Alone with Sharon's Mother
Alone with Sharon's Mother
"There's also a spot where you can warm yourself up."
Asilia spread her arms with a satisfied smile and introduced the place.
It was a hot spring.
"S-Something felt strange about this place, but that's just unfair..."
Danya's eyes darted in circles before she expertly averted her gaze.
Ian had been considering teasing her, but let it go.
A cornered Danya was entertaining in her own right.
Making her so wary of being teased that she tiptoed around every word would ruin the fun.
So he offered praise instead.
"Well done."
"Ugh!"
Yet Danya's face flushed as though the praise stung worse than any taunt.
There was no time to wonder why.
"Would you like to bathe with us, Ian?"
Asilia asked with a bright smile.
Her skin glistened with moisture through the thick white steam.
"Perfect timing. My muscles were all knotted up anyway. You should get in too, Ian."
Yergina stripped off her outer layers with brisk, efficient movements.
Perhaps her top had been compressing her chest tightly—the volume was rather... No, that wasn't the point.
"I-I... don't mind either. It's just Ian, after all. Yeah. I don't care."
Rina fidgeted with the handkerchief around her neck and murmured.
Was mixed bathing just an everyday fact of life in this world?
Now that he thought about it, some countries in his past life did have men and women bathing together...
"Everyone, snap out of it, nya!"
Patter patter.
Danya rushed over and pulled Yergina's and Rina's clothes back into place.
Then she ran back to him and stood on her tiptoes.
"Ian, just what do you think you're looking at?! Obviously forbidden! Peeking is also forbidden!"
She covered Ian's eyes with her tiny hands and physically spun him around.
Thank goodness there's at least one sane person here.
The fact that this small party contained even a single normal person brought a prickle of tears to Ian's eyes.
"...Fat lumps are forbidden too."
"Huh?"
"N-Nothing, nya! Anyway, no peeking! Absolutely not!"
SLAM—!
There was no actual door to the cave but if there had been, that's exactly the sound it would have made.
The moment Ian steadied his shaken composure with a deep breath—
"Fufu. Shall I take a short walk with Ian, then?"
Swoosh.
The sound of fabric gliding reached his ears.
Asilia had appeared beside him without a sound, smiling.
She had the air of someone with something to say.
◆
The cave was quite spacious, encompassing a variety of areas.
Ian followed Asilia as she walked ahead.
Crunch—
Asilia stopped where the snow lay trodden underfoot.
Looking up, snow drifted down with the light through a small opening in the ceiling.
Asilia turned around smoothly.
Not a single stray snowflake was disturbed.
"My child. It seems I raised her poorly."
Straight to the core.
Ian had been silent for a moment, and now he saw no easy way out.
He scratched the back of his head, sheepish.
"...You caught on?"
"Whenever the others speak of that child, they all steal glances at you. Mothers are perceptive when it comes to their children, you see."
"......"
Ian carefully studied Asilia's demeanor.
It wasn't so much because she was a supreme powerhouse...
It felt more like talking to a classmate's parent after getting into a fight with that classmate.
Sharon was certainly not his friend, nor anything close, yet the feeling lingered.
An odd sensation.
"The two of you fought, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"It seems that child, Sharon, was entirely in the wrong."
"...Yes."
He didn't ask how she knew.
As Asilia had said, it was a parent's intuition.
A flicker of sadness crossed her brow, then she gave a bittersweet smile.
"You are deeply considerate for your age, Ian. When you're young, you don't realize it. That a person like you is a good person."
Was I a good person?
Being considerate of Asilia—that was simply trying to understand her heart as his only lead.
Ian shook his head.
"That too is consideration. Come here."
Asilia sat down on the ground and patted the spot beside her.
A small hot spring sending up wisps of steam lay before them.
Smoothly lifting her hem, Asilia dipped her feet in.
Ian followed her lead.
Snowflakes fell one by one through the opening in the ceiling.
It felt like sitting in an open-air bath.
"I'm sorry. For raising my daughter poorly."
"I don't think that's something Lady Asilia needs to apologize for."
"Fufufu. So it is."
Splish. Splish.
Asilia kicked her feet playfully in the water.
Right now she looks less like a married woman with a daughter and more like a child herself.
Well, of course.
She and Sharon had been separated when Sharon was young, and considering how early marriage happened in this world's setting... Come to think of it, how long had Asilia been trapped here?
"It's a secret."
"I haven't even asked anything yet."
"Your face wore the expression of someone about to ask my age."
...A startlingly sharp woman in the most unexpected ways.
"I'll tell you something else instead. Is there anything you're curious about in this world?"
"You said this place is Richard's Dantian. Did you mean this cave?"
"No. It's more like... all of it."
"All of it...?"
Asilia closed her mouth, as if inviting him to work it out himself.
It didn't require much thought.
"Then don't tell me... you're saying this entire snowfield is Richard's Dantian?"
"Yes."
Ian recalled the snowfield they had crossed to reach the cave.
An endless expanse of snow.
If that vast space was all Richard's Dantian...
Ian's eyebrows trembled faintly.
This was the first time since his possession that he'd felt such a dizzying sensation.
"......"
Shiver.
Goosebumps erupted over his entire body in an instant.
Just how large was his own Dantian right now?
At best, the size of a tumbler cup?
Even if the energy within was refined to the utmost purity...
The difference in scale was overwhelming.
Asilia watched Ian biting his lip and asked,
"Are you feeling impatient?"
"...This isn't the end. Richard Pierce will continue to grow stronger. Even from now on."
"Were you planning to face him?"
"That was my intention, but..."
"Didn't you have a plan?"
Asilia asked.
A plan, was it.
He'd definitely had a plan.
Win Yergina over through his performance in the Grand Martial Tournament.
Use Rina's affinity to gather circumstantial evidence.
Have Karen move through the mansion and grasp its layout.
The moment a single piece of evidence surfaced, retreat immediately and request the Crown Princess's support.
Of course.
It was all a plan that had now gone up in smoke.
"So, will you give up now?"
"No."
There was no giving up.
Things would just become a little harder.
No. Perhaps a lot harder.
So what?
To survive, he had no choice but to keep deliberating the best possible course.
This game had been goddamn difficult from the start.
If he cut his sleeping hours further, pushed his brain to its limits, trained his body, and never slacked in his efforts—there were still plenty of avenues left.
Strategies were already forming in real time.
"Even if we fail to collect evidence on Richard Pierce, I'm confident I can break through as long as I make it out of the North alive. It simply means things ahead will become a bit more difficult.
"The biggest problem if we fail to keep Richard in check is that the Blood Rock Sect's influence will severely impact the entire continent. Quietly corrupting it, starting from the Empire's upper echelons."
Asilia listened quietly to Ian's words with a smile.
"First, I need to exert a bit more political influence. Politics is, in essence, people's attention. I've already established a good relationship with a reporter from the Imperial Daily. I'll simply ask him to embellish my achievements a little. It starts with being selected as the year's Most Promising Mage."
Most Promising Mage of the Year.
It wasn't a title of great honor, but it was undeniably one of the titles most beloved by the public.
"I'll begin to address political issues across the board—society, diplomacy, and so on. Focusing especially on the fields where the Blood Rock Sect exerts its influence in the shadows. I can draw out the support of the Third Princess. The picture will be me acting as the public face and figurehead, while she maneuvers in the political shadows. I can also leverage Sylvia's Laurent Trading Company. The economic, social, and political realms must all be targeted simultaneously."
Asilia gazed at Ian.
His insight was profound; his plan audacious yet meticulous.
And...
Desperate.
In Asilia's eyes, Ian appeared undeniably desperate.
His expression was composed, but the corners of his eyes quivered faintly.
His voice was calm, but his lips were dry.
Despite his confident posture, Asilia did not miss the anxious tremor at his fingertips.
Because that image so closely resembled herself.
The version of herself who had been consumed by anxiety after realizing Richard's true nature.
And Asilia knew.
The outcome of continuing down that path.
Anxiety feeds tension.
You grow impatient and hasty.
You strive to do a little better. You devise plans.
But no matter how hard you try, no matter how perfect a plan you devise, some things remain unattainable.
Sometimes the answer doesn't lie in effort.
If you fail to realize that, the ending will always be a tragedy.
Asilia stared into Ian's endlessly earnest eyes.
She looked at his pupils trembling minutely.
Ian's mouth opened once more.
"The problem is the Imperial Family. The First Princess's faction is too strong. When they join hands with the Raymond Trading Company, the Second Prince will undoubtedly grow more active with the Blood Rock Sect..."
Snow flurried.
Her deep blue hair drifted on the breeze that slipped through the ceiling.
Ian stopped speaking.
No. His words simply ceased on their own.
Something touched his lips. Soft skin.
It did not take long for him to realize he was held in Asilia's embrace.
It was as natural as the wind wrapping itself around something.
"Ian."
A gentle voice tickled his ear.
A faint, subtle body fragrance reached his nose.
"You've worked so hard."
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something in reply.
But instead.
A deep inhale filled his body, then escaped.
The tension drained away.
Sinking deeper into Asilia's embrace, Ian only then realized.
Just how constantly he had been living with every muscle in his body wound tight.
Asilia patted his back gently.
"You've truly worked so hard."
It was comfort.
The first he had ever heard since arriving in this place.