"Mother, may I... May I touch it?"
That question, full of hope, came from a four-year-old child who wanted to touch his mother's swollen belly. His name was Lumian, the prince of the kingdom of Valoria.
His mother, Queen Silvana, wearing an elegant cream-colored dress and a velvet warming cloak, could only smile softly upon seeing her child's hopeful face.
Lumian remained still, not just waiting for her answer, but also captivated by his mother's beauty.
To him, she was the very definition of beauty, and he was also sure her smile could warm anyone's heart, just as he felt it did now. Without exception.
She had long, whitish-blonde hair, almost silver, cascading down to her shoulders. Her soft, maternal face was perfected by her porcelain-white skin.
'No wonder she became queen…' he thought naively in his heart.
"Go ahead." His mother finally allowed Lumian to touch her belly.
Lumian nodded, then slowly, gently, brought his small palm closer to his mother's stomach.
–Touch–
The first thing he felt upon touching his mother's belly was warmth. Everything felt normal, until he finally felt a movement in her stomach that startled him a little.
"See? That's your sibling. They're greeting you, their big brother." His mother said gently.
"Really?" Lumian couldn't stay calm upon hearing that. Just knowing he would have a sibling already made him happy, let alone this?
Of course, he was overjoyed by his sibling's arrival, because after so long (in his opinion) he would finally no longer be alone in this vast Valorian palace. It was true he had many siblings, but their age gap was too far from his four-year-old self, which made him lonely for lack of peers. But not anymore, he was going to have a sibling!
"Mother, if I may ask, what is their name?" Lumian finally asked with curiosity, not moving his hand an inch from his mother's belly.
"Hmm…" Silvana touched her chin with the air of someone deep in thought, but Lumian knew she was pretending; she must already know the name. Then she chuckled, seemingly amused by Lumian's gaping, waiting expression. And finally, she said:
"Her name is Evangeline."
"Evangeline?" Lumian repeated the word with his mouth.
"What do you think? Do you like it?" His mother said, then stroked Lumian's blonde hair.
"I-it's… It is a very beautiful name. I like it," Lumian answered honestly.
"Of course. But it's not just the name that is beautiful, its meaning is beautiful too." Silvana stroked her swollen belly, then continued. "Evangeline… I gave that name because Evangeline, in Greek, our ancestors' language, means 'Bearer of Good News'. This name suits her perfectly, doesn't it? Her arrival brings good news for all of us."
Lumian was speechless, awed by his mother who gave such a meaningful name to his sibling, but there was also a curiosity in his heart: If his mother gave such a meaningful name to his sibling, what about him? Did she do the same for him?
"Then what does my name mean?" He finally asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.
Silvana nodded and said, "Your name, Lumian… It is taken from the Latin word 'Lumen,' which means light or illuminator! I want you to become the light and the illuminator of this kingdom."
Lumian froze for a moment, his lips forming an 'O'. His small, still-innocent brain tried to process the weight and expectation carried by the name his mother had given him.
"Light?" the whisper escaped his lips.
Then his mother smiled and said while stroking Lumian's hair, "You can do it, can't you, Lumian?"
"Yes, I can! I will be the light for this Kingdom and for Mother!" Lumian impulsively declared.
"Hahaha," Silvana giggled at how innocent her child was. But at that very moment, her face slowly began to fade, and not just her face, but the background of the place also faded like a painting touched by water…
Lumian stared hard, trying to capture his mother's face back into his mind, but it was futile.
Everything disappeared, replaced by the darkness of his eyelids covering his eyes.
"Light…" Lumian repeated the word again, but with a voice that had grown heavier with his increasing age. None of the innocence from before remained.
And now he fully realized the weight of the name his mother had given him.
Time passed faster than he thought. The palace luxury he should have owned vanished, replaced by his current reality: sitting on a wooden chair in his dark room, the smell of old wood now familiar to him.
Everything was lost in the coup carried out by his own uncle when he was ten years old.
All that remained now was Aunt Alice, his mother's former lady-in-waiting, and Uncle Adam, the soldier who helped him escape. And then… his sister Evangeline, whom he had managed to bring with him, and of course, the memory of his beautiful late mother's face, which was now growing faint in his memory…
He kept his eyes closed, trying to capture his mother's face, her smile, her voice, but the more he tried to remember, the further it drifted away.
This isn't fair.
They took everything, and now my memory of Mother too?
But there was nothing he could do now. Even capturing her faint image in his memory was a great achievement now. What about a year from now, or two years, and so on? It would disappear, consumed by time, and that was what he feared the most…
At least let me be able to remember her… He remained in the same position until finally, a hoarse voice that sounded more like the scraping of wood was heard:
"Young master, shouldn't you be sleeping? Tomorrow you are to attend the Grimoire Bestowal Ceremony, correct?" It was the voice of his living wooden soldier doll. Its name was Barnaby, a name given by his sister. It couldn't move except to talk, so it always leaned by the window; its entire body was made of wood, its arms and legs joined only by thin strings.
He's right, the ceremony is tomorrow… Lumian sighed, then nodded. For a moment, he eyed the wooden doll given by his older brother, who was now gone, with suspicion. The reason, of course, was why could it live? It was true that Lumian had brought it to life back then with his magic, aided by his older brother. He still remembered the incantation his brother, Vaelion, had given him, but when he tried it on an ordinary doll, it didn't work.
And when he examined Barnaby, he found what made it different from other dolls, allowing it to live: a Realm Heart Crystal inside its body. It was a crystal that could absorb mana…
However, as far as he knew, a Realm Heart could only store mana for a certain period, and if not refilled, it would die. But from the beginning, when he and his brother brought it to life, shouldn't it have run out of mana? Why could it live, even without Lumian channeling mana? Where did it get its mana from?
And Barnaby seemed to come to life whenever it needed to remind him of something, and after that, it would become still.
Could it be that Vaelion had programmed it that way? For now, that was the most plausible explanation. Anyway, why should he be suspicious of a doll that had been his companion for five years?
Lumian walked to his hard bed, then lay down to sleep and greet tomorrow, when the Grimoire Bestowal Ceremony would begin for children who had reached the age of fifteen…