“What? It’s much smaller than the one I saw before. You mean something this small kept wandering in front of me?”
At the sharp question, Latil shrank her shoulders. Although she hadn’t done anything wrong, her heart pounded for no reason. Naturally timid, Latil was frightened and asked in a creeping voice.
“Are you talking to me?”
“Then, is there anyone else here besides you?”
Latil reflexively looked around. Indeed, there was no one around. She had asked the spirit of the earth to move without being seen by others.
The place where Latil, with the help of the spirit, had set foot was near a cemetery. One might think the area around the cemetery would be eerie, but it wasn’t.
It was a place where priests who had dedicated their entire lives to the goddess were buried, so well-maintained green grass covered the ground, and shiny gray tombstones were neatly lined up in a row. Bouquets of flowers left by visitors in various places even gave it a colorful feel.
Of course, despite that, the word cemetery tends to evoke fear in children.
But not for Latil.
Perhaps it was because she was a princess of the Holy Empire. She thought the priests who had devoted their lives to the goddess were remarkable. That’s why Latil liked this place quite a bit. When she stared blankly at the sky here, it felt as if the ancient priests were comforting her.
Additionally, the place was rarely visited except on memorial days. It was natural for the timid Latil to choose this spot.
‘But why is this kid here? How did they get here?’
Latil blinked in confusion. Just in case, she looked around again. It was still a wide, open plain. There were no adults anywhere.
‘Did they come here alone? A child, all by themselves?’
Latil herself was also a child, but her circumstances were different. Wasn’t the spirit of the earth helping her?
‘Moreover…’
Latil’s large eyes wavered in even greater confusion as she looked at the figure arrogantly staring down at her with their hands on their hips.
Thanks to living her entire life as a princess, Latil had never received such a look from anyone.
‘Who could they possibly be?’
If they were royalty from another country, there would be an uproar. They might have punished her for not recognizing royalty.
But Latil was no ordinary royal. Wasn’t she the rabbit born among beasts? Maybe that was why, without realizing it, she began to adapt to the situation.
‘They seem to know me. But why are they so mad at me? Did I do something wrong?’
It was definitely a child she had never seen before, but one could never be sure. Maybe she had really forgotten someone very important. Otherwise, how could that child be so confident?
There was another reason why Latil thought that way. Although she was very timid, she had a keen eye. The clothes and accessories the other child was wearing were obviously very luxurious.
The child with black hair, which curled slightly at the ends, and jet-black eyes was wearing an ivory spring coat.
Fur decorations lined the edges of the coat’s sleeves and collar, and at the very least, they appeared to be made of top-quality sable fur.
Not only that, but the red jewel pin decorating the child’s black hair also looked like no ordinary item, if Latil’s eyes were correct.
The child’s demeanor matched their fine clothes and hairpin. They seemed to have a natural air of confidence, as if they had never bowed their head in their entire life. Latil easily realized that this child’s arrogance resembled that of her mother, Dana.
Could they be a child who knew her mother well? Latil cautiously opened her mouth.
“Hey, um—”
“Riri!”
Latil flinched in surprise and shrank her shoulders.
“Huh, wh-what?”
“Call me Riri. ‘Hey’? Do I look like some thing wandering around?”
“Oh, sorry.”
Latil quickly apologized and watched Riri’s expression. But for some reason, the more she apologized, the more displeased Riri seemed to become. It was as if she didn’t like seeing Latil shrink back. Riri even let out deep sighs.
“Riri, um. Have we met before? I’m really sorry, but I don’t remember. Did we make plans to meet here? Is that why you’re mad?”
“…Hah.”
Riri clicked her tongue, looking at Latil in disbelief. Then, she puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
“Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin fixing this.”
“Oh, I’m really sorry. I’ve been so absorbed in my divine studies lately… If you could remind me when we met…”
“We met for the first time today.”
“…Huh?”
“You and I. We’re meeting for the first time today, right here. So why are you apologizing to me?”
“…?”
“You don’t recognize me? Of course you don’t. I only just arrived in the empire today. How could you possibly know me?”
Latil blinked in confusion, her face showing nothing but bewilderment.
“When a kid like me suddenly gets angry with you, shouldn’t you ask why? Instead, you just say sorry right off the bat? Why are you so timid?”
“…”
“Honestly, how am I supposed to trust you with Abel…? Not that he could be left in anyone’s care anyway. Hey, Latil, pull yourself together! Stop staring blankly, we have a ton of stuff to do today!”
The nonstop barrage of words brought Latil back to her senses, albeit barely. Her mind was still a jumble of confusion.
Alright, let’s try to sort this out. Riri said she met me for the first time today. She got angry right away, and now she’s complaining about why I’m not angry back.
But didn’t she say she was waiting for me? How did she know I’d come here? And, Latil? How does she know my name? I never told her.
“Ugh, just look at you. If you sit like that, grass stains will get all over your skirt. And dirt on your hands! Really, is this how a princess behaves? A red-haired daughter acting this helpless—does that even make sense? First of all, sit here. Wait! You need to spread a handkerchief before sitting!”
Riri was a whirlwind of a child. She scolded Latil endlessly while lifting her up, then suddenly walked over to a nearby rock.
Before Latil could even ask anything, Riri pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket. The way she pressed the folded handkerchief flat onto the rock with deliberate care was surprisingly skillful. After seating Latil, she began dusting the dirt off her hands.
During all this, Latil couldn’t utter a single word. It wasn’t just because, as Riri said, she was utterly helpless. It was also because the contrast between Riri’s actions and her words was shockingly wide.
While Riri scolded her with her mouth, her hands were meticulously and gently dusting off the dirt on Latil’s hands and removing leaves from her skirt.
Though she worried about grass stains on Latil’s dress, she herself squatted on the dirt ground without a care. All just to straighten out Latil’s wrinkled skirt.
“There, now you’re presentable.”
Riri stood up after completely bewildering Latil.
Latil finally snapped back to reality and hastily began rummaging through one side of her hood.
“Riri, there’s dirt on your hands too…”
“Call me big sister Riri.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m a whole year older than you. Call me big sister.”
“Oh.”
“And don’t worry about me. I’m good at taking care of myself. I’m good at everything.”
Good at everything, huh. That was a phrase Latil had never once uttered in her life.
She believed that someone as incompetent as herself wasn’t allowed to say something like that.
No, even if there were things she did well, she’d feel too embarrassed to admit it. She thought it would sound like boasting.
But why was it different with Riri? For some reason, the way Riri said it didn’t seem arrogant or annoying. In fact, her confidence looked impressive. She shone, bright and bold.
Moreover…
“…big sister?”
“Yeah, big sister. You should call me big sister. Or were you planning to just keep calling me by name?”
Riri glared at her. Latil’s heart pounded in her chest.
Big sister, big sister… She had a big sister now!
* * *
Down at the entrance of the cemetery, Julios, who had been anxiously watching the gate, finally began to walk forward.
He saw two little girls with short legs coming down the steps.
The tension that had been gripping Julios finally eased as he let out a small, relieved smile.
He had reluctantly allowed his niece to go off on her own after she insisted she’d hide for sure if anyone followed her.
But even knowing that there were many spirits nearby, he couldn’t help but feel on edge the entire time.
[Wing of prophecy, I want to greet Princess Lehira!]
[Just once. Can’t we at least acknowledge her once?]
[We’ve been waiting for so long! We’ve waited for years!]
[Do you know how jealous we’ve been of Behemoth’s bragging all this time?]
[You wings are always by the saintess’s side, so why can’t we be? When you go back to Genos, take us with you! Take us!]
The excited spirits had been pestering Julios constantly. As Lehira drew nearer, they only became more riled up. Julios quickly raised his hand to silence them.
“Please be quiet. Latil will notice. Shh.”
Instantly, the atmosphere became silent. It was hard to believe that these spirits had been pestering him just moments ago.
Julios chuckled softly and shook his head at the spirits’ intense affection for Lehira.
Then, with long strides, he approached the two girls.
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