"Oke, aku paham," kata Lex, begitu mereka selesai memilih pakaian persis untuk hari ini. Sepertinya Almira memang suka berpakaian seperti putri — mengingat dia teknis memang putri, itu masuk akal — jadi kali ini pakaiannya adalah gaun merah muda dengan sayap peri, sepatu merah muda kecil lucu, dan pita merah muda mengikat sedikit rambut yang dimilikinya. Ada sedikit skema warna di gaunnya, tapi hanya pikiran paling tajam yang bisa memahami preferensi halus yang dipertahankan bayi itu.
"Oh? Apa yang kau pahami?" tanya Giselle, berusaha tidak mengekspresikan betapa Lex memanjakan anaknya dengan membiarkan BAYI DUA BULAN memilih sendiri seluruh gaun di penjahit. Untuk menyempurnakannya, dia sudah melihat bahan gaun itu. Kalau meteor jatuh ke bayi, dia akan terasa hangat saja. Sebenarnya Giselle tidak punya masalah dengan memakai pakaian pertahanan kuat pada bayi — itu justru satu-satunya hal yang masuk akal yang dilakukan Lex hari ini. Masalahnya, jutaan MP dibelanjakan untuk pakaian sehari yang segera akan kekecilan...
Giselle menggelengkan kepalanya. Lebih baik jangan mikirin hal seperti ini.
"Kompromi yang sempurna," kata Lex, saat dia dengan lembut mengambil Naraka dari Almira, dan menyerahkan botol susu ke bayi. Bayi itu langsung minum susu, tapi matanya tetap terbuka lebar sambil menatap Lex dan Giselle, sepertinya tertarik pada percakapan mereka. "Aku akan memanjakannya, tapi tidak sampai rusak. Dia akan jadi... malaikat lucu yang dipanjakan tapi berjiwa baik. Kamu tahu, ajarin empati dan segalanya. Biar dia nggak jadi anak nakal."
Giselle menghela napas. Paling tidak dia mengagumi keteguhan Lex jadi paman asik. Sebelum dia sempat cari cara nerangin ke Lex kenapa itu ide jelek, orang lain bicara.
"Pendekatanmu salah. Atau, buat lebih spesifik, konsep ide itu sendiri jadi salah, bukan karena ide, tapi karena bahasa, dan makna di baliknya," kata Anita, yang muncul di samping mereka memakai mantel tebal.
Qawain, yang juga muncul tepat di sampingnya, memegang beberapa mantel lagi, dan tidak terlihat senang istrinya keliling, tapi dia tahu lebih baik jangan berdebat.
"Oh? Apa maksudmu? Ngomong-ngomong, Anita, ini Giselle, temanku. Dia tadi nyuruh aku jangan terlalu memanjakan Almira."
Anita menatap Lex agak tajam karena keberaniannya ngomong gitu di depan muka dia.
"Senang bertemu, Giselle, dan terima kasih sudah menjaga anakku. Sekarang, alasan aku bilang ide itu salah karena kau sebut sebagai kompromi. Kalian berdua bekerja sama menuju tujuan sama, jadi dengan melabeli usaha bersama sebagai kompromi, kau bikin kelihatannya kayak kalian berdua rugi atau berkorban. Sebenarnya, kau harus sebut sebagai kolaborasi. Satu pihak bawa ide, pihak lain bawa ide, dan kalian berdua kolaborasi untuk hasil terbaik."
Lex nggak bisa menahan alisnya terangkat seolah pikirannya meledak. Konsep simpel banget, tapi difrasein gitu, aksi sama jadi beda total.
"Wow, bagus. Aku terima nasihat itu," kata Lex serius. "Dari mana kau dapet pemikiran gitu?"
Mendengar pertanyaannya, Qawain tertawa kecil.
"Anita dan aku menikah lama banget. Karena itu, kita menguasai seni kolaborasi sejak dulu. Contohnya, aku pikir Anita butuh istirahat lebih lama karena masih lemah pasca melahirkan, tapi Anita pikir saatnya kerja. Jadi... kita kolaborasi dengan jalan keluar kerja, tapi aku bawa banyak mantel buat nyamanin dia dan biar dia tetap terlindung."
Lex tersenyum, tapi dalam hati dia berusaha keras menahan bibir agar tidak bergerak. Itu... nggak kedengeran kolaborasi. Buat mengalihkan perhatian, dia ganti topik.
"Mau ke kerja apa? Aku nggak tau kalau kau mau balik kerja begitu cepat," tanya Lex ke Anita.
"Oh bukan, bukan kerja di Inn," klarifikasi Anita. "Pengelola Inn cukup baik kasih aku cuti melahirkan 50 tahun saat dia tahu Almira lahir sebagai High Human. Mengingat pertumbuhan lambat High Human, aku duga dia akan jadi balita saat itu, jadi aku bisa ambil waktu jauh dari dia. Bukan, kerja yang dimaksud Qawain tadi adalah urusan pribadi.
"Kami mau balik ke planet asal. Dahulu, aku ratu planet itu. Meski aku tinggalkan posisi itu seiring usia, planet itu tetap asal dan rumah kami. Aku mau Almira besar di sana, dan lihat warisannya. Aku mau dia rasakan dan bahkan jalani kehidupan sama seperti rakyatnya. Jadi, kau lihat, tidak ada bahaya anakku dibesarkan dipanjakan."
Lex butuh beberapa menit utk serap semua yang diucapkan Anita, wajahnya mengerut kanan kiri!
"Kau nggak bisa bawa Almira pergi 50 tahun!" teriaknya, bikin Almira ketawa sambil minum susu.
Planet asal mereka bukan hal yang sering dibicarakan Anita dan Qawain, tapi Inn sudah terhubung ke sana lama. Saat ini, planet itu dikuasai iblis. Orang akan pikir, mengingat kekuatan mereka, Anita dan Qawain akan pergi selesaikan masalah, tapi mereka nggak, dan mereka juga menghentikan Lex untuk melakukannya.
Alasannya, beda dengan Vegus Minima, invasi iblis ke planet itu akibat konflik antar negara di planet itu. Beberapa penguasa bikin deal dengan iblis buat pasukan iblis ambil alih dunia, tapi tidak ada yang menang, mengakibatkan perang panjang yang nggak untungin siapa pun dan merugikan semua orang.
Qawain nggak terlalu peduli, dan Anita juga berhenti bantu lama saat rakyatnya jelas mau memerintah sendiri, bukan dipimpin lich abadi. Sungguh hasil bagus yang mereka dapatkan.
Terlepas dari itu, Anita mau Almira besar sambil liat kehidupan orang biasa di luar Inn biar dia kembangin perspektif sejak dini, jadi nggak banyak yang bisa dibilang Lex soal itu.
"Kalian bisa kunjungi sesekali," kata Anita acuh tak acuh, sebelum mengambil Almira dari Lex. Keluarga itu sekarang harus rencanakan topeng mereka. Tentu saja mereka nggak bisa pulang ke planet apa adanya. Sejujurnya, Lex agak iri — bukan karena mereka satu keluarga bahagia, tapi karena kedengarannya seru bikin latar belakang penuh dan nyelupin diri ke dunia sambil diam-diam jagoan.
Potensi petualangan banyak banget di sana. Sayangnya, Lex terlalu banyak urusan di tangannya.
"Okay, I’ve figured it out," said Lex, once they were done picking out the exact outfit for today. It seemed Almira had a fondness of dressing like a princess - considering she technically was one, it made sense - so this time her outfit was a pink gown with fairywings, soft cute little pink shoes and a pink ribbon tying the few hair that she had. There was a bit of a color scheme going on with her dress, but only the most astute minds could decipher the subtle preference that the baby maintained.
"Oh? What have you figured out?" Giselle asked, trying not to express just how much Lex was spoiling her by letting a TWO MONTH OLD BABY pick out an entire dress for herself at the tailors. To make matters worse, she had seen what the dress was made out of. If a meteor fell on the baby, she’d barely feel warm. Now, Giselle actually didn’t have any problem with making the baby wear clothes with strong defenses - it was actually one of the only things Lex did today that made sense. Still, it was millions of MP just being spent on an outfit for one day that she’d soon grow out of...
Giselle shook her head. Best not to think about such things.
"The perfect compromise," said Lex, as he gently took Naraka from Almira, and handed her the bottle of milk. The baby prompt started feeding on the milk, though her eyes remained wide open as she stared at both Lex and Giselle, seemingly interested in their conversation. "I will spoil her, but not rotten. She’ll be a... a spoiled, lovely angel with a good heart. You know, teach her empathy and all that stuff. You know, make sure she doesn’t turn into a brat."
Giselle sighed. At least she admired Lex’s insistence on being the fun uncle. Before she could think of a way of explaining to Lex why that was obviously a bad idea, someone else spoke up.
"Your approach is flawed. Or, to be more specific, the very conception of your idea has become flawed, not because of the idea itself, but because of your language, and the meaning behind it," said Anita, who appeared beside them wearing a very thick coat.
Qawain, who also appeared right next to her, was holding several more coats, and did not seem pleased that his wife was roaming around, but knew better than to argue with her.
"Oh? What do you mean? By the way, Anita, this is Giselle, a friend of mine. She was convincing me not to spoil Almira too much."
Anita gave Lex a mild glare for having the audacity of saying such a thing right to her face.
"Nice to meet you, Giselle, and thank you for looking out for my daughter. Now, the reason why I say your idea is flawed is because you described it as a compromise. Both of you are working together towards a common goal, so by labeling your joint efforts as a compromise, you make it seem like both of you are losing out or sacrificing something. Instead, you should label it as a collaboration. One party brings their ideas, and the other party brings their ideas, and the both of you collaborate to get the best end results."
Lex could not help but raise his eyebrows as he felt like his mind was blown. It was such a simple concept, but phrased like that, the same act became entirely different.
"Wow, that’s good. I’ll take that advice," Lex said seriously. "How’d you come up with that?"
Upon hearing his question, Qawain chuckled.
"Anita and I have been married a long, long time. As such, we mastered the art of collaboration long ago. For example, I think Anita needs to rest some more as she is still weakened from her childbirth, but Anita thinks it’s time to get to work. So... the both of us collaborated by heading out to work, but I’m bringing a lot of coats with me to make sure she stays warm and well protected."
Lex smiled, but internally he was doing his best to keep his lip from twitching. That... didn’t sound like collaboration. To distract himself, he changed the topic of conversation.
"What work are you heading out to do? I didn’t know you were going back to work so soon," he asked Anita.
"Oh no, not work at the Inn," Anita clarified. "The Innkeeper was kind enough to give me a 50 year maternity leave when he discovered that Almira had been born a High Human. Considering the slow growth and development of High Humans, I expect she will be a toddler by then, so I can take some time away from her. No, the work Qawain was referring to was something private.
"We’re heading back to our home planet. Once upon a time, I was the Queen of that planet. Even though I left that position behind as the ages passed, that planet is still our origin and home. I want Almira to grow up there, and see her inheritance. I want her to feel and even live the same lives as her people. So, you see, there’s no danger of my daughter being raised spoiled."
Lex took in a couple of minutes to absorb everything Anita had said, horror painting his expression!
"You can’t take Almira away for 50 years!" he exclaimed, making Almira giggle even while she drank milk.
Their home planet was not something Anita and Qawain mentioned very often, but the Inn had already been connected to it for a long time now. These days, it was overrun by demons. One would think, considering their strength, Anita and Qawain would go over and resolve that issue, but they didn’t, and they stopped Lex from doing it too.
The reason was that, unlike Vegus Minima, the demon invasion of the planet was a result of conflicts between various countries on the planet. A few rulers had made deals with devils for demon armies to take over the world, but none of them won out, resulting in a prolonged war that helped no one and harmed everyone.
Qawain didn’t care too much, and Anita also stopped helping out long ago when her people made it clear they wanted to govern themselves instead of being led by an immortal lich. A fat lot of good it had done them.
Regardless, Anita wanted Almira to grow up seeing what life was like for normal people outside the Inn so that she could develop some perspective early on, so there wasn’t much Lex could say about that.
"You all can visit every now and then," Anita said dismissively, before taking Almira from Lex. The family now had to go plan out their disguises. Obviously they couldn’t return to the planet as they were. To be honest, Lex kind of envied them - not because they were one big happy family, but because it sounded like a lot of fun creating a whole backstory and immersing oneself into a world while secretly being a badass.
There was so much potential for adventure there. Unfortunately, Lex had too much stuff on his plate.
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