Lilia had always thought that Norn and Aisha were different children from the moment they were born.
Both girls had been born in the same house.
They had opened their eyes around the same time, eaten at the same table, and grown up hearing the voices of the same people.
Zenith held them both without distinction.
Paul, too, had repeatedly said that he would not treat them differently.
And Eugene seemed never to have considered the difference in their birth when making judgments about them.
Even so, the two girls were different.
Aisha looked around before she cried.
When she was hungry, she raised her voice at once, but first she looked at the face of whoever was nearby. Only after confirming that someone had noticed her, and how long she would have to wait, did she begin to cry.
After feeding, she went quietly to sleep.
When she heard an unfamiliar sound, rather than being startled, she turned her head toward it.
When someone spoke to her, she watched the movement of their lips for a long time.
As though she did not understand, but wanted to.
Norn, on the other hand, cried first.
She cried when she was hungry, cried when she was sleepy, and cried whenever Zenith was out of sight.
She smiled as soon as someone held her, but cried again when she was put down.
Sometimes even knowing the reason did not solve anything, and sometimes she stopped crying for no apparent reason at all.
To Lilia, Aisha was an easy child to understand.
Norn was difficult to understand.
And Eugene appeared to think the same.
"Aisha currently requires sleep."
Whenever Aisha began to fuss, Eugene was almost never wrong about the cause.
"Enough time has passed since her last feeding. Her body temperature is normal. She has been overstimulated."
When they followed his words, darkened the room, and held her quietly, Aisha soon fell asleep.
The same method did not work on Norn.
"Her body temperature is normal," Eugene said.
Norn continued crying in his arms.
"She is not hungry, and there is no issue with her diaper."
"Could she be sleepy?" Lilia asked.
Eugene looked down at Norn’s face.
Though tears streamed down her cheeks, Norn refused to close her eyes.
"She is resisting sleep."
"I can see that much too."
"Then there must be another cause."
Holding Norn, Eugene looked around the room for a while.
The window was shut.
The lamplight was not too bright.
Zenith was holding Aisha, while Paul had gone out on patrol.
There was nothing in the room that did not belong there.
Eugene looked down at Norn.
"What is the problem?"
Norn was not old enough to answer.
She only cried louder.
Eugene’s brow drew together, just slightly.
Watching his expression, Lilia had an odd thought.
Eugene had never made that face even when dealing with monsters.
Nor had he looked that way while studying the sky before a storm or evading Paul’s sword.
Yet before a single child who could not explain why she was upset, he occasionally seemed at a loss.
"Let me hold her."
Lilia held out her hands.
Eugene handed Norn over.
Even in Lilia’s arms, Norn continued to cry.
Zenith approached and took the child from her.
Then the crying subsided a little.
"You missed your mother, didn’t you?"
Zenith kissed Norn on the forehead.
Eugene asked, "She was not out of your sight for long."
"She can still miss me."
"Your location was inside this house."
"Knowing where someone is and wanting to see them are different things."
Eugene did not answer.
Zenith smiled as she gently rocked Norn.
"For this little one, being held right now matters more than knowing where her mother is."
For a while, Eugene watched Zenith and Norn.
His gaze resembled the one he wore when analyzing the workings of a spell he had never seen before.
But this time, he did not appear to have learned anything.
---
Aisha rolled over first.
Then she crawled first.
Aisha was also the first to pull herself upright by gripping the furniture.
Where Norn cried after falling once, Aisha made no sound even after falling three times. She braced herself on the floor, paused for a moment, then stood again.
Every time Lilia saw it, warmth rose in her chest.
She was her daughter.
A child Lilia had borne after entering Zenith and Paul’s household.
A child who lived through the same days as the legitimate daughter, yet could never stand in the same place.
Paul had said he would not discriminate between them.
Zenith loved Aisha as though she were her own daughter.
But Lilia knew that the world did not run on promises alone.
Norn was the legitimate daughter.
Aisha was a servant’s daughter.
They might laugh together in the same room now, but as they grew older, people’s eyes would change.
That meant Aisha had to do better.
She had to learn faster.
She could not become a burden to anyone.
She had to remember why Lilia had been allowed to remain in this house.
The day Aisha stood up, Lilia was happier than anyone.
Yet her next thought came immediately.
Next, she would have to teach her how to walk.
And how to put out her hands when she fell.
When she began to speak, she would have to teach her manners first.
Even if she surpassed the legitimate daughter, she would have to teach her not to boast.
Eugene had no difficulty handling Aisha.
When he held out his hand, Aisha grasped his finger.
"Stand up."
Aisha put strength into her knees.
"Left foot forward."
Though she was too young to understand the words, she watched his voice and gestures and moved accordingly.
One step.
Then another.
Holding Eugene’s hand, Aisha did not fall.
Lilia smiled without realizing it.
"That is wonderful."
"Her physical development is within the normal range."
"That is not what I mean."
Lilia picked Aisha up.
"It is thanks to you teaching her so well."
"It would be excessive to say that I taught her. I merely guided her movements."
Though Eugene said that, Aisha reached out toward him.
She wanted to be put down again.
"Aisha likes you," Lilia said.
Eugene looked at Aisha.
"It appears she has learned that she can walk steadily by using me."
"That is not how one explains liking someone."
"There is no difference in the result."
Lilia started to argue, then stopped.
Perhaps there really was no difference to Eugene.
Aisha rarely cried when she was with him as well.
She watched his gestures, and she did not touch things he had put down carelessly. Once he stopped her from doing something, she never repeated it.
She could not yet speak properly, but she seemed to be trying to determine what others expected of her.
Lilia was proud of that.
Yet sometimes, the sight pierced her heart strangely.
Perhaps because Aisha resembled her too much.
Always looking first for what she had to do in order to be allowed to remain.
Trying to accomplish what was needed before anyone praised her.
Learning far too early that holding back tears was useful.
But Lilia did not dwell on such thoughts for long.
It was a good thing for a child to be clever.
After all, the world allowed clever people a few more choices.
---
Norn was late to walk as well.
Even once Aisha could move fairly steadily around the room, Norn still clung to furniture as she went.
Before taking a single step, she looked down at the floor again and again.
When told to let go, she shook her head.
"Norn."
Paul spread his arms.
"Come to Daddy."
Norn looked at Paul.
He was only a step away.
If she released her hand and walked, she could reach him.
Yet Norn remained still, gripping the leg of the table.
"It’s all right. Even if you fall, Daddy will catch you."
Paul smiled.
Norn bit her lip.
Watching, Aisha let go of the table first.
Then she passed beside Norn and walked to Paul.
"Oh, Aisha!"
Paul lifted Aisha into his arms.
"Well done!"
Aisha laughed aloud.
Norn watched the scene.
Her expression crumpled in an instant.
"Aaah...!"
Norn began to cry.
"Huh?" Paul asked, flustered. "Why are you crying? Norn, you can come here too."
Norn only cried harder.
When Paul put Aisha down and tried to approach her, Norn turned away.
She buried her face against the table and wept.
"What did I do wrong?"
Paul turned to Lilia.
Lilia could not answer.
It was not wrong to praise Aisha.
Nor was it anyone’s fault that Norn could not walk yet.
But to Norn, those two things did not seem separate.
Zenith approached and stroked Norn’s back.
"It’s all right. You can take your time."
"Don’t want..."
The clumsy words came from Norn’s mouth.
"Norn?"
Startled, Zenith looked at her daughter’s face.
"Don’t want... Aisha, don’t want..."
The room fell silent.
As though she understood her own name, Aisha looked at Norn.
There was neither anger nor sadness on her face.
Only eyes that did not understand why someone had said they disliked her.
Lilia’s heart hardened.
Should she scold Norn?
Should she teach her that she must not say such things to Aisha?
But she did not know how to explain it to a child only just beginning to speak.
Eugene approached Norn.
"Do you want Aisha to disappear?"
"Eugene!"
Zenith stopped him in alarm.
But Norn shook her head through her tears.
"No..."
"The meaning of your answer is unclear," Eugene said. "Do you dislike Aisha as a person? Do you dislike that Aisha walked first? Or do you dislike that Father praised Aisha?"
Norn did not understand.
Of course she did not.
Eugene knew that, yet he did not stop asking.
"Did you wish Aisha had not been able to walk?"
Norn shook her head.
"Did you wish Father had not held Aisha?"
Norn paused.
Then, very faintly, she nodded.
Paul’s expression became awkward.
Eugene asked again, "Did you want him to hold Norn instead?"
Crying, Norn stretched both arms toward him.
"Hold me..."
Eugene looked at her.
Then he bent down and picked her up.
Paul’s outstretched arms froze in empty air.
Norn wound both arms around Eugene’s neck.
Her crying did not stop immediately.
But it slowly grew quieter.
"I am not Father," Eugene said.
Norn did not answer.
"This is not the result you wanted."
Norn buried her face in his shoulder.
Eugene stood still for a moment.
"Then why are you stopping your crying?"
No one answered him.
Zenith covered her mouth as though trying not to laugh.
Paul still held his arms up awkwardly.
Lilia held Aisha in her arms.
Aisha was watching Norn in Eugene’s embrace.
She did not appear jealous.
Rather, she looked as though she were trying to learn something.
"I don’t think what Norn wanted was for Aisha not to be praised," Zenith said. "She just wanted someone to hold her too."
"She did not ask directly."
"She still cannot speak very well."
"Then is crying a means of conveying a request?"
"Sometimes it is."
"And sometimes it is not?"
"Yes."
Eugene’s expression stiffened slightly.
"That is inefficient."
Paul burst out laughing.
"If every emotion were efficient, the world would be easier."
Eugene looked at Paul.
"Then why do people not improve them?"
Paul stopped laughing.
His face was that of a man who could not find an answer.
Zenith spoke in his stead.
"Because some things do not need improving."
"Even crying, feeling jealous, and hurting others?"
"Those are things we have to teach."
"What should be permitted, and from what point should it be corrected?"
This time, Zenith could not answer at once either.
Unconcerned with the adults’ conversation, Norn held tight to Eugene’s clothes.
Eugene looked down at her small hand.
As though the answer to his question might be found there.
---
The two girls first called Eugene by name only a few days apart.
Aisha was the first to speak.
"Eu... gene."
Her pronunciation was not precise.
But there was no doubt whom she meant.
Lilia could not hide her delight.
"Well done, Aisha."
After studying her mother’s expression, Aisha said it again.
"Eugene."
This time, it was a little clearer.
Eugene looked down at Aisha.
"Yes."
As though confirming that she had called him correctly, Aisha smiled.
Norn watched from beside them.
A few days later, Norn called Eugene too.
"Sister."
At first, Lilia did not know whom she meant.
Zenith looked around as well.
There was no one in the house whom Norn could call sister.
Aisha was the same age, and Sylphiette had not come by yet.
"Sister," Norn said again.
This time, she stretched both arms toward Eugene.
Everyone in the room turned to look at him.
Eugene looked at Norn.
"There is an error in your identification of the subject."
Norn did not understand what he meant.
"Sister."
"I am male."
"Sister!"
Norn shouted louder.
Zenith burst out laughing.
"Norn, Eugene is not your sister. He is your brother."
"Sister."
"Brother."
"Sister!"
Norn’s face already looked ready to crumple into tears.
Zenith looked at Eugene, troubled.
"Should we correct her?"
Eugene observed Norn for a moment.
"She is accurately identifying me through that form of address."
"That is true, but..."
"There is no issue with communication."
"That isn’t the issue."
"If I do not find it unpleasant, there is no need to correct it."
Eugene picked Norn up.
Seemingly satisfied, Norn clutched his collar.
"Sister."
"Yes."
From that day onward, Eugene became Norn’s sister.
Paul tried to teach her to say brother a few times, then gave up.
Zenith found it amusing.
At first, Lilia thought it should be corrected, but since Eugene himself did not mind, she said no more.
Only Aisha continued looking back and forth between Norn and Eugene for some time.
Then one day, she said to Eugene, "Elder brother."
Lilia looked at her daughter in surprise.
Though it was not perfectly clear, Aisha had unmistakably chosen a different form of address.
Eugene gave her the same answer.
"Yes."
Norn called him sister.
Aisha called him elder brother.
They were both calling the same person, and Eugene rejected neither.
To Lilia, it seemed to reveal the difference between the two children exactly.
Aisha had learned the correct name.
Norn had given him the name she wanted.
---
That night, Norn cried again.
At first it was only a soft fussing.
But though Zenith held and soothed her, careful not to wake the sleeping Aisha, the crying would not stop.
She had no fever.
She was not hungry.
It did no good when Lilia held her, nor when Paul made silly faces.
"Sister..."
Norn spoke between sobs.
Everyone looked at Eugene.
He was in one corner of the room, reading a letter Rudeus Greyrat had sent.
He had already read it several times.
He folded the paper, set it aside, and approached Norn.
When he took her from Zenith’s arms, her crying weakened a little.
"Why did you call for me?"
"Eugene," Zenith sighed. "Do you think she will answer if you ask like that?"
"Sister..." Norn said again.
Carrying her, Eugene left the room.
He went into a small room at the end of the hall and sat on the bed.
After hesitating for a moment, Lilia remained outside the door.
The door was not fully shut.
Through the narrow gap, she could see the two of them.
Eugene laid Norn down on the bed.
He covered her with a blanket and began to rise.
At that moment, Norn grabbed the hem of his clothes.
"Don’t go..."
Eugene stopped moving.
"I will interfere with your sleep."
"No."
"I am in the same building."
"Stay here."
"Is there a reason I must remain in this room?"
Norn could not answer.
Tears formed in her eyes again.
Eugene waited.
Ordinarily, he would have judged first that a child could not answer such a question.
But this time, he did not press her.
After a long while, Norn said in her clumsy voice, "Because you’re my sister..."
Eugene said nothing.
Norn did not release his clothes.
"That is not a reason."
"Sister..."
"There is no direct connection between being related to me and the condition that I must remain in this room."
Norn did not understand.
But perhaps thinking Eugene meant to leave, she began crying again.
Eugene did not stand.
He simply sat beside the bed.
Still gripping his clothes, Norn sniffled for some time.
Then, little by little, her eyes closed.
Even after her hand went limp, she did not entirely let go of the fabric.
Eugene did not remove her hand.
Lilia stood outside the door and watched for a long time.
If it had been Aisha, once Eugene explained why he had to leave the room, she would have tried to understand.
Or even if she did not understand, she would have held back her tears.
Norn did not understand.
She could not properly explain her reason, either.
She only said that he should stay because he was her sister.
And though Eugene said that was not a reason, he did not leave.
Aisha was an easy child for Eugene to understand.
Norn was difficult to understand.
Yet strangely, it was always Norn whom Eugene remained beside for longer.
Lilia quietly stepped away from the door.
Nothing in that room had been resolved.
Norn was still emotional, and Eugene still did not understand those emotions.
Even so, the child had fallen asleep.
Eugene had remained.
There seemed to be nights when that alone was enough.
----
When Lilia entered the room the next morning, Eugene was still sitting in the same place.
Norn lay curled up asleep on the bed. Her small hand was still gripping the hem of Eugene’s clothes.
Eugene had a book open in front of him.
The page was the same one he had been on when he entered.
"Were you here all night?"
"Norn did not let go."
It was both an answer and an explanation.
Lilia approached and gently loosened Norn’s fingers one by one. The child frowned in her sleep but did not wake.
"You may go now."
Eugene did not rise at once.
"Her sleep appears stable."
"Yes."
"What is the likelihood that she will wake again?"
"Everyone wakes eventually."
Eugene looked at Lilia.
Lilia tried not to laugh, but failed.
"That was not what you meant, was it?"
"No."
"She will be fine now. I will be beside her when she wakes."
Only after hearing that did Eugene stand.
As he smoothed the wrinkled hem of his clothes, there was neither weariness nor annoyance on his face. Only the expression of someone with an unresolved problem still before him.
Aisha stood outside the door.
There was no telling how long she had been there.
She looked alternately at Eugene and Norn on the bed.
"Aisha," Lilia called softly.
Aisha immediately straightened her posture.
"You are up early."
"Yes."
Her pronunciation was still that of a young child, but her answer was precise.
Aisha approached Eugene, but did not take his hand. Instead, she picked up the bookmark that had fallen on the floor and slipped it between the pages of his book.
Eugene saw it.
"Thank you."
The corners of Aisha’s lips lifted slightly.
---
A season changed, then another.
The letters from Roa arrived irregularly.
Sometimes a new letter arrived in less than a month, while at other times there was no word for nearly two months. They came later still during seasons of long rain or when monsters appeared on the roads.
But the letters kept coming.
Rudeus Greyrat’s handwriting gradually grew more natural than it had been in his first letter.
At first, there had only been carefully chosen sentences.
"Miss Eris is accepting her lessons."
"I have become somewhat accustomed to life with the Boreas Greyrat family."
"I am learning swordsmanship from Ghislaine as well."
As time passed, more unnecessary stories appeared.
Stories about how Eris hated arithmetic.
About how she had stepped on her own foot during dance lessons.
About teaching Ghislaine the Demon-God Language in exchange for learning the sword.
He even wrote that the meat served at the Boreas household table was tougher than the meat they ate in Buena Village.
Paul laughed over those parts for a long time.
"The boy is only now learning that home cooking is better than noble food."
"It does not say that," Eugene said as he looked down at the letter.
"It means roughly the same thing."
"Saying something is tough is not identical to saying it tastes bad."
"Reading letters that way takes all the fun out of them."
"Is the purpose of a letter amusement?"
Paul was about to answer something, then looked at Zenith.
Zenith smiled and took the letter from him.
"It is enough to know that Rudy is doing well."
The children did not understand all the contents of the letters.
But they knew the name Rudeus Greyrat.
Norn sat on Zenith’s lap and tried to touch the letter, while Aisha studied the writing closely from beside her.
"Brother?" Norn asked.
"Yes. Your eldest brother."
Zenith answered.
Norn turned toward Eugene.
"With sister?"
"They are twins," Lilia said.
Norn nodded with an expression that gave no indication whether she understood.
Aisha asked Eugene, "When will my elder brother return?"
Eugene checked the date written at the bottom of the letter.
"After the agreed term has ended."
"When?"
"Approximately two and a half years from now."
Norn held out her fingers.
Even after counting all five, she did not know what to do next and looked at Eugene.
"A lot?"
"It will feel like a long time to Norn."
Norn immediately frowned.
"Don’t want."
"The passage of time does not change according to preference."
"Sister, bring him back."
The room went quiet for a moment.
Paul cleared his throat.
Zenith smiled, though she watched Eugene’s face.
"Rudeus has work to do there."
"Sister can do it."
"If I do it in his stead, it will no longer be Rudeus’s task."
Norn did not understand the difference.
"Do it together."
Eugene did not answer.
Lilia found Norn’s words strange.
They were wrong.
Rudeus had decided to live in Roa by his own strength, and Eugene had accepted that.
But none of those circumstances mattered to a child.
If you missed someone, you brought them back. If something had to be done alone, then you did it together.
Norn did not yet know that the world was not so simple.
---
The difference between the two girls did not diminish even after they began learning letters.
Aisha rarely forgot a character she had been shown once.
When shown letters carved into wooden tiles, she remembered both their sounds and shapes. The next day, she picked out the letters she had learned in order, and a few days later, she could form simple words.
If Norn was taught three letters, she forgot about one of them.
She often confused letters with similar shapes, and even words she had read the day before did not remain perfectly in her memory the next day.
At first, Zenith taught them together.
But whenever Aisha answered first, Norn closed her mouth.
"What letter is this?" Zenith asked.
"Ra," Aisha answered immediately.
Norn started to speak, then stopped.
"That’s right. Aisha, you are so quick."
Aisha smiled at Zenith’s praise.
Norn set down the wooden tile in her hand.
Aisha answered the next question first as well.
At the third question, Norn stood up.
"Don’t want to."
"Norn?"
"It’s not fun."
"Let’s try just a little longer."
"No!"
Norn shoved the wooden tiles away.
Several scattered across the floor.
Lilia reflexively raised her voice.
"Norn."
Norn’s shoulders shrank.
"You must not treat things that way."
"Just let Aisha do it."
"You are learning together."
"Aisha knows everything!"
Tears filled Norn’s eyes.
Aisha began picking up the fallen wooden tiles one by one.
At the sight, Norn cried even harder.
"I hate Aisha!"
Aisha’s hand stopped.
Lilia felt her heart sink.
She could have dismissed it as the words of a child.
But Aisha understood what they meant now.
"Norn," Lilia began again.
Before she could say more, Eugene moved first.
He collected every wooden tile from the floor and divided them between the two girls.
Five for Aisha.
One for Norn.
"Aisha."
"Yes."
"Arrange these letters in the correct order."
Aisha studied the tiles.
The problem was more difficult than the one before.
Rather than moving her hand at once, she began considering the order.
Eugene turned to Norn.
"What is this letter?"
Norn did not answer.
"Don’t know."
"You learned it a moment ago."
"Don’t know."
"Then look again."
Eugene placed the tile closer to Norn.
Without even wiping away her tears, Norn stared at the letter.
Eugene did not tell her the answer.
Nor did he rush her.
After Aisha solved her entire problem, she looked toward Eugene, but he only gestured for her to wait.
For a long time, Norn’s lips moved soundlessly.
"...Ru."
"Think again."
Norn’s face looked ready to fall apart.
Eugene kept waiting.
"Ra..."
"Correct."
Norn raised her eyes.
"Right?"
"Yes."
"Did I do well?"
Eugene paused for the briefest moment.
"Yes. You did well."
Norn’s face brightened.
Forgetting the tears she had been shedding just moments ago, she lifted the wooden tile with both hands.
"I did it!"
"Yes."
"I know it too!"
"That fact has just been confirmed."
Norn leaned against Eugene’s knee and smiled.
Aisha was still seated before the word she had completed.
Lilia approached and stroked her daughter’s hair.
"Aisha did well too."
"Yes."
Her answer was the same as always.
But Aisha did not smile.
Eugene asked, "Why are you not satisfied?"
"I am satisfied."
"Your expression and answer do not match."
Aisha looked at Eugene and Norn.
"Did Norn do better?"
Lilia’s hand stopped.
Eugene answered immediately.
"No."
Norn’s smile faded a little.
"Comparing the difficulty of the assigned problems and the speed at which they were solved, Aisha achieved the better result."
Aisha nodded.
Her expression was that of someone who had heard the answer she ought to hear.
But Eugene had not finished.
"That does not mean Norn did poorly."
Both girls looked at Eugene.
"Aisha’s problem was one she already knew. Norn’s was one she did not know. Since they solved different problems, one person’s success does not become the other person’s failure."
Aisha did not seem to understand the words completely.
Neither did Norn.
But Lilia understood.
Aisha had always needed to do better.
Lilia had taught her that.
She had to be faster than the legitimate daughter, cleverer than other children, and more useful than anyone.
Eugene, meanwhile, had never placed the two girls on the same scale from the beginning.
He did not deny that Norn was less capable than Aisha.
Nor did he hide that Aisha was better than Norn.
Yet he never said that either one was less important than the other.
After that day’s lesson ended, Aisha arranged the wooden tiles by herself.
No one had told her to. She put them in letter order, then pushed them neatly into the corner of their box.
When Lilia approached to help, Aisha shook her head.
"I will do it."
"It would be all right to do it together."
"I can do it."
Aisha carried the box back to its place.
Then she looked at Eugene.
Only after confirming that he was watching did she release it.
---
After that, Aisha began helping with housework more often.
She sat beside Lilia while she folded laundry and folded small pieces of cloth.
When Zenith prepared the table, Aisha carried the utensils.
She picked up and hung Paul’s discarded coat.
When Eugene read, she found the books he had finished and returned them to the shelf.
No one forced her to do any of it.
More often, Lilia had to stop her.
"Aisha, I will do that."
"I can do it too."
"I know. But you can play right now."
Whenever she heard that, Aisha paused for a moment.
As though she were considering what the word play meant.
When Norn was told to play, she immediately ran outside.
She stepped in the dirt, picked up stones, and cried when she fell.
Aisha looked around first, trying to determine where and how she should play.
At first, Lilia believed that was simply her daughter’s cleverness.
But eventually, it began to trouble her.
Aisha seemed more uneasy when she could not find something to do than when she received praise.
The incident happened while they were preparing dinner.
Aisha was carrying a water pitcher to the table when she stumbled.
The pitcher fell from her hands.
Water spilled across the floor, and the ceramic pitcher struck the corner and shattered.
It was not a loud sound.
But Aisha froze in place.
Before Lilia could move, the child had dropped to her knees.
"I am sorry."
"Aisha."
"I will clean it up immediately."
She tried to pick up the broken shards with her bare hands.
Lilia hurriedly caught her wrist.
"No. You will hurt yourself."
"I broke it."
"Even so, you must not touch it with bare hands."
"I was wrong."
Aisha repeated the same words.
Her voice did not tremble.
She did not cry.
Yet her face was more frightened than that of a crying child.
Lilia knew that expression.
It was the face a servant wore while waiting for their master’s judgment after making a mistake.
The face Lilia herself had worn many times long ago.
"It is all right," Lilia said. "It is only one broken pitcher."
"I will get a new one."
"How will you get one, Aisha?"
"By working..."
Her voice trailed off.
She was still too young to earn money or go purchase a replacement herself.
That fact seemed to frighten her even more.
Eugene reached down to the floor.
The broken pieces and spilled water did not vanish with a gesture. Rather than using magic, he fetched a cloth and wiped up the water first.
"Aisha."
The child raised her head.
"This pitcher can be replaced."
"I broke it."
"That has been confirmed."
"I am sorry."
"Your apology has also been confirmed."
Eugene gathered the broken shards in one place.
"The losses caused by this incident are one ceramic pitcher and some water. No one was injured."
"Yes."
"Then the matter has been dealt with."
Aisha still did not stand.
"I will never do it again."
Eugene’s hand stopped.
"That is impossible."
Aisha’s eyes shook.
"While a person is alive, they cannot eliminate mistakes completely. They can only reduce mistakes of the same kind."
"Then I will be more careful."
"That is enough."
Aisha bit her lip.
"What if I become useless?"
Lilia stopped breathing.
From the other side of the table, Zenith slowly turned.
Paul’s smile disappeared as well.
Eugene looked at Aisha.
"Why is that assumption necessary?"
"If I cannot do anything..."
Aisha looked once at Lilia.
"Can I still stay here?"
In that moment, Lilia realized what she had taught her daughter.
She had told her she must be better than the legitimate daughter.
She had told her she had to be helpful.
She had told her never to forget the kindness of the family.
She had taught her to respect Norn and to become someone who could serve Rudeus Greyrat and Eugene.
Lilia had wanted Aisha to survive.
She had wanted her to become someone no one could easily cast aside, despite her precarious position.
But her daughter had understood those words differently.
That she could only remain in this house if she was useful.
"Aisha."
Lilia tried to embrace her.
Aisha did not move.
She was waiting for an answer.
Eugene spoke first.
"You may stay."
Aisha looked at him.
"Even if I cannot do anything?"
"The loss of ability is not a condition for the termination of a family relationship."
"Why?"
Eugene could not answer immediately.
He always demanded reasons.
He distinguished what should be protected, what actions should be allowed, and who ought to bear what responsibility.
But this time, he could not explain the basis for the sentence he had spoken himself.
"Because you are already family," Eugene finally said. "That fact does not change because you broke one pitcher."
Only then did tears fall from Aisha’s eyes.
Lilia pulled the child close as she began to cry silently.
"I am sorry."
This time, it was Lilia who apologized.
"Mother?"
"I am sorry I made you think that way."
Aisha remained still in her mother’s arms for a long while.
Lilia stroked her small back.
She had been proud that Aisha held back her tears.
And only now did she feel relieved that her daughter could cry.
Then Norn crawled out from beneath the table.
It appeared she had hidden there while the commotion unfolded.
Norn looked at Lilia and Aisha, then approached Eugene.
"Sister."
"Yes."
"You too?"
"What are you asking?"
"If you cannot do anything, are you still family?"
Eugene’s expression stopped.
Paul looked at him.
Zenith waited in silence as well.
"I do not fall under that circumstance," Eugene said.
"Why?"
"Because there are things I can do."
"What if you can’t?"
"The likelihood is low."
"Still."
Norn would not back down.
"Even if sister cannot do anything, you are family."
"That is not for Norn to determine."
"I will."
"What will you do?"
"Family."
Lacking the words to say more, Norn spread both arms and hugged Eugene around the waist.
"I’ll make you family."
Eugene looked down at her.
"Family is not a status that one person can grant unilaterally."
Norn did not understand.
"Because you are my sister."
"That still does not explain it."
"You’re my sister."
Norn repeated the same words.
Eugene did not argue further.
Paul spoke.
"Sometimes, you should just accept it."
"There is no basis for it."
"For family, that is the basis."
Eugene looked at Paul.
In the past, he would have immediately pointed out the flaw in that logic.
But he did not this time.
Norn clung to Eugene and did not let go.
Aisha was crying in Lilia’s arms.
Zenith looked between the two children and wiped at the corners of her eyes.
There was still no food on the table.
The broken pitcher had been cleared away, but part of the floor remained damp.
Dinner preparations had been delayed, and no one was properly doing their part.
Yet somehow, the household felt stronger than before.
---
That night, Lilia brushed Aisha’s hair.
Aisha sat on the bed with her hands quietly resting on her knees.
"Mother."
"Yes."
"Is it all right if I do not work?"
Lilia’s hand paused for a moment.
"It is all right."
"Every day?"
"I might worry a little if you did nothing every day, but..."
Aisha’s shoulders began to stiffen again.
Lilia hurriedly continued.
"That does not mean I would send you away or stop loving you."
"Why?"
The question resembled Eugene’s questions.
In that both of them always demanded a reason.
But Aisha asked why for a different reason.
Aisha asked to make sure.
To make sure she was truly allowed to stay.
"Because you are my daughter."
Lilia embraced the child from behind.
"I do not love you because you are clever."
"But being clever is helpful."
"Yes. Your mother is proud of you."
"Then I have to do better."
"It is all right to have days when you do not do well."
Aisha did not answer for some time.
"Like Sister Norn?"
Lilia laughed softly.
"Please keep that a secret from Norn."
Aisha smiled a little too.
It was a small, cautious smile.
"Is Elder Brother Eugene the same?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is it all right if he does not do well?"
Lilia could not answer.
Eugene could do anything.
At least, no one in this house had seen anything he could not do.
That was why no one had ever told Eugene that it was all right to fail.
There had never been a situation in which they needed to say it was all right.
But Norn had said it only a short while ago.
That even if he could not do anything, he was family.
Aisha asked again, "Why does Elder Brother not know?"
"What do you mean?"
"That he is family."
Lilia set down the brush.
Aisha was not saying that Eugene was not family.
She had noticed that he applied a different condition only to himself.
"One day, he will understand."
That was how Lilia answered.
She hoped it was true.
---
Several more months passed.
Aisha still learned quickly.
Norn still made mistakes often.
Aisha looked for work to do, while Norn said no when she did not want to do something.
The two fought several times a day.
And at night, they slept in the same bed.
Norn continued to call Eugene sister.
Aisha called him elder brother to the end.
Eugene asked neither of them to correct it.
Rudeus Greyrat’s letters continued to arrive.
One letter said that Eris had turned ten.
She had practiced for weeks to dance properly at her birthday ball, and in the end, she had not made any major mistakes.
At the end of the letter was a rough sentence written in handwriting different from Rudeus’s.
"Eugene! When we meet next time, we are definitely fighting! If you run away, I won’t forgive you!"
Paul laughed loudly when he read it.
"She sounds like a girl I would like."
Zenith looked worried.
"What kind of child is Rudy teaching in that household?"
Eugene read the sentence and folded the letter.
"There is no need to run away."
"So you will fight her?" Paul asked.
Eugene considered the question for a moment.
"If Rudeus’s education has not failed, a more meaningful assessment should be possible than before."
"I can take that to mean you will fight her, right?"
"Interpretation is free."
Norn tugged on Eugene’s clothes.
"Sister, don’t go."
"I am not going now."
"Don’t go to that red-haired girl either."
"Eris’s hair color is not written in the letter."
"Brother told me."
No one knew when she had heard it.
Norn already seemed to regard Eris, whom she had never even seen, as a rival.
Aisha said, "Going to fight someone and living with them are different things."
"Don’t want."
"Sister Norn should listen to the explanation."
"I hate Aisha too."
"I did nothing."
The two girls began arguing again.
Holding the letter, Eugene looked down at them.
In the past, he would have separated the causes and judged whose claim was mistaken.
This time, he placed the letter on a high shelf and sat between them.
"Speak one at a time."
Norn clung to Eugene’s arm first.
Aisha straightened her posture and began explaining why she was right.
Before long, their two voices overlapped again.
Eugene listened quietly.
From the kitchen, Lilia watched them.
Aisha tried to understand Eugene.
Norn held on to Eugene without understanding him.
And Eugene sat between the two girls.
Without completely resolving either of their problems.
Yet without leaving his place.
Outside the window, an ordinary evening settled over Buena Village.
Paul put away his sword in the yard, while Zenith placed dishes on the table. Sylphiette went home after saying she would come again tomorrow.
Rudeus’s chair remained empty.
But a newly arrived letter lay in front of it.
Lilia thought this scene would continue for a long time.
The children would grow, letters would accumulate, and someday Rudeus would return, filling every chair once more.
Eugene did not deny it that day.
When Norn called him sister, he turned toward her.
When Aisha called him elder brother, he answered.
He still did not understand what kept him there.
But at least, he was not looking for a reason to leave that house.
Lilia thought that was enough.
Until then.
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