Chapter 4: Celia’s Decision
Meanwhile, after leaving the castle and the capital, Rio and Miharu walked down the main road until they reached a completely unpopulated area and slipped away.
“You can come out now, Aishia,” Rio called out. She appeared shortly after.
“Okay.”
“You’ve been stuck in your spirit form for a while now—you must have been bored.”
“Thank you for everything while we were in the capital, Ai-chan,” Rio and Miharu both said to Aishia immediately. The hardest worker while they were in the capital had been Aishia. She acted as the messenger between them and the stone house, and worked hard in the shadows during the kidnapping incident with Takahisa.
They hadn’t told Satsuki that Aishia was a spirit, so she couldn’t materialize inside the castle. Thus, it had been a while since the three of them had come face-to-face with each other.
“It’s okay. Being inside Haruto is comfortable,” Aishia said in her usual quiet and toneless voice.
“I see...” Rio grinned a little shyly. He didn’t know what it felt like to stay inside a contract partner as a spirit form, but being told he was comfortable made him feel strangely embarrassed.
“Well, there’s no point in staying here. Shall we head home?”
“Yup.”
Thus, they decided to move from here by air. Or were about to do so, when—
“Ah, before that. I wanted to talk to Ai-chan about something, is that okay? I’ll be done soon,” Miharu said.
“...Yes, of course,” Rio tactfully agreed and gave the two of them some distance. Then, Aishia cocked her head at Miharu.
“What is it, Miharu?” she asked.
“Erm, I wanted to thank you, Ai-chan,” Miharu said a little shyly.
“For what?”
“For Haruto, and Haru-kun. You told me before we came to the capital, right? That if I want to stay with him, I can’t run away.”
“Yup, I did.”
But why did that need a thank-you? Aishia seemed to be asking that as she tilted her head.
“The reason my introverted self didn’t run away is thanks to you, Ai-chan. That’s why I’m here now. I wanted to thank you for that, so—thank you, Ai-chan.” Miharu smiled gently and hugged Aishia.
“...Yup.” Aishia nodded with a soft smile on her face, returning the hug.
“I might need your help again in the future, but if you’re ever troubled by anything, you can come and talk to me about it too. Especially if it’s about Haruto. There’s no need to hold back around me.”
“Okay.”
The two of them exchanged their feelings in a quiet but firm way.
“Shall we go, then? We shouldn’t keep Haruto waiting any more.”
“Yup.”
They broke free from their embrace and returned to Rio. They departed for the stone house without any questions from him.
After that, they spotted the stone house hidden amongst rocks within a matter of moments and descended before it. For the record, Rio had been the one to carry Miharu, who couldn’t fly yet.
“Here you go.” Rio gently set Miharu on the ground.
“T-Thanks.” Miharu’s cheeks turned red as she nodded shyly. She had already gotten used to Rio carrying her, so she wasn’t as conscious of it anymore, but for some reason she was now showing a naive reaction.
“Miharu, your face is red.”
Aishia pointed out, tilting her head.
“R-Really? I don’t think so.”
Miharu feigned ignorance in a panic. But her honesty showed on her face. She was fair-skinned to begin with, so the blush was clear enough for Rio to notice, too. He had an idea why, as well.
Normally he would write it off as being too full of himself, but he had accidentally heard the conversation between Miharu and Takahisa during the kidnapping incident.
I think I like both. The Haru-kun before he was reincarnated, and the current Haruto. I fell in love with both of them.
And so, even Rio, who was often called a blockhead, could tell when someone liked him after such an incident occurred.
“...”
However, just because he knew he was liked didn’t mean he would dig his own grave by acting out of the usual. It was at this time that the door to the stone house opened.
“Welcome back, Onii-chan, Miharu, Aishia!”
The one who leaped out was Latifa. Celia, Sara, Orphia, and Alma followed after her. With Aishia in her material form, Sara, Orphia, and Alma had noticed their approach through their contracted spirits. On top of that, they used the barriers surrounding the stone house to confirm their return and came outside.
“We’re back, everyone.” Miharu smiled brightly to gloss over the fact her fact was still flushed.
“Yes, welcome back...” Celia and the others replied, but they seemed to sense something strange about Miharu’s bright behavior—or perhaps they noticed her red face or Rio’s slightly awkward expression. They stared at them with questioning gazes.
“W-What’s wrong, everyone?” Miharu asked in a high-pitched voice.
“N-No, nothing...”
The one who answered was Sara, but everyone was staring at Miharu together. Her reaction was extremely obvious, after all. Without missing a beat, Miharu’s eyes darted about.
“Professor, there’s something I’d like to speak with you about right away. Do you have time?” Rio said to Celia with a strained smile, partly in order to rescue Miharu from her predicament.
? ?
Rio entered the house and invited Celia to his bedroom. He sat in a chair facing her and got to the point. “I wanted to talk to you about the matter of visiting your family home. I don’t have any plans at the moment, so we can go anytime... That’s the first thing.”
“Oh... Is there something else?” Celia nodded, listening to Rio with a serious expression.
“I don’t know how important it is, but I figured you should know that Princess Christina attended along with Charles Arbor. As you can imagine, they gave Duke Huguenot’s faction the cold shoulder, and there was no sign of any possible reconciliation,” Rio explained, bringing up the name of Celia’s former fiancé.
Her face fell. “I see...”
“And there’s one more thing regarding Princess Christina...”
“Princess Christina?”
“I had a chance to speak with her before she left for a brief moment. She whispered in my ear as she was about to depart, so that Charles Arbor and the other nobles wouldn’t hear. She thanked me for saving Princess Flora during the attack on Amande.”
“...Really?” Celia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“She attended as an ambassador, so she had a certain level of freedom to move about, but her actions were probably being monitored. She was cold to Princess Flora whenever the other nobles were around.”
“...But that was all an act, right? That’s why she thanked you without anyone else hearing.”
“That’s probably the case. She used to worry for Princess Flora a lot back in the Academy, too. And the first time I met you was when Princess Christina marched into the slums in search of Princess Flora, no?” Rio said, recalling the things Christina had done in the past.
Celia looked a little apologetic. “...Yes, that’s right. I was forced to go along with her and scolded by His Majesty for it. In fact, you weren’t a very favorable existence to Princess Christina.”
“No... Well, I knew people hated me, but it didn’t really bother me. She was harmless compared to the other noble children, and never tried to harass me directly at the Academy. She argued with me the first time we met in the slums, but avoided me afterwards.” Rio smiled wryly, certain that Christina had gone out of her way to avoid him.
“...Hey, is it really okay?” Celia asked timidly.
“Is what really okay?”
“It wouldn’t be strange for you to have complicated feelings—or you know, hatred—towards the Beltrum Kingdom. But my family and I are nobles from Beltrum, and I can’t fully throw aside my position. I have to move for the sake of the kingdom, meaning you have no choice but to assist for my sake...” Celia said with a look of deep contemplation.
Rio sighed. “...Isn’t it a bit too late for that? I told you once during the banquet already, in this very room. If there’s anything I can do for you, just say the word. I’ll make it happen. That’s why I carried you away from that wedding. So please don’t forget your feelings from when you snuck away from the ceremony, Professor,” he said gently.
“...But the situation’s different to the last time we spoke. You’re an honorary knight of the Galarc Kingdom now, right? I don’t want you to cross dangerous bridges for my sake and put yourself in a precarious situation... Miharu only just reunited with her hero friend. What if she can’t meet her any more? And isn’t Miharu your childhood friend from your world before you were reborn?”
“Yes, that’s true...”
“In that case, you should take good care of Miharu. Your childhood in this world was spent in the Royal Academy in a situation like that... And before the Academy, you lived a painful life in the slums, so you don’t have anyone to call your childhood friend here. Isn’t that right?” It seemed like Celia had realized who Miharu was. It was almost as though she was telling Rio to treasure Miharu over herself.
“If we’re talking about childhood friends, then I have one in this world, too,” Rio said tiredly.
“...Huh? Wait, really?” Celia blinked. That was news to her.
“She’s right in front of me. My important childhood friend in this world is you, Professor.”
“...W-What... D-Don’t tease me like that!” Completely caught off-guard, Celia stuttered speechlessly before blushing and yelling.
“I’m not teasing you. You were with me between the ages of seven and twelve, you know? If it’s a matter of years spent together in this world, then I’ve known you the longest,” Rio said with confidence.
“B-But... I’m your professor. To call me a c-childhood friend is...” It made her happy. But did she have a right to such a thing?
“Didn’t I tell you in the past that I consider you my friend, Professor? Have you forgotten?” Rio chuckled.
“I’m... your friend?” Celia asked uneasily.
“Yes. Are you not? Of course, I consider you my teacher, too. Wait, didn’t we have this conversation back at the Academy, too?” Rio tilted his head at the strange sense of deja-vu. He was sure they had a similar conversation in Celia’s old research laboratory at the Academy, but he couldn’t remember it clearly. But despite that—
“At any rate, it’s true that Miharu is important to me. But you’re important, too, Professor Celia. If Amakawa Haruto’s childhood friend is Miharu, then Rio’s childhood friend is Celia Claire. That’s what I believe, at least,” Rio said with resolution.
“Uhh...” Celia was rendered speechless and reddened by the fact that Rio had spoken so frankly to her face. She was fairly certain it was the first time she was called by her full name.
“You’re an important person to me, Professor. That’s why I couldn’t overlook your marriage to Charles Arbor when I knew it would only make you unhappy. That’s why I extended my hand to you. You took it. Nothing has changed about the situation since then. There’s no need for you to hold back.” Rio held his right hand out to Celia.
“W-What...?” Celia looked down at the hand Rio offered nervously.
“We can head to your family home whenever you want. We can even leave as soon as today or tomorrow, if you’d like. You just have to take my hand.”
With his hand still extended, Rio encouraged Celia to make a decision. A single teardrop rolled down Celia’s cheek.
“D-Doing this for someone like me... Just don’t blame me if it doesn’t go well.”
She started crying as she gently grabbed Rio’s hand.
? ?
After their conversation, Rio left his bedroom and headed to the living room. Celia shut herself in Rio’s room, stating that she didn’t want to be seen crying.
Upon reaching the living room, Rio witnessed the sight of Latifa, Sara, Orphia, and Alma surrounding Miharu, hounding her for answers. Aishia sat alone a short distance away, yawning sleepily.
“S-So did you ask him? Or rather, did... Did you manage to c-c-confess to him?” Sara asked Miharu nervously.
“I-It wasn’t a confession! I didn’t say it to him directly, so it d-didn’t count.” Miharu waved her hands in denial.
“But it’s true that you conveyed your feelings to him, right?”
“Yeah. At this rate, Miharu’s going to be one step ahead...”
Alma and Orphia also appeared to be slightly panicked.
“Hmph! So you did love Onii-chan, after all, Miharu!” Latifa pouted unhappily.
“...Umm,” Rio said to the room awkwardly.
“Wait, Rio?!”
They had been so absorbed in their conversation that no one noticed that Rio had been in the living room for a while now. Everyone other than Aishia flinched.
“...Err, what were you all talking about?” He had pretty much figured out what they were discussing, but it was so awkward, he decided to feign ignorance.
“I-It’s nothing!” Miharu yelled with a flushed face.
“Anyways, what happened with Celia?” Sara cleared her throat and asked.
“We were talking about visiting her family home. I’m thinking of leaving as early as tomorrow to head to the Beltrum Kingdom to the west, so I wanted to inform everyone of that. We should have enough hands with Aishia coming along, so if the rest of you want to remain here, it’s an option...”
Sara and the others exchanged glances before enthusiastically offering to go together.
“Of course we’ll come along!”
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