Gumihou
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WeD - V1C62 (fin) - Makia: Gentle Lullaby
🕑 Added 2022-12-23 11:26:03 +0000 UTCBirds are singing outside.
“...”
I am given a room to myself on one of the higher floors of the Royal Palace.
The floor is very quiet, with direct access to the hanging gardens.
It had been three weeks since that incident. [1] That day of many terrible revelations.
Even now, the people of Ruskia are still suffering from the shock of the final day of the Holy Festival. I found a shaded area of the garden by the room and sit there alone, thinking about… many things.
As one might have expected, I have already sorted out my feelings and accepted many necessary truths. The emotional upheaval phase had already… passed me by.
Right now, I am staring at a line of ants marching along the edge of my dress.
“Oi, Makia. Where are you?”
“Tooru…”
It’s Tooru’s voice. His social position had since changed from my servant after we enter the Royal Palace. Still, even though he carried a position equivalent to me as a Supreme Magic Advisor - Magic Knight, he is still quite the meddler.
“.... So you were here…”
I am hidden behind a tree, but Tooru still manages to find me.
“You have a delivery. I picked it up for you.”
“You… looks like you still haven't shaken off your habits as my loyal servant, ey?”
“Isn’t it fine? I don’t mind…”
Tooru crouches next to me. He hands over a large box with a curt ‘here’.
It is a large white box with a bright red ribbon.
“It’s from Delia Fields.”
“...”
As I lift the box to shake it, Tooru quickly put his hand over the box.
“You idiot!! Didn’t you see this? It says ‘Do Not Shake’. Goodness, why are you so careless…”
“Oh, so it did…”
I untie the red ribbon.
When I lift the cover off the box, the sweet and tangy scent of lemon spread gently around us.
“L-Lemon cake, it’s lemon cake!!”
“Oh, bingo. Looks like my guess is right,” Tooru snaps his finger as he grins at me.
In the middle of the lemon syrup soaked cake is a thin chocolate disc, with the words ‘Makia, Fight On!!’ written in white chocolate.
“... Fight on… is such an old fashion phrase…”
Somehow, I could hear Barnava saying it to me. I could just picture him clenching his fist and that cheerful, overly preppy tone…
I laughed. I can’t help it.
“Oh, there’s still something else here.”
“...?”
At the base of the cake is a small flat box.
I opened the box and saw three beautiful glass forks in red, black and white.
“From the Lord of Karted, Count Gamet… woah, it’s really beautiful and… it’s made with our colours. I wonder… Do you think he knows about us?”
“It could just be a reflection of our images. Our hair is in that colour, anyway… that fellow has very sharp senses, I mean, he has to be, in order to become a very successful merchant.”
“Ah… there’s a piece of paper here.”
I carefully peel the paper off the lid of the box and unfolded it.
It was a letter, I think. The handwriting is pretty bad and I could barely make out the words, but it has the general format of a letter.
“To Tooru-sensei
I stated school
Food is delicius”
Well, well, looks like someone is doing their best to learn how to write. The final word ‘Bruno’ was oddly beautiful in comparison.
“That kid… He could only write his own name in the end… Haha…”
Tooru is rereading the letter and laughing happily.
Well, I felt pretty cheered up too.
This is the most content I've ever been. [1] The odd numbness from earlier felt almost like a lie, a fake, oppressive sort of calm.
“Yuri… let’s call him over! We can’t eat the cake without him, right?”
“Ah, don’t worry. I already called him. He should be here anytime soon.”
Even as we chat together, a voice from the other side of the garden calls out ‘Maki-chan, Tooru-kun’.
And then, we see him. Ulysses.
“Wow, is that lemon cake?”
“... Hm? Have you had it before?”
“Un, Honourable Uncle took a liking to it… I had it before during tea with him. That’s right, he did say the cake was a speciality of Delia Fields.”
Ulysses crouches down with a smile.
That’s right, he has a sweet tooth.
Each of us picks up our special fork from Lord Gamet and begins to eat the cake directly.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten cake like this since our time on Earth. Everything at the Royal Palace is properly cut into little pieces and served.”
“Now that you mention it, we ate a whole cake like this at the Past Life Confession Club Room, right? Tooru was all sad because his shitty parents forgot about his birthday, so Yuri and I prepared a cake for you.”
“But you ate most of it, didn’t you Makia?”
In the shade of the large tree, we reminisce over the past as we scraped at the cake with our forks.
As we savour the sweet and tangy lemon flavoured cake…
Click.
“...hm?”
Tooru frowned.
He opens his mouth and takes out something.
“...that’s a… message capsule.”
The capsule was a small cylindrical thing. All of us tilt our heads curiously as Tooru twisted it open and a piece of paper about the size of a chocolate wrapper popped out.
“Well, what did it say?
“Look, Makia… it’s for you. It’s from your mother.”
“” Are you eating properly? Take care of your health, alright? – from Mother who is always thinking of you “”
It was written in Mother’s tiny and beautiful cursive. Though I have not seen her for three weeks, I could still hear her voice in my head.
“Hm? I think I bit into one too,” said Ulysses.
“What the, they are so small that we could eat them by mistake!”
“Well, if you eat them, you’ve eaten them. They will just melt away in your stomach. Anyway, let’s try and find them all.”
Ulysses took out the cylindrical message capsule from his mouth and twisted it open. He wiped his hand with a white handkerchief before taking the message paper out. He has always been meticulous like that.
“Pfft.”
“... Eh, what is it?”
“It’s addressed to Tooru.”
“” Keep your womanising under control, BY Yodel “”
“No way, no way, no way, when did I ever do anything like that in Delia Fields? What the heck is this guy saying?!”
“... you were always popular among those junior high girls…”
As usual, Yodel’s absolute inability to read the room had landed a superb blow.
I shall remember that pout for the rest of my life.
“This is so great~ You guys were really close at the mansion, weren’t you? I’m kind of jealous seeing all these messages…”
“...”
Ulysses pokes the cake with his fork, checking for more capsules. [1] I just keep eating, a little more carefully, and in smaller bites. As we ate, laugh and chatted, one after another, we found more and more message capsules.
“... Ahh, here’s another one!”
[2} I shove the last bit of cake into my mouth, nibbling gently and straightening up at the ‘click’ against my teeth. I quickly pull the capsule out and twist it open.
““ I’ll always love you both - from Father ””
I recall the scent I breathed in the last time I hugged my father.
“Who is it from?”
“... My father”
I hand the little note to Tooru, “Well, it’s addressed to you too, Tooru.”
“...”
Tooru read the note in silence. Next to him, Ulysses leans over to read over his shoulder.
“That’s so nice, those are really nice words… my Imperial Father… Well, I can say that I have never heard those words from him.”
“Well, he is the king after all, but, you… well…” Tooru eventually trailed off.
Ulysses is looking curiously at him, perhaps wondering what he was about to say, but I get it.
In Ulysses’ case, rather than in a ‘be told’ situation, he is more in a ‘to tell’ position.
Anyway, I’m sure the king must love his son in his own way.
Tooru returned Father’s note to me and I place it with the other notes we have collected. I tuck them all away into a very small and tight bundle.
“Let’s keep them. These are our treasures, we should keep them safe.”
“Sounds good. Whenever we feel down, we can read them… Words carry strength after all.”
A gentle breeze blew past us. I haven’t forgotten all the complicated thoughts that have been plaguing me. As we ate the cake, a sense of fun and nostalgia came over us and I felt healed.
I am so, so happy with them that I wanted to cry.
I look at the two of them, then lowered my eyes.
“Tooru… Yuri…” I said in a voice so low that I might as well be muttering to myself, “Let’s do our best.”
“...un, yes, let’s.”
“...”
Under the beautiful blue sky, the world around us is still at peace.
From now on, we shall do our best. We might hit a lot of walls, but if we don’t put effort into anything, we can’t overcome anything.
Even if we do our best and play it safe, things might still not go our way.
There will be times of pain and hopelessness. Times of despair.
But, no matter what, we still want to be together.
[3]
Though each of us will make different choices for whatever reason and memories we have chosen to keep with us, I want to be a person who could support my friends no matter what. I will be understanding if I can, be supportive if I can’t.
The spring afternoon sun is warm and mild. I’m starting to feel drowsy.
Dappled sunlight filtered through the swaying leaves and danced against my eyelashes, popping like gentle bubbles.
Good night. Sleep well.
A voice is telling me to sleep well.
The gentle breeze is like a lullaby against my ears. It is the same song I heard when I was born into this world as Makia Odille.
Dearly beloved, all the pain and sadness in the world, forget them, forget them…
Good night. Sleep well.
[Gumihou: Woah, so, okay. This is the last chapter of Volume 1. See you at Volume 2! Oh, we'll have a few chapters of 'Side Story' before that]
[1] Add Details
[2] Adjusted details for dramatic effect
[3] Adjusted the ending details, adding italics to create a dreamy atmosphere
