I held Kuro tightly for a while.
Even though it shouldn’t have been warm, it felt warm.
As I gently stroked Kuro, I asked,
“Why did Loa die?”
“……”
Kuro stopped purring and fell silent.
“Kuro?”
“Sorry, I can’t say. I think that’s what Lord Loa would want.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t even tell you the reason… I’m sorry.”
Kuro drooped his tail sadly, looking dejected.
“I see.”
“I’m really sorry.”
Kuro apologized repeatedly.
“You don’t have to apologize. If that’s what Loa wanted, then it’s fine.”
I want to know what happened to Loa in the end.
But if Loa didn’t want anyone to know, it’s better not to.
I’ll endure it.
As I lay on the bed, holding Kuro and surrounded by Daru, Kyaro, and Koruko,
“Lady Luria~” “Pet us~” “That’s unfair, only Kuro gets attention~”
the fluffy spirits started to gather around me.
“Whoa! It’s the usual spirits! You can talk now?”
They were the familiar spirits I often saw.
I’d even played “spirit toss” with Daru before.
But during that time, the spirits hadn’t said a single word.
“We can talk~” “Kuro told us not to~” “Pet us~”
I stroked the fluffy spirits.
“That’s not it. I didn’t forbid you from talking out of malice.”
“I don’t think it was mean… but why not?”
“Human children, when they talk with spirits, tend to pick up words slower, and their speech gets weird.”
“I don’t think that’s true, though?”
“…Maybe not.”
“Will you all talk to me from now on?”
“We want to talk, we do~ But we still think we should hold back a little longer.”
“Hmm.”
“Why, why not~?” “We want to chat with Lady Luria!” “Toss us~!”
I grabbed one of the fluffy spirits and tossed it up.
“Yay!”
“Woohoo!”
Daru ran to catch the spirit in his mouth and brought it back.
“Throw us again~”
“Alright!”
“Yay!”
As Daru and I started playing spirit toss, Kuro spoke, looking troubled.
“It’s really not good… at least until you’re about ten years old.”
“Is that so?”
“It’ll mess up your speech habits, and more importantly…”
At that moment, I noticed my sister Lydia standing by the open door.
Sometimes, I end up napping without closing the door.
It can’t be helped—I’m just a child, after all.
It seemed my sister had brought me a snack.
“Luria, who were you talking to just now?”
“Huh? Umm…”
I let go of Kuro, whom I’d been holding.
Even though I knew she couldn’t see him, I acted instinctively.
“Whoa!” “Run away~!”
The spirits exclaimed and moved around the room joyfully, like little children.
Meanwhile, Kuro stretched on the bed, raising his rear and extending his front legs.
His twin tails and his un-catlike wings looked so cool.
“Lady Luria, you shouldn’t say you were talking to spirits! People will think you’re strange!”
After finishing his stretch, Kuro said this urgently.
“R-right.”
“Luria? Is someone there?”
“N-no, there isn’t!”
“‘Isn’t’?”
My sister tilted her head, puzzled.
Just that simple action made her look adorable.
“Um, uh…”
“When humans hear that a child is talking to something they can’t see, it scares them. You shouldn’t mention seeing things like that.”
“Y-you’re right.”
“That’s why we didn’t talk to you until now.”
“I-I see?”
It made so much sense.
As a child, it’s hard to grasp that others can’t see the spirits.
I’d probably end up talking to the spirits in front of other people.
And if someone else came by, even if the spirits hid out of consideration, I’d call out for them to come back.
“So that’s why.”
“Luria?”
“No one’s here! I don’t see anything!”
Kuro was right.
If I claimed to see spirits, given my red hair as a royal, someone might connect it to my past life.
And if word got out that I talked with spirits, it could cause a huge commotion.
Father would probably protect me, but there are many servants in the mansion.
If, by any chance, the Church of the One True God heard about it, it’d be terrible. They might even abduct me.
At least, in my past life, I’d heard that the Church had the power to abduct even a royal princess or noble daughter.
“Um, Sister! I was talking to Daru!”
“Woof?”
I quickly made up a story. I thought it was a clever and quick response.
Daru also tilted his head with a smart expression, matching my story.
Surely, my sister believed I was just talking to Daru.
“‘Isn’t,’ huh? Well, alright. I almost thought you were talking to something invisible.”
“There’s no such thing as invisible things. I can’t see anything like that.”
“Right.”
Relieved, my sister entered the room.
It seemed I had managed to fool her.
Kuro also relaxed, saying, “Phew, that was close.”
“Really, Luria, don’t scare me like that.”
“Sorry.”
“Let’s eat snacks together, okay?”
“Yay!”
“Um, Luria…”
“What is it?”
“Maybe… you should stop saying ‘isn’t’ like that.”
“Huh?” “Huh?”
My sister, with a slightly troubled expression, murmured softly.
