“Oh? I don’t think there’s any place in the castle that the Four Marquises can’t go to.”


  Mark took his hand off the knob and shrugged, but Mark continued to hound him, “That’s only if they’re the heirs. Or those who have inherited the eye colours of their House.”


  “Chrish.”


  So that’s why you came when Chris wasn’t here?

  “Oh, Luke’s treasured kid is so smart.”


  Mark tried to stroke my head, and I tried to avoid his hand, but couldn’t.

  “Hans. It’s fine. Nico is a direct descendant of the royal family and Lei has inherited her violet eyes.”


  “But, they’re too young. And, this is the role of their parents. That’s why they don’t bring their children with them when they’re this young.”


  “You’re annoying, Hans.” Mark ignored Hans’s words.

  “People have ideas about how it should be. But, it’s not prohibited. I’m the sensei today. I will teach them what I want to teach them.

  “But……”


  “Hansh.” That was me.

  “Hansh we can’th go over thhere?”


  “Lei-sama. Well, it’s not dangerous. But it’s still too early for you to go there.”


  “Then ith’sh fine.”


  I looked at Nico, and he nodded. Nico was calm.

  “Dear me, I’m going to open the door.”


  I peeked behind the door in excitement, but it was another corridor. I was disappointed.

  However, Mark continued forward and opened another door. It’s really like a maze. Yes, it’s like a maze to make sure people can’t go to the centre of the castle.

  “Now, today I want to take you between the barrier.”


  “Bethween thhe barrier.”


  “I wonder how much you know, Lei.”


  Mark looked amused.

  “It’s a place that you probably won’t enter ever in your life, Lei. It’s the place that ties the royal family and the Four Marquises to Kingdom, the place where we maintain the barrier.”


  I don’t think we should go to such an important place. I looked at Hans. He may be worried, but he seemed annoyed.

  The problem isn’t whether to enter the space between the barrier or not.

  “Otou-syama feewsh down.”


  “Leila-sama……”


  “Otou-syama wanthsh tho shhow Lei.”


  I’m sure Otou-sama would grieve since he wanted to be the first person to show me it.

  “Well, I’m sure he does,” Mark said smoothly. He ignored what I had said and opened the door with guards in front of it.

  “Milord. You can enter Milord, but it’s prohibited for others to enter.”


  However, he was stopped.

  “This girl has inherited the eyes of the Four Marquises, and this boy is a direct descent of the royal family. The guards will stay outside.”


  “But……”


  “I have permission from His Highness Lambert.”


  The guards backed down because they had no choice.

  “Leila-sama, we can’t follow you in.”


  “Ai. It’sh oway.”


  Mark is young, but he seems calm and won’t do anything rash; and he’s the sensei today, so I have no choice but to trust and follow him. Isn’t it exciting to go between the barrier?

  When Mark opened the door, he signalled for us to go in, so we went in while he was holding the door open.

  “Wow.”


  Unlike what I had expected, the room was big. There was a table in the centre of the room, and the room was lit brightly.

  And, that was all.

  There were no windows. There were two doors besides the entrance, but there was nothing else in the room. It was quiet.

  “Come on, let’s go over there.” Mark took us to the table in the middle. Nico held his hand out to me. I held his hand lightly, and we headed to the centre.

  “I think I should hold Lei. See, it turns into this.”


  The round table-like thing in the middle wasn’t a table, but a pedestal that had been embedded in the floor.

  Mark picked me up, then put five big magic stones into the square frame on the pedestal; one in the middle and one in each of the four corners.

  “The middle represents the royal family. The one facing the door symbolises the Remingtons. From there clockwise: the Albans, Lisburns and Molesey Houses.”


  “Big……” I couldn’t help but say since it was that big. However, it wasn’t as big as I thought. I instinctively looked for my Rug Dragon plushie to my right. Wait, it’s next to my pillow.

  The magic stones were about the same size as the Hollows that rarely appear in the prairie. It was too big to fit in my hand, but it fits nicely into the hand of an adult.

  “The magic stones are about the same size because of the person in charge. There are few magic stones like this, so the castle buys them up when they appear in the market. Therefore, there are a few spares.”


  I was held up, and Nico climbed up the chair himself so that we could see on top of the table. The colours of the magic stones varied from light pink to dark purple.

  How much will my magic fill? I remembered that Alistair had fainted when I had first seen him fill the magic stone for the barrier box. After that, I accompanied them to train our magic; then I began training on my own, so I think my magic reserves have grown much bigger, and my control has gotten better too.

  I can refill the slightly faded magic stone. However, I don’t think I can fill the pink magic stones until they’re dark purple.

  This is the power of the Four Marquises. This is the duty that Otou-sama is buried with, and Onii-sama will be burdened with it later.

  I suddenly noticed that Nico was reaching out to the magic stones.

  “Nico.”


  His hand stopped.

  “Oh, you can’t do that, Your Highness. You don’t know how to do it, and if your magic happens to be sucked up, then it’ll dry out,” Mark said as if he was surprised. He put me down, then carried Nico off the chair.

  Nico and I looked at each other.

  We know how to channel magic, and although I can’t fill the barrier magic stone until it’s full, Nico can probably fill a magic stone until it’s full since he has more magic than me.

  If I can do it, then I want to try. Nico’s eyes said.

  “No.”


  “I want to.”


  “No.”


  “Well, if you say so, Lei.”


  It’s not my problem. Nico’s Otou-sama will probably get angry. I decided to distract Nico.

  “Marw, where do thhoshe doorsh go?”


  “Oh, the resting place.”


  “I want to see!”


  When I pulled his hand, he chuckled and walked towards the door.

  “Nico!” I also called out to Nico, who was staring at the magic stone table.

  “Alright.”


  “I’m going to open the door.”


  The other side of the door that Mark showed us was like a small hotel.

  There were two big beds, a small table and chair, and a tea set.

  “The door over there leads to a small bathroom and shower.”


  It really is like a hotel.

  “But, I don’t think anyone uses it. Everyone leaves once they finish their work.”


  “Whath abouth thhe othher door?”


  “It leads to another place, but that’s still a secret.”


  Then, it got noisy beyond the door where the guards were stationed. What the heck is going on?