Chapter 54
The Flower That Bears a Sword - Chapter 54
Translation: godsn
"......"
"You could've just given it to me anytime."
"You were......"
"Or during the appointment ceremony. There were plenty of opportunities."
Seeing Yurien flustered strangely tickled and amused Echinacea, so she teased him with questions. Yurien added as if defending himself.
"You seemed to dislike me."
"Me? The Lord?"
Echinacea's voice involuntarily rose as she retorted. Who disliked whom? She was going crazy realizing she shamelessly liked him. When she countered, Yurien lowered his gaze.
"I know now that's not the case. Last time you called me pret......"
"Wait, wait, hold on. You don't need to say what comes after that. No, please don't say it."
Echinacea cut him off with her face burning bright red. Yurien's eyes widened in surprise before he chuckled softly. Still flushed, she grabbed the Amethyst sword on the table. As she tried attaching the belt to her waist, a gloomy voice resonated through her soul.
[Master. Master. Master.]
Why are you calling me when you know I can't answer right now, you damned magic sword. Echinacea grumbled internally. She wasn't quite sure how to fasten the belt. Fumbling with the white leather strap, she startled at the magic sword's suddenly raised voice and dropped it.
[You're picking up another sword instead of me right now? Huh? Even calling it pretty? How cruel! You've never said that to me! To some shoddy thing that's not even Giosa! I'm prettier! I'm sturdier too! Throw that away right now! That pale thing is completely ugly!]
It was much noisier than her usual whining. Like a bratty seven-year-old throwing a tantrum on the floor. Echinacea reflexively covered her ears.
[I obediently listened even when my master threatened to abandon me, but this master dares to accept another sword while I'm still here! I hate master! I'm sad! I'll get twisted! I'll go crooked!]
Covering her ears did nothing to block the voice reaching her soul. Valdergiosa's shrill voice made her head pound. Without mercy, Echinacea channeled mana into her right hand.
[Ow! Ah! Damn it, master only hates me......]
The magic sword grumbled furiously before falling silent. It seemed she'd need to have a separate conversation later. As she sighed, a shadow suddenly fell over her.
"L-Lord?"
"It seemed you were having trouble fastening it. May I assist briefly?"
Yurien had somehow circled the table and approached her. Leaning against the sofa backrest, he looked down at the clumsily draped white belt around her waist. Though he politely asked rather than immediately fixing it, the mere fact he'd come so close made half of Echinacea's rationality flee. She nodded blankly.
"Pardon me."
He took the belt. Wrapping it around her waist once, he fastened it by tying the beads at her side. In the process, his arm briefly embraced her waist before pulling away.
"This is how you fasten it."
"Th-thank you."
Yurien spoke calmly and stepped back, then headed toward the guest room door. With her senses still not fully returned, Echinacea unconsciously asked:
"Where are you going?"
"......My throat is dry. And you?"
"Ah, I'm fine."
"I'll be back."
Yurien exited the guest room in an instant. Left alone, Echinacea absently touched her waist before burying her face in both hands. Her entire face burned hot.
["Why did he suddenly leave? Well, since he's gone now, can I finally say it?"]
"If you tell me to throw Amethyst away, I'll break you first."
[Why! Why! Ugh, look at you already calling it by name! You never even liked swords before! Why are you singling this one out?! Just use any random sword like you always did and throw it away like you always do!]
"This one's an exception."
[That makes no sense! Why is it an exception? Because it's expensive?]
"Because Yurien gave it to me......."
Echinacea touched her lips, flustered by her own words. She ignored the Magic Sword's endless grumbling and gazed at Amethyst hanging at her waist. The white sword he had made for her.
'When I look at this now...'
Yurien would come to mind before the nightmare-like memories. A realization struck her like lightning. Maybe for a while—maybe forever. She wouldn't have to relive those horrors when she looked at Amethyst. Warmth spread through her, as if she were soaking in hot water from the very tips of her soul.
"What do I do... I think I'm falling even deeper."
These dreamlike moments wouldn't last long. Reality was waiting with its jaws wide open. But the emotions she had just realized, now soaring, refused to let her go so easily. Echinacea simply closed her eyes, as if turning away from it all.
The train ran ceaselessly all day. They arrived at the station in Criola, a large city in the eastern part of the Empire, deep in the night. Outside the station, several carriages stood waiting to pick up disembarking passengers despite the late hour.
"We'll have to sleep in the carriage."
Yurien said this and hailed two carriages. They boarded separate ones and set off toward their destination. Exhausted, Echinacea fell asleep shortly after getting in.
It was a mire of blood and flesh. She lay sprawled in that filthy swamp. The metallic stench of blood stabbed at her nostrils. A skull with hollowed-out eyes, half-submerged in blood, stared at her. The skull opened its mouth and spoke.
<This is your family's blood. The blood of the people you cherished. The blood and tears of the innocent. All of it is yours.>
<Ugh...>
Her voice wouldn't come out. She tried to scream soundlessly, to rise, but the swamp bound her and wouldn't let go. Stop it, stop it. Just as she was about to break into sobs, a light poured down over her head. A pure, radiant glow. She looked up at it.
Can I touch it? Is this light really here for me? Could it save me?
Echinacea reached out toward the light. Crimson blood trickled down her raised forearm, tracing a web-like pattern. Her red-stained fingers touched the light.
And the light shattered.
<Ah.>
Every broken fragment of light was dyed bright red. Severed heads, corpses with spilled entrails, twisted faces, cursing screams, stagnant blood—all reflected in those shards. The light, now stained red, cascaded down.
<Did I ruin it?>
The collapsed light became red fragments, piling atop her swamp. From them, a corpse formed. A white-haired man's corpse, drenched in red. Unseeing blue eyes stared straight at her. As if accusing her for what she had done to him.
You said you'd win. You said you were grateful I watched over you. I believed in you. Is this the price of my faith? The result of me giving you a chance?
I should never have waited for you. I should have killed you right then and there.
She imagined the unspoken accusations as she stared at his corpse. Red liquid pooled in his blue eyes before spilling over. The corpse smiled and whispered.
<And you, who did this—how dare you say you love me?>
Echinacea screamed.
[Hey, hey, are you okay? Why are you screaming in your sleep like that? You scared me!]
"Young lady, what's the matter?"
The voice of the Magic Sword and the coachman's voice—peering in through the carriage window—reached her simultaneously. Eki was drenched in cold sweat, gasping for breath.
"Hah, hahh..."
It felt like she'd had a dream. What kind of dream was it? Ah, a nightmare. She often had nightmares, didn't she? It was nothing. A familiar occurrence. As she repeated this to herself incessantly, her breathing gradually steadied. Soon, Eki managed to smile nonchalantly and speak to the coachman.
"It's nothing, just a bad dream."
"You gave me quite a start, haha. Must've been the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. Well, it's about time you woke up anyway."
"How far have we come?"
"We're nearly there. If you open the window, you should see the village."
Eki slid open the wooden shutter on the carriage's firmly latched side. A thick fog rushed in, filling the interior. The chill helped cool her sweat-drenched skin.
[It's been a while since I've seen you have a nightmare. First time since the regression, isn't it? What was it about?]
"...I don't know. I forgot."
She gave the Magic Sword a vague answer while squinting through the fog. Beyond Yurien's carriage, which was riding just ahead, the village was coming into view.
It was a small village. They disembarked at the entrance and sent the carriage away. Yurien purchased some provisions before immediately leaving the village. He walked with unwavering steps, as if he already knew the destination well. His path led to the hill behind the village.
"Will you be alright?"
Just before starting the ascent, he turned to look at Eki. His gaze lingered on her high-heeled shoes. Reflexively, she nodded.
"I'll be fine."
She didn't want to show even the slightest hint of weakness—anything that would betray the image of "Lady Echinacea Roaz of the Count's household." The fear that had deepened after recognizing her own feelings bordered on compulsion.
Yurien didn't ask twice. He soon began climbing ahead. Eki followed a few steps behind.
Climbing a hill in heeled shoes and a puffed-out petticoat was far more uncomfortable than she'd anticipated. Fortunately, the hill wasn't particularly high or rugged—just a modest slope—but it was still unavoidably awkward. Had she not been a Master, she would've collapsed from exhaustion quickly. Secretly, she circulated mana to support her body. Though Yurien walked ahead, mana moving within another's body was undetectable unless directly touched, so it didn't matter.
Of course, if it leaked outward or if her movements reached a level impossible without mana, that would be a different story. The latter was most evident in sparring—against an opponent who could distinguish between mana-enhanced and normal movements, using mana would risk exposing her as a Master.
That was the primary reason she avoided sparring with Yurien. Against him, she couldn't afford not to use mana, but there was a world of difference between subtly circulating it to support her body while following him like this and actively employing it while crossing blades. Yurien, of all people, would instantly notice even the slightest mana-infused movement during a match.
'Wait... hold on.'
Cursing the petticoat and heels internally, Eki suddenly realized something she hadn't considered until now.
'There's no need to spar properly with Yurien, is there?'
Even if she swung her sword clumsily and lost, it wouldn't be strange. Of course not. She was just a first-year at the Military Academy, a mere Squire. It would be far weirder if she could properly spar against Yurien, the leader of the Azure Sky Knights and a Giosa Owner.
'Why didn't I think of this before?'