Chapter 16
“Ah… well….”
Rea’s eyes clouded over. Esdel, watching her, gently asked again.
“You weren’t alone at first, were you?”
Rea hesitated, then nodded a couple of times. The girl, biting her lip hard, looked distressed.
“There were people I was traveling with, but in the forest… we were attacked…. The cart I was in rolled down a hill. I think they all thought I was dead and were lax in their search… I survived because of that.”
Esdel nodded silently.
“That must have been hard. You had no one to rely on. And no one to really talk to.”
“…Yes.”
Esdel saw Rea clench her fists tightly on her lap. Theodore might have saved her life, but it didn’t seem like he had offered any proper comfort. But Esdel was just as clumsy with comfort, so the conversation ended awkwardly there.
As they were fidgeting and sizing each other up, Prince chimed in. He held a bottle of liquor in one hand and chocolate in the other.
“Now, now. It’s our first night together, we can’t have it without some drinks! This is some liquor I got while asking around about the checkpoint earlier. Don’t you think it would be delicious if we boiled it with chocolate?”
Prince poured the rum from the glass bottle into a pot, then added the chocolate and started to boil it. Rea, who had been sitting with a gloomy face, also seemed curious and was glancing at the pot on the campfire.
“You know, when I was little, someone melted chocolate in liquor for me.”
“…When you were little…?”
“Hey, I didn’t drink it, I just held it. Just held it.”
Prince said with a playful wink.
“If you hold a little in a cup, your hands get warm quickly and a sweet scent wafts up. It feels like you’ve drunk it even if you haven’t. When you smell that scent, all the worries of the world seem trivial. I can’t forget that, so I always pack chocolate even if I don’t pack salt.”
Esdel glanced at the pot, which was starting to smell sweet, and saw that not only Rea but also Cess was staring intently at it. Prince started whistling and began to stir the pot with a wooden stick he had pulled out from somewhere.
“It’s all melted! Give me your cups. I’ll pour. This is strong stuff, so Rea, you should just hold it.”
Cess, as if she had been waiting, was the first to have her cup filled. Rea was next, and Esdel’s cup was taken by Theodore, who got it filled for her.
“Here you go. It’s not weak, so don’t drink it too fast.”
“You didn’t have to get it for me… thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Esdel, holding the cup, looked around at the people gathered around the campfire. Cess, who had been on edge all day, and Rea, who had been huddled up, were both warming themselves by the fire with relaxed faces.
One sip of the drink was achingly sweet. Thanks to that, she understood what Prince meant. She couldn’t think of anything else besides the sweetness that filled her mouth.
A strange place, strange people, a strange task. Everything was a first for Esdel as well. She finally relaxed her stiff back and thighs from riding all day. As she painstakingly changed her posture and hugged her legs, Theodore, who was beside her, whispered.
“You can go in and sleep first if you’re tired.”
“I’m fine. More importantly… let’s get some fresh air for a moment, shall we?”
Esdel, after asking for the group’s understanding, grabbed Theodore’s sleeve and stood up. Prince and Rea were talking to each other, and Cess seemed to have no interest in anything other than sipping her chocolate-infused rum.
Esdel took a lantern and walked to the back of the campsite. After moving to a position where their conversation wouldn’t be heard by the group, she stopped.
The gentle light of the lantern illuminated both their faces.
“Sit here.”
“Ah, yes….”
While she was hesitating, unsure of what to ask first, Theodore led her to a rock big enough for two to sit on. Contrary to her expectation that he would sit next to her, the man knelt on one knee in front of her as soon as Esdel sat down.
“…Theodore?”
“These are new shoes from yesterday, aren’t they? They won’t be broken in yet, so it would be better to take them off for a while, at least while you’re here.”
The man, holding her ankle lightly with one hand, untied the shoelaces with the other. While he untied the laces and finally took off the shoe, Esdel was holding her breath. She was only able to open her mouth after he had stood up.
Esdel, trying to control the tremor in her voice, asked.
“…Why are you suddenly like this? You weren’t like this at first.”
“Don’t you like this side of me better?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it….”
“Then there’s no problem.”
Theodore cut off Esdel’s distress in one fell swoop. A picturesque smile appeared on the man’s lips as he straightened his wrinkled clothes.
“I want you to like me more. Much more than now.”
Why? A short, deep question echoed in her mind, but Esdel didn’t bother to voice it. The man doesn’t answer questions that touch the core. In that case, what Esdel could do was to touch the periphery and try to draw its outline.
She patted the seat next to her, offering him a place. When she added that her neck hurt from looking up, the man immediately sat down beside her.
“The maids said you went out around midnight.”
“I did.”
“You, who left much earlier than me, were preparing to camp here instead of passing through the checkpoint.”
“Couldn’t it be that I was here because I couldn’t pass the checkpoint?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You would have passed even if it meant paying a hefty toll, if you had set your mind to it.”
Esdel dismissed his light excuse as a lie and continued.
“I don’t know what picture you’re trying to draw. I don’t know what you know, from where to where, or what it is that you know….”
The end of her sentence blurred with anxiety. She felt it more and more with each conversation. While this man seemed to see right through her as if he could see the future, Esdel knew almost nothing about him.
Theodore had known her even before they first met at the entrance. When she was frightened at their first meeting, he appeared from the next time on with a polite demeanor, as if he had become a different person. He acted as if he had no interest in the push-and-pull between men and women, but at necessary moments, he would close the distance without hesitation.
Kissing her, holding her hand, all seemed like means to handle her, but the emotions that occasionally showed suggested otherwise.
“What on earth are you doing? Is it something you can’t tell me? Is it just my delusion that everything is related to me?”
“It is not a delusion. Everything I do is related to you.”
A heavy statement followed the words uttered in a calm tone. To Esdel, it was an overly deep remark.
“…Everything….”
Esdel, who had been looking straight ahead, turned her head. And immediately, her eyes met Theodore’s. It seemed he had been watching her even while she was looking elsewhere.
Esdel, feeling pressured, opened her mouth.
“What are we to each other?”
“We are companions until death.”
“Is it because we are soon to be married?”
“It is a matter unrelated to marriage. Even if our marriage ends in disaster later, nothing will change. Your end will be my end.”
Esdel blinked rapidly. But no matter how many times she closed and opened her eyes, the expression on Theodore’s face before her did not change. It was a serious face that didn’t seem to be telling a lie in the slightest.
She cautiously tested the waters with him.
“Even if I marry someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I backstab you and run away?”
“I do not mind.”
“Do you, by any chance, love me?”
Esdel regretted asking that question as soon as the words left her mouth. She herself didn’t even know what answer she wanted.
The beginning of this engagement was an alliance. The man wanted to marry her, and she wanted the man’s power and knowledge. There were no promised emotions between them. But now?
The man was playing the role of an ideal fiancé. Sometimes it looked like an act, and sometimes it looked genuine. Esdel had no confidence in telling them apart.
The man’s hand touched the back of her hand, which she had clenched so tightly that her nails were digging in. Along with a gentle stroking gesture, a belated answer was heard.
“You resemble someone I love.”
It felt like her breath stopped. Esdel swallowed dryly. She closed her eyes, then turned her gaze straight ahead with an indifferent face.
She felt as if she had been deceived. Her hands tensed. It felt as if the ring was strangling her finger. The fact that the man’s hand was still touching the back of her hand, even in this situation, made her blood boil.
“So, you proposed to me because I resemble that person?”
“I wanted to see that person achieve everything she wanted to do. Always.”
“That means you’re affirming my question. You want to see that person through me. Right?”
Even if one decided on a loveless marriage for something they wanted, no one would be pleased to be treated as someone’s substitute. As Esdel took a deep breath, Theodore soothed her by stroking the back of her hand.
“She is someone who died a long time ago. You don’t have to worry about me confusing you with her.”
“I see you lost her before you could even get married. So this time, you thought you should propose as soon as you met and get married first?”
“Do not be spiteful. Even if you had known this from the beginning, you would have accepted my proposal. Am I wrong?”
“…You’re right.”
At Theodore’s words that touched her inner thoughts, Esdel agreed as if a dam had burst. It was ridiculous to question the reason for the proposal now, and to act as if she had been betrayed by it. But that didn’t mean her boiling emotions subsided at once, so Esdel asked in a curt tone.
“That woman, what’s her name? I’ll at least know her name so I can hate her.”
“It’s a secret.”
“Are you afraid I’ll do something to her? You said she died a long time ago.”
“Later.”
Theodore said quietly.
“I will tell you later.”
“……”
“I answered because you asked, but you don’t need to worry about anything. Whatever the reason, the person I will marry is you, and the only one who has any meaning to me now is you.”
As if he knew what Esdel was thinking, he added another word.
“Not a substitute, but a legacy. If I had to put it into words.”
The hand that had fallen from the back of her hand touched her forehead. The man who smoothed out the wrinkles on Esdel’s forehead with a firm press held out his hand. His expression was as gentle as when he had first come here.
“Let’s go back. The potatoes we put in the campfire should be cooked by now.”
“…I don’t need to eat. You can have a lot by yourself.”
“No matter what happens, you must eat well.”
“You said I was a legacy. I’m an object. Even if you don’t bother to feed me, I’ll be alive and well.”
A chuckle was heard. Theodore lifted Esdel up in his arms. A small scream escaped, swallowed by the darkness, and her flailing legs were caught by the man’s hands. He gathered Esdel’s legs together and supported them, saying.
“I do not wish to lose you for a ridiculous reason like malnutrition.”
“I ate an apple earlier. I don’t eat potatoes unless they’re served with meat!”
“Just one bite. If you still don’t want to eat after that, I won’t press you further.”
👑🏰
She had no intention of eating something like a potato.
It might be different if it were served with meat or mashed into a soup, but how delicious could a whole, carelessly roasted potato be?
Esdel, who had been holding out with a defiant face thinking this, crumbled as soon as she took a single bite of the potato Theodore had peeled and offered her.
The freshly roasted potato was truly delicious. When the blackened, charred skin was peeled away, a pure white flesh was revealed inside. If you blew on it and took a small bite, the potato crumbled flakily.
It wasn’t the first time in her life she had eaten a roasted potato, but something was different. It was as if she could taste the masterful touch of a craftsman who had spent decades eating only potatoes to find the optimal temperature and time. It was a ridiculous thought, but it was true.
Looking around, the twins and Rea also had their eyes wide open.
Cess, who had devoured a whole roasted potato at a speed that was almost like swallowing it, opened her mouth. It was the first time Esdel had heard Cess’s voice since she had snapped at her to look away.
“You, what was your name?”
“Theodore.”
“Are you a cook?”
“No.”
“No? But you roast potatoes this well?”
“I used to roast them often for someone who loved them, even while saying they didn’t like something like a dirt-covered potato.”
“Really? If you’ve practiced that much, why don’t you try getting a job as a cook now?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it after I finish what I have to do. I’m busy right now.”
“Fine.”
Cess, who seemed moderately pleased with Theodore’s answer, even started humming a little tune and began peeling another potato. It was hard to believe this was the same person who had been scowling at Esdel and Theodore until now.
In the meantime, Esdel’s empty hand was soon filled. Having boasted that she didn’t eat things like potatoes, her pride was hurt to ask for another one now. As she was just glancing around, Theodore placed a nicely peeled potato on her palm.
“Have another one.”
“…Thank you.”
Esdel mumbled and bit into the white flesh of the potato. If she could have naturally blended into the group with just one potato, she should have practiced roasting potatoes instead of swordsmanship.
While Esdel, Cess, and Theodore were engrossed in their meal, Rea and Prince were playing a word chain game on the other side of the campfire. The two seemed to have become quite close while Esdel and Theodore were talking.
Prince threw out the first word with gusto.
“Name!”
“Um, Anion….”
“Ah, Rea, you don’t know this well, do you? In word chain, you can only use real words.”
“It is a real word….”
“Is there really such a word?”
At Prince’s question, Rea nodded her head vigorously up and down. Prince looked incredulous, but he said the next word anyway.
“Temperature!”
“Diagram….”
“Flowerpot!”
“Pot, Potentiometer….”
“…Are these really all real words?”
At Prince’s words, Rea hesitated and then nodded. Then Prince’s eyes widened and he said.
“Goodness! No way! You’re so smart, aren’t you? Where did you learn these words?”
“I… I’m a researcher….”
“A researcher? Wow!”
Rea, who had been timidly watching Prince’s reaction, slowly began to relax her expression.
“I, I work at a research institute in the Greedion Republic… I was on my way back after visiting my mentor… in the Peridon Holy Alliance.”
“How old did you say you were, Rea?”
“Seventeen.”
“Goodness! You’re only seventeen and you’re already a researcher? Rea, you’re an amazing person, aren’t you? Esdel, Cess. Did you hear what Rea just said?”
Prince smiled brightly, as if he himself had become a researcher. Then Rea, who had been clinging to a corner with her mouth shut like a clam, let out an awkward laugh.
“Ah, no… it’s nothing special…. It’s just, I’ve been interested in The Unknown artifacts since I was young… Isn’t everyone like that? Until now, the phase transition by The Unknown has been considered temporary, so how could The Unknown be endowed as an intrinsic property to an artifact?”
Her stuttering speech disappeared in an instant.
The group was momentarily at a loss for words, looking at Rea who was pouring out a stream of words with sparkling eyes. Even Cess, who had been on her fourth potato, looked up and stared at her.
From the moment she heard that Theodore had rescued her, she had a feeling there was something more, and sure enough.
Esdel, who had been just listening to their conversation, quietly chimed in.
“Rea, do you by any chance work at the Caldea Research Institute?”
As soon as she heard her question, Rea hastily looked around. Then she whispered in a low voice.
“Yes, but that’s a secret… you can’t tell anyone else.”
“A secret?”
“All researchers’ personal information is a secret.”
Rea explained haltingly.
The Caldea Research Institute was almost the only place conducting research on The Unknown, so attempts to threaten or kidnap researchers to extract information were frequent. To prevent this, not only the location of the institute but also the number and personal information of the researchers were all classified.
Esdel smiled gently.
“I see. Don’t worry. I’ll keep your secret. Right, Prince?”
“Of course! Rea, you don’t have to worry about anything.”
