The Gift
In the end, Shiron failed to buy Siriel a single gift.
He had wandered the avenues frequented by those who swaggered about with more money than sense, and he had visited the workshops of blacksmiths whose names carried weight even in the imperial capital—yet nothing, not one thing, had caught his eye.
I might have been too careless about this.
Shiron heaved sigh after sigh as he dragged his heavy feet along. All he had wanted was to give her a present equal to the elixir Lucia had received, and somehow the whole affair had gone sideways. Looking back, of course no ready-made goods could ever match an elixir. An elixir was a luxury that warriors and mages alike would kill to obtain—comparing one to a slightly expensive piece of jewelry or a box of sweets was an insult in itself.
No matter how convincingly Shiron played the part of a noble young master, at his core he was still a possessor with a commoner's sense of value. Even so, he refused to let it weigh him down. His steps along the path where flowers bloomed in riotous abundance were nothing short of light.
Fresh. Fragrant.
That was the impression that struck him the moment the mansion's front gates swung open. From the gates all the way to the main house visible in the distance, flowers of every color stood in full bloom. The garden Eldrina tended herself had burst into blossom as if to welcome the returning party, though spring had not yet arrived.
As though greeting Shiron after his grueling journey, the flowers mingled their scents without clashing, wrapping the group in a sense of ease. Shiron felt as comfortable in Hugo's mansion as if it were his own home.
As they neared the main house, a man of uncommon presence came into view.
"You've done well, traveling so far."
Hugo welcomed his nieces and nephew home from their long journey.
"You didn't have to come out to meet us. I was going to come find you myself."
"...We've returned, Uncle."
Shiron offered a bright smile to Hugo, who had come out despite his heavy frame, while Lucia bowed her head with a somewhat stiff expression. Whole and unharmed, without a single injury despite having taken part in the Subjugation Festival—Hugo felt a wave of relief and smiled with quiet satisfaction.
"Don't make such a fuss. I should have led you myself from the start, and I can only apologize that I couldn't. You've done well too, Yohan."
"Not at all. More importantly, there is something I need to discuss with you at once."
Yohan approached Hugo with a slightly shadowed face. Something had gone wrong. Reading the thought written plain across Yohan's expression, Hugo turned his gaze back to his niece and nephew.
"I'd like us to dine together this evening, so come to the main house once the sun sets. I want to hear about everything that happened on your travels as well."
That night, Shiron and Lucia knocked on the door of the main house. Shiron wore his usual formal attire, while Lucia had put on the airy dress she had worn before. Clutching a gift-wrapped parcel to her chest, Lucia fixed Shiron with a look.
"Do we really have to dress up this much? It feels a little excessive."
"You never know. Lady Eldrina and Siriel are bound to have dressed up too. And when else are we going to wear these things? We paid a fortune to have them tailored—might as well get our money's worth before we outgrow them."
He hadn't exactly been expecting a welcome banquet, but one couldn't very well show up to a dinner invitation in just anything.
And sure enough, Shiron's judgment proved sound. Following a servant's guidance into a hall dominated by an enormous table, they found Eldrina already waiting in a refined evening gown.
"My, how beautifully you've both dressed up."
"And the dress suits you wonderfully, my lady."
"Oppa!"
In the middle of exchanging pleasantries with Eldrina, Siriel hurried over with quickened steps.
"What about me? How do I look?"
Pointing at her own face with a finger, Siriel was every bit as dressed up as Lucia, having put her full effort into the occasion. Shiron had expected her to come out with Hugo to greet them—but of course, after so long apart, she would have wanted to present herself at her absolute best.
"You look lovely too, Siriel."
Shiron beamed and gave her exactly the answer she wanted. Siriel grinned from ear to ear, her body giving a little shiver of delight.
"Ahem. Take your seats, all of you."
Hugo cleared his throat, looking mildly put out.
Shiron and Lucia sat down, and the mansion's servants began laying out an extravagant succession of dishes upon the table. Small talk of various sorts passed around, but the conversation inevitably circled back to Siriel's grievances.
"Do you have any idea how upset I was that you left me behind? You could have at least left a letter. How could you just leave without a single word?"
"She's right. Shiron, you were really awful."
"I'm sorry, Siriel. Forgive me, okay?"
Shiron kept repeating his apologies to Siriel. Having drunk wine cut with a little water, Siriel's energy had become nearly overwhelming.
"Like I said earlier, it was genuinely dangerous there. Some crazy woman straight-up attacked me, you know?"
"I don't care. Oppa's a dummy."
"Yeah, Shiron's an idiot."
Lucia chimed in with supporting remarks as Siriel, her face slightly flushed, delivered her impassioned lecture.
"But you said Oppa took that woman out in one hit, right? So she wasn't even that dangerous an opponent, was she?"
"Exactly. The golem she controlled was pathetic."
Lucia nodded along in agreement. In truth, the woman had been a rather troublesome opponent—but watching Shiron endlessly parrot his apologies was too entertaining, so she sided with Siriel.
"Lucia! You're just as bad!"
"...Huh?"
But Siriel's arrows immediately swung toward Lucia.
"You got to enjoy the festival with Oppa, just the two of you! That makes you an accomplice—an accomplice!"
"......It wasn't a festival."
"Be quiet!"
"..."
"I thought of you as my friend, you know! I'm so disappointed! You could have written a letter too!"
"...I'm sorry."
Under Siriel's scolding, Lucia shrank into herself.
Th-this isn't how this was supposed to go?
Feeling a little dizzy, Lucia averted her gaze from Siriel—and her eyes landed on the gift parcel.
"That's right!"
Lucia clapped her hands, seizing the chance to shift the mood.
"Siriel, I brought you a present."
"...A present?"
"Yeah. Look at this. It's a prize I won at the Subjugation Festival. His Majesty the Emperor awarded it himself, you know?"
Lucia drew a wooden case wrapped in luxurious cloth from the parcel. Inside, a liquid glowed with a soft crimson light, gently sloshing.
"...What is it?"
"An elixir. They say it's made from mermaid's blood. Taking it increases your mana, and it has some anti-aging and beauty effects too."
"Hmm... is that so?"
Siriel squinted at Lucia with one eye closed. More than the mana-boosting effect, her attention had locked firmly onto the beauty benefits.
"Well. I'll gladly accept the gift. Just try to be more careful next time."
"I will. I'll be more careful from now on."
Seeing Siriel's expression soften a little, Lucia let out a quiet sigh of relief. She had never seen Siriel this angry before, and it had left her genuinely uncomfortable. Lucia regarded Siriel not as a child, but as a true friend.
"...And Oppa?"
And then Siriel opened her other eye.
"Well, about that."
Shiron rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish. Unlike Lucia, who had been carrying her gift parcel since they entered the hall, Shiron had been empty-handed the entire time.
"It's not that I didn't want to get you anything... it's just, you know. I was trying to find something better than Lucia's gift, but..."
"..."
"I'm sorry."
Shiron bowed his head low in apology. Even with his head down, though, his face was not hidden from view. Sitting between Lucia and Shiron, Siriel looked at him and felt a complicated tangle of emotions.
Then her eyes fell on the plate in front of him.
"Oh..."
Shiron hadn't touched his food at all. The appetizingly seared steak, the sparkling wine in its glass—everything sat there, gone lukewarm and untouched.
Only then did Siriel snap fully alert. She had gotten carried away and piled on far harder than she had meant to. Panicking, she looked to Eldrina for help.
But Eldrina merely smiled.
"O-Oppa? It's okay if you don't have a present. I'm just happy you came home safe..."
Siriel hesitated, then clasped both of Shiron's hands tightly in her own.
Crrrk—
A strange sound came from the head of the table where Hugo sat, but the only thing that mattered to Siriel right now was Shiron.
"...Really?"
"Of course. Really and truly."
When Shiron lifted his head, Siriel smiled brightly.
"Come to think of it, you said you got attacked by some crazy woman. I was being so thoughtless. You must have been really shaken..."
"But Siriel."
"...Yeah?"
"It's not like I didn't prepare anything at all."
The instant he said it—
Rustle—
A bouquet of flowers appeared in Siriel's hands.
"!"
Everyone at the table was startled. Lucia. Hugo. None of them had seen the moment Shiron produced the bouquet. Paying no mind to the reactions around him, Shiron delivered the line he had prepared in advance.
"I'll give you me."
"Oppa...!"
"Just for tomorrow, but we'll go out together and buy whatever you want. How about it? Is that enough?"
"Pffft!"
Eldrina, who had been watching the whole scene, sprayed the sparkling wine she had been holding in her mouth. Utterly taken by the shameless little rascal's wit, she laughed until she wheezed, not even noticing that her dress was getting soaked.
"..."
Hugo... said nothing at all.
The Arwen Highlands were certainly a dangerous place. And there had been an ambush on top of that, had there not? But whatever excuses one might pile on, Siriel was bound to feel hurt. And yet Shiron had navigated that crisis beautifully.
His cleverness in consoling a dejected little girl—it should have been a heartwarming sight. And yet, for some reason, watching it left Hugo in a foul mood. He felt a scorching heat rising in his chest.
...This again.
Confronted by an emotion he had never experienced before, Hugo was thrown off balance.
What on earth is wrong with me? I ought to be praising the boy, and yet...
Staring at the knife twisted beyond recognition in his grip, Hugo ground the aching feeling down and swallowed it whole.