CHAPTER 73: CALM DAYS, PART III

Yuri slept so deeply she drooled on Haru’s kimono. Blinking slowly, she woke up and looked at her mom.

"Good morning, sleepy princess," Haru joked. "Did you sleep well?"

"Y-yeah..." Yuri mumbled, still half-asleep. "Where’s Grandma?"

"Right here," Maldie answered as she came back from the bathroom. She sat down on the cushion Lánshuò had left open for her.

Lánshuò stood behind Yuri like a huge shadow. She didn’t say anything – once again completely still, like a statue, as if she were constantly listening for something.

"Want me to read you more?" Haru asked with a smile.

"N-no, I’ll fall asleep again. Maybe we can play chess?"

"Sure. So we’re heading back to your room, right?"

"Y-yeah," Yuri replied and nodded.

A moment later they were in the kids’ room. Yuri went to her closet and took out the chess set. They started a small tournament – Lánshuò joined too and won: she crushed everyone, beating each of them in under five minutes.

Yuri took second place, Maldie third, and Haru... last.

"Well, I guess chess just isn’t my thing, heh," Haru joked, laughing at himself for coming in last.

"How did you beat everyone so fast, Lánshuò?" Yuri asked, surprised.

"Thousand years of being alone make you learn a lot of things," she replied casually.

"So, what do you want to play next, Yuri?" Maldie asked.

"Hmmm... princess tea party!"

Maldie and Haru laughed.

"I see you’re already preparing for the role," Maldie said.

Yuri opened her closet and asked Haru to take down the box of plush toys from the top shelf. There were over a dozen of them, all hand-sewn by Maldie long ago.

Yuri pulled out a tiger, a bear, and a monkey. Haru put the box back on the shelf like she asked.

"Lánshuò, tie up your hair – you’ll be the king!" Yuri said. "These will be my ministers and advisors," she said, pointing at the plushies. "Mom will be the maid, and Grandma will be a politician from another country!"

"Interesting casting, sweetheart," Haru said, amused.

Lánshuò bowed and did exactly what Yuri told her. Yuri dragged her desk chair to the middle of the room like a throne. Lánshuò did the same with Shion’s chair and placed it beside Yuri’s.

Yuri lined up her ministers in front of her.

"Grandma, go outside for a moment! You have to knock and come in when I call you!"

"Alright," Maldie said with a smile and stepped out.

A moment later, someone knocked.

"Maid," Yuri said, imitating an elegant noblewoman, "did we schedule a visit for today?"

"I don’t recall that, my lady," Haru answered, bowing to his queen.

"And what do you say, Minister?" Yuri asked, leaning toward the monkey plush and pretending to listen. She nodded several times, mumbling "mhm" under her breath. "I think you forgot that today we’re expecting the foreign minister from our greatest ally!"

"Th-that’s today? Oh forgive me, silly me, hehe," Haru said.

"Honestly, maybe I should get a new maid if you’re that forgetful!"

"No, please, don’t fire me, my lady!"

Another round of knocking.

"See? I even forgot to let her in. Come in!"

Maldie entered, pretending to be someone important in an equally funny way. She greeted all the ministers, the king, and the queen, while pointedly skipping the maid.

"Honorable King, and honorable Queen... I bring you an offer you cannot refuse."

"We’ll see about that," Lánshuò said coldly. Maldie flinched. She couldn’t tell if the guardian was acting or just... being herself.

"Speak, Minister. What do you have to offer?" Yuri asked.

"Our prince wishes to marry your beautiful daughter. This marriage will strengthen our alliance and make both our nations even more powerful."

"But my daughter is–" Yuri began, only to be cut off as Sayaka burst through the door.

Before Sayaka could even say:

"I’m all rested now, I can take care of you again!" she tripped on the threshold and fell flat on her face.

"– super clumsy. I don’t know if she can handle ruling a country. What do you think, my husband?" Yuri asked.

"You’re right. But since the prince himself made the proposal, it wouldn’t be wise to refuse," Lánshuò answered.

Sore Sayaka stood up, with Maldie’s help.

"Congrats, you just became a princess," Maldie laughed.

"Huh?" Sayaka looked around the room, confused. A moment later she realized what they were playing. "Oh wow, Yuri, where’d you get that huge doll sitting next to you? I always wanted one like that! Can I touch it?"

"I’m not a doll," Lánshuò said angrily.

"Sure! I don’t want to play anymore!" Yuri said.

Sayaka walked up to Lánshuò. She first touched her forehead, then grabbed the mask by the cheeks and stretched them – the mask acted like skin.

"Wow! What kind of craftsman made this?! It’s so realistic!" Sayaka said, amazed. Lánshuò tried to show her irritation, but she couldn’t speak because Sayaka was squeezing her cheeks that hard. She also couldn’t resist, because this was what her lady wanted. She started growling like an annoyed dog. "Oh wow, it even makes sounds!" Sayaka said.

Haru and Maldie burst out laughing.

"She’s not a doll," Yuri said with a laugh. "She’s my new bodyguard!"

"H-huh?" Sayaka’s eyes widened even more. Her gaze met Lánshuò’s icy stare, and she trembled. "S-sorry," she said, letting go of the cheeks she had stretched as far as she could.

"Since we’re done playing, time to clean up, right Yuri?" Haru said.

"Yep!"

"Let me do it, my la–" Sayaka started, but Haru shook his head.

"No, let her clean up after herself. I don’t want her getting too used to having servants, same as Asahi and Shion the Second. Shion and I want them to respect you and be independent."

"I think it helps a lot that their grandma used to be a maid too," Sayaka said with a smile.

When Yuri put her chair back, Lánshuò did the same with Shion the Second’s chair and then let her hair down.

Yuri looked at the plushies on the floor, then picked up all of them at once, barely fitting them into her arms.

"I don’t want to put them back. Can I sleep with them tonight?" she asked hopefully, staring at Haru with big eyes. "Please!"

"Of course," Haru said with a smile.

"Yaaay!" Yuri cheered, then placed the plushies on her bed and sat down. Lánshuò sat beside her.

"I’ll leave you with her for a moment. I will check on Shion," Haru said.

"Wait, Mom!" Yuri jumped off the bed, ran to him, and hugged him tightly.

Haru kissed her forehead.

"See you soon, sunshine. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back," he said warmly.

Yuri let go, and a moment later Haru left. Maldie, Yuri, Sayaka, and Lánshuò looked at one another. Yuri yawned.

"I feel weirdly sleepy. I kinda want to nap," she said.

"Then go ahead. There’s nothing wrong with that. Even adults take naps sometimes," Maldie said.

"Okay... goodnight," Yuri whispered, curling up under her blanket.

When Yuri closed her eyes and fell asleep, the room went quiet. Lánshuò stared straight at Sayaka, and Sayaka didn’t even tremble. Maldie watched them in disbelief.

"You’re not scared of her at all?"

"Huh? Scared of who?"

"The new bodyguard! She terrifies me! The moment I feel her gaze on me I get chills all over."

"You do realize she’s in the room with us, right?" Sayaka asked, suddenly nervous.

"Well, at least I’m not talking behind her back," Maldie said, sighing. "Sorry, but ever since I saw your true form, I can’t see you any other way, Lánshuò."

"I understand," Lánshuò replied flatly.

Sayaka walked up to her and held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, I’m Sayaka."

"Mhm." Lánshuò shook her hand and nodded.

Sayaka felt like she was squeezing a wet, cold sponge. She had to fight hard not to let her disgust show.

"M-Maldie... you mentioned something about her true form?" Sayaka asked, sitting down next to her.

"That’s a long story..."

"I see."

Sayaka sighed. Lánshuò sat on Yuri’s bed, Maldie on Asahi’s bed across the room, and Sayaka beside her in Asahi’s chair by his desk.

"Then maybe we can get to know each other better?" Sayaka asked. "What’s your favorite color, Lánshuò?"

"I tried. It won’t work," Maldie said. "She’ll say something like–"

"White."

"Oooh, nice, mine’s light blue!" Sayaka said, smiling at her.

"Wait, what? White? You told me ’god’s blood’ and didn’t want to talk to me!" Maldie snapped, raising her voice a little.

Lánshuò grinned wickedly. Sayaka froze for a moment when she saw the rows of unnaturally huge fangs peeking from under the mask.

"I was making fun of you," Lánshuò said, then hid her smile.

Maldie sighed heavily.

"So you do have a sense of humor... I really thought you were serious. You should work on changing your tone so people can tell when you’re joking and when you’re... eh, never mind."

"Come on, just admit she got you good," Sayaka said, laughing. "Alright, what about favorite food?"

"God. Preferably freshly killed by me."

"Okay... and now you’re joking again, right?" Sayaka asked nervously.

"No. I’m being serious. That’s what I eat. Gods."

"O-oh," Sayaka said, her voice shaking.

"Told you," Maldie said smugly.

"Lánshuò, sorry for asking directly but... what race are you? I’ve never seen anyone like you. Most people here are humans, Gari and Asahi are half-dragons, and..." said Sayaka.

"I don’t have a race. I was created and abandoned by my lady, of whom Yuri is the only heir."

"Haru created you?!" Sayaka asked, shocked.

Maldie rolled her eyes.

"No, she’s talking about the Second One!"

"Aaaah. Now it makes sense. Wait, no it doesn’t. Who was she?"

"You seriously have the memory of a goldfish," Maldie teased, and they both laughed.

Sayaka asked for details, and Lánshuò began telling her story.

Maldie and Sayaka thought she was opening up to them, but for Lánshuò... this was just normal.