a/n: retcons - Nina age 10 -> 6 | Nino -> Niyo
Morning assembly time was strictly 30 minutes. Only a severe emergency could cut this time short, and it never went over.
Breakfast had to be finished within this time. The Emperor and Empress were quite busy people, after all. Their schedules were tight.
Because of this, the family was trained to wrap up in a timely manner.
Even in the midst of Nina's antics, the breakfast concluded smoothly.
The five family members returned to their throne-like seats to send an outro message to the citizens.
"Breakfast marks the beginning of a healthy day, and a united family is destined for a healthy life. Stand together, brothers and sisters," Father said.
""Slyker strong!""
*... And, cut.*
Some of the servants in the hall were part of the kitchen staff. They quickly moved in to take the dishes and plates, which were completely cleaned, to be washed.
The meals were properly portioned, so nobody had an excuse to waste food. Even though in modern times food was generally not an issue, the hazardous Northeastern climate instilled a sense of resourcefulness in everyone.
Jisha's portions, however, would be unhealthy if they were any smaller. Whatever she didn't finish would normally be sent back to her room.
Now that the cameras had stopped rolling, Father loosened his outfit a bit and sighed.
"Niyo, how are your academy preparations going?" he inquired.
"Wonderfully, Father. I will not score below full marks on my entry exams."
Father gave a small nod. "Good. What activities do you have planned for today?"
"I want to start understanding algebra. I'll be doing martial arts forms and sparring, shooting practice, and elycai practice too."
"Very good. Now, Jisha... What do you have planned for today?"
"Um..."
Once the children turned 10, they would be given their own villa to manage. Since Niyo had turned 10 this year, he had recently been gifted his own residence. Similar to Jisha, he also took his personal travel pod to and from his abode.
Since Mother and Father would likely not see these two kids for the rest of the day, they wanted to make sure the kids' time during the day was not wasted.
During the summer months, while academy was on holiday, most noble (and even commoner) children would forgo their studies and do nothing. Doing nothing was terrible for one's personal development. So, these kids would have to provide their parents with an itinerary of events for the day.
Normally, Jisha just said the same thing every day.
It was usually "draw", "paint", or some other variant of art. But today was different.
"Mother, Father... I would like to discuss something..."
She hinted that she wanted Niyo out of the room.
The parents looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to grant their daughter's request. It wasn't every day that Jisha spoke up for herself; something was obviously going on today.
"Well, Niyo. Let's get that day started," Father said.
"And I look forward to your exam results!" Mother added cheerily.
"..."
At this point, it was obvious to Niyo that their parents were favoring their eldest daughter again. He shot Jisha a glare and headed towards the tram.
"Nina dear, do you want to head back home with Uncle Tenya while we talk to Jishi?"
Niyo's feelings towards Jisha weren't a mystery in the family, so Mother made sure he could hear that they weren't just targeting him.
"Okaay.." Nina said a bit disappointedly.
"Don't worry, dear, we'll be following right behind, okay?"
"Okaaaaay."
One of the staffers, "Uncle Tenya", picked Nina up and carried her into a tram while baby-talking her.
"Tenya, she's not an infant anymore... Ah, whatever. The rest of you, leave us for now. Continue the work later," Father said.
The rest of the staffers cleared out of the room on command. When the room was empty, the parents finally addressed their eldest daughter's concerns.
---
Jin Slyker had always been proud of his eldest daughter. From a young age, she displayed immense talents in the arts.
In addition to her prodigious skill in the visual arts, her skill with the elycai had to be mentioned as well.
This traditional Northeastern string instrument, which was constructed of Bvorak tendons, fostered many talented students. Since there were a good amount of child prodigies, Jisha's skill with the elycai wasn't the best of the best. However, it was still extremely commendable.
But these talents came with a price.
She'd never think about anything else.
Many would think of her as a dunce, but she was only "airheaded" because her mind was in her own world.
And Jin didn't mind. After all, she wasn't going to be the next ruler of the nation.
Rather, it would be rather strange if this part of her personality disappeared. Her behavior always reminded him of the cute little girl she'd always been.
Like all parents, he wanted to hold his child close forever.
But this child would grow up some day. And that day might be closer than he anticipated.
He waited for what his daughter had to say with bated breath.
"Father, Mother... I... just wanted to say I love you."
Jin was stunned. What was this all of a sudden?
He looked into his daughter's eyes. Something about her had definitely changed. It was difficult to say for certain, but... was there a newfound confidence within her?
As much as he was happy for this change, he sighed when he imagined those airheaded days disappearing.
He looked over to his wife. She was similarly wearing a stunned expression on her face.
These three words had almost never been uttered by anyone in their family to one another.
"Jisha, why are you saying this now? What have you done?" Nisha was extremely skeptical. Was there some ulterior motive for her saying this?
The Slykers were about "tough love"; their family bonds were strong, and they would show it with their actions rather than their words.
"No, I..."
Jisha seemed to be at a loss for words. Though she displayed talent in visual arts and music, language had never come naturally to her.
Jin looked over to Nisha and wordlessly signaled her to let Jisha keep talking.
Nisha reluctantly seemed to agree.
He and his wife eagerly looked towards their daughter who was still struggling to find words.
"... I didn't do anything. I just wanted to say that I want Slyker to stand strong forever..."
Jisha's voice wavered as it tapered off.
Was she shaking from nervousness? Neither of the parents knew what was going on.
She paused again, and Jin patiently waited. He looked at his wife again and hoped she wouldn't ruin this moment. Their daughter always lacked confidence in any social situation, so her going out of her way to start a conversation was uncommon. Jin hoped his wife wouldn't scare her off with some more criticizing words.
"I... had a dream. ... Well, it was more like a nightmare. I-"
Jisha abruptly stopped speaking and put a finger to her cheek.
"Wha-"
She exclaimed in surprise as this finger encountered a wetness descending from her eyelids.
She was obviously not expecting to cry. And Jin didn't expect this, either.
When he saw this, sadness welled up inside him as well. When his daughter was sad, he would be too. If his daughter was happy, so was he. Whether it was a blessing or curse, this empathic link of a parent never left him.
"Father, Mother, Nina... I saw you die."
"..."
What?
What was he supposed to say to this? Nisha seemed to be at a loss for words as well.
"I was para... I couldn't move. I couldn't stop the flames from... taking you..."
She couldn't finish her sentence.
More tears streamed down her cheek. And Jin couldn't take it anymore.
In almost every noble society, there was a certain etiquette children were supposed to show in front of their parents. The same went for the parents as well. This was especially true if they were in the presence of others.
But in this moment, none of that mattered. Jin was glad he cleared the room beforehand.
He rushed over to his daughter and wrapped her in his embrace.
Since his clothes were quite thin, he vividly felt his daughter trembling in his arms. Several drops of warm water dribbled down his exposed chest as well.
"I don't want to lose you, Father!"
The floodgates opened.
His daughter couldn't stop crying.
Nisha rushed over as well and the two of them cradled their daughter to try to calm her down.
"There, there, Jishi... We're here. We're here for you, and we're not going anywhere," Nisha said. "Look at us! We're young and healthy. Look how strong your father is, too! Isn't that right, Jin?"
"... It's just as your mother says. Everything's alright."
These words didn't seem to register in Jisha's ears.
Moroseness persisted. She continued to tremble violently as she clung to her father.
Jin looked at his wife. He was at a loss. The only thing they could do was be there for her in this time of need.
"I... I..."
Jisha tried to speak up, but her speech was broken by intermittent sobs.
Jin lightly patted her on the back and waited patiently for what she had to say.
"It's... not like that... I couldn't stop it from happening... But this time will... be... different..."
He couldn't make heads or tails of these mumbles, but her shivering eventually subsided. He looked down to see his daughter's closed eyes and peaceful breathing.
"..."
When he saw her sleeping face, he couldn't help but see a baby girl that had been born not long ago. But reality was different - she was practically a teenager now.
Where had the past 13 years gone?
Jin sighed.
"... Let's take her back to her room," he said.
Nisha agreed as both of them accompanied Jisha into the tram.
When they arrived at Jisha's villa, Eia was there to greet them.
Jin was about to explain the situation, but he received an alert from his secretary.
He scanned the message on his contact computer and made a sour face.
"Of all times..."
Nisha sighed. She had received the same alert.
If both the Emperor and Empress received an alert simultaneously, it was of high importance.
The message read that one of the generals of their military wished to hold a meeting immediately.
Neither Jin nor Nisha wanted to go. They wanted to stay with their daughter and confirm she would be alright.
Jin sent an unhappy message to the general but immediately received a call in response.
Needless to say, he wasn't pleased.
"What is it, General Aeon? This better be important. Jisha's not feeling well."
On the other end of the line, General Aeon felt like this situation was both a blessing and a curse.
Though Emperor Slyker tried to not show it, it was obvious that he doted on his eldest daughter. Sharing unpleasant news while his daughter was on his mind would undoubtedly earn his wrath.
However, this alert was indeed very important.
And when Jin heard Aeon's explanation, his face darkened.
"Let's go," he said to his wife. "I'll tell you the details on the way back."
When she saw his expression, Nisha could easily infer that whatever was going on was big.
They could only rely on Eia to care for their daughter when she awoke.
After gently placing Jisha on her bed, Jin and Nisha boarded a different tram and headed to a secret meeting room.
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