Chapter 39
The night breeze sweeping beneath the moon and stars was refreshing.
Vieta had climbed onto the roof of the tallest building near the lodging and was looking down over Bingsho.
Whenever she surrendered her entire body to the wind in a high place with no one around, her suffocating emotions would be washed away, leaving her feeling refreshed.
Vieta thought of Laura as she smoothed down her hair, which the wind had tousled.
Just imagining Laura passing her by indifferently made Vieta's chest ache.
Iseria's hypnosis was less about erasing memories and more about manipulating them.
The hardworking maid would become someone whose name Laura didn't know; in Bingsho, it would become that she had gone shopping alone; and finally, the terrifying memory would become one of simply falling peacefully asleep.
In exchange for giving Laura an ordinary life, Vieta and her companions only had to shoulder all the remaining danger and pain.
Though this wasn't the first time she'd been forgotten, Vieta found it strangely difficult to pull herself together. Her body curled up like a ball.
After she had agonized there for quite some time, her red thread sensed something and gave a sharp, tingling cry. At its urging, Vieta rose and looked all around.
“…What is he doing over there?”
Blanc was milling about near the wooden fence surrounding the lodging. He seemed to have pulled his hood as low as it would go, but his distinctive blond hair stood out even from the roof.
Since it was late at night, he seemed not to have been noticed by anyone else.
“Could he have come looking for me?”
There was no other reason for the prince to be loitering around the maids' lodging. Feeling mischievous, Vieta carefully moved behind Blanc.
“What are you doing here?”
“Eek?!”
Blanc flinched as though he had been startled. He was trembling so hard that the prince's reaction seemed both cute and amusing, and a broad smile bloomed across Vieta's face.
“Vieta, are you feeling all right?”
Vieta nodded instead of answering.
“Are you sure you're not sleepy, tired, or in pain?”
“I'm really fine. But what about you? Is it really all right for you to be wandering around like this? Fulcare said your eyes must be hurting quite badly.”
It was nice to see his face when she had been feeling so lonely, but she couldn't help worrying when someone who had lost so much blood was wandering around.
“I'm fine too.”
Blanc grinned as though to prove it and rummaged through his bag.
“So, do you want a drink?”
What Blanc pulled out was a bottle of red wine wrapped snugly in a thick blanket.
“…Drunkard.”
“No, it's not like that.”
Blanc hurriedly waved his free hand at Vieta's accusation. Seeing him flustered, Vieta clutched her stomach and giggled.
As though he had realized she was teasing him, Blanc's face flushed bright red.
“Fine, but you can only drink a little. You're a patient.”
Vieta took Blanc's hand and pulled him along.
*
Two shadows now flickered across the roof where Vieta had been alone only moments before. Vieta had brought Blanc to the roof of the lodging.
It was something Blanc could never have managed alone, but with Vieta's help, he was able to climb onto the roof with ease.
While Blanc marveled at the beautiful nighttime view of Bingsho, Vieta lifted the wine bottle and drank straight from it, then let out a short exclamation.
Vieta wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and held the bottle out to Blanc.
Blanc accepted the bottle and hesitated for a moment before drinking straight from it just as Vieta had. It was a truly haphazard drinking party where they couldn't even properly taste the wine's aroma, but it wasn't bad.
“This is sweet. Is it the one we had last time?”
At Vieta's question, Blanc nodded. The wine he had brought was the same wine that had gotten her drunk in Contium.
With no way to get dessert amid all this chaos, he had brought the sweetest thing he could find in a hurry.
“By the way, why did you come looking for me in the middle of the night? It's dangerous to wander around alone.”
“Because I thought you might be alone. I was worried.”
Vieta had been about to complain, but Blanc's words left her speechless.
At the same time, she grew uneasy at the thought that her weakness might have shown. The same went for Laura and Blanc. Vieta didn't want to share her burdens and misfortune with anyone else.
It was a compulsion born of the pressure of being the hero.
“…Have you ever been to the sea, Vieta?”
Blanc, who had been gazing intently at her face, suddenly changed the subject.
“The sea? Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
Vieta also hurriedly responded to Blanc, not wanting him to see any more of her weakness. Even as she tried to act as though nothing was wrong, her face kept stiffening, so she turned away and looked up at the sky.
“Ahan Territory is famous for the sea. We've had so much to deal with until now, so I thought perhaps we could take a little break in Ahan.”
“The sea… It would be nice to go. But won't the marquis catch you, Blanc?”
“The marquis? Well, I can take care of that much myself. So, do you want to go see the sea together?”
“Sure. It can't hurt.”
A salty, fishy scent of the sea rose in Vieta's mind.
When she was young, she used to seek out famous beaches. She had loved immersing her entire body in large bodies of water, even if it wasn't the sea. But after ending up on this continent, she hadn't even been able to dream of it.
“We're really going together, then?”
“I mean it. Come with me.”
For some reason, Blanc kept making Vieta confirm her answer.
After that, the two of them spent their time making small talk. The pleasantly cool night breeze wrapped around their flushed cheeks, and the sharp scent of wine spread throughout the night sky.
After draining the entire bottle of wine, Vieta felt the alcohol rush to her head and gently rested it on Blanc's shoulder.
“…Thank you for today.”
He had come because he was worried she might be alone—a thing she had never heard even once since falling into this world.
“Still, don't push yourself too hard. I'm really fine, so take care of yourself first.”
“What do you mean, you're fine?”
“Just… it's all fine. You don't have to worry about me.”
What on earth could be weighing on her so heavily? Blanc wanted desperately to ask, but he couldn't bring himself to do so carelessly.
When he told her that he had been worried about her, Vieta had shown anxiety and fear rather than joy.
Judging by her reaction, it was clear that those words had crossed a line Vieta had drawn.
‘She probably still needs time.’
Silence settled between them, and Blanc looked down at Vieta, who had fallen asleep against his shoulder.
Even the loose strands of hair fluttering in the night breeze looked heartbreakingly lovely.
***
Knock, knock. Someone came looking for Vieta at her lodging first thing in the morning.
‘Who could it be? No one should be coming.’
After yesterday's fire, the participants had been given a day off to regroup.
Thanks to that, Vieta, who had only returned to the lodging around daybreak, was able to wash at her leisure.
Fresh from washing, with her dripping hair wrapped in a towel, Vieta opened the door slightly.
Dark skin and beautiful, jet-black hair. The person standing before the door was Laura.
“Vieta!”
Iseria must have erased her memories. How…?
Vieta's eyes widened uncontrollably at the sight of Laura.
“Oh my, you must have just finished washing.”
When Vieta stood frozen and made no move to open the door, Laura squeezed through the narrow gap.
“Lo…Laura.?
Laura pushed the door shut with her foot after entering the room.
A mouthwatering smell wafted from the bags in both of her hands.
“Ah, I brought quite a lot, didn't I? I happened to think of you, so I had some food packed for us to eat together.”
Unlike the dumbfounded Vieta, Laura nonchalantly set the bags down on the table.
“It tastes best while it's hot, but I'll dry your hair first.”
Then she took Vieta's hand, forcibly seated her in a chair, found a towel, and carefully dried her hair.
“Don't turn your head. It'll dry faster that way.”
When the startled Vieta kept turning around to look behind her, Laura began to nag. She even brushed Vieta's hair as she painstakingly dried it.
Bruises showed through the openings of Laura's sleeves whenever she moved.
On closer inspection, there was also a scabbed-over wound near her temple.
At the sight of it, Vieta's pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.
“…Laura, why?”
Do you remember me?
Vieta desperately swallowed the words.
“Vieta."
Laura let out a deep breath before continuing.
"I don't think the amount of time you've known someone matters when it comes to making friends. They say that somewhere, a woman who fell in love met her death after just five days, don't they?”
Laura's fingers moved without pause. She twisted strands of hair that were damp but not too wet around her fingers, and when she released them, the ends curled beautifully.
“We haven't known each other for long, but I consider Vieta my one and only friend. And I think friends should never let go of each other's hands, no matter what happens.”
Laura set down the comb she had been holding, stepped in front of Vieta, and brought their eyes to the same level.
“So I don't want to let go of the memories I've made with Vieta.”
Laura's calm voice was trembling now.