Festival (4)
“Even if it’s a patrol, do I really have any good reason to go out of my way to do one?”
At that question, I barely managed to swallow the laugh that almost burst out of me.
So she wasn’t asking why I wanted her to go out, was she? Of course, I would’ve preferred it if Irene were the one to suggest it herself.
I watched her in silence for a moment, then slipped a piece of steak into my mouth and chewed.
“...Evan?”
She frowned slightly, as if hoping I’d answer quickly.
I did want to keep watching this side of her for a little longer—after all, this was a reaction I’d never seen before—but if I dragged it out any more, the knife in her hand might end up pointed at me.
After swallowing the meat, I opened my mouth at a measured pace.
“The Foundation Day Festival isn’t just any ordinary festival. It only comes around once every five years, so why don’t we say we’re going out to check whether it’s being held properly?”
“Hmm.”
Irene closed her eyes for a moment, considering it, then gave a small nod.
“That sounds fine. But if we do that, the paperwork...”
“Leave that to your future self.”
“...True enough. The urgent things are already taken care of, anyway.”
In truth, my suggestion was no different from the old trick of luring a tiger out of a mountain with a goat.
Her duties as head of the household were still piled high, and whether she enjoyed the festival now or later, the burden waiting for her would not change one bit.
Still, I could only hope the choice I’d made was the better one.
The Irene I’d seen at dawn looked far too exhausted, no matter how I looked at it. I simply couldn’t leave her alone like that.
Watching her eat much faster than before, I let out a quiet snort and lifted my fork. I’d have to tell Ropena as well.
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“Huh?”
Ropena tilted her head, looking at me as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
“The young lady’s planning to go to the festival in a little while. You’re her personal maid, so get ready.”
“...You’re serious?”
“Why would I lie to you?”
Ropena’s eyes rolled briefly before she stared at the cookie in her hand, then at me, as though trying to decide whether I was joking.
When I shook my head to show I wasn’t, she took a bite of the cookie with an exaggerated little chomp, and then it seemed to vanish into her mouth as neatly as a CD sliding into a player.
Sometimes Ropena did things like that, and it was hard not to be amused. She always gave me something interesting to look at.
Most of it involved food, sure, but not everyone had that sort of talent.
After finishing the cookie and brushing the crumbs from the corner of her mouth, Ropena looked at me again.
“What’s the young lady doing now? Why didn’t she call me?”
“She’s getting dressed up a little. She can’t exactly stand out, after all. I came to get you separately.”
“Hmm.”
She wore a solemn expression on the outside, but her eyes were already sparkling with excitement.
She must have been curious about the festival, too.
Bound to the role of Irene’s personal maid, she’d probably been disappointed not to be able to go.
“You’re coming, right?”
“Don’t ask such an obvious question.”
Honestly, she was adorable.
When I patted her head at her little shrug, Ropena puffed out her lips and looked up at me in clear dissatisfaction.
Just how short was she, anyway? At a glance, she looked at least a head shorter than me.
“You’re really tiny.”
“......”
Was height a sore spot for her? The instant I saw Ropena’s expression go cold, laughter spilled out of me on its own, and she turned her head away in a huff.
I should probably make it up to her. I was still smiling at the sight of Ropena pointedly refusing to look at me when a voice came from behind me, and I turned.
“Evan, are you done getting ready?”
Already?
She’d barely been in her room for five minutes, and yet here she was, fully prepared. I stared at her, and Irene narrowed her eyes at me.
“You’re already finished?”
“...Do you have a problem with that?”
No, of course not.
I could only let out a dry laugh, wondering just how badly she must have wanted to go for her to be done this quickly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When I said we were preparing, there honestly wasn’t much to prepare for. Since we had to avoid drawing attention, the clothes we wore were the same plain everyday garments we always wore, and all we had to do beyond that was take our swords.
“Will you be going as well, Sir Chris?”
When I asked the grim-faced Sir Chris, who had appeared behind Irene at some point, he twisted his already rough features into an even rougher scowl and replied,
“Of course. You haven’t even been formally knighted yet.”
“That’s true.”
It would still be several months before I was formally sworn in as her escort knight.
Normally that sort of thing would only happen after a coming-of-age ceremony, but my skill had earned me an exception.
Until then, Sir Chris would probably keep trailing after us. Honestly, I was grateful for it.
With Ropena to worry about as well, Irene looked too excited to pay attention to much of anything else.
“Evan, has the road always been this far?”
“We haven’t even left the duke’s estate for a full minute yet.”
“...I see.”
Irene’s expression was unreadable as she spoke to me, but I’d already noticed that her gaze kept drifting toward the distant streets of the city.
It was the first time I’d seen her like this, so I found it fascinating—and somehow a little sad.
I wanted her to be able to enjoy the festival without thinking about anything else for once, but whether she actually could was another matter.
I’d have to try harder.
When I lifted my head after a moment, a cool breeze brushed my cheek.
Because of the risk of trouble, the festival grounds had been separated from the duke’s estate, and this area was unusually quiet.
The road beneath our feet was only gravel and dirt. It would have been black asphalt in my old world, but lately this sort of path felt more familiar than anything else.
At some point, my body seemed to have completely adjusted to this medieval age.
BOOM—
Fireworks exploded in the middle of the city far ahead: green, yellow, red.
Even though it was still daytime, fireworks kept going off one after another, and I realized the scale of this festival was much larger than I’d imagined.
Well, it was held here once every five years. It would have been strange if it weren’t huge.
The closer we got, the harder my heart pounded. The roar of the crowd and the blare of horns came crashing over us, while the drums beating in time with my pulse sent shivers through my entire body.
Festivals stirred people up.
No matter how miserable someone felt, once they stepped into a place like this, they were liable to be swept away by excitement.
The heat of countless people, the mingled scent of food and sweat, the deafening noise that filled the ears—together they created a kind of magic.
Even though I hadn’t experienced festivals all that often myself, I had always viewed that magical effect positively.
It made tired people forget their exhaustion and let them soak in the warmth for a little while.
And right now, I thought Irene needed exactly that.
To be honest, my suggestion that we go to the festival came from my own selfish little wish.
I was still bothered by the fact that she had collapsed into sleep the other day, and if I was being completely honest, I wanted her to forget about all that for a little while and enjoy something for once.
Her face was always weary; unless she was eating or sleeping, she was forever staring at paperwork.
Even watching her was exhausting, so I couldn’t imagine what it felt like for the person actually living it.
She needed, at least once, to simply rest and have fun.
“We’re almost there.”
In the distance, I could see the Yuris banner fluttering in the wind.
Countless colorful flags hung from strings stretched across the sky, and flower petals scattered through the air above them.
I stared at that sight—bright colors mixing with the hues of autumn—before turning to Irene, and a laugh slipped out of me without warning.
The first time I’d seen her, I’d even wondered if she might just be a doll.
How could anyone whose eyes shone like that at the mere mention of a festival be a doll?
She always wore an expression so unreadable it seemed layered over with a mask, but whenever feelings peeked through like this, I found myself smiling.
“Young lady, hurry up!”
Ropena had already run far ahead of us, and Sir Chris, looking annoyed at her, turned to me.
“What are you standing around for? Go on and catch her already.”
“...Ah.”
Honestly, she was the same age as me and Irene, and yet she behaved like a child through and through.
I gestured softly for Ropena to come back, and only then, after realizing my hand was resting on my sword, did she return with a sulky face.
We were almost there. What was she in such a hurry for? Was she really that excited for the festival? For some reason, the thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
If I hadn’t brought it up, she probably would have ended up only watching the festival from afar.
The fireworks painting the night sky, the multicolored tide of people moving through the streets—being swallowed by that whirlpool of joy and excitement would probably have been a surprisingly good experience.
And when we finally reached the city, I was so stunned by the feeling that it was like stepping into a completely different world that I just stood there with my mouth slightly open.
The crisp autumn weather seemed not to apply here at all, because the heat wrapped around my body and made the corners of my mouth twitch.
Yes. This was a festival.
The thrill running down my spine made me close my eyes for a moment.
The trumpet calls echoing in my ears sent shivers racing through my entire body.
For the magic created by just two words—festival—was this astonishing and grand.
I truly hoped Irene would enjoy it.
Even if we’d come out under a pretense, we were here now, weren’t we?
The stack of documents on her desk, the suffocating repetition of her daily life, the crushing weight of being the head of the household resting on her fingers—I wanted her to forget all of it.
“There are so many people.”
“Well, it is a festival held once every five years.”
In truth, even for me, this was the first time I’d ever seen such a crowd.
So many people packed into such a narrow stretch of road made me worry I might lose sight of Irene if I wasn’t careful.
We could barely move forward at all without bumping shoulders with someone, and even a few steps were enough to get us trapped by the crowd.
“Sir Chris, please keep an eye on Ropena so she doesn’t disappear.”
“I am already watching her. She’s so small it’s hard not to.”
“She is pretty small.”
At Sir Chris’s words, I burst into laughter, and Irene stared at me intently.
As if expecting something from me, she watched me with that strange look in her eyes before finally turning her gaze away.
“...Do you want to go over there?”
“.......”
For a moment, I barely managed to hold back a laugh.
The place she was looking at was crowded with people. They were gathered in a circle, so I figured a minstrel must be performing or something like that.
She seemed genuinely curious about it, and after watching Irene stare at the crowd for a moment, I spoke.
“There are too many people. If you’d like, we can go, but—”
“It’s fine. I just thought I should check in case there’s anything dangerous over there.”
She could have just said she wanted to go.
Still, I really was worried about the crowd. If that many people started moving at once, I might lose Irene.
Of course, if I were holding her hand, that would probably solve it.
Her hand.
Watching Irene, who still couldn’t tear her eyes away from the crowd, I opened my lips carefully.
“If I get swept up in all these people, I might lose you, my lady.”
“Wouldn’t it be enough if we just held hands?”
“...Would that be all right?”
I was momentarily taken aback by how readily she agreed, but before I knew it, her hand was already outstretched toward me, and I gently took it.
I’d expected her to be at least a little shy about it.
For a heartbeat, I thought my mouth had gone bitter, but the warmth traveling up through our joined hands scattered that feeling away.
Her hand, now fully resting in mine, was so small that my face felt oddly hot.