Ersia: Raven Dawn

"They are ready?! Yeay!"

"Be careful, dear. It's piping hot!"

Viena took some and immediately experienced Eleanor's warning firsthand, quite literally. Only when it's a little bit colder, does she continue chewing up her share of sweet treats.

"Hmm! It's sweet and the ginger makes it a little spicy! I love it!"

"Oh! You get it, don't you? Sigh, Lisabelle never understands the richness of flavors. She hated the ginger, that's why I must always make an extra batch just for her."

Randia immediately remembered what happened last night and stood up.

"She should be awake soon. Do you want me to check on her?" Randia asked Eleanor.

"Hmm. What do you think Viena? Why don't you greet Lisabelle and bring these cookies for her? It's her favorite!"

"Okie dokie, Granny!"

 

---

Viena opens the door without knocking. She is stunned by how big the room is. It's basically four times the size of a common inn bedroom.

While munching on the cookies that she was supposed to give to Lisabelle, Viena roams around the room. There are lots of yarn of various colors, as well as half-knitted scarfs, blankets, and tablecloths. However, the one thing that makes her lose her calm is the whole stack of papers and books in a corner of the room.

"Pewpers! Wow! Tere ah so mwny!" said Viena with a mouth full of cookies.

When Viena was about to rummage through Lisabelle's stuff, she realized that things would be so amazing with more light. She then looks for the window and gives it a big push. The grand ray of the sun immediately pierced through and landed right on the closed eyes of the sleeping girl. Lisabelle grunts, but Viena is too absorbed in whatever she's doing to notice.

Viena went her way and feasted her eyes through all the papers and books, and ruffled them all without failure. The excited noises that Viena makes when seeing pictured books gradually wake Lisabelle up. From her deep and weary slumber, the sleeping girl's consciousness finally surfaced completely.

With her mind hazy and her eyes heavy still, Lisabelle tries to look around from the corner of her eyes. She couldn't be more surprised when she saw someone going through her things and making a mess all over the place.

Lisabelle immediately sits down and points at Viena, "W-WHO ARE YOU!?"

Skin as bright as the dawn, and ashen long hair that glows platinum by the rising sun. Even though bruises cover all of her face and body, to Viena, the girl before her looks more like a doll than a human. Everything about Lisabelle exudes the air of royalty - well, an angry one, to be more precise.

"I . . . I-I'm just looking around!"

Startled, Viena reflectively spouts her alibi. It was a mechanism that she developed before she traveled with Randia.

"What are you doing in my room?! Put them down now!"

"Ugh . . . You're not what I thought you were. Is screaming around the first thing you do in the morning? My ear hurts!"

"WHAT?! Y-You! How dare you! Grandma! Grandmaaa!!" Lisabelle screams her lungs out, and Viena has to cover her ears or else she'll go deaf.

Downstairs, Eleanor and Randia who was preparing the breakfast clearly heard the scream. The old lady, however, laughed it off and shook her head in a radiant smile.

"You hear that, Mr. Ran? It seems that the little ones are friends already."

Back in the bedroom, Lisabelle and Viena didn't stop squabbling. They are now fighting over the ceramic plate of cookies that Viena previously put on the table beside the bed.

"You midget! How could you eat my cookies?! Get your hands off!"

"G-Granny told me to bring it upstairs! I ought to have some too as a delivery fee you know!?"

"GRANNY?! No, she is my grandma! Not yours! And what do you mean 'some' when you've already eaten almost all of it!?"

"Nngh!"

Being the much smaller one, Viena eventually couldn't win in a strength contest with Lisabelle. She ended up losing strength and releasing her grip altogether. As a result, Lisabelle fell backward and her elbow grazed the table behind her until it bled, and the cookies are now scattered all over the floor.

"Ouch . . . ."

". . . S-Sorry."

Viena tries to help her, but Lisabelle pushes her away angrily instead. Then, she throws the cookies away to Viena.

"Fine then! You can eat them all!"

The cookies that flew to her clothes didn't even hurt at all Viena. However, she feels angry to see the scattered cookies turned to waste.

"YOU STUPID! Granny took a long time to make them! Now they are all on the floor!"

"EXCUSE ME?!" The cookies were already spoilt ever since you decided to be an asshole!"

They ended up getting into a brawl. They wrestled on the floor, pulling each other hair and rolling over and over. At some moment, Lisabelle was successful in restraining Viena, but then she played dirty by either biting her hand or digging her claws deep to make her way out. Yet, eventually, the outcome is clear, and it's only a matter of time. A few more rolling and screaming later, Lisabelle is finally able to put Viena into an omoplata shoulder lock and corner her for good.

"Got you, you monkey. There's no escaping this. Now, tell me what the hell are you doing in my room before I'll break your arm!"

"Kuh! Y-You are cheating!"

Instead of doing anything too dangerous, Lisabelle knows well that their size difference is so much that it wasn't even that hard to begin with to make this situation happen. Thus, she chose to start to tickle Viena. At first, Viena laughs quite a lot, but then she has it harder to breathe and her harm is starting to get hurt for real.

"Ha! After trespassing in MY bedroom, making it a mess, and then starting beef with me, now you're crying! How pathetic can you be?!"

“Papa! Papa help!”

“Really now?! Your father won’t do shit, kid. You’re at my mercy now!”

"Let me go! I-It hurts!"

"You bet it is!"

"Please, stop! I’m sorry!"

Looking at the sobbing little girl, Lisabelle feels rather guilty. Only after Viena calmed down, did Lisabelle release her lock and start talking again.

"Done, midget? Now tell me your business so that I can write the right report to the guards before throwing you in jail myself."

"I . . . *Sniff* granny told me to bring you cookies. But it's very delicious, so I can't help myself. And . . ."

"And?"

"And I can't believe you are so stingy, grumpy, and super smelly! I can't believe you are related to Granny!"

"Wha-!"

Irritated, Lisabelle started grabbing Viena's collar again. In response, Viena pushed Lisabelle's face away and covered hers scaredly. However, when they were about to begin all over again, Eleanor entered the room.

"Lisabelle!"

"G-Grandma?"

Eleanor slapped Lisabelle's arm and then approached Viena to hug her. The old lady gently caressed Viena's hair as she frantically sought her protection. Jealous, Lisabelle sulks and immediately stands up.

"Why are you taking her side?!"

"Well, because she is clearly the younger one! What about you? How can you be so petty by picking a kid this small? Not to mention your language also! What kind of a noble lady are you?!" Eleanor reprimanded her.

"I-I'm not small! I'm just still growing!" Viena retorted while sniffling.

"Ugh . . .," Lisabelle grumbled.

With Eleanor as the go-between, Viena and Lisabelle ended up forgiving each other. Although Lisabelle is still having her discontent with Viena, she casts it aside for now in the name of her pride. Thus, they went downstairs to eat.

On the dining table, Lisabelle cannot stop staring at Randia. She couldn't believe the father of such a small brat was a man as big and tall as a door. Moreover, there's a fuzzy feeling in her head, like a long-forgotten dream trying to resurface.

"Hey, uncle. Have we . . . met before?"

"Lisabelle," Eleanor glared at her.

"Huh? I've heard that line before! Are you flirting with my Dad? That's nasty," Viena gives a questioning look.

"Wait, what? N-No . . . It's not like that. I was just . . . I feel like I have seen him somewhere."

Lisabelle holds her head and plays with her fingers. The confusion on her face makes Randia a little bit wary. However, it turns out that his uneasiness is unfounded. Lisabelle couldn't remember no matter how she tried and ended up shrugging it off.

"No, this is the first time we see each other, just like it was for my daughter. I'm sorry if she troubles you. She hardly had any chance to play with someone of her age since we're traveling from place to place."

"Come on, Viena. Apologize properly," Randia gently pushed Viena's head down to make her bow.

The little girl fretfully looked his way. She puffs out her cheeks and pouts.

"Viena."

". . . I'm sorry."

Lisabelle looks at her with a condescending look with her ire slightly flaring still. Only after the second blink did her temper fade away.

"Well, whatever. I just woke up and felt a little confused back then. Thirty – I mean, twenty percent of the fault is on me . . . So yeah, I guess I'm sorry too."

Viena's face brightened a little. As a token of apology, he cut a third of her sausage and gave it to Lisabelle.

"What? Are you bribing me now?"

"Yes!"

Getting caught off-guard with Viena's straightforward answer, Lisabelle blushed a little.

"H-Hah. Really. I can't believe you at all. It's a pity, though. I don't like sausage."

After hearing that, Viena took back her piece of sausage as well as Lisabelle's.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"Hm? But you said you don't like it?" said Viena while munching.

"Aaaagh! You midget! Pipsqueak! Gnome! That was your intention all along, wasn't it?!"

"Hehmph? I zuno whut ye tomkin bouth," mocks Viena as she voraciously eats her sausages.

Eleanor who has been watching since, started to giggle to herself. Randia noticed and cleared his throat to gain her attention, all the while the children were having fun among themselves.

"I'm sorry for our discourtesy, Madam. My daughter lacks the proper training of etiquette and table manners."

"My, my. It's alright, Sir. Kids should be kids after all. They will learn one step at a time."

To Eleanor, it has been so long since her granddaughter had been so noisy at the dining table. The last time she did was when her parents were still around. It's like reliving a long-forgotten memory of hers, back when everything was so perfect that they didn't need any heaven to wish for.