The Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1823
A year had passed since Ricardo and Arnheid's marriage.
Arnheid had given birth to a daughter.
As usual, Ricardo received the news of his child's birth with joy.
When he entered the delivery room, he took his daughter in his arms as always, kissed and smelled her, then whispered her name into her ear.
"Your name is Anna, my one and only daughter."
Arnheid, meanwhile, was experiencing the happiness and relief of having given birth to a girl.
Inwardly, she was reciting prayers of thanks.
"Praise be to the Spirits of my Ancestors, I have a daughter. I don't have to compete with Marilin. Praise be."
Arnheid wasn't the only one happy.
In a corner of the door, Ricardo's seven-year-old two daughters, Demether and Selia, were waiting to see their newborn sister.
Seeing them, Arnheid smiled and turned to Ricardo to ask.
"Dynasty Lord, if you allow, perhaps the Young Ladies could see their newborn sister."
Ricardo turned around and gestured with his hand for them to come in.
"Demether, Selia, come in and see your sister."
Demether and Selia ran joyfully into the delivery room.
Ricardo knelt down to show his daughters their newborn sister.
Demether and Selia moved to the right and left of the baby, competing to caress and kiss their little sister.
Demether, the eldest of the sisters, asked in a sweet voice.
"What's her name, Daddy?"
Selia, at that moment, anxiously grabbed Demether's arm and whispered in her ear.
"You should say 'Dynasty Lord,' sister."
Upon Selia's warning, Demether immediately shifted from her sweet and cute demeanor to a serious expression and repeated her question with a tone befitting a noble Lady.
"Dynasty Lord, may we learn the name of our sister?"
Ricardo was bothered by this situation. Because of the strict hierarchy that the Kislaveins had maintained for centuries, he couldn't even speak with his own daughters as he wished.
Ricardo assumed the obligatory seriousness his position demanded and answered his daughter's question.
"Your sister's name is Anna."
Demether and Selia were overjoyed when they heard this name.
Demether turned to Selia and joyfully recalled an old memory.
"Selia, this is the name we thought of while playing!"
Selia nodded and turned to her father, asking in a noble voice.
"Dynasty Lord, did you give her the name we chose?"
Ricardo confirmed this question.
"Yes. I was also there while you were playing. You very much wanted your sister to have this name."
For a moment, the girls forgot they were Kislavein Princesses and joyfully hugged their father.
"We love you so much, Daddy!" they said simultaneously.
Ricardo loved his daughters' adorable behavior very much.
"I wish my mother were with us. If only she could see how much her granddaughters have grown," thought Ricardo.
The girls suddenly realized what they had done and retreated, bowing their heads and starting to act like Kislavein Princesses.
"I can't bear this situation anymore. I can't even love my own daughters from my heart. I used to not care about this at all, but now I understand the harshness of these traditions better. I wonder if my mother felt this way too... or my father."
While Ricardo was lost in thought, he heard Marilin's voice.
"My greetings to the Dynasty Lord."
Ricardo stood up and looked at Marilin.
"Marilin, I wasn't expecting you."
Marilin answered.
"My old friend has had her first child; can't I come see?"
Ricardo answered with a laugh.
"Hahaha, of course you can. But it's a rare situation for a Kislavein Lady to come see another Lady's child."
Marilin looked at Arnheid's daughter and smiled.
"You may be right, but just because our Ancestors did it doesn't mean we have to do it too."
Ricardo didn't know how to answer. He agreed with Marilin.
"You're right. Just because our Ancestors did it, we don't have to do it."
Marilin kept looking at the baby in Ricardo's arms.
"May I hold her, Dynasty Lord?"
"Of course. But you should also get permission from her mother."
Marilin looked at Arnheid.
"May I hold your daughter, Lady Arnheid?"
Arnheid answered without hesitation.
"Certainly, it would be my pleasure, Lady Marilin."
With a brilliant smile, Marilin took Anna in her arms and began to adore her.
"She's so cute. I hope my next child is a girl."
These words triggered a thought in Ricardo's mind.
"Marilin, are you pregnant?"
Marilin laughed and nodded.
While Ricardo hugged Marilin joyfully, Demether and Selia were happy they would have another sibling.
"Congratulations, Lady Marilin," said Arnheid.
While the Kislavein Dynasty expanded with new members each year, the Five Lands were gradually, step by step, heading towards a Bloody War.