Liscia: “Your Name Is”
“What should I do?” ooking at my children lying in their crib, I sighed.
“Liscia?” arla, who was folding the laundry, noticed my distress and called out to me. What’s wrong? You look so troubled.”
“Carla... What should I call her?” asked, poking the cheek of the girl who was clinging to the boy in her sleep. Being beside her brother must have been reassuring for her, because she showed no sign of waking.
The question I was grappling with was what to name my newborn daughter.
Souma and I had talked it over and decided I would name the girl, and he would name the boy.
“You’re free to do what you want, aren’t you? Why not choose one you like?” arla said in exasperation.
Well, if I could do that, I wouldn’t be having so much trouble!
“She’ll have this name for life,” I fretted. “I can’t call her anything weird.”
“I think that seriousness of yours is a virtue, Liscia, but... don’t you feel bad for your children that this is taking so long? I can call them Prince and Princess, but you’re family, so you can’t do that.”
“Well, yes... but...”
It was true, we couldn’t just go on calling them “the boy” and “the girl” forever.
“Just for reference, who chose your name, Carla?” I asked.
“My father and mother talked it over and agreed on it. The long-lived races have a hard time conceiving, so I was their first child after a long time trying. That was why they gave me one sound from each of their names.”
That made sense. They’d taken the “Ca” from “Castor” and the “La” from “Accela” and gone with Carla, huh? Maybe I ought to take a sound from my name and Souma’s name, too.
Socia, Lima... I don’t know, those were kind of iffy. Besides, Souma’s real name was supposed to be Kazuya. So, Cascia, Liya... Those felt worse. Kasha... Now it was just sounding like Souma’s child with Aisha.
While I was still agonizing over it, Carla sighed. You’re not going to get any good ideas stewing over it here. I’ll watch the children, so why not go somewhere else for a change of atmosphere?”
“...Yeah. I’ll take you up on that.”
Leaving the children to Carla, I went outside the house.
In the courtyard, this manor had a beautiful garden which my father maintained as a hobby. (Surprisingly, it seemed my Father had a green thumb.) Though, that said, it was winter now, so it wasn’t very colorful. While I was just walking around there...
“Oh, if it isn’t Liscia.” y father, who was wearing a hand towel like a bandanna, the corners tied together beneath his nose, stuck his head out from behind a hedge.
For a moment, he looked like an old farmer. I felt like it suited him better than the crown.
“I’m out for a walk,” I said. “Are you working in the garden, Father?”
“Yes. Preparing for the spring to come.”
Taking off his bandanna, Father used it to wipe his brow.
“Will the children be all right?” he asked.
“Carla is watching them now.”
“Hmm. Sorry. It seems I slept through the birth.”
“Don’t worry about it. You must have been exhausted.”
I got the feeling Mother might have had something to do with the reason my father had passed out, but... I was going to keep quiet about that.
“You seem to be moving around, but are you feeling well enough to?” ather asked, scrutinizing me.
“Yes. I haven’t recovered completely, though.”
“Rest while you’re here, at least. This is your home, too.”
I giggled. “It is.”
My home... huh. I’d never lived here, but just having my mother and father here was comforting. It was a place tied to my family. But Souma, being summoned from another world, didn’t have anything like this, did he?
“I wish Souma had something that let him feel connected to his relatives, too...” I murmured.
“He does,” ather responded as if the answer was obvious. My son-in-law has the body his parents gave him. His name, too. That’s why, for as long as he lives, that connection will never break.”
I was silent.
His body and name are ties to his family... well, maybe they are.
But it had been decided that when Souma took the throne, he’d inherit my family name and Roroa’s family name to become Souma Amidonia Elfrieden. Souma’s real name, Kazuya, would disappear. That felt kind of sad.
Was there some way to keep that connection alive?
When I returned to the children’s room, I gently stroked the girl’s forehead.
“I know what I’ll do.”
Looking at my sleeping daughter’s face, I came to a decision.
“Your name is Kazuha. Kazuha Elfrieden.”
Wanting to tell Souma right away, I decided to write a letter.
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