CHAPTER 2
HAPPINESS REFLECTED UPON THE WATER’S SURFACE
1
“—Heeey, Lia. Don’t wobble your head like that and sit still, would you?”
Before she opened her eyes, the first thing she heard was a soft, lovely voice.
Slowly, as if guided by the voice, her consciousness floated to the surface. Her vision was hazy. In the span of several blinks, she realized she was sitting in a chair and this was her own house.
It was their house, built from the hollow of a great tree in the forest. She was sitting in her own chair in the living room.
“Goodness, how long are you going to be such a spoiled little child? You’re really incorrigible, you know.”
From so close that she could feel her breath, she heard a voice so gentle, it seemed to embrace her. It caused such a stirring in her chest that the girl—Emilia—hurriedly looked over.
She immediately spotted a woman with short silver hair, a foul look in her eyes, and who, to Emilia, was the ideal woman.
“Mom…”
“You turned so quickly, it surprised me… Did you doze off? Were you catching a nap while leaving me to do your hair…? We truly have a lazy Princess on our hands.”
As Emilia’s eyes went wide, her mother—Fortuna—smiled with an air of exasperation. She did not understand why she felt so deeply moved by simply seeing the sharp eyes and soft expression of her mother.
“Mom…”
“Mm? What’s wrong? If something happened, you can tell me anything.”
“You’re really dressed up today, huh, Mom? It’s really cute.”
“—! Is that all? And here I was getting worried only for you to tease me.”
With just a hint of a blush, Fortuna flicked Emilia’s forehead with a finger. Putting a hand on her forehead, Emilia went “eh-heh-heh” and grinned.
Emilia was always proud of her mother, but she thought Fortuna looked especially beautiful that day. This was because she was actually wearing a skirt for once instead of her usual easy-to-move-in attire. Though her clothes had minimal adornment, the color-matched, fresh-looking outfit suited Fortuna very well.
“Oh, look at you. Even though you have such a cute face, it’s quite a mess today… You really do seem like you’re still half-asleep. I thought I sent you to wash your hair at the watering hole earlier. Did you just have a drink and come back?”
“Hmph, Mom’s making fun of me again. There isn’t even the tiniest smidgen of carelessness in my whole body. Everyone else always says that I’m really well-behaved, too.”
“Even though you still use such ridiculous phrases, I’m really worried other people are filling your head with silly ideas. I’d better have a little chat with Archi after this.”
The way she pressed her lips together seemed to indicate dissatisfaction, but the way Fortuna pressed a palm against her forehead clashed with that image. Her mother proceeded to move in front of the sullen Emilia and resumed doing her hair once more.
She had long hair, silver just like Fortuna’s. Her mother braided it up with practiced ease like she used magic.
“Okay, now it’s all nice and beautiful. Go look in the mirror.”
“Mm-hmm, thanks, Mom. The mirror…”
When Fortuna patted her on the shoulder, Emilia stood up with a big grin to do as she was told. The little girl proceeded to turn toward the full-length mirror—but then she stopped.
“Emilia?”
Fortuna called out to her daughter with a questioning voice. But Emilia did not reply. For some reason, she could not approach the full-length mirror. Even she did not know the reason why.
Her legs were cramped. As Emilia stewed in melancholy, salvation came to her from a different direction.
She heard the sound of someone knocking on the door to their home. Lifting her head with a gasp, Emilia went, “A guest!” and whirled around, her legs hastily taking her in that direction. And then—
“—Good morning to you, Lady Emilia. I am overjoyed that you came to greet me.”
When she opened the door in a fair bit of a hurry, Emilia’s breath caught as the tall visitor on the other side greeted her. The man, with green hair and soft features, smiled at her.
Seeing the tranquil benevolence residing in this individual’s eyes, Emilia could not help but break into a broad smile.
“Geuse… G-good morning to you.”
“Yes, it has been some time, Lady Emilia. I hope you will treat me kindly today.”
“Today…?”
Hearing words of greeting from the visiting man—Geuse—made Emilia tilt her head in confusion. That curious reaction elicited an “oh my” from Geuse, who raised a curious eyebrow.
“Are you not aware? I had thought we had sent word beforehand…”
“Geuse, don’t take her seriously. Lia’s just being a sleepyhead this morning.”
“Grrr, I can’t believe Mom’s still saying stuff like that…”
Fortuna’s exasperated voice made Emilia look over, but her words caught in her throat. Fortuna was not dressed like normal, and she was holding a basket clearly meant for going out and about. Emilia could faintly smell herb-grilled meat sandwiched between cuts of her mother’s handmade bread. In other words—
“—Ah! We’re going to the lake?”
“Why, this girl looks like she only just remembered even though she’s the one who asked to go…”
“Did I really? …Maybe I did ask. If that’s true, then I just get to be twice as happy.”
When she thought back on it, she felt like she had made a request just like that. And having forgotten it, the instant she remembered made her feel like she’d gotten to enjoy it two times over.
“…Geuse, what do you think of her?”
“It is rather in character for Lady Emilia, I believe. She specializes in doubling her happiness. Perhaps we have a thing or two to learn from her.”
“You spoiling her irresponsibly puts me in a bind, though. Goodness…it must be Sister’s blood in her.”
Fortuna sighed as she touched a hand to her forehead. Then when she noticed Geuse training his gaze firmly upon her, she gave him a sharp look as if asking, What…?
“No, it would be better not to worsen your mood…”
“We’ve known each other long enough. There’s nothing you can say that will shake me now, Geuse.”
“Then I shall speak the words. Lady Fortuna, your clothing choices this day are dazzling. I find myself rather enchanted by the sight of you.”
When Geuse spoke his mind with a guileless look on his face, Fortuna stiffened for a brief moment.
“—!”
Then Fortuna’s face turned red. An instant later, with a powerful punch to his shoulder, she sent Geuse flying.
Forgotten in the commotion, the basket was in danger of falling onto the floor, but Emilia caught it just in the nick of time.
2
“Did I truly say something rude I should not have…?”
“No, it’s not that. Mom gets embarrassed really easily, so she couldn’t help but blush when you said that to her, Geuse. Tee-hee, Mom’s so cute.”
“Don’t go around making things up! Geuse is… He is a man wicked to the core.”
With the quarrel at home out of the way, the three amicably strolled along—Fortuna marched ahead in a huff, with Emilia and Geuse walking side by side as they headed for the lake in the forest.
The incident upon their departure had Fortuna in a mood, and Geuse had gotten worked up over that, but from Emilia’s point of view, Fortuna wasn’t really angry—she was just shy. Emilia was a little aggravated that Geuse seemed to be the only one who wasn’t picking up on that.
But the relationship between Geuse and her mother was close, if a bit prickly, and certainly a happy one.
“Oh my, Lady Fortuna.” “And Emilia and Geuse, too.” “Good to see parent and child getting along.”
The housewives living close by commented and called out as they watched the trio heading down the path toward the lake. Before Fortuna could whip out a snappy retort, Geuse said, “You are obviously very loved,” and the happy smile on his face made Fortuna swallow her words.
“…I—I suppose,” was the only reply she could muster.
Then as Fortuna inconspicuously matched her walking pace with Emilia and Geuse, Emilia quietly waved back to the housewives, whereupon the wives smiled with mischievous looks on their faces.
They walked in that manner for a while until the forest abruptly fell away and their destination, the lake, came into view.
“As usual, the air here is very refreshing. I feel like I’m in a better mood already.”
“That is because you are always carrying such weighty burdens, Lady Fortuna. You must stretch your wings once in a while. By all means, allow me to aid you in doing so.”
Fortuna put her things down on the lakeshore and made a little stretch as Geuse expressed his consideration for her. When he busily set aside a place for them to sit and made preparations for the picnic, Fortuna narrowed her eyes; then, as she gazed upon the scenery, she called out to Emilia.
“Today, I’m being treated not as the leader of my people but as an old little girl. I can’t relax like this. Hey, Emilia, say something, would…?”
“?”
“Emilia? What’s wrong?”
Fortuna extended a hand toward her beloved daughter, who was immobile as she stared intently, pouring her gaze into the scenery at the edge of the lake.
“You’ve been really odd this morning. If you don’t feel well, we can go home and…”
Then, just as she offered a voice of concern…
“?”
…Emilia’s tummy made a cute sound as it pleaded in hunger. Instantly, the concern on Fortuna’s face crumbled. All she could do was heave a deep sigh.
“Mom, I’m really hungry…”
“It’s obvious even if you didn’t tell me and didn’t show me such a tragic face. Goodness, you make people worry only for it to turn out like this. You truly are a child who keeps other people busy.”
As the corners of her eyes fell with relief, Fortuna flicked Emilia’s forehead, then pulled her close against her own chest. She did not crouch for this; Emilia was simply leaning forward—they were, after all, roughly the same height.
“The two of you always get along so well. Watching it up close is truly enough to put a smile on my face.”
“…Want to join in, Geuse?”
“Don’t say stupid things. Geuse, go ahead and open the basket. It’s a little early, but we shall have our meal, for our Princess demands it.”
With that declaration, Fortuna kept holding Emilia close as they walked over to join Geuse. The basket’s contents were spread atop a flat, grassy spot. Her mother was good at cooking over a fire, and this was her specialty.
Food grilled with herbs was one of Emilia’s favorites, as well as—
“I am always humbled that you would share this with me… The flavor is simply irresistible.”
With a munch, munch and a happy-looking face, Geuse stuffed his cheeks full of grilled-herb food. Fortuna’s cooking specialty was nothing short of a feast to him, so it was guaranteed this was what they would have every time the trio went out for a picnic.
It was undeniable. Something was…stirring in her chest.
“Geuse, if you love Mom’s cooking so much, you should just…live in the forest with us.”
Emilia pushed that feeling back down and raised the possibility of a life together for the intimate couple. Instantly, Fortuna’s face reddened. “E-Emilia…!” she cried.
“D-don’t say such thoughtless things. It’s very hard for Geuse, too. He has to thread his way through a busy schedule just to poke his head over here at all…”
“I am greatly pleased to hear you say this, Lady Emilia. Were it only possible. I, too, desire this from the bottom of my heart.”
The nervousness on her mother’s face was in stark contrast to Geuse’s calm demeanor. But the echo of Geuse’s words—were it only possible —left Emilia dissatisfied.
“If you want to do it, then just do it, not because it’s ‘possible.’ If neither of you has a problem with it… Besides, no one’s going to get in the way… Or am I in the way?”
“Not at all.” “That is not so.”
She voiced the concern that her being there was the reason the amiable pair could not be with each other. And since Fortuna and Geuse both denied it was so, she blurted out her next words without thinking.
“You two sure get along really nicely.”
“Oh, there you go again… Geuse, say something, would you?”
“Yes, you mustn’t, Lady Emilia. Lady Fortuna is someone with a very important duty. If one such as myself remains for too long, ill rumors shall arise and cause her trouble.”
“Rumors of Mom and Geuse…? I feel like it’s too late to stop those…”
Geuse’s poor defense made Emilia put a finger to her lips as she replied. Geuse looked like he had no idea to what she was referring. “I mean…,” went Emilia as she continued. “The aunties near home said we look like a happy family that gets along really well.”
“—! I was quite certain this was referring to Lady Emilia and Lady Fortuna only…”
“I expect nothing less from you, Geuse… But Mom understands, right?”
“?”
Emilia’s assertion made Fortuna avert her eyes with a red face.
Even Emilia could see right through her mother. Surely, Geuse felt the exact same way.
“I think it’s a really good idea. I do. So both of you think about it, okay?”
“?”
“No one in the forest, including me, thinks there’s anything weird about it. And I absolutely won’t stand for it if anyone says anything bad!”
With some half-eaten grilled-herb food in hand, Emilia realized she’d become rather worked up about this. Even so, she’d wanted to say it; she had to say it. She didn’t want Fortuna and Geuse to be afraid of being happy together—she wanted them to be happy.
Stuffing her cheeks with the remaining half of the grilled-herb food, she chewed it down, swallowed, brushed her knees, and stood up.
“I’ve said what I wanted to say. I leave everything else to the young couple. Go right ahead.”
“Emilia, truly, where did you learn of such things?”
When Emilia spoke those words with her hands on her hips, Fortuna wore her familiar exasperated look. However, that expression immediately fell away, changing into a smile she could not hold back.
“Tee-hee, ah-ha-ha. Oh, Emilia… Truly, you are a really cute girl.”
“Ha-ha, Lady Emilia has… I see, she has grown up sound and well. Truly, a joyful thing.”
“Well, of course she has. She’s my daughter, my pride and joy. It goes without saying.”
“Yes, so I see.”
Watching the two laughing and looking at each other’s smiling faces filled Emilia’s chest with a palpable sense of warmth. From the bottom of her heart, she wanted to gaze at the scene for a long time, immersing herself in it.
—Probably because there was no greater happiness than this.
“…Emilia?”
When Fortuna suddenly called out to her, Emilia hurriedly covered her face with her hands. She belatedly realized she’d spontaneously broken into tears. “Aa,” came her voice as she desperately tried to hold them back.
“I might’ve gotten a speck of dust in my eye. A really big speck of dust.”
“That big? Are you all right?”
“I-I’m fine. I’m in completely tip-top shape. As much as that rock over there.”
“That enormous boulder?! Are you truly all right?!”
“I said I’m fine!!”
Responding to the concerned pair, Emilia rubbed her eyes as she turned to face the lake.
“I’m going to wash my eyes out a bit. After, I think I’ll go around the lake once.”
“Make sure you don’t drop your eyeballs by mistake. They’re such a pretty color… Pretty violet eyes, just like Brother’s.”
“Well, Mom’s eyes are just as pretty.”
Perhaps Fortuna never considered that, for Emilia’s reply took her completely by surprise. Seeing that the unusual side of hers made Geuse laugh, Emilia laughed as well.
She kept laughing as she advanced toward the lake. Then she glanced back, looking at Fortuna and Geuse.
“Get along nicely and wait, okay? And always, always reaaaaally get along.”
“Yes, yes, you worrywart. But don’t make us wait too long. That would put me in a serious bind.”
“No, there is no need to hurry. Take your time. We shall wait for as long as is required, Lady Emilia.”
With the smiling pair—With her parents seeing her off, Emilia took a deep breath.
Then, unable to hold it in any longer, she turned around, looked straight at the two of them, and parted her lips once more.
“—I love you both.”
3
—From a plateau with a view of the entire lake, Emilia stood, gently caressed by the wind.
“?”
She was closely watching the intimate couple on the distant shore at the other end of the lake with her violet eyes, which her mother always praised so much.
Geuse said something without realizing the impact of his words; Fortuna went red in the face as she refuted him. Emilia pursed her lips as she watched the lightly amusing scenes. And then—
“Emilia, isn’t it dangerous for you to be here all by yourself?”
—hearing a familiar voice call out to her from behind, Emilia looked back. She was standing atop a sheer cliff with the lake spread out below it. Facing her was a handsome young man with golden hair and green eyes—Archi Elior, one of the elves living with them in the Great Elior Forest and, to Emilia, practically her own brother.
“Archi…”
“—Somehow, your voice and face seem different, Emilia. Did you leave your usual head-in-the-clouds-ness off by the wayside? You’re starting to worry me.”
“Hmph. That’s a terrible thing to say. Stupid Archi. I don’t know you. Go away.”
“Sorry, sorry. If you’re seriously worried about something, then I’ll seriously hear you out, all right?”
Faced with Emilia’s sullenness, Archi flashed a pained smile as he raised both hands in surrender and walked in her direction. Then he stood alongside Emilia upon the cliff. “What’s wrong?” he asked, tilting his head.
“Today Lord Archbishop was supposed to come to the forest, yes? Weren’t you with…? Ahhh, isn’t that him over there? Er, did you give them some time alone, by any chance?”
“…Mm, that’s right. What do you think of them, Archi?”
“I think they’re a good match. Everyone in the forest thinks so, too. Lady Fortuna is so strict with herself, even though we would prefer it if she thought of her own happiness more…”
As he shared those thoughts, Archi reeled in shock, for he had caught sight of Emilia’s wet eyes and the tears ready to spill out from them.
“Ah, um, Emilia, it’s not… It’s all right! Even if Lady Fortuna and Lord Archbishop were joined together, they would never forsake you!”
“…It’s not that, stupid.”
“Not that, huh…? Ahhh, then, er, how about this? Certainly, it might be difficult right now, and I do not know how many years must pass in the meantime, but someday, both of them will—”
“—Time.”
As Archi hurriedly tried to comfort her, Emilia lifted her head, lips quivering.
If they’d had time, the distance between Fortuna and Geuse would have narrowed. To be blunt, the current speed of progress seemed no faster than a snail’s pace, but eventually, the day would surely come when they would be together.
When that day came, everyone in the forest would celebrate. Of course, Emilia would celebrate most of all, and if possible, she wanted not only the people of the forest but the people of the entire world to celebrate the couple.
That would be a world of peace, of tranquility, of freedom in all things, where everyone could smile together—
“—But that world doesn’t exist.”
Lowering her eyes rimmed with long eyelashes, Emilia touched her hair ornament as she murmured—the floral hair ornament she had inherited from her mother, of which two should not exist in that world.
Her mother, all dressed up and waiting for her on the lakeshore, wore the very same hair ornament.
In other words, this was a place apart from the forest that had already met its snowy end, an unknowable, idealized future—
“…Looking at this unknowable present, have you not thought, I want to live here?”
“Archi…”
“Here, I, Lady Fortuna, Lord Archbishop, and everyone else are living safe and sound. No tragedy will ever befall this place. It is a happy world. Emilia, you could have a good life here, too, free of worry and hurt.”
To Emilia, who had realized this was a false world, Archi raised a gentle plea for her not to make such a sad face. That he found nothing suspect with his own theory was proof itself that this world was a sham.
It would have been a lie to claim his plea, Archi’s plea, didn’t sway her heart.
“Surely, you want the two of them to be happy. Surely, you want to live here to see it. After all, this is your ideal present…the future you yourself desired.”
“The future that I… Yes, I think you’re right. I’m sure you are.”
She wanted Fortuna to be happy. She wanted Geuse to make her mother happy.
If only everyone in the forest could smile together, if only she could get along nicely with Archi, to always be in such a world of happiness.
—If only she could pretend not to know, to somehow forget her mother’s tragic demise and Geuse’s unspeakable grief.
“Lady Fortuna has already passed away. Lord Archbishop’s well-being or lack thereof is unknown. Everyone in the forest has been turned to statues of ice.”
“…Yeah.”
“Our homeland has been frozen over, blocked off to all outsiders, and now you have even parted ways with the spirit who was like family to you.”
“?”
Emilia closed her eyes as she digested the words Archi was speaking to her.
It would have been easier for her if that voice reproached her.
It would have been easier if it had blamed her for her errors in judgment, berating her for her poor thinking, to insult her for her shameful lack of gratitude—but Archi had puffed out his chest and said he would do no such thing.
What infused his voice was not anger. Instead—
“Even though you could be happy here… Even though you wanted this world… You poor thing…”
—all he wanted was for Emilia to be happy, to be at peace.
It was exactly as he’d said. This was a world that existed for no reason other than to make Emilia happy…
“…Sorry, Archi.”
“—Why do you desire a future that will hurt you so much?”
“I don’t want to be hurt. I’m searching for a future where I don’t have to be hurt, where I don’t have to run, hide, or push things away, where I can hold hands with others.”
“And the wounds you suffer? The pain? What you have lost will never return. Will you search for such a thing even so?”
“?”
Even Emilia had thought of what it would be like to have no one think of her as detestable. Many times over, she’d wanted to cast all the pain and suffering by the wayside.
The earnestness in Archi’s words gently and deeply touched upon scars that covered Emilia’s weak heart.
“…I want people to think I look cool.”
“Emilia?”
Doubt crept into his voice. Archi seemed like he did not believe his own ears.
Emilia lifted her head, staring straight at her kin, at the man who was practically a brother to her, and spoke with the determination she felt.
“I want to be like Mom, who I look up to so much. I want to be gentle and strong, like Geuse. I want to be like Granny Tanse and the others, who were never mean to me even once. I want to be like Archi, who smiled to the very, very end so that I wouldn’t get scared.”
“?”
“I want to be like Puck, who kept protecting me so I wouldn’t be alone. I want to be like Ram, who wants to work harder than anyone else for the person she holds dearest. I want to be like Otto, doing his utmost for the sake of his friend. I want to be like Garfiel, who refuses to speak one timid word or complaint.”
“Emilia…”
“And I want to be like Subaru, who suffers and gets all beat up, who’s always reckless—who told me he loves me.”
Emilia was weak and pathetic and always failing, but even so, she wanted to do everything she could for the people she wanted to be with—for the people inside and outside the forest, for those who once walked alongside her and for those who would stand by her from now on.
“I want those people to think I look cool. I want to reach my hand out to the others the way so many people assured me that things would be all right.”
It was time for the girl who had always been saved by others to start saving them.
The boy who always endured so much for Emilia’s sake had put his trust in her, promising that everything would turn out all right in the end.
—That was why Emilia would live in the outside world.
“I’m all right. I’m not afraid of the outside world. I’m not afraid of the future.”
“?”
“Thank you for worrying about me. I’m…all right, Big Brother.”
Being called that made Archi open his eyes wide. Emilia smiled, seeing his surprised face.
She’d always thought of him as a brother, but shyness and her defiant heart had kept her from calling him that even once.
But now there was no reason to be embarrassed by those sunny feelings. She could boldly say what she had always felt.
In Emilia’s forest homeland, she had a mother, a father, and an older brother—she had a family.
“—You…”
Faced with Emilia’s charming smile, Archi kept trying to say something. But the flood of complicated and mystifying emotions within him dissipated without taking any definite shape. After all—
“Emilia, you’re so stubborn. Once you’ve decided on something, you never listen to anyone. I wonder if you have any idea how hard that was on Lady Fortuna and the rest of us?”
“Wahhh… I’m really sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. I mean…”
Then Archi’s words trailed off as he smiled. His face contained not worry but a beaming smile.
“It’s an older brother’s place to indulge his little sister’s selfish ways.”
“?”
The way he spoke with a smile on his face made Emilia truly feel the depth of his love. Just how many times had she been protected, and just how much love and tranquility had she received?
“Thank you, Big Brother.”
All of Emilia’s and Archi’s feelings were encapsulated in the smiles they exchanged.
Then she turned her back to him, standing atop the cliff once more. From that vantage point, she could see Fortuna and Geuse in the distance, as well as the surface of the lake immediately beneath her.
“?”
Suddenly, the two noticed Emilia in the distance and waved to her. She waved back.
Burning the sight of them happily together into her eyes, her mind, her soul, and her memories, she left it all behind.
“—Thank you for showing me this world, Echidna.”
She was speaking to Archi, standing behind—No, this was not Archi. She spoke to Echidna the Witch.
“?”
Including Archi, who was aware of far too many details that he should’ve never known, this entire world was an illusory space to begin with. Remembering the Trial, Emilia understood this was not reality.
Perhaps the mother, father, older brother, and everyone else she saw here were all nothing but fabrications.
Even if that was true, Emilia still felt gratitude in her chest.
“Maybe this is a world that could never exist, but I never thought I’d see the day that Mom and Geuse…that Mom and Dad could be together like this, smiling side by side. So thank you.”
It scared her to acknowledge this as an unreal, fleeting dream.
However, even if it was a world that would never come to pass, Emilia had gotten a chance to see the happiness that had been possible.
In this world, she had felt joy, love, and a happy sadness that sent shivers through her whole body.
She was glad from the bottom of her heart that she got the opportunity to bear witness to everything she had seen here.
“…You…”
Responding to Emilia’s words of thanks, Archi—No, the voice was feminine; it was the voice of the Witch.
Emilia’s memory of being hated by her during the course of the first Trial was still fresh. She’d half given up on hearing her voice in that world, let alone seeing her face.
But there, the Witch appeared in that transient world at the very, very end, and her voice trembled.
“Echidna…?”
Turning around, Emilia faced the Witch head-on. That same moment, Emilia wished she hadn’t. When she turned around, there stood Echidna, her expression so raw, it made Emilia regret seeing it.
—For Echidna was simply standing there, staring at Emilia with a face ready to break into tears.
“I hate you—I just…hate you.”
“?”
Emilia didn’t comment on the hesitation she detected in the words Echidna wrung out.
Then, right before Emilia’s eyes, Echidna’s body became hazy. Like a ripple moving along the water’s surface, her existence became distorted, and the Witch’s form seemed to melt as she retreated from the world of illusion.
There was nothing left behind. With the one who had supposedly been Archi gone, wind and time began to flow once more.
“Echidna…”
Having instilled such bitterness that she had wanted to say nothing, Emilia clenched her own chest with her hand. From there, she put her breathing in order; then she turned back toward the cliff one more time, peering into the water below.
She saw her reflection on the distant surface of the clear, shallow lake. Her heartbeats grew stronger, faster.
Simultaneously, she instinctively understood how to bring the second Trial to an end.
“?”
Between this world and the one she really belonged to, what part was different yet the same? The only answer was Emilia herself. She was the only foreign element in either world.
The way to end the Trial was for Emilia to find herself and seek out a way to acknowledge, accept, and understand that self.
Her memories of the past ended when her homeland froze over and she fell into a deep slumber. Until the present day, over a century had passed—and in all that time, Emilia had never once set eyes upon her grown-up self.
The reason was simple. She was simply…afraid. She was too afraid to look.
When she awoke, the aging her body had undergone conflicted with the memories she had lost. Her clumsy, unfamiliar body terrified her immature heart, and the way the people living close to the forest treated her drove that fear deeper still.
Her features inevitably drew comparisons to the Witch of Jealousy, and Emilia spent that time in misfortune. This made people uneasy, so they persecuted her, causing her to harbor even greater fear than before.
She deliberately avoided mirrors, and she’d trained herself to not even look at the reflective surface of water.
—As part of her contract with Puck, he picked how Emilia would groom herself each day.
Normally, he hid everything under his aloof, frivolous demeanor, but this, too, was actually all to protect Emilia’s fragile heart from reopening old wounds.
“Truly, just how much have people been protecting me…?”
How much had she failed to notice while she’d been sulking all on her own?
The time she’d spent ignoring the love others gave her had finally come to an end.
“—!”
With resolve in her heart, Emilia closed her eyes, and moments later, her feet left the ground.
In an instant, gravity dragged her floating body downward, pulling her into a fall upside down. The rushing wind entwined her long silver hair around her body. Her figure was perfectly straight as she plunged headfirst—hurtling toward the water below.
She felt goose bumps on her skin. Sensing the surface of the water was close by, Emilia opened her eyes.
It was just in time for her to drink in the sight of the silver-haired, violet-eyed girl reflected by the clear lake’s surface.
It was as if she was resolved to greet the end of the world head-on. Then, quietly, she widened her eyes further.
“—Huh.”
A disappointed voice trickled out.
Her face reflected in the water, the face of the little girl who had grown so big, drew nearer and nearer with every passing moment.
Emilia let out a soft sigh and muttered.
“That’s too bad. I look less like Mom than I thought…”
An instant after that sulky murmur, Emilia crashed into the watery mirror.
She would never let go of the happiness she found. However, the world of dreams from which she had to depart had finally come to an end…
4
—Neither the cold nor the impact of breaking the water’s surface receded when Emilia’s mind returned to reality.
When she came to, the first thing she saw was the small, cold room in the dimly lit tomb. Lying upon her side, Emilia blinked again and again, thinking back to the Trial that had ended a moment before.
Perhaps it had been an illusion. The scene was one that could have existed, and that fact made her chest throb.
“My feelings for Mom, for Dad…for Big Brother and everyone else I hold dear—those haven’t changed.”
If anything, her feelings for them had only deepened and grown stronger. She kept these emotions stored away in her heart, and she would carry them with her forevermore.
Her resolve had crystallized. Both of Echidna’s Trials had given her something precious.
The words of thanks she offered the Witch were not false in any way.
“…With this, the second Trial is over. That’s good, right?”
As she rose to her feet, Emilia set aside her questions about Echidna’s final actions for later.
There was a tangible sense of accomplishment, and judging from the look of the Witch as she departed, it was no mistake to think the second Trial had indeed ended. She had not so much overcome it as she had seen things through to the end.
“?”
Even with the sight of her father and mother, an illusory emotional scene she’d supposedly put behind her, tugging at the back of her mind, Emilia turned her back to the room, heading outside the tomb to prepare to challenge the third Trial.
Just as it had been for the second Trial, exiting and reentering the tomb was no doubt a condition for switching to the next Trial to come. Even were that not the case, she had to inform Ram, who was waiting outside for her success or failure in the Trial, and put her worries at ease.
—Save him.
That was the plea Ram had stated to Emilia, when the strong girl had shown her what lay deep within her heart.
Emilia wanted to respond and act upon that from the bottom of her heart. And for that sake—
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ram… Er, huh?”
Accompanied by that powerful resolve, Emilia tried to convey the results of the latest stage of the Trials, but she ended up cocking her head instead.
Under a night sky with the silver moon high above, waiting for Emilia at the entrance to the tomb was not a lone maid but a great throng of people.
“Ah, she’s come out!”
Someone noticed the surprised Emilia and raised a cry. Instantly, the crowd shifted their gazes toward her as one, and the sheer force of it made Emilia wince. But she recognized them instantly.
There stood the people of Earlham Village who had evacuated to the Sanctuary and taken shelter at the Cathedral.
Their return to their homes had been delayed, now hinging on the lifting of the Sanctuary’s barrier. It was none other than Emilia who had promised she would definitely free them.
Still unable to make good on her promise just yet, Emilia held her breath. She fully expected them to accuse her of being all talk and no substance. And yet—
“It’s good you are safe and sound!” “Were you hurt at all?” “Simply going in there put our lord at death’s door!”
“?”
The first words she heard were filled with nothing but reverence for Emilia, which made her brain seize up. However, Emilia immediately shook her head to clear it, and then from the stairs, she deeply bowed toward them.
For an instant, the people murmured. But they immediately fell silent as they awaited Emilia’s words.
“…Thank you for worrying about me. I am completely fine and not hurt whatsoever.”
“Ohhh, I’m so glad.” “Good. That’s what’s important.” “Master Subaru got all worried for nothing, huh…?”
“It’s just…I am very sorry. I still have not completed all the required Trials…but everyone here must have already heard from Subaru and the others, right?”
Emilia kept harboring apologetic feelings toward the group of worried people as she continued:
“There is no longer any reason for you to remain in the Sanctuary. I will definitely lift the barrier, but it would be best for all of you to return to your families…”
“?”
As part of the negotiations, the villagers were originally supposed to remain in the Sanctuary until its barrier was lifted. But now that Garfiel had rescinded his previous demands, there was not a single reason for them to remain.
The villagers already knew that. Emilia had heard from Ram that Subaru and company explained it to them prior to leaving for the mansion.
Therefore, there was no reason for them to await Emilia’s success or failure in the Trials. However—
“Master Subaru? Hey, what did he tell us anyway?”
“Oh? I wonder. Lately, I have been quite forgetful. I simply can’t recall.”
“Goodness, the way you said that seemed so real that it honestly scared me for a minute. Well, not that it isn’t true…”
Looking at one another’s faces, the villagers began exchanging unbelievable words. It was not simply one or two people, either. Every last person had joined in on the act, pretending like they had no idea what Emilia was talking about.
Naturally, Emilia was agape at such transparent behavior. They were all clearly playing dumb, acting as if this was the first they’d heard of it. As for the reason why, Emilia just couldn’t understa—
“—And so, Lady Emilia, we will wait here as promised.”
“—!”
“We cannot return to the village until Lady Emilia has lifted the barrier. We’re not budging from that one bit.”
The old woman with a stooped hip who served as head of Earlham Village spoke those words with a smiling face. Emilia drew in her breath. By this point, even someone as slow on the uptake as Emilia could understand what their intention was.
All of them were waiting for her to fulfill her promise. No doubt they wanted to return to their families without a moment to spare, but they were suppressing that urge in order to honor their promise to her.
That was because Emilia had sworn to do the same for these very people.
“Besides, we are not the only ones expecting much from Lady Emilia’s efforts.”
“Eh…?”
As Emilia, deeply moved by the unexpected turn of events, felt her chest grow hot, the elderly woman made a mischievous smile as she nodded. When Emilia looked over, drawn by the gesture, the people of Earlham Village were all lined up—and behind them, with a swaying of the thickets, she saw even more people entering the clearing.
Somehow, the group seemed to be walking hesitantly, and at their head stood a girl with long pink hair, a black robe draped over her, and a staff in hand.
“Miss Ryuzu and…the people of the Sanctuary?”
“—From the looks of things, it would seem that you have returned after completing the second Trial.”
Lining up beside the head of Earlham Village, Ryuzu sighed as if to say, We made it in time. Everyone present gathered together into two groups, dividing the open ground up between them.
Emilia, who had a view of the whole scene from her vantage point atop the stairs of the tomb, was deeply moved, letting out an “ah.”
“There were this many people living in the Sanctuary?”
She’d heard there were maybe fifty Earlham Village evacuees who had taken shelter here. The residents of the Sanctuary in the clearing numbered just as many, about as much as a very large family, bringing the total number of souls gathered in this place to about a hundred.
Yet, despite that, in all the time Emilia had spent here, she had practically never come face-to-face with any Sanctuary residents beyond Ryuzu and Garfiel, let alone spoken to any of them.
“Please know that is no fault of yours, Lady Emilia. It was the residents’ will… Really, it was my own stubbornness that prevented me from allowing you to meet the residents.”
“Miss Ryuzu…”
“Lady Emilia, you have done well to have overcome the Trial. We are grateful for this. And…”
Bowing her head deeply, Ryuzu had said exactly what Emilia had guessed she would. Then Ryuzu glanced at the elderly woman standing beside her.
“…After hearing from Young Gar and the villagers here…listening to both the residents of this place and outsiders alike, I, too, have finally been able to rouse these old bones. I suppose you might fault me as an opportunist.”
“…I’m not one to talk about anyone having doubts and being stuck in place. I spent about a hundred years dozing off, after all.”
“Still, our obstinacy has lasted generation after generation across four centuries, so I will call us even.”
Unable to bear the sight of that downcast face, Emilia offered some joking words, which seemed to help Ryuzu relax. She was acting like Subaru. This was how he usually lightened the mood during weighty occasions.
“I understand what Garfiel probably spoke about…but was everyone else able to hold discussions with the people of the Sanctuary as well?”
“Nothing quite so grand. Just living in the same place naturally leads people to build relationships. We elderly often have spare time to exchange words while doing the cooking and the laundry.”
“And so we elderly with too much time on our hands spoke about various things. I have long lived in the Sanctuary…yet, I have never had a chance to exchange words with an outsider quite like this.”
Musing out loud, Ryuzu and the Earlham Village head turned to each other, wearing little smiles. Externally, they didn’t look even remotely the same age, but to Emilia’s eyes, it seemed like an exchange between old friends.
And Emilia thought this was a powerful, deep, and most precious thing.
“Lady Emilia… May we have a few words with you?”
“Y-yes.”
Then someone raised their hand and stepped forward. He was a resident from the Sanctuary, a man with a head full of bestial hair and ever-so-slightly-canine teeth—as someone who lived here, he was undoubtedly a half-blood himself.
The man, whose age she would put at thirty thereabouts, bowed his head with a rather tense expression on his face.
“To be honest, I… No, we…still haven’t decided in our hearts.”
“?”
“We aren’t sure whether to trust you or not. We who know nothing about the outside world can’t help but be scared of leaving the Sanctuary. That goes for me, too. I was born and raised here.”
Just as Garfiel had asserted, this was the Sanctuary in its present state.
Many of the people dwelling here had undergone persecution for having blood that differed from both humans and demi-humans, causing them to seek this land as a place where they could find some peace. Others were born here, spent their entire lives in this place, and then returned to the soil.
That was the way of life that had continued since the establishment of the Sanctuary four centuries prior.
Lifting the barrier meant losing something that they had always taken for granted. How much did this mean to them? In terms of taking something for granted, Puck had been the closest comparison Emilia had.
To Emilia, his sudden departure was the last thing she wanted. It was only natural that the residents of the Sanctuary were just as reluctant to have such a thing imposed on them by others.
“If Master Roswaal is looking after us even on the outside, how would that be any different from us living here? I’d always thought maybe we don’t need to change.”
“…Yeah.”
“However.”
Lowering her eyes, Emilia took in the man’s words. She awaited more with a gloomy heart.
When she looked back, the man had stretched and straightened his back, his tense cheeks hardening as he continued.
“However… All of us heard Garfiel’s—heard that little kid’s angry voice.”
“?”
“We know exactly how that hardworking kid feels…and it makes me feel pathetic.”
When his face grew tearful and his gaze turned rueful and reproachful of himself, Emilia’s chest tightened.
“He’s still a child of fourteen. How many years has he spent stuck in his ways like that? He’s…a good kid. And you are, too, Lady Emilia.”
“I’m not. Until tonight, I was a totally good-for-nothing girl…”
It wasn’t like she’d accomplished anything. Not yet.
Though Emilia denied she had anything to be proud of, the man said, “Even so,” shaking his head. “Master Roswaal told us it was futile, and everyone was afraid, cowering from the Trial…but even so, here you stand. You entered the tomb, and you came out. That’s why…”
“—Yes?”
“…whatever happens in the end, what you are trying to do is already incredible and worthy of praise. I won’t go so far as to say every last person here shares those feelings, and even I can’t say I’m completely on your side just yet. But please allow us to watch over you to the end.”
Emilia was silent as she received the man’s—No, it was not the man alone, but the gazes from all the various people behind him were trained upon her. Receiving these, Emilia stood straight and strong.
“—I understand. I’m certain I will see this through. When that time comes, we can speak properly.”
“Yes, it’s a promise. Actually, for me and the rest to be shunning anyone based on their looks and position without even talking ain’t exactly the best—Wahyah!”
As the man deeply bowed, something sent him leaping into the air. When Emilia looked harder, the cause was Ryuzu, who was standing beside him and had suddenly dug her nails into his side. The man gave an objecting look as Ryuzu laughed at the top of her lungs.
“Too long, too serious, and midway through, you switched from us to me. Shame on you, shame.”
“…I-I’m very sorry, Elder.”
“Either way, our current point of view is as he said just now. This, too… Mm? What is the matter?”
Ryuzu was in the midst of lightly teasing the man when the wide-eyed Emilia tilted her head.
“Er… Miss Ryuzu, it’s a little surprising to hear someone call you Elder like that.”
“Ahhh—”
“And I was thinking, Wow, I really haven’t seen her speaking with anyone except Garfiel, have I…?”
Think about that, went Emilia, sticking her tongue out. Ryuzu, taken aback, looked at the man’s face, and he, hers. From there, they let up voices of “Kwa-ha-ha-ha!” and laughed.
The laugh was not merely between Ryuzu and the man; it spread to the various people of the Sanctuary and even the residents of Earlham Village. For a time, the entire clearing was filled with laughter.
“Somehow, it doesn’t seem quite right to laugh…but, mm, Miss Ryuzu, thank you. Also, Miss Milde, it seems like you really put some work into this.”
“—Lady Emilia, you remembered my name?”
As Emilia spoke words of thanks, the elderly woman beside Ryuzu—Milde Earlham—made a surprised face. Seeing this, Emilia went “mm-hmm” and puffed out her chest. “I may not look like it, but I am in the middle of studying to become king. Remembering names is the least I can do.”
“I do not believe a king needs to remember the name of each and every subject, but…”
“You’ve probably been dealing with kings with poor memory. I’m very good at learning things.”
Hearing Emilia’s reply, Milde slightly narrowed her eyes; then she offered a deep bow.
Glancing sidelong at this, Ryuzu went, “Now then,” indicating the tomb with her chin. “Lady Emilia, I am pleased that we could be of service to you… Next is the final Trial, but…”
“Yes, I intend to challenge it immediately. Well, I was intending to… Miss Ryuzu, do you know where Ram is?”
The impact of being greeted by such a large throng the instant she exited the tomb temporarily forced it from her mind, but as far as her eyes could see, Ram was nowhere to be found.
Emilia had wanted to inform the girl who’d motivated her to break through the Trial that she had finally found some success, but…
“…Ram is attending to a duty she cannot afford to shirk. She left a message, praying for your good fortune. She said, Lady Emilia must do what only she can do, and Ram must do the same. Let us do our very best.”
Ryuzu mimicked Ram’s way of speaking, drawing a strained smile onto Emilia’s face. It was just like her to say something like that.
Ram’s duty was no doubt connected to the feelings that she had conveyed in her request to Emilia. And when she thought how Ram might fulfill that duty, there was a slight throbbing in her chest.
Pushing that feeling down, Emilia chose to trust Ram, just as Ram had chosen to trust Emilia.
“…I have to say, though, no one waited for me to come back at all. Not Subaru, not Ram…”
“Oh-ho, I see how that would sour your mood. It is a pity those you care deeply for are not present. If this pitiful old face is good enough for you, I’ll wait right here until you return again.”
“Okaaay—I guess it’s time.”
Emilia had begun to pout, but after hearing Ryuzu’s response, she smiled and then turned.
Right before her, the entrance to the tomb awaited. She entered without any hesitation.
“Well, I’m off.”
Various voices, from the residents of the Sanctuary and Earlham Village alike, called out after her.
There were so many expectations pushing her forward—more than the first time and more than the second. Carrying these alongside the powerful resolve now residing within her, she walked toward the back of the tomb.
And then—
“—Face the calamity that shall come.”
—the third Trial came.
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