Ellie blinked her large green eyes. "I, um... Mom—Mother actually wants to bring the Ster Family and the royal family closer again. The royal mages who came to Basia City this time... have some ties to my grandmother's family.
"They think Prince Alexei is around my age... and that we could get to know each other."
Joshua froze. Only then did it sink in: their young lady had reached the age when people started setting their sights on her!
He couldn't help looking at Ailiterman. Her long black hair cascaded to her waist, and her delicate oval face held a pair of beautiful green eyes as clear as the sea in March.
She had a small, elegant nose, rosy lips that always seemed on the verge of a smile, a long and graceful swan's neck, a back that was always straight, and a slender waist that held surprising strength.
And she was an Official Mage.
Ailiterman, daughter of Earl Ster, was indeed qualified to become a prince's consort.
But then Joshua realized something else. "The earl wants you to stay in Bacia!
"If he wanted to send you away, why would he have gone to so much trouble all these years?
"Besides, the capital is a tangled mess. How could the earl bear to send his own daughter into it?"
"But Mother..." Ellie, too, began to realize that things might not be as she had thought.
Still... although her mother, Helena Ruis, had been bedridden for years because of her health, that didn't mean she didn't love her children.
Ellie had been raised by the steward and his wife only because Linde was the youngest, while her father had spent those earlier years away on campaign. It was only in the last few years that he had truly taken charge