Chapter 18
“Hey, Kairos!”
“Ah… it's Ria.”
Kairos's expression unconsciously stiffened slightly.
But he showed nothing, and it soon softened into a gentle smile.
“So Rene was the one who said no?”
“Wow~ As expected of our grade's top student. You got it exactly right.”
Ria lightly placed the large luggage bag she had brought on the shelf. The train car jolted slightly.
“She threw a fit, saying she'd rather walk than go with you. Seriously, Rene really is something when it comes to stubbornness.”
Then she naturally plopped down in the seat beside Kairos.
“So what on earth happened between you two? You looked incredibly close when you first became buddies.”
“Hmm… who knows?”
Kairos vaguely let his sentence trail off, smiling.
“So, is this seat all right? We can switch if you want.”
“Huh? Ah, yeah, it's fine. I use the restroom often, so the aisle side is more comfortable.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, so don't worry about it and sit there.”
Ria nodded as if to say not to worry. She soon began rummaging through her pocket. Rustle—the sound of wrappers brushing against each other filled the air.
A moment later, Ria pulled a handful of colorful candies from her pocket.
“Want one?”
“Sure, thanks.”
Kairos unhesitatingly picked a lemon-flavored candy. Ria handed him the yellow candy and chose a red strawberry one for herself.
The two of them put the candies in their mouths almost simultaneously, and at that very moment, the train began moving with a screech. After watching the slowly moving scenery outside the window for a moment, Kairos spoke again.
“Ria.”
“What?”
“Hasn't Rene been acting a little strange lately?”
When Kairos turned to Ria again, she immediately cocked her head and asked, “Has she?”
Then she rested her chin for a moment with a thoughtful “Hmm…” and opened her mouth.
“She has suddenly become incredibly talkative.”
“Anything else?”
“Her prickly side has gotten a lot more pronounced, too.”
“Anything else?”
“Hmm… I don't know. Other than that, she hasn't really changed much.”
Ria shrugged and met Kairos's gaze.
“What about you, Kairos? Have you noticed anything else?”
“I guess her overall vibe?”
“Her overall vibe… That's awfully abstract.”
Ria thought a little longer, then shook her head as if she had no idea.
“Anyway, I can't think of anything besides that. Rene has always been a little eccentric.”
“That… is true.”
But even so, it was difficult to dismiss Rene's recent changes as merely ‘a manifestation of her eccentric side.’
Of course, now that she remembered everything he had done to her, it was only natural for her to treat him coldly… but the current Rene gave anyone who saw her the impression that she was a fundamentally different ‘person.’
What could be the reason? As Kairos put on a deliberately serious expression, Ria spoke again.
“Kairos, you know…”
“Yeah.”
“You do like Rene after all, don't you?”
“……”
Kairos stared at Ria in silence for a moment. But she merely waited, staring intently for his reaction.
After hesitating briefly, Kairos slowly shook his head. His expression showed no sign of disturbance.
“It's not like that.”
To be honest, he was flustered. No matter how badly everything had gotten tangled, he never expected Ria to say something like that.
“Hmm, is that so?”
Ria smiled knowingly and replied, then opened the snack bag in her hand. As she quietly offered him a snack, Kairos held out his hand as though he had no choice.
“Really. Rene is just a friend.”
The snacks, at least, hadn't changed. They were the same corn-flavored snacks as before.
Kairos tossed one into his mouth and looked out the window again. The scenery whipping past appeared blurry.
“You two really are alike in some ways.”
Ria also chuckled and brought her sentence to a close, then turned her gaze forward.
For about twenty minutes, only the train's regular clatter and the crunch of snacks echoed between them, until Ria brought up a new topic: ‘a funny thing that happened with Julia.’
※※
After riding the train for about three hours, they arrived at their destination. By then, Ria was deeply asleep beside him, even snoring.
Kairos first took both their bags down from the shelf, then lightly tapped Ria's shoulder to wake her.
“Mmm?”
“We’re here. Get up.”
“Ah… sorry.”
Ria rubbed her eyes and stretched. Kairos handed her the bag and got off the train first.
“Y-you’re late… But where’s Ria?”
As soon as Kairos stepped onto the platform, he saw Ellie and Julia, each carrying their luggage, and, in the distance, a figure with long, bright-yellow hair running toward the station building.
Kairos stared blankly at that retreating figure, already some fifty paces away, then scratched his head and asked Ellie.
“Ria will be out soon.”
Then she gestured with her chin toward the direction in which Rene had disappeared.
“But why is Rene rushing off like that?”
“She said she’d go ahead and find the carriage sent by House Friesna.”
Julia said this casually, folding her arms.
Soon, Ria's voice reached them along with her panting.
“Phew, sorry-sorry. I guess I dozed off.”
“I-it’s all right. Then let’s go right away too.”
Ellie calmly started walking ahead. Ria and Julia followed right behind her.
Kairos, who had stood dumbfounded for a moment at this unexpected turn of events, followed behind them with an awkward gait. As they stepped into the plaza in front of the station, he spotted two ornate carriages unmistakably bearing House Friesna's crest, as well as a dignified-looking butler.
“Oh, hello, Uncle Rette.”
Ellie greeted him first.
“Oh, is that Miss Ellie? What a pleasure to see you here.”
Butler Rette bowed politely. Following Ellie, the other three bowed as well.
Rette surveyed everyone with a gentle smile, then fixed his gaze on Kairos and spoke.
“Student Kairos, please take the carriage at the back. The other students, please follow me to the carriage in front.”
“Just me…?”
“That is correct, Student Kairos. The head of the house specially prepared separate carriages for men and women.”
“……”
Had they ever divided men and women before? Faced with yet another unexpected development, Kairos merely blinked blankly.
“See you later~”
Meanwhile, Ria and the others followed Rette toward the front carriage.
Kairos finally came to his senses, approached the rear carriage, and opened the door.
“……”
As expected, Rene was nowhere inside.
Kairos let out a brief sigh for reasons he couldn't explain and climbed into the carriage.
……
“We have arrived.”
The carriage ride didn't take long. Maybe thirty minutes later, the carriage came to a smooth stop and the door opened.
“Thank you.”
When Kairos got out, the others had already disembarked and were chatting. ……Rene was nowhere to be seen this time either.
Kairos scratched his head once more for no particular reason and approached them.
“Where’s Rene?”
“She said her stomach hurt and ran ahead. To the restroom.”
Ria answered casually and turned to Kairos.
“The butler says the ball has already started. We should hurry, change clothes, and head straight there.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. Apparently, for once, not a single scion of the Seven Great Houses was late.”
“Ah-ha.”
“Th-then let's go get ready right away too.”
Ellie seemed to be hurrying a little. She began walking in quick little steps toward the enormous main building.
“Yeah, let’s go too.”
Kairos followed behind Ellie, seemingly somewhat relieved now. The other two followed close behind.
“Student Kairos, this way.”
“Yes.”
Guided by the butler, he arrived at the guest dressing room. Fortunately, the interior had the same familiar layout. Kairos sighed in relief and opened his bag. He took out his wand and pointed it lightly into the air.
‘What on earth is happening to Rene?’
After waving his wand a few times, a simple map of the House Friesna estate appeared before his eyes.
‘……Hmm.’
The other three dots were marked in the women's dressing room one floor below him, but the final dot representing Rene was on the same floor, near the end of the corridor.
Fortunately, it seemed Rene hadn't wandered off on her own.
With a sigh of relief, Kairos lowered his wand and pulled out his tailcoat. He began changing, continuing to keep an eye on Rene's location.
“Hmm…?”
Around the time Kairos was buttoning his shirt, he spotted suspicious movement on the map.
Kairos stopped what he was doing and peered at the map.
‘Ria?’
It was Ria's dot. She had made her way up to this floor and headed toward the room where Rene was. For a moment, the two dots overlapped, then Ria's dot moved behind Rene's.
“……”
Then the two dots slowly began moving down the corridor.
The place they were heading was……
‘Could it be… my room?’
In an instant, a strange yet absurd premonition flashed through him. But he soon shook his head forcefully, denying the possibility.
‘No, that isn’t how this goes.’
Steeling himself, he finished getting dressed. Surely Ria had found Rene, who had gotten lost, and was taking her to the women's dressing room.
“……Come oooout~!”
But even though he tried not to pay attention, he began hearing Rene’s faint, irritated voice outside the door.
Fearing that his hunch might be right, Kairos hurried through the rest of his dressing. Once he had put on his tailcoat jacket, he could clearly see that the two dots had stopped right in front of his door.
Knock knock-
“Gasp….”
At the same time, the knocking sounded. Kairos hurriedly waved his wand to erase the map. The tension seemed thick enough to creak as he turned toward the door.
“Wh-who is it?”
“……”
There was no answer. Kairos swallowed involuntarily and approached the door. Then he asked very cautiously,
“Rene…?”
It truly was unbelievable, but there was no other possibility. The map didn't lie.
“……Urgh.”
Sure enough, the voice beyond the door was Rene's.
For a moment, he heard her ragged breathing, then a tiny voice leaked out, barely audible unless he listened closely.
“Come out right now. Or… if you don't want to get on Madam's bad side.”
That confirmed everything. Rene had come… wearing a dress, to fetch Kairos, her partner.
A brief silence followed. Within it, the sound of their breathing was the only thing he could clearly sense.
Finally, Kairos squeezed his eyes shut, steeled himself, grasped the doorknob, and opened the door with as composed an expression as he could manage.
“Sorry, Rene. Have you been wait…”
His voice was utterly calm—as if nothing had happened, perfectly Kairos-like.
“……Ah.”
But that voice failed to continue to the end.
The scene spread before his eyes left him unable to form a single word.
“W-what are you looking at?”
His neatly ordered mind went completely blank for the first time in ages.