Saint Valentino's Day (1)
Chocolate?
So that was the name of this brown, dumpling-shaped confection.
"Ah, thank you, but I'm afraid my funds are a little—"
"We're holding a tasting today, so there's no charge! Please, just try one."
Airen accepted the brown, dumpling-like sweet the woman called chocolate. It was a confection she had never seen before, and it felt a little strange in her hand—
Hm?
An intensely sweet fragrance struck her nose with startling force. Thanks to that, she was able to slip it into her mouth without any real resistance.
And the moment she rolled the chocolate across her tongue a few times—
an entirely new world of taste unfolded, one she had never experienced in her life.
"……!!"
"Well? Delicious, isn't it?"
Airen's pupils widened slightly. One hand rose of its own accord to cup her cheek.
It was sweet.
So sweet that she failed to notice how girlish the gesture itself had become.
No—more precisely, it was sweet with a faint bitterness underneath. And layered into that was a roasted, nutty note, as if someone had stirred in a spoonful or two of something rich and toasty.
Above all, that bitter edge was the perfect finishing touch, elevating the confection to something truly complete. She kept savoring it, and it melted away far too quickly—faster even than candy, almost like cream dissolving on the tongue.
"You said this confection is called chocolate? It's remarkably good."
"Pardon? Ah… Sir Knight, you seem to be seeing chocolate for the first time. Might you be from the north?"
"I am. I only arrived in these parts recently."
"I see! This is a confection called chocolate—a specialty of the northern regions. It's wildly popular for its sweetness. The Festival of Saint Valentino is coming up soon, so our shop has been experimenting with a special hazelnut blend. How do you like it?"
"It was truly delicious. A confection of the highest order."
"Hehe. Your praise gives me strength. Let's see… since this is your first time with chocolate… here! I'll pack a few more for you."
"No, you really don't have to—"
"Come now, no need to be polite. Just take them."
Beaming, the woman pressed three neatly wrapped chocolates into Airen's hands, and Airen found herself accepting them despite herself.
Honestly… having already tasted the chocolate, the temptation was far too fierce for her to refuse. Perhaps it was because she had always lived a life of restraint, tempering every pleasure through discipline. She was particularly weak to sweet things—one of the soft, vulnerable parts of herself she preferred to keep hidden.
Tucking the chocolates away, Airen thought: so the source of that nutty flavor had been hazelnut.
No—more importantly…
"Forgive me, but I have another question, if I may."
"Of course!"
The woman smiled without a trace of impatience. Judging by that alone, she was quite the professional—especially considering this was only a free tasting.
"What exactly is the Festival of Saint Valentino?"
"It's a commemorative day and festival of the northern regions! Business is always booming then—enormous amounts of chocolate are sold."
"Is that so? A day for eating chocolate, then?"
"More than that—it's a day when a woman gives chocolate to a man to whom she owes a debt of gratitude! When the day arrives, women who wish to convey their feelings buy chocolate in great quantities, so of course it becomes a major sales period!"
Hm?
A woman giving confectionery to a man she was indebted to…?
"If you happen to have someone you'd like to gift, Sir Knight, please do consider our shop!"
After parting from the smiling shop assistant who saw her off, Airen found she could not easily take another step. She stood rooted in place, lost in thought.
A woman giving a gift to a man… this might just be…
Airen Juliette.
Before she was an outstanding general, she was a woman who carried a man in her heart. Airen, who as a warrior had always preferred action over endless deliberation, found her mind spinning faster now than it ever had on any battlefield.
*
Click.
The door opened, and a woman's voice greeted her.
"Ah—w-welcome back! You must be tired!"
The one who met Airen as she returned to their quarters after finishing her duties was Reika. Silin, who normally shared the room with them, had been temporarily dispatched to another castle, which meant the spacious triple room had been Reika's alone.
Knowing how lonely Reika must have been by herself, Airen offered a gentle smile to the girl who welcomed her so warmly.
"Mm."
Without a word, she held out the chocolate she had tucked against her chest.
"This is…?"
"A confection. They were handing them out just up the street."
Reika carefully unwrapped it.
"Ah… this is chocolate, isn't it?"
"Hm? You already know what this is?"
"Yes. It's a type of confection eaten on the northern continent, isn't it? I-I'm interested in making sweets, so I at least know what it looks like. Though this is the first time I've actually seen one in person…"
Come to think of it, she was a daughter of House Nighthart. Someone in her position could have obtained as much of a confection like this as she wished.
"Let's see… nom. …Wow, this is delicious?!"
"Isn't it?"
"Yes! Amazing… the northern continent's standards are no joke either. Maybe because the old imperial capital is there…?"
Lately, Reika had grown able to speak naturally in front of Airen without stuttering. At times she even felt more at ease with her than with Swen, who had once been her teacher. Being fellow women played a part, of course, but so did the way Airen always treated her with such easy kindness.
"Ah, look at me… Lady Airen, please have some too."
"Hm? No, I'm fine…"
She said that—yet Airen, utterly unable to resist the chocolate's allure, accepted another piece and slipped it into her mouth once more.
After they had spent a brief, lovely stretch of time together like that, Airen casually mentioned the thought that had been circling in her mind.
"The Festival of Saint Valentino…?"
"Yes. A commemorative day observed on the northern continent. Apparently it's a day when women give chocolate to men to whom they are indebted."
"Is that so? It sounds rather romantic…? I'd always heard that people of the northern continent tend to come across as cold toward others and not particularly emotional."
"Is that right? That's also news to me. Miss Reika, you seem to possess a remarkable store of miscellaneous knowledge."
At Airen's words, Reika gave an embarrassed little laugh.
"When I was shut away at home, the only thing I could do was read… so I just read whatever I could get my hands on. In the end, it's all just bits and pieces I picked up here and there."
"I see. At any rate… ahem, ahem."
Airen covered her mouth with one hand, cleared her throat a few times, and carefully tried to speak.
Or rather—she attempted to speak.
……
For some reason, putting the plan she had conceived into words felt overwhelmingly difficult. Far more difficult than gripping a sword and facing a formidable enemy on the battlefield.
Reika watched Airen carefully for a moment, then tilted her head slightly.
"Do you… want to give chocolate to Lord Swen?"
"Cough!"
Cough, cough… hack.
Airen coughed as if she had swallowed wrong, and Reika asked in startled concern,
"L-Lady Airen…? Are you all right?!"
"Ah… y-yes. I'm fine. It's just, um… that is…"
Why…
Why was it so hard to simply speak her honest feelings?
"I…"
Even so, she gathered every scrap of courage she could and slowly nodded. Her face was flushed a deep red—the unmistakable look of a young girl.
"I see. I think it's a wonderful idea. The moment I heard about it… my teacher was the first person who came to mind, too."
Teacher—she meant Swen, then. Airen had heard that back when Reika had been part of the Aesius Army, Swen had served as her magic instructor.
"Mm. So… I, uh, wanted to ask what you thought of the idea…"
Watching Airen stumble over her words the way she herself usually did, Reika suddenly wondered whether this was how she always appeared to others.
Lady Airen has always been so patient and kind with me… so I should do the same for her, right?
"I think it's a wonderful idea…!"
"I-is that so? A wonderful idea… mm, well, I am a little worried Swen might find it bothersome, but…"
"Not at all…! I'm sure he would be overjoyed. If I were Lord Swen, I would be truly happy…!"
"Really…?"
The valiant female knight who ordinarily seemed afraid of nothing now stared with wide, round eyes, utterly unable to hide her flustered state.
Reika had heard that Airen had played a decisive role in the defense of the western fortress at Valharat Castle. And yet that same woman, when it came to the man named Swen, became weaker than any other girl.
Reika found the sight utterly endearing.
Lady Airen is surely going to be Lord Swen's first wife.
Someone who loves like this… can I ever catch up to her?
Will I, too, be able to share a love like this with my teacher… with Lord Swen?
……No.
This was not the time for such thoughts. For the sake of Airen, who always looked after her, this was a moment when she had to help however she could.
"I think it's a fine idea, so let's put it into action right away…! The two of us will give chocolate to Lord Swen together…!"
*
The next day.
"Sold out, you say…?"
"Oh dear, and after you went to the trouble of coming back, Sir Knight… I'm truly sorry. With the Festival of Saint Valentino so close, everything sold out in a flash."
They had returned to the same shop, but the new hazelnut-scented chocolate was already completely gone. Seeing Airen unable to hide her dejection, the clerk carefully offered a suggestion.
"Um… we do still have some of our regular stock left. Would these do…?"
"Then I'll take these, at least…"
After purchasing the differently shaped, rectangular chocolates from the shopkeeper, Airen and Reika split one on the spot and tasted it.
"Mmm… something about it feels a little off."
"It does feel a bit empty somehow… though the sweetness itself is still nice."
On its own, it was still a perfectly delicious confection—yet it was hard not to feel disappointed that they could not share with Swen that full, complete sensation they had experienced the first time. Without the nutty richness mixed in, the flavor felt slightly hollow… but still, better to have this than nothing at all.
If only I had made up my mind yesterday and bought them on the spot…
She regretted that brief moment of hesitation, but with the festival so near, there was nothing to be done about it.
"…I suppose it can't be helped. We'll just have to give him these."
Airen said it with a bitter little smile. Something about the lonely cast of her profile made Reika's chest tighten, and the words burst out of her before she could stop them.
"No… Lady Airen."
"Hm?"
"Let's make them ourselves!"
Reika seized Airen's hands tightly as she spoke.
"R-Reika…?"
Airen looked into Reika's pink eyes. A passionate fire she had never once seen in the girl before was blazing brightly behind those pupils—the pure, fierce ardor of a young woman.
"Lady Airen! The two of us—let's make chocolate even more delicious than the ones we first tasted!"