Bonus Short Stories
The Five Princesses
I’m a Heavenly Beast, and my name is Kohaku. As one of the guardians of Brunhild, I take the form of a magnificent white tiger and stand by the side of my grand duke. Recently, however, Brunhild’s castle has become a fair bit noisier. That’s due to the arrival of various children, my lord’s daughters from some far-flung future.
“Oh, Kohaku. How are you?”
“Fine thank you, Princess.”
I was awoken from one of my couch-bound catnaps by Quun. She was the third princess of Brunhild, as far as I understood it. The daughter of my lord and Lady Leen. She always walked with a strange little Gollem named Parla in tow. Frankly, I felt a little uneasy around her... She was a princess, yet she spent most of her time in Babylon studying under that frightening doctor.
“Good morning, Kohaku.”
“Yo, Kohaku! Morning!”
“Good morning to you, Princesses.”
Lady Elze’s daughter, Elna, and Lady Linze’s daughter, Linne, both greeted me in their own ways. The two of them resembled their respective mothers, but their personalities couldn’t be further apart. Perhaps it was because their mothers were twins, but they were rarely seen apart from one another. And when they walked around with their mothers, the four of them looked like sisters. It was a rather entertaining sight.
“Morning, Kohaku...”
“Good morning. Did you remember to wash your face?”
“...Oh, I forgot...”
Lady Hilde’s daughter, Frei, looked over at me with very sleepy eyes. At my words, she turned on her heel and headed straight to the washroom. Her mother was a stoic and earnest type, but this girl was far more casual and carefree. Lady Hilde was very much a morning person, but that couldn’t be further from the truth when it came to Frei. That trait of hers was closer to her father’s, really. And just like her father, she still pushed herself to get up in the morning to do what she needed to do.
I decided to head toward the kitchen to get my breakfast when I suddenly saw my fellow Heavenly Beasts in the hallway. Kougyoku, Sango, Kokuyou, and Luli were all very timidly peeking into the kitchen...and I had a sinking feeling as to why.
“Are they at it again?”
“They sure are.”
Kokuyou promptly answered my question. I peeked into the kitchen along with all the others.
Lady Lucia was glaring at her daughter, Arcia, who glared right back.
“It’s cold this morning! Father would be better off having a spicy ginger pork soup with Napa cabbage! We need to use a hearty stock!”
“That might be good if you’re a child, Arcia, but your father ate a great deal at the gathering in Belfast last night. We’ll be making him a more watery consommé with regular cabbage, and that’s that.”
“Grrrrrrh!”
I couldn’t help but sigh.
“The two of them really can’t help but butt heads, can they?”
“You, of all people, dare say that, Kohaku?”
“Right? You and Luli butt heads just like that all the time.”
Both Luli and I moved to protest, but we simply sighed and stopped speaking. I was glad the subject was promptly dropped, though. I didn’t want to get roped into Luli hassling me again. I turned back to the kitchen and saw Lady Lucia hard at work on the soup, while Arcia was making something else. The two of them bickered, but thankfully, they never lingered long on it. Arcia was clearly just after her mother’s approval, anyway. If it was a real point of contention, then my lord would’ve stopped it by now.
“They really are like you two, you know.”
“They are not!”
“They are not!”
Luli and I were in full agreement on one thing, at least. We weren’t bickerers!
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