Chapter 84: Book 2 Epilogue 

Placing a pair of lattes down in front of Harriette and Lucetta I stepped behind the bar and watched the two sisters as they stared silently at one another. Ever since Lucetta had returned, they’d struggled to speak with each other, it’d eventually become too much for me to bear. 

It’d cut into my sales a bit, but today I’d decided to close up shop early and force a meeting between the two, neither of them was allowed to leave until they’d at least said what they needed to say, whatever that was. 

“How is… Mother?” Lucetta finally asked, tracing her little finger around the rim of her mug. 

“Does it matter?” 

“No, it doesn’t.” 

“You’re cute like this,” Harriette sighed, taking a sip of her latte. “The snow elf woman seems to think of you as her own family. She keeps raving about how cute her little sister is.” 

“She’s… very kind to me, I don’t know how to feel about her. If I were really a child I think it’d be easier to accept her, as things stand I’m not fond of being fawned over so much.” 

“You seem to enjoy sitting in Bernice’s lap whenever you get the chance.” 

“I… have no excuse for my actions.” 

“It’s fine you know, acting like a child. My Mistress seemed to have a lot of fun pretending to be a little girl before the gods messed with her mind and she ended up splitting into a past version of herself and Bernice’s little sister.” 

“That little gremlin and Otrea are the same person?” 

“Not anymore.” 

“You won’t laugh at me… for acting childish?” 

“I won’t. As far as I’m concerned my sister is dead, you’re just a little snow elf girl who shares her name.” 

“Well, I did die.” 

“Twice.” 

“Yeah,” Lucetta sighed and hung her head. “I’m sorry Harriette. I’ve spent my entire life jealous of you, I tried so hard to prove I was more worthy than you. Nothing I ever did made me happy, I believe that I was… a really bad person.” 

“No one in our manor knows the previous you but me, might as well make use of that and work hard not to sour their image of the new you.” 

“Is it not possible to un-sour my relationship with you?” 

“It isn’t impossible, but it will take time. I still plan to teach you how to bake, whenever you’d like. Though wooing Bernice in that body is very immoral, so you shouldn’t.” 

“I’d still like to learn how to bake, and I know I can’t do anything untoward looking like this. I promise to remain pure until I’m an adult again.” 

“Lady Otrea said you made a request of her, for a spell to reduce your level.” 

Lucetta smiled wryly taking a small sip from her latte. “It was exciting to get my old level back, but I feel like because of it I can’t let go of the old me. I think this is… the best way forward.” 

“You could ask Bernice’s mothers to help you.” 

“I’m a bit afraid of them. Laurmonja especially, she tends to take everything way too far. I’m terrified she’d send me down into the negatives.” 

“That’s not possible.” 

“For a goddess? I don’t want to take my chances.” 

“Let me know if Lady Otrea is able to complete that spell for you. If you become too weak to protect yourself, I’ll need to escort you, so that  Bernice doesn’t worry.” 

“I’ll let you know.” 

Draining her mug Harriette stood up and looked at me. “We’ve cleared the air, is it alright if I leave?” 

“Hmm… I really wanted to see the two of you hug or something.” 

Harriette sighed before turning around and kneeling beside Lucetta who remained sitting in her chair. “I hope that your new life is more fortuitous than your last,” leaning forward Harriette placed a gentle kiss on Lucetta’s forehead, causing both of their faces to turn pink. 

“Can we still be sisters?” Lucetta asked gazing at Harriette with upturned eyes. “I want… to treat you better than I did before. I want to be a real family.” 

“Only if you’re willing to be the little sister, I’m not willing to treat a child as if she’s my elder.” 

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“Deal.” 

“Is this good enough for you Bernice?” 

“Yes! I feel like the two of you have made great strides into repairing your relationship, it’s beautiful to see.” 

“I appreciate you helping us, but if you fret over our relationship too much I’ll ask your mother make you into a child again.” 

“What, why?!” 

“Because Lucetta seems to really enjoy seeing you in your little form. If you’re so concerned with our relationship, I think the best thing I could do is gift my little sister a sight that she enjoys.” 

“She just enjoys laughing at me.” 

Smiling Harriette stepped around the bar and gave me a tight hug. “I thought you were very cute. It was fun getting to dress you up.” 

“Please don’t remind me,” I replied, my face heating. For the week I was little me, everyone kept scrambling to buy or make new outfits, forcing me into a little fashion show every time they found something. It was extremely draining, and I was hopeful I’d never have to go through it again. 

“Now then, I will return to the manor, the two of you should hurry home, it’ll be time for dinner soon.” 

“She’s getting better at making sly threats,” Lucetta smiled after Harriette had left the cafe. “I guess she’s learned a lot from the witch.”

“When you said Otrea’s name without adding ‘lady’ before it I thought she would choke you out. Seriously Harriette’s gone soft.” 

“Ah… I should watch myself. Also, sorry for calling Eskame a gremlin.” 

“No need to apologize, she’s very much a gremlin. Though all kids her age are, you’d fit your appearance if you acted a bit more like her.” 

“I don’t look that young.” 

“You are closer to her in age than you are to me.” 

“Ugh… that hurts Bernice.” 

“It’s the truth.” 

“I’ll work on letting myself act more childlike, maybe I should ask Adelita to make me a stuffed animal, so that I can get along with Eskame better.”

“She’s a good girl you know, I’ve taught her how to share her toys.” 

“I don’t know if I could appreciate them without having one of my own. I need time to learn what makes them so special.” 

“You have such a logical approach to being a child.” 

“Is that bad?” 

“Of course not, it’s cute.” 

Lucetta and I laughed for a bit before leaving the cafe and returning to the manor, walking hand-in-hand as we went. For as much as Neige liked to claim her, and as much as she wished to repair her relationship with Harriette, when we were together like this it felt like I was the one who’d gained another cute little sister. After all, I was the only one who’s lap Lucetta would sit in willingly, that certainly made me feel like her favorite. 

A week later I found myself with my first full day off from cafe work. Libelle had become an extremely reliable shift supervisor, so it was easy to leave the cafe in her hands for the day. Worst case scenario, she’d send one of the baristas to fetch me.

Curling up on a chair in the study, wrapped in my favorite blanket, I decided to spend the entire day reading through my favorite manga. So much had happened that it’d remained on the bookshelves untouched since my birthday, even though there were several new volumes I wished to get to. Even better, Mommy Laura had been dropping off series that were original to this world, a byproduct of her surreptitiously sneaking the idea into the minds of several artists. 

By midday I’d finished all of my favorite and picked up one of the new manga to give it a look and see what native artists were creating. The manga’s title was ‘The Bunny Goddess and her Seven Talented Wives’, just reading it gave me chills. Sure enough, it told the story of a weak little goddess named Bernice, and the powerful women she surrounded herself with. 

“Mommy Laura!” I shouted in the study, even though she wasn’t anywhere nearby. “Get down here and let me kick you! Also, I only have five wives!! I’m not going to marry Otrea or Harriette!” 

“I know you can hear me! Don’t you dare pretend like you can’t!” 

Frustratingly, no matter how much I yelled, Mommy Laura didn’t materialize. That was fine of course, I knew how to hold a grudge, and the next time I saw her I was planning to kick her in the shins until they broke. Who cared if she was a goddess, I’d make it work. 

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