âOoooh, so todayâs princess has woken up?!â
The moment me, Mom, Dad, and Alt-nii arrived in the dining room, Clavis comes up to me and pinches my cheeks.
âClawvish-nii, stwop pwinching!â I waved my hands in protest.
Clavis chuckles, and then he lets my cheeks go. After that, he pats my head.
âHappy third birthday, Lyra!â Clavis said.
âHappy birthday, Lyra-sama!â and Niina, Chloe, Vince also chimed in.
âThank you!â
Oh.
Oh, right.
I forgot to mention, that under my brotherâs assertive request....... or, forced request, to be exact, Clavis has dropped all formalities to us. My brother insisted heâd treat us as your-everyday-friends, and at the beginning, every time Clavis slipped and entered â-samaâ suffix to our names, heâd nag on Clavisâ tail or smiled, but his eyes didnât smile (i, it, can be quite scary...)
Iâm happy though!
âAra, Lyra? You sure have grown up!â
Hm?
I heard a voice that I havenât heard in a while. Following the source of the voice, I glanced over and saw two elderly couple standing near the door that connects the dining room to the family room. The grandpa has the same golden eyes as my momâs, with a grey hair. Meanwhile the grandma has blue eyes and the same yellowish silver and wavy hair as my momâs. Needless to say, theyâre my momâs parents!
âThe last time we saw you, you were just a tiny little baby! Hahahaha!â Grandpa laughed as he swiftly lifted me high.
Eh?! I didnât pay any attention when I was meeting them a short while after I was born. But, grandpa... He, he... he has ears that are a bit... pointy?! But they donât look like elves or dwarves... itâs kinda like normal human ears, but with a pointy end. Genetic mutation?
âHmm, whatâs wrong, Lyra?â he noticed my confusion.
âA, uhm... Grandpa, why are your ears a bit pointy?â I asked without hesitation. After all, I must take the advantage of my age! Those with similar ages to me have unsatiable curiosity!
âAhahaha, you noticed? Thatâs my granddaughter!â
âFufu, let me explain,â grandma chimed in, âthe slightly pointed ears are the proof that thereâs elf blood running through his veins, Lyra.â
Ah, then that makes sense.
I nodded to indicate that I understand.
...
And then, suddenly realization hits me.
Upon further interrogation, I learned the history of my momâs family. Apparently, grandpaâs mother is of mixed bloodâmeaning, she is half-elf, half-human. Grandpa is a quarter elf, and so on. That would explain how my mom got her strong magic. ...so that gives me hope that Iâll be at least
gifted in terms of magic?
I didnât have any opportunity to exercise and experiment with magic in my previous life, but now... perhaps I can.
Also, my momâs family is not Sanctuariaâs main family. They are only Sanctuariaâs branch family.
Having branch families isnât all that uncommon, though. The Grabberton family had one, but they were considered the same as distant relative, and didnât meddle with the main familyâs responsibilities. The Loera family had some that helped them expand their businesses. Meanwhile, the Fumitsuna family had some branch families that were actively involved in the main familyâs responsibilities. If the knowledge from my past self still applies, they should be able to be written in present tenses, lol. As for the Hartmann family... uhm, I heard details were complicated back then. If I remembered it correctly, then... there was someone eloping?? It might just be a rumour, though.
Back to present day!
After all of them congratulated me on my birthday, they proceeded to give me presents! My dad got me a huge teddy bear (Dad, please, itâs even way bigger than my body now, I donât want to be crushed by it when I sleep), my mom got me star-shaped earrings, Alt-nii gave me his handmade âone in the worldâ picture book. The picture book told the story about... the hero who tried to save the princess... but in the end, the princess saved herself on her own, and she even proceeded to save the hero from the last boss, instead. The princess then became the hero who saved the world... The last page had a writing : [Be that kind of strong princess, dear sister!]
Grandpa and grandma bought me lots of clothes. Uhm, there are some that look like dresses that I can wear once I turn 6 years old...?
Clavis and Niina gave me a small stuffed silver wolf. Whoa, nice choice! It resembles them, so the gift will surely be memorable for me.
Vince gave me a small potted flowers. Chloe... she didnât only give me presents, she gave it to all of the people here! Yup, she cooked a feast for us! She also made me a birthday cake, as usual.
After that, I blowed the candles while uttering a wish inside my mind. Then, we sliced the cake and made sure that everyone got some portions.
Dare to guess my wish?
[Please let things be like this forever.]
I know itâs not possible, but... I love the way things are, right now. For the first time, I feel like my world has color in it. There are actually small things that I look forward to. Eating Chloeâs food, stroking Niina and Clavisâ ears and tails, watch the flowers in the garden blooms, playing with Alt-nii, Momâs hugs and kisses, Dadâs bedtime stories...
*Ahem*
Anyway...
We proceeded to gulp down everything sheâs cooked for us. The tasty and fluffly omelette, the hot and melty cream soup, tender hamburgs, and honestly other dishes I donât actually remember the names... and letâs not forget to mention that her cake is totally... SOFT. AND. SWEET! So tasty!
Was I born to eat delicious food?
LOL what a trivial reason to live?
Honestly, before this, I was always think that one must eat to survive. Eating was a mere routine. The food provided in the Grabberton family was great, but it felt something was lacking now that I know how Chloeâs food tasted.
When I tried to ask her of her secret recipe, she smiled gently and said that it was [Love].
...and that was when, I begin to think that...
I am loved. And blessed.
These peopleâallow me to rephrase itâmy family wonât treat me like a mere pawn, or object. Unless some kind of drastic and tragic changes take place... but I wouldnât want that.
I feel happy. But at the same time, I feel sad.
It might be a question that nobody could ever tell me the answer.
...
Or not.
When I asked what year is it, I noticed that it was just a few years after myâerr, itâs gonna be confusingâafter Reinstâs death, I mean.
After that, I proceeded to ask tons of questions.
Comparing the names of the royal family members that I know, the nobles that I know with their answers. I recognize the current kingâs name as the prince in my previous life. Both of my parents know Clyde Horace Grabberton and Dominick Robin Grabberton. Surprisingly, they also know... my previous self. They mentioned about Reinst Carnatia Grabberton who was unlucky and died during the Comet Rain. The Comet Rain hit the others but the only victim it took was me.
Today is Year 973, Month 7, Date 25. I was born in Year 970.
The year Reinst Carnatia passed away was... seven years before my birth, 963.
Only 7 years gap.
Should I pry about my past life in further details?
Iâm... afraid.