"sigh..."
I couldn't help but sigh in awe. I was amazed and grateful but mostly bemused, as just one single question kept nagging at my head.
"When did the stars shine this brightly before!!?"
Was I laying down? Was it grass? Am I in some sort of a garden or what? I had a great sense of comfort and freedom—I don't really remember... no, I didn't care to remember, as for me, that scenery, the starry night, was already captivating enough for me to never care about my surroundings at such a precious moment.
"I wish I could see such a sky again..."
I left a wish and before I knew it, I lost my eyesight—no, to be more precise, everything went dark all of a sudden. I lost feeling in my whole body, let alone my surroundings, and a great terrible headache fell upon me. It was as if a sharp knife was thrusted multiple times, in and out of my forehead, messing with my brain and tearing it apart.
I wanted to stop it but I couldn't... I wanted to hold my head in pain but I couldn't... I wanted to scream but I couldn't—it was as if I was disabled—I was bodiless, just a soul flying. Or was it that the concept of my consciousness materialized outside my body?
Is this death? Did I die? But how? I don't remember going through any accident. Wasn't I just laying down, embracing the spectacle of that starry night? Wait—what is my name? Who am I? And what is this great sense of guilt that is suffocating me—
I don't know... I don't remember... I don't remember anything about myself. Is it because of the headache? Is this excruciating agony messing with my cognitive strength—
light..? it was oddly blue and far, so far enough to just disappear after it appeared just like a flicker of flight coming from a faint matchstick burning blue
Then suddenly, it disappeared. That needle-sharp headache faded, and simultaneously I started hearing things. Hearing murmurs? No, there was more than one single person, it was a couple of people.
"Estne puella, puer?"
"Non, geminus est."
"geminus!!?"
Was it a man? A woman? But I hear another woman breathing heavily. Is she tired? Exhausted? And the crying of a baby? And this language? I don't recall encountering such a language before—wait, I don't recall anything.
"...!!"
Suddenly, I realized that I am back in my body—no, it was too small to be the body of a healthy male. It was the body of an infant? Have I been reincarnated?—and then I felt a surge of heat spreading through my entire body and a strong urge to... cry?
No, it was an urge to breathe. I felt throttled, strangled, and I couldn't hold it anymore, so I did it—I cried in order to breathe, in order to spread my lungs and taste this new life's air— a brief fragrance played with my new born nostrils, it was a dominant smell that I recognized somehow— was it.. the pink carnation? no, it wasn't just it, also the blue hyacinth ?
what did it matter—knowing that I am finally going to start again.
----
Walking back and forth in the hall with anxiety displayed clearly was a young man in his twenties, biting his fingers while murmuring incomprehensible words as he stared blankly at the door leading to the room in front of him.
"Sir Lunavayne, there is no need for worry, that woman inside is a professional—"
Before the butler could finish his words, an old lady emerged from the closed door. She was sweating profoundly but a smile painted her wrinkled face as she tried to catch her breath before uttering two words, two important words that Lunavayne was yearning for.
"She delivered."
Hearing her, all the stress he carried a moment ago was washed away before he ran inside the room screaming—
"Is it a boy? A girl?"
Hearing his screams, a tired lady—no, an exhausted new mother—was the one to answer. She was covered in sheets even though she was visibly sweating to the point her face was blushing.
She sighed and looked at him with relaxed eyes while lifting the two infants she was hugging tightly.
"It's a twin..."
"A twin!?" Lunavayne was shocked, but what she said afterwards sent him backwards.
"It is both a girl and a boy."
At the fact that she gave birth to twins, which was very rare, Lunavayne couldn't take it anymore as he realized that they had found the needle in the hay... something so rare it could be described as a miracle—a twin of different gender. Lunavayne started crying.
"Clara!!" Screaming his wife's name with mixed feelings, he ran and tried to jump at his Clara, putting her and the twins at great risk of danger since they were really vulnerable at this point.
"Stop!!" Fortunately, his butler counter-jumped him and saved both Clara and the twin infants.
"What are you doing, Sir Lunavayne!!? Have you gone crazy?" the butler tried to rebuke his master.
"It is just... just that I am happy."
"You're crying!!!" He was shocked to see tears on his master's face.
It took a couple of minutes before they adjusted themselves. Lunavayne walked properly towards Clara and asked—
"Who came out first?"
Hearing his question, she handed him one of the infants, which he grabbed strongly.
"The girl..." she said.
"I see..." He stared into the infant's eyes before speaking.
"You were the first to be born. I am sorry... but I will burden you with some harsh responsibilities. You might grow to feel tired of him, but I want you to protect your brother, for you are the older of the twins, Luna."
As he uttered the name, he gave back Luna to her mother before trying to hold the second twin, the boy.
!! A strange sense of pain engulfed Lunavayne's hands, making him forcefully and unintentionally let go of the boy, causing him to fall to his demise. His fragile body couldn't handle a fall from the height of an adult human.
Clara fainted and Lunavayne heart sank..
"boo..." It was a weird sound to come out of a person's mouth, but it was the voice she would occasionally make—a young girl in her puberty, looking 13 or 14.
Wearing her maid dress, she jumped and slid under Lunavayne's feet to catch the falling infant, saving him from what was about to be his inevitable death.
"What happened?!" Clara asked angrily after she woke up.
"I don't know... the pain just appeared."
"And I was here to save the day." Standing up with the infant in her hands, the little maid puffed her chest.
"Qian Qian... thanks." With a relaxed smile, Lunavayne thanked her, causing her pride to reach the sky with her grin.
as she handed him the infant her eyes caught something
"master.. "
drip
"it is okay, qian qian.." it was the sound of a falling drop of blood, the bandage wrapped on his left wrist was soaking, the wound opened and the pain still showed on his face yet he tried to hid with a smile
"This time I won't let you fall. You were born the second, thus the youngest. You will grow one day tired of how your sister is protecting you, but know that she is doing this just because she cares for you. And do not feel weak, because when you grow, the roles will be reversed—you will be the one to protect the ones you love. I made a mistake, but it won't happen again, Lapsus..."