The Loving Sisters and the Lace Lingerie
"Come now, Freesia! Cease your pestering of the Hero and present yourself here at once, if you please!"
"Noooo waaay!!"
Freesia cowered behind me as her shield, clinging to me for all she was worth.
"Hoh hoh hoh~ How heartwarming it is to watch my daughters converse after so long."
That's way too laid-back, Your Majesty!!
"However..."
At the Elf King's measured tone, the two sisters fell quiet once more.
"You are every bit as guilty of troubling our honored guests as she is, Histira."
"Ungh... but Mother...!"
Histira's face scrunched up in frustration.
"I shall speak with Freesia myself. Pray step aside for a moment."
"...Very well..."
Histira hemmed and hawed a little before finally bowing her head in acquiescence. His voice was warm and gentle, but I could feel the Elf King's presence all the same.
"Hoh hoh hoh~ Thank you, my Histira. Wait for me in the next room."
"I shall wait, if you please."
Histira composed herself, then slowly opened the door beside the throne and walked out.
Every step Histira took, Freesia stayed glued to me like a post, crawling on her knees and using me as a shield to the very end.
Zap.
"Hyaaaah!"
When the steadily departing Histira narrowed her eyes and shot a glare back at her, Freesia yelped in terror and buried her face in my side. Histira then slipped through the door her attendant held open and vanished into the next room.
"Hoh hoh hoh~ Now, Freesia. Release the Hero already. That is no way to treat a guest."
"Ah... okay."
At the Elf King's words, Freesia finally let me go and plopped down onto the floor of the audience chamber, right between my chair and Valeri's.
"Hoh hoh hoh~ You're as energetic as ever. It does my heart good to see it."
"Yep! I'm glad you're looking healthy too, Dad!"
Freesia aside... I genuinely can't get a read on this Elf King at all.
"Histira seemed quite angry."
"Honestly. She's always been way too hot-tempered, that sister of mine."
"Do you know why Histira was angry?"
"Hmm... beats me?"
You don't know?! You were running your mouth about the very thing you pulled!
"Have you been eating well on your travels?"
"Yeah! I always make sure to."
"Oh, what a relief. I hear you've been staying in Sontar Village as of late?"
"That's right! We were close by, and I'm sorry I didn't come visit. Hehe."
"I also heard you were arrested there. Hoh hoh hoh."
"Yeah! Wai—huh."
This guy just walked her straight into a trap interrogation, textbook perfect.
"Hoh hoh hoh. Freesia, my Freesia. Why have you gone silent? You were arrested, were you not?"
"Yes... but how did you...?"
"Lord Raking is a truly wonderful friend of mine. His news travels faster and more accurately than any courier's. And so..."
The atmosphere froze over in stark contrast to his warm tone, and Valeri and I both tensed up.
"Your charge was theft of undergarments, was it not?"
"Yes..."
Freesia answered with her head bowed low, her whole body trembling as she lapsed into formal speech.
"Do you remember why you left this beautiful homeland of ours?"
"Yes..."
"And what was that reason?"
"Because I... stole my sister's underwear... and I... went around telling everyone about it..."
You were telling everyone?!
"Then surely you understand why Histira is angry now, don't you? My dear Freesia."
"Y-yes, ma'am...!"
Freesia's reply came out in a voice barely above a crawl.
"Ahem."
At the Elf King's dry cough, I shifted my gaze from Freesia back to him.
"Hoh hoh hoh. My apologies, everyone. To have such honored guests and subject you to this display."
"Not at all! It's been so long since you've seen your daughter!"
"Indeed! Please don't mind us! Take all the time you need to talk things through!"
Having just witnessed the Elf King's crushing presence as he pressed Freesia, Valeri and I babbled our reassurances in a panicked rush.
"Hmm... as it happens, there is something I would like to ask."
"Aha, then by all means, go right ahead~"
"Yes sir! We're dying to know ourselves~"
Somewhere along the line, we'd both started bowing and scraping for fear of provoking the Elf King.
"Hoh hoh hoh~ The Hero and his companions are gracious indeed. Thank you. Then, Freesia, one question for you."
"Yes... Mother..."
"That day, you fled without so much as a farewell, slipping away from a livid Histira. You're a resilient child, so I did not worry overmuch — but it did weigh on me. Why did you steal Histira's underwear?"
"That's... actually the question I've been dying to ask..."
"Honestly, me too..."
Valeri and I whispered at the Elf King's question. Freesia, still quivering between us, drew a deep, steadying breath and pulled herself together.
"Ahaha~ Well, you see, it all started when~"
And so, easing back into her usual bubbly energy, Freesia began her story.
If I were to summarize the past she told us, it went something like this:
One perfectly peaceful day, the First Princess Histira was in extraordinarily high spirits, humming a tune that simply would not stop.
"Sis, did something good happen?"
The Third Princess Freesia, curious about her sister's mood, went to her room and asked.
"Ah, Freesia. Indeed it has, if you please~ Mejiya has sent me a gift, along with a letter!"
"From our second sister?"
Word from Mejiya, the Second Princess who had left for the royal capital long ago, set the youngest, Freesia, abuzz as well.
"Whoa! A gift?! What is it, what is it?"
"Oh my, are you curious?"
"Yes! Obviously~ Tell me, tell me!"
When Histira teased her just a little, Freesia turned on the full force of her aegyo with her entire body.
"Hoho~ No one can resist Freesia when she gets like this. Very well, if you please. Here~"
With that, Histira opened the lid of a beautifully adorned keepsake box. Resting atop the plush cushion inside was something Freesia had never seen before.
"What's that?"
It looked like a piece of fabric. Something woven from black thread, traced with gorgeous floral patterns, while the fabric itself was woven so sheer it was almost translucent. It was triangular in shape, with one large opening at the top and two smaller ones at the bottom, one on each side.
"Looks like underwear~"
"Hoho~ Correct! As expected of Freesia, you have a keen eye~"
"Huh? Really?"
"This is what is called lace lingerie, if you please. Women in the human cities are said to wear it~"
Histira went on bragging, absolutely giddy. It was the perfect gift for Histira, who harbored a romantic longing for human society and its great cities.
"Wow~ So pretty~"
"Isn't it? I simply adore Mejiya's gift~"
"Can I try it on?"
"What nonsense are you speaking! I have worn it but once myself, and now I treasure it with the utmost care. Absolutely, positively, under no circumstances will I permit it!"
"Boo~ It's underwear, it'd be a waste not to wear it~"
"An object this beautiful! Merely gazing upon it fills the heart, so it matters not, if you please~ Ohohoho!"
Just as Histira said, the lace lingerie looked breathtakingly beautiful to Freesia's eyes too. So this is what humans — the people of the cities — wear. Something like a revelation seemed to dawn on Freesia.
Freesia stared, transfixed, at that lingerie her sister wouldn't even let her touch.
"...And that's why I stole it."
"That's not a reason, that's not a reason at all!!"
I found myself shouting at the absolutely botched landing of Freesia's story.
"B-but I didn't wear it! I only looked at it~"
"The moment you stole it, everything was already ruined!"
Valeri shouted right back at Freesia's excuse. At this rate we'd both lost our voices for nothing. I made up my mind to actually hear the rest of the story.
"Then the rumors — why did you spread rumors about it?"
"Rumors? Ahh, that... well, since Sis was bragging about it~ I figured I'd brag about something this amazing on her behalf, to the other people..."
"She was bragging because you're sisters... because you're her little sister, that's why she was showing it off..."
"To think you told strangers about it... that is an insult of the gravest order to Lady Histira!"
Scolded by the two of us, Freesia squirmed helplessly, not knowing what to do with herself.
Given everything I'd seen from her until now... she genuinely doesn't understand right now. She completely, totally lacks the common sense to understand!
Completely unable to reconcile her logic with anything resembling reason, I clutched my head, a headache blooming behind my eyes.
"FREESIAAAAA!!"
Just as our conversation wound down, the door beside the throne slammed open with a bang.
"Princess! Please compose yourself!"
Histira came storming out of the room brandishing what looked like a silver candelabra, and two attendants grabbed her around the waist, trying to hold her back. But despite their weight clinging to her, Histira advanced in long, furious strides.
"Hyaaah! Dad! Save me!!"
"Well..."
"Stay out of this, Mother!"
"I shall."
You're just giving up on her?! Your Majesty!!
"Waaaaah! Save me, Valeri!!"
She threw herself into Valeri's arms, utterly terrified as Histira closed in.
"Freesia has done wrong, has she not?"
"Boohoo... Hero~"
Teary-eyed, Freesia hugged Valeri's waist tight and looked over at me. I quietly turned my head away.
"Not even you, Hero!"
"Freesiaaaaa...!"
The attendants being dragged along by Histira's footsteps finally peeled away, and Histira came within arm's reach of Freesia and the rest of us.
"H-hyaaah!"
Freesia peeled herself off Valeri and tried to flee on wobbly legs, but she didn't manage three full steps before the swiftly charging Histira seized her. Freesia went down flat on the floor, and Histira climbed onto her back on her knees, pinning her down.
"S-Sis!"
"How dare you...! How dare you tell our guests such things...!"
"I didn't! I was only telling them because they asked!"
"No excuse shall alter your guilt, if you please!"
Histira raised the candelabra high, apparently intending to swing it down like a club.
"P-please calm down! It's dangerous!"
Valeri sprang to her feet, trying to talk Histira down.
"That's right! Freesia certainly deserves punishment, but there's no need for a princess to do something dangerous! Right, Your Majesty?"
"Hoh hoh hoh. I was told to stay out of it~"
Why are you so nonchalant now?! Show us that presence from earlier!
Despite our efforts, the candelabra in Histira's grip began its descent.
"I'll buy you even more!!"
At Freesia's desperate cry, the candelabra froze mid-air, inches from her face.
"I-I will! I'll buy you as much as you want from the capital! Other things too!"
"And how would you presume to go to the capital..."
"It's already promised! Once the Hero completes the Holy Sword, we're going to the capital! Right, Hero?!"
Words tumbling out faster and faster, Freesia looked at me, on the verge of tears.
"Th-that's right! That's exactly why we stopped by here — on Holy Sword business!"
"Did you hear that?! Huh?! Huh?!"
Perhaps the appeal had gotten through, because Histira, who had been frozen in place, slowly loosened her grip.
"...And..."
"Yes?"
Freesia reacted like a shot even to Histira's barely audible murmur.
"...a music box... you shall bring me one of those as well, if you please..."
"Of course! Lace lingerie, music boxes — I'll bring you anything and everything!"
Histira slowly lowered the candelabra and rose to her feet.
"Ahem... This does not mean you are forgiven. Mind your conduct, if you please."
"Yes, Sis!"
"Hoh hoh hoh~ I knew my daughters would settle things with words."
Was that... actually a conversation that got settled?