The room, bathed in sunlight, occasionally sparkled with a rainbow of colors that was enough to dazzle the eyes. This was because a crystal swaying wheel was hung near the window to reflect the sunlight.
Amidst the rainbow-like shadows of light that were scattered across the white ramble, patterned with waves and vines, there was a child who had been sitting motionless for nearly an hour, ignoring the many toys that were strewn about him. He was a cute little boy with round, dark blue hair, big eyes, and chubby cheeks.
One of the maids who had been standing by the window and whispering among themselves quietly approached the child. The small desk, which was still made to fit his short height, was filled with colorful papers that were either folded or crumpled. He had arranged them crookedly in a corner of the desk as if he had organized them in his own way.
“Your Highness Erwin, please stop now. You’ll end up hurting your hands later.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt. You can do a little more.”
As he shook his head and persisted, the maid looked around at her colleagues and shrugged her shoulders as if she had no other choice. Five-year-old Erwin has been obsessed with origami lately, and once he starts playing with it, he won’t leave his seat for an hour or more.
When the other maids nodded as if to ask her to stop him one more time, she pretended to sigh softly and squatted down next to Erwin again. Erwin didn’t even look at her, as he was busy folding paper with his still-moving fingers, regardless of who was sitting or lying down next to him.
“Your Highness, look here. You’ve already folded this much. But this... is it a leaf?”
“No! This is a flower! Look, here are the petals, and here, there is no stamen now, but originally there was a stamen. When the mother stamen and the father stamen meet, a baby flower is born.”
The maid was so indistinguishable from the flower's stamens to the petals that it was hard to tell where they were, but she eagerly chimed in. Erwin, who had been giving an ambiguous explanation that was neither logical nor non-logical, carefully added the newly folded flower to the end of the crooked string while dangling his small feet. He had a proud expression on his face.
“I just need to fold five more and I can make a necklace! I’m going to give it to Uncle Rogero.”
“Do you like the Prince that much?”
“Yeah, yes! Back in the old days, my uncle used to play with horses and monsters.”
The maid bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.
“In the old days? So he doesn’t do it now?”
“No? If you ask him to do it now, he will do it.”
Erwin answered innocently, then lowered his head and became absorbed in his clumsy origami. The maid smiled helplessly and stepped back. It seemed like there were too many colored papers left when he only had to fold five more, but that was something to think about later.
“Her Majesty the Queen has arrived.”
As the door to the playroom opened, the maids standing by the window quickly straightened their postures and bowed their heads respectfully. Judith smiled slightly, indicating that it was okay to be comfortable, and looked at Erwin’s back, who had turned away and was not even looking at her. At the moment when the maid in charge of the Prince’s life education was fidgeting and trying to call Erwin, Judith slightly stuck her head next to her son’s small shoulder.
“Erwin, what are you doing? Your mother is here.”
“Ah! Oh my God!”
Erwin, who almost threw down what he was holding in his hand in surprise, burst into laughter and hugged Judith's neck. Judith, who kissed his soft, round cheeks repeatedly, smiled and pointed to the origami works lined up on the desk.
“What is this? Why are there so many folded flowers?”
“I’m going to make a necklace! I’m going to give it to Uncle Rogero as a present.”
“A necklace? Then you have to string all of these together, how are you going to do it?”
"Oh..."
Erwin opened his eyes wide as if he had never thought about it. He looked at his mother once, then at the flowers folded in a row, and finally at the paper he was still holding in his hand, and then at his mother again. Judith, who had lowered her head for a moment to suppress her laughter, cleared her throat and looked back at the maids.
“Can you bring me a needle and thread?”
“Oh, yes! Your Majesty. I will bring it to you right now.”
Judith turned down the chair the servant had brought and sat on the floor, threading the needle the servant had brought her. She picked up one of the folded flowers and examined it. It seemed that she had memorized the shape of the flower and tried to fold it. As she began to make a necklace by poking the needle into the crumpled flower holder, Erwin forgot to fold the remaining flowers and just stared at his mother’s hand as if watching a magic trick.
“Oh my, Uncle Rogero lives here now?”
“Huh? No, my uncle has his own house. He’s just coming for a bit.”
“Then, are you going to sleep for ten nights?”
“Would you like to sleep for ten nights?”
In response to Judith's question, Erwin suddenly started counting the numbers on his fingers in order and said.
“Are you going to sleep for nine nights?”
“Why did it change to nine nights?”
“Because I have nine fingers.”
“Our Erwin, do you have nine fingers?”
When Judith asked with a puzzled look, Erwin counted on his fingers again with a strange expression. The maid who was watching him count one by folding his thumb and index finger at the same time giggled and said,
“Your Highness Erwin, you counted two at once.”
“Huh? Nope.”
Erwin shook his small head as if he had no idea what was going on. Then, as if he had lost interest in counting fingers, he slid down from the chair and fell flat on his mother's skirt. Judith, startled by this, raised her hand that was holding the needle high and scolded him softly.
“Erwin, you shouldn’t do that when your mother is holding a needle.”
“Yes, I’m sorry. But oh my, Uncle Rogero brought me a present a long time ago?”
“Yes, that’s right. Why do you ask that?”
“So this time I folded flowers to give to my uncle as a gift.”
Judith proudly patted her son's head as if she was proud of him, then continued to string the flowers one by one.
“Aren’t you going to make something for Dad? It’s Dad’s birthday soon and your uncle is coming too.”
“I’ll give something different to Dad. Something different... I’ve prepared it!”
“Really? Just tell your mother what you prepared. I'm curious.”
“No, it’s a secret.”
Erwin answered with a mischievous laugh. After his fifth birthday, he had become much more talkative and knowledgeable, and now he had something to keep a secret from his mother. Judith felt joy and wonder every time she saw the child growing up differently each day. It was a feeling that was hard to get used to, seeing new surprises every day even though she saw them every day.
Erwin was lying face down with his chin up and chattered endlessly. New things he had learned, things he had discovered, things he had been curious about. Judith would occasionally laugh as she chimed in or answered questions. Every time she did, she thought she was surprisingly peaceful and happy.
“Oh my, is Yvianne sleeping?”
Yvianne was Judith's second child, born the previous year. She was a girl, and unlike Erwin, who resembled Judith, she resembled Franz. Judith nodded, snipping off the long thread at the end with a pair of small scissors.
“Yeah, she's sleeping.”
“Yvianne sleeps all day.”
“That’s because she's still a baby. You slept a lot when you were little, just like Yvianne.”
“Babies can’t eat biscuits, candies, or molasses.”
“Yes, she has to grow up a bit before she can eat it. When Yvianne grows up, Erwin will teach her how to eat candy? You said to suck it up carefully, not swallow it.”
“Didn’t anyone teach me how to eat candy when I was a baby?”
Since he doesn't have any older siblings, he wonders who taught him how to eat candy. Judith smiled cutely and tapped the bridge of his small nose with her fingertips.
“When you were young, your mother and father taught you. But Yvianne has an older brother, so wouldn’t it be better for you to teach her?”
“Yes, I’ll teach her. I’ll even make her a flower.”
Erwin jumped up, sat back down on his chair, and began to fold the remaining paper while fidgeting. Meanwhile, Judith, who had tied a knot and completed the necklace, quietly smiled as she watched Erwin, who was quickly absorbed in origami.
Looking back, the past few years seemed to have passed by too quickly. The newborn baby who spent more than half of the day sleeping wrapped in a blanket started to babble as if trying to talk, crawl around, and grab onto the crib railing to get up on his own, causing a commotion in the nursery...
Even at the age of five, Erwin still loved birds, and he always wanted to say hello to someone walking a dog, and he wanted to pet the cat that had lurked in the garden or the fish in the pond. The fact that he was so affectionate to everything was a great joy to Judith and Franz.
After his younger sibling was born, he would go in and out of the nursery every day to figure out when Yvianne would be able to play with him. It was not that he had no peers to play with, but the feeling of having a real sibling was different, so Erwin was excited for a long time. And if there was a friend besides Yvianne who was eagerly waiting for the day when Erwin could play with her, it was Rogero.
Everyone in the Royal Palace of Rotair loved Erwin, but there was no one whom Erwin waited for as long as Rogero. Rogero, who was still a mischievous boy even though he was a little older, would play with Erwin all day long and never get tired. Even if Franz or Bartholomew would have refused outright as dangerous, Rogero would quietly join them, so young Erwin could not help but like him.
'By the way, will His Highness come alone this time too?'
Judith, who was watching Erwin, who was absorbed in origami, thought. Rogero was still unmarried, but he had someone living with him. He had been nagging his father, Emperor Nereida, to get permission to live outside the palace, and then, not long ago, he suddenly sent a letter saying that his first child had been born, leaving Franz speechless.
Judith was very curious about who was living with Rogero. She had only heard him mentioned in passing once before, but she had no idea what kind of person she was. Franz and Judith put their heads together and made various guesses, but in the end, the only conclusion they could come to was, 'I don't know!'
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