I'll Shoulder a Sky

As Ligeia stepped outside, she saw Yanis standing at the door waiting for her.

Yanis beckoned Ligeia over, then led Ligeia into the study.

Ligeia went in, plopped down in a seat, and asked casually, "Did you need something?"

What are you doing staring at them from inside the room?

Instead of answering, Yanis asked a question in return.

Upon hearing this Ligeia immediately laughed, "Oh, about that... I'm just keeping an eye on them."

"What are you looking at?"

"It would be terrible if I accidentally got pregnant."

Ligeia stated without hesitation, "Her Majesty the Queen hasn't been formally crowned yet. According to the proper ceremonial procedures, it won't be until next summer at the earliest, by which time she'll be heavily pregnant. That would certainly be undignified."

"Your concerns are valid... but what are you afraid of? Lily is watching from inside."

Yanis sighed helplessly, "You can worry about it when you see Lily get kicked out."

"Ha?"

Ligeia countered, "Isn't Lily that kid's personal maid? I remember she was the one who Iver to the world... He was about thirteen or fourteen years old back then."

Upon hearing this, Yanis was stunned for a moment. "Is that so? That's impossible."

"She said it herself. It seems to be some kind of tradition, but I'm just a country girl, I don't understand this."

Ligeia shrugged. "I knew all along that the big families in Avalon were pretty chaotic, but I never imagined that personal maids would have this kind of tradition..."

"...Tradition?"

"Yanis repeated."

Her expression immediately turned strange.

Ligeia noticed her expression and asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Yanis countered, "Did she tell you that the personal maids were educating the young noblemen so that they wouldn't have affairs or father illegitimate children?"

"... That's exactly what they said, is there a problem?"

Ligeia realized what was happening.

Yanis burst out laughing and slapped Ligeia on the shoulder.

"I told her that," Yanis said, her eyes crinkling, "But I made it up."

"Ah?"

Ligeia was taken aback.

"Use your brain," Yanis couldn't help but say. "If Avalon really has this kind of tradition, where did Lily come from? Do you think the Drost Family is short of maids?"

"... Not necessarily."

Ligeia crossed her arms and pointed at her arm, retorting, "Maybe he just likes that kind of thing?"

"But that can't be true for everyone, right? If there really is such a rule, shouldn't the eldest son who inherits the family business and the name of knight be married to a maid? Wouldn't it be more undignified for them to have illegitimate children than for children who have no right to inherit to have illegitimate children?"

"In fact, this is a tradition of the Stibnite Person. Unlike the Avalon people, whose nobles can only have one servant per offspring, and of course, more than one personal maid, the nobles there can have both male and female servants."

"And tracing back to its origins, this comes from the research of scholars during the Imperial period—at that time, they had not yet figured out the principle of the Path Urge and regarded it as the curse of illegitimate children. They believed that illegitimate children were more likely to 'go mad,' so they would have maids give birth to children and then kill the children to break the curse."

"Later scholars also understand that there is no such thing as the 'curse of illegitimate children' anymore, but Xingti and Iris still inherited some of this tradition. The nobles on Xingti have a large number of maids, and most of the illegitimate children are born to them, also to vent their Path Urge, because there are many political Marriage Alliance on Xingti, and the couples are basically bound by interests and have no emotional foundation."

"In the Iris Flower Kingdom, they don't call them 'maids' at all, but 'guardian knights.' Even noble ladies occasionally like to recruit their own 'knights,' which are actually lovers. This happens occasionally in Avalon, but it's definitely not common. Otherwise, how could Lily have dared to introduce herself as Iver's personal maid at school?"

Yanis laughed and reached out to rub Ligeia's small, round head. "Besides, that's the Moriarty Family, what's there to be afraid of with a bastard child?"

"... Oh right."

Ligeia suddenly realized what was happening.

The Moriarty Family has no history of illegitimate children.

According to the Moriarty Family's rules, even biological children born from marriage cannot inherit the family business or surname. Only adopted children raised by the family can inherit the family business. The issue of illegitimate children is completely irrelevant.

"You, a ninety-year-old spinster, certainly don't understand this."

Yanis smiled wickedly, "Which do you think has stronger desires, thirteen or fourteen, or seventeen or eighteen? Is it possible that after tasting meat at thirteen, one would stop eating meat at eighteen?"

"I'm not ninety years old at all, I'm not even a year old yet."

Ligeia responded instinctively, but she suddenly realized what she was saying as soon as the words left her mouth, "How do you know Iver hasn't eaten it? Could it be..."

"I watch over them every night; after all, elves don't necessarily have to sleep," Yanis said matter-of-factly.

Why were you peeping at that little boy while he was sleeping?!

"Protect him," Yanis said seriously. "Iver has been attacked while he's sleeping more than once, hasn't he? Oswald isn't here. If I'm not vigilant, he could be killed one day and you wouldn't even know it. You don't really think Shadow Fiend's protection is enough to keep him safe, do you? He wouldn't have survived that incident with Graham alone."

"... Okay then. No, Yanis —why did you tell that lie back then?"

Ligeia retorted with dissatisfaction.

Yanis retorted confidently, "That was when Iver first met Isabel. I had to test him to see if he was a playboy, didn't you find out about his long list of affairs?"

"It's said to be a romantic debt, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with him."

"Yes."

Yanis commented, "His own attitude doesn't matter, but as long as he has so many suitors, it will definitely cause trouble for Isabel. At the time, I just wanted Isabel, who was still Princess, to stay away from him; she couldn't handle a man like that."

"Because facing this kind of topic, whether you explain or not, it will definitely lose points with Isabel. Maybe it can calm her down—it's too absurd for two people who have never met or spent any time together to develop feelings for each other after just meeting once at the Promotion Ritual. If you were in my position, you would also stop it."

"That's true," Ligeia nodded slowly. "Indeed... and now I also think that Isabel might not be able to handle that kid."

Yanis crossed her arms and added, "And another thing, Ligeia. Did you know that Lily learned the ' Night Rabbit Grimoire '? It's a tradition of the Narcissus Principality, where only virgins can transform into primitive werewolves who can eat meat and drink blood normally—this is a restriction from the Path of Love. The Child of the Moon also have similar taboos. That's enough to prove that she was lying back then."

Ligeia clicked her tongue. "Tsk..."

Why are you smacking your lips?

Yanis said bluntly, "Lily isn't the type to lie out of pride; it must have been that little Fox who instructed her to lie. Rather than saying I did something, it's more accurate to say you did something."

"I didn't do anything..."

Ligeia spoke in a childish voice, crying out innocently.

She couldn't remember what she had said at the time.

It seems like they were pressuring me to get married? Anyway, we were just chatting instinctively without thinking, so I really can't remember.

"But since Lily lies so smoothly, she even fooled you."

Yanis narrowed her eyes slightly. "I think she probably likes Iver too. But that's not surprising, that little Fox is lovable. Not to mention they've spent so much time together."

"Lily and he are indeed very close, after all, she was the personal maid who bathed Iver when he was a child. When Iver was unable to move around, Lily must have been the one who bathed him. But perhaps it is precisely because they are so familiar with each other that she can act so nonchalantly."

"...broken."

Ligeia slapped the back of her hand, somewhat flustered. "I told Isabel about it!"

"What did you say?" Yanis pressed.

"I'll just say it straight..."

Ligeia jumped up from her chair in a panic and circled around Yanis: "So, does this mean I'm spreading rumors? I need to explain this to Isabel?"

"... No, there's no rush."

After thinking for a moment, Yanis reached out and pressed down on Ligeia: "It might not be a bad thing."

Are you sure?

"Hmm. Don't let Isabel's gentle and weak appearance fool you. Our little Queen actually has a very strong subconscious aggression. She cares deeply about what she values and is determined to get it. And the closer she gets to losing it, the more persistent she becomes. It's just that she's used to failure... If she's not in a hurry, she'll hold back and only make a move when she's 100% sure she can get it."

"I wanted to make her fail once, and that's why. She has a gentle exterior but a strong interior; she'll wake up when pushed to the limit."

The elven artist analyzed his student. "But the current situation is different. Iver used Lily to deflect your pressure to get married, which means he doesn't have that many thoughts yet. In other words, Isabel likes Iver, but Iver doesn't like her that much yet."

"If she continues to hesitate at this point, wanting to wait for Iver to start liking her before confessing... it might cause trouble. After all, that little Fox is no exaggeration to say she's a heartthrob. With Lily's situation putting pressure on her, Isabel will start to get anxious—she won't dare to act until she's in a certain hurry."

"Rather than truly growing and maturing only after completely losing something and experiencing heart-wrenching pain, it's better to just continue as things are for now. If she feels she has everything under control, she might become hesitant again."

Yanis concluded, "Anyway, don't tell Isabel yet."

Ligeia sighed, "Fine, I'm not a genius either, I'll just listen to you for now. It's my fault too... Anyway, don't mess things up."

On the other side, Iver watched Isabel sitting on his bed awkwardly handling the not-too-troublesome political affairs, and sighed silently.

Well, let's teach it slowly for now. Anyway, Avalon isn't in such a hurry anymore.

Although she is still somewhat immature, she is still better than the "Queen of Flowers Isabel," who only truly grew up and became mature and rational after losing everything.

The spirit of enduring suffering is praiseworthy, and the Queen who rose from suffering is worthy of reverence. But suffering itself is not something to be celebrated.

Suffering is suffering.

Since Iver has come into this world, he cannot leave empty-handed.

It wasn't for justice, nor to save the world. It was simply that, within his reach and within his power, as someone whose heart wasn't so hardened, he couldn't bear to see so much wailing and misery.

—That kind of bloody growth is better left unsaid.

He is capable of shouldering the burden.

Update complete! We'll gradually roll back the update time a little!