"H-Hey! You're cheating!"
A little girl's voice rang through the beautiful garden.
It was a bright, sunny day. A cool breeze wandered gently through the garden paths, carrying with it the soft scent of blooming flowers. Beds of roses, lilies, and other blossoms of every color spread across the grounds, turning the whole place into something almost dreamlike. At the center of it all stood a large, ornamented gazebo, its white structure half-covered by climbing vines and touched by the sunlight.
Inside the gazebo, several children sat scattered across the circular bench, chatting, watching, or simply enjoying themselves.
But at the center of attention were only two of them.
A black-haired, grey-eyed girl who could not have been more than six years old, and a boy about the same age with tangerine-colored eyes.
Elona Falkrona was playing a guessing game with Loid Stormdila.
The game itself was simple.
One person hid a chosen number of pearls in their hand, while the other had to guess how many were inside. The one guessing had three chances, and the one hiding could use no more than ten pearls. It was the sort of harmless, childish game noble children played when the adults wanted to call it 'socializing'.
But there was one small problem.
"Loid! You cheater! You had three pearls and dropped one on the ground!"
Loid widened his eyes in fake innocence, then smirked.
"Oh? Really?" he said mockingly. "Then look for it, Elona crybaby!"
He laughed as he twisted his body in a ridiculous imitation of a sobbing little girl.
Behind him, a green-haired boy, Thomas Greenvern, and a golden-blond-haired boy, Alfred, burst into laughter as well, clearly entertained by Loid's performance.
Elona clenched her tiny fists.
Her lower lip trembled, but she held her tears back with all the strength a little girl could gather.
"I-I will find the proof!"
Determined not to lose, Elona crouched down and began searching beneath the bench and around the floor of the gazebo for the pearl Loid had dropped so sneakily.
But while she was looking, her back was completely unguarded.
"Ouch!"
Loid shoved her.
It wasn't a strong push, but it was enough.
Elona stumbled and fell onto the ground, her pink dress dragging through the dust. She wasn't hurt, not really, but her clothes were dirty now, and a faint sting spread through her palms where she had caught herself.
For one second she froze.
Then...
"Waaaaahhh!"
Her cries burst out all at once.
Loud sobs filled the gazebo and spilled into the garden beyond. The maids and guards nearby clearly heard her, and more than one turned toward the scene, but none of them knew what to do. The children inside the gazebo all belonged to great noble families. Interfering carelessly could bring trouble upon them.
"Elona?"
Still covering her face with both hands, Elona looked up through her tears.
And then she saw him.
The person she loved most in the world.
More than her father.
More than anyone.
"B-Big Brother!"
Elona scrambled to her feet and ran straight into Edward's arms.
"Brothaa—waaaaaaah!"
The moment she felt his warmth, the tears she had barely been holding back came pouring out even harder.
"It's okay," Edward said softly. "I'm here…"
With one hand, he gently patted her head. With the other, he rubbed her back in gentle pats.
He took a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his little noble outfit and wiped away her tears, then carefully dabbed at her runny nose as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"A lady shouldn't cry, Elona."
Even so, there was no reproach in his voice.
Only gentleness.
He dusted off her pink dress as best he could, straightened the fabric, and fixed the strands of hair that had fallen over her face.
"B-Brotha…"
Elona threw her arms around him again.
She had been scared.
Embarrassed.
Humiliated.
And now that her brother was here, she didn't want to leave him at all.
Edward patted her once more before lifting his eyes.
The warmth vanished from his face so suddenly it was as if it had never been there at all.
At the end of his cold gaze stood Loid, who instantly went stiff.
"S-She insulted me and called me a cheater!" Loid blurted out, stuttering in panic. "She deserved it!"
Edward said nothing.
He merely shifted his gaze past him, toward the prince of the kingdom.
Alfred didn't seem to care in the slightest.
He had already turned back to Thomas and was once again playing the same game with him, as if nothing had happened.
Edward looked at them for another second, expression unreadable.
Then he lowered his eyes to his sister.
"Let's go, Elona. I'll ask for some sweets."
"R-Really?!"
"Yep."
Her teary eyes lit up at once.
"You are the best brother!"
Edward grinned, soft and easy, like the cold look from before had never existed.
"And you are the best sister."
Then he took her hand in his, and together they left the gazebo behind.
***
"Waaaaaaah!"
Elona cried harder than she ever had before.
It had been a very long time since she had cried like that.
In front of her stood a glass case.
Inside it lay a woman.
A woman she knew better than anyone.
A woman she loved with all her heart.
Her mother.
"Mamaaaa! Aawahaahah!"
Her voice broke into helpless sobs as she clung to Edward's arm, wrapping both hands around it as though she feared he might vanish too if she let go.
"B-Big brother…"
She looked up at him through blurred eyes, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
Edward stood there in silence.
He was staring at their mother with a blank expression, so still that it frightened her.
He didn't cry.
He didn't move.
He just looked.
And for some reason, that terrified Elona more than anything else.
She tightened her grip around his arm until her fingers hurt.
She didn't understand death fully.
She didn't understand why her mother was lying there, unmoving, cold behind glass.
But in that moment, she felt something else with childish instinct.
She was afraid of losing him too.
So she stayed glued to his side the entire day, crying until her throat hurt, never once letting go.
***
"...!"
Elona sat up abruptly in her bed.
Her body was trembling.
For a moment, she didn't understand where she was. Her breath came ragged, her chest rising and falling too fast, and the remnants of the dream clung to her.
Slowly, she lifted a hand to her face.
Her cheeks were wet.
"I-I…"
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring blankly at the empty wall in front of her.
The darkness of the room made everything feel larger somehow, her loneliness, her confusion, the ache in her chest.
"W-What should I have done?"
No one answered.
No voice came.
No warmth reached her.
Only silence.
Her lips trembled.
"T-Tell me, big brother…"
A small broken whimper left her mouth.