Chapter 9: Charles’s Memories
“…LLE. Lille!”
She could hear Charles’s voice. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were so heavy they wouldn’t move.
“Lille, wake up!”
The warmth she felt in her palm moved to her cheek.
“Lille, please. Open your eyes…” he pleaded, his breath cascading over her ear. With a jolt, Lille’s eyes flew open. “Oh, thank goodness… If you hadn’t woken up, I have no idea what I would’ve done.”
His face was startlingly close—close enough to count his golden eyelashes if she wanted to. His long, silky hair spilled over her like a flowing curtain.
“H-Huh?” she stuttered. Their unusual position smacked her dazed mind into clarity immediately. She felt something soft supporting her back. With a quick glance, Lille realized Charles was sitting on the ground and she was lying in his lap.
“M-Master Charlie, could you let go?” she asked, embarrassed.
She could tell that her body temperature was skyrocketing. It was probably heating even more rapidly than she could’ve managed using magic. The last thing she wanted was for Charles to notice her crimson-red cheeks, but she was as stiff as a board between his arms and chest. She couldn’t move, no matter how much she wanted to.
“Oh…! Sorry. I couldn’t just leave you lying on the floor, so I…”
“N-No, don’t worry. Thank you very much,” she interjected earnestly. “I wasn’t too heavy?”
“Not at all. I was shocked, actually. You’re as light as a feather.” He smiled.
She was slightly unsteady on her feet, but with Charles’s support, she was able to stand upright. Fortunately, she didn’t feel nauseous like she had when she used the watch.
“Um… Where are we, Master Charlie?” she asked, peering at their surroundings. The floor was made of hard, glossy stone, and huge, white pillars stood along the edges of the space. It appeared to be some sort of corridor.
“These are my memories. Right now, we’re in a passageway just outside the royal palace. I think I must’ve been a government official for quite some time at this point,” he explained.
One side of the passageway had no walls and looked out onto a courtyard. Some well-dressed, pretty ladies were engaged in pleasant conversation next to a fountain. Inside, people dressed in extravagant robes hurried down the corridor, shaded from the harsh light of the sun.
“This is the royal palace…?” Lille said in wonder.
The palace was where the nobility lived. She had thought it would be a place that shined and sparkled, but it looked more like they’d cultivated an environment where both night and day existed at the same time.
“Nobody else can see us—the same as when you dove into Leo’s memories. We can’t interact with anything in the world around us, though it does seem like we can touch each other,” Charles observed.
The people in the passageway continued to scurry along, taking absolutely no notice of the two of them standing in the middle of the hall. Experimentally, Lille tried sticking her arm out in front of someone, but sure enough, they passed straight through as if she were made of vapor.
“See?” Charles cocked his head with a smile.
“Yes, you’re right,” she agreed. She didn’t have to try touching Charles; she had felt him just a moment ago.
That warmth she had felt on her cheek while she was unconscious—had that been Charles’s hand? After rousing, her face had soon become so hot that the sensation of his warmth melted away.
“Look, Lille. Here I come—my past self,” he said, pointing.
Following the direction of his finger, Lille caught sight of another Charles, wearing the same decorative white robes as everyone else. He was younger and more slender than she knew him, but had retained both his meandering gait and the way he didn’t look where he was going. Or, perhaps it was more accurate to say that the Charles next to her still had the same habits.
The younger Charles’s hair was much shorter, barely grazing the tops of his shoulders. Most different was his face, and how his eyes brimmed with curiosity. It was far removed from the calm, composed look Lille was used to from him. He beamed as though everything he saw was a joy to him, and he walked right past where Lille and Charles were standing with a spring in his step.