Although it wasn't the dead of winter, Fuyuki City was known as eternal frozen ground, a rare region in Japan with low temperatures all year round.
Even after spring arrived, it still felt cold.
Even with heaters and carpets, the temperature at seven in the morning was not something a three-year-old child could withstand.
Do you think you're me?!
Rin rushed over to wake Sakura, touching Sakura's forehead.
Thankfully, she didn't have a fever.
Waking up, Sakura opened her eyes, hazy with sleep, and mumbled a greeting to Rin: "Ohayo, Onee-chan..."
Rin looked at her, both exasperated and amused.
"This is not good; waking up to find my little sister sleeping on the study carpet.
How does that make me, as an older sister, look good?
Shouldn't you still be sleeping in Mama's arms right now?
How did you end up sleeping in the study?
Don't you know that you're too young to withstand the cold?
Don't you know how worried Mama will be when she wakes up and doesn't see you!...
Perhaps lecturing one's younger sister is truly an older sister's innate talent.
Seeing Sakura's reckless actions, Rin unconsciously slipped into lecture mode, unable to stop her incessant scolding of Sakura.
Facing Rin's lecture, Sakura showed no sign of the impatience or grievance a child usually displays when being lectured.
Instead, she smiled very happily.
Looking at Sakura's radiant smile, Rin found herself increasingly unable to continue.
Why did it seem like the more she spoke, the happier the child became?
"...You, Sakura, how did you end up here, and even fell asleep?
Did you come to look for books to read?
You shouldn't be able to read yet, right?"
Rin finally asked Sakura about her purpose for being there, with a wry smile.
"Oh, that's right, um..." Sakura, reminded by Rin's question, suddenly recalled her purpose.
She began to look around, as if searching for something.
Just as Rin was wondering, Sakura finally found it, pulling out a large apple from behind where she was sitting.
"Onee-chan, for you." Sakura's tender little face was filled with seriousness as she held up the large apple, which she couldn't grasp with one hand, to Rin with both hands.
Rin, however, was completely stunned.
She pointed at herself blankly and asked, "This, for me?"
"Mm!" Sakura nodded very seriously.
Rin looked at the half-red, half-green apple in front of her.
The smooth skin still had a faint watermark, clearly indicating that Sakura had washed it herself at the tap before coming, and it had since dried over time.
Rin blinked repeatedly, took the apple, examined it for a moment, and then looked at Sakura.
"Sakura, you came all this way this morning just to give me this apple."
"Mm."
"It's good that you have the thought.
You could have told a servant or Mama; why did you come here yourself?!"
Sakura tilted her small head and said, "Because that wouldn't be Sakura giving it to Onee-chan."
"Sakura, you..." Rin felt as if something was caught in her throat, unable to speak.
Sakura earnestly said to Rin, "Although Onee-chan is often not with Sakura, and every day Sakura doesn't know what Onee-chan is doing, Sakura feels that Onee-chan is working so hard every day to protect Sakura, right?"
Rin was dumbfounded by Sakura's words, speechless.
Sakura's serious expression seemed to mature in an instant.
As she spoke, her little face was again tinged with sadness.
"Actually, Sakura doesn't even understand what Onee-chan means every time she says 'I'm going to protect Sakura,' but seeing Onee-chan work so hard for Sakura every day makes Sakura very sad."
As she spoke, her big eyes, brimming with tears, looked at Rin's current appearance.
Her sweat-soaked clothes clung to her body, wrinkled and messy, soaked with sweat, and the sweat stains left on the surface of her clothes looked dirty.
The neat and bright twin-tails she usually had when they met at mealtimes were now disheveled, with strands of hair clinging to her cheeks.
Rin was startled, only then remembering that she hadn't yet washed, changed, or tidied herself.
This disheveled appearance was only ever seen by the maids who washed and tidied her every day.
She had never appeared like this before Sakura, Aoi, or Tokiomi.
Holding the apple, she clumsily tidied herself up and down, but her appearance still didn't change much.
Rin couldn't help but scratch her head with one hand, while holding the apple with the other.
In front of Sakura, she had always maintained the image of a clean, tidy, elegant, and cheerful older sister.
Sakura looked at Rin's clumsy, dirty, tomboyish appearance without showing any hint of disdain.
It was as if Sakura had matured twenty years in an instant, and with a serious expression, she said to Rin: "Sister is working so hard now, it must be because Sakura needs Sister's protection. Although Sakura doesn't know why Sister is working so hard, it must be something Sister has to do. Sakura cannot stop Sister, because this is Sister's affection for Sakura. All Sakura can do for Sister is to give her an apple when she is tired. But Sakura also asks Sister, if protecting Sakura means hurting Sister, then please don't protect Sakura anymore, because Sister is very important to Sakura!"
As if she hadn't noticed Sakura's small figure skipping away, Rin stared blankly at the spot where Sakura had just sat, unmoving, but her empty gaze proved her thoughts were not there.
After a long while, she turned to look at the apple in her hand and took a bite with her small mouth.
Early spring was not the season for apples; the half-red apple was crisp but lacked much sweetness, and it was a bit sour and tart. But Rin swore this was the most delicious apple she had ever eaten in her past and present lives… It had a taste, a taste called "sister."
Am I being too self-righteous? Biting into the sour apple, the tart juice stimulated her taste buds, making Rin's mind exceptionally clear.
I only thought of my own goals, only thought of how to protect Sakura, but I never considered Sakura's feelings. I selfishly got myself bruised and battered, exhausted, yet I never thought that this hurt the hearts of those who loved me. I selfishly pushed them away, facing everything alone. Perhaps that itself was a form of harm to them… Unfortunately, I still cannot tell you anything. Some things, I must face alone, Sakura. I promise you, I will cherish myself, because my sacrifice would also be a tragedy in your life… At this moment, the soft sound of a door opening came, and before Rin could turn around, she fell completely into a warm embrace.
Mother… "Mom, Sakura is a child and doesn't know any better. Why didn't you stop her? What if she catches a cold?" Rin complained half-heartedly, leaning into Aoi's embrace.
The owner of this soft embrace was infinitely weaker than herself, but the feeling of leaning in it was indeed unparalleled in safety and peace of mind. It felt like she could fall asleep in it… "Sakura is a child, and you are also a child. A mother cannot stop her children's wishes." Aoi lovingly ruffled Rin's messy black hair.
"You, child, are just like your father, an existence living in a different world from ordinary people. As a wife and mother, I cannot interfere with or disturb your dreams; I can only silently support you. Rin, Mom doesn't know why you are working so hard. You must have learned something about the future. Don't think Mom isn't a Magician, but my ancestors were also Magicians. It's not strange for anything inconceivable to happen in the world of Magicians."
Aoi held Rin's shoulders, looked her in the eyes, and asked her solemnly: "Rin, did you see Sakura encounter a disaster in the future!?"
Faced with Aoi's question, Rin shivered as if from a chill.
What should I do? Should I tell her? Even if I tell her, what then? Tell her about the torment Sakura will endure two years later when she is adopted into the Matou Family? Will Mother be able to stop Tokiomi from adopting Sakura to the Matou Family then?
No, even so, it still won't solve the fundamental problem. My goal is to save Sakura, not simply to prevent her from being adopted by the Matou Family.
Telling Aoi now, besides causing her worry and heartbreak, has no practical significance whatsoever. Moreover, for her, living in the ordinary world, it's better not to get too involved in the world of Magicians.
"Mom, I will save Sakura! I can do it, trust me." Not answering the question directly, Rin still insisted on keeping it a secret.
Aoi wasn't disappointed; instead, she looked at Rin with even more heartache. She knew that her four-year-old eldest daughter had decided to shoulder the heavy responsibility of saving her sister alone. But since Rin decided not to speak, Aoi would not ask again, just as she had said before, a mother cannot stop her child's wishes.
Aoi tenderly kissed Rin's forehead and then lifted her with force, "Come, Rin, let Mom help you with your bath. It's been a long time since you bathed with Mom."
"Mhm."
"My Little Rin has grown up, Mom can barely carry you anymore."
"Is Mom tired? I'll walk myself then."
"What nonsense are you talking about? What mother can't carry her own daughter? Let's rest today. Your Uncle Kariya rarely comes back. You weren't here the last few times, and he always mentioned you."
"Mhm… Okay."