I look at the girl lying in a bed in front of me.
Her name is Alice, and it has been two years since I last saw the girl made out to be the miko this closely. She looks more beautiful than she did two years ago.
Since then, the great temple has been pressed into admitting that Alice is probably not the real miko. They now say that they have made a mistake, and the real miko is probably Alice’s twin sister.
Their parents believed that there was no way the twin sister could be the miko, and decided to abandon her. The idea of abandoning a child in itself makes me sick.
I have nothing to say to parents that secretly abandoned their child and continued on with their carefree lives. Surely the temple had a lot of thoughts about them bringing in a false miko, because they told us everything as soon as we started pressing them.
Afterwards, our side also started pressing the third prince, who panicked and ended up blurting out how my father really died.
I was not present at the time, but I was told that he was assassinated by the third prince’s side. This revelation greatly diminished the third prince’s support, and apparently he has been apprehended as well.
Things are looking up on that front, but there are still many opinions being thrown around about the girl made out to be the miko, Alice.
I insist that she must be spared. She is only a nine year old girl after all, making her even younger than me. Surely she became this way because of her environment.
First of all, I must make her understand her circumstances when she wakes up.
There is no one around her to protect her anymore,as everyone left once they found out she is not the real miko.
There were always many people around her who listened to anything she had to say, because it was thought she was the noble being known as the miko.
Once she lost that value, people started looking at her with much harsher eyes. If she wishes to do her best to move forward with her life despite all that, I want to help her.
This country is still not stable. The fact of the matter is that this country had the miko and lost her due to a misunderstanding. Although the biggest problem has been settled, many still remain.
I do not know what I can do now, all I can do is my best to help.
As I sit in this chair thinking about what happened and what must be done from now on, I hear a groan, and see Alice’s eyes opening.
“…Where…”
Alice sits up and looks around. She feels completely different than the last time I saw her.
I’m sure she also has been doing some thinking of her own about everything that happened.
“You…”
She looks at me with a confused expression. She probably does not remember me, but that is to be expected. We only met once.
“My name is Ninaev Fairy, the fifth princess of the kingdom of Fairytrof. This is the second time we have spoken.”
“Princess…”
She is not ranting and raving. She really has changed.
“Have you… Figured out that you are not the miko?”
“…So it really is true?”
She says, so calmly compared to before that you would think an evil spirit had left her body.
“Yes, you are most likely not the miko. I am sorry to say, but it seems our country mistakenly brought you here as the miko.”
I pause, and then continue.
“You were presented as the miko, even though you are not, and many people hold harsh opinions about you, in no small part because of the way you acted as you pleased. However, I believe fault lies with us more than with you. You are only a child after all.
In short, if you want to move forward with your life, I want to help you.”
“…Yes.”
Alice agrees with what I say without stopping to think, something I feel is typical of someone her age.
I am very glad to see she understands she is not the miko. We would have a lot of problems if she still believed she was special.
I then switch the subject to her sister, the girl who is probably the real miko.
“And… Your sister is probably the miko.”
“Sister?”
Alice looks confused, like she is not aware of her sister. Could it be that she is not aware of her twin? Her own family?
“Yes, surely you have a sister. A girl the same age as you, with long, brown hair. Does that ring a bell?”
“You mean ‘that’?”
She says with a surprised tone.
“That?”
“Yes, someone my parents always called ‘that’. I saw her in our house from time to time, but she never got close to us. Her life was the opposite of mine. Was that… My sister? Family?”
Alice talks about ‘that’ like she has no choice but to be surprised. I am surprised as well.
It seems that at the very least their parents treated her in such a way that Alice had no idea the miko was her sister. She talks as if they had almost no contact, and seems to be more surprised about her being her sister than her being the miko.
“Yes, apparently people from the temple heard from your parents that her name is Lerunda.”
“…Lerunda. So that’s her name.”
“Yes, your twin sister is Lerunda, and probably the being known as the miko.”
“Lerunda… My sister… My twin sister. My family, and the miko…”
Says Alice, as if affirming it.
—The princess and the awakened sister
(The princess talks to the girl made out to be the miko, now that her eyes have been opened. She had no idea she had a sister.)
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That is development there. Impressive for a 9 years old
wonder if their mom is dead yet.