A Petal Of Memory (4)

“Now then, Your Excellency. We’ll make an exception for you. Let’s speak in a private room. Naturally, your companion is welcome as well.”

“Oh my, thank you.”

Smiling sweetly, the woman with him stepped on the manager’s foot and headed toward the back rooms.

Noi was speechless at the sight.

The other customers—who had been staring in stunned silence—filed out of the shop, chattering among themselves once the fake Hyuetos Magic Count vanished from the hall. Kardia, after nodding to Ornis and Aidoni, carried Noi outside in his arms.

“—Kardia! That! That!!”

“Mm.”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?!”

Amused by her anger, Kardia gave a low chuckle.

“I don’t have a way to prove I’m Hyuetos right now, and no one in there had the means to judge who was right. That would only turn into a shouting match, wouldn’t it?”

Kardia poked Noi’s puffed cheek with a fingertip, and it was clear he didn’t care in the slightest.

“But before we even went in, there were people badmouthing the Magic Count. He’s probably pulling the same stunt elsewhere.”

“I see. I don’t know if that man is a noble, but—at the very least, he was a mage. If I declared myself Hyuetos, the shop might suffer for it. …And besides—”

Once outside, Kardia narrowed his eyes at the store, nostalgia softening his gaze.

“I have a bit of a connection to this place. I’d rather not cause them trouble if I can help it.”

Noi’s anger quickly deflated.

(…So Kardia remembers too?)

That once, a hundred years ago for him, when he entered this shop hand-in-hand with Noi.

Places tied people together, and people tied bonds together.

Even if the proprietor had changed, his memories would surely still be tucked away, treasured in a drawer of his heart.

“…Kardia-sama. I cannot apologize enough for letting you have such an unpleasant experience under my guidance…”

Sensing that Noi and Kardia had finished their exchange, Aidoni bowed her head.

“It wasn’t your fault. Now then, will you show us the next shop? You still know plenty of places, don’t you?”

“Yes. Please leave it to me.”

Aidoni smiled with practiced grace—but even so, the search for a shop proved gruelingly difficult.

All the major tailors in the royal capital were already overwhelmed with orders for the palace-sponsored ball.

Even when they invoked the name of the Hyuetos Magic Count, every shop seemed to have heard vile rumors about the impostor Hyuetos and, if anything, kept them at arm’s length. They couldn’t even get a hearing.

In times like these, most nobles relied on acquaintances, but because Kardia had neglected society for a hundred years, he had no connections, no lines to pull, no leads at all.

By evening, Aidoni’s face was steeped in despair. She looked so pitifully pale that Noi didn’t even know how to comfort her.

“Haa…”

Ornis let out a loud sigh in the thoroughfare. When the sound reached Aidoni’s ears, she clenched her trembling fists tight.

“…What a magnificent sigh.”

“Huh?”

“Sighing so conspicuously. Why don’t you just say it with that ever-chirping mouth of yours—that it’s my fault.”

“Nobody said anything of the sort.”

Ornis answered, exasperated. Even if the sigh truly came from fatigue, to Aidoni—crushed under guilt—that wasn’t how it sounded.

Right now Aidoni must have been weighed down by the pressure of having gone out of her way to bring Kardia all the way to the capital.

“So you were about to say it, then. In that case, I’m dreadfully sorry for robbing you of your words.”

“You know… cut it out already.”

Fatigue and impatience edged Ornis’s voice with irritation.

Aidoni’s cheeks flushed hot.

“Aidoni. Neither Ornis, nor I—nor even Kardia—think it’s your fault.”

Trying to quell the quarrel between the youth and the maiden, Noi spoke up from Kardia’s arms—but that seemed to set Ornis off.

“No, since we’re putting it out there—she’s at fault too. She took it on lightly and dragged us around on nothing but book knowledge. She’s never even set foot outside the Enclave—”

“And you’re the one saying that!?”

Aidoni shouted and smacked Ornis with a book.

It was the very book she had been clutching so dearly all this time.

Startled, Ornis looked at her. Great, round tears spilled one after another from Aidoni’s eyes.

“You’re the one who took away my chances to go outside—!”

A despair as sharp as the one crushing Aidoni seemed to pierce Ornis.

And then she broke into a run.

“Aidoni!”

Noi pressed against Kardia and hopped down to the ground. She took off in long strides; Kardia called out loudly to stop her, but Noi ignored him and chased after Aidoni’s retreating back as she vanished into the crowd.

She caught a glimpse of Aidoni’s abundant golden hair.

Soaked in sweat and unsteady on her feet, Noi managed to catch up. She felt like she had done this before—chased a child through town like this—but she was surely less fit than back then.

(Is it because Kardia is always carrying me around…?)

I should walk a bit more on my own from now on. With that in mind, she called to Aidoni’s back.

“…Aidoni!”

She truly was glad Aidoni had stayed nearby. Unlike the Weavers’ Enclave, where everyone knew everyone, the royal capital teemed with shady sorts and downright wicked people. A girl alone was in danger as it was—let alone one as beautiful as Aidoni.

Yet even though Noi called out, Aidoni didn’t look back. And though she must have noticed Noi giving chase, she didn’t speed up either.

Finding it strange, Noi hurried right up to her side.

Then she saw—a stranger had hold of Aidoni’s arm and was pulling her along.

Being led away, Aidoni had gone pale and lost her nerve. She wasn’t looking at Noi—likely because she didn’t want to drag her into it.

The middle-aged man looked drunk.

Noi immediately tugged on Aidoni’s clothes and raised her voice.

“Waaah! Somebody, somebody help! My sister—my sister is being kidnapped!!”

Her crying voice was a touch wooden, but everyone in the street turned to look. The man trying to take Aidoni away shot a glare at Noi.

“Huh? What, kid? You’ve got the wrong person.”

She thought he’d run once eyes were on him, but he didn’t back down. He didn’t want to lose a girl as beautiful as Aidoni.

An ordinary child might have trembled and fled, but even glared at, Noi didn’t yield. She might have looked like a child, but in spirit she was an adult with a duty to protect children.

“This girl is my sister. Let go of her!”

“N-Noi… -sama…”

Noi heard Aidoni’s strangled voice. Realizing she was so frightened she could hardly speak, Noi fixed the man with an even fiercer stare.

“If you want, we can go together to the Royal Capital Patrol.”

“You little brat…!”

Face flushing, the middle-aged man raised a fist at Noi.

Noi clenched her teeth.

Violence always had an end.

In the past, Noi had forced it to end with magic—but the first one or two blows, from senior disciples stronger than her in raw power, had always hurt.

This time she didn’t even have that magic. The pain wouldn’t end with just one or two hits.

Even so, that didn’t mean she could let go.

If all she had to do was endure, she could endure it.

(No matter how many times he hits me, I won’t let go.)

Doing nothing because she could do nothing—that wasn’t an option.

That was the responsibility—and the resolve—of an adult entrusted with a child.