The Stars We Wish Upon
We will gather at noon three weeks from now at the Laplonia Central Church. I wish you a safe journey. — Hero Kyle.
“Lily, write ‘Elf Kingdom’ on this envelope.”
“Mm, but what’s the point? The letter to the Magic Tower said the same thing, right?”
“It has meaning. So, do it that way.”
“Huh? Why so serious?”
Lily saw no meaning in it, but we needed to specify where each letter was going. To make sure they didn’t get mixed up.
Because the last letter would have different content.
I had a nightmare and realized it. I’m not ready to meet Floris yet. I know that running away won’t solve anything.
It’s just not the right time.
“From now on, one month from now, we will gather there. Please wait for Lady Saintess. — Hero Kyle.”
Done. We will meet here a week early and leave, and the Saintess will notice something is off while we’re gone.
But by then, it will already be too late.
“Lily, this one needs to go to the Holy Empire. Check the rest of the letters again.”
“Eh, but am I going too?”
“Of course. What would I do without you?”
“Yeah, yeah. Oppa can’t do anything without me.”
“Hey, what the—?”
“Okay, let’s go see the stars instead.”
Looking out the window, the dim light of early evening had already settled in.
“What did you do to make it night already…”
“Yeah. Being with you makes time fly, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“Oh, you’re admitting it willingly?”
“I don’t know. Just, I feel that way today.”
We both lay under a thin blanket on the grass, gazing at the stars. In this world, stars still lingered in the sky.
“Oppa, is the night sky blue or black?”
“It’s kind of sentimental, you.”
“It’s because I’m looking at the stars. So, answer the question. Is the night sky blue or black?”
“Well, I think it’s not black.”
“Whoa~ The correct answer was a dark blue.”
“No, what’s that?”
“Huh? Dark blue. There’s no need to lump them together, right? How beautiful the night sky is.”
No, that’s right, but you only gave me two options, you know.
“That’s the North Star, Oppa, and what’s that over there?”
“Scorpio.”
“Ehh, boring. I want to see Cygnus, something like that.”
Well, since the sky can’t place what you want up there.
“Oppa, look at that, over there.”
Lily called out as if she’d found something special in the sky.
“What is it? Ah, that? Is it passing by now?”
“Yeah, is that a shooting star? Should we make a wish?”
“A shooting star is just a rock that burns from friction while falling.”
“No, why are you so unromantic?”
“And that’s not a shooting star. Look, it has a tail. That’s a comet.”
“Oh, rarer than a shooting star?”
“Well, it’s harder to see than a shooting star, so maybe. But a comet is made of ice and dust too.”
“You keep ruining the mood.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, I don’t care if it’s a comet or whatever. As long as I believe it’s a shooting star.”
“It’ll be like that?”
“Yeah. In the end, it’s my heart that matters. And a burning rock is cooler than a lump of ice and dust, right?”
“No, what’s the difference?”
“Well, something about falling and burning from friction feels like standing up to the world. Brushing against the world’s wind. Also, burning itself to shine feels kind of cool.”
“You have a rich imagination, you.”
“Well, it’s because I’m a dreamer. Ah, isn’t this line cool too?”
Lily is a romantic girl.
How do I see Lily?
Admiration. I can definitely feel admiration. However, it’s not love, but it’s becoming clearer. The things I do with Lily, the feelings I feel when we’re together, are similar to love, but this is fake.
This… I realized through a disgusting nightmare. Maybe I’m trying to find in Lily the devotion and unconditional trust that I didn’t get from my married life with Floris.
No, probably this is it. My unstable mental state is also related to this.
Because I’m in a confused state where I can’t tell if my feelings are real or not, or even what they are.
Even though I know it’s unfair to Lily, I keep leaning on her, and I keep leaning on her.
“Oppa, what are you thinking?”
“Huh? Nothing.”
“Well, then let’s make a wish.”
“No, the comet and whatever have already passed.”
“Ehh, it’s a shooting star. Anyway, that shooting star I’ve kept in my eyes, in my heart. So, I can make a wish to my heart.”
“My, eyes, make a wish.”
Lily and I faced each other. I looked into Lily’s deep eyes. Maybe thinking that there might be a real shooting star at the bottom.
“Oppa, have you made all your wishes?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you wish for?”
I thought for a moment and answered.
“Just that I hope this life can continue.”
It’s true. I just thought that I wanted this life with Lily to continue.
Even if I can’t overcome my wounds, even if I can’t face Lily sincerely.
Even if this relationship is all fake.
Still, I just want this life to continue.
It might seem meaningless to someone, but to me, it’s a happy life.
Even if the root of this is all fake, this happiness is real.
“That’s an unfulfilled wish, right? Everything’s going to change now.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Then why make such a wish?”
“Even if it won’t come true, I can still wish, right? Isn’t that what wishes are for?”
“Ehh, what’s that. Wishes have to come true.”
“Is that so?”
“Well, anyway, since that wish didn’t appeal to me, it’s fortunate that it won’t come true.”
“Why didn’t it appeal to you?”
“Something, it felt too cruel while being happy. For me, and for Oppa.”
You know me too well. You can’t hide what I’m thinking from you.
Then, do I know you?
“Then, what wish did you make?”
“I want to be connected to Oppa in this life. If that doesn’t work, even in the next life, if that doesn’t work, even in the one after, if that doesn’t work, I just want to be by your side. If even that isn’t allowed, even for a moment, even for an instant, it’s okay, I want to be able to meet.”
“You made it like this?”
Whoa, this is a bit heavy.
But since it already happened once, isn’t it half-successful? This wish?
“Hey, make another wish.”
“Why, doesn’t Oppa like it?”
“No, just, uh… I thought it might be an unnecessary wish.”
“Tsk, what kind of words are those?”
“No, it doesn’t really have any meaning… Can’t you make something lighter? Like, ‘Please let me defeat the Demon King’ or something?”
“That’s Oppa’s wish, why am I making it? Oppa is the Hero, I’m the Saintess?”
Why is she so aggressive suddenly.
“Anyway, I’m not changing my wish.”
“Okay, then.”
“Ah, let’s stop this. We came out for once, so I need to put more stars in my eyes besides Oppa.”
Wow, you say that so casually.
“Ah, that one looks like Oppa. It’s a bit dumb, just like Oppa. Hahaha!”
I observed the group of stars pointed out by Lily’s finger.
“That’s the Hercules constellation.”
“Eh? Oppa isn’t the kind of cool hero from myths.”
“Hey, but I’m the Hero, that’s similar, right?”
“Well, since Oppa is my hero, that’s similar. Acknowledged!”
Lily didn’t take her eyes off the Hercules constellation.
“What are you doing? Fighting with Hercules?”
“No, wait. I’m keeping him in my heart too.”
“In my heart?”
“Yeah, like the shooting star I kept in my heart from the wish earlier? Like that, I’m keeping the Hercules, no, Kyle Oppa constellation in my heart. With these two eyes.”
“Once I keep it in my heart, Oppa will remain in my heart like that constellation, as my own Hercules.”
“Well, people sometimes name constellations after heroes, so maybe a constellation named after me will appear if I really defeat the Demon King.”
“But even after that, that constellation will remain as Kyle’s for me.”
“It’s touching, hey.”
“Heh, interesting. Should I go in? It’s getting chilly.”
“Then let’s go in?”
Clearly, as the night deepened, it was getting colder.
We only brought one blanket because we rushed out, so we decided to go in.
Walking the night path, something suddenly came to mind.
“Ah, I remembered. There are people who pick up and sell things like meteorites that fall to the ground.”
“So?”
“Well, if you want to make a wish on a shooting star, there’s that method too.”
“I don’t want to do that. It said the heart is important, right?”
“Well, if that’s how you feel.”
“Also, what’s the meaning if it’s something that fell to the ground? A shooting star is meaningful when it shines in the sky, right?”
“That’s true too.”
“And that rock feels fake. It burns and shines, using up all its value. A ghost-like thing that remembers the light it emits for a moment.”
“It’s kind of hard.”
“The truly valuable thing is to know how to shine on your own.”
Is that so. Just a fake that remembers the past light.
Where do the stars that resemble me go? If they lose their way and fall, where do they go...
I had this kind of thought. Maybe I’m falling too, that kind of thought.