The Young Master's Birthday Party (2)
"The two of you are siblings?"
They didn't look a thing alike. People said the eldest and the second were complete opposites—were these children the same?
"What are you talking about? She's just a kid I've known since she was little."
"Th-that's right... Someone as wonderful as Oppa... there's no way he could ever be siblings with me..."
Wonderful? Was this child blind, too?
"Didn't you say earlier that you'd come looking for your oppa? I thought you were searching because you were family."
Not even family, and she went looking for her oppa before her own father?
"From the start... I only came because I wanted to see Oppa... I f-forced myself to tag along... Hehe..."
Good grief...
"Well, you've found him, so that's that. Someone with enough time on their hands to come looking for me can show you the way."
"Who's got time to spare! I'm incredibly busy too. I barely carved out a moment to come find you."
"Is that so? Then what business brings someone so terribly busy all the way here?"
"I told you last time. If you got out of your work, I'd play with you. So I'm going to ask them to switch you to something else."
"Ah... I did say that, but even I think it's impossible."
The reason she'd been sold here was clear from the start, and there was no way a page could change work the head of the house had assigned.
"No! If you pester hard enough, most things work out!"
Pester hard enough and it works out, does it. That's rather impressive.
"Yes... well, do your best. I'll be looking forward to it."
"Yeah! Just believe in me!"
She wasn't particularly expecting anything. Still, who could predict a life? He might even succeed.
"But if that's all, there was no need to come find me, was there?"
"Oh! Right! You know, at the gift-opening ceremony? You absolutely have to be up near the front then!"
"The gift-opening ceremony?"
"Yeah, at the gift-opening! You have to! Don't forget, okay?"
"W-wait a moment!"
"I'm busy! I said what I came to say, so I'm going!!"
Same as always, the black-haired child said only what he wanted to say, then vanished from her sense.
Hey. You're supposed to wait for an answer. If it's the gift-opening, I'll be busy too.
"Oppa—!!"
And if he was leaving, he might at least have taken his little sister with him. Honestly...
She stood there dumbfounded for a moment, then came back to herself at a voice a little too clingy to be coming from so young a girl.
"Um... um... what kind of relationship do you have with Oppa...?"
"Relationship?"
What an odd thing to be curious about. We're only a page and a maid.
"The two of you... look really close..."
We look close? Is she actually blind...?
A joke—but thinking about it, what were they, really? They'd only come to know each other by chance.
Friends... the age gap was far too wide. It was closer to simply indulging him.
Coworkers... she hadn't officially done any work yet.
Hmm. They were keeping company for the sake of what each of them wanted, so something like partners? Yes. Partners would do.
"We're partners."
"Eh...? P-partners...?"
The girl started gnawing at her nails, anxious about something all over again. Had she made some mistake?
"Um, are you all right?"
"Ah...! Yes... I'm fine... Hehe... Um, would you like a candy...?"
With a gloomy little laugh, the young girl held out a flat piece of candy.
She had no idea why it was being offered so suddenly, but the shape was awfully familiar...
"Th-then I'll be going on ahead too...!"
"W-wait!"
"Oppa—! Let's go together—!!"
Was it the fashion these days for children to ignore someone calling them and simply run off? Every child she met did it, until she started to wonder if that was simply common sense.
She'd meant to ask where the candy had come from. This was definitely the thing that boy used when he wanted to make trouble for someone he didn't like...
Well, the party would go on for quite a while. She'd probably run into him at least once. She ought to get going too.
The banquet hall of House Blake was truly enormous. It wasn't only memory telling her so. The sense of space in the way sound rang confirmed it.
When she arrived and closed her sense for a moment, even in that brief span a dense reverberation spread through the air. A building this large meant it was overflowing with people.
And what could a blind girl do inside a space that vast and complicated?
"Excuse me."
"Ah, much obliged."
At most, pour water.
The work inside was largely finished, so there was nothing for her to help with, and anything that required strength was no help coming from her.
She hadn't been taught how to receive guests, and she lacked the stamina to serve. That left pouring drinks, or cleaning.
She'd meant to clean, if only so she wouldn't be a nuisance, but the cute child had said it was better for her face to be seen, and so she'd ended up pouring water.
There was tea over here too... and this one was still all right...
Her assigned area would hold for a while, so she ought to rest. With so many people about, simply walking around with her sense open piled the fatigue on fast.
She set the water down and made for a balcony that seemed likely to be empty. The party still had a long way to go. No one would be out there.
She opened the door, stepped onto the balcony, and leaned her weight against the railing. A cool wind came blowing in. Giving herself over to that freshness, she closed her sense and decided to enjoy the open air.
Standing out here like this, she didn't want to go back in...
Even in her days as the Hero, she'd avoided parties like this whenever she could. Who could have known she'd end up attending one in a position like this? She didn't want to go back in.
But now that she thought about it, did she even have to? It wasn't her job to begin with... If she were a selfish person, staying out would be the right choice, wouldn't it?
Even so... everyone else was working so hard. How could she be the only one to slip away...
While reason and feeling fought a fierce little battle, a faint vibration traveled along the corridor outside.
Someone else, it seemed, had thought of stepping out onto a balcony. Still, she'd deliberately chosen the one at the very far end, so it ought to be fine.
Click... click...
They'd drawn close enough that the vibration had become sound.
Click... click...
Huh? They should nearly be at the end by now.
Click, click.
People's thoughts really did run along the same lines. The fortunate part was that this was someone considerate enough to use the balcony at the end of the row.
If someone ill-tempered had come out here, she would have been scolded for what a maid thought she was doing in a place like this... The unfortunate part, conversely, was that a person like that wouldn't have come to the end of the row in the first place.
The footsteps made it obvious they were coming this way, so she decided to wait with her sense open.
They might not come in, after all.
The moment she thought it, the balcony door began to open. At times like this, she was never wrong.
"Oh dear. A lady was already inside."
The voice that delivered this in a greasy drawl belonged to... a man? A woman? No—a young boy, by the sound of it. She'd been getting tangled up with children a great deal lately.
"My apologies. I'll get out of your way at once."
That girl, Celis, had flustered her so badly that she'd forgotten for a moment, but her station was that of a servant. She had to show the guests the proper courtesy. Best to step aside quickly.
"Not at all. If it wouldn't be an imposition, would you keep me company in conversation? I don't have many acquaintances yet, you see, and I was feeling a little forlorn."
Judging by a height much like her own, he had a body of about ten as well. Of course he wouldn't have many acquaintances.
Then again, did a child this young have any business coming out to a balcony alone?
"Very well. If someone like me will do."
She'd meant to leave, but a child alone on a balcony made her uneasy for no good reason, so she decided to keep him company for a little while.
"Thank you, my lady."
"Um... is there no one else with you? Your parents, perhaps..."
Parents were supposed to look after their children. What were they doing, and where?
"Anyone else with me, you say... You don't know who I am, I see. I'm quite famous within the Empire, you know."
This child, famous? Was he some genius of music?
"I'm rather ignorant of how the world works."
"Even so, you ought to have seen my face at least once..."
"Unfortunately, I'm blind. I can't see."
"Yes, of course. There's no way you wouldn't know me... You're blind? Surely you're joking."
"It's the truth. My eyes are closed even now, aren't they?"
"You mean you weren't simply blessed with extraordinarily narrow eyes?!"
The child covered his mouth as if he couldn't believe the world.
"As expected, the world is full of young prodigies besides myself..."
Good heavens... Calling himself a prodigy. That was even harder to believe.
"Since fate has brought us together, might I know your name? By way of an introduction, of course."
Well, she'd just started to grow curious herself, so it wasn't a bad idea. What sort of child overflowed with confidence like that?
"I'm Ruanes. My family name... is a secret."
"Hmm. I see. They do say a secret only makes a lady more beautiful."
Is he really a child...? Why is he so greasy...
"Then it's my turn. As for me—I am the youngest mage ever admitted to the Magic Tower, and the greatest magical prospect of the present age: Areis Yuris..."
Wow... Look at that introduction. On confidence alone, he wouldn't lose to the Divine Archer...
Wait. What had he said? Areis?
"I am the son of Lady Areis Yuria—the mage who defeated the Demon King, and the strongest mage of this era."
"Wh... what did you say?"
Yuria's son...? What kind of trick of fate was this?
"I knew you would be surprised. Everyone who hears it for the first time reacts that way."
Hadn't they said Yuria was missing...? Why was her son alone in a place like this?
"This may be rude, but Lady Yuria... was missing, wasn't she...?"
"So you knew that much. Yes. Mother is missing at present."
She really was missing. Was Yuria safe...
No. Enough of that. This mattered more.
"Then did you come here alone?"
"Yes. With Mother absent, I am serving as acting head of the house. While I was at it, I came to celebrate the birthday of Elaine, an old friend of mine."
He looked about ten, same as her—what old friend. No. More than that: head of a house, at that age.
"That... must be difficult. Is there any other news of your mother?"
"None. She vanished all at once, without even a promise of when she might return."
Yuria's child... It would be a lie to say her feelings weren't complicated, but she worried more for this boy, who had lost a parent so young and been made head of the house.
Honestly, her love for Yuria had already cooled back then. Set the resentment aside, and she hardly felt anything else.
"Even so, there is no need to worry about me. For a prodigy such as myself, even the duties of family head are hardly a burden."
"I see..."
Still, it was a relief that he was strong, and grown-up for his years.
If the feelings from back then had still been so strong, she might have taken him for a target of revenge. As it was, the child left on his own only weighed on her.
She was settling those tangled feelings when the boy turned his head toward his wrist and spoke, as if to set the mood.
"It's already this late. Even so, thanks to you, it was a pleasant conversation. My lady."
Matching him, she checked the clock. Two and three, on the right. It was about time.
"I'm glad to hear it. If anything difficult should come up, I'll help, so please be sure to come find me."
In a way, he was like a nephew. If he was struggling, she wanted to help.
It was also because, though he too must have been a child of Elencia, she couldn't feel from him the killing intent she felt from Elaine.
"Oh dear. I truly am a man of many sins. To think I stole a lady's heart in so short a time."
Cancel that. Killing intent, full blast.
As of today, he was a target for revenge.
"It was a joke. Haha! Do not crumple that face so."
Even so, he seemed to lack tact and yet somehow possess it. He'd manage well enough.
"I wasn't joking. It's true that I'll help within what I'm able to do, so if there's anything you need to ask of me, please come find me."
"I am grateful even for the words, my lady. Then, until we meet again someday!"
With that, the child deliberately flared his clothes, lifted a hand with a flourish, and vanished.
Consistent to the very end.
It had been a sudden meeting, and a shocking one in more ways than one, but it was time she got moving. The opening ceremony would be starting soon...