Chapter 84
I watched in bewilderment as the distortion caused by swallowing His Highness’ body slowly came together and grew smaller.
The wind that seemed to suck in stopped, and the roots of the tree created by His Highness’s magic crumbled away like they had completed their role.
Even though someone ran up to me, said something in an impatient voice, or shook my body, I just sat there and cried.
But I felt like I heard a painfully nostalgic voice, and at that moment I looked up.
“Ah, I can’t even take a nap.”
A man with red hair and red eyes was there as if it were natural. He was standing next to me, looking at the black sphere.
Emilia, who was carrying a sloth behind her, was also there, but I had no time to pay attention.
The man peered into my face. He crouched down, rubbed my cheeks with his sleeve.
“Don’t cry so much, Rebecca. You were born with a cute face, you know?”
“Ouka…?”
I murmured as if I was seeing a dream.
After he replied “Oh,” he wiped my tears and returned his gaze to the shrinking black hole.
“That Llewayne guy is great as expected. Even though he’s not a healing magic user, he was able to calm it down.”
He nods contentedly, standing up. Strokes my head that I am staring blankly at, and starts walking towards the disappearing hole.
“I’ll bring him back somehow. I’ve been studying time magic in all worlds except here. I’m already a pro, a pro.”
Just before he touches the black hole, he turns back to me and lightly raises his hand.
“Well, I’m going.”
“Ouka, wait…wa”
Before I can stop him, Ouka’s body bends and twists like jelly. He’s sucked into the small hole like water flowing in.
With that, the time distortion was completely closed and disappeared without a trace.
An hour passed, two hours passed, and even when dawn arrived, the two did not return.
————On this day, the first prince of the Huaverdon kingdom disappeared from the world.
***
After the next day, nothing changed in the Academy and the Royal Capital. Because a gag order was placed on what had happened in the great hall and the disappearance of the prince, most students, except for some senior nobles, did not know what had happened.
One only wonders why the ball was canceled and that this year’s title was not awarded.
I, who did not want to leave the great hall, was carried to my father’s house in the Royal Capital two days later after collapsing.
I was not allowed to go to the Academy even when I woke up.
After that, I started spending my days staring out the window every day.
Sometimes people came to visit. Nii-sama, Melinda and Fried, Kyaran, Olivier and Brian, Gadd, Oswald and Judith.
I felt like I was talked to, and felt like my shoulder was tapped. Everyone came and went without realizing it.
My sense of time was extremely vague. I don’t even know how many days I’ve spent this way.
It feels like two weeks, but also feels like a month.
However, the scenery seen from the window gradually changed, so it must have been a relatively long time.
In the garden with the cold and frost still remaining, the trees and plants peeked out, flowers bloomed with buds, and the garden became greener.
——Even if His Highness is gone, the seasons still change.
It was when I was thoughtlessly thinking about obvious things. The door to the room opened. The air moved.
Someone had entered.
“Rebecca-sama.”
I felt like I was being called my name after a long time, or maybe it was just a moment ago.
“Rebecca-sama.”
A hand was placed on my shoulder. It wasn’t an unpleasant or comfortable feeling, but my head was fuzzy and I accepted it without deep thought.
“Rebecca-sama——Christina is dying.”
I made a guttural sound. When I turned around, my best friend was standing with a face that I had never seen before, so severe.
————Emilia.
I intended to voice out. A breath leaked out only when my mouth moved.
I tried to stand up but my legs lacked strength. Emilia tried to support me as I sat down on the floor, collapsing from the chair.
Regardless, my gaze wandered inside the room. Where is my white snake?
When was the last time I touched it, called its name, and saw it?
“You know, Phantom Beast is the master’s mirror. Rebecca-sama, you’re slowly weakening and dying. It’s meaningless to heal Christina any further. Nothing will change unless you change.”
She looked at me straight in the face. It was like a shock, as if I had been hit in the head.
I didn’t notice that Christina was weak or that Emilia was healing her.
But my head wouldn’t stop spinning. I couldn’t think deeply and I looked around searching for Christina.
“Rebecca-sama, get a grip. Your Highness is——”
“Don’t say it!”
I almost yelled. My throat hurts. It had been a long time since I had made a sound.
Tears that should have dried up a long time ago were still coming out like spring water.
“Don’t say it. HisHighness, I’m sure he’s alive.”
I shook my head like a child.
Even if everyone else gives up, I am the only one who believes. Even if it means acknowledging that it is the same as not accepting reality, as long as I continue to believe.
I would rather not live otherwise.
But Emilia grabbed my wrists and held them.
“No, I will say it. Rebecca-sama, please calm down——”
Emilia, with a strong tone, wouldn’t let me block my ears and forced reality upon me——
——or so I thought.
“If you do that, Your Highness will be sad when they come back.”
It took me a while to understand the content that was said in a relaxed tone. It took several seconds for it to finally reach my brain and I finally understood it.
I looked up dazed. Emilia had returned to her usual gentle expression.
But she looked terribly weary.
“Rebecca-sama, you have such a terrible face right now. When that man comes back, be sure to greet him with the usual stunning Rebecca-sama.”
She describes me as having a “terrible face,” with dark circles, hair that has lost its luster, and a face that looks blurry, even though she herself is a bit gaunt herself.
For the first time, I realized that Emilia had not come to scold me or encourage me.
She was struggling with guilt.
It was surely guilt for the fact that His Highness had fixed the time distortion instead of her.
As a responsible and smart person, I could have known that this would be a heavy burden for her, but I, who only think about myself, had never thought about it until now.
Moreover, Emilia chose to believe His Highness’s words “I will come back”.
This is in stark contrast to the me who was blocking it even though I said I believed it. She is trying to live with her back straight because she believes it from the bottom of her heart.
With hope in her heart, he is not wasting the life that His Highness has saved for him. She is trying to live her life properly. She wants me to do the same.
——That’s right. Emilia is always like that. I’ve never seen her break, she’s a real strong person.
Compared to her, what am I now?
“…Yes, this kind of thing will be disillusioning.”
I mutter a few words and Emilia smiles at me. I felt like looking up for the first time in a long time.
With her help, I put strength into my legs and finally stood up.
And then I realized something.
“…I’m sorry Emilia, what day is it today?”
“It’s March 15th.”
“Has it already been two months since then? So there’s only a week left.”
There was an important promise.
I wonder why I forgot until now, it was an important promise with His Highness.
“Emilia, can you call Nii-sama? If I’m allowed, I want to go to the palace tomorrow. If possible, I want Emilia to come with me.”
“I don’t mind but… what for?”
“First, I have to secure the venue. Next is the invitation. For this occasion, it’s fine with a ready-made dress.”
Looking at me who had suddenly regained my vitality, Emilia was taken aback.
I wiped away her tears and tried to smile.
“Of course we’re doing it. It’s the preparation for the wedding.”
————[Make progress with the preparations for the wedding ceremony].
He did say that to me in the end, didn’t he? Then what I should be doing now is not just looking out the window all day.
“His Highness has never broken a promise. I will get scolded if I don’t do it properly.”
The fog that was in my mind has cleared and I feel as if sunlight is shining through the clouds. I’m making plans in my head.
As the scale has to shrink, I want to gather only the people who I definitely want to come. I’ll try to ask Melinda right away to help with various things.
The date has been decided since before, but I need to check if my father and His Majesty the King have put in another schedule.
Emilia’s face lit up and she began to move. Nii-sama ran and came flying right away, and soon after, Melinda also came driving a carriage.
When Father made contact, the palace’s permission was granted with an unprecedented speed. The use of the giant hall that was originally planned to be used remained as planned.
With Christina who has fully recovered riding at high speed to deliver the invitation cards, despite the invitation being too hasty, reply to attend quickly came from Cectiara-sama, Ceden siblings, Gadd, Kyaran and others.
The Marc siblings even came to hand over the invitations and helped the security at the venue.
Principal contacted me to let me know that they would like to attend the wedding.
Fried appeared with a custom-made wedding dress and accessories. It was originally what we had prepared. He did not cancel the order.
In a short time of one week, the preparation was steadily and rapidly proceeding.
Many of my and the prince’s important people helped. While thinking of His Highness, I felt like crying every time.
On the eve of the wedding, His Highness and Ouka still did not return.
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