Many people gathered around the Palace of Ceres. It was a joyous occasion, not just in the duchy of Ceres, but all of Venus, as well.
The bell announcing the birth of the child rang. People listened. Forty rings for a prince, a hundred and one for a Crown Princess, a Duchess of Ceres. A hundred and one. A Duchess of Ceres had been born to the Princess and Prince Consort of Venus.
The Princess of Venus, Divine Lady of the Doves, Lady of Pearls, Lady Kunzite, Leader of the Guardian Senshi lied in the royal lying in chamber. She wouldn't forget when one of the ladies placed the baby in her arms.
"It's a girl, Your Highness! A girl! A Duchess of Ceres!"one of the midwives exclaimed.
Beside her bed was the jeweled cradle of estate, in which the new Duchess of Ceres would sleep. Beside the cradle was the stool in which her rockers would take turns rocking the cradle while the duchess slept. Minako herself had lain in the same cradle herself. As well as the others duchesses of Ceres.
"I'm glad we didn't have to use the smaller, wooden one."one of the ladies said. "That would have been disappointing."
In the lying in chamber there two cradles. The jeweled one in which a girl would lie, and a small one if the baby were a boy.
The new duchess was bundled in pink.
"A curious color."said one of the ladies when they were preparing the lying in chamber.
"Why curious? The Selinovna also chose pink for her baby. Pink is for girls, you know."Minako had told them. "And my firstborn will be a girl. Besides, Duchesses of Ceres and Duchesses of Serenity usually share at least some of the same colors. Or well, the Selenovna's daughter. And,"she added. "pink is one of the colors of Ceres."
While Minako was now Princess of Venus, rather than Duchess of Ceres, the Selenovna still held the Duchess of Serenity. Her daughter had been granted the title of Duchess of Gaudii, and was known as Small Lady Serenity.
Apart from the tapestries in the room, which were always used, including the one with the symbol of Ceres, and the ones depicting scenes from the life of previous duchesses, Minako also had new ones woven.
As she had chosen pink for her baby, they depicted pink acorns, scenes of Venusian landscapes, even depictions of her own life framed in pink. That wasn't vanity, though. All Princesses of Venus chose at least one scene from her own life to be embroidered on a tapestry and hung in the birthing chamber.
"I must have had a premonition!"Minako said.
"A premonition, Highness?"asked the same lady.
"Of course, Launcekrona. You see? With her coloring, the color fits her perfectly. And you thought the color was curious."
A few days afterwards, the consort would be allowed in, the only man to enter these rooms, for the princess to present him with the new duchess, as it took a few days to prepare. Some of the tapestries had to be taken down, the quinces and vanilla of Venus were taken away to be replaced with the orange blossoms and cinnamon of Ceres, and the ladies offered comfits to the princess and her consort. A special chair was also set for him next to the princess's bed and the duchess's cradle.
After so many months, Minako was thrilled to see Kunzite. She held the young duchess in her arms, and he took her from her.
"I don't think there's anyone else in the Venusian royal family with pink hair."Minako said.
"It seems that from now on there is."said Kunzite, as he held the new duchess.
"Launcekrona thinks she should have been golden haired."
"No, I don't think so. And she fits so well with the tapestries and everything here. Unlike me."
Minako giggled and offered him a comfit. He did look so out of place, in his grey and blue.
"Not you,"she told the little duchess. "You'll have to wait a while before you can eat anything such as this."
"And then,"added Kunzite. "I'll see to it that she is assigned the best baker on Venus."
"But what if the one in question is mine?"asked Minako, pretending to sound concerned.
"You'll have to assign him to her household. I won't give you a moment's peace until you do."
"Then who will bake for me?"she pretended to glare at him.
Kunzite pretended to think for a while.
"You can always assign Artemis."
"Have you thought of a name for her?"Minako asked him. "What do you think we should call her?"
"I'd have thought you'd wanted to name her for Aphrodite, don't pretend you weren't. But I would never have allowed it. There are too many Aphrodites. And Venuses. And even Minakos."
"There have only been three Minakos!"she sounded indignant.
"See? Three. She should be named…Shinju."
Minako looked delighted.
"Pearl! It's lovely. Princess Shinju, Duchess of Ceres!"
Although I gave her the name Shinju in the story, I think I'll still probably referred to her as Ceres. Minako was already given a name in the manga and cartoon, but Sailor Ceres wasn't. At least not that I can remember, other than CerCer or something. I set a great store for symbols and definitions of names, so I put a bit of thought into it.
In a way, she was named for both of her parents. Pearls are one of gems that is associated with Aphrodite because she came out of a mollusk shell, and a gem is a stone, and her father is named for a stone. Plus, at least in my stories, the prettiest gemstones, including pearls are found on Earth, as the shittenou are named for stones and they're from Earth, so 'Pearl' also kind of makes a bit closer to her Terrestrian heritage. I set a great store for symbols and definitions of names.
