Chapter 8
Kesenor nodded.
Then he casually waved his hand through the air.
Out of empty space, a single gold coin suddenly appeared.
“I’m keeping them like this for the time being.”
“…What?”
“I thought the gold you gave me last time was everything.”
“It wasn’t.”
He smiled meaningfully.
At the same moment, a voice echoed directly inside Agnes’s mind.
“The total amount exceeds the Empire’s annual budget by a considerable margin.”
It was unmistakably Kesenor’s voice.
Startled, she looked at him.
His lips, however, had never moved.
Did I imagine that?
As she blinked in confusion…
His voice echoed in her mind once again.
“This isn’t something others should hear, so I’m speaking through magic.”
“If it’s difficult to picture… imagine releasing all that gold into the market. The value of gold coins throughout the Empire would collapse. There is enough wealth to raise an army capable of rivaling an entire nation.”
“…Good heavens.”
She had heard Amy obtained gold from the Dragon’s Lair…
But that was how much she had brought back?
The amount was beyond imagination.
So…
The Marquis is storing all of that enormous fortune with magic?
If it were her…
She felt she would have simply run away with it.
Her admiration for Kesenor’s integrity only grew stronger.
Apparently reading something from her expression…
He reached into the air once more and pulled out a document.
“If either party breaks this agreement, powerful magic will forcibly enforce its terms.”
“Lady Amy somehow knew to ask for this contract in advance.”
After reading it…
Agnes turned pale.
“If you violate it… your magic will be sealed?”
“Why would you ever agree to something like this?”
“It says so right there.”
“She offered me a slightly larger share.”
“I never intended to break the agreement anyway, so I didn’t mind.”
“Then… does that mean you also possess wealth equal to what you just described…?”
Kesenor quietly raised a finger to his lips.
Shh.
Don’t say another word.
Understanding immediately, Agnes closed her mouth.
Seeing that she had finally grasped the situation…
Silmare continued.
“In any case…”
“It is enough wealth to solve any problem.”
“Lady Amy insisted that you return home.”
None of it felt real.
She had no way to verify the truth herself…
But neither of these men seemed like the sort who would invent such an outrageous lie merely to deceive her.
She stood there in a daze.
A cool breeze brushed against her flushed cheeks.
Turning her head…
She realized the window had been opened.
The spring wind drifted into the room, carrying the faint fragrance of flowers and the rich scent of fresh grass.
As the breeze stirred Silmare’s robes…
It almost seemed as though a vast emerald meadow had spread out before her eyes.
Within that impossible, dreamlike scene…
The beautiful fairy stood before Agnes and extended his hand.
“Come.”
“My Agnes.”
Without thinking…
She stepped toward him.
Just as she was about to place her hand in his—
Someone grasped her other hand.
It was larger.
Warmer.
Rougher than Silmare’s elegant fingers.
She turned.
Kesenor was looking at her with an awkward smile.
“…Ah.”
Good heavens.
What was I just about to do?
Was I actually going to climb out the window?
Because I’d been captivated by Silmare’s beauty…?
Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.
She wanted nothing more than to run away.
Lowering her head in embarrassment, she barely managed to squeeze out a few words.
“Y-You… shouldn’t leave through the window.”
Beside her, Kesenor immediately added,
“Exactly.”
“Humans leave through doors.”
“More importantly, returning to my family’s house will take some preparation.”
“I need to inform the Countess.”
“And pack my belongings.”
“I’ll go ask her for a few days’ leave first!”
The moment she finished speaking…
Agnes fled the drawing room.
Her thoughts were in complete disarray.
She couldn’t possibly face the Countess before calming herself down.
Instead…
She hurried straight to her room.
“I don’t know anymore…”
Leaning against the closed door…
She slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor.
“What must they think of me…?”
Just remembering that both men had witnessed her making such a fool of herself was enough to make her want to disappear.
Burying her face in her knees…
She groaned for a long time.
“Why do things like this keep happening to me?”
“…Amy!”
Then she realized.
There was only one explanation.
Her adorable little sister…
Kept sending impossibly intimidating people her way.
A destined partner.
A candidate for husband.
And now…
A soulmate.
“Amy…”
“When you come home, you’re going to be in so much trouble…”
“What exactly am I supposed to do with all this?”
“…So hurry home.”
“I wish I could send a few words to you…”
“The way the Marquis just spoke to me.”
Stop wandering around.
Come home soon.
I just want to see you safe.
No matter how many times she whispered those words…
Naturally…
There was no reply.
* * *
The drawing room was left with only two men.
Silmare looked toward Kesenor first.
The eyes that had once resembled a calm lake had frozen over with icy coldness.
His noble, beautiful face twisted into open contempt.
As though looking at filthy refuse tossed into a forgotten corner…
He let out a derisive snort.
“Humans should leave through doors?”
“Of course.”
“Regrettably for you…”
“She is one of those humans you despise.”
“Despise?”
“Who despises whom?”
“You know perfectly well who she is.”
Silmare stared coldly at Kesenor, as if merely calling Agnes “human” was an unforgivable insult.
“I heard Amy came to you first.”
“So you, too, were born as a Seed.”
“I imagine you’re hoping she’ll choose you.”
“But that place does not belong to someone as insignificant as you.”
“Descendant of Celesta.”
Kesenor clicked his tongue.
In truth…
They had met once before.
It had happened years ago.
Before inheriting the title of Marquis…
When Kesenor had wandered the world searching for unknown places.
He had encountered dragons and other magical beasts.
Curious about the races separated by the Non-Aggression Pact, he had even crossed forbidden borders.
That was when he entered the Naopa Forest, homeland of the fairies.
Silmare had appeared to stop him.
“What business does a magician have here?”
“You know who I am?”
“Naturally.”
“Which generation of Celesta are you?”
“The last one I met was the Thirty-Fourth.”
“So are you the Thirty-Sixth?”
“Or the Thirty-Seventh?”
Only then had Kesenor truly understood what it meant for fairies to possess extraordinarily long lives.
While he stood there in surprise…
Silmare looked down on him with unconcealed disdain.
“This land is not open to magicians.”
“Don’t imagine your little tricks of magic will impress anyone here.”
“Leave.”
“Anyone who crosses the border may be killed under the terms of the treaty.”
“Do you truly possess the ability to do that?”
The answer came instantly.
An arrow sliced past Kesenor’s cheek.
It had flown so quickly that he never even saw Silmare draw the bowstring.
Had he not instinctively cast a barrier…
His face would have been cut open.
As Kesenor’s expression hardened…
Silmare smiled.
“We do not welcome you.”
“Leave.”
“Your name?”
“Silmare.”
“Prince of the Naopa Forest.”
Back then…
Kesenor had never imagined they would meet again like this.
So the fairy who claimed to hate humans…
Makes an exception for his destined partner.
Whether those feelings were genuine or not…
Silmare’s devotion toward Agnes was almost obsessive.
Then again…
If he’d waited two hundred years for someone…
Perhaps it wasn’t surprising.
Even so…
What did that matter?
Agnes wouldn’t choose her partner simply based on who had waited the longest.
Thinking that…
Kesenor smiled mockingly.
“In the end…”
“If she doesn’t choose you…”
“You’re nothing more than the Prince of the Fairies.”
“She will choose me.”
“We’ll see.”
“Do you really believe you and I are the only Seeds?”
“By the way…”
“Where did Lady Amy say she was going next?”
It struck home.
Silmare’s face instantly grew colder.
Just as Kesenor had rushed here…
Silmare had done the same.
Both of them were relying upon an uncertain legend…
Waiting for someone else’s choice.
Simply because the legendary mark had appeared upon the back of Agnes’s hand.
“So…”
“The fact that you came running here this quickly…”
“Confirms that what I read about the Companion of the World Tree was true.”
“The documents were so ancient that I suspected they might be nothing more than fantasy.”
“What did they say?”
“And why would I tell you that?”
“At the very least…”
“I now know that she is the Companion of the World Tree…”
“And that she is extraordinarily important.”
“As she should be.”
“There is nothing in existence that could replace her.”
“She is utterly unique.”
“In that case…”
“I’ll have to pursue her even more earnestly.”
Silence settled over the drawing room.
A heavy…
Oppressive silence.
Silmare gazed out the window.
Kesenor quietly sipped his tea.
Both simply waited for Agnes to return.
After quite some time…
She finally came back.
“We’ll be leaving in about an hour.”
“It seems the carriage will take some time to arrive.”
“The Countess gave you permission?”
“Yes.”
“It’s been a long time since I visited my family home.”
“And since the two of you are my honored guests…”
“I told her I’d personally look after you until you leave.”
However…
The process of obtaining that permission had been far more complicated than she had expected.
Remembering the conversation she had just had with the Countess…
Agnes quietly let out a sigh.
