Side Story 2: Obon Holiday

“Leila! Cecilia! I’ve finally won my the Obon vacation!”

My father returned home with my brother after work, when he reported this to me and mother, who was relaxing in the living room, with a triumphant look on his face.

“Wow! You’re amazing!”

My mother clasped her hands together and was delighted.

“Eh? Obon vacation?”

I asked my father back, puzzled.

Is the Obon vacation really that Obon holiday?

“Oh, come to think of it, this is the first time Cecilia has heard of this. The Obon Festival is a series of events to honor the spirits of the ancestors, mainly by cleaning the graves of the ancestors. It’s called Obon vacation when you take a break from work during this period.”

“…Is that so?”

It’s just like Japan’s Obon holiday!!!

I was surprised at the information that wasn’t in the game or in the story book, but at the same time, I was impressed by the playfulness of the producers.

However, I suddenly had a question.

”But father, it’s been twelve years since I was born, and you’ve never taken an Obon vacation during that time, have you?”

“In fact, I’ve submitted a request for a holiday every year, but His Majesty the King wouldn’t accept my request because he was worried that there would be trouble if I, the Prime Minister, would be gone for some other reason.”

Father kept his eyes down, and the atmosphere became dark as he was emitting a black aura from his back.

“Uh, Father…”

“But this year, with Cecilia’s engagement as a shield, I succeeded in forcing him to accept the vacation. Now I can finally go to the town where my father’s and mother’s graves are located with the whole family, without having to ask for a substitute!”

I smiled happily.

“Using my engagement as a shield…are you sure it’s okay for you to take a break from the prime minister’s position in the first place?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve already done a certain amount of work, and the rest has been assigned to others. Well, all that’s left is for His Majesty to do his jog, so there’s no problem.”

I looked at my father, who had a kind of black smile on his face, and I stopped asking him any more.

At that moment, I notice that my brother has been silent with a sullen look on his face the whole time.

“Brother, what is wrong with you?”

“Cecilia you must never leave my side during the Obon vacation.”

“Huh?”

I was confused, not knowing what it meant, and then my father clapped his hand as if he remembered something.

“That’s right. In fact, His Majesty the King told me to take the Obon vacation in exchange for letting Prince Kaiser accompany us to visit the graves.”

“……Huh!?”

I scream in surprise at the words I didn’t expect to hear.

“W-why is Kaiser going with us?”

“Well, it’s not surprising, as Prince Kaiser also has a reason to visit your grandmother’s tomb. It’s not strange, you know.”

“What does that mean?”

“Cecilia’s grandmother was the king’s sister at the time. So she’s also related to Prince Kaiser.”

“Is that so…”

It’s certainly not completely irrelevant, so I shrugged my shoulders and gave up.

“I wish Prince Kaiser would just go alone…I don’t think it’s necessary for us to accompany him.”

Brother says tat with a sullen look on his face, and my father puts his hand on his shoulder with a reluctant smile.

“Oh, well…Roberto, you should just accept it because it’s already been decided.”

The way Father said it like it was nothing, did not make my brother happy, but he kept his mouth shut.

***

After half a day in the horse-drawn carriage, we finally arrived at our destination town.

It’s a quiet town rich in nature and decorated with flowers everywhere.

“Wow! It’s a lovely town!”

I stare at the country-style houses, my eyes sparkling.

“I didn’t know there was a town like this, so far from the royal capital.”

Kaiser was next to me, saying so.

This is the town that my grandmother loved before she died. That’s why they spent the rest of their lives here after your grandfather retired.

My brother interrupted between me and Kaiser and explained that.

“Well Roberto, why are you in here? If you’d like to be next to Cecilia, the other side is empty.”

Kaiser, who has his usual pseudo-smile on his face, seems to have a black aura coming from his back as he stares at brother.

My brother is also smiling, but his eyes were not amused.

“That is, of course, to protect my adorable sister.”

“Don’t worry. Because I will protect Cecilia.”

“Well Prince Kaiser, you know who I’m trying to say I want to protect her from, don’t you?”

“Oh really?”

They were huffing and puffing as they looked at each other, engaged in an invisible war.

These two were like this the whole time in the carriage, and I was completely exhausted.

Incidentally, in the carriage, Kaiser and may brother sat on either side of me, which was indeed cramped, no matter how spacious the carriage was.

The chair in front was empty. I wanted them to sit there…

I remember that and give a small sigh.

“Look, we’ll go without stopping over there.”

My father, who had gotten off the front carriage with mother, beckoned to us with a wry smile.

“Ah, yes~”

I walked hurriedly to my father, with Kaiser and brother following close behind.

But I could still hear them arguing in my ears.

***

A small church stood quietly in the town.

“There are two graves in the cemetery over there.”

“That’s right.”

As I listened to Father’s words, I looked around at the small but well-maintained building, and the beautifully blooming flower beds.

Then I notice an old man there, dressed in black priest’s clothes, watering the flowers.

“Father Raffel!”

Father smiled and called out to that Father Raffel with a smile.

At the call, Father Raffel turned around and bowed with a gentle smile.

“Well, well, well, Reinhardt-sama, it’s been a long time.”

“Father Raffel places the watering can on the ground and comes over to us.”

“Father Raffel, it’s good to see you are well. I’m sorry it wasn’t easy for us to get here.”

“No, no, I know Mr. Reinhardt is a very busy man. But I’m glad the whole family was able to come together this year.”

Then Father Raffel looked around at us with a smile on his face.

Then his gaze stopped on me.

“Are you…Miss Cecilia?”

“Eh? Yes, that’s right…”

“I knew it! I thought so because you look just like Lady Remina did when she was younger.”

“Remina…Grandmother was like me?”

“Yes. You look very much alike. Especially those beautiful eyes.”

“Is that so…”

There were portraits of my grandfather and grandmother in the house, but they were depicted as a lovely old couple in the painting, so I couldn’t understand why she looked so much like me.

Furthermore, they had died before I was born, so I had never met them.

But I had often heard stories from father and mother.

Grandfather was a strict man when he was working, but once he got home, he took good care of his family, and Grandmother was a gracious and very kind person.

My brother also loved them both.

I wish I could have met them too!

It was an unfulfilled wish, but I was still very happy to be in the town where they spent their time like this.

“Then everyone, let me show you to the graves…hmm? You are…”

Father Raffel noticed Kaiser as he tried to urge us on.

“Father Raffel, it’s nice to meet you. I am Kaiser Ron Beizelm. I am the crown prince of this country.”

“What!? You’re the Crown Prince!? Please excuse me for this…”

Father Raffel hurriedly stepped back and bowed his head deeply.

“Oh, Father Raffel, you don’t have to be so afraid. Just treat me the same way you would treat Cecilia.”

“However…”

“Today, you can just think of me as relative’s child who came to visit his great-aunt’s grave.”

Kaiser has a smile on his face.

“…Or even just as Cecilia’s fiancé.”

“Fiancé? Oh! Lady Cecilia, you are engaged to the Crown Prince! Congratulations!”

“Uh, thank you.”

I couldn’t help but give Father Raffel a drawn-out smile as he happily congratulated me.

“I still won’t accept—”

“—Father Raffel, I couldn’t wait to inform my great-aunt of our engagement, so could I please ask for a tour?’’

“Oh, yes, of course. Please come on in.”

My brother frowned and was about to protest, but Kaiser interrupted him with a pseudo-smile.

Father Raffel led us to the back of the church.

It was a cemetery with colorful flowers blooming around it.

“The graves are at the far end of over there.”

“Two grave markers, one larger than the other, stood side by side as Father Raffel indicated with his hand.”

“That’s your grandfather’s and grandmother’s graves…”

“Then, I’ll be going back to the church if you need anything else.”

“Yes, thank you”

My father nodded and then Father Raffel left.

We took the cleaning tools we had prepared in advance and moved to their graves.

Then we all carefully washed their graves and placed flowers.

The gravestones are shaped differently from Japanese gravestones, but they do exactly the same thing. In my previous life, my whole family would go back to the countryside and wash my grandparents’ graves during Obon, too.

Feeling nostalgic, we lined up side by side in front of the grave.

“Father and mother, I’m sorry I haven’t been here for so long. Today I am finally able to show you your two grown-up grandchildren.”

“Father-in-law and mother-in-law, Roberto has grown up to be a wonderful, clever and family-oriented boy, and Cecilia has grown up to be as kind and beautiful as you, mother-in-law.”

“Grandfather and grandmother, this is Roberto. We only had the pleasure of meeting in person a few times when I was very young, but I remember being so loved. I hope you will continue to watch over us from heaven.”

I opened my mouth as I looked at their graves as my father, mother and brother took turns saying a few words to each other.

“Grandfather and grandmother, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Cecilia. Although I didn’t get to meet you both in person, your family has taken good care of me and I’ve grown up to this point. I hope to continue to live happily and live up to the Heinz family name.”

I will definitely avoid any doom ending that would bring down the Heinz family! Please keep supporting me!

I swore it in my heart.

Then, suddenly, Kaiser pulled me into a hug around my waist.

“What?”

“Don’t worry. I, Kaiser Ron Beizelm, Cecilia’s fiancé, will make Cecilia happy. I promise you!”

He smiled and said that to the grave with a nice smile.

“Kaiser…”

No, um…if you want me to be happy, then the quickest way is to break off the engagement…

While thinking that, there was no way I could say that here, so I gave a small sigh.

Then a hand was inserted between me and Kaiser, and I was forcibly pulled me away from him.

And just like that, I was hugged by my brother instead.

“Brother!?”

“Prince Kaiser, you don’t have to be so considerate. You can relieve yourself and concentrate on your own affairs because I, her brother, will take good care of her and make her happy at home. Oh, if you want, I can introduce you to a suitable daughter of an acquaintance. I’m sure Prince Kaiser will like it. Therefore, please break off your engagement to Cecilia.”

“No, no, no, Roberto. You are the one who should not hesitate to leave Cecilia to me and find a good match as the next head of the duke’s family. I will never break off the engagement.”

Once again, the two of them began to smile, keeping each other in check.

Father and mother were looking at them with a dubious smiles on their faces.

And as for me, I was thinking of the day after tomorrow with a tired out look on my face.

Please, don’t get me involved anymore…

At that time, a gentle breeze caressed my cheeks and unconsciously turned my gaze towards the grave, and I somehow felt my grandparents’ presence there.

…It’s okay. Well, there’s a lot going on, but I’m still enjoying every day.

As soon as I thought that, I felt like I was being watched over with a gentle expression.

“Fufu…I’ll come back to see you again.”

I smiled and called out to my grandparents’ graves with a small voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T/N: And that’s it for this series! Thank you so much for reading~ This story has its cliches and obvious imperfections, but it was an entertaining ‘junk food read’ for me that I really enjoyed!

Feel free to look through some other novels here! All the best everyone!!

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