I’m going to see my sister now. I get excited just thinking about it.
I remember her being liked by everyone, and always having people around her.
We didn’t live like family, my sister or my parents. She’s my sister, but I was never allowed to be near her, so I never really saw her as family.
I want to see my sister now because I’ve experienced so much.
I think I changed a lot since I was abandoned by my parents. Thinking back, it feels weird. But if I’ve changed, I’m sure my sister changed too.
And I don’t get a bad feeling.
It’s with these thoughts in mind that I go to a room detached from the castle with Miss Lan.
“I wonder what happened to Alice since then.”
“Me too.”
Miss Lan told me she spent some time with my sister, but I don’t really know what it was like. All I know is that she was her educator and talked to her. Miss Lan probably knows my sister better than I do.
We’re family, but we’re really far apart.
“Miss Lan, do you think we can get along?”
“If that’s what you want, I’m sure you can.”
Miss Lan says with a smile.
We keep talking, until there’s a knock on the door.
We open the door, and there’s my sister. It’s not just her, there’s another woman with her, but I just stare at my sister.
She looks straight at me too.
We just look at each other for a while, until the other woman talks.
“Alice, let’s greet them. You’re not going to get anything across by just staring at each other.”
“…Yes, Princess Ninaev.”
My sister looks at this brown-haired woman and smiles gently.
I’m surprised to see that smile. Back when I used to see her, her face was always full of self-confidence, and she would never smile like this.
Looking at her now, I think she really has changed.
“Hello, my name is Ninaev Fairy. I am King Hicked’s fiancee. Come on Alice.”
“…H-hum, i-it’s been a while…”
My sister starts speaking, timidly. Yes, I haven’t seen her in a long time. Miss Lan is next to me, and she breathes out, sounding surprised.
Yes, it’s been a while, Alice.”
“I’m sorry!!”
“For what?”
“You were expelled because of me… I’m sorry.”
Miss Lan talks to my sister, and she immediately lowers her head.
I’ve never seen her do this. Miss Lan looks really surprised too.
I’ve never talked to my sister, and we’ve never even really looked at each other, but I can still tell this isn’t how she acted back then.
Miss Lan smiles.
“Yes, I went through some trouble because of you. But regardless of what happened, I’m happy yo see you’re able to apologize like this. If you had continued growing up the way you were, you would probably be too far gone at some point. You met nice people, didn’t you?”
“Yes… All because Princess Ninaev didn’t abandoned me.”
My sister looks relieved to see Miss Lan smiling, and smiles slightly too.
Both Princess Ninaev and Miss Lan look at her with kindness in their eyes.
And then, Miss Lan silently looks at me.
“Lerunda, you want to talk to Alice, right?”
“…Yes.”
Looking at her feels strange, so I stay quiet, because I don’t know how to talk to her.
But I say something after Miss Lan talks to me.
“Hum, I’m Lerunda.”
“I-I know. And I’m Alice.”
“Yes, I know, hum…”
Big sister and little sister.
We’re sisters, but we don’t know what to say. We say our names, even though we already know them, and become quiet again.
“Sister…”
“Lerunda…”
We both start speaking, and quiet down again.
We then look at each other, and laugh.
I never thought we’d look at each other and laugh like this, because our positions used to be the complete opposite of each other.
My parents treated me like I was a completely different thing, and saw my sister as something special, and completely different from me.
But now that I see my sister laughing in front of me, all I see is a normal girl my age.
We’ve never been face-to-face like this, and now, I really feel she’s a normal girl, not the special being that’s completely different from me that my parents said she was.
“Lerunda, you can call me Alice… I don’t care what our parents said, you’re my sister.”
“…Alice…”
I call her Alice, while my heart is pounding.
I’ve never called her by her name. She was always just my sister, not someone I could address by her name.
But after I say her name, she looks happy, and her smile is beautiful.
“Lerunda.”
“Alice.”
In the village where we were born, she never called me by my name, I never called her by hers, and we never talked.
I guess that’s why we said the other’s name. Hearing her call me by my name makes me happy, and it looks like it’s the same for her.
We say the other’s names until we’re satisfied, and laugh.
—Girl and the Kingdom of Migha – Part six
(The miko meets her sister, and calls her by her name.)
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