Side Story 14

Arbiyone looked up at her mother from the bed, her expression pitiful.

“Mom, you won’t go anywhere, right?”

“Of course.”

Even with Nerys’s gentle answer, the child didn’t seem reassured. Arbiyone asked again and again.

“You really can’t go anywhere.”

“I know.”

“It’s dangerous if you go somewhere, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Yoni will protect you, Mom. You know that?”

“Yes, I know.”

That desperate need for reassurance made Nerys’s heart ache. When Arbiyone first clung to her, Nerys thought it was just leftover fear from a dream—that her daughter was asking to be protected. But after spending time with the child, she knew for certain.

It was the opposite.

What remained in Arbiyone wasn’t fear. It was the urge to protect her mother—a heart too pure and strong for such a young, small body to hold.

Who would have thought she’d feel such intense guilt now, toward the daughter who had been in her womb back then? Nerys sat by the head of the bed and kissed Arbiyone’s forehead.

“While Yoni naps, Mom won’t go anywhere. My love, my life… I’ll stay by your side until you’re better. Don’t worry.”

Nerys had been worried lately anyway. No matter how easygoing Arbiyone was, she couldn’t help but get hurt sharing her parents’ attention with her siblings. And Nerys couldn’t help but pay extra attention to Owen, who was different from others, and to Maeve.

Even if this emotional instability was basically a side effect of the past journey Arbiyone had taken, could she say Arbiyone’s usual, buried hurt played no part at all? Nerys couldn’t be sure. Either way, it was common for children with siblings to want to monopolize their parents’ attention.

It was unfair to the other two children, but Nerys wanted to use this chance to focus on Arbiyone for a few hours at least. Arbiyone was tough by nature, and since her siblings were born, she’d often been left to her own devices.

Arbiyone still looked unconvinced, but for now she seemed to accept her mother’s words. Slowly, she drifted off. Even then, she held her mother’s hand tightly and wouldn’t let go.

The sight of her daughter’s shallow breathing was unbearably endearing. With the hand Arbiyone wasn’t holding, Nerys gently patted her stomach.

The door opened quietly.

“Is Yoni asleep?”

Cledwyn asked, his face tired. He’d come after soothing the youngest, Maeve, in place of the mother held captive by the eldest daughter. Nerys chuckled softly.

“She just fell asleep.”

“You must be exhausted from carrying Yoni around all day. Go rest for a bit. I’ll stay by her side. Then if she wakes up briefly, she’ll still be fine, right?”

After spending so long with Arbiyone in the past memories, Cledwyn seemed a little wounded in his pride that Arbiyone was only looking for her mother, not him.

“I’m fine. You should rest. I wonder if the other kids are uncomfortable with us like this.”

“They seem to be playing fine on their own.”

Arbiyone let out a slightly loud breath.

The couple stiffened, then sighed in relief as their daughter quieted again behind them.

❖ ❖ ❖

Mom? Mom!

Fog filled everything. Arbiyone ran around, frantically searching for her mother. Mom had definitely been right here a moment ago, and Arbiyone had been holding her hand—where did she go?

Why did she keep wanting to see her mom and feel so anxious? Arbiyone didn’t know. She was seven, so she knew it might be embarrassing to cling to her mom like this in front of her siblings. But what did that matter? Protecting Mom came first.

If Mom wasn’t by her side, Arbiyone couldn’t protect her. Bad people might bother Mom, or Mom might get hurt, and Arbiyone needed to appear with a bang, scold them all, and hug Mom. Where did she have to go to find her?

Mom! Mom! Where are you?

In the fog, Arbiyone ran, calling out with all her strength. But no matter how many times she shouted, Dad didn’t appear—let alone Mom.

Tears welled in Arbiyone’s eyes.

Then a low, muttering voice came from inside the fog.

“Nuni.”

An unnecessarily mature tone with a lisp. It was Owen. Arbiyone whipped her head around.

“Weni? Is that you? Where are you?”

“Nuni. Here.”

The fog cleared in an instant, and turquoise seawater surrounded her. Above, golden sunlight filtered down in a net-like pattern. Below, corals in jewel-bright colors formed countless colonies.

Ah. This was a dream.

Arbiyone realized vaguely. Maybe because it was a dream, breathing underwater wasn’t hard. A school of small fish with silver scales passed by, and their laughter rang like bubbles.

Where Owen was became clear. He swam after the school, flailing with a child’s limbs. It was so cute it was funny.

“Haha!”

Arbiyone held her stomach and laughed. Owen swam back to her and said,

“Dis is Nuni droom. Place from Nuni book. (This is your dream, Nuni. It’s a place from the book you like.).”

“That’s right! I saw it in ‘The Voyage of Captain Red Hat’! How do you know what’s in my favorite book?”

“Yoo told.”

Arbiyone often chattered endlessly to her siblings about the parts she liked from the books she read. But Maeve was too much of a baby to tell whether she understood, and Owen never reacted, so Arbiyone thought he wasn’t listening.

“So you were listening the whole time.”

Happy, Arbiyone laughed again. As she realized this was a dream, the anxiety of being separated from her mother began to fade. In real life, Mom would still be by her side.

“Then is there a Pearl-Made Castle and a Mermaid King here, too? Shall we go together? Let’s catch and raise a Diamond Scale Fish!”

“Yes.”

“What’s this? You didn’t play with me much before.”

“I wanna, but body no move. Droom, body move now. Play t’gether. (I wanted to, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. This is a dream, so my body moves. Let’s play together.)”

“So that’s why!”

The hurt she’d usually felt toward Owen softened a little. Arbiyone thrust a fist up over her head.

“Okay! Let’s go!”

The two children immediately began exploring the underwater world.

Above was emerald green, below was sapphire blue, and the sea was vast and clear—full of mysteries. In the Pearl-Made Castle, a Mermaid King writhed in anguish, and beside him slept his wife inside the world’s largest pearl clam. Diamond Scale Fish darted around, scattering dazzling light, and the smallest one nestled snugly into Arbiyone’s arms.

In the coral colonies, there was a kingdom of dwarves no taller than a finger joint. A dwarf prince and princess grieved over a war between kingdoms. When the two children stopped the war, the prince and princess held a ceremony and gifted them a rainbow-colored drink in thanks. After drinking it, the children briefly became the dwarves’ size and enjoyed a ball with them. When the ball ended, they left the dwarf kingdom riding a Diamond Scale Fish.

At the bottom of a trench, a self-illuminating octopus lived with a fisherman who had waited thirty years for a chance to catch it. The fisherman was afraid to return home, yet couldn’t give up the octopus either. When the children helped them become friends, the octopus gifted them Star Sand Dust made from its hardened light.

Near the surface lived a Nereid who tried to catch stars with a net woven only from dawn sunlight. The sea-elf Nereid couldn’t lift her head above the water, so she couldn’t imagine the sky, but she loved the stars. The children gave her the Star Sand Dust, and in return received thanks from the Blue Dragon who ruled the sea.

After fully enjoying the sea, Arbiyone started to want something else. As if reading her mind, fog rolled in again. This time, the ground beneath them became stars made of cheese, and the sky above became a universe filled with stars.

“Let’s play here this time, Weni!”

Owen was still by her side. And no matter how much they played, no one told Arbiyone it was time to eat or sleep. Arbiyone shouted, exhilarated.

“Let’s keep playing as much as we can!”

The anxiety of being separated from her mother grew fainter and fainter. Seeing his big sister’s bright face, Owen smiled and nodded vigorously.

“Yes, Nuni!”

❖ ❖ ❖

“Where Yoni?”

“Where Weni?”

At the twins’ questions, the nursemaid broke into a cold sweat.

The two boys had just passed three months beyond turning three. With chubby cheeks and pouty lips, they were adorable, but perhaps because they took after their father, Young Duke Joyce MacKinnon, their gaze was strangely intense.

They resembled their father in another way, too—the way they fixated deeply, excessively, on a single thing. Like now. During playtime in the sunny garden, instead of being interested in dandelions or ants like the other children, they were obsessed with the people who weren’t here.

The older twin, Gareth, who especially liked Princess Arbiyone, tilted his head left and asked again.

“Yoni where apa?”

The younger twin, Jarrett, who especially liked Prince Owen, tilted his head right and asked again.

“Weni an’ Jarrett… gonna eat cake..”

Originally, each twin had an assigned nursemaid, but Jarrett’s nursemaid had stepped away on urgent business, so Gareth’s nursemaid was handling both alone. Flustered, she did her best to answer.

“Her Highness Princess Arbiyone is resting with Her Majesty the Empress. His Highness Prince Owen is taking a nap. You two, Miss Ipa and Young Master Rian, and Young Master Joybel and Miss Larabelle are all here now, so have fun with the four of them.”

“Wanna play with Yoni.”

“Wanna play with Weni.”

“Later.”

They didn’t look satisfied, but for now they accepted it and went back to the other children. The nursemaid wiped her cold sweat away.

When Princess Arbiyone was here, she led all the children around, so the nursemaids didn’t have to worry as much about tantrums. Even the youngest children who burst into tears over trivial things would stop immediately if the Princess cheered them up boldly.

Without her, gathering six children aged two to four looked like a flock of chicks—adorable to watch—but if even one started acting up, it could become unmanageable. Right now, they were fascinated by roadside grass, showing each other flowers and saying “this one,” but she couldn’t let her guard down.

Sure enough, after playing briefly near their cousins Ipa and Rian, the twins ran back and announced,

“Den… go see Maeve!”

“Den… go see Maeve!”

They liked copying each other, too. And if both started acting up at once, their behavior could escalate competitively until no one could stop them. The nursemaid tensed sharply. The children still didn’t really understand the gap in status between nobles and the imperial family, so they spoke like this—but how could a mere nursemaid take them to see a baby princess just because they wanted to?

Fortunately, before the twins could throw themselves onto the ground, Princess Maeve appeared in the garden.

“We’re here.”

Maeve was in Dora’s arms. Dora was tall and short-haired, and her status was higher than any nursemaid present. A close aide to Ellen, the Imperial Palace’s Head Maid, and also the head of the Empress Palace, Dora was someone even lower-ranking noble ladies couldn’t treat carelessly.

The nursemaids sometimes whispered among themselves about why someone like Dora was assigned to care for a baby barely a year old. There were rumors she’d once been in the military. Perhaps the Emperor and Empress, who doted most on the youngest, had assigned her as a guard, too.

Few knew the one who adored the green-eyed youngest princess most was actually Head Maid Ellen—and that Dora had been unable to withstand Ellen’s insistence.

In Dora’s arms, Maeve made an unintelligible sound. “Ue, ue.”

Smiles spread among the nursemaids as they each remembered their own charges at that age.

“What brings you out?”

Gareth’s nursemaid asked brightly. Dora shrugged.

“Her Highness seemed to want to come out.”

“Oh my, is that so.”

Under everyone’s gaze, Maeve let out a huge yawn.

“Yaaawn.”

The sunlight must have felt good.

The nursemaids smiled for a brief moment—then hurried off to their respective charges, who had already started digging up the dirt.