanding he was, Solor never really looked at him directly.

Perhaps his brother saw it as a challenge.

After arriving at the church, while the little maid was praying with her eyes closed, Ellie slipped straight toward the back entrance.

She remembered that last time, Falk had been staying near the children here.

According to her past memories, the church’s duty rotation was weekly, changing monthly.

Last time, she had arrived a bit later than this time.

So when she encountered Falk, he had just left the children to go to the prayer room.

This time, Ellie had come earlier.

She had calculated the day of the week carefully.

She arrived here and found the open space where the children played.

Several elderly people were sitting beside the children.

They were likely there to keep the children company.

Some were commoners.

Some were nobles.

They all looked kind-hearted.

They were simply here to watch the children, hoping that their aging bodies might gain a bit of vitality.

If staying around children could really bring vitality, Ellie felt she should come here more often.

After all, her body had already become so weak that true vigor was hard to come by.

To be honest, just watching the children play on the grass made her feel younger.

The children varied in age, but none looked older than five or six.

Perhaps it was nostalgia triggered by the scene.

Watching them play together reminded her of her own childhood.

Yes.

Her childhood as Eric, the Second Prince.

Back then, neither of their mothers had died yet.

Their relationship hadn’t deteriorated so badly.

At that time, they were just children.

No schemes.

No struggles.

They simply wanted to be friends with their sibling.

There were only two children in the palace.

So naturally, they quickly grew close.

They were happy to share the same father.

That meant they were brothers.

Not just brothers.

But close friends.

That was double happiness.

But reality was far crueler.

If they had been born into an ordinary family, things might really have been like that.

Two brothers supporting each other.

Relying on one another.

Holding the household together.

But this was different.

This was the royal palace.

Where did royal families ever have deep brotherly bonds?

Even sisterly affection didn’t exist here.

Wasn’t that so?

Their mothers were sisters.

Though they were never good sisters to begin with.

Eric’s mother was an illegitimate daughter.

The child born after a wealthy man cheated on his wife with a maid.

Solor’s mother, on the other hand, was the legitimate daughter.

The publicly acknowledged daughter of that wealthy man.

When Eric’s mother appeared, the wealthy man chose to keep the daughter and discard the woman.

But at heart, it was only to preserve his image.

In truth, he loathed Eric’s mother.

Eric’s mother also hated this situation.

She couldn’t understand why her own mother had become a third party.

Why she had ruined someone else’s life.

Destroyed another family.

And then given birth to such a detestable child as herself.

Yet at the same time, she was unwilling to accept it.

Unwilling to accept that she was inferior to that legitimate eldest daughter.

She should have been more outstanding.

Compared to that eldest daughter who only knew how to indulge herself, the illegitimate daughter worked hard.

She studied hard.

She tried desperately to prove herself.

Yet in the end, she was never truly acknowledged.

In the entire family, only she herself supported herself.

Later, the eldest daughter became an imperial consort.

Her beauty caught the emperor’s eye.

She became his woman.

This only made the illegitimate daughter even more confused.

What was she lacking?

In terms of knowledge, she was far superior.

In terms of beauty, she was no worse.

So what exactly did the emperor see in that woman?

She couldn’t accept it.

Why was it that under similar circumstances—when she was even better—she was never valued?

Why couldn’t those riches and honors belong to her?

So, unwilling to accept it, she chose to climb into the emperor’s bed while the imperial consort was pregnant.

Using the same face.

The same beauty.

She despised her mother for becoming a mistress.

Yet for status and glory, she became the same kind of person.

Through that method, she also became pregnant.

And Eric was born.

Another child unloved.

It was like a curse.

They were all unloved children.

Yet they desperately tried to prove themselves.

But in the end—

Her mother died at the hands of the knight commander.

In the previous world, the man known as Aarman.

Egmad.

Eric’s mother was a pledge of loyalty.

A token Egmad offered to Solor.

Everything began when Eric’s mother poisoned Solor’s mother.

Two boys who had once been brothers and friends broke apart.

They became eternal enemies.

This hatred of a slain mother was etched into Solor’s heart.

When Egmad defected to him, Solor demanded Eric’s mother’s life.

Eric no longer remembered whether he had been sad.

By then, his emotions had already been twisted by his mother.

Even he himself couldn’t tell whether he felt love or hatred.

Should he have felt relieved that the one who oppressed him was gone?

Or should he have cried like a normal child over his mother’s death?

He was utterly confused.

With nowhere to place his feelings.

He only remembered—

We were once best friends.

We were brothers.

We promised.

I would make you emperor.

I would become your minister.

I would remove every threat for you.

You only needed to rely on me.

Why did everything fall apart because of this?

I…

I did nothing.

I stood on your side.

I wanted to stop my mother.

But I couldn’t.

Brother…

Brother…

Forgive me.

Brother…

I didn’t want her to kill your mother.

I didn’t want that.

Please don’t blame me.

Please…

“—Little brother.

Slow down.”

“I won’t.

Come catch me.

I stole today’s limited-edition biscuits.

If you catch me, I’ll break one in half and give you some.”

In a daze, amid the calls of elder brother and younger brother, Ellie looked toward the two boys running in circles around the lawn.

See?

Just like us back then.

When we crawled through dog holes together.

When we were scolded together by the palace maids.

With mud all over our faces.

Did we ever imagine that this would be our ending?

“Ouch.”

“—Ugh.”

Just as the younger boy ran around holding the biscuit, he failed to notice what was ahead.

He slammed straight into Ellie.

With her frail body, Ellie stumbled.

She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

A child’s head was surprisingly hard.

That headbutt hit her leg painfully.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem too serious.

She was only hurt from the impact and losing balance.

Not injured badly enough to be unable to walk.

But it would probably bruise.

“Hey, you two.

How could you be so careless.”

As Ellie sat on the ground rubbing her leg, a familiar voice reached her ears.

She looked up.

Gray-green short hair.

The person she was looking for.

She had only come to see if she could meet Falk by following the routine.

She hadn’t expected to actually find him.

It seemed the church still operated much like it had when she managed it.

“I’m sorry, miss.

The children here are too mischievous.

They bumped into you.

We will compensate you…”

Falk seemed to recognize at a glance that although Ellie’s attire was simple, the fabric was clearly expensive.

His expression turned troubled.

As if unsure how to compensate for having offended someone of such wealth.

“W–w–wah…

I’m sorry, big sister.

I’m sorry.

I didn’t mean it.

I’m sorry.”

The child was terrified.

Normally, children bumping into each other during play was nothing.

But knocking over an adult was a different matter.

To a child, an adult falling carried a sense of impact.

Even though he was the one who caused it, he looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m sorry.

I’m really sorry.

It’s my fault.

My little brother ran too fast.

I’ll scold him.

I’ll scold him properly.

I’m really sorry, big sister.”

The older brother rushed over immediately.

He glanced at Falk’s troubled expression and realized this was serious.

He quickly reached out to rub the reddened area on Ellie’s leg.

Even saying things like “I’ll scold him,” using adult-like words.

“Th–this is for you, big sister.

This is my compensation.

Big brother Falk doesn’t have money.

I–I’ll pay.

Take this.

My limited-edition biscuit.”

The younger brother squeezed forward again.

Almost pushing Falk aside as he came to check the situation.

He held out the biscuit he had been clutching.

Though it had already broken in half from the collision.

“What nonsense are you saying.”

Hearing the child say he had no money, Falk quickly stepped forward.

He lifted the younger boy by the armpits and set him aside.

Then he knelt down before Ellie on one knee.

In the most polite posture.

“I…

I can compensate you.

What do you need.

Medical expenses, for example.

I can pay.”

Although he said that, his troubled expression suggested he didn’t actually have much money.

Money was something Ellie had plenty of.

As a royal princess, she didn’t spend much.

That didn’t mean she lacked it.

The injury on her leg wasn’t serious.

It was nothing compared to the tomato sauce incident.

But…

This was also a good opportunity to get close to Falk.

After all, she had come here intending to talk to him.

“My leg…

It does hurt a little.

I’d like to rest under that tree over there.”

Ellie put on a pained expression.

She rubbed her leg.

Then she hopped awkwardly on one foot.

That took quite a bit of effort.

Fortunately, Falk was perceptive.

He was a polite man.

Seeing that Ellie was a young lady, he quickly tucked his hands into the long sleeves of his priestly robes.

Making sure not to touch her directly.

Using the fabric of his sleeves as a barrier, he carefully supported Ellie and helped her to the tree.

“Hah…

Kids these days are surprisingly strong.

They must all eat pretty well, right?”

Ellie sat beneath the tree and casually started a conversation.

Falk stood nearby, still tense, responding to her.

“Ah, yes.

The children here at the church eat fairly well…”

“…”

Ellie glanced at Falk’s troubled face again.

Judging by his attire, she could tell he held a respectable position in the church.

Normally, someone of that rank wouldn’t earn an astonishing amount.

But it certainly shouldn’t be little.

So why did he look so uncomfortable whenever money was mentioned?

“Your clothes are different from theirs.

Are you in charge here?”

Ellie rubbed her leg and looked up at Falk.

“N–no.

I’m just a slightly higher-ranking priest.

The clothes are a little different.

But not by much.”

“Is the church’s pay that low.

You look troubled.”

“Huh.

No.

The church pays enough.

If you need compensation, I can pay it.

I just need a little time.

I need to… um…

Move some funds.”

“…Hm?”

Ellie froze.

“Is your money kept in some grand treasury?”

“N–no.”

Falk’s expression grew even stranger.

His face even flushed slightly with embarrassment.

“My salary…

I…

I donated it to the church.”

“Huh?”

Ellie’s expression grew even more confused.

“This is the church, isn’t it?”

“Yes…”

“And you are a priest of this church, correct?”

“That’s right, miss.”

“Then—

You’re working for free?!”