The Sand Bride - Side Story 2.25

Her mother found this white and fluffy dog, Bibi—who did nothing and could do nothing—to be incredibly cute. Every time he wagged his tail, moved his front paws up and down, or rolled over on his belly and wagged his tail, she would give a small laugh and pet Bibi.

That was one of the moments her mother occasionally laughed. Rima had seen her father, who happened to discover that scene from afar, staring at her mother with a fool’s face.

That wasn’t all. Rima also remembered a performance from five months ago.

That day was a day to watch a brave warrior fight a large bear to be forgiven for a sin he had committed. When the warrior nimbly drove an axe into the bear’s neck, her mother let out a shrill scream and turned her head away. At that, her father looked flustered.

While other people were cheering, clapping, and throwing flowers or coins to the brave warriors, her mother alone didn’t know what to do and couldn’t even turn her head toward the arena. So Rima also stopped trying to stand up and throw a coin and sat back down.

Could that bear have been a bear her mother knew? Or maybe her mother just really likes bears. Rima clicked her tongue at her father’s mistake in not preparing another wild beast like a tiger or a puma instead of a bear that her mother liked. That’s why Mother doesn’t adore Father.

Just as Rima thought, her father asked her mother if she was like that because she liked bears. But her mother shook her head and said no. At that, Rima fell into confusion.

If she didn’t like bears, why didn’t Mother throw coins or flowers? Why did she hate watching that performance?

It was a single sentence from Esther that made the questioning Rima realize.

“The bear is pitiful.”

So Rima also thought the bear was ‘pitiful,’ and thus thought the warrior who killed the pitiful bear was bad. Because her mother said so, and her mother’s words were always right.

“Let’s go, Rima.”

Esther, who couldn’t bear to watch the dead bear being dragged away, hurriedly embraced Rima, turned around, and left the viewing box at the highest point. She was afraid that her young daughter might see something so horrific and be shocked, or be influenced in some bad way.

In that embrace, Rima secretly threw the coin she was holding to throw into Karzhen’s lap without Esther knowing. Since her mother, Esther, didn’t like this kind of thing, she shouldn’t like it either. If she didn’t want to lose her mother’s favor like her father.

Rima threw the coin at Karzhen, who was left alone in the viewing box, and then wrapped her arms around Esther’s neck. Karzhen, who was about to follow after them, caught the coin that hit his chest and was about to fall to the floor. And he trembled all over while clutching that gold coin as if he were going to crush it.

It was because he had seen Rima’s face over Esther’s shoulder as she was held. What was pointedly etched on those lips that resembled Karzhen’s was a clear sneer.

Rima was looking down on Karzhen.

‘That brat……!’ Karzhen wanted to pull his young daughter out of Esther’s arms right now and hurl her to the floor. But after seeing the smile Rima showed Esther again, he couldn’t possibly do it. That innocent smile she showed while blushing was strikingly similar to Esther’s.

It was a smile completely different from the arrogant one she had shown Karzhen, which didn’t suit a child. Karzhen didn’t have the confidence to ruthlessly throw a being with that face to the floor.

‘When I grow up, I’ll make sure the person who sinned is killed by the bear.’

While Karzhen writhed in the pain he received because of his child, Rima rubbed her cheek against Esther’s and laughed lovably.

The young child’s turquoise eyes sparkled innocently as she drew her future. Yes, Mother is right. The sinner is the warrior, so why should the innocent bear be the one to die? Rima greatly admired her mother’s fairness.

In that way, within the greenhouse, Rima was causing her mother’s laws to bloom in a twisted state in the world outside. She grew into a child who recognized anything that didn’t fit the justice and laws Esther had passed down and taught her as being not just different, but wrong and evil, and ruthlessly crushed it, all while shedding learned tears.

Rima made Brum ‘move’ for interfering with her drawing the flowers her mother liked, but she was a child who immediately offered an ‘apology’ afterward—she was a child who took to heart her mother’s words that the bear was pitiful and vowed that next time, she would surely show her mother a performance where the warrior was killed instead of the bear.

Thus, a few years later, even the servants soon stopped speaking behind Rima’s back. She was a beast in sheep’s clothing. Rima could live inside the greenhouse with Esther, and she could live outside the greenhouse. She was a child for whom it didn’t matter where she was.

Because she was a ‘mix’ born under parents whose differences were so stark.