The Sun and the Moon

Aria, just as she'd promised, laid out a change of clothes along with a neatly folded set of underwear.

At this point, sneaking away would have felt a little too cruel.

So I waited, and before long Aria emerged from the bathroom, freshly bathed, her skin still glistening and flushed a alluring shade of pink.

She looked down at the clothes I had laid out for her, then picked up the underwear piece by piece and let out a soft snort of laughter.

"So this is your taste."

"……"

"Well, I've learned one thing about you."

Twirling the red panties around her fingers like a cat playing with string, she studied them with an intrigued gaze before stepping into them. When she bent slightly at the waist, her full breasts swayed downward with gravity in a way that was far too distracting for its own good.

Once she was dressed, Aria settled into a chair and ran a towel through her damp hair. That was when I finally put pen to paper.

"Not particularly."

Resting her chin on her hand, Aria went on.

"I've imagined what kind of scandalous things you might do at least a few times, so this much fell well within that range. Though I never actually thought you'd go through with it."

So in her imagination, was I that kind of man?

Or was her imagination hoping that I was?

"So why did you come in?"

"……"

Silence was all I could offer.

How was I supposed to explain that I had set off to share Lapis's bed, only to be forced to take refuge here of all places? Pathetic as it was to admit, I also couldn't bear to make her jealous over something so unseemly.

"Judging by that hesitation, you came to see Lapis in the first place, not me."

Flinch!

"The only thing that would make you hesitate to answer me outright ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would be something involving Lapis. It's hardly difficult to guess."

"……"

"Which is what makes it so odd for you to be in my room, but… whatever. Lapis's room is directly above mine, by the way. If you came through the window, it wouldn't be much of a challenge to climb up. Whether hers is open or not, I couldn't say — and that's not something I'm obligated to check for you."

"……"

"What? Should I go up and give you a little heads-up?"

"……"

"Believe me, part of me wants to hold you hostage right here with this situation as my leverage… but I won't."

"……"

"My mother taught me how a lover's greedy words end up, after all. She made for an excellent cautionary tale."

How was I supposed to answer that?

What could I possibly say?

While I clung stubbornly to my silence, Aria let the question go and answered it herself.

Was this consideration, offered for my sake?

Or a compromise she'd struck for her own?

Either way, I had no right to pass judgment on it. All I could manage was an awkward scratch of my cheek.

"Rohen. Sharing the person you love is more painful than you'd think."

"Don't say it so lightly. If you had to choose between me and Lapis, right now you wouldn't be able to answer at all, would you?"

…She was right. It had been far too careless and flippant a thing to write, so I apologized to her at once.

"If you're sorry, then stay by my side until I fall asleep tonight. Surely you can manage that much."

When I nodded, she stretched as if tired, turned out the light, and lay down on the bed. I took a seat at her pillow and gently brushed the bright platinum hair back from her face — and she buried her face deep into my knee.

Her hand crept out and clutched firmly at my collar. For all the words she'd thrown at me, perhaps what she truly wanted was for me to stay right here.

I started to write something in response, then stopped myself, and simply kept watch beside Aria in silence until she drifted off.

"…What a useless thing to say."

The moment he'd finished pretending to sleep, Aria watched Rohen slip soundlessly out through the window and shut it behind him.

What woman in this world could sleep peacefully, knowing the man she loved was leaving openly to share another's bed?

For a spring night, the loneliness hung thick in the air, and Aria made a show of gazing up at the moon.

Do you know how strong my possessiveness is?

Blood runs thicker than water, as they say. The traits she'd never wanted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to inherit from her mother had taken root in her all the same.

But the outcome could never be the same, which was why she could not deny the simple fact that Lapis, too, existed at Rohen's side.

The sun rises in the morning.

The moon rises in the evening.

So the sun and the moon were more than enough to light Rohen's way.

Praying that there would never come a day when she had to share the man she loved with another woman again, Aria returned to her bed and forced her eyes shut.

Climbing carefully in through the window into Lapis's room, I waved at the girl sitting upright on her bed, wide awake. Her eyes went round with surprise, and at a loss for what to do, she cautiously reached a hand out toward me.

I took that hand in both of mine and stepped softly into the room, and Lapis broke into a radiant smile.

"I'll… go get one more pillow."

While she slipped obediently over to the bed and made room, she hesitated for just a moment before pulling the covers over us both and pressing close against me. I drew her gently into my arms.

Was this the first time we'd slept alone together, just the two of us?

"To make sure it doesn't feel like a dream — you won't get up before me in the morning and slip away without a word, will you?"

As if I would.

When I shook my head and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, Lapis smiled bashfully.

"…Then I'll look forward to the morning."

Squirming closer, she buried her head in my chest and closed her eyes, her slender arms winding around me.

And watching her like that, I thought quietly to myself.

At the very least, with Lapis and Aria — those two women — I never wanted to be hated. Not ever.

In truth, despite playing ignorant, Lapis had known for a long time.

That Aria had feelings for Rohen.

And that Rohen, for his part, made no particular effort to push those feelings away.

Unless one were completely oblivious, it would have been stranger not to notice. But Lapis had deliberately concealed the fact that she was aware of it all.

Because the moment she revealed that she knew, Rohen would, one way or another, try to extract a definitive answer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from her about the arrangement.

…To be sure, there had been the option of refusing to acknowledge it.

But if either of them had truly intended to accept a rejection, the relationship between the two of them would never have begun at all.

Which side should I be honest with?

As the future Empress, having Aria — who possessed the one talent Lapis herself lacked, magistery — supporting Rohen from behind was an immeasurably reassuring asset.

But as his wife, she could not bear to choose a path that meant sharing the man she loved with anyone.

One reason she had never let on that she'd noticed was precisely because that second feeling weighed far more heavily on her heart.

As long as the relationship between those two remained unofficial, their meetings would have to be secret ones.

And everywhere that was visible to the world, Lapis alone could monopolize Rohen.

Besides…

Just as she herself had yet to find her footing,

Rohen, too, held his tongue rather than seek a definitive answer about the relationship — surely because his own heart was not yet ready.

So for now, wouldn't it be fine to simply maintain this status quo a little longer?

Whatever twists and turns lay ahead,

Lapis vowed that the fact of herself remaining at Rohen's side would never change.

He was the one who healed a body that could not move, who lifted her despair and granted her hope.

And so, for as long as she lived, every step she took would be at his side.

And when those steps finally ceased — even her last moment would be with him.

…And so, the days spent at the Academy drifted on without destination.

The semester at the Academy came to an end.

Everyone except the fourth-years slated to graduate that year — the first through third-years — was freed from the torment of examinations, and their faces beamed with unbridled joy.

Not that the graduating students had any reason to relax.

In the Knight Department, the mock battles held every single week resulted in an automatic failure if one's average score fell below the passing mark.

In the other departments, too, graduation was forcibly deferred if one's capstone project or thesis failed to clear the required threshold. The Academy had never intended to hand a graduate's credentials to every passing drifter and send them out into the world.

Still, this break has been hard-won — best enjoy it thoroughly, or I'll only regret it later.

My own mock battle scores sat comfortably in the top ranks.

Aria's thesis seemed to be coming along well, judging by her mood, so there was little cause for worry there either.

Alphonse and Dana were likewise far beyond the realm of concern, so I packed up the few belongings I had to prepare for the trip down to the capital.

Alphonse was heading home for a short visit to his family, but Dana had no proper place to return to. Until now she had acted alongside Boris, and that association had come to an end.

"I'm quite all right, my lord. It isn't as though the area is dangerous, so living alone until you return would be no hardship—"

"Oh!"

Dana's face lit up in delighted surprise — but she quickly seemed to realize something, and shook her head with a troubled expression.

"You haven't yet presented me to Lady Lapis. I fear it might invite an unnecessary misunderstanding."

"To speak with such confidence… Yes. Understood, my lord."

After sending Dana off to gather her things, I waited in front of the dormitory's main gates with Aria and Lapis.

A letter had arrived a few days earlier — from my mother.

Its message was this: Lapis's parents were also staying at the Imperial Palace at present, so we should not head to the Asis Duchy but come there instead, all of us together.

Perhaps, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with my own graduation from the Academy now close at hand, talk of Lapis's wedding would soon begin.

That, at least, was my careful guess.