Chapter 19
Chapter 19
THE contents of the letter Ain received from the messenger were despairing—it was enough to interfere with the group’s plans to rescue Dante.
“It says to return,” Luca announces, putting the letter away.
“Return? As in return to Adolunde?” Yuki asked.
“Yes,” Luca replied curtly.
“Why do we have to go back? Aren’t you heading to Maruk to save Sir Dante? Besides—”
Besides, you’re the Fourth Prince, Luca. Isn’t it acceptable if you’re absent from government affairs? Yuki kept the rest of her musings to herself.
“Because I have limited responsibilities. I, at least, sent word on ahead to Brother about my plans to rescue Sir Dante, but apparently my dear brother is dissatisfied with my plans,” he smiled dryly at his brother’s response.
“What’s with that! Why would he abandon Sir Dante to his fate? I can’t believe this!” Yuki exclaimed indigently.
“Ah, well, that’s because my dad was originally from Rvydom. He was captured by Maruk’s forces when he tried to seek asylum in Adolunde. So he’s not worth much to Adolunde,” Nasette filled in.
“But why would your rotten brother explicitly order you to return? That’s just weird. He didn’t care what you did until now,” Yuki observed.
Luca quoted from the letter, “It mentioned, ‘I want the Violet ranked Knight Lucat to properly lead a division of Adolunde’s army into war.’ I hate to admit it, but his reasoning doesn’t leave room for refusal.”
“Don’t let it get to ya,” Nasette’s cheery voice broke the gloom in the air. “I can make do on my own. I’m happy as long as you guys are willing to look after Tita and our mom. Go back, Luca.”
“No, it’s fine. Ain, send a message letting them know I will inspect the situation in Maruk and inform him of the circumstances.”
“Yes, sir. As you command!”
“…I appreciate the help, but are you sure about this?” Nasette asked, hesitant about the potential fallout.
“I don’t mind. I’m indebted to Sir Dante as well—he’s like a father to me,” Luca said. Yuki thought she saw a slight smile on his lips.
Yuki was shooed out of the room to start packing, while the others broke up and prepared for the journey ahead. The group set about packing their belongings and gathering supplies for the long journey to Cele.
***
“GOOD grief, Yuki. You still aren’t ready?” asked an impatient Tita peering in from the doorway.
“Titaaa,” Yuki implored on the verge of tears amid a pile of scattered luggage. Several hours passed since the letter arrived; everyone finished readying for their departure hours ago. Only Yuki remained, and she was embarrassed to be the one holding everyone up.
Tita sighed. “…I thought this was going to happen.”
Yuki ended up in this state every time she traveled to a new town or city—she was terrible at all tasks revolving around packing.
“Perhaps I should have checked on you sooner,” Tita muttered, staring down at the large pile of scattered clothes and random stuff.
Ain happened to overhear Tita and Yuki arguing when he passed by the room. He quietly slipped away, a warm smile pulling at his lips.
“Yuki! Paper is heavy when you start gathering it in bulk!”
“But look! The drawings came out so pretty on these pages! That’s why I want to keep it all as a memento—”
“Yuki!”
“Aaaaaaah, geez, I hate packing!” Yuki’s complaints echoed into the hallway of the inn, drawing snickers from the group.
***
“WE have a long journey ahead of us, I hope everyone is well rested.”
Yuki groaned at Luca’s words as he helped her into the horse saddle outside the inn they had been staying at. Their luggage and supplies were already packed.
“No more soft bed…”
“…Or warm sheets.”
Tita and Ain whined at the back of the group.
“It’s not going to be that bad—right?” Luca turned away from her pleading puppy dog eyes clicking his tongue as he took the lead out of town, the others followed with the occasional grumble from Ain.
***
YUKI rubbed her thigh and leg muscles. They were taking a brief stop on the side of the road for her and Ain, who were both less experienced with horseback travel over rugged terrain.
“Oh, a good omen,” Nasette commented, crouched over where the horses were grazing.
“Huh?” Yuki looked past his shoulder to see an eight-leaf clover. “Oh, it’s good luck?”
Ain snorted, “It means interesting things will happen—not necessarily good or bad things.”
“Yuki, Ain, break’s over!” Luca ordered mounting his horse, hand outstretched for Yuki.
Rubbing her aching legs one last time, she whimpered, “Already?”
Ain didn’t look any better as they rode on. They weren’t going to stop again until they found a place to camp for the night.
***
THWACK. A dull thud resounded when the arrow pierced vertically into the distant tree.
“……”
Yuki was speechless as she looked up at the young man who shot the arrow.
“I didn’t think you would be skilled in archery too…” She quietly grumbled about princely knights being perfect at everything.
After they chose to set up camp on the roadside after a day of traveling, Yuki decided it was the perfect time to practice archery. Ever since defeating General Isis, Yuki practiced whenever she got the chance, hoping she could use her skills to help Luca and the others again.
She loved camping outdoors because it gave her the time and space to practice. A part of her was also looking forward to stopping in the town Ain said they would reach tomorrow, because a bed was always more comfortable than the ground.
She always informed the others when she was going to practice and pointedly ignored Luca’s scoff as he continued to treat her like a child, saying it was too dangerous for her to go alone. Yuki stoically ignored him when he chose to tag along with her this time.
“Pull it closer to your chin,” Luca advised, watching Yuki practice quietly on her own.
Yuki was confident in her archery skills. She lovingly practiced archery since the day she first picked up an old string bow as a child. So she was rightfully disgruntled when the amateur Luca gave her advice on how to shoot.
“Why don’t you show me how to do it then?” she spontaneously challenged him.
Thwack. Another dull thud echoed from the tree.
“Luuuuuca! I challenge you! Right here and now! I have targets set up over there; let’s see who can hit them faster!”
Luca grinned. He was having enough fun he actually considered joining her for practice more often, especially with how tedious their travels could get. They would be departing again at first dawn, so he wanted to enjoy every moment he could walk on his own two legs.
***
“AIN, that’s a really pretty crystal,” Yuki commented, peering around Ain’s back at the crystal he was polishing on his lap in front of the fire while carefully adding ingredients to the pot of simmering rabbit stew. Nasette and Tita were by some trees tending to the horses and Luca was collecting water while Ain and Yuki made dinner.
“Oh, thank you. I received this from Prince Luca.”
“Heh. Luca’s pretty nice, huh?”
Ain smiled proudly, “He is! Prince Luca occasionally has these really generous moments!” The pretty indigo blue crystal rolled across Ain’s hand. “I used to have a green crystal, but I lost it at some point and Prince Luca gave this one to me when I was really beating myself up over the loss.”
“Heh, he’s considerate, huh?”
Yuki and Ain smiled at each other. Tita and Nasette overheard them from where they cared for the horses and whispered to each other.
“Brother, is he possibly talking about that time?” Tita whispered to Nasette.
“Yeah. I woulda never thought he still hadn’t realized the truth,” Nasette whispered back.
Several years earlier a young Luca and Nasette were fencing inside Ain’s room. One of their jabs accidentally hit the crystal, breaking it.
“…It was old,” whispered Luca as he walked past the siblings carrying their replenished water bags.
***
ANOTHER day of travel on horseback ended in a small town off the trail. They gathered any necessary supplies and settled in at the only inn in town, which was more of a house than an inn. Luca gallantly went to the baths at the end of the habitual after dinner teatime with the others, leaving Nasette, Ain, and Yuki to clean up.
“…He is the same as always,” Tita suddenly muttered. “Plus, he kept piling it up nonchalantly.”
“Yeah, he hasn’t changed,” Nasette said, smiling dryly.
“Indeed, he has not changed. I can understand your shock,” Ain nodded.
“Huh? What are you guys talking about?” Yuki asked, her cluelessness plainly displayed on her face.
“You didn’t notice?” Tita asked exasperated. “We’re talking about Luca. L.U.C.A. You didn’t see what he did?”
Yuki flinched when Tita leaned in close, her nose inches away from Yuki’s.
Did Luca do something weird? Did anything strange happen between dinner and now? Hmm… Yuki mulled over what it might be.
Tita sighed, “Luca put five sugar cubes into his tea.”
“Ah.”
Yuki was shocked when she saw Luca place five sugar cubes into his tea for the first time at Fol, but it no longer felt strange to her after witnessing him do it constantly since then. Now it would be more shocking if he didn’t put sugar in.
“He drinks something like that with a straight face, making it impossible to comment on it,” Tita sighed again and started helping the others clean up.
***
“YUKI, wake up!”
“Huh? Whaz goin’ on?” Yuki said, blinking away the sunlight in her face. She blushed when she noticed the sizable pool of drool on Luca’s back. Riding every day for hours straight took its toll on her, so she sat behind Luca in the less dangerous areas for a change in sitting position. There was only so much to do, and after the same scenery grew dull, naps were a way to pass the day faster.
Tita giggled off to the side where she rode behind Nasette, “Endure a little longer, Yuki. We will be sleeping in a bed tonight!”
“The tavern we are staying at is just ahead,” Luca said, leading the way.
Ain moaned in relief, climbing off his horse, “I don’t think I will ever be able to ride without being in pain.”
“I just want to sleep in a nice bed, with warm sheets,” Tita said.
Yuki couldn’t help but agree completely with Tita, “A bed sounds nice.” The group hurriedly made their way into the tavern taking rooms after Luca secured a stable for their horses. Yuki collapsed into her bed, relishing the soft comfort of a surface that wasn’t rock solid.
***
AIN sneezed loudly. He awoke to the cold and a second sneeze. Ain groaned as he took in Nasette curled around all the blankets on his side of the bed. They finally got a nice inn room with a warm bed, and Nasette stole all the blankets.
“Nasette, um, it’s cold so please give me back my share of the blankets.” Nasette’s back was facing Ain, so he gently shook his shoulders, but there was no reaction from the drooling man.
“Nasette,” he grumbled, shaking him harder.
“Mnnnnn….” Nasette moaned, tugging the blankets closer.
I won’t get anywhere at this rate. Guess I’ll just put my mantle on…
Ain sluggishly climbed out of bed, when Tita abruptly sat up in the bed across from his.
“Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?” Ain whispered to Tita.
Tita stared in a daze at Ain. “What’s wrong? Did Brother…steal the blankets again?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Oh yeah, this has happened before. Nasette has a bad habit of stealing the blankets from the people sleeping near him.
Tita stirred and slowly moved around in bed. Her fluffy chestnut hair was disheveled from just waking up. Ain strained a smile and grabbed his mantle off the back of one of the chairs surrounding the table.
“…Mn.”
Ain heard sheets rustle when he returned to his bed. He glanced over at Tita who had moved over to the other side of her bed, opening a big enough space for another person to lie down. She was patting the open space on her bed suggestively.
“…Wha—”
Tita scowled at Ain from where she laid sprawled out on the bed. “Mn!”
“Wh-What are you thinking!” he yelled before catching himself and lowering his voice.
Tita didn’t take well to his rebuke, and glowered at him. “You’ll catch a cold!” She whacked the opened space harder as though saying sleep here and grunted, “Mn!”
I hear nothing. I see nothing. I hear nothing. I see nothing! Ain chanted in his mind like a protective spell.
“Ain!” Tita shouted like a child throwing a tantrum.
“Aaaah, fine! You’ll be satisfied if I lay next to you, right!” Ain shot out of bed and crawled into the space next to Tita. He scooted as close to the edge as possible and turned his back to her.
“Mn. Hehe.” He heard her giggling happily behind him.
“D-Don’t blame me for this later!”
Ain put space between him and Tita. She must have been cold, because she scooted over to him and cuddled up against his back.
“Wha—” Ain froze in place like that for the rest of the night.
***
YUKI went to the room Nasette, Tita, and Ain were sleeping the following morning to join the group before heading off to breakfast.
“Good morning, Tita. What were your thoughts for breakfast—whoa, Nasette…”
Nasette was sprawled with his arms and legs wide open across the bed. Being the beginning of spring, it was still cold out, yet his abdomen was barely covered by the blankets.
“Good grief,” Yuki sighed. She learned just how bad Nasette’s sleeping habits were in the few days they had spent together. She went over to his bed and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.
Weird. Ain’s not in bed with him. I wonder whether he’s up already.
Yuki finished pulling all the blankets onto Nasette and looked toward Tita’s bed—her jaw dropped.
“……” Ain and Tita were sleeping while embracing each other. “...Huh?”
Tita was sleeping with her face buried in Ain’s chest. Ain’s arms were wrapped tightly around her back.
Yuki returned to the room she was sharing with Luca next door and smacked him awake before dragging him to the room where everyone else was sleeping.
“Hey, does this mean they did that, you know…that thing? Where they do you know what,” Yuki whispered to a sleepy Luca, as they spied on Tita and Ain.
“Children shouldn’t have such imaginative delusions,” Luca responded. Yuki immediately punched him in the shoulder. Luca sighed, disgruntled Yuki woke him up for no reason. “A half-asleep Tita most likely invited Ain to bed with her after Nasette stole the blankets.”
What’s with this situation?
“N-No way. I don’t believe it. I mean Tita is of a marriageable age…”
“As a kid Tita always had a bad habit of doing things half-asleep and not remembering the next morning. If she’s gotten over that habit, then it’s likely she did what you imagined earlier. Either way, leave them be,” Luca said, groggily returning to their room.
***
LATER that morning, Yuki sprung to her feet when she heard a scream next door.
“Why! Why is Ain sleeping next to me?” Tita screamed.
“Like I said, you invited me to sleep next to you, Tita!” Ain tried to explain.
“…! I did not!” she protested.
“You did too! Besides, you’re the one who clung to me!”
Yuki sat on her bed in shock over the conversation she could hear through the wall separating her from theirs. She stared at the wall.
“See, I told you so,” Luca said, smiling triumphantly as he sipped on the tea he just plopped five sugar cubes into.
***
NASETTE sat on the side of Tita’s bed after Ain stormed off and she angrily went back to sleep.
Luca sauntered into the silent room. Staring at Tita sleeping in bed he asked, “…How old is Tita this year?”
“Fifteen,” Nasette quietly replied, watching her resting face.
“She was barely ten the last time you saw her. She was really tiny at the time. She’s gotten pretty,” he said sounding like a father.
“Fifteen, huh?” Luca commented, eying one particular location.
“Right? Hasn’t she gotten big?” Nasette chuckled.
“Yeah, but certain areas didn’t develop as well,” Luca said with a mortified expression.
Nasette instantly stopped laughing. After a moment’s pause, he sighed. “Yeah…”
Luca wasn’t sure whether Nasette was agreeing with him or his sigh meant he was lamenting Tita’s lack of development in that one particular area.
***
“AAH! They all look delicious…” Yuki and Tita exclaimed to each other, entranced by the delicacies on the table.
They stopped at the local bakery the following morning. Stopping in places like this helped with their morale and kept the girls happy. The bakery sold three different types of dessert. The first was a white pudding topped with a fluffy cream. The second was a cake made of sweet-smelling batter and topped with a red jam. The final dessert was a tart topped with many different fruits.
All three desserts looked delectable, and the girls couldn’t pick just one. They decided to order two of the desserts to share. Well, that was until they were hit by a craving to try the third one as well. The desserts they saw the other customers eating all looked so delicious.
“Which should we choose…” the girls asked each other, unable to make a decision and order for a long time. Ain and Nasette watched them from a corner of the shop, weary of the sickeningly sweet scent wafting around them, while Luca remained expressionless from beginning to end.
Apparently, there was no such thing as an option to pick just two desserts when there are more than two to choose from. Surely, the expressionless Luca was the one who contemplated which to pick the most. In the end, Yuki and Tita noticed Luca’s desire through his expressionlessness and invited him to order the third dessert so the three of them could share. Perhaps stopping in the bakery was not just for the girls, but Luca’s sake too.
Arms laden with sweets, the group remounted their horses, and continued their journey. The sweets put Yuki in a good mood and made her think maybe this journey would be a little less traumatizing than when they first set off from Fol. Smiling she smacked Luca’s hand as he tried to snatch another of the sweet rolls from her basket.
***
BLOOD coated the ground, beast and man lie where they had been slain. Their innards spilled across the road; some still had spears sticking out of their corpses.
“There are more over here!” Nasette called out, his sword held at the ready. Ain, Tita, and Yuki remained on their horses while Luca and Nasette checked over the slaughtered caravan.
Luca grunted checking the side of the road Nasette pointed out. He turned away to enter one of the shattered carriages.
Nasette followed, only to rush back out of the carriage paler than Yuki normally saw the jovial man.
“I hate it when there are women and children…” Nasette hissed coming back to the horses.
“No survivors?” Ain asked, with a look of sorrow in his features.
“None, there is nothing more we can do here,” Luca answered from where the carriage began to smoke.
Nasette remounted his horse behind Tita, “At least the women and children will get a proper burial.”
Tita buried her head into Nasette’s back, soft whimpers emanating from her hidden face. “And so the war claims even more victims seeking sanctuary.”
***
TITA sang under the starless night sky. Since long ago, she always sang this song whenever someone died. It was a very gentle song in the ancient language.
“Grant them eternal rest. Please illuminate them with ceaseless light.”
Tita’s sorrowful song echoed through the night.
Ain opened the window to his room and listened to Tita’s song.
When did I last hear this song?
In the past, Tita sang the song every single day. Five years ago, the war that had continued for three straight years ended with a ceasefire when Adolunde’s queen died. Dante was captured when he tried to flee from Maruk and became a prisoner of war unable to escape Maruk. Of course, that was when Tita left.
Nasette and Tita had stayed in Adolunde mainly because Nasette was living at the Knight Training Camp quarters. Tita stayed in a boarding school for noble girls. However, when she learned her parents had become prisoners of war, she said, “I will stay with Father and Mother.”
She sang like this on that day too. Ain had opened his window and listened to her secretly back then as well. He secretly believed Tita was better at singing than any of the girls at the boarding school. But perhaps out of consideration for her position as a high ranking noble, she rarely sang in front of others.
Thus she sang under the starless night sky, shedding her tears for all who lost their lives this day.