Volume 4 - CH 99.3

[???: ――Emilia. Everyone’s about to have an important talk. So be a good girl and wait in your usual spot, okay?]

With this, young Emilia was shoved into the hollow of the great tree deep within the forest―― the so-called “Princess Room”―― which was one of the things in life she wasn’t particularly happy about.

In the village in the forest where the Elves lived in secret, Emilia grew up loved by everyone.

All the adults adored her and would indulge her little whims without the slightest complaint. While the fact that she rarely got to play with other children made her feel a little lonely, she had to follow her instructions. Rules like that must be firmly kept: that was what her foster mother, Fortuna, had told her.

Fortuna was the one who took care of Emilia in the Elven village, a person who was like a mother to her.

She had silver hair and amethyst eyes just like Emilia. But she’d cut her hair short since she found long hair too much of a hassle, and the sharpness of her eyes set them far apart from each other.

Emilia could no longer remember when she first started living with Fortuna. All she knew was that Fortuna wasn’t her real mother but a blood-relative somewhere in the vicinity of an aunt.

{Fortuna: I’m your father’s younger sister, you know. My brother…… your dad and your mom are busy right now and can’t be here with you…… so they’ve asked me to look after you}

Fortuna’s explanation came as a great shock to Emilia. But, it wasn’t a shock in the negative sense. Even though she kept insisting that she wasn’t her real mother, as far as Emilia was concerned, Fortuna was undoubtedly her mother.

And, on top of having mommy Fortuna, she had a father and a real mother as well. Normally, people only had two parents, a mom and a dad, but Emilia had a dad and two moms. How lucky she is, she thought.

{Fortuna: Your silver hair is from my brother. And the color of your eyes too, it really runs in the family. ……Your gentle face is from your mother, though. Everyone on our side has scary-looking eyes}

{Emilia: ……But I like your eyes, mommy Fortuna?}

Fortuna’s eyes were usually intense and severe. And occasionally, when Emilia made her mad, the sharpness of her eyes would intensify, causing Emilia to shudder tremendously.

But, aside from those times when she got angry, Fortuna was Emilia’s ideal mother, and Emilia received her sharp eyes with loving emotions.

As a mother, Fortuna was strict but kind.

Although the young Emilia sometimes thought the rigid discipline she imposed was a bit excessive, even at her age, Emilia understood that it was all with her best interests in mind.

Her discipline was never accompanied by violence, and she never scolded Emilia for anything unreasonable. Even on the rare occasions when her scoldings made Emilia cry, they would reconcile the same night and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

{Fortuna: If there’s one thing I reeaally regret, it’s that I wasn’t kinder to people. If I had realized that sooner, my brother wouldn’t have waited till the end to rely on me}

A loneliness would rise on Fortuna’s face whenever she said “Reeally”.

[Emilia: Mmuuu…… so boring]

Back to where our story began, Emilia was shut up in the Princess Room alone.

She didn’t like being called “Princess” very much, but since that was what everyone in the village called her, she had grown used to it by now.

Because she knew they weren’t making fun of her but were saying it with affection, she never requested that they stop. But the fact that they had stuck that moniker on the room she was being shut up in was one of young Emilia’s few dissatisfactions in life.

[Emilia: What could everyone be doing……]

If Emilia was shut inside the Princess Room, it meant there must be visitors from outside the village. Quite a large group of outsiders would occasionally enter the forest to visit the hidden Elven community. And while no one ever told Emilia this, she could always sense it on her skin.

Actually, this sixth sense of sorts was due to Emilia subconsciously interfering with the micro-spirits in the forest which informed her of those people’s presence, but Emilia didn’t know this at the time.

Hugging her knees in the narrow room, Emilia usually passed her time flipping through the pages of the books she’d been given or playing with the shabby doll Fortuna had made for her.

Although she had been told that those were secret talks that only adults could understand, there seemed to be plenty of children present as well, which only added to Emilia’s dissatisfaction.

She mustn’t tell lies or keep secrets, that was what mommy Fortuna had taught her. But wasn’t it wrong for mommy Fortuna and the adults to lie and keep secrets from Emilia?

Every ten days or so, Emilia would be stuffed inside the Princess Room. Though Emilia wasn’t happy about it, she wasn’t so naughty as to let it show on her face.

But by now, she had already lost count how many times she had been put in here, not to mention that she’d just had a fight with Fortuna the night before. Most of all, she forgot to bring the doll that Fortuna had made for her, having left it in her bedroom, which proved to be the decisive blow.

[Emilia: I wanna go outside…]

It was but a passing murmur that no one was supposed to hear.

But, while Emilia didn’t say it to anyone she knew, “Those” who knew her had heard it loud and clear.

[Emilia: ――?]

Inside the hollow, in the room lit by the white glow of lagumite ores, there now mingled spots of pale-blue phosphorescence. She blinked as the sudden gushes of light captivated her attention.

[Emilia: ――――]

Standing up, Emilia tottered to the spot where the lights had vanished. She was a little scared, but even hotter curiosity burned inside her chest.

Standing before the wall that had sucked in the lights, Emilia reached out her hand as if to confirm the feel of the wood, and there, she found an opening just large enough for her little arm to fit through.

Just now, the pale-blue lights had escaped through that gap.

The front door of the Princess Room was bolted from the outside and couldn’t be opened from within. It was designed so that Emilia couldn’t escape even if she wanted to.

Thinking about it now, this treatment was definitely a bit too excessive to be considered normal, but Emilia, who took it for granted at the time, never questioned it.

However, now that she had discovered the possibility of escaping the place that should’ve been impossible to escape, Emilia’s heart vacillated between her curiosity and her mother’s instructions.

She wanted to know what everyone in the village was doing while she was gone.

Mommy Fortuna had taught her to strictly follow her instructions, and Emilia needed to stay here in the Princess Room until Fortuna came back for her.

But what if she tested out this escape route and, once she had a peek of what everyone was doing, sneaked back here?

Besides, it was the adults who first broke the rule not to lie and keep secrets.

If they broke one, and Emilia broke one as well, then wouldn’t they just be even?

[Emilia: ――――]

The little girl thought with all her might and came up with that little justification.

Taking a closer look at the hole she had stuck her arm into, it was one of the gaps between the tree’s tangled roots. If she put all her strength into it, she felt certain she could widen the gap, if only just a little.

Hinging on that feeling, young Emilia pushed away at the roots to secure a space large enough for her to pass through. Sweat dripped from her brows, and mud soiled her clothes. There was no way she could tell Fortuna “I didn’t do anything” now, but even so, the gap between the roots continued to grow until, at last, she succeeded in crawling outside.

[Emilia: ――――a]

A strange sense of accomplishment rose in Emilia’s chest as the outside breeze washed over her.

Even though she had just done something that would earn her a scolding if she were found out, she still felt the compelling urge to run up to Fortuna and brag “Ahhem, I did it”.

But then again, Emilia thought,

――If she had followed her idiotic logic back then, gone to get praise from Fortuna, gotten vehemently scolded, cried and wailed and regretted it, and forgotten all about that gap in the tree roots, everything would’ve been so much better.

Because if she had done that, she would never have set the subsequent tragedy in motion.

――But what was that tragedy?

The question did not reach the young Emilia who had just escaped the Princess Room, now triumphantly dashing towards where everyone should be.

The realization that she was doing something naughty soon forced Emilia to sneak from cover to cover, and, thanks to the help of the micro-spirits, she got a vague sense of where everyone was.

Before long, Emilia found everyone gathered in the village square. While, alongside them, she saw a group of people in strange black costumes.

[Emilia: ――――]

Emilia hid herself behind a large tree before nimbly climbing up its branches. Sometimes, when little Emilia was feeling mischievous, she’d scamper from tree to tree like a little animal to make the adults jump around to catch her.

The acrobatics she learned from those activities now allowed her to watch over the conversation unseen.

The population of the Elven village numbered forty in all. And it seemed all the adults and children, aside from Emilia, were gathered there. The black-robes were fewer in number, with only about twenty members.

A few of them were in the middle of the assembly, participating in the discussion, while the rest were unloading luggage. The black-robes seem to have come here on wagons, and as they transferred their cargo to the villagers, the villagers’ faces would brighten while bowing their heads.

[???: ――We can’t thank you enough for the care you’ve always shown us]

What are they doing? What are they talking about?

Wondering this, Emilia wanted to lean out to see, when she heard a voice as close as a whisper against her ear.

She jerked back in surprise but saw no one around who could have been the source of that voice. Nevertheless, that voice undoubtedly belonged to Fortuna.

In fact, Fortuna was directly below Emilia―― speaking with a black-robed figure who seemed to be the leader of the group.

[Fortuna: Thank you for procuring these supplies for us that are so hard to come by in the forest, we’re glad for your help]

[Robed Man: You are too kind. It vexes us greatly that this is the only way we could repay you. We’re always laying burdens on you, Fortuna-sama]

[Fortuna: We could say the same as well]

Emilia could clearly make out the contents of their conversation and the wry smiles exchanged between them.

Fortuna’s gestures below her left no doubt that they were the ones talking this very moment. But somehow, it was as if Emilia’s sense of hearing was amplified.

This was actually the handiwork of the micro-spirits obeying Emilia’s will, but naturally, the young Emilia did not notice their diligence.

Standing in front of Fortuna was a man with bold features, garbed in a black robe.

His muscular physique and stature made him stand out among the mostly slender Elves. And so it was almost unimaginable that, despite his martial appearance, he would bow so low while interacting with Fortuna.

Seeing such an imposing man showing such unreserved respect towards Fortuna filled the peeking Emilia with pride.

To think, that the amazing person making this big man grovel was actually her mother.

[Robed Man: Now, I ask this every single time, but…… how is the seal?]

Emilia was puffing up her chest in her somewhat misdirected pride, but that sentiment instantly dispersed the moment the man changed the subject.

Such was the heaviness of the complex emotions imbued within that man’s words.

[Fortuna: I suppose I can’t just laugh it off as you worrying too much. Rest assured, it’s as stable as ever. There isn’t even a million-to-one chance it could come undone. ――I’d never be able to face my brother and sister-in-law, otherwise]

[Robed Man: It’s a terrible shame, about your older brother and his wife]

[Fortuna: ……My brother must certainly have been prepared. As for my sister-in-law, I’m not quite sure even now. But, I do understand the weight of the responsibility entrusted to me. I don’t intend to abandon it or treat it half-heartedly. I’m sure you feel the same?]

[Robed Man: I…… I have no choice in the matter. I’m afraid it’s not the same as the sense of duty and responsibility you bear, Fortuna-sama. Obsession, attachment…… it’d be something along those lines]

The man gave a breathy laugh as Fortuna watched him with a pained expression.

All the while, the meaning of their little exchange completely eluded the present Emilia.