Chapter 118

Was it my imagination, or did Esadien’s complexion look even better than before?

“The color of his wound definitely got lighter.”

With a flicker of hope that he might wake up, I waited for a moment, but it seemed that I wasn’t allowed that much luck.

“Sigh. Of course not. I shouldn’t wish for too much.”

I let out a faint sigh and secretly left a kiss on Esadien’s forehead.

“I’ll be back after I finish everything with a ‘Ta-da!’ so you have to be healthy and awake, okay?”

I left my instructions and got up, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw something twitch.

“Huh?”

I slowly moved my hand and brought it close to Esadien’s fingertips.

I was sure his finger had just moved.

“Esadien?”

But no matter how carefully I called his name into his ear, no matter how much I tickled his armpits and sides, he didn’t react.

If Gabbie were here, he would have criticized me, saying he couldn’t tell if I was trying to wake him up or just being pervy, but I was innocent.

Being pervy! I wasn’t just touching his muscles for no reason; I was genuinely trying to check for a reaction.

…Really.

“Ahem. I must have seen wrong.”

With an awkward cough, I gave up and finally stood up.

“Esadien, then…”

I was about to put on my gloves again but changed my mind and placed them next to Esadien’s pillow.

He would hear that I had visited, but I wanted to leave something visible behind.

“…Then, I’ll be back.”

After saying my final farewell, I opened the door and found the attendant waiting.

“Just clear away the basin.”

“You seem to have taken a while, Your Grace? Did you also look at the tapestry on the wall?”

I responded playfully to his friendly joke.

“I did. Who wove it?”

I said it lightly, but the truth was, my eyes welled up the moment I saw it.

I thought that from the day I first gifted it, that tapestry must have watched over Esadien’s nights.

“Hahaha.”

“When His Highness wakes up, please be sure to tell him that I lovingly and carefully cleaned his body.”

Hoo-hoo-hoo.

If he heard that, Esadien would probably blush like a red bell pepper again.

Imagining that sight, I was in a cheerful mood as I returned home.

***

The next day, I left Roquate immediately.

The route was simple.

From Roquate to the north, to the Hirobimi Volcano, and finally, to Chitrum.

I said to Ramande, who stood beside me: “I told you, you can stay with my sisters.”

I had tried to dissuade him many times, saying it would be dangerous to follow, but Ramande was insistent that with Esadien gone, he couldn’t leave me alone either. I couldn’t win against him.

“Besides, how could you miss Sir Viache’s funeral?”

Especially with that excuse.

The first stop in the north was to hold the long-delayed funeral for Sir Nicholas.

The responsibility for losing a person.

All the matters surrounding me were important, but I didn’t want to ignore that responsibility. I couldn’t.

But…

“Ramande, are you going to keep waiting in the north? Or are you going straight back to Roquate?”

“We’ll see.”

This guy, Ramande, coolly evaded the question and then vanished to another place as if he had used a magic shortcut!

“Hey… Ramande!”

I glared and tried to catch him, but he knew me too well, even being an expert at escaping from me.

“Did you see Ramande?”

“Uh… he was here just a moment ago.”

He would appear and disappear like a ghost, here one moment, gone the next.

“May the grace of Plendena…”

“Ramande!”

When I, unable to endure it any longer, finally barged into a meeting with a worshiper,

“…Priest? Where did he go?”

He abandoned the words of Plendena he was conveying and ran away.

“Wow, this guy is really… wow…”

Honestly, I could have mobilized the knights, but I didn’t want to be that forceful with my one and only childhood friend.

I was trying to separate from him in the first place because I was worried about him.

So, in the end, I raised a white flag.

“Fine! You can follow me wherever you want, just come out now!”

After I yelled into the empty air, there was a few seconds of silence, followed by a voice tinged with laughter.

“Are you serious?”

“…”

Urgh. Where is he hiding, anyway?

I was so busy looking around to find Ramande that I couldn’t answer, but he couldn’t even wait that long and pressed me.

“You’re slow to answer.”

“Oh, seriously, yes! I’m serious! I’m serious!”

Only then did a hand approach from behind and caress my head as if to part my hair.

From my perspective, he had just appeared out of thin air, so honestly, my heart almost dropped.

“Good thinking.”

“Ha… Ramande Plendena, you’re alive? I thought we went back to being kids.”

When we were kids and played hide-and-seek, I could never find Ramande. Conversely, he could always find me without fail.

“Haha.”

Ramande, who laughed at my comment, asked:

“Thanks to me, you weren’t too depressed, right?”

What?

Ramande’s smile remained the same even as I flinched and looked back.

In Preseria, funerals are held for two days.

The purpose of coming north was to hold Sir Nicholas’s funeral, and today was the second day.

Looking back, even while sincerely comforting the Viache family, my heart hadn’t sunk into a deep depression.

“You… so you did that on purpose for me?”

I only now realized that it wasn’t because I had coolly let go of Sir Nicholas in my heart, but because Ramande hadn’t given me time to dig a hole of sorrow on my own.

“It’s a two-for-one deal.”

Ramande’s hand, which had been stroking my head again, went down as if to comb my hair, then grabbed a handful at the very end.

“Are we going to Hirobimi tomorrow?”

“First, after meeting with the Archmage in Rosos.”

Rosos is a coastal city with a view of Hirobimi Island.

It just so happened that the Schultz Trading Company was located in that area, and Brassidas was spending his vacation there under the pretext of taking care of Palos, who had just found his family.

Of course, there was a hidden reason: he had agreed to go to Hirobimi with me.

“I see.”

Ramande, who had answered lightly, brought the handful of my hair he was holding closer to his face.

Why is he doing something he doesn’t usually do?

“Does it smell? I washed my hair today.”

When I asked exactly what I was thinking, Ramande looked at me with quiet eyes for a moment and then let go of all my hair.

“You should cut your hair. The ends are all damaged.”

“Really?”

I, too, squinted and looked at my hair, but since the sun was setting, I couldn’t see it well.

‘If Ramande says so, then it must be so.’

I, feeling lazy, simply thought that and hurried to catch up with Ramande, who was already walking inside.

“Yeah, it was getting too long.”

“Should I trim it for you?”

“Like before? Yes!”

Ramande’s skill, which he had occasionally shown in Sermender, hadn’t faded, and he trimmed my hair neatly as he used to.

Thanks to that, the next day, I arrived in Rosos with a slightly lighter head.

“Excited, Sir Dane?”

When I poked him and asked mischievously, Clidane’s behind jumped up almost a hand’s length before dropping back down.

“Yes, what? What are you talking about?”

Yes, because your shoulders are rising higher and higher the closer we get to the Schultz Trading Company.

Instead of explaining it, I just chuckled and patted Clidane’s arm.

“How are things with Miss Cynthia? Are you dating?”

“Da, dating…”

Clidane’s face and ears turned bright red at the same time.

He already looked so similar to her, and his embarrassment was so alike that it made me think of Esadien, and my chest ached.

But I knew that showing such feelings would only ruin the mood. So, as if my stomach was about to burst, I just kept poking Clidane.

“Did you confess? Why don’t you answer quickly?”

“I-I did!”

Gah.

At his almost military-like, spirited answer, I covered my ears with my fingers and backed away.

Ramande, who had been watching us, scolded me.

“Minuelle, don’t tease him so much.”

“I’m not teasing, I’m cheering him on.”

I stuck out my tongue and teased Ramande as well, but then a question suddenly came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, Ramande was always so apathetic when talking about a person he liked.’

With one thing after another piling up, I hadn’t even had the presence of mind to ask about the fantastical ‘Ramande’s girl.’

But, even so.

It’s normal for it to show when you think of someone you like. Your eyes change, or the corners of your mouth soften.

‘Does she even exist?’

Just as I was starting to wonder if she was a real person, we arrived at the Schultz Trading Company.

“Sister!”

As soon as the carriage arrived, Palos was the first to run out and hug me.

‘Whoa?’

Anyone, not just me, would have instinctively looked to his older sister, Cynthia.

But she seemed busy with her reunion with Clidane, and the Schultz couple were also watching with pleased smiles, so I hugged Palos tightly and twirled him around.

“How have you been, our Palos?”

Actually, I didn’t need to ask.

The Palos who was so cautious even with a single title towards me, wary of his newfound family, now looked happier than ever.

“Yes, Sister! I’m going to the volcano with you tomorrow.”

“Really? It’s going to be very hot and difficult.”

Brassidas was an Archmage, so he could protect himself well enough, but Palos was still a child who hadn’t even graduated from magic school.

Seeing my concern, Brassidas, who had approached from behind, nodded.

“I’m not saying this because he’s my disciple, but Palos’s achievements are truly outstanding. And as a mage, it’s also necessary to experience the wondrous nature up close.”

To hear such words from an Archmage after only a year.

‘As expected of our Palos! What would have happened if a talent like this hadn’t been able to enter magic school?’

Palos, seeing me puffing my chest out with pride, said coaxingly:

“Sister, I’m really fine. My master will be there, too.”

He held on to my sleeve, and I had no way to win.

Since Brassidas cared for his disciple so much, I had no choice but to trust that he would protect Palos well this time as well.

“Alright, I understand.”

I patted Palos’s head and looked out over the distant horizon.

Even though we hadn’t crossed the sea yet, I could feel the vivid power of nature emanating from the Hirobimi Volcano. The spirit stone in my inner pocket felt heavy for no reason.

‘Gabbie, just a little longer.’

Gabbie, who had been listless, had suddenly fallen asleep at some point.

The energy in me wasn’t suddenly being drained, which meant the total amount of power we had was still the same, but I couldn’t figure out the cause.

‘I should have just gone to the Hirobimi Volcano when Gabbie was being a brat.’

It was my fault, my fault.

But regretting it wouldn’t change the past.

We had to move forward no matter what.