The Strongest Rival
"Did you?"
"Hyeon. Seol. Could we talk for a moment?"
Cecilia came over and asked them to speak with her.
"Good. I wanted to talk too."
Hyeon welcomed it.
It wasn't that her memories of this life had vanished, but there were a few places where they seemed tangled with the memories of the last. To sort them out, talking it through would be best, just as their master had said.
And while I'm at it, I'll learn what's in Cecilia's heart.
Cheon Hwi seemed to think of Cecilia as nothing more than an ally, but Cecilia looked as though she held a little something for him in return. Otherwise, why would she keep following him around? Before they regained their memories, even they had treated their master like a madman. If someone still wanted to stay at that madman's side, it came down to one of two things. Either she was mad herself, or she had some purpose where that madman was concerned. And Cecilia, no matter how one looked at her, did not look mad at all. Which meant the latter was the likelier of the two.
Between the matter of their memories and the chance to size up a rival, the disciples accepted Cecilia's offer.
"I'm glad. Shall we talk, then?"
Cecilia, never noticing the feeling behind their agreement, simply brightened at their willingness and began.
A place painted in blood and strewn with corpses hardly seemed fit for a conversation, so they climbed into one of the merchant caravan's wagons to speak.
"So... have you finally found your memories?"
Cecilia's question opened the talk.
She had sensed, from the moment the disciples came out with Cheon Hwi, that something about them had changed. She simply hadn't been able to tell what. Seeing them call Cheon Hwi Master had settled it for her. That was why she asked whether they had recovered their memories — and the answer that came back was strangely cold.
"That's ri—"
"Memories?"
Hyeon had been about to agree when Seol cut in with a question of her own.
After recovering their memories, the disciples had never once told Cecilia that they now knew of their past life. Calling Cheon Hwi Master was hardly grounds for leaping to so they've found the memories of their previous life. And yet Cecilia had asked them outright whether they had. Suspicious, the disciples pressed her.
"Cheon Hwi told me. Didn't he tell you?"
Cecilia answered with a bright, untroubled face, as if nothing were amiss — and that was more than enough to leave the disciples dumbfounded.
Their memories might be a little muddled, but they still knew they had studied under Cecilia and that she was a close friend. Those feelings hadn't changed. Even so...
I was happy, thinking it was a secret that belonged only to Master and us...
Master and disciples. A precious secret, like the bond of a previous life — and learning that Cecilia, who might well be a rival, already knew it left them with nothing but a faint ache of disappointment.
"Did I do something wrong...?"
Seeing their faces darken, Cecilia asked, timidly, whether she had made some mistake. She looked so pitiful, so fragile, that guilt rose in the disciples at once.
"N-no. You didn't."
They had no choice but to apologize.
"What...? Oh... all right."
Caught off guard by an apology she hadn't expected, Cecilia could only accept it.
For now, sorting out their memories mattered more than this.
"Mm... you seem to know already, but I've recovered the memories of my past life."
"Yes. Congratulations."
"So our memories of this life and the last seem a little mixed together. Will you help?"
"Of course I'll help. Ask me anything."
"Then how far have you gone with Master?"
"...What?"
Wasn't this supposed to be the part where they asked questions to sort out their memories? And why did that matter right now?
The whole reason they wanted their memories in order was to understand the Cheon Hwi of the present — and, through that understanding, to draw closer to him. If Cecilia was seeing Cheon Hwi, every one of those reasons collapsed. What if Cecilia had feelings for their master? No — what if she was already together with him? While worries of that sort flooded Hyeon's mind, an entirely different thought was rising in Cecilia's.
What kind of question is that?
If this was meant to sort out her memories, shouldn't she have asked something about herself — what was I doing, or what kind of person was I? No, if Seol had asked it, Cecilia could have understood. Seol had a slightly odd streak. But why was Hyeon the one asking? Hyeon was supposed to be the normal one. For a moment Cecilia was lost in confusion. The question itself was strange enough, and the intent behind it stranger still.
Going far — that means... between a man and a woman... eek!
How indecent!
She and Cheon Hwi were only friends to begin with. Blushing all on her own at Hyeon's question, Cecilia gathered her thoughts and recounted what had happened between them exactly as it was. The trouble was that she and Cheon Hwi had, unexpectedly, done quite a lot together.
I thought I was only talking about ordinary things.
Having no experience with men, she had assumed that nearly everything she had done with Cheon Hwi was perfectly ordinary.
Why are they reacting like this?
And so she failed entirely to foresee the jealousy it would stir in the disciples.
What in the world did I do...?
Envied for reasons she couldn't begin to grasp, Cecilia decided the disciples' memories must be badly tangled, leaving them confused — and she regretted not waiting until they were at least a little more settled before having this talk.
Until they heard Cecilia's story, they had thought of her as a friend. After hearing it, they could no longer think of her as only that.
"We often went to the library together to prepare for class. We ate together, too."
"Why weren't any of you there, you ask? You all said seeing Cheon Hwi during training hours was enough..."
"And as for class, I was teaching you in my own way, so there was a great deal to discuss."
"For this practical exam, we even went on a bit of a date— eek!"
Unable to hear another word, they slammed a hand against the floor and cut her off.
Meals? Fine. That, they could understand. Their master was a man, after all. Born in the Central Plains or not, he was neither a Shaolin monk nor a Wudang priest; there was no reason he couldn't share a meal with a woman. In their past life, hadn't he slipped off to the wine houses more than once?
Of course, we scolded him for it.
"Master. We hear you went to the wine house behind our backs again."
"It was for gathering information..."
"And which woman tasted better?"
"Where did you learn to talk like that!"
"Drinking at a wine house is one thing, Master, but don't drink with the women."
"Once you've had a little wine, the women are—"
"Don't."
They had warned him that sternly, and now a date? Had she said date?
Even I never got one, in my past life...
The disciples burned with jealousy of Cecilia, who had gone on a date with Cheon Hwi. Seeing that she didn't even understand why made them feel the faintest bit sorry for her — no. Sorry for what? Not one of his disciples in that past life had ever been his first date. And their master was just as much to blame. His first date, and it wasn't with them, the bonds of his former life, but with Cecilia, a woman he had met for the first time in this one?
If Cecilia had at least been plain, the jealousy might not have cut so deep. But who was Cecilia? A natural, unaffected charm; a small frame people couldn't help but find adorable; radiant, lustrous platinum-blonde hair; and a generous chest besides. She had every quality a man could want. There was even talk around the academy that what she had received through the god's choosing was not holy power at all, but her face. And he had gone on a date with her?
Not that the disciples themselves were lacking in looks. If anything, they were very pretty. Even as orphans from the scorned swordsmanship faculty, hadn't nobles confessed to them more than once? What they did not have was the lofty office of Saintess, nor that kindly nature everyone admired — and the difference was exactly why they envied Cecilia now.
"Sneaky bastard..."
"Pardon?"
"Ah, it's nothing..."
And that face, as if she hadn't the faintest idea! The disciples stared at Cecilia in silence. Not quite a glare — more the struggle to hide the flash in their eyes behind smiles they forced into place. While Hyeon was looking at Cecilia with jealousy plain in her gaze, Seol spoke first.
"Did you do it?"
"You crazy—! Is that something you say to a Saintess?!"
Hyeon shouted at Seol's bombshell.
There were things one could say, and things one absolutely could not. And did you do it was not something one said to a Saintess.
How do I fix this...?
"Oh. The date was in the imperial capital!"
Fortunately, Cecilia seemed not to have caught the meaning. She took did you do it to mean the date, and launched into an account of how it had gone. They wanted to cut her off that very instant, but they had already said, by way of smoothing things over, that they wanted to hear about the date. Stopping her now would only look strange. They swallowed the feeling twisting in their chests and listened.
At the news that they had gone to the capital —
The capital... With us, he only ever took us to the training ground, or a stroll around the neighborhood...
— memory of the past rose up and fed their jealousy. At the news that they had bought all sorts of things there —
The details aren't so different from us.
— the similarity of it offered a small comfort.
When Cecilia's date story finally ran its course, the disciples were of one mind.
A formidable rival.
That was the thought they shared. And Cecilia could no longer be seen as merely a friend. Until now she had lived in the disciples' hearts as nothing but a dear companion. Now she had gained a new title as well: their most powerful romantic rival.
"Cecilia... do you like Master? I mean — Cheon Hwi?"
"I think of him as a friend."
Eating together and going on dates — since when is that friendship!
Hyeon screamed it inwardly. Was a Saintess's head nothing but a flower garden? They shared meals, she taught him, they enjoyed dates — and she called that friendship? If that was friendship, then a dragon was a snake, and an eagle a dove.
This could not go on. Cecilia had not yet realized her own heart. But if things stayed as they were, the realization would come in an instant. Which meant they had to confess their feelings for Cheon Hwi first.
"Cecilia, I'll be honest."
"Yes. Please, go ahead."
"I like Master."
"...Congratulations?"
A disciple says she likes her master, and the answer is congratulations. Truly, the Saintess's head seemed to be nothing but flowers.