Time rushes by so blazingly fast when you fall into the groove. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and before I knew it I nearing the second year of kindergarten.
"I just got a call from the gate. I think she's here." Mom put the intercom down.
"Already? Talk about punctual." I jumped off the bed and put my slippers on. It was a Saturday and the Winter break started tomorrow.
Naturally, it was cold... so I put a coat on as well.
"Go bring her in here first, okay?"
"Unnhn." I nodded.
With the confirmation complete, I headed out and into the hall downstairs. There were plenty of bureaucrats loitering around with files in their hands. And amidst that crowd, right next to the door an actual 5-year-old girl stood fidgeting.
She wasn't a 23-year-old in the body of a 5-year-old but an actual 5-year-old.
"'Sup, Luha." I called out to her.
The little girl bowed frantically in response, tugging at the hem of her skirt. She was obviously scared. If not scared at least nervous. I mean it wasn't every day you got to go to the imperial palace.
Ah! Context.
Last week, Luha said that she was curious about how the palace looked. She never openly said that she wanted to come, but she did look like she did. And being the understanding (self-proclaimed) older brother that I was, I took the cue and called her in.
I bet I looked so cool in her eyes back then.
Now, back to the present.
"Let's head in." I walked up next to her.
"Nnhn." She nodded but our eyes didn't meet.
"Come one now... You don't need to be that nervous." So inviting. So charming.
"I-I'm not nervous." Or so she proclaimed while grabbing the back of my shirt for dear life and shying away from all the staff.
She was always confident at school, but being around all these high rankers must've put a lot of weight on her back. Sorta cute in my opinion.
She looked like a mouse surrounded by a bunch of cats.
Nevertheless, we climbed up the staircase to my room where my parents eagerly awaited our arrival.
"Umm... Luha."
'I should probably warn her.'
"Yes?"
"I think that it would be helpful if you knew that my parents might be kind of over the to-"
"Hey there!" Before I could even warn her the two monsters bust outside! They grabbed our hands and pulled us in. The door shut behind us.
Oh, dear.
"Luha, right? What's your favourite colour? How old are you? Oh, never mind you must be 6. How did you meet Ma-kun? How's he at schoo-" Mom rapped some questions out.
Usually, she would be composed, but this was the first friend I ever bought in, besides Yuuno. If you can even consider her a friend. That brat.
'I should control this situation.'
"Can you two please give her a moment? I'm sure she'd be fine introducing herself on her own." I shielded her from their barrage. Mom was the one talking, Dad was there pumping his fist and giving her moral support.
Seeing my absolute barricade the two of them stepped back, dejectedly.
"Oh… okay." Mom pouted.
After calming down, we all sat down on the couch, while Luha remained standing. No one asked her to remain standing yet she did anyway.
She held her hand in the front of her abdomen and gently went down for a full 80 something degree bow and then got back up.
"I am Luha Enoni, from the Enoni house, age 5, born on 27th December." Wait? She was 5? Whoops.
Anyways, she seemed a lot more relaxed when the number of adults in her vicinity shot down to two.
"Fumu~" Mom nodded. Dad was silent probably because he was scared that his voice would frighten the poor girl. "How did you meet Mao-kun?" Mom asked. This soncon never stops. While her words sounded crass, her intonation was very polite, so I'll give her that.
Guess that's what you could expect from a working professional who delegated between countries.
'Is she concerned that Luha approached me cuz of ulterior motives? It seems likely but at the same time it doesn't seem like something Mom would do.'
Oh well.
"Ah yes, the other questions. I, uh, met Mao-kun on the first day of Kindergarten, and we became friends. He has been doing well at school. At first, he was quite confused but he has gotten a lot better at studying. And my favourite colour is dark blue." Woah, she answered all of them.
A 5-year-old with manners and memory like her? It was impressive, to say the least.
"Thanks for answering the questions. Also, feel free to sit down." Dad took charge and finally decided to speak. He probably confirmed Luha's motives before Mom did since he was more perceptive. It was fine since Luha approached me out of her own will.
Dad pointed to the middle of the couch but Luha sat and hid beside me.
'So she was fine until he spoke, huh?'
His face looked downcast.
"You don't have to be scared, Pops is a pretty gentle guy." I reassured hoping that it would help.
"I… ow." She muttered.
"Huh?"
"I know!" She peeked from behind me. The other two looked at her expectantly.
"Then why are you hiding." I pushed back against the couch.
"Uh be…se… n."
"Eh? Your voice isn't clear, check your network."
"Because I'm a big fan!" She shouted with a flushed face. "Your father is the coolest man in the country. He once froze the entire sea and he also turned our active volcano extinct. I mean your mother is cool too, but your father is in a whole another league."
"I'm sort of hurt now~" Mom complained.
"Well, I'm flattered." Dad started burning up from the unexpected compliments. You could see his nose elongate.
'Haughty, much?'
After mustering up enough courage before the other two cooled down Luha spoke again-
"If it's not too much to ask… can I get a handshake?"
"Uhh? Yeah, sure!" His nose got flattened back as Dad snapped back to reality as she walked up to him.
They shook hands.
Fifteen damn minutes worth of greetings, by the end of which Luha was on my father's shoulders while mom cuddled with both of them. It was as if she didn't come to meet but them.
"Ma-kun, can we keep her?" The green-haired woman giggled but her eyes were dead serious.
"She's already someone else's daughter you know?" I retorted.
"Booo… just say yes at times like this." Sometimes this lady forgets to act her age. "I always wanted a daughter like her. And we're plenty rich too~" She made a penny out her hand.
"Oi! Stop! Don't you have Yuu-chan for a daughter?"
"She grew up too quickly." Nope. She was old from the get-go. "Plus she'll probably be our daughter-in-law in the future. I want a daughter!" She threw a mini tantrum. ALSO WHAT'S WITH THE DAUGHTER IN LAW? I WOULDN'T MARRY THAT CRETIN!
The anger made the top of my ears burn. I needed to set this straight-
"There's no way I'll marry her! And there's no way she would marry me either!" I can't even dream about marrying someone like Yuu-chan. No, if I did it would surely be a nightmare.
"In that case, Luha-chan what do you think of our Ma-kun?" Didn't she just say that she wanted a daughter and not a daughter-in-law?
Plus, there's no way I would develop any feelings for someone 13 years younger than me. So marrying Luha is less likely than marrying Yuuno.
Nonetheless, Luha started blushing really hard.
"I-I think Mao-kun is…"
"Is?"
"Is…"
"Uhuh?"
"Is like an older brother!" She spat out.
GREAT RESPONSE! JUST WHAT I HOPED FOR!
Checkmate Mom!
"Older brother, huh? That still works out! Him being your older brother makes you his sister and our daughter! Call me Mommy from now." Talk about positive thinking!
'Also am I really not needed here?'
"And me Daddy." Dad slid his request in, as well.
'Wow, these people went from 0 to 50 real quick.'
Upturned eyes and a small mouth Luha muttered- "Mommy… Daddy…"
That's all it took...
"AWW!!!" A wave of bellowing filled the room. I've heard bulls make cuter sounds than that ungodly 'aww'.
'Wait am I getting jealous?'
I mean sure she quickly won over the two but that didn't mean that she took my place right? No! It didn't!
But just to be sure I climbed onto my Dad's lap as well.
Getting this family took a lot of stuff. No way I would give it up that easy!
They both patted our heads. The reflection on the TV showed a slightly bigger family. Along with a dog that was almost always under the couch.
And that was how I obtained a new sister.
This life, I have been collecting family members like pokemon. I got a mother and a father from the get-go. An uncle and aunt as the Sadou couple. An older sister in Hime-nee. A slightly younger brother in Rune-kun (although regrettably). An older brother in Alez-san. And now a younger sister. The only remaining spots were grandparents, a wife, and some kids of my own.
I can fill the latter two, the former seems a little unapproachable. I mean how do you even approach getting grandparents.
"Mao-kun…" Luha jumped down.
"Yeah…"
"Can you show me around the palace?"
I looked at my parents for confirmation and they gave me proud glances for some reason.
"If that's what you want." I descended as well. "Put on your coat."
"Nhnn." She nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Then let's go!"
NEW COVER!!!
Looks sick, right? Right? On that note shill the novel out everywhere and get me tonnes of colls...
Of course, if you want to be the first to all of this check out my discord and my socials. Discord in book desc and socials in the profile bio!
I have called this castle a palace in the past. Because back in my era, palaces were places of the dwelling of higher classes, whereas castles were fortified constructions that were primarily for military safekeeping and work.
This doubled as both.
It was a single building that housed two families- mine and Yuu-chan's while also having the place of order- the throne room. Of course, the whole palace was designed by a brilliant architect, so every theme just fit together marvellously.
The entire structure was fortified by a physical barrier that seemed somewhat durable. Durable enough to at the very least withstand half of my sort of serious blow. But it wasn't a moat filled with deadly mythical beings. In my opinion, a good moat is a staple of a real castle.
This castle was just pretending to be a castle. A wonderful imitation but an imitation nonetheless.
But then again that's my personal opinion. (psst.. always go for the moats.)
Anyhow, amidst the wonderful imitation, Luha and I were currently on the gargantuan lawn to meet with the third party member.
"Yuuno-sann!!" Luha ran to the wooden sword-wielding battle maniac.
Calling her a battle maniac might seem like an overstatement. But she was practising in winter, with snow falling around, wearing a tank top, and visible steam coming off her body.
For context, this is not even a wuxia or xianxia novel.
{a/n: I don't know the difference between them.}
"Luha-chan!" Yuu-chan dropped her sword and shook both of Luha's hands with her raw strength yet rather gentle touch.
Over the past year, they grew closer and became friends. I mean, it was pretty hard to ignore Luha's innocent charm, and evidently, Yuu-chan fell prey to the 'self-proclaimed elder sibling syndrome'. That meant that against her volition, she started hanging out with me at school as well.
By the way, the 'perfect' image of her's didn't falter. But that was probably because we were surrounded by a bunch of kids who thought rerun episodes meant that the show was currently airing. So you couldn't exactly blame them.
"Oi! Why didn't you tell me that she was coming?" She finally noticed that I was there too.
"Why do I have to tell you about it?" She was my guest after all!
"Becauuuseee the only reason she would come here is to see me." The nerve on this woman!
"Aren't you getting too full of yourself?"
Yuu-chan kicked the sword back up into her hands and pointed it at me.
"Oh, now you're resorting to violence just because you couldn't argue back. That too against a powerless boy? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?"
"You're the one who'll be waking up on the wrong si-"
"Can you two please stop fighting?!" Luha drew her hands in inwards and screamed. Cutely. "Please?"
Who wouldn't throw away their anger after looking at that face?
Both of us went in for a head pat. It was blissful.
Why were the both of us at each other's throats you ask? The day before yesterday she broke my favourite Mai figurine while practising her magic and didn't even apologize properly. So I made Clintarou rip apart her favourite Sung Jin-Woo dakimakura.
We had some bad blood between us, to say the least.
But that melted away rather quickly under the Luha sedative.
"What were you up to right now?" Yuu-chan asked.
"Showing her around the castle. That's what she came here for." I answered.
"Mind if I join in?"
"Are you going to take no as an answer?"
"Nope." Thought as much. That was why we went to her in the first place.
Yuu-chan joined the party as planned.
Our first stop was the garden. One that surrounded the lawn. So technically the first stop was the lawn. Rare flowers, herbs, and fruits. Bright and fragrant. Or none of the above. It was winter and every plant was dead. Yuu-chan heated our bodies up with magic, but you wouldn't see her going around doing that for all the plants.
Everything in sight with the exception of the grass was dead. And covered in white.
{a/n: that's what she said.}
She frolicked around the entire garden like a little kid. Well, it made sense since she was a kid. Even when there was nothing to do or watch, she still had fun.
Oh, the childhood innocence.
After the walk, we went to the little rope jungle gym towards the back of the castle. The place that was built when Hime-chan finally grew old enough to play around. Her parents thought that it was sad how the most privileged kids in the nation had the least free childhood. Pretty stupid in my opinion.
Anyhow, they built the jungle gym then and it is getting used now.
After encountering it, Yuu-chan held her hand over the ropes and heated them up. The snow piling slowly melted away making the gym a safety hazard. So she used wind magic to rid the moistness from the ropes.
"It's safe to climb now." And climb we did.
The jungle gym was like a tower and the top wasn't very far off. Being used to this endeavour we got up pretty quickly and Yuu-chan helped Luha up too.
What awaited us was the white palace, made even whiter by the snow. Tall trees on either side. It really did feel like December.
Luha looked around with awe in her eyes.
Needless to say, the castle was quite the sight for her. Her trip was hopefully worth it.
"Luha-chan, who do you like more? Me or Mao-kun?" Yuu-chan blubbered.
[Way to go with that terrific ice breaker, dumbass. How do you think a 5-year-old will answer it?] I touched Yuu-chan's hard tricep from behind.
[What do you mean how she'll answer it? Obviously, she'll pick m-]
"Uhhh… I like Mao-kun more." Yuu-chan's jaw dropped on the floor.
'Lol.. serves her right.'
"But-" Yuu-chan protested.
"He reminds me of my brother." Is her brother an ex-demon lord too?
[Wow, her brother must be absolutely incapable to resemble you.] Yuuno quipped.
[Shut up! I'm incapable by choice not circumstance.] I retaliated.
Our mental warfare immediately came to an end-
"He passed away two years ago." Luha spoke.
Well, that turned dark real quick.
"I'm sorry." Yuu-chan said, apologetically.
"Unn.. It's fine. He's probably happier up there." Luha patted her back.
A few moments passed.
"Can you tell me about your brother?" I asked her, not knowing what else to say. Words that help a person are hard to find. But the reason she was projecting her brother onto me was that she must've had some unresolved feelings towards him. The least I could do is help her get over that before it becomes a scar as she ages.
So I had to find the right words.
"My brother was kind… he was smart… and he always took care of me."
"And that's how I resemble him?"
"No… Mao-kun, you try hard for everyone around you."
"Huh?"
"You started the year off being distant but now everyone feels happy talking to you." I couldn't believe a 5-year-old girl was saying this. "He was like that too, until Mom and Dad stopped supporting him. Then he gave up." She was way too mature. Sure she had her innocence but she got robbed of something.
How did her brother die? Was it suicide? Exertion? She wouldn't know. But that didn't matter.
"Your brother, you know." I started talking. "Isn't that far away."
She looked at me with questions in her eyes.
"This world is forgiving. When people pass away they immediately come back as someone else. Your brother could be that bird flying in the sky, or that tree in the orchard. He could be anywhere around you." I pointed at those beings respectively. "So until you find him, you can just rely on me. I'm not going away ever."
I put my arm around her and she came in for a hug. From the other side, Yuu-chan embraced her too.
[Your speeches are pretty smooth, huh? I was at a loss for words there. I'm sorry that I couldn't help, but thanks. Even though it does seem like you reuse the same theme for relief.] Yuu-chan said.
[My literal job was to aid the entire citizenship of my previous life. I better be eloquent.]
[Just take the compliment and say thank you. I don't need a stark remark.]
.
.
.
And with that, we headed back for lunch. As we approached the front, the entire lawn was cleared and the snow melted into the ground. The ground with permeated water looked like dew on midday.
"Welcome back!" Dad shouted while working the grill. "We thought we should break our new daughter in with a barbeque party!"
Talk about over-the-top!
We had a hearty meal. And the food was- every bit as good as you would expect.
By the time the meal ended, it was already approaching sunset.
The sky was rather clear and pink... it really was winter.
The day and the playdate had come to end.
"Bye Mao-kun, bye Yuu-chan, bye M-mommy and d-daddy."
'What are they making this poor girl say?'
"Bye Luha! See you on Monday!" Yuu-chan waved at the black limousine.
"Nhh. Good night! Byeee!"
"BYYYEE!!"
We all waved until she got driven off into the farthest point our eyes could see.
That's it for the character introductions relevant for the first hundred chapters or so. There's a new important character when the high school arc starts, and I have to delve into Clintarous psyche too.
Anyhow the rest is comedy and plot expansions.
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