My sister, Alice, is calling me Lerunda, and I’m calling her Alice.
That’s something very normal for regular sisters, but for Alice and me, it feels really special.
“I’m sorry, Lerunda.”
“…For what?”
After calling each other by our names, Alice lowers her head to me. It feels weird.
I don’t remember her ever doing anything bad to me. She was always seen as special, and looking back, the village where I grew up was really cruel, but… I can’t think of anything she ever did to me.
“You’re the one that’s the miko, but our parents treated me like I was special, and treated you horribly. And I didn’t even know you were my sister, and didn’t care about any of it.
I was so full of myself… So when the priests went to take the miko, I never even considered that it might not be me. I thought it just made sense for people to treat me like I was special, and never doubted it for one second.”
“That’s… No reason for you to say you’re sorry. I saw you as my sister, but I never really thought about you, or talked to you. I’ve experienced lots of things since I left that village… And now I understand that your life in that village wasn’t normal.”
“Fufu, yes. Both of us only knew the village where we were born, so everything just felt natural. Up until I was taken as the miko and then deemed to be a fake miko, I never even thought that I might not be special. It took all that for me to even start considering it.”
“…I didn’t think I was special either, I just thought you were. It was only after leaving the village and going through lots of things that I really started realizing I’m the miko. But I still see you as special.”
“What are you talking about?”
Alice says while laughing.
Her smile is beautiful, and there’s a sort of cuteness to it that’s fitting of her age. Seeing her smile like this feels like I’m dreaming.
Seeing Alice smiling and talking to her makes me think that we weren’t really living back in the village where we were born.
I thought it was normal for me to be shunned, I didn’t think for myself, and had no idea what I wanted to do. People didn’t care about me and no one even called me by my name, and it all felt natural to me.
After meeting Gaius and the others, I learned what it’s like to have people that care about me, and think for myself.
Alice, on the other hand, was always spoiled, and she always just said what she wanted because people listened. She thought she was special, so she didn’t pay any attention to what was around her, and only thought about doing what she wanted.
During the civil war in Fairytrof, Alice realized she’s a normal girl, and learned what it’s like to think about other things.
People worry, they think, and live like that.
That’s why I think neither of us really lived in that village.
But now, Alice laughs, she thinks properly, and she’s alive.
We’re twins, and we’re the same age, but Alice is still the older sister. Is her way of thinking a little more mature than mine too? We have the same birthday, and we’re the same age, but I still kind of see her as older than me.
“You’re strong.”
“No Lerunda, you’re stronger, aren’t you? I wouldn’t have survived if our parents abandoned me.”
“That’s just because I’m the miko. I just happened to find food, and met people I like a lot. Alice… You don’t have the luck of a miko, but you’re still facing forward and taking action.”
“That’s because I have Princess Ninaev. If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve probably been executed.”
She says such a shocking thing so casually.
I guess that’s how dangerous her position was as a fake miko. I’m glad she met Princess Ninaev and was saved by her.
I’m grateful for the miracle that is us facing each other and talking like this.
We keep talking to each other, and we don’t get tired of it.
—Girl and the Kingdom of Migha – Part seven
(The miko has a nice conversation with her sister, and is thankful for this miracle.)
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