Malice's True Intent Lies in Friendship: A Girl's Dawn and Her Father's Cold Blood (55)

The light from magic lamps is cold, or so I have always thought. Compared with natural flames and magical light, the light produced by sorcery is constant and cold.

Yet when that light is reflected in my lady's scarlet eyes, it looks like the finest radiance. How strange.

The reflection of me in those eyes has what I think is a gentle smile. At least, I am making a desperate effort to smile.

"What do you mean...?"

"I mean exactly what I said, my lady. From here on, our paths diverge. I will go beyond this wall, while you remain inside it—as before."

"Don't say something like that, even as a joke!"

"It isn't a joke, a lie, or empty bravado. My lady, thank you for seeing me off this far... I have a feeling that simply being seen off by you will brighten the rest of my life."

"Reiji, why...? Why would you say something so cruel?"

Pushing away my pale, trembling lady here was certainly a "cruel" thing to do.

But even so, it was something I had to decide and carry out myself.

Because making my lady decide would have been far more "cruel."

"You kept looking back, didn't you? At the mansion, where the count would be left behind—all alone."

"...That's not..."

"It's all right. I may have simply misunderstood. And that's fine. I'll make the decision myself, and all you need to do is choose to 'go home.'"

"..."

"...My lady, you and the count are father and daughter—the only family either of you has. So many things have happened today... no, so many things have happened since the day of the 'New Sprout and New Moon Banquet.' That is why you don't have the emotional room to process everything right now. Naturally. It isn't because you're a child; what happened would have left even an adult bewildered."

I knelt so that my eyes were level with my lady's.

Tears were welling up in my lady's downcast eyes.

My lady must have sensed it, at least vaguely: if she did not return, what would become of the count? No one else could save him after he had become so distraught.

"It's all right. For now, go back to the count. He'll be happy to have you back."

"...But if I do that, Reiji... you'll be all alone, Reiji..."

"I'm much more grown-up than you, my lady."

"Even though we're only two years apart...?"

"Yes. Those two years make all the difference."

That was a lie, of course, but there was no point in telling my lady that I had been reincarnated now.

"My lady, I told you before, didn't I? This world is so vast that you couldn't travel all of it in a lifetime. But on the other hand, a lifetime is quite long. Spend time with the count, and even after you become an adult—if you still want to leave, then leave this country. It won't be too late even then. A lifetime is long enough to travel through plenty of countries. So, my lady, don't cry... This isn't our final farewell."

At last, my lady began to cry in earnest, and I gently stroked her head.

Now is her only chance to return to the count... If she did not go back now, the father-daughter bond between my lady and the count would surely become impossible to repair.

"...Reiji, I-I wanted to stay with you forever...! Why do you have to leave...?"

"It's just as I told you about my secret. The count said he would protect me, but I think that means he is underestimating the problem far too much. That is why I can no longer remain with the count. Besides, my lady, I am not being driven out. I am leaving this country of my own accord—the reason why, I'll tell you the next time we meet."

"I don't want that! I won't let you go alone!"

"I'm sorry, my lady."

"Don't apologize!"

"...This is the most difficult Order I've received yet. Let's be careful. Now then, my lady. It seems your escort has arrived."

Startled, my lady turned around. Captain Maxim was galloping toward us. When he noticed us—and my gaze and my lady's tear-streaked face—he dismounted some distance away.

He looked as though even his brain were made of muscle, but he was surprisingly considerate. Well, he couldn't work for Count Suilies otherwise.

"This really isn't our final farewell, is it?"

"Yes, of course it isn't."

My lady was clever. She knew that she really ought to return. Her emotions simply had not caught up yet.

So all I had to do was give her a nudge. I took out a handkerchief—I had used it to wipe my sweat earlier, but it was the only one I had, so there was no helping it—and wiped the tears from the corners of my lady's eyes.

"...You smell like Reiji."

"I'm honored."

"Do you remember the promise you made to me?"

"The promise that you'll give me a Talent Jewel, right?"

Of course I remembered.

—I'll give you a Talent Jewel worthy of you! Rejoice!

That was the occasion when her tone had been anything but that of someone giving a present. When I had pretended to be delighted, my lady had looked so happy.

It felt like ages ago.

"I'll definitely give it to you. So be sure to show yourself before me once more."

"Yes."

I made a fist with my right hand and pressed it against my heart.

"For you, my lady, I'll keep a slot open in my Skill Holder."

"...It's a promise."

"Yes, I promise."

My lady held out her right hand, palm down, with her index and middle fingers pressed together. I clasped those fingers with the hand I had lowered from my heart. My lady's hand had grown completely warm.

I stood up.

My lady looked up at me.

Ah—how beautiful she was.

I thought she looked more beautiful than ever.

She was intelligent, strong, graceful, and kind, with a charm that belonged to her alone.

...

...

Without a word, I turned my back and started walking. My lady did not move; she simply stared at my back.

My ears caught the soft plop of a drop hitting the ground, followed by a sound like a sob being stifled.

(...Am I crying...?)

There was no longer any need to force a smile. My lady could no longer see my face.

A single tear spilled from my eye; after that, tears poured down my face like water from a broken faucet. I couldn't let her see such a pathetic expression, so I think I did well to hold them back this long.

Just as my lady had wished.

I had wanted to stay by my lady's side, too.

I had wanted to watch her grow day by day from right beside her.

But that was precisely why...

"For now, goodbye, my lady..."

With tears still streaming down my face, I made my way through the city, silent as the dead.