At last, it was the day of my mother and sister’s arrival. Even my mother-in-law seemed anxious for once. She kept alternating between standing up, sitting down, and peering out the window. Mrs. Molière had come from the capital to support her sister, but both of them were looking around restlessly.
“Um, mother, Mrs. Molière, are you all right?” I asked.
“You seem calm, Miss Francette,” said my mother-in-law.
“I’m afraid my sister and I are very nervous,” said Mrs. Molière.
“Well, I’m somewhat nervous too,” I said. I was anxious but not to an extreme level—our visitors were my family members, after all.
“What kind of person is your mother?” Mrs. Molière asked.
“She usually seems calm, but... How do I put this? It’s like her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. She always pays close attention to whomever she’s dealing with—she never lets down her guard, and nothing gets past her.” Lies didn’t work on her, so there was no need for flattery. “If you’re too polite, it might raise her suspicions, so I think you should just act the way you normally do.”
I thought I had given sound advice, but Mrs. Molière weakly lamented, “What? I don’t think I can treat a former imperial princess like any normal person.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t even have an opportunity to meet someone like her,” my mother-in-law added.
Mrs. Molière explained that she hadn’t ever met my mother during the period when my whole family lived in the capital. “I’d always wanted to say hello, but the timing never worked out.”
“Now that you mention it, I don’t think she attended social events very often,” I said.
I had the feeling that my mother had avoided mingling with high society, partially due to the differences in etiquette between our country and the Empire, but probably also because she hadn’t wanted to hear people gossiping about her philandering husband. She hadn’t even been at the soiree where my sister’s engagement had been rescinded. She hadn’t held tea parties, nor had she seemed to have any close contacts among the nobles in our country. Instead, she’d often invited her good friends from the Empire to visit. Those connections had probably helped when she’d returned to high society in her home country with my sister.
“It’s already quite humbling to meet your mother—I can’t believe your sister is the crown princess too,” my mother-in-law said.
“We’ll do our best together,” Mrs. Molière said, holding her sister’s hand to reassure her.
I’m glad she’s here to support my mother-in-law.
“Um, I’m going to check on Gabriel,” I said.
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” said my mother-in-law. “He might be in a worse state than we are.”
“Gabby gets nervous very easily,” Mrs. Molière added.
That just made me worry even more. I hurried to Gabriel’s room.
“Gabriel, do you have a minute?” I asked, hesitantly inching the door open.
“What do you need, Fran?” he replied immediately.
“Um, nothing in particular. I just wanted to see you.”
He peeked out from behind the door, looking extremely haggard. There were ghastly dark circles under his eyes.
“Oh my, Gabriel. What’s wrong?” We’d had breakfast separately today, so I hadn’t seen him until this moment.
“Ah, well, I went to bed early last night, but I couldn’t fall asleep.”
Apparently, he’d been so worked up about today’s challenging events that he hadn’t been able to sleep until dawn, when he had passed out.
“There’s still a few hours before my mother and sister arrive,” I said. “You should take a nap.”
“I lay down with that intention, but I couldn’t sleep at all.”
“You can use my lap, then.” Without waiting for a response, I pulled him by the arm and led him to the sofa. There, I sat down and encouraged him to sit next to me.
“Um, I really can’t burden you with this, Fran.”
“Don’t worry about it. Come,” I said, patting the seat next to me.
Gabriel relented, taking his place on the sofa.
“Now use my lap as a pillow.”
“But...”
“I’m good at this. You’ll be asleep in no time,” I declared.
“Whom have you done this for before?”
“Alexandrine. When I scratch under her beak, she gets this drowsy look. Within five minutes, she’s out like a light.”
“Alexandrine...the duck?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll help you fall asleep too. Just leave it to me.”
Gabriel caved in to my enthusiasm and lay down with his head on my lap. When I removed his glasses, he seemed restless. They were probably like a part of his body to him. Perhaps he felt uneasy when separated from them.
“I’ll put your glasses right here,” I said.
“Okay.”
Next, I covered his closed eyelids with my hand, shutting out any additional light. Gently stroking his head, I began singing a lullaby. I’d learned this song from the children at the orphanage where I used to volunteer. However, I’d forgotten some of the lyrics, so I had to hum parts of it. I doubted all this would make Gabriel fall asleep, but lying down and relaxing would at least give his body some rest. Fully reclining like this was just as important in achieving any amount of respite.
My humming came to a pause. What was the next part of the song again? As I was trying to recall it, Gabriel’s breathing, soft and rhythmic, filled the silence. Much to my surprise, I had inadvertently lulled him to sleep.
I removed my hand from his eyes and gazed down at his beautiful face. As usual, I found myself envying his long eyelashes and clear skin. I almost wanted to ask him for skin-care tips.
Even with me staring at him and shifting my body slightly, he showed no sign of waking up. He appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep in mere minutes, perhaps due to a combination of fatigue from the past few hectic days and the lack of sleep last night. I realized he was entrusting himself to me like this because he felt safe with me, and it made me love him even more.
In just one week, Gabriel and I would become husband and wife. The thought filled my heart with joy. I’d never felt this way before. I had faith that he would give me a happy life, and I was determined to do the same for him.
After some time, Gabriel suddenly sneezed and opened his eyes. I peered into his face, and he gasped.
“Was I asleep?” he asked.
“Yes, you were sleeping soundly for about an hour.”
“What?!” He quickly got up and lowered his head. “I can’t believe I slept on your lap for so long. I’m so sorry. Um...your legs didn’t go numb, did they?”
“No, not at all.”
“I must’ve said strange things in my sleep, didn’t I?”
“You were quiet the whole time.”
He was also concerned about snoring and grinding his teeth, but there hadn’t been any of that either.
“That’s a relief,” he said. “Wibble once told me that I snore and talk in my sleep too much and that my sleeping face looks like a dried-up stingray.”
“I’ve never seen a dried-up stingray, but your sleeping face was beautiful.”
“That can’t be true.”