As day turned to night, the mention of the rebel army made Yua Lafalis think back on the past.
Yua had always been alone.
She doesn’t have a single true friend, all the children she’s introduced to only see as a princess, not a person.
Her parents were always busy, and her two elder brothers never had time to spare for her.
The servants were instructed to play with her, but because of their relationship as master and servant, it was never true friendship.
Yua hated being alone.
She was lonely.
She wanted to make friends and play together every day, like the other children.
“Hey, why am I always alone?”
The young Yua talked to Ku-chan, her stuffed teddy bear, just to fill in the unbearable silence.
But, in turn, doing this made others think she was a strange young child so they avoided getting close even more.
It was a vicious cycle.
That was the situation she found herself in.
While Yua was playing with Ku-chan alone in the garden of the royal castle one day, a girl spoke to her.
“What are you doing?”
A girl with black hair that was tinged with a hint of blue and piercing eyes. Her first impression was that this girl was scary.
“I-I’m playing with Ku-chan…”
Panicking and slightly frightened by the girl, Yua holds up the stuffed teddy bear.
The girl with the scary eyes looked slightly troubled.
“You don’t have to act so scared, you know. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Ah, um, I… I’m sorry…”
The girl shrugged her shoulders.
“So please, don’t be so frightened, okay?”
The scary-eyed girl sat down in front of Yua, and took the teddy bear from her. The girl ignored the startled “Ah!” from Yua. Yua feared what she was going to do.
“Hmm, are you always playing alone like this? Don’t you have any friends?”
“Uu…”
She had hit the bullseye, and Yua looked downcast.
“Th…that’s not true…”
Yua said, dejectedly.
“You know, a princess shouldn’t tell lies. Here.”
Returning the stuffed teddy bear to Yua, the girl stood up energetically. That bluish black hair was caught by the wind and spread behind her.
“Well then, I have to go now, my sister is waiting for me.”
“Ah… Oh, okay…”
“I’ll come back and talk to you again sometime.”
The girl took the ends of her dress and curtseyed elegantly. Then, her hems fluttering behind her, she raced away. But she stopped just at the edge of the garden as if she suddenly remembered something, and shouted back to Yua.
“Ah, I didn’t introduce myself yet! My name is Veena Lilyfall! Please feel free to call me Veena!”
As she turned to resume running, the scary-eyed girl gave a booming laugh.
Why did she even come here? Yua wondered as she tilted her head.
That girl had passed like a storm.
When she left, the same familiar silence fell again. But, for some reason, she feels lonelier than she usually does when embroiled in it.
That was the first meeting between Yua and Veena.
“Good day, I’m back again.”
In the same garden, they met for a second time. Yua was playing alone again when Veena showed up making a great deal of noise.
“Alone as usual, I see? Well, it can’t be helped, I’ll play dolls with you today.”
She held out a doll in front of her, and Yua involuntarily let out a shriek.
Well, it’s only natural. The doll she held out was so frightening looking that if an adult saw it in the night when going to the bathroom they’d have the same reaction.
The doll had a massive head, with only a few short threads of string serving as hair. Its mouth and eyes are sown on with thread and buttons, but the mouth is full of loose thread and the sewn on button eyes seem to be close to falling off.
The doll wears a white one piece, and in various places on the body cotton can be seen through tears in the fabric.
Any way you look at it, it was a terrifying doll.
“What do you think? My big brother made it for me! Isn’t it cute?”
Veena shows off her doll with a big smile. But, children are brutally honest.
Yua expressed her feelings bluntly.
“No way, it’s disgusting.”
“Wha-!?”
Veena looked absolutely aghast. And Yua immediately regretted saying anything. Although she had brought a doll with her and offered to play, she had said something so rude.
That’s what Yua thought. But,
“Fufu, it only makes sense that children don’t understand how great it is, I guess the princess is still only a little kid.”
She didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, she seems to be bragging about her doll even more. No matter what she says though, it’s hard to see it as anything other than a really creepy doll.
Not long after introducing that scary doll, they had to part again.
It was only their second time meeting, but she felt like she was beginning to understand Veena.
But on their third meeting, Veena seemed like a completely different person. She was brought to a social occasion by her parents, and approached Yua who was becoming a wallflower.
“It’s a pleasure to see you, Yua-sama.”
“Eh…”
At first, she didn’t recognize her. The young girl who already exuded an air of bewitching beauty, wearing a jet black dress with a small opening in the abdomen. Hey long hair is tied up, and she is wearing various pieces of jewelry. But her own presence wasn’t overshadowed by all the jewelry.
“Veena… Is that you?”
“Yes.”
For a moment, Yua is speechless. But Veena-sama broke the silence. Her usual attitude is completely gone, she was now playing the part of the respectable noblewoman.
“Yua-sama, I will excuse myself for now. I have to greet everyone else also.”
With a small nod, Veena departs elegantly, and it’s as if time stopped flowing around her. Yua simply can’t tear her eyes away. She is completely absorbed. Yua watched until Veena disappeared into the crowds.
The next time she met Veena, she had gone back to how she always was. But this time, there was one thing that was different.
“I brought my little sister with me today.”
Behind her, there was a younger girl who stared at Yua in curiosity.
When Yua met her gaze, she let out a yelp and hid behind Veena’s skirt. The girl was like a small animal.
“Go on, say hello.”
Given a gentle push by Veena, the girl took a deep breath. She must also be uncomfortable around strangers. Yua understood how she felt.
“U-um… My name ish Leena L-Lillyfall! I-I hope we can get along…”
The tone of her voice starts shakily, and then eventually becomes inaudible.
“Well? Isn’t my little sister cute?”
Veena puffed out her chest and stroked Leena’s head. “Ehehe…”, Leena smiles happily.
“She really is cute. It’s hard to imagine that you’re siblings.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I didn’t mean anything.”
“Mu…”
They met countless times after that.
Every time they met, she learned something new about Veena, and she was also becoming friends with Leena. Before she knew it, the time she spent on her own was drastically decreasing.
She wasn’t lonely anymore.
As day turned to night, the mention of the rebel army made Yua Lafalis think back on the past.
Yua had always been alone.
She doesn’t have a single true friend, all the children she’s introduced to only see as a princess, not a person.
Her parents were always busy, and her two elder brothers never had time to spare for her.
The servants were instructed to play with her, but because of their relationship as master and servant, it was never true friendship.
Yua hated being alone.
She was lonely.
She wanted to make friends and play together every day, like the other children.
“Hey, why am I always alone?”
The young Yua talked to Ku-chan, her stuffed teddy bear, just to fill in the unbearable silence.
But, in turn, doing this made others think she was a strange young child so they avoided getting close even more.
It was a vicious cycle.
That was the situation she found herself in.
While Yua was playing with Ku-chan alone in the garden of the royal castle one day, a girl spoke to her.
“What are you doing?”
A girl with black hair that was tinged with a hint of blue and piercing eyes. Her first impression was that this girl was scary.
“I-I’m playing with Ku-chan…”
Panicking and slightly frightened by the girl, Yua holds up the stuffed teddy bear.
The girl with the scary eyes looked slightly troubled.
“You don’t have to act so scared, you know. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Ah, um, I… I’m sorry…”
The girl shrugged her shoulders.
“So please, don’t be so frightened, okay?”
The scary-eyed girl sat down in front of Yua, and took the teddy bear from her. The girl ignored the startled “Ah!” from Yua. Yua feared what she was going to do.
“Hmm, are you always playing alone like this? Don’t you have any friends?”
“Uu…”
She had hit the bullseye, and Yua looked downcast.
“Th…that’s not true…”
Yua said, dejectedly.
“You know, a princess shouldn’t tell lies. Here.”
Returning the stuffed teddy bear to Yua, the girl stood up energetically. That bluish black hair was caught by the wind and spread behind her.
“Well then, I have to go now, my sister is waiting for me.”
“Ah… Oh, okay…”
“I’ll come back and talk to you again sometime.”
The girl took the ends of her dress and curtseyed elegantly. Then, her hems fluttering behind her, she raced away. But she stopped just at the edge of the garden as if she suddenly remembered something, and shouted back to Yua.
“Ah, I didn’t introduce myself yet! My name is Veena Lilyfall! Please feel free to call me Veena!”
As she turned to resume running, the scary-eyed girl gave a booming laugh.
Why did she even come here? Yua wondered as she tilted her head.
That girl had passed like a storm.
When she left, the same familiar silence fell again. But, for some reason, she feels lonelier than she usually does when embroiled in it.
That was the first meeting between Yua and Veena.
“Good day, I’m back again.”
In the same garden, they met for a second time. Yua was playing alone again when Veena showed up making a great deal of noise.
“Alone as usual, I see? Well, it can’t be helped, I’ll play dolls with you today.”
She held out a doll in front of her, and Yua involuntarily let out a shriek.
Well, it’s only natural. The doll she held out was so frightening looking that if an adult saw it in the night when going to the bathroom they’d have the same reaction.
The doll had a massive head, with only a few short threads of string serving as hair. Its mouth and eyes are sown on with thread and buttons, but the mouth is full of loose thread and the sewn on button eyes seem to be close to falling off.
The doll wears a white one piece, and in various places on the body cotton can be seen through tears in the fabric.
Any way you look at it, it was a terrifying doll.
“What do you think? My big brother made it for me! Isn’t it cute?”
Veena shows off her doll with a big smile. But, children are brutally honest.
Yua expressed her feelings bluntly.
“No way, it’s disgusting.”
“Wha-!?”
Veena looked absolutely aghast. And Yua immediately regretted saying anything. Although she had brought a doll with her and offered to play, she had said something so rude.
That’s what Yua thought. But,
“Fufu, it only makes sense that children don’t understand how great it is, I guess the princess is still only a little kid.”
She didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, she seems to be bragging about her doll even more. No matter what she says though, it’s hard to see it as anything other than a really creepy doll.
Not long after introducing that scary doll, they had to part again.
It was only their second time meeting, but she felt like she was beginning to understand Veena.
But on their third meeting, Veena seemed like a completely different person. She was brought to a social occasion by her parents, and approached Yua who was becoming a wallflower.
“It’s a pleasure to see you, Yua-sama.”
“Eh…”
At first, she didn’t recognize her. The young girl who already exuded an air of bewitching beauty, wearing a jet black dress with a small opening in the abdomen. Hey long hair is tied up, and she is wearing various pieces of jewelry. But her own presence wasn’t overshadowed by all the jewelry.
“Veena… Is that you?”
“Yes.”
For a moment, Yua is speechless. But Veena-sama broke the silence. Her usual attitude is completely gone, she was now playing the part of the respectable noblewoman.
“Yua-sama, I will excuse myself for now. I have to greet everyone else also.”
With a small nod, Veena departs elegantly, and it’s as if time stopped flowing around her. Yua simply can’t tear her eyes away. She is completely absorbed. Yua watched until Veena disappeared into the crowds.
The next time she met Veena, she had gone back to how she always was. But this time, there was one thing that was different.
“I brought my little sister with me today.”
Behind her, there was a younger girl who stared at Yua in curiosity.
When Yua met her gaze, she let out a yelp and hid behind Veena’s skirt. The girl was like a small animal.
“Go on, say hello.”
Given a gentle push by Veena, the girl took a deep breath. She must also be uncomfortable around strangers. Yua understood how she felt.
“U-um… My name ish Leena L-Lillyfall! I-I hope we can get along…”
The tone of her voice starts shakily, and then eventually becomes inaudible.
“Well? Isn’t my little sister cute?”
Veena puffed out her chest and stroked Leena’s head. “Ehehe…”, Leena smiles happily.
“She really is cute. It’s hard to imagine that you’re siblings.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I didn’t mean anything.”
“Mu…”
They met countless times after that.
Every time they met, she learned something new about Veena, and she was also becoming friends with Leena. Before she knew it, the time she spent on her own was drastically decreasing.
She wasn’t lonely anymore.
