“Don’t worry. If there are, I’ll beat them. That’s why you have to make sure that you never go in there without me. Can you promise me that?”
“I caaan!”
“Good girl! Now, stay with Bram until we come home, okay?”
“Uh-huh! I wanna pay, Brum!” Marie grabbed Bram’s hand, but she didn’t respond. “Brum?”
She was absentmindedly staring at Myuke, but Marie’s worried call snapped her out of her trance.
“I’m here, m’kay? Let’s go play! We’ll have a big snowball fight before Miss Grumpy Pants comes home!”
“Just make sure you don’t break any windows,” Myuke replied snarkily. In response, Bram simply turned around and headed to the garden with Marie.
“Be careful out there,” Luina warned. “The road is slippery.”
“Thank you; we will be. You should go inside. It’s cold.”
After saying goodbye to Luina, Anima and Myuke started walking the long, snowy road to Garaat. Myuke started off at a brisk pace, but the farther they got from the house, the heavier her footsteps became.
The feel of the snow had changed from the day before. Its top layer had melted and made it slippery, which may have caused her to slow down a bit, but her dejected expression hinted at a different reason. There was clearly something weighing on her mind, and Anima had a fairly good idea of what that was.
“Are you sure you want to buy a bed?”
Myuke whipped her head up.
“What a weird question. That’s the whole reason we left, isn’t it? Wait, are we getting short on coins and now a bed would cost too much?”
“No, we have money, don’t you worry about that. If you really want a bed, I’ll get you one that even the king would be jealous of.”
“Wouldn’t that be wasted on me?”
“Of course not.”
Their nights of family snuggles were numbered. Their current bed already felt small with the five of them in it, and with Marie growing bigger and a new family member on the way, they were going to need to buy another bed sooner or later if they wanted to fit everyone comfortably. Even if, by some miracle, they managed to fit all six of them in that one bed, once Myuke and Bram grew up, they would no doubt want separate beds, if not separate houses.
Anima lamented the impending loss of the tradition he loved so much, but there was nothing he could do about it. He would enjoy their nights together for as long as they lasted, and buying a bed in preparation for the inevitable was not a terrible idea. No matter what happened, for the time being, his only goal was to press Myuke about her decision.
“What kind of bed do you want?”
“‘What kind’? Umm...” Despite having an extremely detailed idea of what kind of magic stone she wanted, she went silent when it came to describing her dream bed. Anima had a fighting chance if he could just get her to admit that she only wanted the bed because she and Bram had a fight. “I’ll know once I see it.”
She clearly wanted to end that conversation there, so Anima didn’t pursue any further, which he was fine with. Carefully, silently, they continued their way along the slippery, snowy road to Garaat until they finally arrived at the town.
Even though it was still rather early in the morning, the streets were as lively as ever. Some shopkeepers were braving the cold breeze, enthusiastically inviting people into their stores, while others cooped up inside for shelter and tried to entertain the customers who walked through their doors of their own accord.
“Marie would lose her mind if she were here,” Myuke noted.
“She certainly would.” The innumerable footprints had made any snow all but disappear. What little was left had become a muddy slush and was piled up against building walls. “Do you want to do something while we’re here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like going to a café or something.”
“Oh. No, I’m not really hungry.”
“Okay...”
Myuke had practically begged to go to a café when they had been in town a couple of days earlier, but that was a different day, and her mood had changed drastically since then. It was proof that despite her cheerful demeanor when she’d woken up, she was deeply affected by her and her sister’s fight.
“Good morning, Anima!” Suddenly, the owner of a restaurant called out to him. “Sure is a chilly one today, huh? Why don’t you two come in and warm yourselves up?”
“We have something to take care of today, but we’ll come by sometime with the rest of the family.”
“Oh, is that so? Well, I’ll be waiting for you. My doors are always open!”
“Ah, Anima!” a shopkeeper called to him. “We just got some brand-new clothes in! Would you like to choose some for your wife?”
“I’ll come by with Luina one of these days and let her take a look.”
Several of the townsfolk cheerfully greeted Anima as he walked the streets. He was accepted by the people of this world—a stark contrast to his previous life. He got greeting after greeting as he and Myuke made their way to the furniture store, which was open despite how early in the day it was.
When they stepped into the shop, they were greeted by the refreshing smell of wood. Various wooden chairs, shelves, and tables were tightly packed next to each other in sets. The store was so full of display pieces that one had to be extra careful not to accidentally bump into anything.
Anima was, unfortunately, very familiar with the dangers of the store. The first time he’d bumped into something was when they’d come to buy a chair for Myuke. The second time was when they’d come to buy a chair for Bram. Both times, he had been charmed by his cute daughters as they excitedly tried out all the chairs in the store before moving on to cheerfully test if the beds were comfortable enough for them. As he looked over the store, he recalled his fond memories of those days, and wished for them to return.
“Let’s see, where are the beds...? Ah, there they are.”
Anima pointed toward the beds. There were only four on display, but that was unsurprising for a general furniture store. He assumed the selection was small due to space concerns.
“So, which one do you like?” Anima asked as the two of them stepped closer to take a better look. “This single bed looks nice, but it would be smarter to get a double; it will last longer as you grow. Ah, wait, look! This one has a drawer at the bottom! You could store quite a bit in there! Ah, but this one has a railing. Gone are the days of worrying about rolling off the bed.”
“...”
Each of the beds had comfort features all its own, yet Myuke didn’t make so much as a peep. All of the excitement she’d had back at the house was gone. It was obvious that her mind was elsewhere.
“Did you not like any of them?”
“No. None.”
“What kind of bed would you like, then?”
“I don’t know, but... it’s not one of these.”
“I see.”
Anima had an inkling that they weren’t going to find a bed for her no matter how many shops they perused. Despite how adamant she’d been about buying a new bed the night before, deep down, she never truly wanted one. In fact, Anima suspected that she wanted to take back what she’d said—that all she wanted was to make up with her sister and sleep together in peace.
I have to do something.
He had to tread very carefully, as speaking for Bram could easily backfire on him. That didn’t mean he was completely powerless, though. He simply needed to give her a nudge in the direction of patching up their relationship.
“Do you want to come back another day?”
“Yeah. Sorry for wasting your time.”
“You don’t need to apologize; I love spending time with you. You know, since we’re here in town anyway, we may as well bring something home.”
“Yeah?” Her ears pricked in excitement. “Like what?”
“How about a cake? You like cake, right?”
“I love it.”
“A cake it is, then. Actually, let’s make it a miniature-cake set. That way we can enjoy all kinds of different flavors. Can you help me choose everyone’s favorites?”
“‘Everyone’s’... Does that include Bram’s?”
Anima answered her nervous question with a big smile.
“Of course it does. I hate to admit it, but I’m not very good at picking cakes. I don’t want to get anyone sick or anything. Could you help me?”
“Okay. I’ll even choose Bram’s.”
“Great, then let’s get going. We wouldn’t want them to sell out!”
Myuke cheerfully took Anima’s hand as they made their way to the patisserie. After careful deliberation, they picked out the best combination of cakes they could think of, then made their way back to home.