The Day the Rain Stopped
The castle had been in an uproar since dawn. Rita, who had been burrowing deeper into her warm blankets rather than leave them, finally lost her patience and kicked the covers clean off.
"Why is it so loud out there? At this rate you'll wake the young master too!"
The young master had been inspecting the territory day and night of late, and just yesterday she had waited up for him, nodding off again and again until the small hours, without ever getting a glimpse of him.
"He deserves to sleep in until noon at the very least. So who in the world is making all this racket?"
Rita pulled on the glasses she'd left on the nightstand and flung the window wide open. A chill rush of cold air swept in, and the commotion swelled tenfold.
"Why is everyone gathered out there like that?"
Even at a glance, it looked as though every last servant in the castle had come spilling outside. Most of them, in their urgency, hadn't even bothered to dress properly.
"Did somebody get hurt?"
A sudden knot of worry tightened in her chest. And if no one was injured, then perhaps someone had fallen ill. Whatever the case, she had to rush down and see for herself.
"…Wait a moment."
It was then, just as she was reaching for fresh clothes, that something struck Rita as strange. Her head turned slowly back toward the window.
"The… the rain. Why isn't it falling?"
The sound that should have been there simply wasn't. At first it had been maddening, but somewhere along the way the drumming of the rain had grown as familiar as a lullaby — and now it was gone.
"Don't tell me the rain has stopped?"
Come to think of it, even the clinging dampness had vanished.
"Gasp!"
Only then did she understand why everyone was crowding outside. Rita scrambled to the window and thrust her hand out into the open air.
"It's… it's true! The rain's stopped!"
The rainy season that had tormented Hamilton for months on end had finally come to an end. It was almost impossible to believe.
Looking down, she saw the other servants were all doing the same — tipping their faces up to the sky, holding out their palms, confirming with their own skin that the rain really had ceased.
"Young Master! Bayul, Young Master—!"
There was no time to waste. She had to tell him right away. Forgetting entirely that she was still in her nightclothes, Rita darted down the stairs.
"Young Master! Wake up! You'll never guess — outside right now…!"
In her haste, she yanked the door open without even knocking. He was surely exhausted and fast asleep, but news this wonderful simply had to be delivered at once — or so she reasoned.
Contrary to Rita's expectations, however, Bayul was already up, sipping his tea. In truth he had been awake all night, but she assumed the commotion had woken him early.
"Good morning, Rita."
Rita stood dazed for a moment at his gentle greeting, then snapped back to herself and cried out.
"Young Master! The rain's stopped! It was pouring so hard yesterday it was downright frightening, and now it's completely stopped!"
"Yeah, I saw."
"Do you actually believe it, Young Master? After raining that long, how can it just stop overnight like that? It's incredible!"
"Isn't it? Why don't we go up to the top of the castle while we're at it?"
"…The top of the castle?"
"Mm. You said your wish was to stretch and soak up the sun up there the moment the skies cleared, remember?"
"Oh, right, I did. But… aren't you happy, Young Master?"
She had expected him to be overjoyed at the rain's end, yet his reaction seemed oddly lukewarm. It was strange that not a trace of surprise showed in him at all.
"No, of course I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be? I even sent a letter to Father in the imperial capital."
"Already?"
"News like this should reach him quickly. It'll put more spirit into him, won't it?"
"That's right! He'll be setting out on campaign soon, so this must have lifted a weight off his heart!"
"Let's head up, then. The sky always looks different from the top of the castle."
Bayul rose from the sofa, took Rita's hand, and led her toward the stairs. What Rita didn't know was that Bayul was quietly delighted — at last, he could keep a promise he'd made to a certain someone.
Innocent's unexpected growth had moved the timeline up, and that had turned out to be a stroke of luck.
Up top, Rita stretched just as she'd dreamed, drawing in a deep breath. The cold morning air flooded her lungs, and it felt unmistakably different from before. No more clammy staleness.
"A sky this blue — I only ever saw it back in Carrington!"
Thrilled, Rita spun in place with her hands flung high. Then she stopped dead.
"But Young Master — it's not going to start pouring again tomorrow, is it?"
Even through the half-year the rainy season had gnawed at Hamilton, there had been moments when the downpour briefly weakened. A sudden fear seized her — what if it stopped for only a few days before starting up again?
"Only time will tell, but the rain clouds have vanished completely, so it won't be that soon. Looks like we'll have clear weather for a good while yet."
"You think so?"
Hearing it from Bayul, Rita finally felt at ease. She clasped her hands together in prayer.
"God of Despair, please, please don't let the rain come back! I'll be so good, I promise!"
"Rita, you've converted to the God of Despair now?"
And did she know that this God of Despair was the very Death she nagged from morning till night?
Barely holding back a laugh, Bayul asked.
"Oh no, it's not so much converting as… getting to know Him better lately."
"Getting to know Him?"
"Yes, He seems to answer my prayers pretty reliably. His turnaround time is a bit short, though."
Bar's cooking skills, once a source of endless doubt, had improved by leaps and bounds after his visit to the Temple of Despair. Rita believed, with unshakable conviction, that it was all thanks to her prayers.
"By the way, they say a welcome guest will be arriving once the rainy season ends. I wonder who it could be?"
"Did someone say that?"
"Yes! I just feel like only good things are going to keep happening from now on! And the Lord of the Territory will surely come back victorious too, won't he?"
There wasn't a shred of doubt in Rita's mind that Duke Randert would lose. Then again, she was hardly alone in that.
To the living legend of the empire, defeat was an unthinkable word. Not just the people of the territory — every subject in the empire believed it without a sliver of hesitation.
But Bayul was different.
That man was his father — his only family.
Bayul, too, believed his father would win. But he couldn't help worrying — what if he was wounded? What if some unforeseen variable left him struggling?
"I hope the Lord returns soon and sees how Hamilton has changed!"
Then, surely, the creases perpetually settled between his brows would smooth a little. Rita prayed earnestly for that day to come quickly.
"Young Master, let's go down now! You need your breakfast!"
"Shouldn't you change out of your nightclothes first, Rita?"
"Huh?"
She tilted her head, uncomprehending, then belatedly realized she was still in her pajamas. With a strangled yelp, she bolted.
The rest he could picture without looking. The moment she'd woken to find the rain gone, she'd sprinted straight here to tell him.
Ever since they were little, she'd always come running first with delicious food, or glad tidings of any kind. Seeing her so delighted over this — well, it made his day.
What remained now was to look after the territory in ever finer detail. Until the day he returned to the Academy, he intended to do everything in his power to ease the people's burdens before he left.
"Young Master Bayul, you're up early."
As he came down to the ground floor, Butler Cunning greeted him warmly. He had been enjoying a rare moment of reflection outdoors rather than in, for once.
"It seems you came in around dawn again today. Aren't you pushing yourself too hard lately? I fear it may take a toll on your health."
"Is my health really the concern right now?"
Bayul lifted his head and gazed up at the cloudless sky.
"The rain has finally stopped. I suspect you're about to be very busy for a while, Butler Cunning?"
"In times like these, I would bear any burden gladly. If one can take joy in one's duties, then even toil is a blessing."
"Which brings me to something. What would you say to holding a festival?"
"A festival, my lord?"
"Yes. The rain may have stopped, but many in the territory are still hard-pressed. Joyful occasions lose their luster without good food to share."
"Hmm. I take your meaning, and I think it an excellent suggestion. Only — with the Lord of the Territory on the eve of his departure, I wonder whether it would be proper for us to hold a festival on our own…"
"Father will understand. No one wished harder for the rain to end than he did. When he returns, I expect he'll say we did well."
At the certainty in Bayul's voice, Butler Cunning hesitated no longer and bowed his head.
"I shall prepare it as you command, Young Master."
"Thank you, Butler Cunning."
He had felt it back when Bayul settled the ice mine affair over summer break, but the young master had grown all the more composed and self-possessed since. He looked steady enough to govern the territory in the Lord's stead, right now if need be.
As a child, frail of body, he had worried the entire household — the Lord of the Territory and the servants alike. That was no longer necessary, Cunning thought.
A fond smile spread across the butler's lips of its own accord.
"Then I shall take my morning walk before the meal."
Bayul's second task today was to climb the hill behind the castle with Jasper. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd gone up there with the dog. Jasper was bound to have sensed the rain had stopped — by now he'd surely be brimming with restless energy, wound tight as a spring.
"Jasper!"
Arf! Arfarfarfarf!
Right on cue. The instant Bayul's voice rang out, Jasper barked impatiently, as if to say what took you so long. And at that, his pups joined in with an eager chorus of their own.
"Woof woof woof!"
"Woof woof!"
They had evidently been bored out of their minds, gnawing and tugging at the hem of Bayul's trousers. A common affliction in pups bursting with energy they had nowhere to spend.
"Citrine! Rose! Smoky! Crystal! Walk time. Let's go!"
At Bayul's movement, the Gem Foursome bounced into the air with excitement, and Jasper and Ruby fell in behind them side by side.
"We'll come along too."
Just as they were about to step out the back gate, Death and Amon appeared.
"What about Bar?"
"Forget about that guy."
Death tossed the words out flatly and strode on ahead.
"He says he'll be deciding shortly whether or not to sever Bar's remaining arm."
Amon leaned close and whispered into Bayul's ear as they watched Death walk on ahead.
"…You're joking, right?"
"Am I, though? Come along, children!"
Leaving a stunned Bayul behind, Amon dashed off toward the Gem Foursome. With the rainy season over, a bright future had dawned over Hamilton — but over Bar's future alone, dark clouds were gathering.