Sein Hiraeth

Chapter 2: New Life

Rei's POV

Soft cushions, a light cold breeze of air and the sweet scent of lavender, perhaps. Wait, am I in heaven, already?

“Heav—ackk!”

I grabbed the pillow beside me as I endured the bloody pain in my entire body. I feel like a sixty-year-old man who just woke up after a forced labor yesterday. Due to my desperation of not wanting to die again, I overexerted myself, and I don’t even want to move an inch now that I know how intense the pain.

As soon as the pain subsided, I looked around and found myself in a relatively clean room with only a single bed, a table, a single mattress, and a chair. The interior wall paneling was made with pine wood, and the floor was made out of dirty and unpolished stone tiles arranged in a block pattern. For me, this room was pretty decent and not as luxurious as my room in my past life. And since I came from a very wealthy family in the past, this kind of room was only for the caretaker of our horses.

Sein Hiraeth was a princess. But how come I’m in this shabby room?

“My lady— I mean, sister Hiraeth, you’re finally awake, ho-how are you?”

This skinny young boy, what was his name again?

“Archer.” I called out as I recalled who he was in Hiraeth’s life.

“Huh— yes?”

Archer Schur, the one and only servant of the Angelus siblings. According to Hiraeth’s memories, Archer was the son of my father’s trusted servant, who died with him. Ever since we were kids, Archer and I have been very close friends, but he went distant when both of our fathers died and when he was trusted in protecting us. Hiraeth always told him to act the way he acted before, but for Archer, it was his duty to at least address me properly as one of the royals.

Although Hiraeth didn't want it, she had no choice as this was Archer's own will. Archer was an all-around servant. From cooking to washing dirty clothes and even babysitting Hiraeth's brothers, he worked diligently in every field except the field of being a knight. My father may have given him the task of protecting us against future assassinations, but Archer can't fight because of his physique and his lack of knowledge about wielding a sword. Hiraeth was the protector. She was always the one who faced the assassins bravely, despite knowing only a few sword techniques that were taught to her by her father. She still tried her best to protect them but was always severely injured in the end.

However, according to the book, Hiraeth should have died last night.

“What happened after I passed out? And my brothers?” I asked.

Walking closer to me, he bowed his head low and said, "We went to the hideout just like you said, but when we heard your scream, young Master Felix ran back in a hurry. He was calling your name in panic, and I had no choice but to run back, carrying young Master Felipe. As soon as we arrived at the room, we saw both of you on the floor, full of blood. I didn’t want the kids to see such a horrifying sight, so I quickly took them out of the room. They were both crying so much that I panicked and hurriedly went back inside the room to check if you were still alive. They finally calmed down when I told them that you were still alive and breathing."

Those two were definitely traumatized by the scene. This world will soon be full of blood and dead bodies, and the twins will have no choice but to face it again and again. But before that time comes, as their big sister, I should at least show them and let them experience wonderful childhood moments.

“Where are they now?” I asked, pretending I didn’t see the two at the door peeking.

“They’re outside, waiting for you.”

“Hmm, I see. I wonder if I can hug them before I go back to sleep.”

In my past life, I also had a younger brother that I basically raised, so it wouldn’t be that hard to raise these two as well. I cherished my younger brother in my past life, despite being betrayed in the end. However, I know that these two will never betray their only sister. The book always mentioned how the twins loved and reminisced about the happy moments they had with their sister.

“Me! Me! I wanna hug big sister!”

I softly chuckled at the excited reaction of the two. Felipe was the first one to run and hugged me, which almost made me scream from pain. I forgot that my entire body was aching. And when it was Felix's turn, he was slowly walking towards me as he fidgeted his little fingers. I know how worried he was, so I totally understand how he feels right now.

“Come here, Felix. Let me hug you, my baby brother.”

“I’m not a baby anymore!”

I give him a big hug while he keeps throwing tantrums about me babying him.

“Sure, sure, Felix. You’re not a baby anymore.” I said softly as I patted his head. Silly little Felix, you will always be a baby to me and to your real sister Hiraeth. I have decided to take full responsibility for being your sister and the new Sein Hiraeth, since it doesn’t look like I’ll go back to my original world. Indeed, instead of letting Hiraeth die, according to the book, her soul disappeared and was replaced by a new soul. There must be a hidden reason for this whole situation.

“None of you were hurt, right?”

The three nodded in response. I can see the guilt in their faces rather than relief that all of us survived again. I totally understand how they feel, this has happened several times and they can’t do anything about it.

“Sister, I wanna learn how to wield the sword just like you and father!” Felix demanded. Felipe also nodded his head in agreement.

Well, now that I am the owner of this body and I have experience of combat fighting with different weapons, I will gladly train them. But first, I need to learn more about this world and plan how to survive the next assassination. I heard the next assassination will lead to getting the Emperor’s attention on the twins.

Archer said that after treating my wounds, he went back to the room to go get the main character’s body, or rather, Sabrina Wigley’s body, which was already out of sight. Archer panicked and hurriedly went back to where I and my brothers were hiding. The morning came, and Archer decided to find her in this entire mansion, and fortunately, there was no trace of her anymore.

I knew she would disappear right after our fight because, apparently, the book stated that there was a spy who happened to have an interest in her. The spy was a priest that traveled all the way here to find the Saintness of this world. Ten years from now, Sabrina Wigley will become a Saintness. The one and only temple will announce the appearance of Saintness, the child of God, the one that will save the world from the wrath of the Demonic Emperor.

“Sister, look!”

“Careful Felipe, don’t run around holding that heavy sword.”

I didn’t realize it until now, but my younger brothers were the same age as Sabrina, which means as soon as the three of them turned eighteen, the story of the novel, The Monster Saintness will begin.

“Sister?”

“Put the sword down, Felipe. We’ll train tomorrow and that is definitely not the sword you are going to use.”

“But- “

“No more buts and I need to go back to sleep.”

Squinting my eyes from the brightness of the sun, it had been a while since I went out and relaxed in a place full of beautiful plants and flowers. A light breeze of air prickled my skin, and the scent of the flowers soothed my mind. Two days have passed, and I have finally recovered. My body quickly regained its strength and my wounds are also healing rapidly.

For the past two days, I have been trying to recall the story of the novel, The Monster Saintness. I also got the chance to get to know this world more through my brothers and Archer. I need more information about this world since in the book it mentioned only a few statements about it and it focuses mainly on the characters' journeys. But one thing I know for sure about this world is that this is a world ruled by women and the Empress of the Holy Knight Empire is my mother.

Unlike in my original world, where men are much more supreme than women, women here rule the world. Just like Hiraeth, women are the ones that protect and do all the physical labor, just like most of the knights here are composed of women, and even the heads of an aristocratic family are women. It seems there has been a swap in gender superiority, a social phenomenon where women are recognized to be much more capable and superior than men. Also, I can’t believe that even the role of motherhood is for men. To be precise, men are the ones that get pregnant, which means I might have THAT genital. Whether I like it or not, I'll have to examine my entire body later tonight. I don't even know what Hiraeth looks like yet and I haven’t taken a bath for days.

Another thing I learned over the past two days was about Hiraeth's life as a royal princess. Hiraeth is the ninth princess of this empire, and her mother, the Empress, has a lot of husbands, or rather concubines, which means she has a lot of children, and I have a lot of half-siblings. It wasn’t even an issue for this empire because it could accommodate as many children as the empress wanted. She even gave her husbands a palace and servants for them to comfortably raise their children. She may sound like a good mother because of her generosity, but it actually has a meaning behind it.

"Being a royal is no joke," the male lead said, who is one of the princes in this empire and one of my half-siblings. He said that the husbands of the Empress silently battle to get the Empress’ attention and make their child the next ruler of the empire. The palace is our territorial zone and, at the same time, the battle field. It will never be a safe zone because assassins can easily enter the palace and kill you. Every child of the Empress, even the crown princess, has gone through a lot of assassinations. However, not all of the Empress’ husbands can afford to send some spies or assassins, just like my father and the male lead’s father.

One thing that Hiraeth would never forget was how protective her father was to them, especially when the night came. Hiraeth’s father was one of the few male knights of this empire, so every night he guarded them and fought assassins. In Hiraeth’s eyes, his father was the coolest knight she had ever seen.

Hiraeth was determined to wield a sword and be a knight, just like those two in front of me. They have been swinging wooden swords for the past thirty minutes now. It’s obvious how they lack exercise. Felix's breath is unstable while Felipe is almost out of breath. I’ll have to improve their physical health first before teaching them how to fight, and what they are doing right now is for me to examine and analyze their body. I didn’t even let them stretch at first, so that they could quickly adjust their bodies from the incoming full body training pain. Hiraeth’s father lacks the knowledge to teach a person how to wield a sword, based on how Hiraeth or I ended up after a fight.

“Sister, I’m tired already. Can I take a break now?” Felipe said as he put down his wooden sword on the ground.

So cute!

“But it has only been thirty minutes, hmm. How about we go for a hunt?”

“A hunt? I heard that tomorrow is a seasonal hunt hosted by the Emperor himself.” Archer said as he put down the pastries and drinks. The twins were so joyful with the snacks that they went straight to them and ate. It seems that I also have to discipline them. For now, I'll let them enjoy themselves.

“Archer, what seasonal hunt are you talking about?” I asked.

"Well, I heard it from the other servants when I went to get some supplies. They said that a lot of animals and beasts are seen in the forests. It was an unexpected occurrence, since animals and beasts usually come out when winter is coming. However, several knights and citizens reported that animals and beasts are coming out for some unknown reasons, and when the royal guards examine the situation, it seems that we are currently experiencing what they called a miracle season."

"Miracle season?" I asked as I grabbed a cookie he made.

"That--that's right, my lady. We call this the miracle season because ever since the prophecy came out, we’ve been suffering from a lot of crises. Also, not only animals and beasts are bountiful in this season, but so are fruits and crops!"

Well, Archer seems happy about that miracle season.

“When did the prophecy come out?”

Although I’m aware of what the prophecy is, the book didn’t mention when it came out. Seeing Archer’s delighted reaction to this miracle season, it seems people here have been suffering some kind of crisis for quite some time now.

“Seven days before you were born, so it was fourteen years ago. Did Sir Dante not mention it?”

“I probably forgot.”

Hiraeth didn’t have any memory of her father telling her about the prophecy. The only memory she has was how her father protected them and his lecture about how to survive. Both of them didn’t have a great father and daughter relationship, unlike the twins, so sometimes Hiraeth is extremely jealous of the twins.

Well, I wouldn’t blame her. I can totally relate to Hiraeth.

“Thanks for the cookies, Archer. It was delicious.” I said, and grabbed the twins’ sword.

“Huh? Ah—yes, of course. You’re welcome, my lady.”

Archer always addresses Hiraeth like this when they are not alone. And just like the real Hiraeth, I also feel uncomfortable being called a lady.

"The sun is about to set. We should all go and hunt for our dinner tonight, and we might catch a beautiful sunset at the highest peak of the mountain."

This might be one of the most beautiful memories of Hiraeth. She would always sneak out of the palace to go hunt some small animals and cook them at her favorite place, where a beautiful sunset can be seen, and I want to see that for myself with the twins and Archer. I can’t help but think about how my new life will happen in the future. I’m curious. Should I join that seasonal hunt?