Bonus Short Stories
Enjoying Life
Training had just concluded at the knights’ academy for the evening. Before Inglis and her friends returned the Flygears they’d used for the day’s exercises, they decided to take a quick flight over Lake Bolt to enjoy the view. Meltina was at the stick, and Inglis and Rafinha rode in the seat behind her.
“You’re doing great, Meltina!” Rafinha cheered. “You’re definitely getting the hang of this.”
“Thank you. Flying is so nice. I love it—it makes me feel free. I never could have done something like this confined to that villa in Venefic.”
“They had you pretty much locked up in there, right? That’s terrible, you didn’t even do anything wrong.”
“Yeah. However, if you’re shunned simply for being born, then from their perspective, your whole existence is wrong,” Inglis observed.
“See, I don’t get that. My dad’s a duke, but I guess things are different for royals.” Rafinha frowned, dissatisfied. It seemed there were many things about Meltina’s situation that she couldn’t bring herself to accept as normal.
“Well, Rani, your family’s exceptionally warm and friendly by the standards of the upper nobility.”
“Like yours isn’t, Chris? You’re an only child, so I think you got especially spoiled.”
Inglis laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”
That said, her past self as king had been one as an orphan, with no relatives remaining at all. It was that experience that made her understand how blissful her life was as Inglis Eucus, and she knew the Bilfords were also a loving family. They were by no means the norm.
“I don’t think the first emperor of Venefic founded the country meaning for things to end up like this,” Rafinha said.
Inglis nodded. “I suspect you’re right.”
This was the opinion of someone who had actually founded a country in her previous life, even though that founding had not been deliberate but instead a matter of circumstances falling into place as she did what she believed was right. The crown itself was a byproduct, not a treasure to be grasped for. However, she was now concluding that as a country’s history was woven through generation after generation of kings, eventually those would arise for whom the crown was far too alluring. Perhaps that was what had wiped the hero king’s Silvare Kingdom from history.
“But that’s just how it is and how it’s always been. I don’t know if it can ever change,” Inglis said.
“Wait, are you saying there’s nothing we can do for Meltina?”
“No. We can be with her, enjoy our lives together, without worrying about the complicated parts.”
Meltina chuckled. “That’s true. That’s more than enough.” She smiled happily.
Rafinha beamed back in return. “All right! Then let’s head back and march through a mountain of food at the cafeteria tonight!”
“That sounds like a great plan, Rani.”
They didn’t need to tell Meltina twice. “Let’s! We trained hard today, and I’m feeling hungry.”
“And after that we can take a bath and squeeze Chris’s chest as much as we can—”
“No, let’s not do that,” Inglis interrupted.
“What? You’re the one always saying to just go ahead and have fun.”
“I absolutely do not!”
“Okay, okay, fine.”
Inglis let out a sigh of relief—prematurely.
“Then I’ll do it now instead!”
“Eeek! Stop! Rin, don’t you get in there too!”
“W-Wait, please stop horsing around! This is dangerous! You’re going to make me crash!” Meltina protested.
In the end, they enjoyed a bath, followed by a feast in the cafeteria.
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