Closure (2)
Yuna had suddenly launched an attempt at social assassination. How on earth was I supposed to handle this?
Denying it wouldn't work; she'd never believe me. Gliding past it in silence wasn't an option either. In either case, I could already see her gossiping to everyone under the sun under the pretext of 'asking for advice.'
“Yuna.”
“Yeah?”
“Let's keep this strictly between the two of us.”
“Shall we?”
Yeah, this is better.
Admit it and gag her. For all her faults, Yuna was a woman of her word; if I asked her to keep a secret, she would honor it.
“By the way, Yuna.”
“Hm?”
“I'm going to take a shower. Exactly how far are you planning to follow me?”
“How far do you want me to follow?”
“Could you stop right here?”
“Mmm, shall I?”
Don't say 'shall I,' just don't follow me! You indulge this girl even a little, and she immediately starts pushing boundaries.
“Alright, we'll leave it at that for today.”
With a sly, wicked grin, Yuna waved flippantly and strolled away. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if she picked the lock to my bedroom one of these days.
After a quick shower, I headed down to the dining room to find everyone gathered and waiting, save for Lobelia. Mother seemed to have taken a tremendous liking to Ariel, keeping the young lady right at her side and chatting away warmly. Well, this was a household with two sons. Deep down, she might have always wished for a daughter.
“Ah! Yohan, you're here?”
“I'm sorry. I left our guests unattended while tending to my own affairs.”
“Not at all. In fact, it was lovely seeing you work so diligently. And it was such an important matter, after all.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
All I had really done was tear up the backyard flowerbed. Yet Ariel respected the sentiment beneath the action. It was something I had to put to rest eventually anyway, and I wanted to finish it quickly. If I procrastinated, I knew I would hesitate and drag my feet. I had to reap what I had sown.
“Where is Her Highness?” I asked, taking a seat at the laden dining table. I had assumed we would all eat lunch together. Where could she have gone? Surely she wasn't still training?
“Ah, she was here until just a moment ago, but…”
“She stepped out with a Silver Mirror,” Yuna interjected, picking up where Ariel trailed off. “Looking at her face, the call must have been from the Imperial Palace.”
It certainly wasn't news fit for polite company. More to the point, tossing around the name of the imperial family wasn't something done lightly. While Yuna was simply a free spirit, Ariel, hailing from a ducal house, had no choice but to weigh every word with extreme care.
I have a bad feeling about this.
It had been the same in the game. Every quest tied to the imperial court boasted an utterly atrocious difficulty curve. The rewards were proportionally great, of course, but now that this was reality rather than a video game, it was a disaster to be avoided at all costs.
I was working through my meal with an uncomfortable pit in my stomach when the dining room doors opened.
“I have returned. Ah, please, do not stand. Make yourselves comfortable. I have no desire to be treated like royalty at a table such as this. And Yohan? Excellent work this morning.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
On the surface, she appeared no different than usual. Her poker face truly was second to none. Or perhaps I simply didn't know Lobelia well enough to tell the difference between her ordinary self and her troubled self. Honestly, it was likely the latter. Unlike Ariel, I rarely had the chance to see Lobelia's face under normal circumstances.
“I received a transmission from my royal brother,” Lobelia said, shrugging lightly. “Merely a casual inquiry asking after my well-being.”
“……Which brother?” Ariel asked, her expression hardening.
The weight of the message depended entirely on who had sent it.
“My second brother.”
The worst possible outcome.
Second Imperial Prince Loki Vicious van Miltonia.
Among all the imperial bloodlines, he was the most vile and vicious of them all. Rumors were so rampant that people on the streets ducked into alleyways to avoid even speaking his name aloud. And yet such a man had contacted Lobelia directly? He was unquestionably scheming something.
“That being the case, though it is premature, I must head up to the capital ahead of schedule.”
Lobelia understood the reality far better than anyone. I simply nodded in silence.
“It is regrettable. The air here is clean, and I found myself quite fond of the estate… but I cannot allow this place to be reduced to a sea of fire.”
“……Your Highness, I will accompany you.”
“Ariel. I have no intention of intruding upon my friend's private life.”
“Still……!”
Well, that's natural.
Frankly, Ariel felt far more like Lobelia's sworn companion than my fiancée. It felt infinitely more familiar to see her as Lobelia's friend. Since we lived in entirely different worlds, such an assessment was only fair.
“Son.”
“Yes?”
I had been watching the scene unfold in silence when Mother, who had been quietly reading the room without daring to cut in, called out to me.
“Wouldn't it be best if you went as well?”
“Excuse me?”
“I believe that would be for the best. If you accompany them, Her Highness won't need to refuse the young lady's escort, and the young lady won't have to walk on eggshells around you, will she?”
No, Mother, I'll die!
From an outside perspective, escorting one's fiancée rather than shoving her alone toward the front lines certainly looked better on paper. But far from being helpful, I would undoubtedly be dead weight. Besides, what could I even do if I went? Even if I accompanied them to the capital, I wouldn't be allowed to step foot over the threshold of the Imperial Palace.
“Even if you aren't much help, just having you nearby will put the young lady's heart at ease.”
“Mother, my own heart is not at ease.”
“You'll be fine.”
Why are you telling me I'll be fine when I just told you I'm terrified?
“Our son can do it, can't he?”
Please, stop trying to wrap this up like some heartwarming family drama.
And so, we were heading back.
First thing tomorrow morning, no less.
To think I had to pack my bags barely a single day after unpacking them. Far from getting any rest, I had done nothing but hard labor since arriving here. It felt grossly unfair, but Ariel was the one who had asked to come in the first place. If she had to return, then return I must.
“Yohan, may I come in?”
“Ariel?”
While I was busy re-packing the belongings I had only just scattered, Ariel knocked softly at my door. Unlike a certain someone who treated my room like her personal parlor, she had impeccable manners.
“Yes, please come in.”
“So this is Yohan's room……”
The moment she stepped inside, Ariel began glancing around, curiously surveying every corner. Even if we were betrothed, she was remarkably uninhibited.
“Ah, may I sit down?”
“Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable anywhere.”
“Pardon the intrusion, then.”
Perching lightly on the edge of my bed, Ariel fell silent for a long time. She fidgeted, clearly hesitating over something. What was she trying to say?
“Yohan.”
“Yes?”
“You don't need to return with me tomorrow. You finally made it home after so long. Please, stay and rest a little longer before coming back.”
I had desperately wanted to do just that, but hearing her offer it out loud made it dreadfully awkward. Realistically speaking, how could I possibly reply with a cheerful 'Why yes, thank you, I will'? I might be cynical, but I wasn't entirely devoid of tact.
“I'm fine. Truth be told, I had nothing special left to do here anyway.”
“Still……”
“I am truly alright. Returning with you doesn't mean I have to meddle in Her Highness's affairs. I can simply return to The Cradle ahead of schedule and tend to my own duties.”
This was sincere. While having to turn right back around immediately after arriving left a bitter taste, life in the capital was admittedly more convenient. There were problems I needed to solve there, after all. My heart might be at peace here, but I had left far too much unfinished business behind.
“Or is there perhaps something else weighing on your mind?”
“Th-that's……”
Surprisingly, that seemed to hit the mark. And I had a fairly good guess as to what was troubling her.
“……It's about Alice. What happened to her after that? Did she return safely? I hope nothing terrible happened to her.”
Ariel did not know Alice's true identity. The only ones who knew were Lobelia, who had ruthlessly dismantled my background through covert investigations, and Yuna, whose instincts were razor-sharp. Not that Ariel was dull, but there was an unavoidable gap in information.
Even so, to think she was worrying about Alice… I never imagined she would spend her time fretting over the well-being of someone who no longer existed in this world.
“Ariel, do you have a moment?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes, of course. I came here to see you, after all.”
“Then would you come with me for a short while? There is something I want to show you.”
Instead of answering, Ariel gave a quiet nod. Setting aside my half-packed luggage, I led her out into the quiet estate grounds.
Leaving the manor behind, we walked together for some time. By the time the outlying village houses faded from view and we reached the base of a modest hill near the border of the county, Ariel broke the silence once more.
“Where are we……?”
“This used to be my favorite place. It's the spot where the stars are clearer than anywhere else in our territory.”
“Is that so?”
There were many higher vantage points, but none offered a view of the night sky like this. Other hills were choked with tall trees, obscuring the heavens even from their summits. This hill, however, opened wider and wider the further up you climbed, leaving the sky vast and unobstructed.
“……Just in case you might misunderstand, let me assure you that I have no improper intentions, so please don't worry.”
Not that I could do anything even if I wanted to. How could I ever overpower Ariel?
“……I wouldn't have minded, though.”
What?
No, forget it. It was surely just a slip of the tongue. There was no need to ruin the atmosphere by asking for clarification.
“Wait a moment, then. From here on, I'll need some preparation.”
“Ah, if you'd like, shall I carry us up with my magic?”
“That would certainly be convenient, but the preparation I mentioned is of a different sort.”
Ariel was genuinely kind-hearted. Kind enough to worry over Alice, who could have easily been dismissed as nothing more than an apparition in a dream. I could have buried it, but continuing to hide the truth from her when others already knew felt hollow and wrong.
“Whew……”
Drawing upon my mana, I cast Illusion Magic. A phantasm far more intricate and lifelike than anything I had woven before coalesced into the night air.
“Ah.”
The moment the illusion assumed the shape of a person, Ariel gasped softly.
“Alice……?”
Yes. Through illusion magic, I had re-created the image of Alice. More accurately, it was a recreation of a memory from the past. The phantasmal Alice beamed brightly, just as she had in the dream last night, and broke into a run up the winding path of the hill.
“Let's follow her.”
“Ah, yes.”
Ariel and I walked in the phantom's wake. There was no fear of losing sight of her; after all, she was nothing more than an illusion sustained by my own will. No matter how slowly we walked, we would never fall behind a moment preserved in the past.
Following Alice's silhouette, we eventually reached the crest of the hill.
And there……
“Ah……!”
Stood Alice's grave.
I had made her resting place here, in the spot she had loved most in this world. Perhaps it was meaningless, considering her physical body had already vanished into dust long ago.
“To be honest, I wrestled with whether or not I should tell you this for a very long time. But I decided it was time to speak.”
In the end, this was the past. It was something Ariel had no obligation to know. In fact, for a fiancée, hearing about it held no benefit whatsoever. The past was meant to stay buried in the past.
“Alice was the daughter of a baron who had served our family for generations. But the baron passed away early, leaving Alice entirely alone in the world. And so, our house decided to extend the highest courtesy to his memory.”
“Could that mean……”
Ariel flinched, a slight tremor running through her shoulders. By now, the pieces had surely fallen into place within her mind.
“Alice was my fiancée.”
Ariel gently folded her arms around herself. Much like me, she had to be experiencing a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.
“When we were young, neither of us understood things like love. We were simply like family to one another.”
That was why, if asked whether I had truly loved her, I could only ever answer that I didn't know. Before I could ever figure that out, I lost Alice, and all that remained was hollow longing. There was no way left to confirm it. Whether Alice had loved me… frankly, I couldn't say for certain either. But at the very least, she had tried to love me. That much, I had felt clearly through recent events.
“This was Alice's favorite place. The stars were beautiful here, just like tonight. And so, quite naturally, I came to love this place as well.”
As I said earlier, this used to be my favorite place. Ever since the day I lost Alice here, the thought had never crossed my mind again.
“Ariel, Alice rests here. And……”
I set down the potted Rosemary Blossom I had brought along, placing it gently beside Alice's headstone.
“I intend to leave the past buried here from now on.”
I had made a promise to Alice once: that someday, I would tell her what color the rosemary flowers bloomed into. Yet after she died, even while tending the flowerbed, I never once returned to this hill. I had simply turned my eyes away from her death, wallowing helplessly in moments that had long since slipped away. But today, I brought Alice her rosemary blossom. With this, at long last, I had fulfilled a single promise.
“I'm sorry, Ariel. Hearing stories about a former fiancée couldn't have been pleasant for you.”
“Yohan.”
Ariel simply looked at me, her violet eyes soft beneath the starlight.
“Then why did you choose to tell me?”
“……I wanted you to know.”
This had been my private torment, a burden I had carried entirely alone. Yes, in the end, I had merely spoken out of the selfish desire to lay down a secret I should have kept to myself. Perhaps, deep down, I was simply hoping it would lighten my heart a little.
“Is that so?”
A gentle smile touched Ariel's lips.
“Then I am glad. Please, tell me more about yourself, Yohan.”
She reached out her hand.
I took it.
The strange, lingering distance that had once hung between us had long since melted away. And as we descended the hill together under the quiet canopy of stars, the space between us narrowed until our shoulders brushed with every step.