The Forest Where Spirits Dwell
Sylphy thought.
What was love?
Plenty of people around him had fallen in love. Some of those stories had ended well. Others had ended badly. But Sylphy had always believed that an ordinary kind of love would be difficult for him.
His natural appearance was, by anyone's measure, a woman's. His frame was a woman's. Even his voice sounded like a woman's. And on top of all that, he was a half-elf. No matter how he turned it over, he was plastered with conditions that made him a terrible prospect as anyone's partner. Having to introduce himself as a man every time he met someone might well become an exhausting ordeal in its own right.
Even setting that aside, people generally preferred masculine men — and even if they didn't, they surely wouldn't take a liking to a man this feminine.
So he had given up on romance. Marriage, of course, had been out of the question.
And yet life was a truly unknowable thing. Watching a half-elf like himself suddenly named a candidate for Oberon — and, as if that weren't enough, hearing talk of an engagement flying back and forth — Sylphy could only sit there with his mouth hanging open.
"……."
The carriage rattled as it went, but the rattling was neither harsh nor irregular. If anything, the steady rhythm of it felt almost peaceful. Inside the spacious cabin, Sylphy looked toward the front for a moment.
"Hey, Lois. When I recover, cook for me, okay?"
"Couldn't Livia manage that just as well?"
"Yeah, but I want to eat your cooking."
"……As you wish. Think of it as a celebration of your recovery."
"That makes it sound like you'd only do it that once. I want to eat it all the time."
"Yes, yes. I understand. Provided Livia cooks as well."
"Hmm. You can look forward to it. I can at least manage something average."
"For all that proud look on your face, that's a rather modest boast."
Lois was driving the horses while conversing with Olivia as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and it looked effortless. They already seemed to have a relationship of trust, in their own way.
From where Sylphy sat, it hadn't been like this when they first met. After the incident in Half Village had been resolved, Lois's manner toward Olivia had grown noticeably gentler. They must have talked about a great many things, and those conversations had clearly helped Lois open his heart. Olivia herself, meanwhile, was probably still agonizing over how to open that door — without even realizing it had already been opened.
Oberon, huh.
It was all so sudden. Everything was sudden. He didn't even know where he was standing anymore.
Why had the Meteor Bow chosen Sylphy? The World Tree, too. Why had they lent him their power? Did they truly believe he was a king fit to rule Elvenheim? A half-elf who had never received a proper education — did he really have the qualifications to become the king of a nation? And more than anything else — could he actually do it? Even with so many people offering to help, Sylphy couldn't help but worry whether someone who knew nothing of kingship or politics could possibly manage.
"You look like you've got a lot on your mind."
"Lady Lilith?"
This was dangerous. After the conversation they'd had yesterday, he found himself strangely conscious of her. Sebas had said that Lilith didn't dislike him — that she was rather fond of him, even — but that was surely just a matter of personality, a fondness of one person for another. If Lilith were the sort who could consider a woman as well… but that didn't seem to be the case either.
"It all came out of nowhere, didn't it? I get it. Suddenly being told you're Oberon… I'd be thrown off too."
"You're royalty yourself, aren't you, Lady Lilith?"
"Yeah, but my body's never been in great shape. The right of succession is just decoration. Decoration."
"The right of succession is… decoration…"
"Hmm…"
Lilith trailed off for a moment, then spoke.
"The truth is, I used to want to be king."
"Is that so?"
"I was actually really outstanding, you know, even if I don't look it. Then I watched my father — who was king — at work."
"……."
"He didn't look happy at all. Other people looked happier, actually. Even the people walking through the Royal Capital."
"……."
"Yeah, I know. When royalty says stuff like this, it sounds like they're drowning in some romantic fantasy, right? People who aren't nobles struggle too, and it's easy to talk like that when you have money, and so on and so forth…"
Nobody had asked, but Lilith was talking all by herself.
"But I decided that being king wasn't a good position. At least, it didn't suit me. And around that time my health got a lot worse, so I called for my little brother."
"Prince Felix, you mean?"
"Yeah. I called him over and told him, 'You be the king.'"
"……From your bed?"
"Yep."
"Uh, um… after you'd had a seizure?"
"That's right."
"……There's a chance he took that as a dying wish."
"Haha! That's exactly what happened! You wouldn't believe it looking at that scary face of his now, but watching him bawl his eyes out — snot and tears everywhere — it was pretty satisfying."
What on earth were siblings, anyway. Sylphy couldn't help but wonder.
"We've been fighting over nothing since we were little. But seeing him cry like that… even I was a little surprised."
"Did you fight often?"
"Yeah, we still fight sometimes. We're not that far apart in age, so we'd go at it over the smallest things. I won most of the time."
"Haha."
"Honestly, if we fought for real, do you think the current me and Felix would even be a match? I'm only alive because Felix is kind."
Lilith said this while looking at him.
"I think people have a place that suits them. A lot of people wanted me more than they wanted Felix."
"I see."
"Yeah. It got so bad that people even said if I hadn't been sick, I would have been the one on the throne."
That was a cruel thing to say. To Lilith. And to Felix as well.
"But I never thought that. Unlike me, Felix wanted to be king, and he had a talent I didn't. He was far better suited to the throne than I was."
"……."
"And Felix, doing what he wanted to do — he shone. I think that's the best thing of all."
"Lady Lilith…"
"Does it not bother you, Lady Lilith?"
"Does what?"
"You know… you heard, right? About me and, um…"
"Ah, the engagement?"
"……."
It was an embarrassing word to say out loud. But for Lilith, who was nobility, it probably wasn't a particularly embarrassing word at all. Whether she liked it or not, Lilith would have to become engaged to someone as well. And eventually she would have to marry, so perhaps she had simply accepted it as something inevitable.
"Hmm. I wonder if it could work."
"What!? Look at this face! Anyone can see I'm a woman!"
"You're a man."
"There's not a shred of masculinity, and nothing impressive to look at, either…"
"You were impressive."
"Pardon?"
"……. Ah, um. Thank you. That's the first time I've ever heard a compliment like that."
He'd occasionally heard that someone's heart had raced for a man, but this was the first time he'd heard that someone's heart had raced for a woman — and so Sylphy's cheeks flushed red.
"Well, think about it slowly. You don't have to come up with an answer right now… Hm? You've got a cut."
"Hm? Ah… I must have nicked myself walking the forest path. It's nothing."
"Nothing has a way of becoming something. Stay still."
"Pardon?"
When Lilith suddenly drew closer, Sylphy's eyes went wide. After the conversation they'd just had, he found himself strangely conscious of her. Lilith's hand settled over the wound, and then light shimmered as the cut rapidly vanished.
"Healing magic?"
"Hmm. I may not look it, but I was pretty good at healing magic. Not quite at a Saintess's level, though."
"That's still amazing."
Just being able to use healing magic was a talent in itself.
"Hehe. Thanks for the compliment."
"I only said something amazing was amazing. ……Hm? Grandmother, you're awake?"
At some point Titania had opened her eyes. She looked at Sylphy and Lilith and spoke.
"Most excellent."
"Pardon?"
"Pfft!"
When Sylphy tilted his head, not understanding, Lilith laughed as if his reaction were the funniest thing in the world. And still, Sylphy did not understand.
"Lord Lois, to think we have to part ways… it's a shame. I wanted to learn so much more from you."
"Hey now — saying that with a face like yours makes it sound like you're saying goodbye to a lover. I'm the lover here."
"No, you're not."
"I will be."
"……."
Only Livia and I were to go to the Spirit Forest. There was no benefit to bringing too many people, and Sylphy needed to learn the basics of history and politics from Titania and Lilith, so it couldn't be helped. The road ahead of him was a long one, after all.
"Walk a few days through the Spirit Forest and a village shall await you. Hire a carriage in my name once you arrive."
"Thank you, Titania."
"Look after yourself, Lilith. Fall ill no more."
"That's not exactly something I can decide… It's weird, hearing you worry about me."
"I simply never spoke it aloud. I worried then as well."
"Then say it out loud."
"I shall, from now on."
I said my farewells to Les and Sebas as well. It would take a considerable amount of time to reach Erchia, the City of Water, so they would have a hard journey ahead of them.
"Livia, shall we be off?"
"Yeah! Then everyone — see you in Erchia!"
The carriage slowly pulled away, and just like at the very beginning of our journey, only Livia and I remained.
If there was one difference…
"Shall we go?"
The lively smile on Livia's face was rather nice to look at. A smiling face really was far more pleasant to see than a crying one or an angry one.
"Being just the two of us like this… it feels like we've gone back to the start of our journey."
"Back then, Livia didn't feel particularly alive, in more ways than one. Physically, yes — but mentally as well."
"I can't deny that. It felt like my entire life as a Hero had been rejected… I was drowning in the question of who I even was. I thought I might just go under and never come back up."
"……."
I looked at Livia and asked.
"Have you found your answer?"
"……I think so too."
"Wow. Giving the same answer to a philosophical question about life."
I'd rather she didn't suddenly start sensing some kind of destiny here.
"Being noisy and surrounded by everyone is nice, too."
"But?"
"I also like being just the two of us, Lois."
"……Livia."
"Hm?"
"About what I heard last time… you aren't planning to jump me, are you?"
"Hm? Huh?"
Caught off guard, Livia couldn't react properly — then, apparently recalling the other night, she flushed red and shouted.
"I'm not!! ……Ah. Probably."
"You shouted 'I'm not,' and then what did you say after that?"
"L-Let's go already! We still have to walk to the Spirit Forest!"
"Good grief… Yes, yes. I'm coming."