Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 46: Beggar Sibling– Adopted Brother and Sister

Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Chapter 46: Beggar Sibling– Adopted Brother and Sister

46. Beggar Sibling– Adopted Brother and Sister
"Hi-yah!"
Lena's kick swept cleanly through the spacious yard of the family mansion. Leo blocked the kick, which had some weight behind it, with ease, though he was slightly surprised.
"Wow! There's nothing my sister can't do. Oh, how adorable."
"Let go of me!"
He approached his sister, who had her quills up like a hedgehog, and pinched her cheek.
In return, her elbow shot up aiming for his chin, but Leo tilted his head back to avoid it.
Lena gave up soon after and spoke with a pouting face.
"Hmph... I didn't hit you at all..."
"Hahaha. Are you trying to hit your heavenly brother? But you're really good. You surprised me."
Lena was learning a traditional martial art called Hiberuna.
It was a martial art used by the soldiers of the Arcaea Empire. Although its value had greatly diminished with the development of various weapons and protective gear, making it obsolete in the military, it was still useful for self-defense among civilians.
Knights also referred to this martial art when learning techniques, so Leo Dexter was quite adept at it, and Leo, who had experienced his physique, knew it to some extent as well.
"Tsk. Just you wait."
Lena wore a disgruntled expression. Although she wasn't very satisfied, Leo thought it was impressive.
'Considering how long she's been learning... She's already this good...'
His sister Lena was extremely talented.
She quickly mastered whatever she learned and used it very well.
'Maybe it's better to teach her swordsmanship?'
He wondered if she might become the youngest Sword Master. It was a ridiculous thought, but amusing enough to make him laugh.
Although Lena learned things quickly, becoming a Sword Master was a different level. A Sword Master was a genius bestowed by the heavens. While Lena was talented in many areas, there were limits.
'Honestly, with her looks alone, she's already the best on the continent. If she also had a moderate talent in everything... It's already too much.'
The dice of the gods couldn't be that unfair. Look at Lena Ainar. She can't do anything well except swordsmanship.
Leo chuckled to himself thinking about Lena Ainar's oddness, and his sister interrupted.
"What's so funny? Are you laughing at your sister's skills?"
Lena squinted her eyes and glared at him.
Oops. About to get scolded. Leo quickly waved his hands.
"No, no. I'm proud of you. You haven't been learning for long, but you're already this good. I should be on guard next time."
"Heh, you flatter me."
His sister plopped down beside him, exhausted.
Even though they were in the shade, it was a bit hot. Leo handed her some water and looked around. There were a few family members chatting in the distance, but fortunately, no one was near them.
He cautiously began to speak.
"Lena, I have something to tell you."
Lena drank the water eagerly and nodded with her pretty eyes, urging him to continue. Leo spoke quietly, afraid someone might overhear.
"Let's go to the Marquis' house where we went last time, as adopted children."
- Pffft!
Lena spat out the water she was drinking.
"Ugh! What are you doing? I'm all wet."
"Hey, hey, brother. What did you say? Adopted daughter?"
"Yeah. You'll go in as an adopted daughter, and I'll go in as an adopted son."
"Really? You're not joking?"
"Yeah. Really. Isn't it great?"
"......"
Lena's face darkened.
"Why? Don't you like it?"
"...No. I don't."
"Why? You saw that grand mansion last time. They're nobles. We could become nobles."
Lena recalled the mansion and the Marquis she saw last time while watching her brother wave his arms. And the nervous look on her brother's face...
At that moment, Lena realized something and became even more gloomy. Her voice was devoid of energy when she replied.
"...So, that's why you took me there. To show me to that man."
"......"
Leo was so surprised he couldn't say anything, and Lena tightly shut her lips.
It had been almost a year since she came to this mansion. She had studied a lot while mingling with the servants.
The boys her age tried hard to impress her. The uncles especially adored her, creating a strange gap.
She received more kindness than other girls. The difference was so clear that she couldn't help but notice.
The ladies also adored her, but there was always a note of concern in their words. They emphasized that she should be careful and meet a good man, but never explained why she needed to be careful or what bad things might happen.
However, she inferred that because of her looks, men might act excessively towards her.
She finally understood a bit of her brother's past actions.
Leo always smeared dirt or grime on her face.
When begging in a small village, he hid her under the village fence and went in alone.
He desperately hid her face.
‘To protect me...’
When she realized this, Lena understood what a burden she had been to her brother.
It wasn't just following him around begging for food. He did more than that for her.
To avoid that 'bad thing.'
Lena looked up at her brother, who couldn't speak and was fumbling. Her heart felt like it was breaking.
‘I should have realized when he dressed me in those clothes and jewelry...’
At first, she was just happy the clothes were pretty and thought it made sense to wear such nice clothes when entering a grand mansion for lunch.
But her brother had a different reason for bringing those clothes.
He had dressed her up.
"...I'll go."
With a voice mixed with resentment and disappointment, Lena left her hesitant brother and returned to her room.
Although a cool breeze blew in through the wide-open window, it wasn't refreshing at all.
When she slammed the door shut, the wind stopped as well.
Laughter from the family drifted faintly through the open window. The sound of children her age playing happily was also heard.
No. She heard nothing at all.
Lena lay down on her bed. The pain she felt in a corner of her chest made her clutch her chest with both hands.
She was sad, but no tears came out.
After lying there for a while, she weakly thought of her brother.
'...I should listen to brother.'
The thing she was best at in the world was listening to her brother.
Following him around...
Eating what he gave her...
'...I should listen to brother.'
Everything her brother did was for her.
Becoming an adopted daughter of a noble family would be the same. Although it seemed like using my appearance, it was also for my sake.
‘...I should listen to brother.’
The faces of Tian and the family she had grown attached to came to mind.
Coincidentally, Tian’s voice was mixed with the sounds coming from outside.
If I become an adopted daughter in a noble house, I wouldn’t be able to come here, right? I wouldn't be able to come back ever again, right?
‘Still, I should listen to brother...’
Finishing her thoughts, Lena forced herself to get up. She felt sorry for leaving her brother alone.
When she went back to the yard, her brother was still there, holding his head in his hands as if he hadn’t moved at all.
Feeling pity for her smaller brother, Lena steeled herself and approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Brother.”
Leo turned around in surprise. Lena, in a choked voice, spoke to her fumbling brother.
“I’ll go. I’ll become the adopted daughter.”
Living with her brother for life was her dream. If she was going into the Marquis’ house together with her brother, then... that would be enough.
“But I have a condition.”
Seeing her brother brighten up considerably, she set her condition. For the first time in her life, she added a caveat to her brother’s words.
This much should be fine, she thought.
*
In front of the Marquis’ mansion, Leo extended his hand. Lena took it and jumped down from the tall carriage.
“Thank you.”
Though feeling gloomy, Lena forced a smile. Becoming the adopted daughter of the Marquis’ family had already been decided.
Thinking that showing continued gloom over a decided matter would only make things harder for her brother, Lena brought up a pleasant topic.
“This dress is pretty too.”
“Yeah. Really pretty. But isn’t it a bit chilly?”
“Not at all. If you wear it like this, it’s fine.”
Lena demonstrated how to drape the shawl over her shoulders, alleviating her brother’s concern.
The Marquis sent new clothes almost daily. Because of this, Lena's room was bursting at the seams with the clothes he sent, yet there wasn’t a single thing she could throw away.
Each outfit was made solely for Lena. Thanks to this, she wore a different dress each time she visited the Marquis’ house, though there were still many she hadn’t had the chance to wear.
Today’s dress was a blue silk one. At a glance, it seemed simple, but upon closer inspection, one would quickly change their mind.
The silk itself was a precious fabric, but the densely embroidered silver thread made it exceptionally elegant.
From a distance, it enhanced Lena’s appearance, and up close, it made her look like a fairy descended from the heavens.
The blue jewels around her neck and arms were accessories that came with this dress.
The delicate necklace and bracelet barely visible, adorned her fair neck and wrists carefully. The jewels seemed small and modest compared to their wearer.
Lena slightly adjusted the dress that exposed her shoulders.
Having never worn such a style before, she had been at a loss on how to wear it properly.
She worried her exposed shoulders might feel cold as autumn approached, but the dress came with a matching shawl, which she thought was an unnecessary gesture, and turned to look at her brother.
Leo was also dressed in clothes gifted by the Marquis.
His uniform, faintly tinged with red, had a bright red silk lining and fit his body perfectly, as if it couldn’t tolerate even a single inch of deviation.
‘He looks handsome.’
But Lena felt no joy.
These things are just...
Leo led Lena.
When the siblings, dressed splendidly, stood in front of the mansion, the butler came out and bowed politely.
“Welcome.”
The butler still wore a perplexed expression despite seeing them several times. With great difficulty, he tore his eyes away from Lena and led the siblings inside.
Leo followed, accustomed to the route. He had been coming to the Marquis’ mansion daily for several months now.
As the unofficial adopted son of the Marquis, he learned the ways of the household. Three butlers took turns teaching him the mansion’s affairs.
First, he met the mansion’s staff. Hundreds of servants bowed deeply to Leo.
The sheer number surprised him, but it was nothing compared to the mansion’s ledger detailing its various affairs. As expected of the Marquis’ house. The Tatian family spent astronomical amounts just to maintain the mansion.
The servants' wages were a minor part. The regular banquets consumed vast sums of money each time, and the gifts exchanged between the Marquis and other nobles were on a different level.
Yet, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Leo had only seen the mansion in the capital so far.
The Marquis held two estates. One belonged to the Tatian family, and the other was a borderland near the western frontier, which he governed as a margrave. The Marquis collected taxes from four cities.
Dozens of large and small villages were not even counted in the ledger, managed by overseers dispatched to each city.
Additionally, the Marquis retained thirty knights.
It was rare for a single family to have so many knights, and considering the Tatian family was not a knightly family, it was even more surprising.
The kingdom of Bellita had a regiment of 150 knights in each of its three knightly orders, totaling 450 knights under the royal command.
Comparing thirty to 450 might make the Marquis’ strength seem paltry, but that was a misunderstanding.
While it was true that the Tatian family officially commanded 450 knights, these orders were maintained in the name of the kingdom and funded by the royal budget, so it wasn't accurate to consider them solely as the Tatian family’s force.
Velita was a coalition of many families centered around the Tatian family.
Moreover, the knightly orders aimed to maintain political neutrality, with separate commanders for military orders.
Currently, Count Herman Forte, a Sword Master and the commander of the first knightly order, exerted significant influence over all three orders.
Recently, he had taken the first and second orders to the battlefield.
Therefore, to calculate the Tatian family’s exclusive force, one must count the ‘Royal Guard’ knights. The Royal Guard, who protected the palace, obeyed only the king's commands. While the exact number was never disclosed, it was generally believed to be around sixty to seventy.
Thus, the Tatian family had almost half the royal family’s force, making the Marquis the undisputed ruler of the west.
Walking down the wide and luxurious corridors, Leo thought about the Marquis’ formidable power and smiled, imagining a rosy future.
He believed it was only a matter of time before his sister became a princess. The Marquis would introduce her to the prince, and Lena would marry him.
Leo had no doubt the prince would fall for Lena. The first thing Leo had investigated as the Marquis’ unofficial son was the prince’s character, and he found him to be an excellent person.
The prince of Bellita, Cleon de Tatian, was known to be gentle and handsome. Just like Princess Chloe de Tatian.
Thinking of the troublesome princess made him slightly uneasy, but he dismissed it as mere political maneuvering and set aside his concerns.
Before they knew it, the siblings stood before the reception room.
Today, they were not visiting the Marquis’ study. Today was a special appointment.
Recently, the Marquis had begun introducing Lena and Leo to the nobles he was close to.
This was the groundwork to officially acknowledge them as his adopted children.
Thus, once a week, Leo brought his sister to meet the nobles.
“Welcome.”
The Marquis stood up with a bright smile.
Two nobles were seated beside him—one dressed almost comically lavishly, and the other without any adornments.
The Marquis introduced Lena and Leo to the nobles as they sat down.
He first introduced the flamboyantly dressed noble.
“This is Viscount Brian Sauer.”
“Hello, I’m Leo.”
“Hello, I’m Lena.”
The Viscount, an unusually wrinkled man, smiled with all his wrinkles and rolled his gray eyes towards Lena.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Brian Sauer. When the Marquis said he would introduce his son and daughter today, I never imagined they would be so splendid.”
He made an exaggerated gesture, following the latest etiquette trend in Bellita.
Leo responded with the straightforward etiquette of the Arcaea Empire, and Lena bowed her head.
“And this is Count Gustav Peter. I mentioned him once before, the one who broke the dish. He is my dear friend.”
The siblings greeted the Count as well. Count Peter, with a restrained manner, returned their greetings while maintaining an indifferent expression.
After the introductions, the Marquis stood behind the seated siblings and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
“These are the children who will become my son and daughter. Please look upon them kindly. Shall we have some tea? I have procured a rare tea.”
The Marquis glanced sideways at Lena and instructed a servant to bring the tea.
The meeting was like any other day.
Over simple refreshments and fragrant tea, they chatted. Lena remained quietly in her seat, while Leo tried to leave a good impression on the nobles.
At one point, there was a conversation about the border region, which seemed to be a slip of the tongue by Viscount Sauer, quickly glossed over by a glance from Marquis Benar Tatian.
At that time, Leo knew nothing about Viscount Sauer.
Later, when he learned that the Viscount owned all the brothels in Orville, Leo turned red with displeasure, but it was too late by then.
Moreover, Viscount Sauer was the half-brother of Bretin Sauer, the manager of the brothel Lena had visited in the previous scenario. Fortunately, Leo never learned that fact.
Had he known, it wouldn't

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Chapter 46: Beggar Sibling– Adopted Brother and Sister