103: Quiet Story ~ Third Princess Leila Looking Up at the Sky

January 11, 2021 - 5 minutes read - 925 words

Misfilt Royal Capital Castle, Princess Leila’s perspective

“Are you looking at the sky again?” Sariyah

“Yes…” Leila

Sariyah asked me since I was looking through my bedroom window. This is my favorite spot to enjoy the outside the world. When the window is opened I can hear the sound of the capital’s citizens.

It’s difficult to see the people, but I’ll gather magic energy in your eyes to strengthen them, so I can see the faces of people walking on the main boulevards.

Occasionally I will spot a man who’s been working hard, and I’m embarrassed to see that he’s walking with no shirt on. Even though there are so many people, I don’t get how he could dress like that…

Is he embarrassed? I can’t look at him. Just looking at it makes my face feel hot.

It’s annoying to see too much of some people.

Most of the reasons why I can’t walk around stem from my physical condition, but also some personal reasons. I stay in contact with the outside world by observing instead.

Even if I know it’s impossible for me, I can’t help but yearn to walk around the city freely like the citizens of the royal capital.

What could be happening in the world that isn’t inside the royal capital?

I’ve read about many things in books. A sea where the water extends to the horizon. Mountains taller than the Misfilt royal capital where I live. A plain of green grass that spreads like a carpet in all directions. So many things I don’t know about this world, like deserts, villages, monsters, animals…

I want to see them with my own eyes, feel things on my skin, enjoy the sounds with my ears, and taste the things with my tongue. I want to experience more and more.

It’s been a few years since I last felt this yearning. I had been desperately pushing down these feelings in my life, but I’ve recently experienced those feelings welling up again.

I can’t forget the scene from three weeks ago of two boys roaming freely in the sky. I can’t help but feel they are so free and enjoying their lives with all their energy. Am I enjoying my life to the same degree as those two? Could I convince anyone of that?

There are many times when I think about such things.

“Can you see the two boys?” Sariyah

“No, I can’t see them…” Leila

Today as well, the sky of the royal capital is clear and cloudless, but I can’t spot any boys in the sky. It’s like saying the first sighting was a fluke.

“Are you sure you saw them?” Sariyah

“I’m completely sure. I definitely saw them with my own eyes!” Leila answers with a flat tone.

I feel like Sariyah is trying to make fun of me. I didn’t make a mistake, but Sariyah is implying it’s my mistake.

I’ve been checking the sky every day since then, but I haven’t spotted the two boys again. I can say it wasn’t a mistake, that definitely happened.

“Then what kind of boys were they?” Sariyah

“One was a brown-haired boy with squinting eyes, the other was a brown-haired boy with sleepy eyes.” Leila

“Are you sure about that?” Sariyah

We had to have both strengthened our eyes with magic energy to look at each other since we waved to each other. Even then, the boy who must have been the magician wasn’t that impressive.

Like, maybe…

I’d describe him as inconspicuous or insignificant? I think he had a middling look that would obscure him he was surrounded by other people.

“I thought you would insist that it was a beautiful blonde, blue-eyed boy like a story…” Sariyah

“I don’t have that sort of delusions” Leila

I look away as Sariyah laughs behind me.

Certainly, I’m a voracious reader since I’m physically handicapped and stay in the castle, but I’m in touch with reality. Probably…

“That’s right, Leila must like brown-haired boys. One day, a princess meets a commoner man and falls in love with him. Then, on a night with a full moon, he asks her to run away with him…” Sariyah

“Ah, ah, ah, stop! Why does Sariyah know about that? I even put on a different book cover to make it look like the Misfilt Kingdom’s history and put it in a unobtrusive location!” Leila

I turn my wheelchair to retrieve the romance novel that Sariyah is currently holding. As I rolled over to her, I reached out, but I couldn’t quite reach it.

“Leila loves stories, but why did the history book need to be abused? I realized it straight away.” Sariyah laughs.

Ugh! If I could stand, I could easily get it back. I really hate my legs that won’t move!

“Please give it back! Sariyah!” Leila

“I need to read it for content, then I’ll return it.” Sariyah says with a gentle smile.

“It seems like Leila is longing for this sort of things… Fufu, I’m not sure how it feels, but…” Sariyah

Sariyah flips through the pages while saying those things. It’s so embarrassing! It’s clear I want to be free from the castle. I want to escape from here!

“I hope someday a nice man will come here for you” Sariyah whispers in my ear as I take on the color of a tomato.

“Already! Sariyah!” Leila

“She’s so red and cute!” Sariyah

“I want to drink tea now, so get ready! Oh, close the book soon!” Leila

“Yes, yes” Sariyah