Wele back! Did you miss me? Not me, I'm just talking to myself in my mind after all. And it's not like my imaginary audience has gone anywhere, right? Although for some reason, I feel like I haven't seen you guys in a long time. What a strange feeling.

  Anyway.

  Today is the day of the White Lady Festival. But what is this festival? Excellent question little Timmy. I don't know much myself, only the tale Sarka told me just this m. So let me bee the storyteller and tell you this beautiful story.

  "Once upon a time, in fotten times, the figure known as the White Lady wahrough the paths of the world, searg for a purpose that might redeem the sadhat weighed upon her shoulders. Her followers, tiny beings of nature, watched with the worried tenance of their beloved dy and decided to a her behalf.

  So it was that the little followers of the White Lady, in a gesture of devotion and love, implored the trees to doheir leaves and flowers to make a cloak that would shelter the weary body of their beloved dy. Many trees, with joy and generosity, offered eae of their leaves, hoping that a garment worthy of the beauty of the Lady would be woven from them. However, some trees refused, fearing that their leaves might hurt her delicate figure. Instead, they promised to remain green all year round, guiding the Lady's path through her travels.

  For six long months, the Lady's followers worked painstakingly to weave the garment they would offer to their mistress. When they finally pleted their task, the cloak glowed with vivid colors, tinged with the hope and affe of those who had created it. With joy in their hearts, the followers ran to their beloved dy and presented her with the fruit of their bor. The Lady, with eyes full of wonder and gratitude, accepted the gift with humility and tears as warm as summer and pure as the stars. The Lady thanked each of her devotees for their generosity aion and showered them with blessings.

  Thus, dressed in her beautiful new cloak, the White Lady set out on her journey with renewed determination and joy, carrying the warmth of love and hope wherever she went. As time passed, the cape that had once glowed with bright colors slowly transformed until it became pletely white, a symbol of the purity and peace that the White Lady carried to every er of the world."

  Yeah, the story doesn't make too much seo me either. A ory, but just like many of those oh, it sounds like a nice allegory of how the seasons pass from autumn to wihis "White Lady" is Obana, Pilr of the seasons and in of the winds.

  …

  Acc to Sarka, the story is "real" from the times when the Pilrs walked the world to make pnts, animals and intelligent races grow.

  Yeah... don't ask me, I don't believe it was real either. I wouldn't be surprised if that story was heavily embellished and Obana was just casually wandering the world and was somehow misinterpreted.

  I just hope there are no stories that are too... exaggerated. I would not like to realize that there were situations simir to Quetzalcoatl's drunkenness in which he slept with his sister, or those of Zeus sleeping with anything that produced a shadow ...

  ...

  I hope that didn't raise any fgs...

  The point is, that's all I know about the festival. It's not much, but it's something.

  As agreed, Sarka would stay at home to look after me, while the rest of the family attehe festival. So today it was just the two of us. Well... there were also Tina ah with us, but they were always so quiet that I never noticed their preseil Sarka spoke to them.

  After breakfast, we were in my usual pyroom, where she told me that story and we pyed for quite a while. I found it quite fun to py with her, even though I had to endure her stant "attacks" and hungry looks of sisterly love (?). I knew my big sister was a real danger.

  Well, while my cheeks were being cruelly pinched, a little before lunch, a maid knocked on the door, interrupting (saving me) from my time with my older sister.

  "Young Lady Sarka, a guest has arrived."

  "A guest? Today of all days?" asked Sarka, her expression fused as she gnced sideways at h and Tina, who seemed uo the side.

  Sarka allowed the maid to enter. A girl with brown hair aravagant horns on her head. I had never see the mansion, but that was to be expected, there were too many servants on the family grounds that I had never seen. There really are too many.

  "Coda? I thought Maki assigned you to the west building."

  "Yes, young dy, but today I was tasked with keeping an eye on the main mansion." Replied the maid, Coda, in a formal, dry voiot too respectful of her, but some are like that. If I had to guess, I'd say she's in the ral fa; being here just for the money.

  "I see. So, who is this unknown visitor?" my sister asked, letting the girl's straitude pass.

  "..." Coda was silent, giving Sarka a rather strange look, accusatory or fishy, if I had to guess. That attitude didn't please me at all, but I couldn't judge for now. There had to be some reason for it.

  "What's wrong?" asked Sarka sternly, surely notig the strange look on the maid's face.

  Coda did not answer immediately but remained silent for a few moments staring at Sarka ily, as if trying to analyze her. After a while, she seemed to clude, as she ged to a calmer expression.

  "She said her name was Nisire Burmont."

  "Nisire is here?!" cried Sarka, jumping up from the floor. Her face was full of surprise and disbelief. Someone who could surprise her like that could only be her rumored lover. Although I say rumored, teically only Sarka and Zenya have mentioned her. But it still ts!

  "Yes. What should I do young dy?"

  Sarka was thinking for quite a while, with a nervous and somewhat desperate expression. The sudden visit had put her in a bad situation. It hadn't even been a week since she had been grounded, and her girlfriend showing up like this could well make her punishment worse. And if we take into at how Maki warned her before she left not to do anything she shouldn't... I don't want to know what she'll do to her if she finds out.

  Finally, my sister seemed to e to a decision, ging to a serious expression. She picked me up off the floor and began giving immediate orders.

  "Coda, go find Kine, seo find my parents, and have her inform them of what just happened. Make sure they know that this was equally ued for me. Then go and attend to whatever Nisire needs."

  "Right away." The maid said, giving a bow and heading out the door immediately. Sarka turo Tina and handed me to her.

  "Go and put something fortable on her. Preferably something not too fshy, but nice. I wao look cute when I introduce her to Nisire." Tina nodded and took me in her arms and then walked out of the pce, leaving my sister and her maid behind.

  As we were leaving, I barely mao hear Sarka say a few words to her maid. She asked something about whether it was a good idea to "leave it out in the open", but I couldn't hear anything beyond that.

  Ba my "room" Tina immediately got to work and for quite some time, she was going through several of the outfits I had, choosing a simple aqua-green one. Uhe others I normally wore, this one did have sleeves, although the fabri these was sheer. It had a big white bow at the back, and to match that I wore some nice white shoes.

  After making sure that nothing else was missing, we left immediately.

  We walked through the long and byrinthine corridors, finally reag the waiting room area, where we received the guests. Standing in front of the door was Coda, who nodded and opehe door for us immediately.

  The first thing I saw wheered was my sister sittio a pretty brown-skinned girl. A tan tomboy with blue eyes, of which her pupil was an X giving them a very exotic appearance, added to her beautiful blue hair.

  Wait, was that really hair?

  I froze as I realized that what I thought was hair was movily, twisting slightly from side to side as if it were alive. It was stra somehow fasating. They looked like... tentacles...

  What the heck is that? It looks so cool!

  Tina pulled me towards them, and notig my inteare, the girl looked unfortable. She gave my sister several looks as if asking for help.

  "Hahaha, what's wrong?"

  "I... uh... I'm not very good with babies." Said the brown-skinned girl. Her smile was stiff and her voifortable, as if my presence was something she couldn't deal with.

  "You don't like them?" my sister asked, surprised by her girlfriend's statement.

  "N-no, it's not that. I... I don't know what to do with them, okay? I feel like... they expeething from me, and I don't know what to do with that."

  Sarka started ughing at those words as she stood up and took me in her arms, then pulled me close tirlfriend, to hold me. She seemed hesitant, but my sister's calm, amused smile seemed to be enough of a deterrent to accept.

  I could sense her disfort, seeing how badly she looked as if she was having a hard time. Her expression seemed to represent how her mind was w tirelessly to find a way to deal with me.

  "H-hello baby... uhm... hello..." She stammered as she gave me a very strange smile. Internally I was ughing out loud at such a funny face. Behind me, I could hear Sarka trying to hold back her ughter.

  I felt a little bad for her, so I decided to do something.

  I poio her hair, intending to ask her to let me touch it. I don't know if that was disrespectful or offensive, but whatever, right? I was a baby so those things could be fiven.

  The girl mao uand my iions quite easily, although she hesitated for a moment whether she should let me get close to her head. She looked at Sarka for help again, and my sister seemed to give her the go-ahead because she immediately pulled me close to her head.

  Very carefully; somewhat frightened I must admit, I touched her hair. At first, I thought it would feel, somehow, like toug a squid, wet and slippery, but actually, it was simir to toug slime. Well, not so much. The texture was simir, but uhe slime of my previous world, it didn't give a cold and somewhat icky feeling. It was warm and pleasant. Very.

  The girl still seemed a little nervous about having a baby toug her head, probably worried that I would grab her hair/tentacles and pull them hard, but, I am a polite and kind girl. I would never do something like that...unless provoked. Zenya taught me an important lesson that time ihroom. To be careful and mindful of what I do.

  I ran my haly over her head and it was a very pleasant experie was so much fun to feel those tentacles touch my hands aangled in my fingers. Their touch, like mine, was quite gentle and careful, which made me ugh happily.

  That sound made the girl visibly rex, to the point that she began to smile at my as.

  Having satiated my curiosity and amusement, I babbled towards her, hoping she would uand that I had had enough. Luckily, she was a girl who uood my iions quite well. She lowered me onto her p immediately. She was now looking at me with a much more rexed and cheerful expression.

  One of her hands nded on my legs, so I took the opportunity to grab it and py with it. A sudden feeling of wanting to pare them to my father's rose inside me.

  Dad had huge, hard, calloused hands, derived from a lifetime of training with the sword and different types of ons and fighting styles. They were warm hands that I enjoyed having caress my head.

  This girl's hands were much smaller and softer too, but I also noticed those marks of hard work. Or at least that's what I like to call it. The beginnings of callus formation, small scars in different pces on her palm and fingers. The hand of someone who had to do many types of manual bor and most likely a lot of ons training as well. From the looks of her, was she some kind of swordserhaps she was still in an appreage.

  While I was happily pying with her hand, the girl was chatting with Sarka, equally happy.

  "It's... surprising how calm your sister is. And quite adorable I might add." Said the tan-skinned girl with a soft giggle.

  "Right? Orinthya is an amazing little sister. She's kind and knows how to behave very well. Did you know she hardly ever cries? I've only seen her do it a couple of times, and although it worries me a little, she's so cheerful that I'd rather she never has to cry if it means I keep seeing that cute smile on her little face." Decred my sister proudly. I used her girlfriend's hand to cover my face, pretending to py with it, though I was hiding my face that I felt it was blushing.

  I didn't know babies were capable of blushing with embarrassment at such a young age, but I was doing it at that instant. My heart leaped with joy to hear my sister's praise.

  To think that she had worried about me n was a surprise, but to know that she thought that way about keeping my smile...I have been blessed with a loving family, haven't I?

  ...

  Was this real? It may not seem so, but I sometimes worry that all this "love" I have been receiving from my family, is nothing more than an illusion, or even something temporary.

  Sometimes it terrifies me to think that once I grow up, this amity will simply ge and I will be treated indifferently, or worse, treated just as I was in my previous life.

  Am I perhaps overthinking this? I feel like I'm being a bitch for thinking that way, but you bme me? No matter how receptive I am to their feelings, there's always that sense of distrust, born out of all those years of indifferend rese.

  Suddenly I felt some ges on my head that brought me out of my ive thoughts immediately. My sister's girlfriend used her other hand to caress me while she had a small smile on her face.

  Yes, she certainly is a good girl. Well, I'll allow you to be with my sister.

  I thought, enjoying the feel of her hand in my hair.

  After a while of being patted on the head, the girl stopped, ging to a more serious, but rexed expression.

  "Sarka, I think it's best if I tell you my reason for ing, especially sihis is extremely important."

  Sarka nodded silently, ging to her more serious expression, but looking nervous at her girlfriend's words.

  The girl sighed wearily, as if just thinking about the situation had exhausted her pletely.

  There was a straension imosphere as Nisire looked at my sister, with a worried face.

  "Sarka. There was a... problem, and I don't know what to do."

  "What kind of problem, is it something serious?"

  The girl lowered her head, lookied. Her shoulders slumped and her voice ged to a sad tone.

  "It could be if I don't find a solution." She replied, taking her head in her hands and taking deep breaths, trying to calm what seemed like a severe headache.

  Sarka for her part looked even more worried by the girl's words. It seemed that there was something bad in how she was ag.

  "Nisire first expin to me what happened. We won't solve anything if I don't know anything." Sarka said, bringing her hand tirl's back, hoping to fort her.

  She seemed to rex with my sister's as, improving her mood a bit.

  Nisire began to slowly ret the events of the past few days.

  After she had returo her residen Zenya's birthday, her father called her into his office. t Burmont had discovered the retionship betweewo and had begun to interrogate her, extrag every little scrap of information he could.

  While Nisire tried to hide and deny many things, her father was easily able to unravel most of them, thanks to the fact that some of the escorts apanying the girl had spilled the beans about her retionship with my sister.

  Worried, and with no escape, Nisire had no choice but to speak.

  You may ask, and what's the problem with all this? This world doesn't seem to have a problem with this kind of retionship, does it? That is correct. And they are firming that fae. But no, that's not the problem.

  Acc to Nisire, her father had tasked her to fit in with the noble society of the capital, to learn and join the important social circles to form a base on which he could ehe tral politics of the empire. Her options were for her to make iial friends in society, or to find a potential partner close to her rank of earl.

  Of course, the girl had no iion of marrying just any stranger, just like that, let alone for mere political reasons. But she had the good, or bad luck, to meet my sister. The heiress of the Baelian house, a Ducal house.

  Our rank, while only tws above that of an earl, was more than enough to make the head of the Burmonts nervous, especially given the history and power our house possessed.

  t Burmont looked worried, not because he had made es with a ducal house; which should rather have made him happy. No, it was the fact that it was his sixth daughter who got it. That was his real .

  His pn was for his daughter Nisire, who had ehe capital as a knight's appreo make es with the sons of other ts' houses, if she was lucky. He hoped that she would make good retions among the families of the other knight's apprentices, perhaps some Barons or a vist. He did not expect his daughter to befriend the heiress of a ducal house... let aloo propose marriage to such a girl. He expected that his sed daughter, who had arrived along with them, would be the one who would have marriage proposals from the important families.

  t Burmont pressed Nisire until he discovered that the retionship betweewo of them had barely formed and that our parents were still unaware of it. With a relieved smile, the t ordered Nisire to end the retionship with my sister and to immediately introduce her older sister to Sarka, who would now be the oo marry my sister.

  Needless to say, this infuriated Nisire, provoking a verbal fight betweewo of them. The girl had ftly refused to follow his orders, and the t, furious, had her locked in her room until she "came to her senses" and fulfilled her duty to her family.

  And, lo and behold, having escaped from her residehanks to her maid who could not accept the t's attitude towards the situation.

  "..."

  "..."

  The atmosphere had turned gloomy the instant the tan-skinned girl finished expining her situation. Sadness reflected on her face, with slumped shoulders and head down. I could only see her bitter and angry expression, thanks to the fact that I was still on her p.

  Sarka, oher hand, was visibly angry. Her hands that were resting in her p were ched tightly into a fist. It was a silent anger. Not because she didn't have something to say - HA! Not at all, I was sure she had plenty to say, but because she was f herself not to say anything. I could feel it. She bit her lip in frustration.

  *Knoock*

  The sudden banging on the doht them back from their inner musings.

  h immediately moved to ahe door and, after a quick versation with someoside, closed the door as she made her way to Sarka.

  The two had a versation in whispers, ohat I couldn't hear anything of, but which, from Sarka's expression, I could tell was something she didn't like to know.

  My older sister exhaled sadly befetting up and taking me from her girlfriend's p.

  The girl looked at her fused by the act, but before I could even ask her what was going on, my sister spoke to her.

  "The maid I sent to warn my parents just returned. Only one of them was free so she could return immediately..."

  "Only one? Who?"

  "...Maki."

  Oh... they're screwed.

  FivesZeta