I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me. - Chapter 1
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- I'm a court magician. Recently, I’ve been worrying about the princess staring at me.
- Chapter 1 - The princess runs away from me.
It was getting dark when the moon appeared beyond the horizon.
“Raize, are you done with the documents for the evening conference?”
While I was sitting in my office, staring at a huge pile of papers, someone opened the door unexpectedly.
Standing there was a woman with a petite face and long red hair that faded into orange as it approached the ends. Her eyes were crimson, and she looked both elegant and intelligent. I wasn’t sure how her eyesight was, but she wore black-rimmed glasses.
Although I was staring at her, I managed to reply.
“Milena-san… Could you please knock the door properly?”
“Oh, I didn’t? My bad. I’ll be careful next time.”
Her tone was indifferent, as if she didn’t even think about it. It probably wasn’t even on purpose, but I didn’t know how many times I’d heard those words already. No matter how many times I mentioned it, she never tried to fix it. Well, I’m already used to it.
“So, the documents?”
“I’m done. Oh, it seemed tedious to read as text-only, so I added a graph.”
“Thank you. I like boys that work hard.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I handed over the documents and gently stretched, staring out the window that was opened for ventilation.
A little white bird flew down and perched on the windowsill.
When I beckoned to it, the bird hopped towards my hand, chirping. Cute.
While I was petting the bird with my fingers, Milena-san rolled up the papers and tapped my head.
“Perfect as usual. Good job.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you gotten used to your work? Even though it’s technically not your main job, you end up having to do a lot of random tasks, like preparing materials for meetings.”
“The work environment is good, and the work itself is pretty simple. Everyone has been nice to me so far.”
“That’s how it is. As expected from the genius youngest court magician in history.”
“Please stop saying that. Who even came up with that in the first place? They shouldn’t spread rumors.”
“Okay, okay. It’s not exactly a bad thing, so don’t get angry.”
“Stop treating me like a child.”
“Mhmm, sure.”
I turned sixteen this year, so technically I still wasn’t an adult. In this country, eighteen was the age of adulthood, so it was inevitable that others would see me as a child. But I always wished they would stop.
I may be a minor, but I’m also a court magician in the royal palace. Can’t you treat me as if I was a little bit more mature?
Everyone else in the department was of age, so I stuck out.
While I was sulking, Milena-san chuckled.
“Don’t look so dissatisfied. Do you know where Elt is?”
“Oh, is he not in his office?”
“Yes, I have a feeling he’s skipping work again.”
My senior Elt-san, with whom I often ate lunch, had an annoying habit of shirking his work.
It was troublesome for our department. He was reliable in an emergency, but I wanted him to work seriously and regularly.
“While we’re hard at work, he’s already…”
“You could learn from him, Raize. You’re working a little too hard, aren’t you? Have you taken a break besides lunch?”
She had an amazed tone.
As a newcomer, I don’t think I should be taking breaks. Rather, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for taking a break while everyone else was working… or something.
It was true that I was working when I wasn’t having lunch. But it didn’t feel like a nuisance at all. Rather, it made me feel satisfied.
Even if I tried to explain, she would probably ignore me.
“Anyways, I’ll give you a break, so take one. Oh, but that doesn’t mean you can smoke, okay? You’re still a minor, and I hate smoking. “
“I hate smoking too, so don’t worry. And I don’t want to take a break.”
“It’s an order from your chief. Take a break.”
“…I see.”
Milena-san was my direct superior. I couldn’t argue… better not push it.
I placed the little bird on the top of my head, picked up my flask, and left the office.
Likely because my department was small, every person had their own office. For that reason, I was mostly alone at work… although my seniors did visit my office relatively often to check on the newcomer. They were all nice people for the most part. Well, it would be nice if they stopped taking snacks from my office and using up my tea leaves.
I sat down at the edge of the fountain in the center of the royal garden and put my flask to my mouth. The ice inside made a gentle clinking sound. The tea was refreshing. Adding the ice was worth it.
The bird perching on my head whistled, but I couldn’t give it any tea. Could birds even drink it in the first place?
Suddenly, in the hallway of the royal palace—if you stared at the pillars you would see it almost every day, but you would never be able to speak a word about it—the beautiful princess appeared.
Her beautiful hair, like silver thread, swayed behind her, and her similarly silver eyes were wandering gloomily.
I wondered if she was feeling troubled about something.
“…Should I ask her?”
Talking to her wasn’t that big of a risk, but I was nervous. If my attitude were perceived as disrespectful, I could leave this world forever.
However, the princess looked worried… Leaving her alone just felt wrong.
I stood up from the edge of the fountain and approached the Princess quietly. She didn’t seem to notice.
When I was near enough to speak to her, I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
“Is something the matter?
“What?”
Her Highness blinked rapidly. Her surprised expression was amazingly cute. Well, I’ll keep that thought to myself.
Her body stiffened and her face, mouth agape, turned red. I was about to call her again when her hands began moving frantically.
“Oh—that’s—what is it!?”
“Pardon me. You’re wearing quite a troubled expression… and your face is unnaturally red. Are you feeling unwell?”
“—!”
When I brought my face closer out of worry, Her Highness turned her back to me and held her cheeks in her hands.
Wait, did I do something rude? My future may be in jeopardy already!
I kneeled on the spot and gave a heartfelt apology. I’ll have to throw away my pride right now.
“I’m very sorry! I have shown you terrible disrespect, even though this is our first time meeting!”
“Oh, eh?”
“I will leave at once. Please forgive me.”
At this stage, I could only do my best to apologize.
I didn’t know if it was enough, but it was definitely better than doing nothing. While waiting for her words with my head down, I heard a panicked voice.
“Wait, what, why are you apologizing?! I’m…rude. You don’t have to apologize! Rather, that….”
“Eh?”
I couldn’t quite hear that last part. When I asked her to repeat herself, Her Highness snapped her mouth shut and, though I wouldn’t have thought it possible, her face glowed an even brighter red than before.
“I’m sorry!”
She ran away from me with the speed of a hare. Despite wearing a long skirt that seemed like it would hinder movement, she was surprisingly fast.
Does she run regularly or something?