TL/Editor: Butter Cat
Status: 4/week mon-thurs
Illustrations: none
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〈 Chapter 105 〉 Side Story: Sapling
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**
Lush leaves soothe the hearts of those weary from the heat, and sturdy, horizontally stretched branches are perfect for hanging a swing for a child to ride.
Its thick trunk, when cut, is well-suited for building houses for people to dwell in and ships for them to sail, while its stump serves as a seat where travelers may pause to rest.
In that way, the tree sacrifices its entire being for the sake of humanity.
And et a noble death.
Yes.
Such an enviable and aningful end, indeed.
I said.
"—Grandpa. Give that sapling."
".....Hmm? This one takes quite a while to grow, are you sure you want this one?"
"Yes."
That’s more than enough.
—Tap, tap.
"~♬"
Tree. I rolled that pleasant sound around on my tongue.
I felt a soft energy, both the refreshing coolness that washed over and the warmth it held, lingering in my mouth.
Though Grandpa tried to dissuade , saying it would take a long ti, it didn’t matter to .
No matter how long it might take for the tree to grow, even if I were to suffer an unforeseen accident and lose my life before it reached the end of its lifespan, my resolve would not waver.
Because I had found my purpose in life.
Because I, who had only coveted what others had, who had repeated a aningless life again and again, was finally able to realize all of that.
This is sothing no one else can do.
This is sothing only I can do.
—Swoosh.
"Will I ever be able to beco like this tree soday?"
Today, I found the path to happiness.
**
**
Tap, tap. I heard rhythmic footsteps from outside.
Just by hearing them, one could instantly sense the refinent woven into those footsteps.
Hearing those sounds, filled with barely concealed excitent and anticipation, I realized how much ti had passed.
Has a new day begun.
Then it was ti for to start my daily routine.
—Stretch.
"..........."
I quietly stretched my body.
Perhaps it was because I’d been sitting in the sa position for several hours, I could hear the popping sounds of my joints loosening as I moved.
I, who’d been sitting on the wide window sill, a space specially prepared just for , got up after making sure my stiff body was sowhat loose, and carefully walked towards the door that would soon open.
Ding-a-ling—
The bell attached to my ankle rang out clearly.
After waiting for a few seconds, the door opened.
Beyond the door, which had opened rather swiftly, stood a woman with fiery, passionate eyes looking down at .
A woman in the royal attire signifying her status as the Queen of the Kingdom, radiating an air of stately grandeur.
Reflected in those slightly reddish eyes was the figure of a girl, kneeling on the floor and gazing up at her.
The one person in this world I could call my blood relative.
My older sister.
"—Have you been well, Aris?"
"Yes, Anna."
Anna Akaia stood there, before .
**
Anna took my hand and led to the bed in the corner of the room.
Though there were two pillows on the bed, Anna didn't even spare them a glance as she gently pushed down onto the bed and lay down with her head resting on my thighs.
She stretched out her arms and wrapped them tightly around my waist. Having grown used to this by now, I started stroking Anna's hair.
Her smooth, soft hair felt like the finest silk.
Swaa—, swoosh—.
"........"
"........"
Inside that hushed room, the only sound was the quiet breath of the two of us.
The neglected pillows, untouched by anyone, lay chilled and forsaken.
Anna, who had buried her face in my lap for quite so ti, finally looked up at with dreamy eyes.
Though known as a cold-blooded, heartless person outside, a Queen of Iron (?), when it was just the two of us, she was no different from any other little girl acting spoiled.
Just like now, Anna would bury her head in my lap and tell about the hardships she’d faced that day, sotis whining that annoying people kept bothering her.
And on days when she was in a particularly bad mood, she would even bite here and there.
When that happened, her eyes would change as if she were swallowing sothing hotter than burning flas, shining with possessiveness and jealousy, as though declaring she would not let anyone take away.
It wasn't easy to soothe her in those tis, so predicting her mood by her footsteps had beco a habit of mine.
"......Mmm."
"......."
It seed there was nothing major troubling her today, given that she said nothing at all.
Seeing her like a full-grown infant, a gentle smile naturally ford at my lips.
When Anna noticed my smile, she lifted a hand and lightly stroked the area around my mouth.
Both our faces, gazing at each other, were in full bloom with smiles.
An ordinary, repeating daily life(??).
The sa daily routine that had continued for the three years since I turned twelve, until I was now fifteen.
**
You could call it a life of a spectator.
I didn’t want to stand out or gain anything in particular, so I tried to live a quiet life like any other girl my age.
Of course, so perceptive people noticed that I was hiding sothing. But not wanting to belittle the talents and efforts of others, I simply wanted to live a life of supporting my two big sisters without doing anything myself.
Comforting and consoling Anna, who would stay up late into the night, tirelessly repeating her arduous efforts in the dark to et others' expectations.
I lived as a silent supporter for Remi, overshadowed by her innate position and natural talent, never receiving acknowledgnt for her efforts from anyone.
That was the life I lived until I turned twelve.
And not long after my twelfth birthday.
An incident occurred.
Anna, who fell under a curse by a greedy duke.
Her anger, triggered by a trivial matter, was, unbelievably, directed at Remi.
At first, I didn’t think their conflict would escalate into sothing serious.
But if there was sothing I had misjudged, perhaps it was that the emotional divide between them was deeper than I thought.
Remi, having suddenly beco the target of irrational and unreasonable anger, also had her own pent-up frustration explode just like Anna.
A person's rationality can easily be shaken even by the smallest of impacts, after all.
Everything was because of my existence.
It was because of the misunderstanding that I had been stolen from each other.
In the dead of winter, upon a field blanketed in snow, Remi and Anna began a sword dance stained red with blood.
Perched at the precarious boundary between a re fight and murder, they danced, and I could do nothing but collapse to the ground in a daze, watching them.
Just as the saying goes, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side,’ perhaps they had each, from the beginning, been jealous of the other.
When one looks forward, it’s only natural not to see what lies at one’s feet.
From Remi’s perspective, it must have seed I favored Anna more, from Anna’s perspective, she must have thought I favored Remi more.
Arrows of jealousy, aid at each other.
And I, unfortunately, couldn’t understand those emotions myself.
───Fwoosh!
Thus, this was inevitable.
"—D-don't fight.....!"
"""....Aris?!"""
I pushed my own body between their clashing blades.
A sturdy tree can support the weight of many.
But it seed that I, who was lacking and weak in many ways, could only help one person, just one.
This was the disaster brought about by my own greed, wanting to embrace both of them at the sa ti.
And the price that must be paid, naturally, to put an end to that tragedy.
Two sharp blades pierced deep into my body.
And there, I lost consciousness.
**
After that, I am not entirely certain what happened.
All I do know is that since then, I have been unable to see Remi anymore and that I have been hidden away in a secret room in the royal palace, my ankle bound with a bell, and that no one except Anna can visit .
The only freedom given to was gazing out at the royal palace grounds from that wide window sill.
Leaving this place on my own two feet, inviting soone here, none of that was allowed.
I wondered what was happening outside.
How were my father and mother doing right now.
Where might Remi be now, and what might she be doing.
"........."
Whenever I closed my eyes, worries about my other big sister would surface.
But now, none of it really mattered to anymore.
After all, the lesson that greed is punished has already been engraved deeply into my body.
Yes.
I shouldn’t have been greedy.
"—Sleep tight, Big Sis Anna."
"....Yes. You too, Aris."
A tree simply stays still in its place.
Whether a typhoon blows from afar, or a wildfire starts.
Whether soone cuts down its trunk or peels off its bark.
As long as soone needs its existence, as long as soone wants it to be there.
—Swish.
"Sweet dreams."
It simply accepts everything that’s given and offers everything it has.
Another day.
A day in the royal palace, has co to a close.
Tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, a new day will begin.
A new day, identical to today, in every way.
***
A canary in a cage without bars.
Why doesn’t the bird fly away.
That’s because──
"—It’s already dead."
Anna Route.
Sapling (??) : A tree by a grave.
THE END
*** (Author’s Afterword)
This side story is unrelated to the main story.
This side story takes place in a different world from the main story.
A world changed by small differences, small mistakes, small changes, all coming together.
The next side story will be about Remi's, Remi Akaia's part.
After all the side stories are finished, this work will be completed.
***
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