Tap the text to show or hide reading controls.
—Esria Kingdom Calendar, Year 482, Mid-Autumn
Kardia intended to kill the Demon King.
And to take Noi with him.
Now that she knew, there was no way she could go on as before.
(…We can’t sleep together anymore.)
If Kardia kissed her goodnight, if he held her as though she belonged to him, in that instant the love that had sprouted in Noi would surely thrash about uncontrollably.
Having decided that, Noi wiped her tears, put the papers covered in magic circles back where they belonged, then left Kardia’s room carrying a pillow and a blanket.
Perhaps he sensed the door open—Kardia came flying up from the first floor.
(…Kardia.)
He was, of course, the same as always. Seeing his face, Noi strangled her heart with all her might.
(I… trusted you.)
At first he had seemed nothing but suspicious, and she’d even gotten angry thinking, What a selfish man, trying to use a child for his own convenience—but even so, Noi had trusted him.
Because this was Kardia.
He was the sweet boy Noi had protected, cherished, and raised.
At some point, he had become more than just that to her. The reason she had gotten angry at the ball and wished so badly to be an adult again was simple—Noi had fallen in love with him as a man.
Her tie to Kardia had been only that of a sham fiancée, to sabotage his arranged matches.
Even so, she had believed that trust had grown between them. Though she looked like a child, she carried twenty-six years of knowledge—she had overestimated herself, thinking she could tell what was real and what was not.
—That moment, when their intertwined fingers had not let go.
Noi had thought she felt the same way Kardia did.
Ah, but how foolish she had been.
(It was all—an act.)
Kardia was not in love with Noi.
He had only been kind in order to keep her on this floating isle.
(So this and that—every last bit—was a lie…)
Unaware that Noi had learned of his plan, Kardia was as gentle as ever.
To the always-gentle Kardia—no, to the Kardia striving to be gentle—Noi could not even manage a decent smile.
“…What’s wrong?”
Kardia asked, worried.
Noi gazed at him vacantly.
(…Even if it were a stranger, forcing a sacrifice “for the sake of the world” would hardly be praiseworthy.)
But Noi was not a stranger.
(I wonder if he’s realized I was once his master.)
If he had realized—did he resent her? Was all that overblown master-reverence performance only lies to deceive Noi?
She no longer knew what to trust in Kardia, what to doubt. She no longer knew anything.
(Either way, it’s cleaning up after my former self.)
At the moment magic and the Demon King collided, Noi had been sure she died.
When she learned she had survived, there were times she wondered—for what did she live on?
(Pitiful as it is, maybe I lived for this moment.)
She had been given another chance.
A chance to destroy the Demon King with her own hands.
It was a life she had once resigned herself to losing.
Dying—she could endure.
(…What I can’t endure—)
Noi looked at Kardia. Her vision blurred with tears.
(What is this, me…)
Far more than the fact she might be killed—
(It’s Kardia’s lie that’s hurting me.)
“Kardia.”
When she opened her mouth, her voice shook, disgracefully. She clenched the blanket tighter in her fists.
“Starting tonight, I’ll sleep in another room.”
Perhaps because it was so sudden, Kardia’s eyes widened.
“…Another—room?”
“There’s a long sofa in the living room, isn’t there? I’ll make use of that.”
In the living room, she would not hear Kardia’s breathing as he slept. Even if thoughts of him made her cry, the tears wouldn’t reach him there.
“A sofa… A sofa is for sitting. I can’t possibly let you sleep on it.”
“Then I’ll trouble Ornis for his room.”
That kindness of his—the kindness that was a lie.
The moment she thought it, the words burst out of Noi.
Kardia’s kindness wasn’t because she was Noi. It was because he meant to use her. Because she was a vessel to transfer the Demon King into.
(If it were anyone else here, Kardia would have stopped them too—so he could use them.)
When she looked away from Kardia, her eyes met Ornis’s downstairs. He was glaring at her with a face like someone had doused him in a broth boiled down from every annoyance in the world.
As Noi tore her gaze from Ornis, a low voice dropped from above.
“—What was that?”
Noi’s heart went thud and turned heavy.
Startled by a feeling like her whole body’s hairs standing on end, Noi hurriedly looked up.
Kardia’s face was utterly expressionless.
It was the first time she had seen Kardia like this, and Noi froze.
“Ornis’s room? If I recall, there’s only one bed in his room.”
“Y-you and I have been sharing one bed too…”
“Oh?”
At the chill in his voice, Noi gulped and lowered her eyes.
“So I’m the same as Ornis.”
(…Why are you the one angry?)
Noi couldn’t make sense of it. She was the one about to be killed. If anyone should be angry, it was Noi—but Kardia, who meant to keep her at hand and use her, was the one angry—how absurd. If his scolding made Noi fed up enough to run away, wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose?
(Or is he just sure I won’t run?)
Confused, Noi still lifted her eyes to Kardia.
“No. That’s wrong—there’s no ‘same’ about it.”
But what burned in Kardia’s eyes was nothing like arrogance or pride—only a fury tinged with desperation.
“Saying you want to sleep in the living room or in Ornis’s room means you don’t want to sleep with me, right? You can’t put someone like me and Ornis on the same level, can you.”
“…That’s not…”
If she denied it outright, she would have to explain the difference between how she “liked” Kardia and how she “liked” Ornis.
And Noi couldn’t understand why Kardia was this angry.
(When I first came here and said I didn’t want to sleep together, he wasn’t mad at all…)
As Noi fumbled her words, Kardia seemed to snap.
“I’m going to Panselinos.”
Noi stared, blank, not understanding.
Apparently the Ornis downstairs was just as shocked; he hurried over to Kardia.
“Please wait! Why so suddenly—”
“Something’s wrong. If it isn’t something I did, then it’s him.”
Noi panicked. She hadn’t expected that.
(What do I do, what do I do!)
She couldn’t imagine Panselinos would repeat today’s conversation—but if he didn’t, he might be blamed for something else.
Watching their informal exchanges made it obvious who usually held the reins.
“Or is it you?”
“Kardia!”
Sensing that Ornis was about to be convicted of something he hadn’t done, Noi rushed down the stairs.
But when she saw Kardia standing there, she didn’t even know if she should stop him by hugging him like always; she froze at a cautious distance.
Reading Settings
