The Ball
"Is Miss Philia dating Instructor Rai?"
Zeroa had been savoring one of the few quiet evenings he got in a month when Aria's question made him set down the crepe he'd been eating.
By the time the weekend drew to a close, it wasn't only the headmistress who knew that Rai and Philia had ridden Black Horse back into the academy together. A handful of students had seen them come in on the stallion, Philia clinging tight to his back. The male students, Cuthbert among them, had wept tears of blood, and what the two of them had been doing over the weekend became the single greatest topic of interest on campus.
The rumors had already spread as far as they could go. Nobody asked the two of them directly, but everyone was convinced they were a couple. The gossip had even reached Aria's ears, despite how little she mixed with people, and so she put the question to Zeroa, who was close to them both.
"No, no. It's just a rumor. Instructor Rai and Miss Philia were training over the weekend. They'd gotten such a brutal workout that they had a simple treatment before they came back, so they looked fine on the outside — but they were a wreck internally. Miss Abigail spent half a day treating her, you know."
Other people might have misunderstood, but Aslan and Zeroa, who'd seen the two of them up close, knew better. Aslan had scolded Rai after seeing Philia dripping blood from her mouth, telling him to ease up on the training or he'd kill someone. Abigail, still inexperienced with her Miracles, had struggled to treat Philia. Having witnessed the whole commotion himself, Zeroa found the rumor that they were dating utterly absurd.
"I see..."
Aria looked as though she had more she wanted to say, but Zeroa didn't notice.
Anyone with a sharp eye — or any woman looking at it from the same side — could easily tell that Philia's demeanor had changed. The way she looked at Rai, the subtle shift in her attitude: she was scattering the evidence of a woman in love all over the place, enough that even socially awkward Aria could pick up on it. But Zeroa, whom she trusted, said of course it wasn't true.
His oblivious eyes were hardly reliable, but innocent Aria decided she must have been mistaken and let her suspicions drop.
"Ah, um... this... it's a return gift for Seria's Sweet..."
When a lull fell in the conversation, Zeroa rummaged through his clothes and pulled out a small box. It was simply carved from wood, nothing luxurious, but the well-worn case made it plain that Zeroa had made it himself. Aria, who knew he'd once worked as a carpenter's assistant, bowed her head in gratitude for the care he'd put into even making the box, and accepted it.
"Thank you for preparing this for me. May I open it here?"
"Yes, yes! I made it to give to you, Miss Aria, so that's fine!"
Hearing Zeroa's nervous reply, Aria opened the box and looked inside. Packed with simple cloth as padding, a wooden hair comb lay within. The crescent-shaped comb looked as though it had been carved from a single piece of wood, the teeth and handle formed as one. It fell short of a true craftsman's skill, but the handle was carved with all manner of animals, making it a lovely piece even as an ornament.
Embarrassed as he was, Zeroa stared blankly at Aria's profile as she held the comb up to the lamplight.
"Did you make this yourself? That's amazing. I don't have this kind of craftsmanship, so it's fascinating."
"No, no. Anyone can make one if they just practice."
"Thank you. I'll comb my hair with this starting today."
"N-no, you don't have to go that far... I'm sure you have much nicer combs..."
"You made this for me yourself, Zeroa."
Watching Aria clutch the comb to her chest and bow her head once more, Zeroa panicked and waved his hands in the air. The image of her in a thin nightgown, combing her hair with the comb he'd made before she slept, flashed through his mind. His face went scarlet, and he hung his head.
Therla, Aria's escort knight, watching from a discreet distance as though she were barely there at all, looked at him with pitying eyes. Zeroa just sat there like a hopeless fool, his mouth shut.
After staring at the ground for a while, he finally found his courage and looked up — only to find Aria combing hair as fine and dark as the night sky with the comb he'd given her. Feeling as though his nose was about to bleed, Zeroa quickly ducked his head again.
Just say it. You can do this.
Cheering himself on internally, Zeroa raised his head once more and looked at Aria. Something unusual in his eyes, so unlike his usual self, made her realize something was off. She stopped combing and looked straight at him.
"Um... Miss Aria..."
"Yes? Is there... something?"
At Aria's words, Zeroa swallowed hard. Behind them, Therla swallowed hard as well, staring at the two of them with wide, unblinking eyes.
Ordinarily, if two people had feelings for each other, the man would invite the woman to be his partner at the Ball when presenting the return gift for her Gammi. The origin of the day lay in the maiden Seria's pure wish to dance, offered in answer to the founding Emperor Terakan's promise to grant her anything she asked. When a man received not a small Gammi of respect or friendship, but one carrying a woman's heart, he would present a return gift and ask her to dance. If she agreed, the two would attend the Ball as partners.
It was a happy story — but for the person making the confession, it was a terrifying ordeal. What if she refused? She'd given him Gammi, so when would he ask? As the Ball drew nearer, men and women alike grew restless with anxiety.
Go for it! Just go for it!
Therla couldn't stand the thought of that pathetic Zeroa becoming the partner of the supremely adorable, peerlessly gorgeous goddess of a girl that was Miss Aria — but she desperately wanted to see Aria in a party dress. Last year, even though Aria hadn't given anyone Gammi, men in the hundreds had presented return gifts and invitations. Some of them were people Aria didn't even recognize by face, but the cowardly Zeroa hadn't been among them. Overwhelmed by the flood of both Gammi and return gifts, Aria had rejected every invitation, and on the day of the Ball itself she'd been too embarrassed to show herself in front of people and hadn't gone at all. Therla was cheering for Zeroa, who at least seemed to have a chance, with the single-minded determination that this time she would see her lady's party dress.
After fidgeting, Zeroa suddenly stood up from the bench, bowed toward Aria, and held out his hand.
Therla thought it was a thoroughly unstylish, uncool invitation, but she clenched her fists and waited for Aria's answer.
"... ..."
As if she hadn't expected to be invited by Zeroa, her beautiful eyes wavered. The two of them stood frozen, unmoving, while Therla waited in an agony of suspense. Then Aria lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
At those words of refusal, Zeroa's heart and Therla's both crumbled.
"Ah, ahaha. R-right, of course. I, uh, that was, overstepping, wasn't it? Ahahaha. Yeah. That's right."
Zeroa, looking enormously embarrassed, tried to laugh it off and salvage the heavy atmosphere, but the situation didn't improve.
"That's not it. You're wonderful, Zeroa. You didn't overstep at all. If anything, I'm the one who's lacking."
Aria said this with sad eyes, but it wasn't convincing — especially the part about her being the one who was lacking. Having said something that neither Therla nor even the boy she'd just rejected could possibly relate to, Aria seemed unable to bear his silence. After hesitating, she opened her mouth.
"I... I'm embarrassed to dance in front of people..."
"Y-yes? Why...?"
Zeroa, who'd had many conversations with Aria, already knew the answer — but he stupidly asked anyway. He knew perfectly well that her extraordinary beauty had left her with so little contact with people that she found them difficult. Living at the academy, she'd been improving little by little, and she'd been working hard to get closer to those she'd been grouped with for marching drills and cavalry exercises. But that didn't mean the loner tendencies she'd built up all this time would simply vanish. Going to a ball where she would be the center of everyone's attention required enormous courage from her.
When Aria didn't answer and kept her head down, Zeroa blamed himself, thinking he'd made a mistake.
"Right. Of course. Whether you attend the Ball or not is up to you. If you don't want to go, you don't have to."
Therla wanted to smack him on the back of the head, but she held it in.
"I want... I want to go..."
Zeroa, who'd been rambling, fell silent when he heard Aria's voice, speaking quietly as if to herself. She had shyly turned her head, her cheeks flushed.
"...Then let's take it slow."
Unable to understand his words, Aria lifted her head to look at him. The flustered, clumsy expression from a moment ago was gone, replaced by his usual kind smile.
"There's still plenty of time before we graduate. You want to try going, don't you?"
Aria nodded.
"Then let's take it one step at a time. This time, just try on the dress in your room. Next time, we'll go as far as the entrance of the Ball. And finally, we'll go inside and actually dance."
"... ..."
"When I was working at a marble sculpture workshop, the master craftsman told me: even if you don't have confidence, you have to take one step forward. At first, everyone ruins the marble. The master put a chisel in my hand and told me it was all right to fail — just try carving one more time."
Aria stared blankly at Zeroa's face, smiling in the lamplight, then nodded.
"When that time comes, please dance with me. This time, I'll wait."
"Yes... ah, um... but..."
Aria, who'd been about to answer as if spellbound, hesitated and glanced at him.
"But there's Miss Mia..."
"Huh? No, Miss Mia just trained with me under Instructor Rai and gave me Gammi, that's all... W-we're not anything. She, she also gave some to Aslan and Miss Philia... so..."
After briefly showing a cool side, Zeroa immediately transformed back into a man making pathetic excuses in front of a woman. Therla clutched her forehead and shook her head.
"What's with the hand?"
Rai looked at Philia, who was holding her hand out to him.
"Give me a return gift."
"Did you put in an order? Look at you, acting all entitled. You sound like Cesset."
"If you ate the Gammi, you have to give one. Give it to me."
Even after Rai's remark, Philia demanded a return gift without a hint of shame. Last year she'd let it pass without a word, but this year her eyes made it clear she was determined to get one no matter what.
"I didn't prepare anything."
"Then go buy one."
Rai frowned at her, then rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a thin hair tie. Looking at the cheap thing that couldn't have been worth even a single silver, he placed it in her hand.
He'd expected another earful, but Philia just quietly stared at the hair tie resting in her palm. She knew what it was. It was the one Rai had used to tie his hair when he'd disguised himself as a woman to assassinate Haxen. Why it was still in his pants pocket was a mystery, but it was definitely that hair tie.
Watching her silently clench her fist around it and tuck it away, Rai found it odd and turned around before he could get an earful for lingering.
"You got it. No complaining."
"Yes. I received it."
Hearing a strangely warm voice, Rai was about to flee when Philia called after him.
"Are you coming to the Ball, Instructor? You didn't come last year."
"Why would I? Old geezers crashing a kids' party? That's just sad."
Rai stopped walking and looked back as he spoke. Philia answered while tying her hair with the hair tie she'd just received.
"The other instructors are coming, so why are you acting like you're above it? Don't tell me you can't dance?"
"Have you forgotten who I am? There's nothing I can't do."
He pointed at himself with a thoroughly confident expression. With the memories and experiences of every generation, there was no dance Rai didn't know. From simple dances to the formal ones that were part of etiquette, to the traditional dances of every country — all of it was stored intact in his mind. It wasn't mere knowledge, either; he had the experience and the know-how, so even if he'd never actually danced a particular one, he could do it on the spot if he wanted to.
"Then why don't you come? There must be plenty of people who want to dance with you, Instructor."
"Like you?"
Rai said it with a sly grin, but Philia didn't change her expression at all as she nodded.
"Yes. Like me. I want to dance with you."
Struck speechless by her bold answer, Rai's eyes darted around before he laughed.
"Isn't the man supposed to be the one who invites his partner?"
"So what? If you want something, you go after it first."
Rai looked at Philia, who was speaking so openly without backing down, then shrugged and turned to walk away again.
"I don't have a thing for kids. And if I danced with you, what do you think people would say?"
"... ..."
"I'll show up. Dancing, though — that's another story."
Philia watched Rai's back as he said something that sounded like a rejection, then threw in something nice at the end, the annoying man.
"Come to think of it, there's Xenia, and Leila, and plenty of other women. Do the staff even come? I could hang around with Hana and— ghk!"
Philia ran up and delivered a flying kick to Rai's unguarded back. She stood over him as he lay sprawled weakly on the ground, and looked down at him with a freezing gaze.
Delivering a line so sweet it clashed with her icy expression, Philia let out a hmph, turned her head, and walked away.