6 years old 8 Part 1. The black lion prince has an older brother.

Translator: Michiko

Editor: Lastinline

There was a bowl of steaming hot, freshly cooked rice in front of me. 

I glared at it with enthusiasm. 

It looked hot. 

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Naturally, it was because it was freshly cooked.

I managed to tear off Faus, who was clinging to me, saying, “Let’s play, let’s play”, as I was busy preparing for the luncheon. 

Why would you interfere when I was doing it for you in the first place? 

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Wywp, obs oyp lytla vs kdvlaawrv xl obkzl R oyp pvydekdt kd qasdv sq vbl jkvnbld nswdvla okvb y plakswp zssj sd xu qynl, oyp rllrkdt yv xl qasx ynaspp vbl vyczl.

Tl rascyczu vbswtbv bl oyp olzz-bkeeld, cwv bkp rlaju czynj lyap olal hkpkczl.

“Wywp-pyxy. Rq usw’al csale, rzlypl ts shla vblal. Mbl nswav zyeklp okzz rzyu okvb usw.”

“R oydv Mbls. R’x oykvkdt qsa Mbls vs qkdkpb.”

“Rv’p ekpvaynvkdt obld usw’al dlya xl.”

“Mbls, osd’v usw tlv zsdlzu lhld kq R’x qya yoyu?”

“Zlp. Lsv ryavknwzyazu.”

“Mbls, usw nawlz xyd.”

I was preoccupied with the freshly cooked rice in front of me, so I didn’t have the time to pay attention to him. 

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Faus grumbled out a criticism, perhaps dissatisfied with my answer, and quietly came up behind me. He pressed his back against my legs where I was standing and was appealing his sorrows ostentatiously. 

It was a bit of a nuisance. 

Moreover, he was starting to get closer than before. I wished he would go away. 

His swaying tail tickled me when it touched my leg.

“Hehe. Faus-sama, your tail, tail! It tickles!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Theo.”

He said such things out loud, but he still tickled me. 

God, stop already. 

Typically, the length of a child’s clothing was short, so the soft tuft kept hitting my bare thighs and the backs of my knees. It was so ticklish that it was unbearable. 

I stepped back and forth with a giggle, and Faus, who was getting carried away, sneaked up on me with his tail.

“You can’t, hahaha, no. It’s ticklish. Faus-sama, if you disturb me, I won’t be able to make delicious food!” 

“Delicious food!”

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Faus’ tail suddenly stopped. 

The black lion, with his back resting against my leg, suddenly turned his golden eyes toward me. I was momentarily captivated by his beautiful eyes. 

Faus sniffed and eventually hugged his knees in disappointment.

“There is only rice.” 

“That’s why I have to be creative with the rice. Didn’t His Holiness say that it would be okay as long as the color remained white?” 

“Did he?”

Well then, Faus. You didn’t listen to His Holiness’ speech at all. 

Sure, he was talking to me, but you were there with me!! 

You were completely indifferent to the things that didn’t interest you!

“Now I’m going to try to make a dish to serve at the luncheon. Faus-sama, it’s for you, so please don’t disturb me.” 

“For me! Theo is doing this for me!” 

“That’s right. Most of what I do is for Faus-sama.”

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Faus, who suddenly started smiling, finally moved away from my feet. 

Instead, he stood next to me and stared at my hands. 

It was distracting in its own way. 

When I looked at the court lady who was watching over my operation from nearby, she nodded at me with a kind smile.

“Your Highness, you really love Theodore-kun.” 

“Of course! Theo is smart and good at cooking!”

Faus snorted and puffed his chest out. 

No. That was not what I meant for you to do. 

I wanted you to take away Faus, court lady. I was about to handle piping hot rice, so what would you do if the prince got burned? 

My inner voice didn’t get through to her at all. 

Naturally even the capable court lady did not have the ability to hear my inner voice. 

I gave up and turned back to the ingredients prepared for me. 

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I had come up with the menu for the luncheon while I had been talking with His Holiness Simone. 

The white ‘rice’ was necessary for the Saint. 

If the Saint was a Japanese woman like I thought, there were not many dishes I could think of with my limited knowledge. 

It was not that difficult to make. 

It was just difficult to explain it in words. 

What I came up with were salted rice balls. 

I could put ingredients inside, but for the time being, I thought of testing to see if salted rice balls could even be made. 

Instead of just writing down the recipe and handing it off to the head chef as I usually did, I decided to try making it myself. 

The ingredients, which had been shared by the head chef after I had told him the circumstances, were arranged in front of me. 

Enough rice for two children.　 

Salt served on a small plate. Very close to white. Amazing, as expected from the rich Lavalla. Such a high-class item, with impurities removed to the maximum extent possible, appeared as a matter of course. 

And water in a bowl. 

Lastly, me. A child, with knowledge of Japan. 

After I had washed my hands thoroughly, I dipped my palms in the water and then sprinkled salt on them. 

I resolutely picked up the hot rice―.

“Hott!”

I couldn’t bear it and screamed. 

Five times hotter than I had expected! I thought my palm would get torn apart.

“Theo!”

Faus shouted and, since he was standing next to me, took the rice from my hand, placed it back into the bowl, then pushed my hands into the water. 

It was a clever action given the moment.

“Don’t do something so dangerous out of the blue!”

He licked my reddened palm.

“I am sorry.”

Obviously, this was my oversight. 

I tried to follow the recipe for onigiri exactly as in accordance with my past life’s knowledge. 

My hands were softer than what I knew from the knowledge of my past life. The freshly cooked rice was too hot for a child’s thin skin. 

It was a harmful side-effect of relying on my past life’s knowledge. 

Faus squinted his golden eyes as he licked my hands.

“It’s unusual for Theo to apologize to me.” 

“You’re right.”

Faus was the one who often angered me by playing pranks and slacking off on his studies.

“Still I have to make it.” 

“No.” 

“I’ll be more careful next time. This is the only white and flavorful rice dish I can think of.” 

“Hmm.” 

“It’ll be fine after it cools down a little while longer.”

It would be difficult to make the onigiri with cold, hard ‘rice’. When I eagerly pleaded, Faus seemed to waver as his tail swayed. 

Rice balls were not a difficult dish to make, but it was hard to explain. 

So, if I didn’t make it once and show it to them, both the court lady and the head chef wouldn’t be able to make it.

“Faus-sama, if you are worried, you can keep an eye on me. Please.”

As I pleaded with him, looking into his golden eyes, his bronze skin turned red. 

His golden eyes wandered restlessly, and a smile slowly spread across his small lips.

“Theo, you give me no choice! Just for a little while. I’ll keep a closer eye on you!” 

“Please do.”

I attempted to make the rice balls again. 

Grip the slightly cooled down rice and shape it. 

Squeeze it just enough so that it was not too stiff or loose. 

It was difficult to describe this amount of force using words. 

My hands were small, so I couldn’t make big rice balls. It would be bite-sized for an adult.

“Faus-sama, would you like some?” 

“Um!”

Faus opened his mouth without reservation, and once again put the entirety of my fingers in his mouth. 

His little tongue licked my fingers and it was unbearably ticklish. 

My back shivered and my cheeks turned a bit red.

“It’s delicious! Theo! It has a salty taste, like ochazuke.” 

“You’re right. I am glad.”

I felt relieved for a moment. 

If he thought the salted rice balls were delicious, the luncheon would be held without incident.

“Theo, feed me more!” 

“I got it. Please wait a bit.”

I made more rice balls to satisfy Faus, who opened his mouth like a hungry baby bird while I was washing my hands.

There was still some time before the luncheon. 

There was a reason why I had made the rice balls in such a hurry. 

Faus was fond of me, but whether he would put up with eating something he didn’t like just because I had made it was another matter. 

If he could put up with such a thing, he would be able to put up with a luncheon with the head of their religion, although it was just his uncle. 

Therefore, even if I knew that the taste would probably be to Faus’ liking, I couldn’t just go for it without a rehearsal. 

There was a possibility of a ridiculous situation in which, on the day of the luncheon, after serving the rice balls saying, “It’s a new dish!”, His Holiness would have endured and eaten it, but Faus would have run away. 

Therefore, I decided to adjust the taste in advance instead of poorly aiming for a surprise.

TN: The updates will be slower this year as I finally found what I wanna do in my life. I plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Japanese studies in Japan. I need a full scholarship or 100% tuition fee reduction so I need to fill up lots of requirements. And I finally got a job at a Japanese company in my country to fund my study abroad. They are gonna take most of my time.

To be honest, I am 24 this year and my parents want me to get a full-time job and settle down. But I decided to be an unfilial daughter this once. I started translating in 2021 and my Japanese was around N4 level at that time. This year, I am studying N1 and my translation skills improved. And now, I want to do a professional translation. I realized I enjoyed doing it in the past 2 years. But, I don’t have any skills or qualifications so I plan to get them. I am excited because I never had a goal in my life. I was never good at anything and I just go with the flow my entire life. Depending on when I finally get a scholarship or have enough money, I will be studying again at university in my mid or late twenties and start job hunting in my 30s. It sounds scary and full of uncertainties but I am gonna do it. If you are hesitant to start something, it is never too late to start. Just do what you can one step at a time. I am just starting now too. I wish all your wishes will realize.

Sorry for my long rambling. I just want to thank you all and tell my story. Thank you everyone for everything until now. Have a nice day.