"Big sister!"
BANG!
The sound of the doors being slammed open resonated in Renzille's room, causing him and Kreious to pause their discussion to turn their attention to the person who barged into her room.
"Hide the contract." Renzille whispered to the beastman as she stood up, standing in front of Kreios to give him a chance to hide the folder.
Kreios felt his heart drop to his stomach and rushed to open the drawer where Renzille pulled the folder out, then proceeded to push it back inside— crinkling it in the process.
Renzille felt her heart racing inside her chest, her eyes snapping to the person who turned to the bed. "Bluria! That was disrespectful of you! How can you barge into someone else's room without informing them of your—"
Renzille was already nagging and scolding the little girl, but she slowly trailed off and got cut off when Bluria tackled her into a hug.
"You're alive!" Bluria sobbed, her words muffled into Renzille's stomach.
Renzille frowned and glanced at Kreios as he rushed to close the door, not letting any of the servants and knights stationed in the hall hear the commotion happening inside of Renzille's room.
I'm alive? Renzille wondered what the little girl meant about that.
"Of course, I am." Renzille pointed out with a sigh and placed her hand on the little girl's head. "Why wouldn't I be? Did you hear about what father did to me? It's only a slap."
The little girl, however, could only sob harder, her body trembling as she cried to her big sister's stomach.
Renzille felt her heart strings get pulled, her frown deepening. "What's the matter, Bluria? Why are you crying? You're going to get your pretty face ugly if you keep this up, sweet girl."
Renzille had never comforted anyone in her life, both in this and her previous life, so she's quite clueless as to what to do to make the little girl stop crying her heart out— which is failing miserably, by the way.
Bluria responded by a shake of her head, her hands clutching Renzille's dress tighter, as if she was afraid to let her go.
"I.. I worked so hard." The little girl mumbled and hiccuped. "I worked so hard, sister.. I did my best to come back and when I heard.. When I heard that you were.. That you were.."
Bluria couldn't finish what she was saying and only cried harder, her cries sounding like she was in deep agony and endless suffering— like she was continuously being put under agonizing pain to the point all she could do was cry.
The sound made Renzille's heart clench, unsure of what to do.
"Bluria.." Renzille coaxed gently and pushed the little girl off her stomach, but Bluria held her tight and unforgiving; the little girl didn't want to let go of her, that much is obvious.
Once again, Renzille tried to gently dislodge Bluria's grip on her, but the little girl remained clinging tightly to her.
Renzille sighed in defeat, silently acknowledging that there was no point in trying to pry Bluria off her, so instead, she resigned herself to her spot and allowed the little girl to continue clinging to her and crying.
She understood that sometimes, what was needed most was a shoulder to cry so she remained still, gently patting Bluria's head, offering what comfort she could without words.
Renzille and Kreios exchanged a brief glance, Renzille's eyes having a look of exhaustion and confusion crossing them while Kreios responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
It was a wordless understanding between them, an acknowledgement that this situation was going to take up some time and their own concerns would have to wait.
After several minutes, Bluria's tears finally began to subside, her sobbing gradually fading into soft hiccuping.
Thankfully, with visible reluctance, the little girl finally pulled away from Renzille, her grip loosening and her head lifting from Renzille's stomach and as she withdrew, her face was now visible— tear streaked and still a bit red from crying.
Renzille's gaze softened upon seeing Bluria's tear streaked face and even through her own lack of familiarity with expressing such emotions, a genuine smile tugged at the corners of her lips.
With a gentle tone, she inquired. "Are you feeling better now?"
Bluria's gaze lingered on Renzille for a moment longer, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly as she studied Renzille's face.
The expression in the little girl's eyes was difficult to decipher, a confusing blend of emotions that didn't quite reveal the intensity of her thoughts— it was clear that Bluria was silently dealing with something deeper, something that even her tears had only hinted at, but not yet fully revealed.
What could it be? Renzille thought and stared back at the little girl, her confusion deepening.
Then, Bluria suddenly smiled brightly and made her declaration, the unexpected shift in emotions left Renzille momentarily caught off guard.
"I'll protect you well this time, sister." Bluria declared, smiling brightly towards Renzille.
The phrase sounded both endearing and.. Somewhat puzzling given their current circumstances because what does the little girl mean by those words?
Renzille blinked in surprise, unsure of how to respond to this sudden declaration of protection from the little girl who had just been sobbing on her stomach, but she flashed her a strained smile.
"Perhaps I should say the same to you, little one." Renzille said with a lighthearted tone, her words were just a jest, indicating that she found the declaration somewhat endearing, but not entirely taken seriously.
Bluria shook her head, releasing her hold on Renzille.
With firm and decisive steps, she began walking towards the door, her determination evident in her stride.
"I made mistakes before, but I won't let myself fail again." Bluria blurted out and stopped by the door, her hand resting on the door handle. "I'll make sure to be here this time.. So expect my presence more in the near future."
The seriousness in her words were hinting at some hidden meaning that Renzille didn't knew knew about so it made her feel somehow anxious.
"What are you talking about, Bluria?" Renzille asked, unable to stop herself from being curious and wanting answers from Bluria's confusing behavior.
However, instead of answering, the little girl twisted the door handle and exited the room.