Day 25 Month 7 Year 981.
I officially turned eleven years old!!
Two more years remaining before I have my coming-of-age ceremony and before I…finally caught up.
I often questioned myself on how I would be when I turn thirteen again for the second time.
Like, will I be able to put the past behind me?
Will I be happy?
Will my family still love me?
Will I live a life I can be glad of?
For some questions, I already knew the answers. But some…were still unknown.
I had a thought that I could probably start chasing the questions of my past life after I catch up in age with Reinst, but with what had happened so far, perhaps it would be better for me to make it quicker…if possible.
Don’t question me anything about it though, I’m still thinking!! (TдT)
But since it started earlier than what I expected, I should have more time, so I shouldn’t be too hasty.
Right, it’s important to keep a calm mind for stuff like this!
“Nervous, Lyra-sama? Or are you sleepy?”
A maid who was doing my hairdo asked.
Perhaps I was too absentminded when I was thinking, so she asked me that.
“No…I was just thinking about something,” I vaguely answered.
“Well, is that so?” The maid didn’t ask anything and smiled.
“Your hair is already long, Lyra-sama. Are you planning on keeping it long?” The maid suddenly asked as she lifted my hair to tie them into high twintail.
“Mhm, I’ll probably keep it waist length. Ah, perhaps I should soon start to do image change? Keeping my hair in twintail—especially high twintail—will give me a childish image, right?” I was suddenly conscious of it. My ‘default’ hairstyle so far would be high twintail, and sometimes I would put it in low twintail.
“Eh, I think you’re adorable, Lyra-sama!” The maid smiled.
“Seeee?” I pouted a bit.
That just proved my point!
Alright, perhaps I will try ponytail style later on…Or just let it loose?
We will see later when I feel really like it. I can just experiment with more hairstyles~
There’s other stuff that I have to think about more at this time.
Today, before I went to the party venue to celebrate my 11th birthday, my family gave me presents.
The twins recently just learned how to make their magic stones, so they gave me their handmade magic stones! Freyr gave me [Earth] magic stone, Freyja gave me [Wind] magic stone. Then, the two of them even tried to collaborate to give me a [Plant] magic stone!
Earth, Wind, and Plant. My affinity with them are normal. Using the magic stones to unleash those magic would be easier~!
Yep, besides the fact that magic stones could be used as energy source, the holder could also use them to summon the said magic even without any affinity in them.
Though it went without saying that the generated magic won’t be as strong as the magic element holders’ magic.
Alt-nii gave me a book about dark magic and its training regime. The book was put in an interesting way that I really liked it. Some of the pages had holographic effects and pop-ups, making them quite interactive.
As for my parents’ present…
“Eeeh?! Mom, Dad, are you sure?!” This was my first reaction when I ‘unboxed’ their present.
Held tightly in my arms was a brand new elegant black Provice. Its cold metal brushed against my skin, yet I felt warmth in my heart. Even my face felt warm because I couldn’t hold my happiness.
“Yes, I see you really like using our Provices, so we decided to give one to you earlier,” Mom explained.
“How lucky, I got mine when I turned 13! Not that I use them as much as you do, Lyra,” Alt-nii commented.
“Well, if it’s Lyra, it should be fine,” Dad also commented.
Why? I wanted to ask, but this happiness outweighed my curiosity.
Instead of asking, I quickly responded.
“Really? Thank you so much, Mom, Dad! I love you!” I put the new Provice back in its box as I jumped in happiness and hugged Mom and Dad. In the heat of the moment, I pecked their cheeks with light kisses.
It has been my dream to have a Provice of my own and seeing Alt-nii getting his when he had his coming-of-age ceremony, I thought to myself that I had to be patient. I never thought I’d get it this fast!
“Haha, we love you too, Lyra,” Mom and Dad said as they hugged me back and returned my kisses.
When I snapped out of it, I realized what I was doing and became embarrassed that my cheeks were flushed.
The action I took was like what a spoiled child would do, despite my mental age…Oh well, I was indeed a pampered child in this life. That definitely affected my current personality and behavior. Still, it was rare for me to take the initiative that I became shy.
However, looking at Mom and Dad who smiled happily, I thought that it wasn’t too bad to sometimes indulge myself in the heat of the moment and displayed my affection.
Somehow, I recalled my days when I was younger. I had lots of anticipation about how the loving condition might change one day, perhaps when I turn older. But fast forward to my turning 11, incidents involving me, and even with the addition of my younger siblings…I felt that their love didn’t waver.
Is this what they call as unconditional love?
I realized how happy and blessed I was.
The ‘Reinst’ inside me surely really envied this.
So, I gotta do my best as well.
After that, we moved to the party venue to do some last preparations there. It was already evening when the party started, just like the other usual parties.
When it was time for the nobles to congratulate me, I saw my past self’s family again, which really piqued my interest in digging more from them as I had to overcome this chain of my past quickly.
But how can I do it without arousing suspicion? How to do it naturally? How to make them speak honestly to a stranger like me?
Since I had no answer to all that, I decided to try suppressing my digging interest for the moment.
Also, I wasn’t sure if it was because I had become used to facing my past self’s family, but I no longer really felt nervous.
I also learned that the ‘heavy’ or ‘gloomy’ atmosphere I sometimes felt was all due to myself. I put a mental strain on myself, and that somehow caused an unrest in my dark magic, too.
The first one to see me was Herbert-san, my past self’s father.
Curt as always, he only said, “Happy eleventh birthday”, and that was it.
On the other hand…
“Congratulations on turning eleven. You’ve grown up. Soon, you will be thirteen. Has there been any fiancé candidate for you?” My former mother, Dahlia asked.
“Thank you, Dahlia-san. I have no fiancé candidate yet, and my family isn’t in rush for one, too,” I pasted a smile on my face. This kind of question was normal for nobles, so I was already prepared for it.
“Is that so? There’s been a rumor about your future engagement, so…,” Mother Dahlia said as she covered her mouth with her fan, leaving the sentence hanging.
However, I knew what she was going to say.
Could she perhaps ask if I—or my family—was vying on the position of the crown prince’s fiancée?
When I was Reinst, I was without fiancé with the hopes that the royal family would eventually propose an engagement with me, especially after my coming-of-age ceremony. Unfortunately, I died soon after my coming-of-age ceremony, so I never found out if the royal family was really planning on proposing an engagement with me after I came of age.
“Well, we don’t know what will happen in the future, Dahlia-san,” I smiled as I decided to end things vaguely.
Denying or affirming such rumors won’t do good for me, so it was best to leave things vague. Affirming without any proof was equal to shooting yourself in the leg. But denying could also be interpreted as my not appreciating the royal family. So, let the future actions answer all the rumors.
“Indeed. I shall look forward to your future, as well as this country’s,” Mother seemed to be satisfied with my answer, so she ended the whole matter at this.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw Domi standing close to Mother.
Neither Adel-san nor the girl that was gossiped with Domi were seen close to him.
…Uu, that makes me wonder about what happened between them all the more…
But when Domi came to speak with me, he only spoke to the point.
“Congratulations on turning eleven.”
His eyes didn’t waver at all looking at me, let alone mentioning anything about what happened in his birthday party the other day, even though I was there next to Adel-san when it all happened. He couldn’t have not seen me at that time.
Aaah, I want to ask him about Adel-san’s matter, but that is something that can violate his privacy, right?
With such an awkward air, Domi congratulated me and I only thanked him in the end.
“Thank you, Domi-san…”
*Siiighhh*
Yes, I couldn’t bring myself to ask it.
Well, for one, it was such a sensitive matter. Also, Domi was in an awkward position himself, so asking that to him would be equal to…stabbing his heart? Or something like that.
Therefore, I decided to try asking this question to Adel-san instead. I saw her coming to my party, much to my delight.
“Ah, we meet again, Lyra-san! Congratulations on turning eleven! Really, sorry for the other day, for showing such a scene to a younger person…,” Adel-san said as she blushed a bit.
“No problem, thanks, Adel-san!” First, I thanked her. Then…
“Speaking of which, how did things go?” I tried to ask her. There, I asked her!!
“W-well, everything goes smoothly, thank you. Sorry for worrying you. It’s all good now,” Adel-san answered while fidgeting a bit.
…Excuse me, Adel-san, can you be vaguer than now? T__T
I totally can’t read the outcome from her vague answer!
Like…everything went well in which direction?
In the direction your engagement is continued, or dissolved?
Based on my understanding of the events happening before, Adel-san seemed to want to end things with Domi due to the other girl. So, everything went well…uhh in which way, again? Really, it’s so confusing!
Adel-san seemed to be a timid girl, so I was quite worried for her. If only I were Reinst, I’d tell Domi to try treating her well.
Speaking of which, I wonder if Clyde and Domi maintained a good relationship, good enough that Clyde could advise Domi on things like this?
I never knew as I never really saw their interactions aside from the formalities.
But it would be good if that was the case.
Anyway, I wanted to ask her more details about it, but Adel-san didn’t seem to be comfortable in telling me more about it, so I decided not to ask and just wait and see.
Also, before I could ask a lot more about it, Adel-san’s other family members congratulated me.
The notable one was Adel-san’s kind older brother.
“I’m Zephyr, the eldest son of the Sanseylvester family. I heard about you from Maddie. Thanks for your help the other day and congratulations,” Zephyr-san said as he patted my head softly.
Judging from their small gestures (such as Adel-san linking her hand to Zephyr-san), he seemed to care a lot about Adel-san and seemed to have a good relationship with her as well. When push comes to shove, he will definitely be there for Adel-san.
Surely, he wouldn’t let his sister be treated badly, right?
Perhaps I really don’t have to be so worried about the others like this, especially when it doesn’t concern me at all. I need to focus on myself first, for the time being.
“Thank you, and no problem about it, Zephyr-san! I hope everything goes well for you and Adel-san,” I shook hands with Zephyr-san.
And that marked the ending of my brief interaction with the Sanseylvester family, the family that might be linked through marriage with my past self’s family.
As for what the future will hold for them, I will definitely find out about that as well.
Let time answer everything.
