North x Northwest

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Side story 3 – Liloa’s Chapter 1: The Fruit

Ann and Charlotte accompanied Liloa, but the child learned to keep them at a distance. Which wasn’t hard at all. All day long, they were either stuck in a corner of their room reading a storybook or running around the garden looking for a cat before they would eventually disappear somewhere on their own. Gradually, the time they left Liloa alone to go to the market or spend time visiting someone’s house increased.

As time passed, Ann and Charlotte became more absorbed in pastimes such as going to small banquets rather than actually attending to Liloa. But Liloa didn’t blame her nanny and governess. Rather, she hoped that they would get married quickly so that they could leave her side. After all, the stories Ann and Charlotte talked about all the time were about the foreign nobles of Malus, and those were neither interesting nor curiosity-inducing to her. The topic of marriage kept reminding her of the Duke of Lacroix, so it was worse than boring. It was irritating.

Consequently, Liloa sought out Madame Autriche more than the maids who had taken care of her since childhood. Every time she saw Liloa, the older lady made similar remarks.

“How could it be that your personality resembles the Grand Duchess’ tomboyish one so much, young lady?”

In response, Liloa would go on and on about how much she preferred to hear about becoming a dignified and mature young lady. Madame Autriche, who found the young lady’s constant denial endearing, held Liloa in her arms while telling her stories about Henrietta’s childhood as she noticed that Henrietta had a lot in common with Liloa when she was younger. It delighted Liloa to hear about her unexpected commonality with her mother and often burst into laughter in the safety of Madame Autriche’s arms. Autriche frequently hugged Liloa. In fact, far more frequently than her own nanny did. While Liloa’s nanny used to hug her back in Obernyu, she eventually stopped making direct contact with Liloa unless she was experiencing extreme sadness or happiness. The people of Obernyu believed that such close contact, or for example having the child in the same bed with them, would ruin that child’s habits and limit their independence.

But Liloa, like all children, instinctively craved warmth. Even though it felt embarrassing at times, Autriche didn’t refuse the child’s request to be held, in the end she would always give in and embrace Liloa whenever she liked.

“The person who is to be an Archduchess should not be so childish…”

Liloa knew it wasn’t a remark to be taken too seriously though, because Autriche, whose own children were all grown up, was also glad to take care of a child in her later years. And whenever Liloa sensed that Autriche was having a hard time, she would read poetry in a cheerful voice at her bedside. At one time, when Autriche fell into a deep slumber during one of Liloa’s lullaby readings, Liloa sneaked out of the private residence.

The people who came to recuperate far away from the fierce imperial capital were generally relaxed and careless. So while banquets and salons were constantly held in every household, the children would wander around Malus.

Because Malus was a city populated by nobles from all over the world, the exotic atmosphere could be felt simply by stepping outside one’s door. The sight of the city, adorned with patterned carpets and materials, as well as the scent of flowers and the sea, were sights and sensations that Liloa had never experienced before in her short life.

Liloa followed some children down to the beach.

Of course, they were all children of either the nobility or wealthy merchants, so they were tailed by escorts and attendants. Even so, the attendants, who were accustomed to Mother Nature themselves, didn’t mind whether the children touched the dirt or got their feet wet in the water.

White sandy beaches and the sea were both new to Liloa, but no one else noticed her awe. Whereas the children played with the salty sand as if it were a normal part of their day-to-day lives. The sight of the Malus’s sea was the best of all wonders that Liloa experienced for the first time. She felt like she could watch the spectacle of sunlight shimmering over endless waves all day long without getting tired of it.

‘But beyond that, what does the world look like?’

The Obernyu court had been Liloa’s whole world. And that day, she first realised how small it had been.

‘She was right… What I heard from Charlotte, that this wide world cannot be contained in a small piece of paper, was true…’

Liloa opened her mouth and took a deep breath, sucking the humid sea breeze into her body. She then patted her stomach for no reason.

‘My belly looks thicker than a few sheets of paper.’

***

“Why do you read so much?”

The Lord of Malus looked at Liloa as if he were seeing something unusual. His wheat-like eyes sparkled with curiosity behind his small glasses. It annoyed Liloa to hear the old man asking the same questions over and over again, but because he was the owner of the study, she had to answer politely.

“The world is wide and paper is narrow, but I am neither wide or narrow.”

“And?”

“I want to put both the world and the paper in me.”

The lord burst into laughter in exasperation.

After the high-ranking princess peeked around his study, her eyes had been fixed on reading “The Maritime History of the Oceans and Empires” for hours in one sitting.

“Do you understand it?”

Liloa licked her lips and grumbled.

“It is difficult… I do not understand a thing…”

“…”

“I think it is because the world is so big, but they tried to pack it neatly into a piece of paper the size of my palm.”

“…”

Ironically, the palm of even a fully grown Liloa would never be as big as the book she was holding, but the lord didn’t bother to point that out.

“But I will be able to understand its meaning if I read until the end, right? If I make it to the end, even the most difficult words from adults will eventually make sense to me. So, I need to endure this until the very last page. Ah, reading is hard labour…”

“Completing a book is the reward at the end of hard work and the will to endure that hardship is a virtue a good reader must have. You already possess that virtue.”

“Really?”

Liloa felt good and wobbled her legs, causing her small feet to flutter in the air.

“But women have no reason. Therefore, no matter how much you read this book, you will not be able to grasp it.”contemporary romance

The lord approached her gently and held the copy of “The Maritime History of the Oceans and Empires”. Liloa never permitted him, but the lord casually took the book from her and closed it.

“What is reason?”

“It is the ability to think.”

“I have the ability to think.”

“It is a different concept from thinking through intuition. It is the ability that allows humans to distinguish between right and wrong and to pursue rightnesses.”

“But I know what is right and what is wrong?”

“No, you will make many mistakes and misjudgements in the future. Ah. But, of course, it is not your fault. Who can blame the disasters caused by the innocence of a child?”

“Are you pouring evil words into my face right now?”

“Even if you are misunderstanding this old man, I will not retract my words. I am just telling you the truth with the best intentions. After all, the bitter truth is better than a sweet lie.”

“Still, I am not happy that the Lord feels so sure about knowing who I am.”

“Oh my. Conceit is one of the causes of great misfortune. A lady must be modest and humble. This alone shows that this old man’s eyes are correct. A young lady like you requires culture and housekeeping training first. How can someone who has not even finished that properly discuss reason? There is an order for everything.”

“But, I just want to know about the sea!”

“How can you say you have reason when you anger so easily due to such light remarks? You are a woman and a child at that, so your small body is completely run by emotions. You have to learn refinement and good manners first to be able to imitate reason. I will tell my wife to pay more attention to the young lady’s education.”

For the first time in her life, Liloa didn’t know what to do about the insults she received. She had no idea how to respond to it. Her rebuttal would inevitably be dismissed as a child’s childish sensibility, so she had to keep her mouth shut to prove that she was at least a little rational. But at the same time, that meant that she would be unable to defend herself…

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