Volume 2 Interlude: Cyril’s Letter

　Jean finished work and, after chatting briefly with his subordinates, headed straight home. It had been around two months since a certain person had left this town, and for the past ten days or so, he had been going directly home without stopping for drinks, thinking it would not be strange for some news to arrive soon. …No, perhaps it had been closer to twenty days. In any case, lately he had not been taking his subordinates out drinking after work, which was very unusual for Jean.

　Perhaps today there would finally be some news. With that thought, he opened the door to his house, where his wife, Ilna, greeted him with an amused smile. In her hand was a single sheet of rather expensive-looking stationery. There was no mistaking it.

「Welcome home. A letter came from Cyril.」

「Oh. So she finally sent one. Let’s see…」

　Jean carefully opened the letter his wife handed him, taking care not to tear it by using too much force, and immediately began reading. Behind him, his wife’s bright laughter rang out as she watched him. This household and the sender of the letter, Cyril, were deeply connected.

　To Jean, Cyril Vedito was the child his late closest friend had left behind, and someone like a daughter to him. Ilna had doted on Cyril too, often saying it was what having a daughter must feel like, and to their son, she was probably like a younger sister. The Vedito and Doback families had always been close enough to consider one another family.

(…When Rolf and Jinit died, I thought about taking her in…)

　When Jean heard that the two of them had died in an accident, his first thought was that he should take Cyril in, and Ilna had agreed. But Cyril herself refused, saying she would inherit the shop.

　A child who had lost both parents before even reaching twelve, the age when apprentices normally began working, should not have been capable of running a business. Yet she had always helped her parents, and by then, she could already produce medicine better than that of most apothecaries. When she firmly declared that she would do it and protect the shop, all Jean could do was support her.

(Still, it went better than I expected. Cyril’s medicine is good, and more than anything, she’s serious about her work. Makes adults want to support her)

　Many adults had pitied her. At first, they bought medicine out of sympathy, but after being surprised by its effectiveness, they became regular customers. Before long, they were even seeking 「consultations」 from a child. Despite being run by a child, Vedito’s Apothecary managed reasonably well. At some point, those consultations came to be called fortune-telling, and the shop began thriving with young female customers, but even then, there had been no sign of Cyril’s business declining. Jean worried that she might collapse from working too hard as the number of customers increased, but he no longer worried about the shop itself.

(And before I knew it, she was working at the royal palace… She’s really made something of herself)

　He had watched her grow since the day she was born. The little girl who used to run up to him calling, 「Uncle Jean,」 was now a fortune-teller their entire town took pride in, having risen all the way to a position at the royal palace, or rather, an apothecary.

　That did not mean he had no worries. Cyril possessed the ability to see unusual things invisible to others, and because she was so kindhearted, she could not ignore anyone in trouble. Jean had a similar tendency himself, so he understood the feeling, but watching from the outside was nerve-racking.

　The letter said she had no complaints about life in the royal castle and that her work was fulfilling, but with her personality, perhaps she had increased her workload unnecessarily, or involved herself in matters that were none of her business and ended up suffering for it. Cyril would never mention anything in a letter that might worry them, so even though everything sounded as if it were going well, he could not help but remain concerned.

　Then a particular phrase caught Jean’s eye.

「What!!!???」

「Hey, keep it down! …Did something happen?」

「…Ah, no. There’s no problem. …………There’s no problem, but…」

　Jean, who had cried out without thinking, shook his head at Ilna, whose expression was half surprise and half concern. Then he read the same sentence again. Unable to accept it, he read it yet another time. No matter how many times he looked, the words 「I became engaged」 did not change. And the man she was engaged to was none other than Hector Alderde, the 「Knight of Flowers」 who had stirred up this area until recently.

　They said the women he had made cry numbered as many as the stars. A womanizer, a lover of women, a man with endless romances. An insincere scoundrel who played around without ever settling on anyone. Hector was the handsome flirt surrounded by such rumors. There was no one in the town who did not know him. Jean knew that his true character was apparently different, but was that man really Cyril’s fiancé?

　He had sensed a certain atmosphere between them, but now that the fact was right before his eyes, he was struck by an indescribable shock.

「Cyril… apparently got engaged…」

「Well, that’s wonderful news!」

「Yeah, it is… but…」

　That Cyril was engaged. The same Cyril who had once declared she had no intention of marrying anyone. The same Cyril who had said she wanted to adopt a child, raise them into an excellent pharmacist, and have them inherit Vedito. The same Cyril who said she had already had her fill of romance just from listening to consultations about it. She had written that she was engaged. As Jean groaned in disbelief and with emotions he could not quite understand, Ilna let out an exasperated sigh.

「It’s that again, isn’t it? The usual thing.」

「…What usual thing?」

「You know. That nonsense about how no man is worthy of Cyril unless he’s strong, has enough money that she’ll never end up on the streets, has the determination to protect her no matter what happens, and might as well be handsome too. There’s no such man.」

　Come to think of it, he had said that several times while drunk. Cyril was like his own beloved daughter, so he could not hand her over to some half-baked man. Unless a man that perfect existed, Jean could not entrust her to him.

(He’s got… every single one of those things…!)

　Among the knights in this town, he possessed swordsmanship that ranked first or second. He held the highly paid and respected profession of a knight. He was a man with the strong will to save Cyril at any cost, and the ability to act on it. His looks were exceptionally good. And above all, Cyril trusted him.

(…And he doesn’t seem like he’d even look at anyone besides Cyril, so there shouldn’t be any concern about cheating…)

　Jean had learned that Hector was different from the rumors after seeing him speak with Cyril. He understood that Hector was a better man at heart than he had expected. When Cyril was kidnapped, Hector had come to Jean in a desperate state, tried frantically to save her, and had actually rescued her from the kidnappers.

　As far as Jean knew, there was no better man. There should not have been anyone better. There should not have been, and yet.

「Something about it just rubs me the wrong way…!」

「This is why men are such fools… Well, we’re not her real parents, and we never had the right to oppose something she decided for herself. Who knows whether she’ll even come introduce him to us.」

「No, she says she’ll bring him next time.」

　Jean and Ilna were not Cyril’s parents. They had not taken her in after she became an orphan, nor had they lived under the same roof. They had merely spoken to her often, invited her into their home many times, eaten meals together, and done what they could to make sure she was not left alone.

　Even so, Cyril also thought of them as family. That was why she had written that she would bring her fiancé to introduce him.

「…I see. Then we’ll have to properly welcome him as family.」

　Ilna smiled happily and resumed preparing dinner while humming. Jean once again lowered his eyes to the letter written in Cyril’s careful handwriting.

‘, I have found someone I can trust, someone I wish to walk beside. I am no longer alone, so please do not worry. The next time I return, I will come to greet you together with Hector-san. To me, Jean-san and the rest of you are my second family, so I want to introduce you to someone precious to me.’

　He remembered what had happened after the funeral. Jean had crouched down to meet the small girl’s eyes and asked, 「Do you want to come live with us?」 The girl, whose expression had been far too firm for a child, had shaken her head, determination shining in eyes still red from crying.

‘Uncle Jean… No, Jean-san. I can live on my own. My father and mother raised me so that I would be able to. So you do not need to worry. I will be fine.’

　Ever since that day, when she had clearly told him as a child that she could live alone and he did not need to worry, Jean had continued to worry about her. Surely it was difficult for a person to continue standing alone forever. What if she collapsed because she had no one to lean on? She already lived beneath the burden of a mysterious ability that no one else possessed.

(But now, she really will be all right. …I suppose that’s a bit of a relief)

　That Cyril had written she was no longer alone, and that she had found someone she could trust. If a woman who could see people’s hearts believed that, then there could be no doubt that Hector was a good man. He must truly care for Cyril from the bottom of his heart, and Cyril must understand and accept those feelings.

　Yet even though Jean knew no one besides the two involved had any right to object, perhaps this was simply how a father felt when his daughter was about to marry. He should have been happy, but indescribably complicated emotions continued swirling inside him.

(I wonder what Rolf would’ve thought… He was calmer than me, but he was a fool for his daughter, so maybe he wouldn’t have liked it either)

　Jean ought to examine Hector’s character properly on behalf of his closest friend as well. …He would not oppose the engagement. But at the very least, making Hector swear that he would make Cyril happy was something Jean should do in his friend’s place.

Next part:

「Ilna, when Cyril brings him here, you’re definitely going to fall over from shock.」

「What’s that supposed to mean? Is it someone even I know?」

「Yeah. You know him.」

　Rather, there was no one in this town who did not. No one would ever imagine it. Everyone probably assumed that after leaving town, Hector was continuing to make a name for himself with women in the royal capital.

　He seemed to have a habit of hiding his true feelings, so even if he came to this house, he would probably put on an act and cause Ilna to misunderstand all sorts of things.

(…Well, I’ll clear up that misunderstanding, at least. The real question is whether that bastard can make Cyril happy)

　Jean imagined the two of them standing side by side. In his imagination, they were both smiling happily, but somehow, it seemed more likely that the man was the one being wrapped around the woman’s finger, and Jean gave a low laugh.

(Our Cyril is a tough one. Do your best not to end up under her thumb, Knight of Flowers)

　He had no idea that rather than simply being under her thumb, the man nearly had his heart shattered every single day. Imagining the two of them who would one day come to visit, Jean decided to read the letter once more from the very beginning.