TDVIATD 2

In the meadow, Leah finished weaving a crown of flowers and smiled.

It turned out beautifully.

“What shall we play next, Leah?”

At Paul’s question, she tilted her face up toward the sky.

An endless, piercing blue stretched above them—clear and invigorating.

“Let’s race to the tree on the hill!”

“Alright.”

Izaac pointed at the flower crown in her hands.

“Then the winner gets that crown Leah made.”

—Paul and Izaac were both eight years old, a year older than Leah.

This village, on the far western edge of the Empire, was deep in the countryside; there were only three children nearby.

Izaac lived next door, and Paul lived in a tower a short distance away.

Leah gently set the flower crown down in the grass.

All three of them dashed off at once.

Paul and Izaac reached the lone tree atop the hill at the same time, with Leah arriving a moment later.

“You two are so fast…”

“That’s because you’re a girl, Leah.”

“You’ll never beat us.”

At their words, Leah puffed out her cheeks.

“That’s not true. Mr. Johann said my movements are quick and nimble. Someday, I’ll be faster than both of you.”

Leah was learning martial arts from a man named Johann, who was spending his later years in the village.

Apparently, he had once been a knight.

“Yeah. You work hard, so I’m sure you will.”

“Leah, you really are such a tomboy. Learning martial arts even though you’re a girl.”

Paul and Izaac looked at her with a mixture of admiration and exasperation.

“Well, my mother is frail. Father treasures her like she’s made of glass. If my body grew weak too, I’d only cause Father more worry and burden. To protect Mother—and Father too—I want to become strong.”

If some emergency were to arise, Leah believed that being strong might allow her to save her parents.

“That’s amazing, Leah.”

“Yeah. And you always work so hard in the fields.”

The amazing one is Father.

Her father was kind and handsome. The meals he cooked were delicious; he cleaned and did laundry with brisk efficiency; he tended the flowerbeds beautifully. To Leah, he was perfect.

And yet, sometimes he would accidentally call her mother “Milady.”

Her parents had apparently eloped.

Her father had once served her mother’s family.

When her mother was about to be forced into a marriage she did not want, he had taken her and fled.

They loved each other deeply—so much so that it made Leah blush—and were always close and affectionate.

Someday, Leah hoped to marry someone like her father.

“My mother was praising you, Leah. She said you’re bright, energetic, and hardworking. She’s always grateful for your help.”

Life in the village was almost entirely self-sufficient.

Izaac lived alone with his mother, and Leah often helped at their house as well.

“You both have parents… That’s nice…”

Paul murmured, looking lonely.

He had no parents.

He was living with relatives now, but apparently he was forbidden from interacting with the other villagers.

Even coming outside like this meant slipping away unnoticed.

“Are your relatives unkind to you?”

Worried, Leah asked—but Paul shook his head.

“No, nothing like that. They’re kind. But I’m not allowed to go out freely. My movements are restricted. I envy you both—you have parents who give you love.”

Leah and Izaac exchanged glances.

They had first met Paul two years ago, when he had been gazing outside from the tower window and they had called out to him.

When they invited him to play, he had used a hidden passage to slip out of the tower.

Since then, they often played together like this.

“Now that I have you two, I’m not lonely at all. But before that… it was pretty hard.”

Seeing Leah’s concern, Paul smiled reassuringly.

“So—who gets the flower crown you made, Leah? Me or Izaac?”

Tilting his head as he asked, he made her pause in thought.

After a moment, she answered with a bright smile.

“You both reached the tree at the same time—so you both get one!”

Leah ran back down the hill to the meadow and wove another flower crown, just as her mother had taught her.

She placed them gently atop Paul’s and Izaac’s heads.

“I’m happy, Leah.”

“Thank you.”

“Someday I’ll definitely beat you both in a race—and then you’ll make one for me!”

“Okay.”

“Deal.”

Paul and Izaac chuckled at Leah’s solemn declaration and nodded.