The Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya brought a crate of five-year-old shaslings wine to the royal palace to commemorate her marriage.
Today, a guest had come from afar.
That guest, Noctis Elf Lilmari from the distant north, was taking a leisurely stroll through the royal palace gardens before the banquet.
The garden, which the Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya had cherished during her childhood at the royal palace, was always lush and beautiful, with flowers blooming year-round.
As Lilmari walked through the garden, noting the changes since his last visit, he suddenly stopped and covered his mouth in surprise.
“My… goodness?”
At the edge of the garden, a small girl who didn’t even reach his waist stood still, holding a rabbit doll, and looked up at him.
Her flowing pink hair and jewel-like green eyes were features Lilmari knew well. It was the face of the Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya!
Although she looked much younger, she was wearing the same sky-blue dress she used to love.
“How… could this be? Grand Duchess, have you become young again?”
At that moment, a boy even younger than the girl peeked out from behind her. His jet-black hair and light violet eyes were also familiar. Although his face looked much younger as well.
Lilmari, with a face full of confusion, alternated looking between the boy and the girl and then realized.
“Oh! Duke Sedvoyer, is this something that happened because of your power? A side effect of your power? I heard the Great Spirit had fully regained its true form recently, and as a result, is this what happened?”
“…”
“…”
“To think that you suddenly grew taller was surprising, but to suddenly become younger… Humans truly are not easy to understand…”
“…”
“…”
At that moment, a tall young man appeared from behind the boy and girl. Lilmari, recognizing his face, greeted him warmly.
“Oh! Sir Evan, it’s been a while. You must have been very surprised too.”
Being fellow Noctis Elves, Lilmari spoke to him more familiarly. However, Evan only alternated looking stiffly between the boy and girl and Lilmari.
“Sir Evan?”
“Prince Lilmari, perhaps…”
But Evan’s words were cut off by cheerful laughter from behind a large tree in the garden.
“Prince Lilmari!”
Lilmari’s eyes widened. There stood the adult Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya along with the little Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya. And soon, the adult Duke Sedvoyer appeared. The small Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya moved her short legs to leap into the arms of the tall Duke Sedvoyer.
“What… what is this…?”
After laughing heartily, Asha took the hand of the boy clinging to her leg.
“Humans don’t become small again, Prince Lilmari.”
Realizing the true identity of the boy and girl, Lilmari’s face turned red with embarrassment.
“I’m… truly sorry. The children looked so much like you two that I… Even though I had heard about them…”
Of course, humans don’t become small again!
Lilmari knew that, but the Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya seemed capable of anything, and the boy and girl resembled them so much…
Moreover, the location played a part. This was the garden cherished by the Grand Duchess of Pesheranskaya. Whether Asha understood Lilmari’s embarrassment or not, she laughed innocently.
“We brought a crate of five-year-old shaslings wine for your visit, Prince Lilmari. We made it the night after our wedding.”
“I still can’t forget the taste of the ‘Lumen Vasilice’ you made for us.”
“Of course!”
Asha laughed and winked at him. Then, with an affectionate demeanor, she gestured towards the girl in Karnov’s arms.
“Avrellia, you should greet him. He’s a guest visiting His Majesty.”
Karnov kissed his daughter’s cheek gently and set her down. Avrellia calmly picked up her skirt and greeted Lilmari.
“I’m Avrellia. It’s a pleasure to-you* to the empire.”
[*T/N: She leaves out the correct word here, indicating clumsiness with sentences like a kid might have]
Karnov bent down and whispered softly.
“Welcome.”
“Oh! Welcome!”
Despite making a mistake, Avrellia didn’t lose her composure and introduced her younger brother.
“Ruslan! Ruslan, you have to introduce yourself too.”
The small boy followed his sister’s lead, lifting his coat hem with both hands and introduced himself as Ruslan. After introducing himself, Ruslan quickly hid behind his sister.
Lilmari burst into laughter at the sight of the four of them. Then he glanced at Evan with a look that said, “Why didn’t you give me a heads-up?” Evan responded with an aggrieved look, as if to say, “How could you not know?”
After the banquet, as they walked out into the garden, Asha and Karnov tried to carry Avrellia, but she firmly insisted she could walk on her own.
“Ruslan can walk too! Right?”
“Yes! Yes!”
The boy, holding his sister’s hand, nodded eagerly. His steps were still wobbly, but he toddled along after his sister, heading toward their favorite Uncle Alexei. Valery stood behind them, glaring jealously at Alexei.
While Evan carried and soothed Ruslan, Maxim insisted on carrying him too. Asha and Karnov strolled slowly through the garden, watching their children and relatives laugh and chatter together.
“It seems neither Ruslan nor Avrellia wants to be carried by you. Should I then?”
Karnov shook his head with a face that couldn’t help but smile, but he skillfully lifted Asha as she threw herself into his arms.
“This is troublesome, Your Grace.”
Pretending to struggle, Karnov held Asha close. Asha squinted and smiled.
“Well, our Duke likes lime pie more than me… isn’t that right?”
“How many more years do I have to hear that?”
“You’ve heard it for five years, so another five years.”
“Hah… fine, fine.”
“What? Do you dislike it, Duke?”
“I’d gladly endure it for a thousand years.”
“Duke Sedvoyer, among the things I brought as a dowry, there are World Tree fruits. It is the fruit of truth preserves that you made back then.”
Karnov swallowed nervously. Even though it had been years, the chaos of that time felt like it was yesterday. Of course, it was a big deal!
Karnov sat Asha on a swing tied to the World Tree in the garden and asked,
“…That… it’s still there? Wouldn’t it have spoiled by now? It’s been five years.”
“I made it with lots of sugar! Unfortunately, not a single one spoiled.”
Asha laughed. It was the same laugh as when he first met her, unchanged.
“Your Grace’s cunning grows sharper by the day.”
“Hohoho. I had no choice but to be cunning to capture such a charming duke.”
“You’ve already captured me.”
Suddenly, a strong wind blew from somewhere, causing everyone to cover their eyes in surprise. Only a gentle breeze swirled around the couple.
Thanks to this, no one saw Karnov lean down to his girl while holding the swing’s rope. Everyone was busy fixing their windblown hair and clothes.
At that moment, as their shadows briefly overlapped and then parted, a ‘thunk’ sound came from the top of the World Tree, and a fruit fell onto Asha’s head.
“Ouch!”
Asha looked at the fruit that had fallen into her arms and then up at the top of the World Tree, her eyes wide with wonder.
“What kind of fruit is this?”
Karnov muttered in a voice that seemed to fade away.
“Please, just not the fruit of truth…”
Thank you for reading everyone! This was a long and sweet journey for me. I really fell in love with the author’s writing and method of descriptors in particular. I hope you guys enjoyed the book like I did. I admittedly have grown very attached to Alyosha, Asha, and Karnov. The three will forever have a special place in my heart. Lowkey would have been okay if this continued for a bit longer haha.
Thank you so so so much for your hard work in translating this. I had such a blast reading this, it’s been one of my favorites.