Chapter 9

The day after the naming ceremony.

When I woke up, there were children by my bedside.

A boy and a girl with silver hair and blue eyes were peering at my face.

Their hair and eye color were the same as those of the royal family from my previous life, which made me flinch for a moment, but then I reminded myself that they were the same as my father’s.

“Da? (Who?)”

“Oh, did I wake you up?”

The boy spoke with a smile and in a soft voice.

“Luria, nice to meet you. I’m your brother, Gilbert.”

“Au? (Brother?)”

Brother Gilbert is about ten years old.

He has a similar aura to my father, but his eyes resemble my mother’s.

“My name is Lydia, your sister. Nice to meet you.”

“Aau? (Sister?)”

Sister Lydia is a little younger than my brother, around eight or nine years old.

Her hair and eye color are the same as my father’s, but her facial features resemble my mother’s.

Both my brother and sister look more like my mother.

“Luria, you’re so cute.”

“Hey, can I hold her?”

“No, you can’t hold her while standing. Not until her neck is strong enough.”

Sister asked the nurse for permission but was refused.

The nurse’s judgment was that it would be dangerous for a child to hold an infant whose neck isn’t strong enough yet.

“Okay, that’s a shame.”

Sister looked genuinely disappointed and poked my cheeks.

“Kyakkyak.”

It started to feel fun.

“Both Gilbert and I have been looking forward to meeting Luria.”

“But why can’t we meet before the naming ceremony is over?”

Sister Lydia tilted her head.

Even to me, she looked very cute.

“That’s because of the blessing of the spirits. If siblings get too close to an infant before the naming ceremony, they might take away the spirit’s blessing that the mother gave.”

“I see.”

“When Lydia was born, no one got close until the naming ceremony was over.”

“Brother, you were two years old then, right? Do you remember that?”

“Of course.”

“Really?”

They laughed happily at that.

It seems my brother, despite his young age, is quite knowledgeable.

However, the idea of the spirit’s blessing is a superstition that existed even in my previous life.

A long time ago, there was a disease that only affected children, and many infants died after catching it from their older siblings.

That’s why this custom was born, as the spirit king Roa from my previous life explained to me.

I didn’t receive formal education, but the spirits, starting with Roa, taught me many things.

As I was thinking about this, the nurse said to my brother and sister,

“Young master, Miss Lydia, please sit over here. If you sit on the bench, you can hold Miss Luria.”

“Okay!”

My brother and sister happily sat on the nearby bench.

Then, the nurse lifted me from the bed and handed me to my brother.

“Yes, support her neck with your right hand.”

“Okay.”

“Use your left hand to support her bottom, and bend your right elbow to cradle her head.”

“Okay.”

Under the nurse’s supervision, my brother held me gently, as if I were a fragile object.

“I’m your brother, Luria. Eat well and grow up strong.”

“Da~”

After being held by my brother for a while, I was passed to my sister.

“Luria, I’m your sister. You are the younger sister.”

“Au?”

“As your sister, I’ll take care of you and teach you many things.”

Sister looked very happy and repeatedly called herself my sister.

She might have been excited about having a younger sister.

“Luria, if anyone is mean to you, I’ll protect you.”

“Oh, protecting Luria is my job as her brother.”

“Da-ou-”

Listening to the friendly conversation between my brother and sister made me feel happy.

In my previous life, I was an only child.

I had cousins, but they bullied me, so I have no good memories of them.

Feeling gently swayed by my sister, I fell asleep in peace.