Ah, I hope I see her soon, thought Miyako. While her thoughts ran wild, she kept up the pretense of a servant.
“I’ll be taking the linens!”
“Oh, are you new?” called out a female servant. She seemed experienced.
“Y-Yes,” said Miyako, forcing her face into a smile.
“Hmmm.”
The servant cocked her head.
Oh no. She knows something’s up. A bead of cold sweat ran down her forehead. She held the newly washed linen in front of her and stood up straight, trying to look as dignified as she could.
“I’m taking these to Fuuka-sama’s room!”
“...What?”
The servant eyed her with suspicion.
Whoops, thought Miyako, did I just screw up?
“Come over here.”
“Whoa!”
The servant dragged her along by the sleeve and pulled her into a recess. An intimidating expression crept onto her face as she spoke.
“Don’t say Fuuka-sama’s name so loudly!”
“Huh, that means...”
“Hurry up and take them to the shed. Take this, too.”
She handed Miyako a hard candy.
“...Okay.”
Miyako thought about the shed, the candy shoved into her hand, and the fact that Fuuka’s name was taboo. She considered what it all meant. She looked out the window. Dusk enveloped the landscape.
They’ve locked Fuuka-chan in the shed...?
Miyako felt her chest tightening. Before she could find her words, the veteran servant dropped her voice to a whisper.
“And by the way.”
“Wh-What is it?”
“That flower in your hair is a bit too gaudy for a servant. Be more careful.”
“O-Okay. Sorry.”
The flower in her hair was the one she’d had Susie prepare, a single flower that grew in the garden of the Florence family’s second home in the capital. Miyako had brought the flower to give to Fuuka.
✦ ✦ ✦
It’s cold. Fuuka hugged herself in the shed, where the temperature had plummeted in the night. So very cold. She found herself recalling Miyako’s warmth on that rainy afternoon, in the bed of the small Atikan cabin, far from this place. But I chose this path for myself.
She brushed her fingers along the piece of paper in her hand. It was a contract, which she couldn’t even read in this unlit shed.
“This is how you can contribute to the Hamilton family.”
That was what her father said as he handed her the contract. She had no choice but to sign. All her family ever gave her were conditions: “as long as you excel,” “as long as you’re beautiful,” “as long as you win the bridal wars.” Their treatment of her as a noble lady was always conditional.
All I wanted was a caring family, without all those contracts, thought Fuuka. So why did I tell Miyako she had to make me say I’m happy within two weeks? What made me come out with that contract myself? Did I find her frightening for accepting me for who I am? Why did I waltz back to the capital, telling myself it was for her sake? Couldn’t I have believed the pipe dream that the two of us could run far away... and live together, as two women?
“...Hmph, what am I saying? That’s impossible.”
Regret won’t get me anywhere, now. I’ll obey my family’s orders. After all, I’ll never see Miyako again.
Just then, a light shone from outside the shed’s small window.
“—chan... Fuuka-chan!”
She heard a voice as bright as the sun. Am I hearing things? No, this can’t be.
“Fuuka-chan!”
“Miyako?!”
Fuuka scrambled up to the window, gathering the furniture strewn across the shed like junk to use as a footstool. The door was locked from the outside. She looked out the window, and there—
“Are you okay, Fuuka-chan?!”
—stood Miyako, with a broad smile on her face. She stood there like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“So they have got you locked up in here... Sorry, I looked for the key but couldn’t find it. I hope I can at least get these sheets over to you.”
“Why... Why are you here?”
Fuuka struggled to get the words out. The sight before her seemed like a convenient illusion.
“Well, the two weeks aren’t up yet.”
“What?”
Miyako smiled to reassure Fuuka.
“I’m gonna make you say you’re happy within two weeks. There’s two days left, so please, give me a little longer.”
“Th-That’s why you’re here? Didn’t you read my letter? It’s over; it’s okay, Miyako.”
“It might be impossible, and it might be selfish, but give me a chance.”
Miyako picked the flower from her hair, a white lily. She stood on her tiptoes and presented it to Fuuka.
“Heh heh. And this time, Fuuka-chan, I won’t try to catch you off guard or abduct you. I’ve come to tell you I love you in front of everyone, fair and square.”
“You... what?”
“Next time I’ll bring a whole bouquet-full, so many you can’t even carry them.”
Fuuka gently took the flower from her.
“I’ll never stop telling you: Fuuka-chan, let’s be happy together!”
Miyako’s honesty brought to Fuuka’s lips words which she had never been able to say to anybody. But if it’s Miyako—
“Miyako... please.”
—I should be able to throw away my stubbornness, pride, and doubts, and just say it.
“Please, save me!”
✦ ✦ ✦
The contract they gave Fuuka made her swear to “dedicate herself to the river management project.” The Hamilton family staked their honor on that project, the joint enterprise they were planning with the Reinhardts, with whom they no longer had marital relations.
Accident after accident had delayed work on the river management project, prompting somebody to suggest that they send in a person with training in white magic as a shaman. That person would offer prayers by the river bank. They planned to hold the ceremony on a stormy day, when the meandering river burst its banks most often.
Count Dan Hamilton had decided on Fuuka, who possessed a remarkable command of white magic for a noble lady.
“They’re making you a living sacrifice?!”
“Not so loudly, Miyako.”
“But in this day and age...! I don’t get it.”
“What the Hamilton family wants is a link to the higher-status Reinhardts. I might not be trueborn, but I am a lady of the Hamilton family, and making me offer prayers for the river management project at the risk of my life will be a good opportunity to prove our loyalty to the Reinhardts. Furthermore...”
Fuuka let her words hang. She nestled her nose in the freshly washed linens she had just about managed to pull through the window. Feeling slightly guilty, she didn’t dare eat the candy that one of the servants had sent her. There was nobody in this house she trusted.
“What would happen if I were to die tragically in the middle of the prayers?”
“...It would leave a stronger impression?”
“Exactly. They say Klaus-sama is fixated on you, Miyako. But if that were to happen, he wouldn’t be able to ignore the Hamiltons. Although there is a slight age gap, a marriage between him and one of my sisters might be on the table,” stated Fuuka in a detached tone.
I can’t see Klaus thinking that far ahead... The man’s got a nice face but nothing behind it, thought Miyako. She had her doubts, but she was not prepared to let something so unjust happen, especially not to Fuuka.
“I’ll save you,” swore Miyako, deliberately.
“They’ll hold the prayer ceremony the next time it rains. Going by the smell in the air, that could be as early as tomorrow night.”
Fuuka stretched her arm outside the window in desperation. Miyako reached upwards in response.
“Please, Miyako. Please save me before then!”
Her little finger intertwined with Miyako’s.
“I will, no matter what. Leave it to me. I’ll turn their world upside down!”
They sealed their promise.
This wasn’t a contract or a deal or anything like that; it was a bond of compassion that joined the two of them.