A Dream Awakened From A Dream

――So helpless I could do nothing.

There were days when my heart sank, wondering why I kept living on in disgrace so pitifully.

(But… ah, Kardia. Now I understood.)

I had come here for this very day.

In the end, the Starseer’s prophecy had not been wrong.

Noi purified the Demon King.

However, Noi received his prophecy—one hundred years later.

The magic circle woven jointly by Noi and Kardia splendidly purified the Demon King. The black skin that had nested within Kardia’s body turned into light and vanished without a trace.

The near-limitless vast mana Kardia had possessed diminished.

With the Demon King—who amplified the host’s mana—purified, Kardia’s power returned to what was originally his.

That amount of mana, while not equal to Noi at her peak, settled at a level greater than that of an ordinary royal-court mage.

Also, the domain Kardia had protected even while sustaining grievous injuries remained safe.

Some ground had split, some places had flooded, and some houses and trees were blown away by the Demon King’s power—but by and large, it was safe.

The village could be rebuilt from here.

So long as they lived, people could stand up again and again.

“――was shrouded in darkness. At the sight of that sky, anyone would have known it was the Demon King’s return. Amid a world in turmoil, you did well to defend our country.” [TN: Subject omitted in the original; implied ‘the world/the sky’ at large.]

A voice fell upon the sleeping Noi.

“We shall set a formal occasion in the capital, but first, on-site recovery is urgent. To raise morale, I have come myself.”

“You don’t exactly hold an easy post—were you that worried about me?”

When Noi somehow lifted her heavy eyelids, Kardia noticed her stirring, looked down with gentle eyes, and nodded. That alone easily coaxed Noi back toward sleep.

“With fear—and with joy.”

The voice heard on the threshold of sleep was steeped in deep affection, the tender tone only one who had worried for someone over a very long time could produce.

“I could not sit still. Without even securing the council’s approval, I left matters to Riacada and rushed here.”

“That kid’s unlucky to have such a troublesome father. With a brat like you as king, Esria may never see a day of peace.”

“—! Your Majesty!”

Your Majesty.

At the blade-sharp, ear-piercing cry, Noi’s eyes snapped open.

She shot upright, and the hair-trigger atmosphere fell silent.

(Your Majesty…?)

She pressed a hand to her sluggish head and took in where she lay. The place where Noi had been sleeping was the bedchamber tailored for the master of the Hyuetos Magic Count’s manor.

On the wide bed was Kardia. Both Kardia and Noi were wrapped head to toe in bandages as if in matching sets.

—Three days had passed since the Demon King’s purification.

The floating isle where Kardia, Ornis, and Noi had lived had fallen during the Demon King upheaval and was now speared into a lake on the surface.

Before the isle fell, the man who had risked his life to climb up to it had long experienced prophetic dreams. He likely had talent as a mage. His rough methods were not praiseworthy, but considering how desperate things had been, he was now back to everyday life under supervision. If warranted, training as a mage was being considered as well.

The manor on the floating isle had collapsed from the shock of the fall.

Noi and Ornis carried Kardia—who had survived by purifying the Demon King—back to the Hyuetos Magic Count’s manor.

Noi’s injuries were lighter than Kardia’s and not enough to keep her bedridden. She had stayed in another room for two days, but because Kardia would not wake at all, she had thrown a fit until they let her sleep in the same room.

And of course, lacking the virtuous heart to sleep on a chaise, she boldly slept right beside Kardia.

When Noi lunged and pushed Kardia down, he slammed the back of his head against the headboard where he had been reclining. Not noticing that, Noi seized Kardia’s face with her small hands.

“Kardia, are you all right!?”

Kardia, whose eyes had been rolling, saw Noi straddling his thighs with a desperate look and let his expression soften.

“…Yes, I’m all right.”

So relieved she sagged, Noi slumped against Kardia’s shoulder.

“—Thank goodness… thank goodness. You were out for three whole days…”

As Noi began to blubber, Kardia nodded gently. Kindness overflowed from his face—down to the little creases at the corners of his eyes—and fresh tears welled up again.

“…I ordered them to stand by. I forgive this one’s discourtesy. Stand down.”

At the third party’s voice from within the room, Noi hastily lifted her upper body. Right beside the bed sat Panselinos—His Majesty the King—on a chair. Behind him stood a royal guard with a hand on his sword, his fighting spirit dampened by Noi.

Face flushed scarlet, Noi sprang off of Kardia.

Panselinos watched her with warm eyes.

“It is Panselinos. Do you remember this plain face?”

“You… even His Majesty has a limit to his patience, you know.”

Scolding in place of the royal guard boiling with anger in the corner, Noi spoke up, and Kardia apologized—not to Panselinos, but to Noi.

“I beg your pardon.”

(…He switched to honorific speech.)

So she had been outed: she was his master. It could not be helped. Mages lived in strict hierarchies. She knew that, and yet a faint loneliness lingered.

“I, too, toyed with you heedlessly. Forgive me.”

Addressed by Panselinos, Noi scrambled down from the bed and offered a mage’s salute—palms raised, fingers interlaced.

“Not at all. Without Your Majesty’s counsel, I would have had no readiness, and I do not even know if I could have fought alongside Kardia. Dawning light, child of the sun—my thanks for your wisdom and mercy.”

“Fought—together? You?”

Seeing the mage’s salute, Panselinos questioned the mana-less girl. He rose and reached a hand toward Noi’s cheek.

But before that hand could touch, Kardia—who should have been on the bed—leapt in front of Noi.

“Even if it’s you, I won’t permit discourtesy toward this person.”

Planting himself to shield Noi from Panselinos, Kardia said this with a twisted look.

“Your Majesty—!”

Behind the dumbstruck Panselinos, the royal guard bristled.

“Kardia, stop.”

Noi held her head.

“But—”

“I said stop.”

“Hey, Panselinos, how long are you going to stare at this person? Don’t look. You’ll wear holes in them.”

“Kardia!”

“Master. Why are you protecting this old man? Have you stopped believing in me?”

As if he knew that phrasing would make Noi give in easily, Kardia’s eyes moistened as he peered into hers.

“Ugh.”

Noi grunted, tucking her chin against Kardia’s cuteness as she clutched her head.

“…Enough. Be good and wait.”

“Be grateful, Panselinos.”

Reluctantly, Kardia released Noi. Yet his eyes still cut a glare at Panselinos.

“I haven’t forgotten… how Master started acting strange after you first came…”

So he remembered. Cold sweat ran in Noi’s heart, but sensibly, her mouth stayed shut.

Because Kardia kept growling low in his throat and glaring at Panselinos, Noi covered both of Kardia’s eyes with her hands.

“…What exactly is this?”

As Panselinos glanced between Noi and Kardia, Noi slowly let her shoulders sink.