The Other Side (5)
The black darkness lifted, and sunlight began to pour down once more. Heste tidied the letters she had written without a wink of sleep and Claire’s nightgown, still carrying the traces of the night. She handed the letters to the Meliard family’s retainers summoned through a crystal orb for delivery, then sprayed the nightgown with lavender perfume to mask the faint scent of Reyan before hiding it deep in her wardrobe. Everything was ready.
Heste barely suppressed the smile threatening to bloom on her lips and approached the sleeping Claire. So soft. So delicate. The memory of the wounds that had marred that pure white skin only yesterday weighed on her heart, yet she knew she would have to make Claire even sadder a few more times. She wanted the girl isolated enough that others might even call her a witch. She wanted her to depend on no one but herself.
…This is necessary. Don’t hesitate.
Heste gave Claire’s shoulder a gentle push. Once again the name “Reyan” slipped from her lips, but she kept touching her, stroking her. The moment Claire woke and realized it wasn’t Reyan before her, she gasped in sharp, startled breaths.
“…S-sorry.”
When Heste apologized, Claire took several deep breaths and slowly shook her head. The motion creaked like a rusted machine.
“N-no. I-I’m sorry, H-Heste.”
But that lasted only a moment. Heste settled beside her, smiled, and spoke.
“I worked hard for you, Claire.”
“…W-worked hard…? D-did you k-kill Lunya or something?”
“I couldn’t do that.”
Having seen that Claire’s feelings toward Lunya had crossed from dislike into hatred, Heste decided that her visit to Reyan yesterday had been the better choice after all. She smiled again.
“…But it’s something you’ll like even more, Claire.”
“…I-is it r-related to R-Reyan?”
“Yes.”
“…T-tell me.”
“…With nothing in return?”
“…W-what do I have to do? I-I want to hear it, Heste.”
“…Hug me like you used to.”
Claire felt a flicker of revulsion at the request, but it wasn’t strong enough to make her abandon anything connected to Reyan. She moved her trembling body and gave Heste a light embrace, then asked again.
“N-now t-tell me.”
Heste opened and closed her mouth several times, clearly amused by Claire’s reaction. Claire’s eyes followed every motion, her shoulders quivering.
“…The banquet was originally set for four days from now, right? Meeting Reyan was supposed to be in four days too. Correct?”
“…Yes.”
“I put in some effort for you, Claire. Remember how much I despise the Meliard family? Still, I bowed my head to Father for your sake. I told him I’d return to the family briefly and asked him to move the banquet forward so you could see Reyan sooner.”
“…R-really…!?”
“We’re friends. When I thought of it as something for you, my body moved before I could stop it.”
In truth, it had been far more for herself than for Claire. In a way, it was a repulsive act meant to shove her into even deeper wounds, but Claire, unaware of any of that—
“…U-ugh—”
—began to cry. She had been Heste’s childhood friend; she remembered exactly how much Heste loathed the Meliard name. Later, after they grew closer, she had noticed a slight change in perception once Heste became the young lady of the house. Yet she also remembered the ferocious look on Bern’s face when he had stormed into the house looking for her. It was only natural.
“Why are you crying, Claire?”
“S-sorry…. It’s because I hated you, Heste. Because I resented you. You treat me so well, yet because of the past…. Even now you say you did it for me, but it feels scary… terrifying. I’m grateful, truly grateful…. I’m sorry….”
Heste wiped the tears from Claire’s eyes and pulled her into a gentle hug. Her body still flinched in rejection, but less violently than before. Happiness bloomed inside Heste, yet the banquet could not be allowed to end on a pleasant note. She deliberately poured oil on the flames of anxiety and spoke again.
“…I’m sorry too. Though I did it for you, there’s one thing I couldn’t prevent.”
Releasing the unsatisfying embrace, Heste looked into Claire’s face and bit her lip.
“…Guild masters must be invited to the banquet as well. So I had no choice but to invite Lunya.”
At that, Claire’s sobs cut off sharply. Her delicate hands clenched into fists, and she suddenly threw her arms around Heste with surprising strength.
“…Can’t you leave Lunya out?”
Claire clung to her, pleading of her own accord. The desperate tremble in those fingertips nearly made Heste yield, but she forced herself to pry the hands away and push her back.
“…Lunya likes Reyan. If she’s driven out of the banquet, she’ll dig for a reason no matter what. You know how persistent beastkin can be, as lowly as they are.”
“…But I h-hate Lunya! No, I despise her—I don’t even want to see her face…”
“…It will come out eventually. Then she’ll hear both my name and yours, Claire. If she learns we chased away the person Reyan treats like an older sister, he might come to hate us.”
Claire’s gaze lost its focus. She stared at the sunlight leaking through the open window, at the many dolls scattered around the bedroom, at the doorway leading to the corridor, at Heste’s face, at her own hands—anywhere and everywhere.
“…F-forget it. I don’t want Reyan to be hurt.”
Heste took the hand of the dejected girl and guided her to the dressing table beside the bed. She opened the window wider so sunlight could pour in. A pleasant breeze, completely at odds with the mood, slipped in and tickled their cheeks.
“…You’re going to meet Reyan. Are you really planning to go out looking like this?”
As though her earlier distress had never existed, the moment she heard Reyan’s name a faint smile rose to Claire’s lips. But Lunya’s face soon followed, and she bit down hard.
“…I already told you. We’ll push Lunya out. We’ll make it so only the two of us can stay by Reyan’s side. We simply have to shape him that way.”
Heste dipped her finger into crimson lipstick.
“All we have to do is show him that a vulgar, filthy cat-beastkin like Lunya doesn’t suit him at all.”
She brought her finger to Claire’s lips.
“…Let’s steal him.”
“…R-Reyan might hate it…”
“…Claire, beastkin are all animals. Do you know how many kittens a cat can birth at once?”
Claire looked at Heste’s reflection in the mirror. She wore an empty smile impossible to read, yet the words that left her lips made fear crawl across Claire’s skin like insects.
“…What are you saying?”
“…Cat-beastkin are animals. Lunya may look human, but she’s still a beast. Who knows when her heat cycle will arrive and she’ll crave Reyan?”
“…I thought beastkin d-didn’t experience heat cycles that often…”
“…And what if it does come while you’re thinking that? She calls Reyan to the Fairy Tail Guild office, locks the door, approaches slowly, kisses him, slips her tongue inside? Uses her ‘gender’ as a weapon to stoke his desire?”
Claire couldn’t speak. Heste’s voice was too seductive, too threatening; the images rose unbidden. More than anything, she remembered the way Lunya had looked at the sandwich shop—how naturally she had cut the sandwich and fed it to Reyan, how comfortably she had leaned against him. They had even drunk from the same straw. Could that… could that have been the precursor to the “heat cycle” Heste described? Had Lunya already… while she wasn’t looking…?
“…N-no.”
The Reyan who loved her so deeply, who did everything for her—imagining him alone with Lunya in a secret room was unbearable.
“…N-no, no, nooo—!”
Claire screamed. Still Heste did not stop. She rested a hand on the girl’s shoulder and whispered even more provocative words directly into her ear. Of course the talk of heat cycles was nothing but an outdated prejudice, but she knew it would be the most effective weapon against Claire.
“…It’s true heat cycles are rare among beastkin, but they aren’t nonexistent. If things continue this way, Lunya will violate your Reyan. She’ll turn your mistake into something deliberate. She already looked at you with mockery while nestled in his arms. Do you want Reyan to intertwine his body with such a disgusting cat-beastkin? Panting, exchanging moans, licking and exploring every inch of each other, whispering ‘I love you. Let’s stay together forever.’ Do you want them to have a child together?”
“No, I don’t. I don’t. No! Reyan loves me—why, why do you keep… saying such terrifying things, Heste?”
“…I told you I love Reyan too. I’m scared of Lunya. I don’t want him to leave the two of us like this.”
At those words Claire’s breath seemed to stop entirely. She couldn’t draw air properly, wheezing as though seized by asthma. The frail, ragged sounds filled the bedroom.
Heste channeled White Mana into her body and continued.
“…Everyone has a dark side, Claire. Reyan may be kind and gentle, but behind that kindness there may lurk a black desire to embrace a beautiful woman like Lunya.”
Yes, just like me. Doesn’t your heart ache? Isn’t it racing? Listen to me, Claire. Quickly.
“I’m fine being his concubine. I know I can’t have him all to myself. Suggesting we steal him is for your sake. Even if Lunya takes him, I could be satisfied if he held me from time to time, like a woman who sells her body. But what about you? Could you bear it if Reyan mingled his body with someone other than me?”
Heste watched Claire’s expression carefully before delivering the final blow.
“…If that’s how you feel. If you don’t want it. I’ll stop. If the chance of earning Reyan’s hatred for a while frightens you more than the thought of sharing him…”
At that moment Claire shook her head violently. She seized Heste’s hand and pressed it to her own lips.
“All right. I-I’ll steal him.”
Then, with pitiful eyes, she begged.
“…Heste, h-help me.”
Heste’s body staggered. In a haze of ecstasy she slowly caressed the most sensitive place—those lips. Little by little, Claire’s mouth took on the crimson hue Heste loved best.