My sister kept crying for several hours. From time to time, she tried to say, "I thought you'd never wake up—I missed you so much," but it was almost impossible to understand her through all the tears and snot. Even so, I tried to calm her down. —I'm the one who's four years old here, aren't I?
"Calm down, sis. I'm awake now. Is there any reason to cry?"
"I thought you'd never wake up!" she shouted and continued sobbing.
I turned to my brother calmly.
"So, what happens now, brother?"
"Some people from the Ulsar family will come to meet us. Be respectful when you see them. This isn't a political meeting—just a welcome and a get-well visit—but if you act carelessly, things could go badly. If you make a bad impression in front of the Ulsars, you might attract their personal hatred."
"So if I speak politely, I can leave a good impression—and maybe find allies."
"Not only that, but you'll be welcomed wherever you go. Most countries will let you enter their lands. The opinion of the Ulsar Empire matters to all the other empires."
"If the Ulsar Empire was so important, why didn't they become the absolute rulers?"
"They don't have the strength. The Verblade family's techniques are the only thing that works against their holy warrior, Kuon Van Ulsar. He's a monster. If I weren't a Verblade, even I couldn't defeat him. But Ulsar only has Kuon and a few other elite fighters. The rest of their soldiers are normal. Meanwhile, the Verblade troops—and our enemies, the Ster Estrella soldiers—are all considered high-level combatants. Unfortunately, none of our soldiers are pure Verblade. So unless I personally step onto the battlefield, it's impossible to beat Kuon."
"Unless you step in? Don't talk about yourself like you're some kind of god!" I said, smiling.
"So…when will they get here?"
"They should be on their way. Probably within fifteen minutes. The Ulsar territories aren't as big as Verblade's."
While we waited, I looked around the room without getting out of bed.
The door was on the left side of the wall across from my bed. There was a window on the right wall. The room wasn't very big—there was just a chair beside my bed, and nothing else. That was when I noticed the steward wasn't with us.
"Where's the steward? He came here with us too."
"The steward returned to the Verblade estate. He had to report to our father. I only told him to say that Elro was a traitor, that you fought him one-on-one at night and killed him, then collapsed afterwards."
"He doesn't know about the two weeks."
"Two weeks!? I've been asleep for two weeks!?"
"You didn't know?"
"Of course not! My sword spirit did say there would be a backlash, but I didn't expect this long!"
I was shocked and worried. If I woke up two weeks late and my father still hadn't come, that meant he didn't care about me.
"Wait a second… You spoke with your sword spirit? In the middle of the fight? Why did you do that!? What if you'd frozen and died right away!?"
"I surrendered my spirit to the sword spirit. It was like watching myself through my own eyes. But the sword spirit couldn't do anything. So I took back control and adapted the 'Flame Sphere' technique you taught me to my sword. Then, using all the mana the blade could carry, I performed the 'Flame Slash—'"
"Stop. Save this story for when the Ulsar delegation arrives. I want them to see your potential, so they'll be willing to protect you from our father."
"Maybe you should ask for my opinion too? I'll only talk depending on who the Ulsars send."
At that moment, the door opened. Two tall, muscular men—about 1.90 meters each—walked in. My brother immediately bowed.
"I wasn't expecting Emperor Kalva Van Ulsar himself to come. And the one beside you must be Kuon Van Ulsar, the legendary martial artist."
Then, behind them, a thin boy about my age stepped inside. He had blue hair and short stature, with black eyes. He was dressed like a typical noble.
"Ah, you must be the youngest son of the Ulsar family. Lying here is my brother, Andreas Van Verblade—he's the same age as you," my brother said, smiling slyly.
I could tell he was trying to draw their attention to me. Kuon looked only a few years older than my brother, and he kept glancing at my sister, who also kept looking at him. I felt like I finally understood their relationship—they loved each other but couldn't be together because of family ties. If they ever got the chance, they would marry right away.
Lord Kalva suddenly looked at me.
"So you're the youngest son of that monster, Lord Cauron? You really don't look like him. But you seem very brave. At your age, you killed both a Blood Lion and one of the Cobre family's high-level assassins. Even for a Verblade, that's nearly impossible. You must have a blessed talent."
My brother quickly interrupted.
"His mana and magic are fused with his spirit. Also, he started walking at six months old and could speak like an adult by the time he was fourteen months."
"Your brother seems quite invested in you. Honestly, I don't even know when Kuon or my youngest son Aldev started walking or talking," Kalva said.
My face turned a little red. I was embarrassed, and he was right—my brother was overprotective.
"He just cares about me too much," I said, smiling softly.
"Andreas, you know how important you are to the family. Isn't it normal for me to care?"
Lord Kalva looked surprised.
"Important to the family? How important can such a young child be?"
"He's not an ordinary child. He's the child from the prophecy."
The moment my brother said that, Kalva and Kuon both dropped into battle stances.
"You brought the prophesied child here!? Do you realize what this means!? Are you trying to turn Cauron and me into enemies!? Leave Verblade territory at once—otherwise—"
My brother calmly released his aura.
"Otherwise, what? Here stand the Verblade Empire's Sword Princess and the army commander. You know Ulsar techniques and strength don't work against Verblade techniques, Kalva. I could kill you both before you could react."
"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! Surround them!" Kalva shouted, and ten soldiers appeared around my brother.
Without even touching his sword, my brother whispered:
"Verblade Aura Technique No. 2: Peripheral Slash."
His aura turned into the shape of a sword and cut down every soldier before they could even move.
"That was only No. 2, Kalva. To defeat me, you'd need to rally your entire army."
Then he withdrew his aura and handed over a scroll.
"We came here to train Andre. Here—Lord Cauron's written permission and seal."
Kalva unrolled the parchment and read it.
"This really is Lord Cauron's… But how? That man has never allowed his children to leave at this age."
"I told you, Andre has a fused spirit—mana and magic combined in a way only seen a few times in history."
"I see… But if he doesn't care for martial arts, why didn't you take him to the Ster Estrella Empire instead? I'm sure they would support you fully."
"You're right. But we're at war with Ster Estrella. I can't risk taking Andre there, and my father would never allow it."
"True…"
At that moment, I knew I had to stand up. If I didn't share my own thoughts, this conversation wasn't going to end well.
When I tried to move my legs, I realized something…