Gazing Up At The River Of Stars

Sleepy.

So sleepy.

I’m so, so sleepy.

—Ah, why am I this parched?

The Hyuetos Magic Count’s domain was an unremarkable territory, not especially large. If it had any notable feature, it was that it formed an island surrounded by the sea on all sides.

Warm sunlight and a refreshing ocean breeze created a gentle season there.

In the lush green lands you could see people working their fields; along the coast you could see people driven to the fisheries. As Noi descended the spiral stream from the floating islet in a magic boat, she enjoyed the view of the world below.

“I want to go pick the books myself!”

Noi had not forgotten the matter of the library she had wrung from him as compensation for his being late to their date.

At breakfast the morning after the date, Noi pressed Kardia—whose eyes were bleary, perhaps from sleeping in.

“Eeh… If you’re worried about the butler’s selection, I’ll go choose them. You play here at home, bride.”

“Don’t think there’s anything to play with here! I’m bored and restless and dying from it!”

“What a hassle.”

Maybe due to lack of sleep, the honest thoughts he usually concealed with a smile spilled out.

On any other day she might have been shocked, but compared to the allure of books, a few ill-tempered words from Kardia didn’t even register.

“Books! Books!”

“Sensei has said he is very busy!”

The fussy scolder kept at it, but Noi imitated her fiancé and ignored him.

“Books!”

“So—”

“Fine, fine. Shall we go fetch them today?”

“Sensei?!”

In contrast to Ornis’s shock, Noi threw both hands up in delight.

“Hooray!”

She even set down her fork and leapt into Kardia’s arms, and though he said “whoa,” he caught her.

“Thank you! Kardia! You’re truly a good guy!”

“Haha. Will you gift me a kiss at least?”

Perhaps finding her giddiness too amusing, Kardia slipped back into his usual tone. Normally Noi would fluster, but now her spirits were at their peak. So her answer came without hesitation.

“Very well!”

“Eh—” Kardia blurted in surprise. Noi stretched up toward him. Just before his body tensed, Noi’s lips touched Kardia’s forehead.

She pressed her lips softly to the firm skin of his brow, then quickly pulled away.

“Thank you! I appreciate it very much!”

Grinning from ear to ear, Noi beamed, and Kardia, a bit taken aback, let out a small laugh. “…Haha.”

And so, for the first time since returning a hundred years later, Noi came down to the surface.

The terminus of the spiral stream was a lake on the ground. Ornis rowed the boat to the shore.

“That was the best! Next time, how about freezing the stream to go even faster?!”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hard to believe you’re the same girl who got dizzy just seeing the ground on day one…”

Noi’s eyes sparkled as she stepped out of the magic boat. The hair Kardia had cutely tied up bounced with every movement she made.

Kardia, who lifted the bright-eyed Noi in his arms, on the other hand, looked gaunt. So did Ornis.

“What’s with you two? You don’t like this much?”

“When you’re an adult… you kind of grow bad at this whole category of things…”

“Ornis, you’re still a kid.”

“Unlike you, I’m an adult in spirit.”

Noi should have been an adult in spirit too. And yet somehow she found herself left out and went “gahn,” shocked. The braid Kardia had woven into her hair gave a little bounce.

“Besides, I don’t like pain. Absolutely don’t want to get hurt, you know?”

Perhaps he had strained something; still holding Noi up with one arm, Kardia pressed a hand to his neck and tilted it left and right. The gesture was very elderly.

All their clothes were wet. But with a flick of Kardia’s fingers, they dried instantly. It was a warm summer day; they would have dried soon enough even damp, but since Kardia wore snug-fitting clothes, being wet must have felt unpleasant.

For everyday trifles, even for a mage, moving your hands was easier than using magic. Blowing the moisture from hair with a spell was more complicated—and less safe—than simply wiping it with a cloth.

But Kardia used magic as naturally as breathing. Even when he hoisted Noi with one hand, a careful observer would notice a spell woven between his arm and Noi’s backside. He had cast levitation on a cloth or ornament, so her body floated softly.

The levitation he used when lifting Noi, the spell to shoo water from her hair—every time she saw Kardia use magic for such small, daily things, she learned how seriously he had engaged with magic during the years without her.

It went without saying that Noi could also have dried clothing by magic. But small spells required weaving magic with delicacy.

She excelled at grand, rough, and novel magic, but as for intricate spells, she belonged to the “only as much as strictly needed” camp.

While Noi was deep in thought, Ornis secured the boat to the shore. A glamor spell had been cast on it to cloud the eyes of ordinary people. Apparently, Kardia did not want anyone seeing him traveling between the floating islet and the ground.

They had also been made to wear cloaks woven with a similar glamor, but since those weren’t needed on the ground, they put them away in their bags.

“Where are we going first?”

Eyes shining, Noi looked up at Kardia.

“The lord’s manor.”

“Eh!? Already?! Already?!”

They were scheduled to go to the lord’s manor to fetch the books. Which meant that once they fetched them, they’d have no further business on the surface.

Noi, face drooping, peered up into Kardia’s face, and he lifted a hand to his mouth and laughed. Realizing she was being teased again, Noi pouted and hopped down from his arms to the ground.

“Ah.”

“We’re walking today.”

Putting on a pointedly displeased expression, she found Kardia unwilling to force the matter.

As they walked, something suddenly caught Noi’s eye: a small insect. It was also a magical creature, one that usually traveled in groups and was seldom seen alone. Thinking it rare and tracking it with her eyes, Noi heard Kardia offer a suggestion to soothe her mood.

“Then let’s go to the general store. They keep a few books.”

“They sell books? In a backwater like this?!”

Noi had been born and raised in the royal capital. People gathered in the capital. In the capital—where royalty, nobles, and mages lived—the nation’s wealth gathered as a matter of course. Bookshops existed as a matter of course too, but this was a remote, rural domain.

She never would have imagined there’d be a place selling books in such bucolic lands. A hundred years ago, literacy in the Esria Kingdom wasn’t that high.

“Hey! Idiot! Not so loud!”

Ornis clapped a hand over her mouth. Noi nodded vigorously in apology. That one was her fault.

Even so, Noi’s high voice carried well. Passersby shot them sharp looks—and then their eyes turned into hearts.

“Oh my! Isn’t that Lord Dias?”

“When did you come over this way?”

A portion of the women burst into excited chatter, calling out to Kardia. The women who ran up seemed not to notice Noi and Ornis at all, surrounding Kardia instead.

“Lord Dias, have you settled on an inn for tonight? My husband’s conveniently away this evening…”

“Shut it, you hussy.”

“What was that? You shut it.”

By no stretch did their behavior look like it was aimed at the local lord. Including the name they’d been calling—“Dias”—it seemed Kardia used a false identity when he came down to the surface.

(Well… with that appearance, of course.)

His unchanging looks might also explain why he stayed up on the islet. Kardia’s growth had stopped at twenty-six or seven, after all.

So long as he remained here as the local lord, he could not avoid interacting with people. If you said that was why he hid himself in the sky, it made sense.

“Sorry, ladies.”

A large palm swept Noi—left out of things—up into the air. Holding her in his usual place, he smiled at the flock of women.

“Today I’m with my bride.”