Chapter 105

Keeping memories whole was hard.

He couldn't even remember the conversation with his uncle from just yesterday, and Adelheid's loud chatter about her colt a few hours ago was already fuzzy.

Edgar's memory was no different. Who could live twenty-three years and remember every moment of it in detail? If it were possible, he wouldn't be agonizing over this now.

Human memory was subjective. People bent things to suit themselves, or remembered them in ways completely different from what had actually happened.

Some memories were vivid, some hazy. Sometimes he'd forgotten something completely until someone brought it up, and been startled to hear it had really happened.

He'd also learned that when something was truly painful, a person might not be able to remember it no matter how hard they tried. Edgar still couldn't properly remember the day his uncle died. He didn't have the courage to ask Edwin. All he knew was that he'd been the one to find his uncle's body.

And now.

"..."

Edgar stood in front of the bathroom mirror and felt at his chest. No pain.

Of course. There wasn't a single wound on him. Still frustratingly small.

He couldn't remember who had been holding that knife. He didn't know what he'd been doing right before it, either. He'd clearly been talking with someone... All he was sure of was that it hadn't been Edwin.

Edgar bit down on his lip.

He should have thought about how he'd been able to come back to the past. It shouldn't have been enough just to be happy about getting a chance to save his uncle. No — that too might have been a kind of defense, a way of protecting himself in the shock of being stabbed.

And his mature, clever twin had noticed what Edgar himself hadn't. It was a truth he would have to face sooner or later...

Knock, knock, knock.

Edgar's head jerked up.

"Edgar? You all right?"

His uncle's voice.

Edwin was always saying Edgar thought too much. Well, of course. He'd forgotten something like that — of course his head would be full of it now.

But Edgar turned off the tap and opened the door.

"Yes, I'm fine, Uncle. The ink on my hands isn't coming off."

Edgar held both palms out to him. His uncle brought a towel and dried his wet hands.

"It's fine. It'll come off as you go about doing other things."

Edgar wasn't interested in magic. He didn't really know much about it either.

But according to ancient records, magic was a power that could bring about "miracles" — things impossible by human strength alone, like raising the dead. If such miracles really existed in the world, wouldn't coming back to the past be possible too?

So Edwin's interest in magic wasn't a complete waste after all.

"Uncle, Uncle."

"Hm?"

"Mr. Benito's lessons — can I not take them now?"

Unlike Edwin, Edgar had been making it obvious he wasn't interested in magic, so his uncle seemed a little surprised at the question, though he didn't say so out loud.

Harold tossed the towel casually onto the rail and smiled. Edgar could tell what his uncle was thinking, and he didn't like it — but there was nothing for it, so he stayed quiet.

Probably laughing to himself that kids were kids — now that the lessons were gone, the boy must be missing them.

"You liked his lessons?"

"...Sort of."

"Mr. Benito has his own things to do — wouldn't it be a lot to ask him to come all the way out here?"

If he'd made the request before the trip, along with Edwin, Uncle probably would have found a way to bring him... But Edgar, playing the innocent, well-behaved nephew, didn't say so.

"Mr. Benito's with the western magic institute, right?"

"That's right."

"The west..."

"Curious?"

Edgar swayed a little in place, putting on the most serious face he could manage to look like he was thinking hard.

"If we went, Edwin would like it."

"And Edgar?"

"I don't like magic the way Edwin does."

"All right, all right."

His uncle held back a laugh as he played along.

"Next time, a trip out west might be nice."

---

He hadn't expected Edgar — of all people, not Edwin — to bring up the magic institute.

At first he'd seemed half-dragged along by Edwin, but as the lessons went on, Benito's way of speaking had clearly drawn him in. If the boys had enjoyed the lessons, that was enough.

Harold looked at Edgar. The boy who'd been glaring at the ink on his hands with the most serious eyes in the world took off at a run the moment Edwin called from a distance. The exhaustion he'd shown until the day before was nowhere in sight.

"...The magic institute, huh."

He had been thinking he ought to pay it a visit at some point.

That hadn't changed — a visit still seemed worthwhile. But Harold's priority was his nephews. As long as Edgar and Edwin were safe and doing well, he could put a good many other things aside. Even his brother's death.

Hadn't his brother written as much in his will?

Harold's eyes didn't leave the two boys. Edgar was still a little awkward around Adelheid. Harold, being his uncle, knew perfectly well that Edgar wasn't the type to warm up to people easily, so unless another problem came up, he planned to just let it be. It wasn't that Edgar disliked her. Adelheid's bold personality just seemed to throw him off.

Edwin was lively too, but he was different from Adelheid. Adelheid, feeling Harold's eyes on her, left the boys where they were and came running to him. Edwin cackled at the sight, and Edgar, flustered, grabbed Edwin and chased after her.

"Uncle Harold!"

"Hi, Adelheid."

"Hey, what are Edgar and Edwin going to do today?"

"Why?"

Adelheid grinned bashfully. She pointed at Edgar and Edwin, who had followed her, and gave a shy smile.

"I have to study, so wouldn't it be nice if they studied with me? Studying's more useful than just playing!"

She just didn't like the idea of other kids playing while she had to study. Harold saw right through her, but let it pass with a laugh.

Same mother or not, her personality was worlds apart from Grisha's. Then again, even Edgar and Edwin were different. Siblings with a big age gap were bound to be more so.

"Well... I can't have you distracted from your studies."

"I don't mind!"

"Adelheid. Didn't you promise Mommy? Once we came down to the Reichnek domain..."

"I know, I know!"

Claudia, who had come up at some point, gave Adelheid a stern look. Adelheid answered with a little shudder.

"What are you studying?"

But Harold's nephews weren't kids who disliked studying. Edgar, who'd just been missing Benito's lessons, asked. Edwin, who had packed books first thing when he'd heard they were going on a trip, brightened up too.

"Well, boring stuff — arithmetic, foreign languages, and — "

"From today, you'll be learning something different, Adelheid."

"Something different?"

Adelheid's eyes went round at Claudia's words. Whether it was the fiery red hair or the expressions that shifted by the second, there was something crackling and alive about the space around Adelheid.

Put her side by side with Grisha, and it would be quite a sight.

"Linda will be looking after your studies."

Adelheid jumped up.

"Really? Linda's going to teach me?"

"Yes. You remember what you promised Mommy?"

"Yes! I'll be careful! No fooling around!"

Adelheid, thrilled again, ran off somewhere. She'd surely gone to find Linda.

Claudia watched her daughter disappearing in an instant with a there's-no-stopping-her look, then turned her attention to Edgar and Edwin.

The moment Linda's name came up, Edgar had a deep furrow between his brows. It was cute enough that Harold caught himself smiling.

"Uncle."

"Hm?"

"What on earth does old Linda even do?"

Claudia held back a laugh beside them. Ever since the incident at the small house, Edgar had been asking Harold about Linda from time to time.

Even to a child, a normal nurse riding a horse like that clearly didn't add up. Harold had gotten the exact story from Linda later. Racing a horse at full speed with no saddle and two small children clutched against her — that trick wasn't one many active knights could pull off either.

"Did you ask her yourself?"

"I did!"

Edgar answered sullenly.

"But she just laughed and wouldn't tell me... she said to ask you, Uncle."

"Me?"

"But then you only ever tell me to ask her."

"So that's what was frustrating you?"

"Yes..."

Edgar answered Claudia glumly, then his eyes lit up. The face of a boy who'd just realized there was someone else here willing to listen to him. Perhaps finding him sweet, Claudia spoke with a laugh in her voice.

"When she was young, Linda was a knight, like Harold."

"Like Uncle?"

"Yes. She was a knight, and after she retired, she came to our family."

"Is that why she rides so well?"

"That's right."

"Knight" alone didn't quite do Linda Glaczel justice. But Harold didn't pick at Claudia's explanation.

"Then what's this about Linda giving lessons?"

"Adelheid wants to become a knight. Linda's going to teach her all sorts of things. Interested, Edgar?"

"What kinds of things, though...? Edwin might be interested."

"If you're bored, would you like to sit in with Adelheid?"

Edgar didn't answer right away. Whatever he was mulling over in that small head, he was clearly taking it seriously, so Harold and Claudia waited instead of pushing him.

He liked being indoors more than running around outside, so not knowing what the lessons involved was probably making it hard to answer. But watching Adelheid searching for Linda and Edwin running after her again, Edgar sighed.

"Edwin will like it, so I'll come watch too."

"All right. Go on, Edgar. Go play."

Edgar walked off, looking put out. Since arriving at the Reichnek domain, the boy had been looking oddly more his age.

Was it Adelheid's influence? Or was it because they were away from the capital?

Either way, it was a relief the trip seemed to be doing the boys some good too.

"Anyway. You managed to talk Linda into it. She's not someone who likes teaching, is she?"

"With things as they are, Linda didn't really have a choice either."

Claudia smiled bitterly.

"It would be good for Adelheid to learn a way to protect herself. And Linda said if it came to that, she'd feel better teaching Adelheid herself."

Harold nodded.

Linda Glaczel was from the last generation to be formally knighted rather than to have graduated from the academy. There had once been far more knights in Alharn than there were now — nothing you could compare to today. War always produces heroes.

The Marquis Reichnek and Linda had both been on the battlefield until the day the armistice was signed.

"All right, enough of that talk."

Claudia, apparently not liking the mood sinking, forced her voice brighter.

"A letter came for you. From the date, it looks like it was sent a few days after you left the capital."

Harold took the letter. Besides the Barbosa family's reply, there were a few matters he'd left the capital before getting answers on.

As expected, the letter bore the northern base's mark. The blunt signature of Ricardo Hamilton, the northern commander, was there.