Published: August 10, 2026
On a certain day in a certain month, at the center of Granado Castle, I shouted:
"I'm bored!"
My cry echoed through the Ivory Castle. Ryuu-Ryuu Grandma heard it—well, she was in the same room right next to me, so she would have heard it even if it hadn't echoed—and gave me a half-lidded, exasperated look.
"Oh, dear," she said, smiling wryly as she raised a finger in gentle admonishment. "What could be better than that, Lisa? There is nothing more valuable than peace."
"...Well, yes, I guess."
I nodded vaguely.
I love Ryuu-Ryuu Grandma, but she has this habit of treating me like a child. I'm already six years old, honestly.
Grandma's son, my dad, Cyrus Granado, is the world's greatest merchant. Ever since he started his business in his teens, he's traveled all over the world and apparently overcome plenty of trouble along the way. So this kind of boring everyday life would probably look dazzling to him... but...
Thinking that far, I shook my head in my heart.
...What Grandma said isn't right.
If that were really true, Dad would be much happier than he is.
Just being peaceful isn't enough. Dad needs his jewel—something precious and irreplaceable—to be by his side, or he won't be happy.
...Though that's the same for me, too...
It had almost been half a year since Mom disappeared.
Life in Granado Castle had not changed in any noticeable way. Just as it had a few months ago, we continued living that languid life, a mixture of peacefulness and vague unease.
Then it happened.
Kaan! Kaan!
A bell rang violently from far away, near the main gate.
A visitor. Ryuu-Ryuu Grandma stood up.
"Lisa, let's go welcome our guest together. Come along."
"Me too?"
"Yes, you too, Lisa!"
Grandma smiled brightly.
...I wonder if it's a visitor who'll make me happy?
With excitement, I took Grandma's hand and headed for the main gate.
Before long, the scene that came into view told me who the visitors were, and I let out a cheer.
"—Lady Anastasia! Lord Ruifeng!"
As I ran up, the man and woman who had just stepped down from the carriage turned around. When they realized it was me who had called out, the woman spread both arms wide.
"Lisa! Long time no see! You've gotten so big!"
Grandma gave my back a gentle push, encouraging me to go hug my aunt.
When I ran over, my aunt hugged me and roughly messed up my hair. Ugh, she was surprisingly strong. When she noticed me wobbling and going "au, au," from having my head shaken around, the pure-white man beside her stopped her.
"Knock it off, Anya. Lisa-chan's upset because you've turned her proud red hair into a mess."
"Oh, Ruifeng, isn't that a good thing? Loving and taking pride in the parts you were born with is the foundation for nurturing a healthy mind."
"Wait, I don't know what you're talking about."
The handsome silver-haired man did firmly object, but it seemed the wife was overwhelmingly the one in control.
Anastasia was Mom's older sister—so, my aunt. But she didn't look much like either me or Mom, and she was so youthful she could pass for a girl. The white-haired man beside her was her husband, Ruifeng Sandalqia Dilz, one of the most powerful figures in this country, and the younger brother of King Richard of the Dilz Kingdom.
...Or so you'd think, but my aunt seemed to enjoy playing with her husband very casually.
Still, as befitting a royal couple, the two of them were so lovely standing side by side that they made me sigh. The prince and princess once called the "world's most beautiful royal couple" at the time of their marriage are now said to be the "world's most beautiful royal family."
And behind those two, even further back...
"Hey, could you two get away from the door already? I can't get down."
As he said that, a boy appeared. He looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, a little taller than Anastasia, with features very much like hers. He was such a beautiful boy that you might not realize he was a boy unless you heard his voice.
Uncle Cedric... Mom's younger brother. The only boy in the Shadelan Family, he was currently attending an academy in the royal capital and studying estate management. Cedric often stayed here in Granado Castle during long vacations, but this was off-season.