Chapter 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 21

NASETTE paid for a single large room when they arrived at the shadiest inn Yuki had seen—and she had stayed at all sorts of inns since arriving in Aridol.

“It’s dangerous, so it’s best we stay together,” Nasette told her when she asked him why he only got one room.

This was a first—they always borrowed two rooms, regardless of how dangerous the region was. The reasoning for two rooms, even in insecure areas, was if one room got invaded, they could escape to or receive reinforcements from the second room.

Once the room was secure, Nasette and Luca took turns checking out the city. They never said what they were doing, but Yuki was fairly sure they were looking for clues and how best to proceed with Dante’s prison break. Yuki had nothing better to do in the interim, so she took the chance to continue her language lessons with Tita and Ain.

“I’m impressed you can study under these circumstances,” Ain praised her.

I’ll be crushed under the weight of worry if I don’t have something to take my mind off things, Yuki thought.

***

“HMM,” Yuki murmured for what seemed like the thousandth time. Tita smiled at her from where she sat on the other side of the table. “Why do you read it this way? I don’t get it…”

“Haha, you have to learn the basics through rote memorization or you won’t grasp the inner meanings down the line.”

The book splayed on the table in front of her was filled with lists of letters and words like nothing she had ever seen before. Apparently, Aridol shared a common written language, but Yuki saw no commonality between Aridol’s language and any of the languages she knew on Earth.

Now that I think about it, Papa had a hard time with the Japanese writing system too; especially kanji. Maybe this is why, Yuki thought, holding her head.

“Hmmm,” she murmured again. Everything looked the same to her. One symbol had a swish, but the next had an almost identical curl.

As Yuki compared the bizarre letters, Tita smiled at her and said, “Why don’t we leave it at this for today?”

“What? But—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Did Tita run out of patience teaching a slow learner like me? That fear coursed through Yuki for a moment.

“…Will you teach me again tomorrow?” she asked timidly.

Tita smiled sweetly, “Of course.”

Thus concluded another day of studying together—something Yuki wouldn’t come to regret until much later.

***

EVERY night Yuki and Tita would prepare food and tea for Luca and Nasette who came back to the room exhausted. Several days passed before Ain started disappearing for long excursions too. The girls had no idea where Ain and Nasette went together, but they always came back weary and worn-out.

Yuki thought their prison break attempt must be something more difficult than she could ever imagine. Even after she and Tita crawled into bed together, the three men would argue over a map they spread out in the faint lamplight.

I wish there was something I could do to help. Tita must be thinking the same thing.

They often looked at each other wide-awake in the middle of the night. Occasional screams echoed through the city late at night. They would both wake up, and when their eyes met, they gripped each other’s hands and squeezed their eyes shut to make it through another harrowing night.

Being unable to help is the most painful thing of all.

Yuki was impatient too. She had nothing other than clothes and her few belongings. She came with Luca and Nasette because of her own selfish demands, but it was too late to regret it. There was no going back at this point. They could only move forward until the day they managed to free Dante.

They spent every day in melancholy. Weeks passed with Yuki and Tita never seeing the outside of their room. Before she realized it, Yuki memorized enough words to read and write in Aridol’s language. It was around then when that fateful night finally arrived.

***

“WE managed to secure a path into the prison at dawn tomorrow,” Luca announced matter-of-factly, his face shadowed in the gloom of the dim lamplight. “We provided a good sum of money to several of the guards to allow us to meet with the prisoners of war and hand them food first thing in the morning, before the sun clears the horizon.”

His handsome face was sunken with lost vitality. He looked as if he had lost quite a bit of weight. Whatever he had to do to make this possible had taken its toll on him mentally and physically. Ain and Nasette stayed quiet, leaving the explanation to Luca.

“The problem is they won’t allow men into the prison out of concern they are planning a prison break. So, we need your help now. We procured the prison cell’s key from another source, but we can’t get inside to open it.”

Surprised by Luca’s request, Yuki looked at Ain and Nasette—their faces contorted in barely restrained regret.

I see. They were desperately searching for another way this whole time, Yuki thought. Even if they found another way, they didn’t have much time left. They had to get back to Adolunde soon, or the war would progress so far they wouldn’t be able to go back.

Yuki clenched her fists. She planned on being the one to go with them. She wasn’t originally from their world, so even if she were captured and killed, it wouldn’t be a great loss to these people.

Worst-case scenario, I’ll pretend to be the Legendary Witch again.

“With that said, we’ll have Tita come with us,” Luca announced. The room fell deathly silent; the gloom usually following a funeral hung in the air.

What? They picked Tita? Yuki was taken aback. She never thought they would pick Tita. She glanced at Tita who sat beside her bewildered.

“…I understand,” Tita said, looking at Luca with terribly frightened yet resolute eyes.

“Hey. Hold on a minute.”

Wasn’t Tita heading to Adolunde to seek asylum? To escape from whatever nightmare she had been put through as prisoner of war? They took her under their wing to keep her out of danger, so why are they purposely tossing her into the lion’s den? Even if all she has to do is open the door, the guys didn’t explain what would happen after the door was opened.

Yuki knew they didn’t tell them because it was clearly something they couldn’t explain—it would scare the girls too much. She overheard them say the prison cells were deep inside the fortress.

“Why? Why did you pick Tita? I can’t accept that,” Yuki objected.

“Yuki,” Tita called. Yuki turned to Tita and saw the hand she clenched over her chest was trembling. “It’s fine.”

“But—”

Tita shook her head with downcast eyes. “If that is Prince Lucat’s command, I shall obey.”

Prince Lucat. Those were not the words of the childhood friend who always called the prince, Luca—no, they were the words of a loyal citizen following the orders of their ruler.

“I’m sorry to ask you to do this when we know how dangerous it will be,” Luca apologized.

“Do not be. I will execute the orders you have honored me with to the best of my ability,” Tita said formally, bowing her head.

The fifteen-year-old girl smiled as she trembled. Her smile was beautiful like a doll’s—and tragic. She was smiling despite how frightened she was. Her smile squeezed Yuki’s heart. She could almost hear the agonizing screams from across the city, echoing in her head again.

Since the day she heard the first man’s piercing cry at the execution when they entered Cele, it haunted and gnawed at her mind. The plaza filled with a crowd of people; the gray city; people wandering around with dead eyes. Was Tita going to be executed in a place like that too?

“We can’t let that happen,” Yuki muttered unconsciously. Once the words were out of her mouth she declared it again, louder this time, “We can’t let that happen.”

Tita stared at Yuki for a moment before smiling pitifully.

“Thank you, Yuki. But it’s fine.”

“It is not fine!”

It’s not fine! It’s not fine! Tita was with me whenever I was worried! She smiled and called me, ‘strong’! The sweet, innocent Tita is going somewhere she might die. I’m certain she’s aware of the fact she could die. That’s why she can smile like this.

“You’re only fifteen, Tita! It’s too cruel to put a fifteen-year-old girl in that kind of situation!” Yuki glared at Luca.

“Then what about you? You’re a brat who’s barely ten,” Luca countered.

“I’m eighteen!” she proclaimed, striking a daunting pose.

Aaah, I let it slip finally. But that doesn’t matter anymore.

“Choose me. Choose me, a girl from another world who can take on the guise of the Legendary Witch. You don’t have to put Tita in danger.”

Everyone present was speechless. Clearly, no one believed her when she told them she was eighteen.

“Doesn’t it work out well this way? If I die, one of the possible catalysts for full-blown war will disappear…. Besides, there’s a chance I might return to my world if I die in this one, right?”

Yuki knew she most likely would not return to her world if she died in this one—nothing was ever that easy.

“Yuki,” Tita whispered. Worry etched her beautiful face as she watched Yuki. She was significantly taller than Yuki, but she looked like a very fragile child to Yuki.

“I’m sorry for keeping my age a secret. As you can see, my appearance is stuck this way, so I didn’t think anyone would believe me anyway,” she grinned and turned to the men in their group. “With that said and done, take me with you. I, at least, have confidence in my skill with a bow and arrow. If you won’t listen to my request, I’ll make it a command.”

Her grin was perfect and filled with the self-assurance of someone who didn’t mind sacrificing themselves.