Guardians of the Prince

We decided to stay one more night, so we went down for dinner that evening with Lemonina. We did not meet Idine and Endie. I was kind of relieved.

“Honestly, it might be better to get proper permission to enter the Garden of Stars, but even the application for it requires a seal name. If we’re going to have to sneak Kohme in anyway, we might as well proceed with the whole plan in secret.”

I was growing to quite like her laid back attitude.

I was happy that the first woman I’d met in this world had turned out to be Lemonina. She was frank and openhearted, a little like Koaya, and I felt very comfortable talking to her.

She pulled me aside with a grin, and said to the male contingent, “You guys vacate your chairs for a while, we have lady stuff to discuss.”

We ordered some drinks and decamped to a corner of the dining hall. It felt like a sleep over.

Mr Kahzam, in his timp form, hung out (kept guard?) around the dining hall entrance, and Mr Lahzt took advantage of the moment to break away with the prince to the baths.

“We can drink as much as we want over here,” Lemonina said, and recommended a cocktail with fresh herbs in it. It had a refreshing taste, and suited my image of Lemonina perfectly.

“All those incompetent men around, it must be hard for you to bring stuff up. You doing alright?”

I suddenly teared up at her words.

All alone, in an utterly unfamiliar world, I was lonely, so lonely.

Mr Kahzam and Mr Lahzt were always with me, but I was the only woman, and there are plenty of things you can’t do in front of men you’re only semi-acquainted with (Mr Fatido was out of the question). Lemonina must have experienced a certain number of things too, as a woman, and so she was the only one who could talk to me so affectionately like this. Thinking about what was to come next was making me very tense, but it suddenly felt like something inside me had eased up a bit.

And so I ended up dumping my entire history on Lemonina. Raising Nanao in Mom’s place, Koaya’s wedding… even about my broken heart.

“Yikes, going to a wedding right after you’ve had your heart broken, that’s tough, huh.”

Lemonina tipped the glass she had in one hand. I smiled bitterly. “Yeah, both my little sisters were all kinds of worried about me.”

“The youngest, she’s still little, right? Worried about her big sister’s romance, what a reliable young woman.”

“Yeah… But still, it’s all a bit pointless, maybe…”

“Is it?” Lemonina tilted her head slightly.

“His– That… woman… I went to talk to him the day after I saw him with her. We met at a coffee shop. He said yeah she was pregnant with his kid, and so they were going to get married.”

I wrapped my hands around my glass. The ice had melted completely. “I… I really did get pissed off. He was trying to play both sides, of course I was angry. I chewed him out… I asked him ‘If I’d have gotten pregnant, you’d have chosen me?’ ”

The instant the words had come out of my mouth, I’d been horrified… with myself.

“It was horrid. What was I saying, did I think I was going to exploit a pregnancy, a baby? How did I have the right to criticize him, with such ugly thoughts running around in my head? Once I realized that, the words wouldn’t come out anymore. He apologized in the end, but I just stayed quiet. And that was the end of it. He said, ‘Take care,’ and left.”

The entire relationship had ended with one short conversation. He was probably relieved it hadn’t gotten any more complicated than that.

“I left the coffee shop pretty quickly too. And right outside was Nanao… my youngest sister. She was worried about me, she’d been waiting outside. The conversation had ended so quickly, it made her mad… She got angry in my place. ‘What are you talking about?’ she asked me, ‘Why aren’t you angrier!?’ ”

I set my glass down and then set both elbows on the table to prop my chin up.

“But what was I supposed to say? Her older sister, the person raising her in place of her mother, is the sort of person to exploit a child. She’s the one person I hoped would never find out.”

I’d been shaking, and only able to give vague responses. And that in turn gave Nanao a shock.

“She’s the type to think that her older sisters are hiding things from her because she’s too young. She stopped calling me Mommy-chan after that, and she wouldn’t let me spoil her too much. In fact she said to me once, ‘I’m already grown up, so you hurry up and find a new boyfriend.’ ”

“What a good kid. She’s really sweet.”

Lemonina narrowed her eyes in a smile. She was right, I was very proud of Nanao.

I smiled too, a bit embarrassed, and then continued. “I had to get back on my feet fast, I had to show my sisters I was okay. That way they’d feel better, and maybe stop trying so hard, and everybody could be back in high spirits, like normal. But I was still moping around… And I ended up in this unimaginable situation before anything got resolved.”

Nanao could live with Koaya and her new husband, so that made me feel a little better, at least.

But even that wasn’t totally alright, I was worried that Nanao might try to smooth over Koaya’s sometimes overly straightforward personality. Her husband was a thoughtful, caring person, so maybe she could talk to him about things, but…

As my thoughts ran towards Japan, Lemonina looked carefully at me.

“I believe that when you think hard about someone, those thoughts reach them, in some form anyway, no matter how far away they are. Like that bouquet that contained your sisters’ thoughts for you, it ended up helping you, right? So you should absolutely grab at whatever chance you have for happiness, Kohme, even if it has to be in this world. It’ll definitely get through to your sisters.”

“Yeah…”

I felt a smile naturally blossom on my face.

“Well, that doesn’t resolve our current question though. We still haven’t decided what to do about you and prince’s lineage,” Lemonina said, her arms crossed. “The way I figure it, if we had you living with prince in the other castle, you’d end up mired in so many lies about his origins, all our dirty laundry would end up exposed. Prince has no choice but to lie about his identity, there’s not much we can do about that, but I think as far as you’re concerned, Kohme, it would be best to tell as few lies as possible.”

That was certainly true. I was just an ordinary citizen, I was sure it would be difficult to live the rest of my life keeping up the performance.

I knew it… It really wasn’t going to be possible for me to become his nurse, was it.

I had just started to think like that again, when Lemonina spoke. “Listen, it’s just a thought, but… Before, I said you could become my daughter, right? Of course, I wasn’t entirely kidding, but how about something not too far off?”

I looked up like, ‘what?’ and Lemonina winked her long lashes at me.

Wow, that look had my heart racing. Lemonina must have been quite the heart-breaker when she was younger.

And probably these days too, I guessed.

The following morning, we put our luggage in order and vacated the hotel early.

That wasn’t just because we were going to trespass into the Garden of Stars with Lemonina, but also because of course it was going to be impossible to open the magical lines of transportation inside the research city. We were to meet Lemonina at a point a little ways from the city, and we’d open the lines there.

While Mr Lahzt was settling our accounts, Mr Kahzam, in timp form, grabbed the RV keys and slid out the door. It seemed he intended to take the car around closer to the hotel.

“Don’t go too far, Kohme,” Mr Lahzt said, still paying. The prince was pulling my hand, wanting to go outside.

“We’ll just be right outside,” I said, and waited for him on the porch just outside the entryway.

But Mr Kahzam… Didn’t he have to turn back into a human in order to open the car door? Well, he could get back to his original form, at least, without Mr Lahzt, so that should be okay, but…

He would be, you know, naked, right? The courtyard where the RV was parked wasn’t especially popular, and he could put some clothes on the minute he got inside, but for a minute there, he’d be full monty, wouldn’t he?

He’s been changed into an animal so many times, he must have gotten used to it, I thought, and ended up unintentionally imagining the transformation scene.

Stop stop stop, I’ve got to think about something else and get this image out of my mind!

While I was writhing in mental agony, the prince was happily chatting away in his own little language, and he now let go of my hand and started down off the entryway porch. He’d spotted an animal that looked like a squirrel on the path that continued along the building and behind the forest, and was trying to take off after it.

“Wait, little prince!”

I rushed after him and grabbed him.

Memories of a black cat surfaced in my mind. What was I going to do if that squirrel turned out to be a bad person?

“Nooo!”

“We’re going to get in the car in a minute.”

When I picked the prince up, the squirrel looked over at us, and suddenly its tail stood straight up and it fled into the forest.

“What?”

I turned around, wondering if there was something behind me. And so there was – a large shape wearing black clothes. I slowly moved my eyes up, and met dark grey eyes.

Idine? No, Endie. Yeah.

Endie put both hands on my shoulders, lightly though, without any particular force. His hands were more solidly built than Idine’s. I startled reflexively, still holding the prince.

“Ah, um…”

How many R-rated things were going to happen this morning?

“Kohme!”

Mr Lahzt came up behind Endie. It was going to be alright.

Endie opened his mouth for the first time. He asked his question in a low tone.

“I want you to tell me your name.”

“Uh, what?”

Um… I didn’t really think it was true, but was he trying to flirt with me?

""

I glanced in Mr Lahzt’s direction and then answered timidly.

“My name is Koume…”

“And this kid?”

His next question flew from his mouth immediately.

I felt like I was on the receiving end of a police interrogation, and tensed up. That’s right, Endie was a guard in the royal palace. Maybe it was one of his duties to check up on where people said they came from.

Mr Lahzt came up beside me, apparently still not having really decided whether it was a good thing to keep the secret or not, and said, “We’re considering introducing this child to the royal couple, for Lady Solamire to adopt. She’s been helping us with him.”

Endie’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly.

Then there was another voice. “Morning Lahzt, Kohme. Sorry to sneak up on you when you’re just about to head home.”

Idine approached us. Mr Lahzt scowled faintly at him, but didn’t reply.

“Well, it was Endie’s idea. But I figured if you’re Lahzt’s girl, we’d probably meet again, so I said I wanted to drop in and say hi.”

“Thanks for, uh, making the trip,” I said, flinching as he closed the distance between us, and glancing at Endie for some reason.

As I did, Idine raised his left hand and suddenly took off his ring.

“I was a little worried, you know, since we parted in that particular style the other day. I’ll show you proof of my sincerity, so you know I’m not a bad guy.”

The Shin that appeared from under his ring looked like, how do I say it, standing above someone and guiding them. So that was Idine’s name…

For some reason, Mr Lahzt’s face had gotten real stiff.

Idine said, “You show me yours too, Kohme, if that’s alright?”

Is… Is that really where the conversation was going?

Still holding the prince, I felt my face go stiff too.

I didn’t have any time to think about what I was going to do though, because Endie suddenly grabbed my left hand. I quickly balled my hand into a fist so he couldn’t take my ring off, as I readjusted my grip on the prince, whom I was now holding with only my right hand. I held on tight, so I wouldn’t drop him.

Mr Lahzt took a step forward. “Stop it, Endie.”

“Oh well, pardon me.”

As he replaced his own ring, even Idine scolded him.

“I only wanted to see the name of Lahzt’s woman. The woman who came to meet Professor Lemonina,” Endie said disinterestedly. The fact that his tone of voice hadn’t changed a bit was terrifying.

If I hesitated any further to show my name and he got suspicious… What was I going to do?

Mr Lahzt had just put his hand on Endie’s arm and started to say something, when someone broke in.

“How dare you call her Lahzt’s woman.”

A suave male voice echoed through the trees.

“Hasido!” The prince let out a relaxed shout.

“Ah, prince, you finally learned my name!”

The prince, riding a white stallion… No no, it was a pimp, riding an anpy.

Mr Fatido!

He spread the hem of his jacket, and, setting spry foot down on the ground, approached at a brisk pace.

“The second queen’s…”

Idine faltered, and Endie clicked his tongue, and suddenly tried to shift my ring by force. Ow- ow ow!

Suddenly Mr Lahzt spoke. “Prince, ‘banzai’ !”

The prince, whom I was still holding with just one arm, shouted out something – “Nya!” – and flung both hands up in the air, grinning. His hands smacked right into Endie’s face.

Endie instantly stopped moving, and I twisted my body during that gap and wrenched my hand free.

“Kohme, come here.” Mr Fatido was waiting for me, and so I ran over to him, clutching the prince.

“Mr Fatido!”

Ah, this might be the first time I’ve ever been so glad to see his face!

“You kept your promise to me. Thank you.” Mr Fatido pulled me tight like he was going to hug me round the shoulders, and a smile on his features. Promise? I don’t remember any promise? Mr Fatido turned to Idine and Endie.

“I’ve met you two before, at the royal palace? Thank you for serving my sister so well.”

The two of them silently bowed their heads. Mr Fatido kept right on blabbering. “This woman is quite precious to me. If I could, I’d lock her away where no one else’s eyes could touch her. She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Her name is beautiful too, I’d prefer no man but me ever saw her seal. Well, my desire to monopolize her is a bit much. But she does let me get away with it.”

Mr Fatido took my left hand, and kissed my ring, looking me directly in the eye. I forced a smile.

Mr Lahzt’s expression had turned quite sour, so I secretly exchanged glances with him.

Figure it out! Me being involved with Mr Fatido was just one big web of lies.

“You were headed home now, weren’t you? I’d accompany you, but it seems I’ve got a proper vehicle just come for me. Sorry about that.”

Mr Fatido said his goodbyes to Idine and Endie. The RV appeared just then from the forest, and parked a short distance away.

Mr Fatido, his arm still around my shoulder, steered me towards the anpy he’d ridden in on, took something that looked like a paper tag out from around his neck, and held it aloft in front of the anpy’s eyes.

“Good job.”

The anpy didn’t make a noise, but just returned the way it had come. Had he rented it from somewhere?

I was just thinking what a clever beast it must be to go home on its own, when Mr Fatido showed me the tag. There was a Shin engraved on it, denoting the idea of returning to where one had come from. Ah, so the anpy had obeyed that. Of course, animals could read the seals too.

Setting that aside though, this situation was a bit delicate…

I mean, how must this look to Idine and Endie? Cheating with Idine while going out with Mr Lahzt? And Mr Fatido too? I really got around.

Looking behind us as Mr Fatido and I walked off, I saw that Endie had already turned around and left. He must be stunned.

And then Idine turned to Mr Lahzt, “This is the first time I’ve ever felt sorry for you,” I heard him say. He always just blurted out whatever he wanted.

There was a complete set of Princely Guardians in that RV as it headed out.

“What brought you here, Mr Fatido?” I asked, the prince jiggling on my knee.

“Hasiido! Hasiido!”

The prince had apparently gotten quite fond of him. No surprise, his time with Mr Fatido had been spent playing around and getting tossed into the air.

“All my work in this area got done nice and quick! I actually finished it end of day yesterday, but I figured I’d come round to see if the timing had worked out. And here you were in some kind of trouble. Well, I am glad though, it seems I’ve got to stay right beside you after all, Kohme.”

Mr Fatido burst out laughing. Mr Lahzt gave him the side-eye, a sour look on his face.

“So you really did your work huh… By force…”

This time it was Mr Fatido’s turn to side-eye Mr Lahzt with a scowl. “What was that, Lahzt? Oh that’s right, tell me about what happened the other day. Exactly when did Kohme become yours?”

“I haven’t! Our conversation just happened to turn that way. Back me up, Mr Kahzam.”

I turned desperately to Mr Kahzam, but– There was a threatening atmosphere coming from the driver’s seat.

“I’m done with being an invalid. I’m done with being an animal, too. None of that crap protected Kohme or prince.”

His low growl got one of Mr Fatido’s eyebrows up in interest. “Oh? Kahzam’s been getting quietly pissed off over there. So something did happen then.”

“Morii… Good boy, good boy.”

The prince had gotten down from my knee and gone over to stand behind the driver’s seat and pat Mr Kahzam on the head. For some reason, Mr Kahzam apologized. “I’m sorry.”

“Sit down, little prince, that’s dangerous.”

As I was getting the prince to sit down, I took the opportunity to casually extract myself from Mr Fatido’s arm, which was still wrapped around my shoulder. His eyes went wide and he started to pull me back.

“Kohme!? What is this hickey on the back of your neck!?”

“What? No way, Indie must have put it there, I didn’t even realize.”

I slapped my hand to my neck in a panic. When the heck had he put that there!?

“Idi– From before!? Are you getting it on with every single one of them!”

“Excuse me, but we’ll be turning around for a moment. Back to the hotel for that bastard who treated Kohme like this.”

Mr Kahzam suddenly put on the breaks and started to turn the RV around.

“Woah woah, Mr Kahzam, calm down! I’m fine, I’m really fine!”

“Hey, don’t pull out your weapon while you’re still driving! Listen, I can already see the hill where we’re supposed to meet with Professor Lemonina, it’s right there ahead of us!”

Mr Lahzt and I desperately tried to stop Mr Kahzam.

Several minutes later, we were once again standing in the Garden of Stars.

Only myself and the prince were in human form, Mr Lahzt, Mr Kahzam, and even Mr Fatido had changed to pongas. The Ponga Harem of my dreams… Bwahahah.

It had been several days since I’d visited the Garden of Stars, and the grass cutting seemed to be entirely over. Even the water that had collected so quickly had pulled back, and it had gone back to what it looked like when the prince and I had lived here.

The huge tree, with its awe-inspiring pure white trunk, the treehouse, which already made me feel nostalgic, the droplets falling into the clear spring. Wildflowers were blooming in patches across the base, and I could see small animals looking our way from the shadow of the tree trunk.

Now that I’d heard the legend, it looked completely different to me. I’d lived here, in such a sacred place, me.

A single bird feather came to rest at my feet. I looked up to see… something that sort of looked like a female peacock? It had a fully brown body, decorative feathers above its head, and a short little tail. And those flax-colored eyes… It was Lemonina.

She saw me, and winked with those long lashes. Taking that for our go sign, I dug a hole in the basin using the shovel that the RV was equipped with.

I dropped the plum that had come off the tree into the hole, and buried it again. The prince helped, filling up a small watering can, and pouring it out over the buried fruit.

Then we headed down to a place a little ways away, and looked over it with everyone else.

I’d been playing with the prince while we waited, just about ten minutes, when a bud popped its head out of the ground.

“Wow… It really did sprout.”

I was excited. The power of this place was incredible.

Another ten minutes, and the first leaf unfurled. A slender trunk stretched upwards, and the leaves multiplied. Little by little, the plum tree was growing up.

It took a few hours for it to get as far as a flower blooming. In the meantime, the prince was clambering all over the pongas and chasing them, and playing around, but after a while he tuckered out and sat down, and started to pluck wildflowers. The pongas came over to join him and help out.

A retinue of three ponga knights, now that was pretty funny. I watched them, smiling, and after a while, the prince came in my direction, “Ko-e!” Everyone called me Kohme so it seemed the prince was trying to call me that too.

“Kay,” he said, offering me an attractive flower.

“For me?”

“Have.”

I thanked him, and looked between the flower, the prince, and the pongas.

This… Was this what was created in place of the ruined bouquet?

“Thank you! It smells nice,” I said, thanking him with a smile, and tied it with the lace ribbon I’d taken as a memento from the bouquet and had been keeping in my pocket. I showed it to the prince and everyone, “All done.” The prince, and all three pongas too, looked quite satisfied.

What a lucky person I am, I thought.

After a while, the prince got bored. He took a nap, got up again… Time passed in that way, and eventually the first bud of the plum tree opened. The flower was a pale, pale red color.

This particular color existed too, outside of the white plum and red plum varieties you usually see. Speaking of, I’d heard decorative plum trees were actually a different species from plums that bore the fruit.

The flower opened gently, and a number of birds from the forest came over and started flying around it and landing on the branches. They must have been attracted by the scent.

The prince, staring at the plum tree, approached happily as he saw the birds playing. We all smiled and watched over the scene.

When the prince touched the plum tree, I noticed my vision get a little blurry, and I rubbed my eyes.

What…? The prince, he was getting blurry… Was there some fog?

The prince turned back to us, and the fog moved at the same time. There was some barely visible, transparent human form.

I opened my eyes wide.

That’s a boy in his late teens.

His golden hair rustled with his movement, and from under the shadow of his bangs, clear blue eyes looked in my direction.

A firm jaw line, pale lips. Those lips formed a smile.

I felt like an arrow had landed in my chest, and I forgot to breathe.

How beautiful… The boy’s smile was so gentle.

By the time I noticed it, the boy had disappeared, and the little prince had let go of the tree and was running back towards me.

“That was… No way, that just now was the prince?”

I squatted down and caught the prince. Golden hair and blue eyes… The same as that boy just now.

The power that had caused the plum tree to grow so fast, had it also shown me what the prince would look like grown up? This kid was destined to become such an amazing young man!?

I let out a squee. The prince was gonna be a knock-out!

“Koume?”

“Eep!”

My cheeks started to feel warm.

The prince had said my name, and quite properly too!? His pronunciation was perfect! The effect of being raised with Japanese!

But I mean, I started to wonder whether that future young man would call me Koume, and I just… I mean… What was I gonna do!?

My face went bright red and my brains started boiling, and all three pongas came rushing over, pressing me to say something and pulling my hand, and making little moaning noises. The peacock was staring at me with a flummoxed look in her eye.

What? It’s okay to just imagine it!

Eventually it came to be twilight, and at last a plump, blue fruit was born. As we watched, it ripened and turned yellow.

Suddenly the plum tree started to glow… Just as I was wondering if what I was seeing was real, a single large bird landed on the tree. It was pure white, and enveloped in a haze, like its entire body was burning with white flame.

I knew immediately what this bird was. I had seen its Shin in the legends Mr Lahzt had taught me – this was God’s messenger bird, Kahzapka.

He looked around, his movements slow and at ease, adjusting his chest feathers with his beak. In the meantime, the blue plums that surrounded him stained yellow and red one by one. It was like they were lamps being turned on.

I was enchanted, staring at the scene, when Kahzapka slowly leapt up into the sky, letting out a squawk.

After he opened his beak, a white light came spilling out… The light traced a line in a mysterious form, and danced above the plum tree.

A seal?

“Ah!”

The ring finger of my left hand got warm, and I hurriedly slipped off the ring.

A Shin was floating above my finger. What I’d imagined when I’d summoned the plum here, that was the seal’s image. A flower blooming even in the middle of winter, something small but brave, that was the image I got.

The feeling like after I’d witnessed the grass-cutting, that uneasy sense that my own existence was in doubt, passed, and I felt like my feet had finally touched the ground.

My chest felt so full in that moment.

But suddenly I got zapped, like my whole body had a weak current running through it.

My body felt like the wind, flowing somewhere, getting tossed around until I couldn’t tell what was up or down, left or right.

The air pressure was so high I couldn’t even reach my hand out, and I hunched myself into a ball and shut my eyes tight, still clutching the bouquet the prince had given me to my chest.

This sensation, I remembered it. This was the same wind as when I came to this world, it had to be.

Suddenly the wind subsided, and I felt myself gently floating, so I carefully opened my eyes. It was dark, I could hardly see anything. I looked down, and I was half see-through, and glowing. Just like that great tree in the Garden of Stars.

My eyes got used to things, and I looked around again.

I was in a room roughly six tatami in size. Morning light was streaming lazily in through the curtains, and I could see what was going on inside. Hardwood floors, a study desk, a few stuffed animals lined up on bookshelves, which were packed with books and comics and illustrated reference volumes.

And a polka dotted comforter on the bed, covering someone underneath it.

This was Nanao’s room.

I tried opening my mouth to call out, but my voice wouldn’t work. When I tried to stretch my hand out, my body floated around on its own and I moved to a point above the bed.

Nanao was sleeping, her face so innocent. Her shoulder length hair was a bit curly, she looked like Mom.

I started to feel like I was going to cry, and just when I pressed my hand to my mouth reflexively, there was a knock. The sound was oddly distant, it sounded like when I was ensconced in the Shu-ii.

Nana, it’s morning. About time to get up.

Just as I realized it was Koaya’s voice, the wind slowly began to swirl around my body again.

I could feel myself being pulled somewhere. Was I headed back to Gaduelyon?

I had to tell Nanao. I was safe, I was fine. So Nanao should be happy too. But how could I do it?

I saw Nanao open her eyes a little. Just at that moment, something white right next to me–

–Everything went fuzzy and then from total blinding white, everything went dark.

I must have lost consciousness instantly. When I lifted my heavy eyelids, I could see clouds lingering faintly in the sky, stained by the setting sun.

I lifted my head up a little, and saw a grove of green trees that started just nearby, their leaves swaying in a breeze that smelled of salt water. I was laid out, it seemed, atop the sheer cliffs outside the Garden of Stars.

Everything was still fuzzy, and my hair was a mess from the winds off the ocean, but I realized I was wrapped up in something warm, and moved my head a little more. Right by my head was a shape like the white heat haze of Kahzapka.

Ah… I get it. I’d earned a name, become a person of this world, I couldn’t enter the Garden of Stars in human form any more. I’d been expelled.

But in that instant, Kahzapka had let me see Nanao.

Mr Lahzt and Lemonina would realize what had happened right away, and they’d all come for me soon.

“Thank you…” I whispered to Kahzapka, and closed my eyes, feeling warm tears running down my cheek.