Revisions made around 1:00 PM on 12/26.
The timing of the puppyโs appearance has been moved earlier.
The puppy, which first appeared in episode 10, now makes its first appearance in episode 4.
The added story today at noon is Episode 6: The Spirit King and the Puppy.
The day after the naming ceremony.
When I woke up, there were two children by my bedside.
The puppy wasnโt there. It was probably hiding.
โDau? (Who?)โ โWoof?โ
I asked the children, and then I heard the sound of the puppy from under the bed.
It seemed like the puppy thought it had been called.
The puppy immediately poked its face out through the gap in the bedโs railing.
โKya kya.โ The puppy was so cute.
No, right now, it wasnโt the puppy but the children that were the focus.
The children had silver hair and blue eyes, the same as their father.
โAh, did we wake you?โ The boy smiled and spoke softly.
โIโm Gilberto, your older brother. Nice to meet you!โ โAu? (Brother?)โ
Gilberto, the older brother, was about ten years old. He resembled their father in atmosphere but had their motherโs eyes and other features.
โThis is Lydia, your older sister. Nice to meet you.โ โDau? (Sister?)โ
Lydia, the older sister, seemed a little younger than Gilberto, around eight years old. While her hair and eyes were the same as their fatherโs, her facial features were more like their motherโs. Both the brother and sister resembled their mother.
โLuria is so cute~โ โHey, hey, can I hold her?โ โYou canโt hold her standing. Wait until she can hold her head up.โ
Lydia asked the nursemaid for permission, but it was declined. The nursemaid judged that it was dangerous to let a child hold an infant whose neck wasnโt strong yet.
โOkay. How disappointing.โ
Lydia, looking truly disappointed, poked my cheek.
โKya kya.โ I was starting to feel happy.
โBoth me and Lydia have wanted to meet you for so long.โ โBut why couldnโt we meet you before the naming ceremony was over?โ
Lydia tilted her head. Even as an older sister, she was incredibly cute from my perspective.
โWell, thatโs related to the Spiritโs blessing. If older siblings approach a newborn before the naming ceremony, they might take the blessing of the spirits that the mother gave to the child.โ
โI see.โ
โThatโs how it was when Lydia was born too. We didnโt approach her until the ceremony was over.โ
โBut you were two years old then, right? Do you remember?โ
โOf course.โ
โIs that really true?โ
Then, both the older brother and sister laughed happily.
It seemed that despite being young, Gilberto was quite knowledgeable.
However, the talk about the spiritsโ blessing and so on was just an old superstition from my past life.
In ancient times, a sickness spread among children, and many infants who were infected by their older siblings died. Thatโs likely where this custom came from, as the Spirit King Loa explained to me from my past life.
I wasnโt allowed to receive an education, but spirits like Loa had taught me many things.
While I was thinking about that, the nursemaid spoke to the siblings.
โMaster, Miss Lydia, please sit here. You can hold Luria if you sit on the couch.โ
โYes!โ they both exclaimed happily.
Gilberto and Lydia sat on a nearby couch. Then the puppy, wagging its tail happily, jumped onto the couch too.
Maybe it thought they were about to play.
โLeonardo is so cute.โ
The puppy wagged its tail as Lydia petted it. I wondered, was โLeonardoโ the puppyโs name? It didnโt seem to fit the puppyโs personality, though.
โMaster, be gentle.โ
The nursemaid carefully lifted me from the bed and handed me to Gilberto.
โThatโs right. Support her neck with your right hand.โ
โOkay.โ
โUse your left hand to support her bottom. Then bend your right elbow and rest her head there.โ
โOkay.โ
Under the nursemaidโs watchful eye, Gilberto carefully held me, as if I were fragile.
Meanwhile, the puppy kept sniffing me intently.
โSniff sniff sniff sniff.โ Why was the puppy sniffing me so much? Was I smelly?
I didnโt know.
โItโs your brother, Luria. Eat well and grow up strong.โ
โDah~โ
After being held by Gilberto for a while, I was passed to Lydia.
โLuria. Iโm your older sister. Youโre my little sister.โ
โDau?โ
โYouโre my little sister, so Iโll take care of you. Iโll help you and teach you things. Iโm your sister, after all.โ
Lydia looked so happy, repeatedly declaring herself my sister.
She was probably just really excited about having a younger sister.
โLuria, if anyone is mean to you, Iโll protect you.โ
โAh, but itโs my job as your brother to protect you.โ
โDau?โ
Listening to the conversation between the siblings made me feel happy. In my previous life, I was an only child. I did have cousins, but they bullied me, so I didnโt have any good memories with them.
As I was gently rocked by my sister, I drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and comforted.