To You, Who Shines

“...What?”

Eris, who’d just finished thanking the departing waiter, immediately screwed up her face as if she’d just heard the most absurd thing ever.

And then, as if she’d just heard the funniest joke in her life, she quickly broke out into laughter.

“Ha, me? The Queen?! Oh goodness no!!! Why would I ever allow that to happen?!”

She laughed and laughed as Siffia’s gloomy expression slowly dissolved into one of great confusion and embarrassment. It wasn’t until the laughter slightly began to die down that Siffia finally ventured out a weak rebuttal.

“...But Streiss, I-I mean, your youngest brother… Didn’t he say-”

“Ohhhh, oh dear. Oh, I’d been worried that you might have listened to his childish ramblings! Hoo…”

Grabbing a napkin and gently dabbing the corners of her eyes dry, Eris let out one final calming breath and offered Siffia an indulging smile.

“No, it’s a complete misunderstanding. I would never accept becoming Queen.”

Siffia felt as if the air had been knocked out of her, the feeling of the hopefulness that had once all but left her now suddenly rushing back in, practically overwhelming her.

“A… A misunderstanding…”

“Yes, a misunderstanding.”

Eris nodded along, as if it were the most obvious thing.

“Of course, when we were very young our parents did in fact consider it due to how close our mothers were… But it became apparent quickly enough that I hated the idea and would never allow for it, and all such thoughts were easily dropped. I mean, how could I ever possibly put up with everything that a Queen would have to do if I already couldn’t handle how much work being the h-”

Eris immediately clamped her mouth shut, stopping her ramblings and looking towards Siffia with wide opened, terrified eyes. When Siffia simply blinked back questioningly at her however, showing no hint at all of knowing what it was that she was about to say, Eris thankfully sighed in relief, awkwardly taking a bite of the small pastry that had been placed in front of her before slightly changing the subject.

“...Perhaps Streiss is the only one left that still has any delusions about me becoming the Queen. He, well… I suppose one could say that he reveres me to an unreasonable degree.”

Though Eris wore a soft smile, Siffia could easily feel the sadness and loneliness that that smile held within it.

“...You don’t like that he thinks of you that way?”

“Hmm…”

Eris’s eyes narrowed, drifting down to stare into the now incomplete pastry.

“...Would anyone be happy in such a situation? While it's true that I can be quite astounding… it's rather troublesome to be treated as infallible by my own flesh and blood. How ironic it is to be held in such high esteem by the very younger brother who won’t even really listen to me. I can tell him as often as I want about my true thoughts and feelings, and yet he won’t listen to a single one of them that doesn’t fit his own beliefs…”

“Ah…”

In the face of Eris’s steadily falling expression, Siffia couldn’t help but feel wrong for having even asked the question. She wanted desperately to comfort her, and yet she couldn’t think of anything to say that didn’t seem somehow pathetic or inappropriate for the situation.

In the end, after struggling for a long while, Siffia could only think of one thing to do.

With an abrupt and uncoordinated rise, one that slightly shook the table and spilled a bit of their barely touched drinks, Siffia hurried her way around and pulled the still sitting Eris into a forceful hug. At first, Eris opened her mouth in confusion and discomfort, her face suddenly getting roughly stuffed against the fabrics of Siffia’s dress. However, she wasn’t able to bring herself to actually object, finding herself for some reason leaning into the warm and caring hug, enjoying it more than she had expected to. Her arms subtly twitched, repeatedly hesitating to come up and return the hug.

Alas, before she could bring herself to do so, Siffia swiftly pulled herself away.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I hugged you so awkwardly, I must have completely smushed your face!!! Did I hurt you in any way?!”

Eris stared at her blankly for a moment, a small sense of loss and something else flickering in her eyes. Taking this to be a confirmation, Siffia panicked and leaned down, raising her hands to try to use healing magic on the small red marks that her dress had left on Eris’s face, only for Eris to gently pull them back down.

“...I’m fine, Lady Siffia. Don’t waste your magic on something so trivial while the lunch that I so graciously bought for you is sitting there growing cold.”

“-Eek!”

Siffia quickly jumped up and ran herself back to her seat, feeling as if she were making one mistake after another. It was only after she’d picked up her fork and took a bite of the waiting quiche that she realized how odd Eris’s words were.

-After all, both of their orders had been served cold from the beginning.

She opened her mouth to voice the observation, but the moment that she looked up and happened to catch Eris gently touching the red spots on her face with a wistful look, her mouth immediately clamped shut, unable to say anything more.

~~~

“So then, where would you like to go next?”

After taking almost an hour to embarrassedly pick at their food, the bill had been paid, and Eris casually broached the question to Siffia. Siffia, for her part, was quite surprised by it; Every other time that they’d gone out, Eris had always been the one to decide where they would be going and what they would be doing. Even if it were only a suggestion of what to do next, Eris would always be the first one to give it. Of course, Siffia being Siffia, she was completely fine with going wherever Eris had chosen, simply happy to have more time with her.

But now, when given the opportunity to choose for herself, Siffia realized a very important fact:

Even if she wanted to go somewhere, she wouldn’t have the money to pay for it.

She could accept to a certain extent Eris paying for things when it was Eris who had brought her somewhere in the first place. It was a forced acceptance, one that Siffia had had to learn in order to not go crazy with guilt after so much money had already been spent on her. But if she were to suggest going somewhere, and then made Eris pay for it…?

No, it was a completely unacceptable idea.

Siffia subtly reached for her coin purse, carefully hidden amongst the many folds of her dress. As expected, what it held wouldn’t be nearly enough to pay for anything from any of the fancy stores that this stretch of the capital held. The allowance she received from her father was abysmal, as was to be expected of an unloved child, noble or otherwise. It was barely even enough for her to buy a single bland piece of clothing after a year.

Of course, she did have some money stashed away that she’d received after the war… but that was being held for a special cause, in case her father finally went through with his grim promises. And even if she were to dip into that special fund just to impress Eris, it was all still hidden away back in her room, completely inaccessible right now.

…Which meant that the options of where to take Eris were very very limited at the moment.

After thinking with a frown on her face for a few seconds, Siffia finally spoke up, peeking up at Eris through her eyelashes.

“...Could we maybe… go for a walk in the park?”

It was the only activity she could think of that wouldn’t cost them any money.

~~~

Thankfully the weather was beautiful, with an abundance of clouds and a nice breeze fighting off the summer heat. Slowly strolling along the beautifully cared for park path was truly peaceful, and as the shadows of tree after tree brushed over her as she walked side by side with Eris, it was as if Siffia could feel all of the false torment that she’d inflicted on herself over the past few days finally slipping away.

In its place, an almost giddy happiness seemed to be slowly growing.

As the pair passed through a clearing, a group of children sitting in the grass could be seen a short distance away. In the center of them, an organ grinder played, their mysterious box cranking out a familiar melody as they sang along with it. Siffia immediately stopped once she recognized the tune, her eyes growing so wide and her face showing so much pleasant surprise out of seemingly nowhere that Eris almost grew concerned for a moment.

“...Lady Siffia-?”

But before she could finish calling out to her, Siffia had already whipped her head around, turning excitedly towards Eris, even softly tugging at her sleeve like a child.

“Eris! Eris! Do you know that song?!”

Shocked for many reasons, Eris could only clamp her mouth shut with wide confused eyes, and shake her head no.

Seeing this, Siffia’s eyes and smile grew impossibly wide for a moment, like someone who’d just stumbled upon a hidden treasure.

And then, just as suddenly, her expression shifted into something mischievous.

“Say... Do you know why the continent across the sea never tried to attack us?”