The Flame Swaying In The Heart (6)

“…What did you just say?”

After dinner, back in his office, Kardia wondered if he had misheard and asked again.

But the awkward look on Noi’s face told him he had not.

“I said I’ll be in Aidoni’s bed again tonight—being looked after by her.”

If she had said it innocently, Kardia could have found a way to answer.

(But that face…)

It was the face of someone who knew Kardia had decided—tonight of all nights—to sleep in the same bed as her. She could not quite hide the guilt. And she was choosing to sleep with Aidoni instead.

(So it’s fine to betray my hopes…?)

Kardia was stunned. Noi had deliberately chosen Aidoni over him.

“…Right, right. I understand. By day it’s the other mages. By night it’s Aidoni. From here on out, I no longer have a role, is that it?”

It was Noi who had met those shining eyes and shared her knowledge freely.

It was Noi who had chosen to keep on sleeping at a distance where even a goodnight kiss could not reach.

To Kardia, she was dearer than anyone and irreplaceable, but perhaps to Noi it was not so.

(I suppose there are plenty who can stand in for me.)

She had simply not yet taken disciples other than Kardia because she was still young; of course that number could grow. Lacking mana was a minus for Noi, but not a fatal flaw. There would be no end of mages who wished to study under her.

Kardia was merely one among many.

“Hey, don’t sulk.”

“Sulk? That’s absurd. I have never once sulked in my entire life.”

“You’re sulking.”

“I am not sulking.”

Even as he said it, it sounded suspicious. He had never spoken to her in this tone before. His heart heaved; he could not even look at her face properly.

Unable to shake the irritation, Kardia reached behind his neck; Noi fidgeted.

“…Th-that is, um…”

Then, with her face faintly flushed, she quietly asked him:

“Are you jealous?”

“—Pardon?”

Noi gave a small cough.

Even that little cough was cute—and it annoyed him.

“I asked whether you are in love with me.”

Noi had launched into something he could not understand, and Kardia’s brow furrowed.

“Noi. I’m trying to have a serious conversation.”

“I’m perfectly serious.”

Noi lifted her face, as if to say she was the one aggrieved. Each felt the other was being unfair.

Irritation carrying him along, Kardia spoke rapidly.

“Love? Romance? From the First-Sun mage, Noi Galenée? I can’t believe it. You sound like the women in the streets—”

“…I’m sorry to disappoint you!!”

Like a sword chopping down, Noi’s voice cleaved through his words. Kardia’s heart flashed cold.

Never—never before—had he heard Noi cry out like something was about to tear her apart.

“If I speak of love and romance, what’s wrong with that!?”

Noi’s translucent white skin flushed scarlet. Perhaps because she was enraged, her voice trembled slightly.

As her disciple, he should have worried to see his master like this—but Kardia instead discovered a flame burning inside himself.

“—Don’t tell me it’s that man?”

His voice crawled along the ground.

Kardia slowly stepped toward her.

“That man is a noble, isn’t he? If you choose a man like that, you’ll suffer for it.”

His irritation only mounted. Forgetting the restrictions he had set for himself, desperate for reassuring words, Kardia closed in.

Noi flinched, yet her gaze did not lose its strength.

“N-no, that’s not—! If you’re going to say that, you are a noble too!”

“So what of it? Because I’m a noble? —I absolutely will not become your patron.”

The quickest way for Noi to marry a noble would, without question, be to make Kardia her patron.

The swelling flame burned so hot it felt ready to burst from his gut. Kardia clenched both hands to restrain his anger.

“—Idiot!!”

Her peppermint eyes, wet with tears, pierced him.

“The one I love is you!!”

—You! —You! —You!

Noi’s shout echoed through Kardia’s mind.

“…Huh?”

All he could manage was a ridiculous sound.

(…Noi… loves me?)

The meaning would not enter his head at all.

Noi glared at the dumbstruck Kardia, as if deciding to brazen it out.

“I said: the one I love is you!”

Word by word, as if explaining to an old man, Noi enunciated each syllable.

“…I heard you.”

“Well, that is…”—a mutter slipped out of him despite himself.

He had never imagined it. The First-Sun mage, Noi Galenée—loved him?

Stunned by such an impossible situation, Kardia lifted a hand to his mouth. Seeing this, Noi’s face went blank.

Then, in a grudging voice like the lord of hell, she murmured:

“…I’m going to the capital.”

“Eh?”

“I am going—to the capital.”

She spun on her heel and strode for the door. To stop her, Kardia hastily blocked the exit with his body.

“H-hold on, how did we get there!?”

“Our engagement is dissolved! I’ve no obligation to impose on you anymore. It’s perfect timing!”

As Noi shouted in reckless despair, Kardia made his proposal at lightning speed.

“Let’s get married!”

“You’re the worst! I knew it, but you’re the worst!!”

Face and eyes blazing red, Noi punched him.

To stop her fist, Kardia caught her wrist.

“Please calm down. What’s the matter? Why so suddenly…”

Noi immediately let the strength go out of her body and lowered her head, as if giving up.

“There’s nothing to it. I fell in love, you fool.”

At the limp words, Kardia’s chest squeezed tight. He knelt to see her lowered face, but she turned away with a flick.

Breath left Kardia at the fact of her rejection.

Not knowing what to do, what to say, he stared, speechless, until Noi let out a small breath.

“Rest easy. I’m not asking you to accept this love.”

With a smile far from her usual dandelion brightness, heavy with sorrow, Noi spoke.

“…You’ve spoiled me plenty. Thank you. I’ll live on my own.”

Kardia’s heart throbbed with pain, as if spiked with a wedge.

“…How will you make a living?”

“I’ll manage. It’s not something you need to worry about.”

“Let me worry!”

Startled by how casually she said it, Kardia raised his voice.

“Absolutely not. I won’t agree to you going to the capital.”

“The dead should stay in their graves, after all.”

Noi wore a smile that was half wry, half self-mockery.

“I respect your hundred years. My mere existence won’t shake them—you’re already a fine adult, Kardia. You don’t need my support.”

“I’m not asking you to support me.”

Kardia spoke from the pit of his stomach, voice low. Noi’s peppermint eyes opened a fraction wider.

“I’m saying I want to support you.”

Noi stared, dumbfounded, at Kardia’s face as it crumpled—and then she smiled, crumpling the same way.

“Truly, you… you’re terribly good at making me happy.”

Noi looked down at her own hand. Only then did Kardia realize he was still holding her wrist. Noi’s small fingers pried his away.

“It’s all right. In any age, even if today’s parting hurts, tomorrow brings a new meeting. And the bond between disciple and master is lifelong. But that doesn’t mean we spend life together. Of the many disciples you’ve had, the only one at your side now is Ornis, isn’t it?”

Noi spoke as if gently admonishing him.

For someone who had just said she was in love with Kardia, she sounded not the least bit lonely. The timbre of that voice only threw his heart into worse disorder.

(Is this… the parting of master and disciple?)

Kardia had seen many disciples off.

Each time there had been some tremor in his heart, but never this urge that felt like he might shout any second—never this dizziness, as if something might tear him apart.

(Was it because I was always the master?)

Had the disciple’s side always felt pain this sharp—sharp enough to rip them in two?