Chapter 5: Follow the Glowing Blue Path

The sharing of personal space did warm Mia up, though maybe entirely not in the way Abel had intended. Heat coursed through her flushed face, washing away all sense of the cold. She forgot all about the fact that she’d been shuddering mere moments before and began entertaining thoughts such as If it’s only the two of us, maybe we can just live here. It wouldn’t be so bad. After all, my palace and paradise lies in his arms! For now, productive thinking was simply beyond her.

“Mia, look.”

“...Eh?”

Unsure of his intended direction, she looked up at him. It seemed as good a choice as any. Then, after a brief moment of appreciating his fine features, she followed his gaze.

“Over there. The water seems to be receding.”

She could see it too. The water level had fallen, exposing more of the bank. A little lower and they might be able to walk through it.

“But...”

She looked somberly up at the opening in the ceiling. The light leaking through had definitely grown dimmer. Night was falling.

“The water’s finally low enough for us to try to get out of here, but moving around in the dark will be a little dangerous.”

The existence of tides suggested there was an exit out to sea. Swimming through the sea in the darkness of night was not something Mia felt like attempting.

“Hm... You’re right of course, but...” Abel crossed his arms in thought. “We’re not going to get anywhere just by waiting. The longer we’re here, the worse off we’ll be. The situation is changing. Let’s keep a close eye on things so we don’t miss an opportunity to escape.”

Abel’s comment proved prophetic. Just as the last rays of light were fading from the ceiling, he let out a whoop of excitement.

“Look, Mia! There! The water!”

“My! What...is this?”

She stared in astonishment. The surface of the water was much lower than before, but more importantly, it now glowed with a soft blue light. The faint gleam was no torch or lantern, but it was bright enough to make their immediate surroundings visible, and it continued deep into the cavern in a ghostly path. Thanks to this light, it was arguably easier to move around now than it had been during the day.

“This is our chance. We can’t afford to waste it. We’ll only get weaker if we stay here,” urged Abel.

Mia took a moment to think. When lost or waiting for rescue, the theoretically correct approach was to stay put and conserve stamina. The problem was that considering the group of people they’d come to the island with, it was going to be very difficult for the other members to attempt a rescue. Most of all, she was the group’s survival expert. What chance did they have if she didn’t take action to get back to them?

Feeling emboldened by this self-induced reminder of her talents, she nodded.

“All right. Let’s go then.”

She took his outstretched hand.

Led by Abel’s hand, Mia followed the path of blue light. The area where they’d landed had numerous openings in the walls, but the glowing road led in only two directions. In one, the water grew deeper, and the other, shallower. Swimming in the cold of night was suicidal, so they naturally headed in the shallow direction.

“The ground here’s uneven. Be careful. Here, hold my arm.”

Time and again, Abel stopped and turned around to check on her, offering words of concern and encouragement. It made her giggle.

“You’re such a gentleman, Abel.”

Even under these dire circumstances, he slowed his walking to keep pace with her. Not only that, he kept her hand in his, his grip shifting from tender to firm in accordance with his assessment of their surroundings. It was almost as if he were leading her through an intricate dance, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s something my older sister used to say. She told me to always be kind to girls, no matter the circumstances.”

“Oh? Your older sister? You mean...”

In the previous timeline, Mia hadn’t paid much attention to the Kingdom of Remno or its royal family. Abel was pretty much the only one she’d known about. Understandable, considering she’d spent all her time waiting for Sion to approach her. This time around, Mia was different, and she’d done her homework. Why? Because she’d already decided that Abel was her groom of choice. Having set her sights on him, Mia, with her newfound romance smarts, had made sure to do plenty of legwork beforehand.

“Princess Clarissa? Isn’t that her name?”

She recalled that Abel had a sister three years older than him who, according to Mia’s research, was a reserved, introverted girl of few words.

Doesn’t seem like the person to give him that kind of advice...

Her puzzled frown was answered by a shake of his head.

“Yes, that’s her name, but it wasn’t her. The sister who said that to me was my oldest sister.”

“Your oldest sister? My, I didn’t know you had another sister...”

“I’d be surprised if you did. She passed away. Five years ago...” His expression, already blue from the ghostly glow, grew a little bluer. “I loved her...a great deal. She was...very kind. But more than that, she was strong. There was this aura to her, and it was dazzling. I looked up to her. She said that the way everyone thought in Remno was wrong, so she wanted me, at least, not to be like them. To be kind to girls...”

Within the Kingdom of Remno and its deeply entrenched misogyny, there had once been a powerful person who questioned its discriminatory status quo.

“I’m not proud to admit that for a long time, I’d forgotten... Forgotten why I tried to be kind to women... I’d thought it was just a quirk. That I’d been doing it on a whim. But it wasn’t. It was her. Her words have been in me all this time, guiding me like a compass.”

I never knew Abel lost someone who’d had such a profound effect on his life... I wish I could have met her...

Growing pensive, she asked, “This sister of yours... What was her name?”

“Valentina Remno. The first princess of our kingdom.”

“I see. Lady Valentina...”

It would be some time before Mia would recover her memories of the woman who’d borne that name.

Chapter 6: Anne...Discourses About (Her Version of) The Great Sage of the Empire

Darkness filled the cavern, its suffocating silence broken only by a mousy sniffling sound.

“Oh, woe is me... Am I going to die here?”

With her faintly glowing pendant cupped in her hands, Esmeralda sniveled helplessly as she sat leaning against a rock with her legs stretched out in front of her. She made a weak attempt to lift her right foot, but the pain that followed made her give up and she let it fall limp again.

“Ooooh, it hurts... It hurts so much...” She sniveled some more. “The bone must be broken. It has to be. I’m stuck here forever now... I’m going to starve and die. Oooooh...”

Miserable and in pain, Esmeralda was even more annoying to be around than she usually was. Right now, she was two handfuls. Her vision swimming with tears, she looked forlornly into the vast void that stretched out before her...and gasped at the appearance of a faint red light.

“Wha—?!”

She managed to stifle her scream but failed to rein in her imagination. Her mind forcibly reminded her about her own spooky story, in which the ghosts of evil cultists roamed the deserted island. It made her shiver, but she soon regained her composure, deciding that such nonsense couldn’t possibly be true. Moreover, the red light was coming from the direction of the cave entrance, which could only mean...

“Nina?! Is that you? Did you come to rescue me?”

As the approaching figure neared, she could make out a maid’s uniform, making her more certain of her deduction.

“Oh good. I knew it. I can’t possibly die in a place like this. That just wouldn’t be right. Clearly, Ni— I mean, my maid is coming to rescue me.”

She waited as the light-bearing figure came closer and closer, until...

“Oh! Lady Esmeralda, are you okay?”

The maid revealed herself to have red hair that fell down either side of her body in two tails. It was Anne.

“Huh, Ann— Ahem. It’s you. Miss Mia’s maid.”

Esmeralda was a little disappointed to find that it wasn’t Nina, but only a little. The relief of knowing that help had arrived was so profound she was practically beaming. The thrill drove her to her feet. A split second later, she yelped as pain shot up her leg.

“Lady Esmeralda? Are you hurt?”

“Ow, um, yes. I seem to have hurt my ankle when I fell down the slope there. I think the bone must be broken.”

“Oh no! That’s terrible! Quickly, please sit down! And stretch out your legs.”

“Hmph, seeing as you’re Miss Mia’s maid, I suppose I can do this one favor for you. Be grateful. For this time, and this time only, I shall obey your instruction.”

Despite her haughty tone, she was seated before she finished speaking. With her legs outstretched, she watched as Anne crouched down beside her injured foot.

“Oh? Are you versed in wound care? I’m mildly impressed.”

“My younger brother suffered a fracture once.”

“Oh my, then you’re barely more than an amateur. I suppose I was being foolish. Clearly, one can never expect too much from a commoner.”

Even as she faulted Anne for her lack of extensive medical know-how, her relief continued to grow; a bit of experience was better than none. Comforted by the thought, her pain seemed to recede a little.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“It certainly does. It hurts so much I can’t even stand. I’m telling you, it’s broken. It must be.”

“Hm... Let me have a look. Excuse me.”

Anne placed her hand on Esmeralda’s ankle and felt around. Then she ripped a length of cloth from the hem of her skirt and began wrapping it around the ankle for immobilization.

“H-How is it?” asked an anxious Esmeralda. “I-It’s broken, isn’t it?”

“No, the bone doesn’t seem to be broken. The area is bruised though... It’s best to avoid moving your ankle.”

Esmeralda’s distress lessened with every answer. The pain faded even more. She felt so good that she was pretty sure she could already get up and walk on her own. She was, at heart, not a complicated girl.

“By the way, how come you came all the way here by yourself? Keithwood told us it’s dangerous to go deeper into the cave. Why didn’t you listen?” asked Anne.

“Are you trying to tell me off? You? A commoner?” Esmeralda made an indignant sound. “You know, you’d better not be letting this whole ‘Miss Mia’s maid’ thing get to your head.”

She added a hint of irritation to her tone. Normally, that was enough to silence Nina and the other maids. It failed to work on Anne, for whom it functioned more like oil on fire.

“All right, listen here, you,” said Anne with the tone of someone who’d had enough. “Let me make one thing clear. What happens to you is none of my concern. Go roll down as many slopes as you want. I literally could not care less. But could you kindly do it in a way that won’t cause trouble for milady? She cares about you. Even now, she’s probably worried sick about you. If you go pull some stupid stunt and something happens to you, it would break her heart... Honestly, are you that dense? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?”

Anne’s outburst left Esmeralda stunned. After a brief moment, she swallowed and blinked a few times. As her wits returned, she felt a wave of hot rage course through her head.

“Huh?! You—” Esmeralda exclaimed, bristling. “You think you can talk to me like that and get away with it? Oh, I won’t forget this! I’ll tell Miss Mia about your insolence! I’ll tell His Majesty! They’ll—”

“You can tell whoever you want after we figure out how to get out of here.”

“...Huh?”

That elicited another round of confused blinking.

“How to get out of here? Wh-What do you mean ‘how’? You just came here. We’ll just go back the way you—”

“The path is blocked. There was a cave-in. We can’t go back the way I came. Our only hope right now is that there’s an exit somewhere up ahead...”

“What?! Y-You— But that’s... That’s so cruel! You come here, get all my hopes up, and then you snatch them from me just like that? Y-You...monster! How can you do this to me?” protested an increasingly hysterical Esmeralda.

Anne glared at her, and Esmeralda let out a frightened squeal before falling silent.

“Lady Esmeralda, if we want to make it out of here alive, we’re going to have to work together. So, I’m going to need you to listen to me and refrain from doing anything reckless or stupid.”

After some sulky whimpering, Esmeralda conceded.

“...Y-You don’t have to be so mean to me. F-Fine, I’ll do as you say.”

“All right then. I’m going to look for a way out. In the meantime, you stay here and wait for me. I promise I’ll come back for you.”

Anne turned and began to leave.

“Wh-What? Wait! Don’t leave me here! A-Anne!”

Anne stopped mid-step.

“...Huh?”

She slowly turned around and stared with an odd expression. It made Esmeralda uncomfortable, as though there was something stuck to her face. She wilted a little and looked down to avoid meeting Anne’s searching gaze.

“Lady Esmeralda, you... You know my name?”

“Of course I do. What kind of question is that? Do you take me for a moron?”

Anne raised an eyebrow.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“I’m just surprised. That’s all.”

“‘Surprised’?! So you do think I’m a moron! Of all the—”

“Oh, it’s not that. I don’t think you’re a moron, but I am surprised that you know my name. I didn’t think you could actually remember people’s names.”

“Of course I can remember people’s names. Yours, Nina’s, Keithwood’s, all of them. I’m offended by the fact that you actually thought I couldn’t.”

“Then why do you pretend not to know them? I don’t really care either way, but poor Nina. How can you do that to her?”

This time, Esmeralda answered with her head held high.

“Because that’s what it means to be a noble, of course.”

This was how she’d been taught.

“The noble shall not trouble themselves with the names of the common. To commit the rabble to memory is both a waste of effort and a disservice, for unnecessary attachment clouds judgment. As His Imperial Majesty’s most trustworthy subjects, we rule our lands in his service and must at all times maintain a clearness of mind and soundness of reason in the decisions we make.”

“The noble shall not forget to be grateful to their ancestors. As faithful subjects of His Imperial Majesty, we respect and take pride in the history and culture of his empire.”

“As a bearer of the Etoile, it is right and proper for only the finest of everything to be offered to you. Expect nothing less, and speak no thanks. Accept that which is normal with normality.”

Esmeralda took her father’s teachings to heart, obeying them to the letter. She shaped herself around them, believing without any doubt that it was how she was meant to live. It was why she found Mia’s conduct to be endlessly confounding.

“If anything, Miss Mia’s the odd one. What does she make of our proud tradition as nobles, I wonder?”

“And that’s exactly why I’ve devoted my life to her,” Anne said with equal conviction, earning her a curious look from Esmeralda. “She calls me by my name. She’s kind to me, and she takes care of my whole family. That’s why I’ll do anything for her. If I die, I know she’ll cry for me. That’s just the kind of person she is, and that’s why I’d even die for her. But I can’t, because I don’t want her to cry, so I’m not going to. I refuse to die here in this stupid cave.”

This powerful proclamation shook Esmeralda. She regarded the maid as she digested these words. Anne had said she was willing to give up her own life. That was indeed an expression of deep devotion, but it wasn’t as if Esmeralda didn’t have plenty of people like that around her too.

Didn’t she?

A thin sliver of doubt crept into her mind. For all her outward certainty, she was unable to fully convince herself that Nina and the guards would give their lives for her with equal readiness. And Anne had gone even further, declaring that while she was willing to die, she would choose to live if only so that Mia would not cry. In the endless darkness of the cavern, so suffocating that it was only natural to succumb to despair, her determination seemed to glow more brightly than even her torch. Would Esmeralda’s attendants do the same for her? Was she as profound a presence in their minds as Mia was in Anne’s?

If I died...would Nina cry for me?

Somehow, she couldn’t help but think Nina wouldn’t. But what frightened her more was...

If Nina died...would I be able to stop myself from crying? To not feel sad? If there is ever a time when I have to sacrifice Nina’s life, could I do it?

The doubt grew, blanketing the whole of her mind. It was all-encompassing—a philosophical crisis—for it questioned her very identity. What Esmeralda had been doing was, in essence, seeing no evil. She’d used the traditions of nobility as an escape, shielding herself with its dogmatic teachings so she didn’t have to feel. So her heart wouldn’t ache.

Anne proceeded to take her faltering rationalizations and rip them to shreds.

“Not calling people by their names... Refusing to see them as people... So that you won’t feel as bad if you ever abandon them... That’s so pathetic. It’s what a coward would do. Milady doesn’t want to abandon anyone. It hurts her to even contemplate it. So what does she do? She works hard to make sure she never has to. That’s why people call her the Great Sage. That’s why we all look up to her.”

“The Great Sage...”

A forgotten emotion resurfaced in Esmeralda. For so long, she’d looked upon Mia with bewilderment, finding her actions unseemly and utterly absurd. But even so...

“Lady Esmeralda, I’m going to be blunt with you. If you don’t want to stay here, then you’ll have to come with me. I won’t stop for you though, so if you do, you’ll have to keep up. So, are you coming with me?” Anne asked with the tone of someone delivering an ultimatum.

The question pulled Esmeralda out of her contemplative spiral. She quickly tucked the thought away, realizing that this was indeed not the time for introspection. With a small nod, she slowly pushed herself to her feet.