Chapter 21: Breathing White in the Morning Frost.

Ren stared at Ulysses after receiving the suggestion so casually.

“Are you sure? Would giving me permission cause you any trouble, Lord Ulysses?”

“Trouble for me? Why would it?”

“Permission is required to enter Old Town. I’m grateful that you’re considering me, but I don’t want that consideration to inconvenience you.”

“Then you may put your mind at ease. Old Town is not completely closed to everyone except those involved in its management. Entry is normally permitted under certain conditions.”

As an important cultural site, it naturally attracted many people who wanted to see it up close. Opportunities for supervised visits were therefore arranged at regular intervals.

This was not one of those periods, but Ulysses continued:

“We’ll simply have you inspect the surrounding area while you’re there.”

He was referring to the security matter they had discussed. It could be seen either as Ulysses making special arrangements for Ren or as Ren being permitted to visit while carrying out a job.

“I hear you have performed similar work in Clausel. I’m confident you can be trusted in Old Town, so there is no problem. Consider it half work and half sightseeing. I’ll explain the security duties I want you to handle later.”

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

After finishing his conversation with Ulysses and Lessard, Ren walked through the Ignat mansion and addressed a nearby attendant. He wanted to learn what Licia and Fiona were doing with their free time.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’d like to join Lady Fiona and Licia. Could you show me where they are?”

“Certainly. This way, please. The two young ladies are speaking in Lady Fiona’s private room.”

“Oh… Lady Fiona’s room…”

Ren took another step, then stopped.

“Her private room?”

The attendant immediately halted and looked back.

“Lord Ashton, is something wrong?”

“Sorry. You said Lady Fiona’s room, correct?”

“Yes. Lady Clausel is with her, and they appear to be enjoying a pleasant conversation. Dinner will be served soon, so we would otherwise have come to call for you then…”

Dinner was not the issue. Ren was troubled by the location.

There was nothing strange about Licia entering the private room of a marquis’s daughter. Licia herself was the daughter of a viscount. Ren, however, had been born the son of a knight, and that had not changed. Entering the bedroom of a marquis’s daughter felt improper.

“Actually, I think I’ll return to the guest room you prepared for me.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Well… I’m a young man. Going into a young lady’s private room seems questionable.”

“Please do not worry. I believe there will be no problem at all.”

“…I see.”

No problem, apparently.

Ren had repeatedly heard that House Ignat wished to treat him generously because he was Fiona’s benefactor. If Licia had been invited, perhaps Ren’s accompanying her in something resembling an attendant’s role would not be unusual either.

After considering those possibilities, he reached a firm conclusion.

No. It was still strange.

Yet the attendant kept urging him forward with unusual enthusiasm, so Ren eventually allowed himself to be guided through the mansion.

The hallways were lined with magnificent furnishings. Even after seeing them several times, walking among them made him tense. Reaching Fiona’s door did not improve matters. If anything, it made him more nervous.

“Then I shall leave you here.”

The attendant departed at once.

He had intended to give Fiona privacy and avoid intruding, but Ren knew nothing of that consideration. Left alone before the door, Ren decided that this must simply be how things were done and knocked.

“Ah, Ren!”

The door opened almost immediately, and Fiona peered through the gap.

Invited inside, Ren found a room whose belongings had been arranged with the same neatness as Fiona herself. As she walked, the sweet floral scent of her black hair drifted through the room and created a soothing atmosphere.

“Is Licia not here?”

Fiona could not abruptly ask Ren to stop using an honorific for her as he had for Licia. The fact that she had fallen behind made her chest ache, but she quietly encouraged herself. What happened from this point onward depended on her own efforts.

“Licia returned to her room for a little while. Some luggage arrived from the inn, so she went to check it.”

That explained her absence.

Which meant Ren and Fiona were alone in the room.

The moment Ren became conscious of that fact, he froze.

“…Oh.”

Was this truly acceptable?

Fiona did not appear concerned, so Ren scratched his cheek and wondered whether he was thinking too much.

In truth, Fiona’s heart was pounding so violently that she thought it might burst. She simply kept the feeling from showing on her face. Standing beside Ren’s seat near the window, she placed a hand over her chest and tried to calm herself.

She could not remain a girl who only became embarrassed and nervous.

“R-Ren!”

“Yes? What is it?”

Her voice carried more determination than usual, and Ren made a conscious effort to answer calmly.

“May I finally thank you for the promise we made before crossing the Baldor Mountains?”

Her jewel-bright eyes were moist, and her voice trembled with effort.

The sincerity in it surprised Ren. Then he remembered the night they had spent together in the Baldor Mountains and understood what she meant.

A complete tea service had already been prepared on the table.

When Ren nodded, Fiona began making the tea with slightly unsteady hands.

She had practiced for this day.

She could have served him tea in the Imperial Capital or at the academy whenever she pleased. Instead, she had continued working despite her lack of skill because she wanted to fulfill the promise here. The fragrance rising from the teapot could not be compared with the tea she had made in the Baldor Mountains.

It smells wonderful.

Ren kept the thought to himself and watched her in silence.

Water poured with a soft, steady sound. The tea entering the cup was clear and vivid, its color somewhere between amber and orange.

Fiona placed the cup on its saucer and gently slid it toward him.

“Please don’t force yourself to drink it if it isn’t good!”

Ren laughed.

Surprise crossed Fiona’s anxious face.

“You said exactly the same thing that night, Lady Fiona.”

“But… I’m still worried.”

“I told you then that I liked the tea you made. I’d rather enjoy this one without worrying about it. May I try it?”

“Yes!”

Fiona pressed a hand to her chest again and nodded while feeling the frantic beat beneath it.

The cup made a faint sound against the saucer when Ren lifted it. Only a few seconds passed before it reached his lips, yet to Fiona it felt like minutes—or even hours.

Ren took a sip.

After swallowing, he exhaled and smiled gently.

“I’ve never had tea this delicious.”

He was not flattering her. The words came from the bottom of his heart.

Fiona did not ask whether he truly meant them. She simply accepted the feeling he had offered her.

She was happy.

The heart that had been beating noisily was now filled with a warmth for which her love for Ren was the only possible name.

All the strength left her body, and Fiona sank onto the carpet.

“Lady Fiona!?”

Alarmed, Ren rose and crouched in front of her.

Fiona’s slender legs remained neatly together beneath her skirt. She narrowed her eyes and laughed.

“Ahaha… I’m just so happy that my strength left me.”

Her black hair swayed as she spoke.

Several minutes later, Licia returned, and the three gathered around the same table. The subject soon turned to Old Town, which Ren had discussed before coming to Fiona’s room.

The girls responded far more eagerly than he expected and exclaimed together that they wanted to accompany him.

“I’ll ask Lord Ulysses and the others later.”

When Ren raised the matter at dinner, Ulysses and Lessard agreed without hesitation.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

It was a special night for Fiona.

The knowledge that Ren would remain in the mansion until late made her so nervous that she felt her thoughts might burst apart, yet it also filled her with happiness.

Before sleeping, she wanted to hear his voice once more—to reassure herself that the day had not been a dream. Thinking of the guest room where he was staying, she began walking through the corridor despite knowing that visiting a guest so late might be inappropriate.

Then—

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

Two girls spoke at the same time.

Fiona and Licia had approached Ren’s guest room from opposite ends of the corridor. They stopped before the door, stared at each other, toyed with their hair, and produced deliberately dry smiles.

Was this an attempt to steal a march on the other? They had never formed an agreement, but the atmosphere immediately stiffened.

At last, the same compromise occurred to them both.

“…For tonight, how about the three of us talk together?” Licia suggested, speaking as casually as she had during the day.

“…Yes. That seems best,” Fiona replied.

A truce was established.

Fiona knocked because this was her family’s mansion. When no answer came, both girls wondered whether Ren had already fallen asleep.

At that moment, Ren rounded the corner on his way back from the large bath Ulysses had allowed him to use.

“What are those two doing?”

He tilted his head at the sight of them standing outside his room and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, still warm from the bath.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The following morning, frost covered much of the ground.

Their breaths naturally turned white, and the girls mildly regretted not wrapping scarves around their necks when the cold wind slipped beneath their collars.

Edgar had assured them before their departure that the day would soon become warmer once the sun rose.

“Even so, cold is still cold…”

Even Fiona, who had been born and raised in Eupheim and was accustomed to its climate, could only smile wryly.

Fortunately, walking gradually warmed their bodies. Their backs seemed to straighten with every step.

Eupheim was already lively in the early morning, much like Elendil.

“There are more wagons pulled by monsters here than in the Imperial Capital or Elendil,” Ren observed while studying the streets.

“A great deal of cargo has to be moved to and from the harbor. Monsters are better suited to pulling those loads,” Fiona explained.

“Right. Eupheim is Leomel’s largest coastal city.”

They proceeded through the elegant streets of the city called both the White Crown and the City of Water.

Old Town lay some distance away, but the journey was pleasant when treated as a long walk. Fiona guided Ren and Licia through the city and toward its outskirts. After everything the three had survived in the Baldor Mountains, there was little reason to worry about an ordinary outing.

“…It still doesn’t seem to be working properly.”

Fiona stopped beside one of the waterways.

Eupheim had been crossed by canals since ancient times, but the flow had weakened in several places beginning the previous day. Investigations were taking place throughout the city.

Licia moved beside Fiona.

“What happened?”

“The water isn’t flowing properly in several locations. They’ve been investigating since yesterday.”

“Some roads in the noble district were closed yesterday too, weren’t they?”

A public institution was responsible for vital infrastructure such as Eupheim’s water supply. Its workers had been using magic tools to investigate the problem since the previous day.

The three stood at the edge of the canal and watched for a short while. There was nothing useful they could do, however.

“Shall we continue?” Ren asked.

After several dozen seconds, the girls resumed walking.

A little ahead, across the waterway, Ren saw Sera, Vayne, Kaito, Nemu, and Charlotte—the group formed by heirs of the great houses. They appeared to be leaving the city as well, and Ren remembered what he had heard the previous day.

“Licia, are Vayne and the others going back to the cape?”

“Yes. They said they might be gone for several days, so probably.”

“I see… There should be something valuable hidden there, after all.”

His quiet remark did not reach Licia.

Ren had said “should” because his memories of Legend of the Seven Heroes had faded considerably, leaving him uncertain of details he had once known.

A cave lay hidden in the cape’s shadow. Deep within it rested a particular piece of equipment.

It was one of the special relics known as Hero Equipment.

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