Chapter 118

The light grows so bright that she can’t keep her eyes open, and then a flash sweeps everything before it like a raging torrent, sending Aileen and the rest back where they belong. When she slowly opens her eyes, she’s at the border. It’s an area where desert and greenery mingle; they’re near a canal. Right in front of her, as if its role is finished, the floating palace is quietly being swallowed by the sands. See you soon. When she looks up, there’s just one long, thin cloud sailing across the blue sky. It looks like a road that’s pointing the way to the future. “‘When I got back, the world had been saved’… I guess it was never gonna be that easy, huh.” Surveying a world covered in white ash, Evare sighs. Both the sky and the ground are bright white. The landscape looks like a blank, pale sea, and it’s so familiar, he feels like crying. There’s nothing here. Hope, the future, and salvation, all buried in ash—this is his future. However, feeling the unmistakable warmth of a hand resting in his own, he squeezes it. “I guess it’s our future, huh?” Machina nods silently. As responses go, it’s a little unsatisfying, but that’s rather refreshing in and of itself. “Still… There’s really nothin’ to do here. Oh, wait—that ain’t true. We’ve gotta find a place to sleep first. Maybe livin’s all about stuff like that… Ain’t that right, Machina?” Machina’s gazing at him steadily. Since that’s so, even though he’s asked this question many times before and never gotten a response, he works up the courage to try again. “Is there anythin’ you want to do?” Machina doesn’t answer. She simply points. Evare turns to look in that direction, and his eyes widen. She’s pointing at a human figure. A figure that’s waving its arms. “Oh, there you are, found you! That’s Machina, isn’t it?! And Evare! Yes, I vaguely remember you people!” “Huh… Uh, what, huh…? Lucia?!” It’s the girl he just saw in the past. Now, though, as she strides toward them, planting her feet firmly on the blank white earth, she’s wearing a vivacious smile. “I finally found you. That Luciel sealed my body so tightly, you wouldn’t even believe it.” “Wh… Where have you been…?” “Dunno. Well, I’m late because I slept in! Sorry!” The extremely concise answer makes his jaw threaten to come unhinged. “I’m awake now, though. As promised. Amelia—no, I should call you Machina, shouldn’t I? I’m Lucia; I’ve got Grace’s soul and her memories, but that’s it. So let’s go!” “G-g-go? What? Where to?” The situation is developing much too rapidly, and Evare can’t keep up. Lucia laughs at him. “To the demon realm, obviously!” “The demon realm?!” “Well, I mean, if the demon king’s around, where else would he be?! Let’s move!” Lucia brandishes her sacred sword. It’s sure to be a sacred sword that will save the demon king. Lucia forges ahead, but he can’t bring himself to follow her. As he’s hesitating, bewildered, Machina gently tugs on his sleeve. He has a feeling that the sacred sword in her hand is the one that will save him. “…The hell? This is ridiculous.” Laughing, he covers his face with a hand. That way, nobody will see the tears that have slipped out. Lucia turns back, vigorously waving the sacred sword. “Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up! There are a ton of things we need to do: Wake up that idiot Luciel, rid the world of all this ash… No, maybe food comes first? We’ll need a house, too. If we’re building a house, then I’d like a bath as well, and I want to wake the demons…” Lucia folds down her fingers one by one, absorbed in counting the future. As if to hurry him along, Machina pulls at Evare’s hand. “So savin’ the world’s sort of an afterthought, huh?” he murmurs, then takes a step forward. He sets off, walking over the white ash. “And? Is this story over now?” “No, it’s not over.” In the afternoon, at one of the tea parties Aileen is still holding in an attempt to drum proper etiquette into her sister-in-law, Lilia tilts her head. Aileen has just given her a general explanation of the affair. “We must ensure that this future comes.” “But we’re going to gradually forget this incident, aren’t we? Because the hero and final boss of Game…um, Master Luciel cast that spell.” The fact that she bothered to rephrase it at all is commendable. Elegantly, Aileen drains her teacup, setting an example for her to follow. “That was done in order to prevent our memories from influencing the future. What else could we do?” Since forgetting everything at once would have caused trouble for them, the memories are supposed to gently melt into their daily routines, in the same way they’ll forget what they had for dinner the day before yesterday. That was Luciel’s proposal, and everyone agreed. “Aww! That’s boring, though. I want to remember through sheer willpower. Then I’ll just teach the next generation cryptic, significant things. Like the spell to open doors, say. Oh, and that they need to greet me at least briefly.” “Don’t. You seem as if you’d genuinely remember, and you actually would say nothing but cryptic things.” “But, Lady Aileen, doesn’t it make you sad? Forgetting that you’re going to have an extremely handsome son, I mean.” Aileen lowers her eyes slightly. If she said it didn’t make her sad, she’d be lying. The fact that she can’t remember Charles’s face clearly is already making her chest feel tight. Before long, no doubt she’ll have forgotten his name. However. “It’s all right. I’m sure that future will come soon—” She’s about to bite into a cookie that smells of butter when she claps a hand over her mouth instead. Sudden nausea sweeps over her, and with no time to bother about appearances, she retches. Rachel, who’s been serving them, hurries over to offer her water. Lilia is also startled; she gets up and begins rubbing her back. “Take it easy. Are you all right, Lady Aileen? Perhaps you’ve been working too—” Stopping abruptly in midsentence, Lilia blinks. Dabbing at her lips with the napkin Rachel has given her, Aileen looks at her. “What?” “…Lady Aileen. I forgot to mention it, but I finally vanquished that ‘All Ages’ rating.” What is the woman saying out of nowhere? She’s already feeling unwell; the last thing she wants to hear about is her brother and sister-in-law’s bedroom activities—or so she thought, but Lilia looks unexpectedly serious. “This is just instinct, but I think it’s going to be a girl.” Aileen blinks at her, then exchanges a look with Rachel. In the historical texts, it is recorded that during the harvest season, a proclamation was made throughout the land that Empress Aileen had fallen pregnant.