Published: January 4, 2026
“――Now then.”
I turned to the girl once more.
“Unintentionally, I have revealed my true identity, but what is your name?”
“Newf.”
“An unusual name. Do you have a surname?”
“No, I don’t. I’m an orphan. When necessary, I just call myself Sailing.”
“Newf Sailing, huh.”
I nodded slightly and continued questioning.
“How much education have you received?”
“I haven’t had any proper education.”
“Oh? That doesn’t quite seem right. Even if wisdom comes naturally, I wouldn’t be surprised, but yours clearly comes with knowledge. It’s not just innate talent.”
“……”
“If you can’t say, that’s fine. I won’t scold you. It’s purely out of curiosity.”
Newf looked a little surprised and stared at me intently.
She was trying to gauge my true intentions.
After a moment, she slightly lowered her face and spoke.
“...I was an attendant.”
“An attendant?”
“Until last year, I worked as a servant in a merchant’s household, but at some point, I started accompanying the son of the house for his studies.”
“Ha ha, I see.”
I laughed cheerfully.
Cindy and Maya looked curious about why I said that, and Cindy asked directly.
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
“You and Maya both study voluntarily, so you probably can’t understand. In families of certain status, it’s not uncommon for a child who dislikes studying to push all their studies onto an attendant like this girl. Sometimes it’s just various types of ghostwriting, and in severe cases, having them do all the homework.”
“Ehh!?”
“Such things happen…”
Both Cindy and Maya were shocked and looked like they couldn’t believe it.
Both are intelligent and have clear goals within themselves, so studying hasn’t been a burden, and such a concept was unfamiliar to them.
However, it certainly does happen.
Even among the royal family, it has become less common now, but before the reforms—when the system was “the crown prince does everything, others do nothing”—such things were commonplace.
Because of that, everyone but the crown prince grew up foolish, and the nation’s strength steadily declined in the past.
Putting that aside—hmm.
I stared at Newf.
“So, essentially, you were the one receiving all the education that the merchant’s child was supposed to receive.”
“That’s probably how it turned out.”
“I see. That also explains why your way of speaking is like this.”
“Ah—”
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to reprimand you for that either.”
Newf startled momentarily, turning pale, but I raised my hand to show it was okay.
By now, my interest in her was far greater.
There was no need to get worked up over formalities.
“You said until last year, does that mean you’re not doing it now?”
“They found out I was doing all the homework, so I was kicked out last year.”
“They made you take the blame.”
“Yeah. They said it was because I taught bad things, so I was thrown out.”
“What a waste. Or rather, I should say it’s fortunate for me.”
I muttered this to myself, feeling enlightened inside.
I understood that this was not an uncommon story, but Cindy and Maya—especially Cindy—showed clear displeasure bordering on anger.
Still, since I was the master talking with Newf, they couldn’t openly express their feelings—they clearly repressed themselves.
Ignoring them, I asked Newf further.
“So you learned about me because of that?”
“Yes, from various rumors and tales of valor.”
“I see... That makes sense now.”
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”
Cindy asked. I decided to explain.
“The imbalance between your wisdom, knowledge, manners, and speech is too great. From earlier, you’ve been restless, trying to do something but not really knowing what to do.”
“Indeed... I noticed you were fidgeting, so I was cautious, but since there was no hostile intent, I was curious.”
“So it was like that, as expected of Your Majesty!”
Maya gave a satisfied expression, and Cindy praised me.
Unlike Cindy, Maya has some knowledge of martial arts and apparently was unofficially guarding me.