Chapter 203 - By the Pond

A few months after Lucy's birthday, Orsted came to visit again.

To be honest, I hadn't expected this. He said he had something to discuss, but his idea of a discussion was apparently an invitation to go fishing, we could talk about it while we were at it.

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So there we were: me, Lara, Roxy, and Orsted, sitting by a pond with fishing rods.

I had invited Cliff and Nanahoshi too, but they both declined.

Nanahoshi's exact words:

"Call me when there's drinking. I'm swamped right now — potions research and the Mana Storage Device aren't going to figure themselves out!"

No idea what kind of potion she was working on, but I wasn't going to drag her away from it.

Cliff said his child had hit the talking stage and he was determined to give the kid a head start, so he was staying home to personally oversee the education.

Still, Cliff's presence lingered in its own way. Orsted was wearing Cliff's curse-suppression device.

It was a little hard not to smile at that.

Orsted cast his line and said, with complete seriousness, "This should significantly increase the probability of catching fish."

"Indeed."

Lara, nestled in my arms, burst out laughing.

"Uncle Orsted, that is way too funny!"

Roxy lightly chopped the top of Lara's head.

"Lara. That's rude."

"Ugh..."

We set the bucket in place and got the bait sorted. Lara grabbed the fishing rod with both hands.

"I'll do it!"

"Do you have the strength to cast it that far?"

"Hmph! Magic exists for a reason!"

She hefted the rod, applied Gravity Magic, and gave it one smooth flick.

The hook landed dead center in the pond.

Orsted cast his own rod shortly after.

We had technically come to fish together, but right now only Lara and Orsted were actually fishing.

Once both lines were in the water, the atmosphere settled into something quiet. Even Lara went still, a rare thing.

Roxy propped her chin in her hand and looked at me.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just looking~"

"Are you bored?"

"Mm, not really. I've heard men love fishing. Father Paul seemed to enjoy it quite a bit too, so I wanted to see for myself what the appeal is."

"I'm not particularly into it, honestly."

Orsted glanced at me when I said that.

His tone had no Ripple at all. But the words that came out were:

"So you don't like it?"

I'm not sure why.

I just felt like Orsted was a little sad.

I cleared my throat. "I don't dislike it. Sitting here like this every now and then does calm the mind."

"Mm. That's good."

"So. You said you had something to discuss?"

"Right. In a few days, send someone to Shirone Kingdom."

"Shirone? What's happening?"

"Something that didn't happen before has occurred. Shirone's Seventh Prince, Pax, usurped the throne. And a war is about to break out."

At the name Pax, Roxy raised her head.

She knows him?

I'd ask her about that in a moment. First things first.

"Is there someone important to the future in Shirone?"

"Not exactly. I simply don't want certain individuals dying ahead of schedule. This war is an uncertain variable."

"Who?"

"Shirone's Third Prince, Zanoba. He's a Blessed Child. His constitution is excellent — hard to kill under normal circumstances — but war is war. If he enters the fighting, there are no guarantees."

"So the goal is to keep Zanoba alive, and stop the war if possible?"

"More or less. As long as Zanoba doesn't die, that's enough. The war itself... you can choose to assist Shirone Kingdom."

"Understood."

In a few days I'd send Aisha and Ghislaine. Have them carry my token, presenting it should be enough to open doors. If it isn't, they'd just have to handle it the hard way.

Roxy tugged the corner of my sleeve.

"Rudy."

"Hm?"

"That Pax... was once my student."

"Oh? Before me or after me?"

"After Rudy, obviously."

"Ah."

"Jealous?"

"A little. I always assumed I was your only student."

"Rudy, honestly..." Roxy sighed. "Pax isn't a bad kid. He just had no confidence in himself, so I made a point of encouraging him during lessons. The problem is that my first student was Rudy, so I always felt like Pax came up short by comparison. But I still taught him properly, I want you to know that."

"Did you compare us?"

"In my head, yes. I compared him to Rudy constantly. But I never said it out loud. Those years teaching at your house, I learned a great deal, including that a teacher is supposed to treat all students the same. But true equality is genuinely hard. I can't even manage it with my own children, let alone my students. The most I could do was keep my mouth equal."

At that, Lara cut in.

"Hmph! Mama's mouth is always scolding me! And always praising Lucy!"

Roxy smiled and pinched Lara's cheek.

"When little sister Lucy does something well, of course I'm going to praise her~ And Lara is so mischievous~ If I didn't say something, what would happen to you?"

"Hmph! Mama is biased!"

"Not at all~ Mama loves Lara the most. You're my own daughter, after all."

Lara puffed out her cheeks and refused to acknowledge Roxy's comfort.

She looked annoyed. She was also very clearly trying not to laugh.

Honestly.

I patted her head and turned to Roxy. "You don't need to blame yourself. Not being able to achieve perfect equality in your heart is normal. Judge by actions, not intentions. You never said anything to discourage Pax, that's what counts."

Lara, of course, immediately found an opening.

"Oh~ So Papa, does he like me more, or Lucy? Or big sister Windsor? And you can't say you like us all the same!"

Roxy didn't scold her this time. She propped her chin on her hand with the unmistakable expression of someone settling in for a show.

I had just said I was the same as anyone else.

And in a sense, that's true. Every member of my family weighs the same in my heart.

Even Paul. I can say with confidence that I love him.

Well... if forced to choose between Paul and my lovers and daughters, I'd probably bump Paul from the list. But among my daughters, I genuinely cannot pick. Same as I cannot pick among my lovers.

Lara's question had no answer.

So I picked my fourth daughter. The option outside the options.

"I like Tina the most."

Lara let out a long sigh.

"I knew it~ I deliberately left Tina out and Papa went straight for her~ Sigh. Boring."

That's the thing about Lara.

Clever, mischievous, a little too sharp for her own good. Reminds me a bit of Aisha when she was small.

"Alright, let's close that topic." I glanced at Roxy. "Summary: you're a good teacher. Not achieving perfect internal equality isn't a failure. Judge by actions, not by what's in your head. You never opened your mouth to put Pax down, you did nothing wrong."

"I suppose..." She was quiet for a moment. "Still, I do feel a bit sorry for him. When the Teleport Incident happened, I resigned immediately to look for Rudy and your family. I did explain things properly to him, but still."

"Nothing to feel sorry about. You were his teacher, not his guardian. Resigning is something anyone can do at any time."

"That's true~ And it turned out to be the right call. If I hadn't resigned to search for Rudy, I might never have ended up marrying him."

"Yeah... the thought alone is horrifying."

Lara, still nestled in my arms, nodded sagely.

She put on her most adult voice and declared: "If I hadn't been born, this world would be destroyed!"

The world would be destroyed, hm.

Actually, that might not be wrong. Orsted had said Lara could turn out to be something like a savior.

Possible. Not certain. But possible.

"Ah! A fish!"

Lara yelped, channeled magic into the rod, and hauled back.

The fish came up clean.

A big one, too.

Orsted turned to watch. His face was, as always, expressionless. But I was certain, absolutely certain, that he was envious.

Lara was about to drop the fish into the bucket when she caught his gaze.

She looked up at him. "Uncle Orsted, do you want it?"

Orsted shook his head.

I swallowed a laugh. "Lara caught a fish. That confirms the curse-suppression device is working."

"Indeed." Orsted nodded.

We stayed by that pond for another 2 hours, talking about nothing in particular.

Until Orsted finally caught his fish.

➤ Next: Aisha, Some Thoughts