Chapter 19: A Shared Hilltop

Screeeech.

An unpleasant dissonance echoed through the dining hall.

The one responsible for the noise seemed oblivious, scraping the plate once more.

The scream of the plate being ground down.

That scream, sounding somewhat pained, reached Iris’s ears clearly.

Yet Evrys, the very source of this discordance, seemed unable to hear it, continuously poking at the empty space on her plate.

Iris, who had been gradually sensing a dissonance in Evrys’s seemingly normal behavior, now saw this and thought her suspicions were correct.

A somewhat dazed appearance.

Faintly bloodshot eyes.

A slightly trembling body.

These were subtle changes others might not notice, but Iris somehow knew.

Actually, even if she hadn’t noticed, one look at her expression would make anyone think, ‘She’s displeased.’

At first, Iris had wondered, ‘Was she really that bothered by the ordeal at the dress shop?’

But after hearing the flimsy excuse about having a nightmare.

Things previously unseen began to come into view.

‘What on earth pushed Evrys into this state overnight?’

‘Could it be that someone dared to defy the Duke’s orders and tormented her?’

Iris shook her head.

Trying something like that to Evrys, who was always with her, would inevitably be discovered quickly.

Besides, Evrys didn’t seem the type to passively endure such treatment.

She likely had the strength to handle it.

‘Then, what exactly drove her to this point?’

Iris couldn’t figure it out.

But one thing was certain.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch Evrys like this.

‘You, who are so far above me, should not show such a state.’

‘Father ordered me to assist her, so this must also be part of that duty.’

Iris, thinking the aching feeling somewhere in her heart was due to this duty.

Believed she had to bring Evrys back to her usual self.

‘So, how can I bring Evrys back?’

Iris first recalled relatively clear memories from the past.

The most similar experiences.

The image of Evrys speaking to her amidst the field of cyclamen flowers flashed by first.

Even then, Iris couldn’t bring herself to say anything to the Evrys who looked like she might vanish, but she remembered her words.

Next, a slightly fuzzier memory from the past surfaced.

She recalled her mother, holding her hand, stroking her hair, and whispering kind words.

The gap between those times seemed vast.

Nevertheless, Iris recalled it and offered her own form of comfort.

It didn’t seem very effective.

Seeing Evrys force down food after hearing her words actually made her heart sting.

Feeling impatient, she excused herself and left the dining hall.

Iris couldn’t understand why it was so painful to see Evrys like that.

Was it because she didn’t want to see her goal broken?

Was it because she cared for this person who was something like her first friend?

What was the origin of her own feelings?

She didn’t know.

One thing was certain: seeing Evrys’s face like that was difficult and painful.

Words didn’t seem very effective, so another method would be needed.

‘That place might…’

Having thought of a method again amidst her confusion, Iris.

Realized her mistake.

She remembered she hadn’t specified a meeting place for Evrys.

Just as she realized her haste and was about to enter the mansion.

She saw Evrys opening the mansion door and coming out, as if drawn by something.

It was a strange sensation.

Confirming Evrys’s expression remained unchanged, Iris mounted her horse and reached out her hand towards her.

‘I want you to wait above, complete and whole.’

‘Perhaps that’s why seeing your face like this feels painful.’

‘The emotion I feel must be because of that.’

“We shall depart.”

With that thought, Iris tightened her grip on the reins and kicked the horse’s side.

The answer wasn’t particularly important.

Searching her memory, Iris guided the horse.

She didn’t know if this method would be effective for Evrys.

Perhaps the childhood memory was overly romanticized.

But since she didn’t know the cause, she couldn’t use her usual method of eliminating the source.

She recalled the scenes that had come to mind in the dining hall.

She thought such warm actions didn’t suit her.

She couldn’t perform them anyway.

For now, this was the best she could do.

Mimicking the silly prank Evrys had played, she reached the place from her memories.

She watched Evrys, who had her feet on the ground, quietly observing the surroundings from atop the horse.

To avoid disturbing her, Iris held the reins and quietly led the horse.

As she tied the horse to a tree, Evrys jumped down.

Her eyes seemed to hold a bit more life now.

‘Did it have some effect?’

Evrys started walking as if she knew where to go.

Iris quietly followed behind her.

—————–

The two silently climbed the hill.

Evrys, walking ahead, stopped upon reaching the summit.

Iris, following her, also stopped beside her.

The two silently took in the scenery.

Iris saw the place, unchanged from her childhood.

Evrys saw a place that was beautiful, yet incomprehensible in many ways.

“Where… is this?”

Evrys, after gazing for a moment, spoke first.

“This is the only place in our territory where various flowers can be seen.”

“How?”

“Well. I don’t know the details myself. However, I heard a story that it received a blessing long ago.”

“I see…”

Evrys’s eyes noticed the divided sections, as if a boundary line had been drawn.

It looked as though someone had artificially divided the area.

Looking around, she realized it was just a small patch of space.

Nevertheless, the fact that it was beautiful remained unchanged.

‘Then why?’

“The reason you brought me here…?”

Instead of revealing emotions she couldn’t even explain herself, Iris chose to speak of past experiences.

“This is where my mother often brought me for outings when she was alive.”

“Ah…”

“…I remember her holding my hand and bringing me here when I was disheartened because my learning was slow.”

“…”

“I haven’t visited since she passed away, so I was a little worried if it would still be the same, but it is.”

“I see.”

Giving a brief glance at Evrys, who replied blankly, Iris continued.

“I do not know why you are struggling, Lady Evrys.”

“There must be a reason why you choose not to speak of it.”

‘Because watching you like that is difficult.’

“I hoped you would regain your spirits.”

It wasn’t her true feelings laid bare, but it wasn’t a lie either.

Iris, believing this emotion stemmed from the selfish desire for her goal not to be broken.

Mixed truth and falsehood.

Confusion began to surface in the golden eyes filled with doubt at Iris’s answer.

Because the gazes of the two people looking at the same place were quite different.

Iris did not see those eyes.

After a brief pause, Evrys’s quiet voice spread.

“I made you worry.”

“…”

Iris couldn’t answer.

“Thank you.”

She couldn’t readily accept Evrys’s gratitude.

“…It was merely my duty.”

It was a conversation like mismatched gears forcing themselves to turn.

But perhaps it held some meaning.

Evrys, her face looking better than before, sank to the ground.

“Why are you suddenly—”

Evrys buried her face in her knees and closed her eyes.

“Just going to… sleep a little.”

‘I just remembered I didn’t sleep yesterday.’

‘I can’t really tell anymore if this is a game or reality.’

‘You seem too much like a person to be just a game character.’

‘Does that mean this is the body I have to live in from now on?’

‘What should I do?’

‘I still don’t know what the right thing to do is.’

‘My thought that I still have to wait for the ending hasn’t changed.’

‘But even so, why do I find myself wishing that you, that all of you, would live?’

‘What should I do about you, who tried to comfort me when all I thought about was leaving?’

‘I still don’t know.’

‘When I find the answer someday.’

‘Will I be able to confide in you?’

Evrys’s even breathing reached Iris’s ears.

Having finished her story that no one else would hear, Evrys seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

Iris, who had been worried about her, confirmed she was asleep and draped her own cloak over her.

Iris also sat silently beside Evrys and closed her eyes.

Something bumped against Iris’s closed face.

Picking it up, a question mark appeared above Iris’s head.

“What… is this?”

After observing the unidentified object for a moment, Iris quickly stored it away in her clothes.

It didn’t seem like an ordinary object.