Syltje's Diary

Dear diary, keeper of my memories, and silent friend,

Today was an annoying day.

And by annoying, I mean really ANNOYING!

Where do I start? Mom invited her friends for some tea in the garden. All her noble friends and their sons and daughters. And that means, of course, that we children were supposed to talk to our fiancées. Luckily, Alma and Camilla don't know what being engaged mean for them yet. They just had two playmates, so they didn't annoy me. And of course, my best friend isn't annoying either. But the rest of the event was!

Fortunately, Alma is doing better now. She had a lot of fun. Until Niel tried to take her favorite doll away from her. She bit him. Camilla and Roy climbed into one of the fountains in the garden and had a good water fight there. Mom didn't notice it at first, as she was busy with Alma, Niel, and his frightened Mother. And the nannies couldn't stop them. Arion and I enjoyed the sight. Both children were soaking wet. Iker and Gitte tried to persuade Elora and Xaver to play hide and seek. I think they wanted to get rid of them.

And during all the hustle and bustle, silly euphoric parents were planning weddings. As if we children don't have other problems or interests.

Birger and Celia tried to talk to the adults about their boring adult topics. Unless they were talking about weddings. Mom's favorite subject is the royal family and how much she is disappointed in it. I guess that's what she has in common with her friends. All of them aren’t thrilled with our current queen. Arion's mother thinks she's too young. She would rather see Princess Lea on the throne. Before that, of course, she should marry 'properly', Mom said.

Princess Lea refuses to look for an actual partner. Everyone knows that she didn't marry her best friend out of 'romantic love'. And he's an elf. Her former slave. For a member of the nobility, especially the royal family, this is probably not appropriate. Our Queen does not push her sister to choose someone else. My mother was also outraged by this. I don't care about any of that. I don't know the young queen or her stubborn sister.

Of course, Oswald von Blaugrau was also there. He very much regretted Aili's absence. He referred to Aili as his lovely, future wifey. Everyone thought it was funny. Only Dad got upset. Thank you!

Oswald's mother brought biscuits. They tasted good.

Well. Arion and I then went for a walk in the garden. We couldn't get away from the adults fast enough. We took the biscuits with us. No one noticed that we had hijacked the entire box.

Arion has told his parents that he has no plans to marry me. He said they had been terribly angry. They argued and now his parents are acting as if the conversation never happened. He isn’t allowed to talk about it anymore. I don't think we can break off our engagement that easily. Mom won't accept it either. As soon as I'm old enough, I'll move out. I will find a new home far away. Together with Arion and his boyfriend Hector von Blaugrau. He’s very nice. The three of us can certainly afford a small apartment somewhere. Hopefully, Adriana will come along. Then there would be four of us, and...  She doesn't know anything about it yet. But it would be wonderful if she came with us. She's so... Perfect!

Arion agrees with the plan. Hector too.

By the way, Dad bought me a new bear. It doesn't replace my old bear, but it's extra big and soft. I can lie completely on top of it, or use it as a seat cushion. Camilla is jealous. She wants a bear like that now, too. Every morning she gets on my nerves with it. But Dad says she won't get one since she destroyed my bear and I got this bear as a replacement. Mom is annoyed by Camilla's nagging and wants Dad to finally buy her one. Of course. They argued about it, but in the end, Camilla didn't get a bear.

Guess what she said about it!

My five-year-old sister had several comments:

1.       The new bear is bigger than my old one and therefore not a replacement, but a whole new bear. That's not fair!

2.       She thinks it's unfair that I get a bear and she doesn't.

3.       My old bear was very sick. She just wanted to help him. Unfortunately, the operation went badly.

She called it an 'occupational risk'. Where did she get the word from?

4.       Since my bear accidentally died, it's not okay to punish her for a bad operation. She wants to become a doctor one day. Of course, she helps a bear in distress.

5.       Mom also says she should get a bear. And Alma wants a pony!

6.       I forbade her to play with the new bear (as well as with the old one!!) and siblings are not allowed to do that. Siblings share their toys and I'm already too old for stuffed animals.

Mom completely agrees with Camilla in this regard. I'm too old for a bear. I’m not!

That's why Camilla thinks Dad should buy her a bear now, or tell me that I have to share. He has not done either and he will not in the future. As a result, Camilla threw the most spectacular tantrum I've ever seen with my siblings. Of course, Dad didn't let himself be convinced by this either. Mom just told Camilla that children are supposed to be quiet at the table. Then she had one of the nannies take her to her room. Whoever screams is no longer hungry, she said. I would like to note here that Camilla had thrown her breakfast on the floor. Alma copied it. She must have thought it was funny. Then she was also taken to her room. The two-year-old didn't understand this.

And now to add something happy!

I helped Adriana today. She had accidentally spilled soapy cleaning water. We then mopped the floor in the basement together. In gratitude, she kissed me on the cheek. I'm still all red in the face. I didn't know how to react and thanked her. That was so embarrassing. But Adriana winked at me and said my cheeks were perfect for kissing. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'm so happy and... confused.

Dad left earlier. To our fields and the big barn. He took Birger with him. Dad said he wanted to see if everything is alright there. Whatever he meant by that. In that barn, he stores the powder we sell. I've never been allowed to go there. I don't think I want that either. This powder is suspicious to me.

I want to get out of here.