Central Continent, a room in the Mizumi Clan’s main estate, quiet as a sealed lake.
I—the son of the Mizumi Clan’s current head, Mizumi Emperor—stared at a sky of endless blue outside the window, a sea that made my heart itch to fly. I wanted to see the world beyond, a wish that kept beating in me like wings.
Born the Mizumi Clan’s young heir, I had everything handed to me, resources flowing like spring water on the Central Continent. By rights, a life so full should leave no hunger, no chase, no storm.
But the Mizumi Clan—no, life on the Central Continent—was dry as a sun-bleached plain, too quiet to stir the blood. You couldn’t even find a place with a tide of people; on the Central Continent there were barely a hundred Mizumi.
That alone might be fine, but the Mizumi value freedom like birds do open skies, and most scattered to distant corners like drifting seeds. Some even moved house several times a month, like migratory swallows never settling.
So the main estate held only me, my parents, my elder sister and younger sister, plus a few housemaids—under ten souls moving through a wide hall like flickers of candlelight.
The Central Continent was the world’s largest and richest land, yet it felt hushed as a deserted steppe. Luckily we had allied races friendly with the Mizumi, constellations in this quiet sky so it wasn’t pure loneliness.
“This leisure that goes too far is dull as stale tea; I want to see the outside world,” I murmured, the words drifting like a sigh.
Snacking on fresh pastries, I leaned on the windowsill and breathed out, a small cloud against the glass. For reasons like iron locks on my path, Father had never allowed me to cultivate, so I was still ordinary, a lantern without flame. As a normal person, even leaving the Mizumi Clan might be a road that ends in night.
A soft creak split the hush, and the door swung open like an old tree bending.
“Brother, I just found a box of chess from a few hundred years ago in the warehouse,” a bright voice chimed, quick as bells. “It looks fun—let’s play!”
She stepped in wearing a sky-blue dress, a plush kitten in her arms, her silver hair falling like moonlit water—an adorable little sister with light in her eyes.
Her footsteps went pat-pat-pat across the wood, and she dove into my arms like a sparrow into a nest. “Brother, why do you look so down?” she puffed her cheeks, a cloud of worry.
“It’s nothing, just a curl of boredom.”
The adorable little sister wasn’t anyone else; she was my youngest sister—Mizumi Littlesky, cute and clingy like a warm cat. She was eleven, five years younger than me, a small flame in our quiet house.
“Perfect! Brother, let’s play chess,” she beamed, a sunrise brightening the room.
She wriggled upright from my hug and spread the chess box, the pieces clacking like rain on tiles. She reached for a pastry from the plate, a hand like a curious bird, but I stopped her gently. “Littlesky, you just handled the pieces; you can’t grab food right away.”
“Really? Then feed me, Brother—ah~” She tilted her head, her tiny mouth blossoming like a flower.
“I can’t say no to you,” I sighed, a warm ripple through the stillness.
Littlesky loved to act spoiled around me, honey on her tongue, so I picked up a pastry. “Here.”
“Mmm—chew, chew, swallow,” she sang, satisfied like a cat in sun. “As expected, Brother’s pastries are the best; you’ll be a perfect bride one day!”
“Littlesky, what are you talking about? I’m a boy; I’m not becoming anyone’s bride.”
“It’s fine! Brother’s so pretty and cute, and you’re a master of housework; put you in a dress and you’d be a gentle, elegant beauty,” she declared, her sapphire eyes glowing like embers.
Asking your own brother to crossdress—what kind of sister does that? I was speechless, a fish blinking in clear water.
“Littlesky… forget it, let’s start.”
I didn’t have the energy to keep sparring with jokes, so I learned the rules of her old set, the pattern unfolding like script on bamboo. It was like shogi, really; practically the same game from centuries ago.
“Okay, okay!” she chirped, setting down her plush kitten and sitting across from me, gaze fixed on the ranks of pieces like a general before a campaign.
…
An hour later, we’d finished three rounds, and I’d lost them all, my defeats lined up like fallen leaves.
“Brother, one more game?” she asked, bright as a challenge flag.
“No. If I keep losing, a brother’s dignity blows away like dust,” I said, half laughing with the sting.
She could read me the way a clear stream shows its stones; even during the game she saw every move I’d make, and my spirit sank like a ship with a leak.
“Brother, you’re too straightforward; your thoughts float across your face like clouds, super easy to read,” she teased, watching me pack the pieces back into their box with a grin.
“It’s because you’re too smart, Littlesky,” I said, helpless as a moth circling light.
I set the chess box aside and stroked her soft silver hair, smooth as silk through fingers.
“Hehe~” she closed her eyes, pleasure blooming like a warm spring.
After a little while, she suddenly sat up, a light flicking on.
“Brother, I just remembered!”
“Remembered what?” My heart lifted, a kite tugging its string.
“Before I came to you, Father told me to bring you to him,” she said, words fluttering like slips of paper. “He said there’s something very important to tell you.”
“How long ago?” My stomach dipped, a pebble dropping in a pond.
“Hmm, over an hour,” she admitted, eyes darting like minnows.
“Why didn’t you say it earlier?” My voice tightened, a bowstring.
“Because I was too happy when I saw Brother, so I forgot,” she said, tongue out, guilty as a child who ate an extra sweet.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
I grabbed her hand, urgency beating like drums, and we rushed out of the room toward the manor where Father and Mother lived. Normally, if it wasn’t important, Father wouldn’t summon me; the thought pricked like a thorn—what could it be?
…
My parents lived in a manor not far from the Mizumi Clan’s main estate, the house where heads of the family had dwelled for generations, a river of time flowing through those walls. Which meant the main estate now held only me, Littlesky, our elder sister, and two or three maids—just a few stars in a wide night.
Between the manor and the clan seat lay a sea of flowers, planted with all the blooms Mother loved, colors shifting like a painter’s dream. Spring was in full chorus, with a hundred flowers open and the breeze lifting showers of petals, cool as mountain shade, washing the mind clear.
We walked the path threading the blossoms, the scent rolling over us like soft waves, and my mood eased, a knot coming undone. Littlesky wore a blissful look, drunk on the perfume, and I smiled, a quiet warmth in my chest, as I plucked a few bright flowers and wove a crown to set on her hair.
With the crown on and petals dancing around, Littlesky looked like a fairy in the bloom, beauty caught like sunlight in dew—fitting, since she was an Elf User by birth.
Holding that good mood like a lantern, we crossed the flower sea and reached my parents’ manor.
It stood simple and unadorned, its lines worn by the years into a dignified grace, like old wood polished by time. The grounds were wide, yet knowing only Father and Mother lived inside left a trace of lonely echo.
“Brother, we’re here,” Littlesky said, pointing as if at a beacon.
“Yes,” I answered, pushing open the heavy door with a groan like a waking bear.
We slipped through the courtyard and into the hall, our steps quick as sparrows. As expected, Father was waiting, his face bored as winter stone, counting the grain lines on the table like rings in a tree—how idle could he be, this man who led the Mizumi Clan?
Mother sat beside him, trimming flowers with calm hands, petals falling like soft rain.
