Chapter Text
The maid settled down a plate of cake, engulfed with frosting and sliced strawberries, the sweet scent of sugar illuminated the royal kitchen.
“Excuse me ma’am?” The maid turned to see a young man, holding a small book in his hands, “Yes, can I help you sir?”
He cleared his throat, “Have you seen a little girl coming through here?” The maid shrugged. “I’m not familiar with anyone coming to the kitchen at this hour right now, apologies.”
He sighed, nodding as he took his leave. “The coast is clear.”
The cabinet door opened from above, “That tutor is scary enough, he almost found out where I am.”
“Why are you running from him exactly?”
“It’s boring! I can’t handle all this tutoring stuff! I begged papa to teach me sword practice but instead he tricked me with that tutor.”
“Regardless, Kler, you need to know your knowledge. If you want to become Queen one day you’ll eventually have to learn this whether you like it or not.”
Kler spat her tongue out at her, “I thought you were on my side Linaria.”
Despite the honorifics system, Kler was so close to Linaria that she couldn’t care less about the system. Whenever her father and mother were off somewhere during conferences, Kler would be right by Linaria’s side, practically glued to her. As the days went by, Lianria was titled as Kler’s personal nanny. Although sometimes being strict and stern on the latter, the two treated each other as family.
“I’m only siding with what I see is right, Heckler.”
“Stop calling me that, it’s Kler.” She bluntly stated.
Linaria sighed, “If you're going to keep skipping out on your tutoring lessons, then your father and mother will eventually have to confront you about this.”
“Then I’ll hide.”
“They always find you regardless of where you hide.”
Kler blew raspberries as she stuck her tongue out once again, before storming out of the kitchen. She wanted to tell Linaria that it wasn’t her business anyway, but she already shrugged it off as she nibbled down on the cake that she just stole from the kitchen, making a line of cake crumbs on the floor as she walked to her room.
As Kler reached the door to her room, she extended her hand to reach the doorknob before she heard someone clearing their throat, she turned to her left to see her mother, glaring down at her, her eyes were full of disappointment and displeasement.
“Where do you think you're going?”
Kler lowered her hand from the knob, “To my room.”
Uzi raised an eyebrow, “And skipping out on your lessons?”
“Those lessons are boring, the pissy tutor is boring.”
“Kler! Don’t disrespect your elders like this, neither me nor your father taught you that.” Uzi scolded her.
Kler rolled her eyes, “I wouldn’t need to if you and dad would finally teach me how to use a sword.”
Uzi let out a long exhale, before opening the door to Kler’s bedroom, “Let’s talk, alright? Just you and me, Kler.”
Kler nodded, the two sat down at the edge of the bed, Uzi looked at her daughter, who was eyeing down at her lap, “At least look at me while I’m trying to talk to you.”
“I’m still gonna be listening.” Kler responded, rocking her legs back and forth.
“Do you even have any idea of the burdens that all swordsmen and women have to take when they reach the battlefield?”
Kler didn’t respond, merely shaking her head, “You never can predict the future, neither you know if you’ll either win or lose. And neglecting that, won’t get you better at the sword.”
“I’m not.”
Uzi stood up from the bed, kneeling down to Kler, putting her hands on both of her daughter’s shoulders, “I’ll say this in a way you can understand Kler, if you lose a battlefield, then me and your father will never get to see you again, you will never get to see us again either. Do you understand?”
Kler nodded, “That’s the burden that all soldiers have to face when they die.”
“But I won’t die, because I have someone who’ll look after me.”
Uzi pulled her daughter in for an embrace, “I know, but if you need to be a Queen it’s better if you know everything you can before you eventually have to become the ruler.”
“Okay.”
Uzi leaned back from the hug, “Also, there’s something else you need to know, Kler.”
“What is it?”
Uzi smiled, “You’ll be having a baby brother.”
After that, Kler was known as the biggest shrieker around the castle.
365 days have passed since the announcement.
On a full moon night, the new baby was finally delivered. Kler couldn’t be more excited than to see her newborn brother, as soon as the servants barged in her room to tell her the news, she tumbled the servants away, as she ran straight to her mother’s room.
Kler could hear the muffled cries of the baby, as she got closer to the bedroom doors, opening them to find her father right by the mother’s side, midwives were aligned to the left side of the bed. The cries of the newborn were clear to Kler’s ears, as she moved up closer to the bed to take a closer look at her little brother’s face.
“Kler, meet your new brother, Biscuit.” Kler’s eyes widened, she never saw N’s face overwhelmed with a variety of emotions.
As soon as N placed Biscuit in Kler’s arms she blurted out, “Cookie!”
N held in a laugh, “No, that’s not-”
“His nickname is Cookie!” She exclaimed, poking her little brother's cheek.
Uzi was panting for breath, she was exhausted, but still had the strength to smile at her two children and her husband.
“That’s a wonderful nickname, Kler. Are you going to protect him as promised?”
Kler looked at her mother and father, “Of course I am, I’m his big sister after all. I have to protect him, he’s family.”
The three shared a laugh together, as Biscuit slowly drifted off to sleep.
As Kler walked through the covered windows, she opened a small gap, revealing the sunlight of the illuminated window. The sunlight burned her hand with the heat, but she couldn’t care less about that right now. What mattered to her more was how many years has passed since Biscuit was born? It feels like centuries since Kler threw a fit at her father last time or even yelled at her mother.
For all Kler knew, she could imagine them having a dance in the ballroom.
“Kler?” A sudden voice appeared, Kler turned behind her, seeing Biscuit.
“Cookie? What’s wrong?”
“I had a nightmare from my nap.”
Kler let out a tired smile, opening her arms to her brother, “Come here.”
Biscuit ran to her open arms, hugging her tightly, “What kind of nightmare did you have?”
“I felt like I was chasing someone, and when I finally got to them. I-I just ripped their head, it felt like a plant’s roots were being pulled out of the dirt. A-And…I felt so nauseous I was about to vomit until I woke up..then I came to you.”
Kler looked back to the time where Biscuit would always be at her bedroom door, begging and crying to her to sleep with him because of a nightmare he had, at time she would let him but never knew why he could’ve just go to mother and father’s room instead of hers all the time. Whenever she asked him why he would persuade her with another question.
“You always come to me yet you don’t confront this to mom and dad?”
“I don’t want to make them worry.”
“They’ll start picking up on that, making them even more worried if you refuse to tell them longer.”
“I don’t wanna do that alone.”
“I’ll go with you alright then?”
Biscuit didn’t respond, making Kler sigh, she pulled him back from the hug, “Let’s go to grandma’s garden alright?”
He nodded, and the two siblings walked over to the garden to find their parents there, sitting together, “Mom? Dad?”
Uzi and N turned to look at them, “Ah! You two are here, feel free to join us.”
Both siblings then found themselves making flower crowns with their parents, “Do you two do this often?”
Uzi shifted towards N, placing another flower crown on him, “Well, before I became queen N and I used to come here very often it became like a little home for us two.”
“And we would stay here day and night, kissing each other.” N teased, giving a wink to his wife, along with laughing at his two children cringing at him.
“Oh please, there might be one day where you two will eventually find your loved ones and say that.”
“I think we’re good.” The two said together at the same time.
“It’s your call.” Their father shrugs.
The wind was silent, the birds flew high to the sky, the sunlight illuminated down on the tree, as laughs were heard from the family. Their happy ending in the Oil Garden couldn’t be better.
Thank you.