Sylphiette
I WAS AT A LOSS. I didn’t know who to ask what to do or how. I didn’t even know what I wanted to come of it. It was painful to be so clueless.
When Rudy told me that he’d show Sieg to Perugius, I thought for just a moment about how much easier it would be if Perugius would simply take Sieg away. The thought shook me to my core.
It was just a fleeting thought, but it confirmed something—the root of my anxieties wasn’t the idea of Sieg being Laplace. But that begged the question: What was it I feared? Why was I uneasy? I didn’t know. All I could do was hold Sieg in my arms and shudder.
Even when we were told to go to the Divine Continent and give him a baptism, my mind was blank. It really was like I’d reverted to my old self—to the little girl who was bullied by all the kids in Buena Village. Rudy saved me back then; he chased off the bullies and taught me all there was to know. Things like magic, and how to read and write. What about now? Would Rudy still save me?
When I was a foolish little child, I had complete faith in Rudy and knew he would save me. Things were different now. I loved Rudy, and I had faith in him. But I knew he was still only human. He might have looked infallible, like he could do anything, but the truth was plenty of things were beyond him. He was scared of all kinds of things, of course, and he was more than capable of making simple mistakes.
Like forgetting to come up with a name for our baby. That surprised me, and even disappointed me, but it wasn’t like I got angry over it. Rudy was hard at work as Orsted’s subordinate. I knew how busy every single day was for him. I knew that he faced hardship in the Asura Kingdom, in Millis, on the Demon Continent. Everywhere he went.
People had their limits. I wanted to be considerate of that. I couldn’t expect someone to be a perfect family man while working under Orsted. That was why I swore to myself that I’d do it, so that Rudy could be free to pursue his work. I mustn’t beg Rudy for help. I had to make ends meet on my own.
Rudy wouldn’t come to save me. So, what was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to make it all work?
“Sylphie.”
While my head spun from the onslaught of questions that had no answer, I heard a voice. I was instantly snapped back to reality, catching the person who’d spoken my name in the corner of my eye.
It was Roxy.
“Um… Sorry if I’ve got the wrong idea,” Roxy began, asking with both hesitation and sincerity. “But… Sylphie, do you think that maybe you’re less concerned about whether Sieg is Laplace, and more worried about how his hair is green?”
By the time I realized it, my eyes met Roxy’s. Mine must have widened.
“What…makes you say that?”
“I heard from Lilia that you used to be bullied by other children for having green hair.”
Oh, right. Lilia! I wondered why I’d forgotten about her. A long time had passed since my hair changed colors; I reunited with Rudy, married him, and at some point, I’d started assuming Rudy was the only one around who still knew about the old me. Silly me, Lilia knew as well. I never gave it too much thought, but there was no way she wouldn’t have known.
Why didn’t I ever connect with her? No, Lilia did start conversations with me. I had just closed myself off and never tried to ask her.
“You probably don’t remember, Sylphie, but back when I was in Buena Village, I met you once. I even spoke to your parents.”
“About…what?”
“About the color of your hair. It seemed they worried about it, too.”
Huh. This was, well, a strange thing to hear.
For as long as I could remember, my mother and father never said a word about my hair color. Even when I got bullied and ran home crying and asked them why my hair was a different color from everyone else’s, they couldn’t give me a straight answer; they just looked sad, or guilty, or some other mix of emotions, and then they hugged me and told me it was all right, but it wasn’t all right at all—
“What did you tell them?”
“That I could guarantee you weren’t a Superd. I told them that everything would be all right if they explained it to their neighbors and raised you with love.”
Ah. So that was why my mother and father hugged me and told me that it was all right, over and over again.
Of course, they weren’t all talk; I knew that my mother and father really did love me. They raised me as best they could. I might not have known it then, but I knew now.
“I thought you’d be all right since Buena Village didn’t have a culture of discriminating against demons, but that attitude doesn’t always reach the children…”
Roxy paused to pat my chest.
“Either way, if you have any concern about Sieg being treated differently because of his hair color, just leave it to me. As you can see from looking at me, I’m very clearly a demon. I’ve got plenty of experience with handling discrimination!”
Hearing this from Roxy made her seem more reliable than ever. Rudy must have had a lot of respect for that side of her…
Still… Yeah, she was right. I wasn’t alone anymore. I had Lilia and Roxy. Raising children might not have been Eris’s specialty, but she gave it her all without giving up or pushing it on to someone else.
“Let’s all travel to the Divine Continent together. I’m a bit concerned about leaving Lilia alone to watch the house, but there are plenty of people she can rely on.”
After making her suggestion, Roxy gently rubbed my back. I felt lighter, as if she was lifting a weight off my shoulders.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login