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After finishing the lecture and returning to my office, I sat alone, reflecting on the day’s events.
Who would have thought that, intending to summon a flower spirit, I would end up manifesting a fairy instead?
Even I could not immediately grasp what had happened.
Surrounded by the students’ astonishment and praise, I had struggled to maintain a calm façade.
As I was lost in thought, a soft knock sounded, and Hein entered the room.
「Mother, you must be tired. It was a wonderful lecture」
Hein smiled as he spoke, his face showing genuine respect.
「You exaggerate, Hein. It was something I had not expected myself」
I answered with a wry smile.
Then Hein took my hand, his gaze falling worriedly on the ring finger of my left hand.
「Perhaps this ring interfered too strongly with your magic power. It was careless of me. I am sorry for startling you, Mother」
The black ring he had given me was indeed peculiar in some ways.
Lately, I had felt unusually well.
And I had been having strange dreams as well…
But there was no way this ring was bringing me harm.
「No, you have done nothing wrong」
I stood and gently embraced Hein as I said this.
He buried his face against my chest, and I slowly stroked his hair.
He was no longer a child, so perhaps it was not right to indulge him like this any longer.
That was what I thought.
And yet, I could not bring myself to let go of this warmth.
As long as this child sought me, I would surely embrace him again and again.
That tender moment between mother and son was interrupted by a low hoot from outside the window.
Hein lifted his face, turning his eyes toward the window.
「…A familiar. It seems to be heading this way. Shall I dispose of it?」
He spoke of something so dangerous as if it were nothing, and I gently reproved him.
「Now, that will not do」
I immediately knew whose familiar that owl was.
It belonged to my teacher, Habakiri.
What business could he possibly have with me now?
After patting Hein’s head once more, I slowly walked to the window.
Opening it gently, I invited the messenger into the room.
◆
The owl slipped soundlessly through the window and alighted on my arm.
Tied to its leg was a small letter.
While I untied it, Hein said nothing, simply watching in silence.
I broke the seal and unfolded the parchment inside.
What was written there was in my master’s hand, simple and unadorned.
The outcome of the Yggdra Principality.
That the Undead King Fabian had been defeated.
That the principality’s army and the Adventurers’ Guild had paid a heavy price, leaving the rebuilding of the nation an immense challenge.
And that, amidst the turmoil, tensions among the various races within the country were rising.
That was all.
No instructions, no request for my opinion, only the plain statement of facts.
I folded the letter quietly.
This was a test.
My master had given me only information, waiting to see how I, no, how the Aster family, would interpret the situation and act.
For a moment, I thought of glancing at my son beside me, to seek his thoughts.
He might find an answer I could never reach, with a perspective far beyond my own.
But I quickly dismissed the thought.
I cannot rely on him for everything.
As his mother, and as acting matriarch of the Aster Ducal House, I must first think through this with my own mind.
Hein said nothing, only watching me quietly.
He was always like this.
Until I asked, he would never speak his own thoughts.
It was, perhaps, his way of showing trust in me.
I turned my thoughts inward.
What would happen now?
The Yggdra Principality was a multiethnic state where many races lived side by side.
They had been tolerant toward demi-humans, and I had heard that those persecuted in foreign lands often sought refuge there.
Now that nation was trembling.
With the fall of the Undead King, their common enemy was gone. The ethnic frictions that had long smoldered beneath the surface now rose in full force as they faced the vast task of reconstruction.
Perhaps demi-humans driven from Yggdra would flow into the Guynes Empire.
No…
I immediately rejected the thought.
This empire could hardly be called a hospitable land for them.
Then what was it that my master wished me to see?
He would not send a familiar simply to inform me of current events.
There had to be intent.
Whatever became of Yggdra, it posed little direct threat to the empire.
Where the displaced demi-humans went was their own affair.
──But what if this was not about Yggdra’s demi-humans at all?
What if it was about demi-humans as a whole?
At the recent tea party, I had declared my will to stand as the standard-bearer of the pro-demi-human nobles.
If Yggdra, the land once known for its tolerance, faltered, then the hopes of demi-humans within and beyond our borders would inevitably turn toward us.
That was the last thing Chancellor Zigitaris would want.
She would no longer see the Aster family as mere political opponents, but as dangerous elements capable of shaking the empire itself.
Perhaps my master meant to warn me of that.
「So, what you’re telling me is to be prepared…」
As I spoke, Hein’s expression changed for the first time.
He must have reached the same conclusion as I had.
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