#12. Reunion
Luna seemed to be having a hard time keeping her composure after Seria's speech. She stared down at the floor and muttered in a voice so quiet I could barely catch it.
"...How... exactly... did I... win...?"
She had gnawed her nails down to the quick; one more second of it and they'd surely start bleeding. Terrified that her patience was about to snap clean past its limit, I did my best to entertain her.
"Luna, dear~ After the entrance ceremony, there's a special banquet waiting for us~ Once we get there, there'll be all sorts of delicious food from every corner of the human realm~"
Watching me strain so hard to cheer her up, she let out a little snort of laughter. Perhaps her mood had softened a little, because she stretched her arms overhead and humored me.
"Ugh... I really am in a foul mood, but... if Sirius insists that much, I suppose~"
That was the moment it happened.
Luna suddenly vanished from my field of vision, and behind me came the unmistakable sound of flesh striking flesh with tremendous force. Still struggling to process what was going on, I turned around. Luna spoke in a cold voice, looking genuinely disgusted.
"Keep your hands off what's mine, you shameless woman."
What met my eyes then was Seria—trembling, cradling a hand that had swollen bright red, her eyes wavering—and Luna, standing with her back to me as if daring anyone to make her give a single step.
The crowd making their way from the ceremony hall to the banquet froze at the sudden commotion, holding their breath and doing nothing but watching us. There was no doubt Luna had struck her in earnest—the pain must have been excruciating—and yet Seria didn't spare Luna, standing right in front of her, so much as a glance.
Seria's eyes found mine.
She stood there blankly, saying nothing, and then the tears began to fall, one after another.
"...Yu... Yuwol..."
Ignoring Luna entirely, she tried to come to me. I stood there frozen, utterly unable to decide how I was supposed to react—until Luna thrust her arm out between the two of us and jolted me out of my panic.
"Sirius."
It was Luna's voice, cool and level—the Luna from before her Unique Magic—for the first time in ages.
"Yes...? Ah, yes, my lady."
"It seems the Hero has mistaken you for someone else. Perhaps you should properly introduce yourself?"
"I..."
That was it. Luna was telling me to prove it, right now. Who I was.
"A pleasure to meet you, Hero. I am Sirius, attendant to Lady Luna, of the Iaros County."
Keeping my tone perfectly calm, I bowed politely to Seria.
"Was there some business you had with Sirius, Hero?"
Luna crossed her arms, looking thoroughly satisfied, and glared at Seria.
Okay, that's enough, isn't it? Stop provoking her... Luna...
Seria blinked, wearing the expression of someone who couldn't make sense of the situation at all, and looked at me as if pleading for an explanation.
It's been so long rose all the way to my throat. But not yet. It was too soon to reveal who I was. And doing so now would mean taking on far too much risk on my end as well—if she learned how I'd spent these years, and what blood now ran through my veins, then not only Luna but Seria herself could be thrown into a terrible position.
"...You're lying."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"Why are you lying to me... Yuwol...?"
Seria pleaded with me in a voice shaking uncontrollably.
"It's me... Seria... the one they dragged out of Homeron Village... you can't recognize me...?"
Seeing her body tremble so pitifully made my heart feel like it was being torn apart. But if I showed her so much as a hint of apology, my disguise would be blown. So I turned my face away and said, quietly, "I'm sorry, but you have mistaken me for someone else, Hero."
Seria closed the distance between us and snatched my hand.
"Look at my face, Yuwol... It's you, isn't it...? Why are you hiding it...?"
Tears were brimming in her blue eyes.
"This is quite inappropriate."
"Did you know? When you lie, your left eyebrow goes up."
I have a habit like that? It was news to me. And I'm really not lying, for the record... this is just genuinely awkward...
The moment Seria grabbed my hand and started talking, an absolutely murderous chill wrapped itself around me. It was a warm spring day with flowers in full bloom—and my own breath was coming out in white puffs.
Ugh... cold...
Apparently unable to bear it a moment longer, Luna hooked her arm through mine and plucked me right out of Seria's grip.
"Ah—my lady!"
"Sirius. You are aware that House Iaros does not tolerate such graceless behavior, I trust?"
It'd be the Demon King's house, not the Iaros County.
Luna, her frost-white hair shimmering, withdrew the chill and shot Seria a withering look.
"We will overlook it this once."
"Yes, my lady."
"Let's go."
Luna strode out of the hall without a backward glance, and I, all too aware of the eyes on us, quietly followed.
Haah...
This was not the reunion I had wanted. Not even a little.
We shoved our way through the crowd and, once we'd finally put some distance behind us, headed for the banquet hall. Luna's expression stayed foul the entire walk. She looked exactly like a beast whose territory had been violated.
As I trailed behind her, treading carefully, she spoke up.
"...How did it feel? Seeing him again after so long?"
How did it feel... Back in the Demon Realm, it had been like a wish—something that could only ever turn out wonderful. Things were rather more complicated now.
I answered honestly. "It's... complicated."
No word described my situation better than that. First of all, I had to keep my identity hidden from Seria. Even if I did choose to tell her, it could only happen once the circumstances made it something she could truly accept.
If I explained it now—after you were taken, I trained under the demons, fell in love with the Demon King's daughter, and came here to bring you home—I would be killed on the spot.
And this body of mine wasn't entirely mine anymore. The Demon King's blood flowed in my veins, and I was Luna's familiar—which meant that, strictly speaking, Luna was my master. Keeping from stirring up their emotions while finding a way to reach Seria... honestly, no path presented itself.
My feelings were a tangled mess, and yet... after all this time, her face was beautiful. I'd thought she was pretty even as a child, but the woman she'd shown me today had grown up splendidly. There used to be a certain roundness to her; now she was sharp, magnetic—a woman with real presence. If Seria's parents had still been alive, they would have been so proud...
A bitter smile crossed my face at the sour memory.
Luna honestly didn't look like she felt much better herself, but she seemed to understand, and she gently patted my back. She always thought of me before herself. I couldn't have been more grateful.
We'd finally met. Just knowing he was alive made the tears come and refused to stop.
Yuwol had brushed me off, claimed to be someone called Sirius, hidden behind some other name and identity—but there was no possibility I wouldn't recognize Yuwol. It was him. Without a doubt, it was my first love, Yuwol.
What I couldn't understand was why he was lying to me. I decided it must be because he didn't grasp just how powerful I had become.
The me of today could become the lord of a domain two or three times the size of Homeron Village, simply by wanting it. If he stayed by my side, he'd never have anything to fear...
I was in the middle of that thought when that infuriating silver-haired girl came to mind. If I remembered correctly... I'd heard she was from the Iaros County. The Iaros County... one of the noble houses of the Zeros Kingdom, if I wasn't mistaken.
I dredged up fragments of the lessons the dukedom had given me. The Zeros Kingdom lay far across the ocean—farther from the Ivelis Empire than any other nation on the continent. No matter how I turned it over, I couldn't imagine what talent had carried Yuwol that far.
The thought crossed my mind that he might have been sold to some unscrupulous slaver—but if that were true, he could never have made it here. Nothing about it added up. Yuwol pretending not to know me, and that girl's needlessly spiteful attitude, both of them.
Come to think of it, everything had been so chaotic that I'd forgotten—back when I tried to throw my arms around Yuwol, that was when she'd said it. Keep your hands off what's mine, you shameless woman.
This Academy revolved around me, the Hero. Everyone gathered in that hall was desperate just to exchange a single word with me. A respectful attitude and gentle words wouldn't have been enough—and yet she'd been downright insolent.
After a great deal of deliberation, I arrived at my own answer.
"Julia."
"Yes, Lady Hero."
"There's something I need you to do."
Since I so rarely asked anything of her, Julia's face filled with puzzlement.
"The girl from the Zeros Kingdom who just entered the Academy—a daughter of House Iaros—and her servant, a man called Sirius. Please find me everything you can on the two of them."
Julia, who had trailed me out of the hall pretending not to have heard any of the commotion, looked at me in surprise.
"Imagine that—my lady seeking information on someone other than Master Yuwol. How extraordinary."
Well, of course. Sirius IS Yuwol.
"As fast and as thoroughly as you can manage. Please. I mean it."
"Understood. I'll send out the request right away and return as soon as I can."
Reclaiming Yuwol was only a matter of time.
And that woman who dared lay her hands on my man—I would make her pay exactly what she owed.