An Unscheduled Reunion
I tilted the wooden beer mug and glanced around the room.
So this is what it feels like at night.
Most inns, unless they were the high-end sort, turned their first floor into a counter and dining area. It let guests eat breakfast in the morning and let passing travelers stop in for supplies. At night, the space transformed into a tavern.
The inn we were staying at was no different. When I came downstairs, they were already serving drinks, so instead of going out, I decided to drink here. Ash returned with snacks, his expression clearly displeased.
“I wanted to bring the sweet things you like, but there wasn’t much variety. We really should go somewhere else……”
“It’s fine. Too much trouble.”
“Still, the atmosphere is rough.”
Ash rarely showed it, but he had the refined tastes befitting a prince. It was unusual for him to grumble so much, so I grabbed his hand as he set the snacks down and gestured for him to sit.
While I was at it, I peeked into his thoughts.
—I know I’m the only one thinking of this as a date, but our first date in a place like this? It’s disrespectful to her.
Did he really not think we’d already spent far too much time together to still call it a date?
[Master! You just read Ash’s thoughts, didn’t you?]
[Yeah.]
Other people’s thoughts were naturally inaudible to Rai. He always wanted to know everything I knew, so he made me explain, and it was starting to get annoying.
[What did he say? What did he say?]
[He’s annoyed the mood isn’t date-like. He doesn’t like that it’s just the two of us in a place like this. By the way, this feels like I’m doing live translation.]
[Ooh, as expected, Ash has a hundred times more romance than you do! What a commendable fellow.]
[Tch, romance my ass.]
[Wuu, Master has no sense of mood!]
Of course, it was true that this was a cheap inn—run-down, full of drunks, and already a few men were sneaking glances my way.
I stood out quite a bit among travelers to begin with. A young woman who looked barely more than a girl, striking looks, wearing a mage’s robe over a hunter’s leather jacket. The outfit made it impossible to guess my profession, so people probably wondered what I did. That didn’t mean I hid my face with a hood to avoid trouble, though. My beauty was meant to be shown off.
I was lucky to be born with a face like this!
Still, moving somewhere else might make drinking more comfortable. I picked up one of the dried fruits Ash had brought and blinked rapidly when I realized how good it tasted.
“Then how about we drink in my room? We can take this upstairs……”
“No, here is better.”
Ash answered firmly and sat down faster than usual, deliberately placing his sword on the table. It was a warning not to approach us. In more aggressive cases, people even drove daggers into the wood.
He really didn’t want to be alone with me if someone started trouble. The way he was on guard made me want to pounce on him even more…… I always wanted to do the things I was told not to.
“Ash, you try some too. It’s not bad.”
Smiling with my eyes, I pushed the bowl of snacks toward him. The dried fruit tasted similar to jujubes and had been soaked in honey. It paired perfectly with the beer. The only flaws were that the pieces were bite-sized, making it easy to keep eating, and that honey got on your fingers so you had to lick them clean. Otherwise, it was nearly perfect bar food.
Whenever I licked my fingers, Ash would deliberately look away or grip his sword tighter, pretending not to notice. It was my fingers I was licking, yet somehow it felt like I was tormenting him. He really was adorable.
I liked Ash. I liked the way he fidgeted, his unnecessary seriousness, the shy smile he gave me, and the busy look in his eyes when he was thinking about me. All of it.
Huh? Was I focusing too much on his face?
Hmm…… Do I just like Ash’s face?
That was something I needed to think about more carefully. Whenever I pictured his national-treasure-level handsome face, my judgment clouded and things got confusing.
Of course, his gentle and calm personality was also an undeniable strength. Sometimes he felt so mature that he reminded me of Teacher Iel scolding someone.
“Tell me, Jeanie.”
“Huh? What?”
“You seem to have trouble with your parents…… I’d like to help if I can. Of course, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to answer.”
“……So that’s what you wanted to say?”
Then this wasn’t a date at all! Or was this the kind of conversation people had on dates? I wouldn’t know—I’d never been on one before.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you so uncomfortable around someone, so I was worried. Especially since they’re your parents…… Is this too presumptuous of me?”
“No……”
“Will you be all right tomorrow? Will you be able to meet them?”
“They came all this way, so I have to meet them. I can’t keep running forever.”
The good mood I’d managed to recover instantly plummeted again. I stuffed snacks into my mouth until I couldn’t fit any more.
Damn it, was I shaking?
I felt like I needed more to drink to calm down, but I didn’t want to meet them tomorrow reeking of alcohol. Ash was right. Being around them made me act unlike myself. Because the fact that I was their daughter made me far too uncomfortable.
“You ran away? Why? Do you dislike them?”
“It’s not about liking or disliking. It’s something completely different. You know what I mean. You’ve felt the same way.”
Ash had the most awkward and difficult person on the continent as his biological father. He must have experienced his own share of discomfort with parents. Having the emperor as a father probably came with its own unique flavor of trouble.
“If it’s that kind of feeling……”
“I don’t dislike them. I want to make that clear.”
“Then it’s that they’re difficult.”
“We’ve been apart since I was too young, so maybe there’s no affection. After I entered the academy at five, we barely saw each other. But it’s not their fault. I was the one who wanted it that way.”
“……You were only five?”
“It was too awkward and uncomfortable. Being together was exhausting.”
Ash’s expression said he understood exactly how that felt. He’d suddenly gained an emperor for a father, so maybe he could relate to my troubles. Maybe Ash was one of the rare people who could actually understand me.
“They’re good people. That’s what made it harder. Seeing the way they looked at me, like they’d do anything for me…… it was too much pressure.”
“You do find it awkward when someone tries to take care of you. I think I understand.”
“Me? Really……?”
“It’s the same with Einy, with Rai, and with Akia…… It seems like liking someone and being affectionate toward them are two different things for you.”
“I don’t really like Akia or Einy, you know?”
[That means you like Rai!]
I hated when he referred to himself in the third person.
I ignored Rai’s excited ear-flapping and downed my beer.
“Do you know? When you say ‘I don’t dislike them,’ it sounds a lot like ‘I like them.’”
“……Don’t try to figure me out so much. I hate that.”
“I also know that while you’re terrifying when you treat someone as an enemy, once you consider them yours, you forgive quite a lot. You’re not that hard to understand. You’re too honest for that.”
“What are you talking about? I have plenty of secrets.”
“Your secrets don’t harm anyone. I can swear on everything I have that’s true.”
Rai had said Ash was a romantic, hadn’t he? Looking into those gently whispering eyes, I had no choice but to agree. Even I, who found cringey things repulsive, was starting to feel all soft and mushy.
“Would you like another drink?”
“Sure.”
“The servers look busy, so I’ll go get them.”
I handed my empty mug to Ash, rested my chin on my hand, and fell back into thought. My heart felt heavy.
Meeting my parents was too big a task. Every time we met, I never knew what to call them, and the same dilemma always returned. Mother, Father—I knew in my head that was what I should say, but getting the words out was harder than calling Endairon.
No matter how much I thought about it, I needed more time to prepare myself mentally. It had been eight years since we’d last seen each other, I’d recently died and come back to life, and…… I had no idea what kind of feeling I should greet them with. Most of all, I had nothing to say.
How have you been? It’s been a long time. You held my funeral, right?
“Haa…… Maybe I should’ve paid attention in etiquette class instead of skipping……”
The tavern was bustling, and I was so lost in my hopeless dilemma about how to face my parents that I didn’t notice someone approaching until Rai let out a short bark.
[……ster! Master!]
“Jeanie……?”
[They’re here!]
My hand slipped from where it had been propping up my chin. The voice coming from behind me sounded eerily like my own.
Rai’s warning hadn’t sounded too urgent, so the people behind me were probably ones I knew. Surely not…… With a sinking feeling, I turned around, and of course, the very people I’d been worrying about were standing right there.
“It is you, Jeanie!”
“Our daughter!”
I said tomorrow!
Behind the two people who had suddenly appeared and were pulling me into a hug, Bright stood awkwardly waving. Dropping a bomb was one thing, but couldn’t they at least keep their promises about time?
Even as I was being squeezed in their embrace, I managed a reply. How dare they use my parents as a shield.
You’re dead.
I dragged my thumb across my throat and ground my teeth. Of course, out of my parents’ sight.
“You really were safe! Thank goodness. I was so worried.”
“We missed you.”
“……Sniff, I’m glad to see you too. But…… weren’t we supposed to meet tomorrow……?”
I really wished they’d let go first. There were more than a few things I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud. There were very few people who made me choose my words so carefully.
“We were! But when we heard you’d been found, we couldn’t just sit still. You have no idea how much we had to convince Prince Kenyan to let us come see you right away.”
“The prince kept saying you’d be surprised and that we should wait until tomorrow.”
“He even asked us to make sure we told you that.”
You were busy making yourself an escape route, weren’t you, Bright.
Who would ever guess these bright, cheerful people were in their mid-forties? Looking at the golden-haired couple who looked barely in their early thirties, I could tell my own future was bright. This family was blessed with powerful longevity genes.
My mother in particular had such a youthful face and forehead that she could pass for an older sister, while I seemed to have inherited my father’s sharp eyes. The blue color of my eyes definitely came from her.
Just looking at how much we resembled each other, there was no denying I was their biological child. Even a complete stranger would be able to tell we were family.
“……Well, thank you for coming all this way…… When are you leaving……?”
“Oh my! You’re being distant again.”
“Are you not happy to see us? We just met……”
“I am happy. Of course I’m happy. I just want to know when you’re leaving.”
That way I’d have some idea how many days I’d have to act unnaturally well-behaved.
“We were planning to head back tomorrow since we’ve left the territory for so long. But now that we’ve seen you! We were thinking of staying one more day…… Do you not want us to?”
“Are we a burden to you?”
“……No…… Yes…….”
Somebody save me.