Chapter Two: A Family of Snow

Anima woke up to a familiar scene as the first rays of the morning sun illuminated the bedroom.

“’Nooow!”

“Phew, thank goodness it’s not raining. Rain would’ve made the top of the snow into super-slippery ice.”

“I like sippery!”

“It’s fun, but it’s really easy to fall. This one time, when I was little, I fell really hard. It hurt a lot.”

“Pain, pain, fye ’way!”

“Thank you! I feel much better now!”

Myuke and Marie were marveling at the beautiful white scenery outside. As it was still her first experience with snow, Marie was especially excited.

“I wanna ’nowball fight!”

“Sure, I’m down!”

“I wanna make ’nowman, too!”

“We’ll make the best snowman this world has ever seen!”

Even though they’d played in the snow all morning the day before, their excitement hadn’t faded one bit. It was as if the day had never even happened.

Did I dream all of that?

Bram’s botched snowball throw had destroyed Myuke’s snowman, prompting a ferocious argument. If that had been nothing more than a dream, his brain had played an incredibly cruel joke on him. He still remembered just how frustrated it made him to watch his beloved daughters fight. That no longer mattered to him, though. A dream was a dream. There were no hurt feelings, and the girls hadn’t actually fought—that was the important thing.

He quietly got up trying not to wake his sleeping wife, and moved toward the window.

“Is it snowy outside?” he asked, hoping to confirm that the fight had truly been a dream.

“Uh-huh! I wanna pay in the ’now ’gain!”

“Again”. She’d said “again”, which meant that she’d played in the snow the day before.

I guess it wasn’t a dream.

Anima lamented the death of his short-lived hope. The excitement Myuke had for having a snowball fight and building a snowman only existed because Bram wasn’t in the conversation. She likely didn’t want to be a party pooper and ruin Marie’s fun.

Anima shook his head to shoo those thoughts away. The fight was a thing of the past. He’d woken up to Myuke’s beautiful smile, so he thought that maybe her rage had faded into nothingness overnight. Perhaps Bram had gone through a similar change, he hoped, and would apologize to Myuke with a big hug as soon as she woke up.

“Daddy, do you remember that thing we talked about yesterday?” Myuke asked, interrupting his fantasies about his daughters hugging out their problems.

“Umm… That you want a fire rabbit stone?”

Myuke shook her head.

“No, I asked you to buy a bed. Did you forget already?”

“I remember. How could I forget? But… Do you really want that? There’s no need to get a second bed if it’s just to make my nights better. I sleep very well, even if the blanket doesn’t reach all the way around my back.” Their bed was small, but Anima loved sleeping with his family more than anything else in the world. His back never got cold, as his soul was warmed by the presence of the people he loved the most. He wouldn’t complain even if he were to fall off one night. “If you’re only doing this for me, then there’s no need. We can just get you that fire rabbit stone.”

Please, I’m begging you, say that you don’t want a bed.

He prayed to any and every deity he could think of while Myuke looked at the bed. Torn on the decision, she furrowed her eyebrows for a second before shaking her head and looking up at Anima. He could see in her eyes that she was fully determined to live with her choice.

“I want a new bed.”

“All right… When should we get it?”

He thought that maybe he could stall and give them time to make up. Myuke glanced out the window before she gave her answer.

“I don’t think it’ll rain today, but just to be safe, we should get it over with as soon as we can. Let’s go after we’re done with the morning chores.”

His idea was shot down instantly, leaving him on the ropes. Buying a bed was going to be the final nail in the coffin for sleeping together with everyone. Once bought, Myuke would use it even if she made up with Bram, lest she feel bad for wasting Anima’s time and money. His last chance was for Bram to come to his aid and somehow stifle Myuke’s rage.

“Bram is… still sleeping, I see.”

“Duh. She’s a slob; she’d sleep all day if she could.”

“I’m awake, m’kay?” Bram groaned from Luina’s bosom.

Glancing her way, Anima noticed that Luina was stroking her hair. Although silent about the quarrel itself, his wife was trying her best to calm Bram down.

“Oh, wow, you’re actually awake. That’s rare. Anyway, I hope it doesn’t rain today.”

“If you’re that worried about it, just go buy the bed already, m’kay?”

“Maybe I will. It’ll be the comfiest, most amazing bed you’ve ever seen. And I’m not gonna let you sleep in it even if you beg.”

“Never gonna happen, m’kay? Like I’d ever want to sleep with you. Just don’t get so caught up in getting back at me that you buy a bed that doesn’t fit through the door. If you do that, you’re gonna have to sleep in the hallway, m’kay?”

“I’m not that dumb!”

It was fortunate that they didn’t get into an intense mouth-off like yesterday, but sparks were flying between them. Disheartened, Myuke took Anima’s hand.

“Let’s go get breakfast ready.”

There was no need for her to ask Luina for the fire lizard stone; it already twinkled on her slender ring finger. She had asked for it the night before, just before they’d gone to bed.

“I help too!”

“I’m so proud of you, Marie. We can always rely on you. Can you come and be the taste tester for us?”

“Yaaay! I love tase tessing!” Marie cheered as if she had just been asked to perform her dream job. Lucky for her, the breakfast was guaranteed to be divine—they were going to reheat the previous night’s dinner. Anima and Myuke had helped with a couple things, but the bulk of the work had undoubtedly been done by Luina.

They went downstairs, prepared breakfast, and called everyone down to eat. Once they were done, Anima, Myuke, and Marie went outside to air out the laundry.

“Daddy, I wanna pay in the ’now!” Marie excitedly cheered, but Anima had to betray her hopes.

“Sorry, Marie, but I have to go into town with Myuke.”

“I wanna go too! I show my ’nowman to ev’yone!”

She wanted to show off her magnum opus, which, despite having been built a full day prior, hadn’t given in to the rays of the sun or the evening breeze. It still stood proudly in the garden.

“Your hands will get really cold if you carry it around all day.”

“And it’ll melt when we go into the store. I’ll play with you when we get home, so just stay here, okay?”

“Once your sister and I finish shopping, I’ll play with you girls all day!”

“Yaaay!”

Anima picked Marie up and they returned to the house. They went in through the kitchen, dropped Marie off in the dining room, changed into their outside clothes, and left the house through the front door.

Some patches of ground were visible through the myriad footprints in the snow in front of the door. While the sun was strong enough to melt parts of the thin layers of snow beneath the prints, the road to Garaat was still covered entirely in white. Nothing had changed from the day before.

“Lossa foo’pints!” Marie cheered, peeking out from behind Anima. She’d come to see them off.

“I think these are yours, Marie.”

“Must be. They’re very small and cute.”

Following shortly behind Marie, Luina and Bram also came to the front door. Bram was visibly restless, fidgeting from being near Myuke after all that happened between them, but that she’d come to see her off must have meant that she had something to say.

“I’m good at foo’pints!” Marie ran out into the snow, but her fresh footsteps didn’t stand out from the countless others already covering the entranceway, so she stopped and looked off into the distance with twinkling eyes. “I wanna pay there!”

She looked at the road, still covered in fresh, untouched snow. Anima wasn’t keen on letting her play out front, though, as the beautiful scenery of the nearby forest seemed as though it would be very inviting to a little girl like her.

“Let’s just stick to the garden, okay? I don’t want you to wander into the forest and get lost.”

“There’s scary people in fowest?”

Marie clutched Anima’s robe in fear, and he gently stroked her hair.

“Don’t worry. If there are, I’ll beat them. That’s why you have to make sure that you never go in there without me. Can you promise me that?”

“I caaan!”

“Good girl! Now, stay with Bram until we come home, okay?”

“Uh-huh! I wanna pay, Brum!” Marie grabbed Bram’s hand, but she didn’t respond. “Brum?”

She was absentmindedly staring at Myuke, but Marie’s worried call snapped her out of her trance.

“I’m here, m’kay? Let’s go play! We’ll have a big snowball fight before Miss Grumpy Pants comes home!”

“Just make sure you don’t break any windows,” Myuke replied snarkily. In response, Bram simply turned around and headed to the garden with Marie.

“Be careful out there,” Luina warned. “The road is slippery.”

“Thank you, we will be. You should go inside. It’s cold.”

After saying goodbye to Luina, Anima and Myuke started walking the long, snowy road to Garaat. Myuke started off at a brisk pace, but the farther they got from the house, the heavier her footsteps became.

The feel of the snow had changed from the day before. Its top layer had melted and made it slippery, which may have caused her to slow down a bit, but her dejected expression hinted at a different reason. There was clearly something weighing on her mind, and Anima had a fairly good idea of what that was.

“Are you sure you want to buy a bed?”

Myuke whipped her head up.

“What a weird question. That’s the whole reason we left, isn’t it? Wait, are we getting short on coins and now a bed would cost too much?”

“No, we have money, don’t you worry about that. If you really want a bed, I’ll get you one that even the king would be jealous of.”

“Wouldn’t that be wasted on me?”

“Of course not.”

Their nights of family snuggles were numbered. Their current bed already felt small with the five of them in it, and with Marie growing bigger and a new family member on the way, they were going to need to buy another bed sooner or later if they wanted to fit everyone comfortably. Even if, by some miracle, they managed to fit all six of them in that one bed, once Myuke and Bram grew up, they would no doubt want separate beds, if not separate houses.

Anima lamented the impending loss of the tradition he loved so much, but there was nothing he could do about it. He would enjoy their nights together for as long as they lasted, and buying a bed in preparation for the inevitable was not a terrible idea. No matter what happened, for the time being, his only goal was to press Myuke about her decision.

“What kind of bed do you want?”

“‘What kind’? Umm…” Despite having an extremely detailed idea of what kind of magic stone she wanted, she went silent when it came to describing her dream bed. Anima had a fighting chance if he could just get her to admit that she only wanted the bed because she and Bram had a fight. “I’ll know once I see it.”

She clearly wanted to end that conversation there, so Anima didn’t pursue any further, which he was fine with. Carefully, silently, they continued their way along the slippery, snowy road to Garaat until they finally arrived at the town.

Even though it was still rather early in the morning, the streets were as lively as ever. Some shopkeepers were braving the cold breeze, enthusiastically inviting people into their stores, while others cooped up inside for shelter and tried to entertain the customers who walked through their doors of their own accord.

“Marie would lose her mind if she were here,” Myuke noted.

“She certainly would.” The innumerable footprints had made any snow all but disappear. What little was left had become a muddy slush and was piled up against building walls. “Do you want to do something while we’re here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like going to a café or something.”

“Oh. No, I’m not really hungry.”

“Okay…”

Myuke had practically begged to go to a café when they had been in town a couple of days earlier, but that was a different day, and her mood had changed drastically since then. It was proof that despite her cheerful demeanor when she’d woken up, she was deeply affected by her and her sister’s fight.

“Good morning, Anima!” Suddenly, the owner of a restaurant called out to him. “Sure is a chilly one today, huh? Why don’t you two come in and warm yourselves up?”

“We have something to take care of today, but we’ll come by sometime with the rest of the family.”

“Oh, is that so? Well, I’ll be waiting for you. My doors are always open!”

“Ah, Anima!” a shopkeeper called to him. “We just got some brand-new clothes in! Would you like to choose some for your wife?”

“I’ll come by with Luina one of these days and let her take a look.”

Several of the townsfolk cheerfully greeted Anima as he walked the streets. He was accepted by the people of this world—a stark contrast to his previous life. He got greeting after greeting as he and Myuke made their way to the furniture store, which was open despite how early in the day it was.

When they stepped into the shop, they were greeted by the refreshing smell of wood. Various wooden chairs, shelves, and tables were tightly packed next to each other in sets. The store was so full of display pieces that one had to be extra careful not to accidentally bump into anything.

Anima was, unfortunately, very familiar with the dangers of the store. The first time he’d bumped into something was when they’d come to buy a chair for Myuke. The second time was when they’d come to buy a chair for Bram. Both times, he had been charmed by his cute daughters as they excitedly tried out all the chairs in the store before moving on to cheerfully test if the beds were comfortable enough for them. As he looked over the store, he recalled his fond memories of those days, and wished for them to return.

“Let’s see, where are the beds…? Ah, there they are.”

Anima pointed toward the beds. There were only four on display, but that was unsurprising for a general furniture store. He assumed the selection was small due to space concerns.

“So, which one do you like?” Anima asked as the two of them stepped closer to take a better look. “This single bed looks nice, but it would be smarter to get a double; it will last longer as you grow. Ah, wait, look! This one has a drawer at the bottom! You could store quite a bit in there! Ah, but this one has a railing. Gone are the days of worrying about rolling off the bed.”

“…”

Each of the beds had comfort features all its own, yet Myuke didn’t make so much as a peep. All of the excitement she’d had back at the house was gone. It was obvious that her mind was elsewhere.

“Did you not like any of them?”

“No. None.”

“What kind of bed would you like, then?”

“I don’t know, but… it’s not one of these.”

“I see.”

Anima had an inkling that they weren’t going to find a bed for her no matter how many shops they perused. Despite how adamant she’d been about buying a new bed the night before, deep down, she never truly wanted one. In fact, Anima suspected that she wanted to take back what she’d said—that all she wanted was to make up with her sister and sleep together in peace.

I have to do something.

He had to tread very carefully, as speaking for Bram could easily backfire on him. That didn’t mean he was completely powerless, though. He simply needed to give her a nudge in the direction of patching up their relationship.

“Do you want to come back another day?”

“Yeah. Sorry for wasting your time.”

“You don’t need to apologize; I love spending time with you. You know, since we’re here in town anyway, we may as well bring something home.”

“Yeah?” Her ears pricked in excitement. “Like what?”

“How about a cake? You like cake, right?”

“I love it.”

“A cake it is, then. Actually, let’s make it a miniature-cake set. That way we can enjoy all kinds of different flavors. Can you help me choose everyone’s favorites?”

“‘Everyone’s’… Does that include Bram’s?”

Anima answered her nervous question with a big smile.

“Of course it does. I hate to admit it, but I’m not very good at picking cakes. I don’t want to get anyone sick or anything. Could you help me?”

“Okay. I’ll even choose Bram’s.”

“Great, then let’s get going. We wouldn’t want them to sell out!”

Myuke cheerfully took Anima’s hand as they made their way to the patisserie. After careful deliberation, they picked out the best combination of cakes they could think of, then made their way back to home.

◆◆◆

“Welcome back,” Luina said as they entered the house.

“We’re home! Brr, it’s freezing out there!”

Myuke hung her scarf on the back of a chair and crouched in front of the fireplace. She had been very grumpy when she’d left the house, but the fresh outside air seemed to have cleared her mind. She was back to her regular self again.

Bram’s happy smile had probably popped into her mind while she was choosing cakes, making her realize how much she loved her. Once she apologized, Bram was sure to follow suit, and their relationship would be all but repaired.

Hoping that the carefree happiness he had gotten so used to would soon return, Anima addressed Luina.

“Something smells fantastic. Are you cooking?”

“Oh, you noticed? I thought the smell of the firewood would mask it.”

“I love the smell of your cooking almost as much as I love you. That’s why eating your meals is always the highlight of my day.”

“Why don’t we get to eat if it makes you so happy?” Luina chuckled.

“Say no more; I’m starving. How about you, Myuke?”

“I’m starving too. I guess we should save these for later, then, huh?” Myuke proposed, holding up the cake box.

“What did you buy?”

“Myuke picked out some miniature cakes for everyone.”

“I got you a chocolate cake and a fruit tart!”

“Oh, thank you so much! Those are my favorites!”

At the sight of Luina’s content smile, Myuke celebrated her successful cake-picking.

“You’re welcome! There’s two for everyone; we can have them after lunch or something.”

“They’ll be even tastier if we eat them later in the afternoon, when we’re a bit hungry. I’m sure the other two will be back soon, so we should get everything ready for lunch. Could you help me, Anima?”

“Of course, but where exactly are they? I haven’t even heard them since we got home. Oh, no! What if they wandered into the forest?!”

“Don’t worry, they’re upstairs.”

“Upstairs? Are they drawing?”

“No, they’re changing. We went outside to pick cabbages for lunch, and they both fell on their backs. Their clothes got completely soaked.”

“What good girls. I’m so proud of them.”

The moment Anima commended them, he heard the sound of Marie’s swift footsteps. She burst into the dining room, followed sluggishly by Bram.

“You’s hooome!” She rushed up to Anima and hugged him tightly. “I helped Mommy! I pulleded a cabbage, and, and, it was thiiis big!”

“Wow, that’s incredible. I can’t wait to eat the cabbage you picked. I’m proud of you, too, Bram.”

Bram sheepishly looked at the ground. She felt awkward in front of Myuke, but Anima’s compliment managed to put a slight smile on her face.

“O-Of course I’d help out, m’kay? Anyway, where’s the bed? Did you ask them to deliver it?”

“We didn’t get one.”

“Oh… Well, doesn’t make a difference to me, m’kay?”

She acted indifferent, but her face didn’t lie. She looked relieved that she didn’t have to stop sleeping with her beloved sister.

“Myukey, whassat?”

“Mini cakes.”

“Cakes?! Woo-hoo! I love cakes!”

“And there’s two for everyone!”

“Two for ev’yone?!”

Marie immediately jumped at the promise of cakes. She let Anima go and snuggled up to Myuke, looking up at her with puppy-dog eyes.

“We’ll have them after lunch. We gotta go out and play in the snow first. It’ll make them taste twice as good! I promise!”

“Yaaay!” Marie responded with a big smile, then sat down to wait for lunch.

With the girls in the dining room, Anima followed Luina into the kitchen. She had prepared fried cabbages, eggs, and bacon for lunch. The two of them got everyone’s portions onto plates, sliced a loaf of bread, filled some glasses with milk, then brought the feast to the table.

“Thanks for the meal!” Marie sang before they started eating.

Though the room felt far less tense than it had earlier in the morning, Bram and Myuke still weren’t speaking to each other. Myuke likely felt too awkward to make up with her sister at the lunch table.

“It was nummy!”

Marie had to have been starving; she cleared her plate faster than anyone else. She wishfully glanced at the cake box sitting on the table, but she kept to her word and didn’t ask for any.

“Thank you, Luina. As always, that was delicious. All right, girls, let me take care of dishes. Go out and play in the snow; it’ll make you extra hungry for your cakes.”

“I’ll go out later,” Myuke said. “I wanna draw right now. Marie, do you wanna draw with me?”

“Uh-huh! I draw us payin’ in the ’now!”

“I can’t wait to see it!”

Myuke and Marie headed upstairs, while Bram started collecting the dishes.

“You can go and play with them,” Anima told her.

“I can’t just let you do all the work, m’kay? You go rest, Mommy. I’ll help Daddy, m’kay?”

Luina always wanted to do her fair share of the chores, but she couldn’t ignore Bram’s earnest request.

“That’s really kind of you, Bram. Thank you.”

Blushing from Luina’s praise, Bram took the plates and quickly made her way into the kitchen. Anima picked up the glasses and followed after her. They made their way out the back door and over to the well, where they proceeded to wash the dishes.

“Daddy, I need to talk to you about something, m’kay?” she said in a serious tone the moment they were alone.

“What is it?”

“I wanna make up with Myuke, m’kay?”

“Really?! You do?!” Anima cheered. Those were the very words he’d been waiting to hear. With Myuke and Bram both set on making up, their quarrel was sure to come to an end. “Let’s go tell Myuke right now!”

“I-I can’t do that, m’kay?”

“Why not? You want to make up, don’t you?”

“I do! I do, m’kay…?”

“Are you worried she won’t forgive you?”

Bram nodded meekly. It was incredibly tempting for him to come out and tell her how Myuke felt, but it would have been meaningless if she didn’t hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Moreover, there was a chance—albeit an incredibly small one—that he was wrong about Myuke’s feelings. If that were the case, it would undoubtedly bring about disaster.

So long as Bram gives her an honest apology, I think she’d forgive her either way.

Anima was certain Myuke would forgive Bram. She’d put a lot of thought into her cake choices, and ultimately decided two flavors that Bram was sure to love, hoping that a heartfelt present like that was going to ease the tension. There was no doubt she wanted to make up.

The only thing left was for Bram to work up the courage to take the first step. First, though, she had to figure out where that courage would come from. If she had a present of her own to give Myuke, it would likely be enough to give her that final push.

“I was super mean to Myuke, m’kay? I destroyed her snowman, then got stubborn and said really bad stuff to her…”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself; everyone says mean things when they’re in an argument. Besides, it’s not like you intended to destroy her snowman.”

“That doesn’t matter, m’kay? I destroyed it and that’s that.”

“Then why don’t we build a snowman together?” Anima cheerfully proposed to try to drag her out of her slump.

“You think she’ll forgive me if we do? M’kay…”

“I’m sure she will if we build a nice snowman and give her a really good apology.”

Anima’s confidence had clearly rubbed off on Bram, as she immediately made a snowball and began rolling it along the ground.

“I’ll make the body. You focus on the head, m’kay?”

“Leave it to me! I’ll make the best snowman head this world has ever seen!”

Anima started working on his portion of the snowman, all the while keeping an eye on Bram’s so that the head wouldn’t end up being bigger than the body.

“This should do it, m’kay? Daddy, can you bring the head over here?”

Anima picked up his snowball, around the size of his own head, and put it on the body Bram had made. In doing so, he had completed their snowman—which was situated right next to the cute little snowman Marie had made the day before.

“I wanted to put them next to each other so they’re not lonely, m’kay?” Bram explained.

“They look like siblings.”

“Marie’s is the little sister and mine is the big sister. And a big sister has to look just as good as her younger siblings, m’kay?!”

Bram started rubbing the snowman with her palms. She was going to polish it until it was just as shiny as the one Myuke had made.

“Your hands are going to get cold.”

“It’s nothing, m’kay? While I finish this, could you find some pebbles and sticks for me?”

Agreeing to help her, Anima headed through the front gate and wandered into the forest. He quickly scavenged a couple pebbles, a leaf, and two sticks, then made his way back to the garden. When he returned, he saw Bram’s snowman proudly twinkling under the shining sun.

“That’s beautiful; well done. And look, here’s everything you need.”

“Thanks, m’kay?”

Bram used the pebbles as its eyes, made its mouth out of the leaf, and stuck a stick into each side for its arms. With those features added, her snowman was finally complete. It radiated with the energy of a reliable older sister.

“Wow! It turned out great!”

“It’s a masterpiece, m’kay?”

“Did you make that?” a voice asked from behind, marveling at their creation.

Bram turned around and tensed up as she faced the source of the voice: Myuke. She must’ve been nervous, but she couldn’t afford to lose this chance. She took a step forward as Anima lightly pushed on her back.

“I’m sorry about your snowman, m’kay?!”

“I’m really sorry about yesterday!”

The two of them shouted at each other simultaneously. Myuke then held out a drawing, offering it to the utterly confused Bram.

“I-Is this…”

“I drew us having a snowball fight. I didn’t play with you yesterday, so I figured I could at least draw me playing with you. I’d be really happy to have a snowball fight with you… If you’re okay with it after all that happened.”

“Of course I am! I totally wanna have a snowball fight with you, m’kay?!”

Seeing Bram happily bob her head up and down put a big smile on Myuke’s face. She then looked at the newly created snowman.

“So, did you build this?”

“Daddy and I built it together. I destroyed the one you made yesterday, and this one’s probably not as good as that one was, but… we tried, m’kay?”

“No way; yours is super cute! Much cuter than mine was!”

“Really?! Th-Then, umm… Please say you forgive me, m’kay?”

“Yes, of course I do! I honestly don’t know what was wrong with me yesterday. No, not just yesterday; I was super rude to you this morning, too. And I’m supposed to be the mature one… What a joke.”

“D-Don’t say that! You’re an amazing sister, m’kay?!”

“Bram… Thank you. I’m so happy you became my sister.”

A radiant smile spread across Bram’s face as those words left Myuke’s mouth. Watching on from the sidelines, a powerful sense of relief washed over Anima.

Thank goodness!

It had taken him a hundred years of grueling training and battles to be named the Demon Lord, yet never in his life had he felt such a strong sense of danger as he had watching his daughters fight. At one point he had no idea how it would end which filled him with a primal dread, but luckily, his carefree family life was about to return.

While Anima was enjoying his moment of pure bliss, Myuke seemed to have come up with an idea.

“Since there’s already two of them here, why don’t we make a third snowman? Three sisters, just like the three of us!”

“That’s a great idea, m’kay?! We still have pebbles and sticks, so we can start right now! Daddy, can you hold this for me?”

“I’ll protect it with my life.”

He took Myuke’s drawing from Bram and held onto it, watching the girls work on the third snowman. With the both of them working on it, it didn’t take long for them to finish.

“It’s done! This is the biggest one yet, so it’s you, Myuke, m’kay?”

“Yep, that’s me. Now all three of us are snowmen!”

“They all look very impressive; well done. Would you like to make ones for me and Mommy, too?”

“That’d be awesome, m’kay?!”

“Yeah, let’s do it!”

They immediately jumped into building yet another snowman, enjoying every moment of working together. While they were busy doing that, Marie came running out of the house.

“Daddy! Myukey! Brum! Lesseat cakes!”

“Oh, right! You got us cakes! I almost forgot about them, m’kay?”

“I picked your favorites!”

“You got me Mont Blanc?! M’kay!”

“You bet I did! I got you a cheesecake, too.”

“You know me like the back of your hand, m’kay?!” Bram tightly hugged Myuke. “I love you so much!”

“Me too! I love Myukey too!”

Marie hugged the both of them. She didn’t know what had transpired while she was inside, but seeing her sisters share a hug, she couldn’t help but to join in.