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LILLE woke to birdsong and the muted light of the morning sun filtering through a gap in the curtains. Ark was perched on one of the bedposts. She had fallen asleep at sunset, which meant she had been sleeping for over twelve hours. The last time she’d slept so soundly was probably ten years ago.
“Good morning, Ark,” she said, yawning.
“Morning. Did you sleep well?”
“I did.” She nodded, then stretched, chasing the stiffness from her limbs, before getting out of bed. Now she was awake enough to have a proper look at the room. It was small and cozy, with a bed, a chest of drawers, and a writing desk.
“So, this room…”
“Is yours. Master Charlie got it ready for you before I went to the tower,” Ark explained.
“For me…” she said, touched.
Although it was similar in size to her room at the tower, this room was much warmer, and all the more so given the knowledge that Charles had prepared it especially for her. The window allowed in a lot of light, and the wooden furniture was bright. She could tell Charles had decorated with a girl in mind; both the bed linens and curtains were adorned with lace frills.
“Master Charlie said he’d never met me before,” she said, doubt in her tone.
“Yup,” Ark agreed, bobbing his head.
“Doesn’t that mean he knew nothing about me until yesterday?”
“I think so. How come?”
“…Never mind.” Lille shook her head.
Master Charlie might have known there was a sorcerer imprisoned in the tower, but how did he know I was a girl?
Clearly, her intuition that Charles had been lying wasn’t completely unfounded. Although she didn’t know why he was hiding the truth, the fact that he was made her think that it would be best to keep quiet. In the meantime, it was possible she would remember something on her own—the same way she had remembered her family in her dreams the night before.
Once Ark left the room, she went to the bathroom, and used the remaining bathwater to wash her face. The braid that Leo had worked so hard on had come undone, so she used a hand mirror and brush she found in her room to try to fix it. She attempted a braid of her own, but it came out looking misshapen and messy. She probably tied the ribbon all wrong, too.
She heard a knock at the door.
“Yes?” she called over her shoulder.
“Are you up? Come help me with breakfast,” Leo said through the door. His voice was lower and slightly hoarser than it had been the previous day, suggesting he’d just woken up.
“Oh, Leo! Wait a moment. I’d like your help with something,” Lille said.
After a moment, Leo let himself into the room, looking displeased. “…What is it now?”
“I don’t think I did this braid very well.” She gestured to her hair.
With a huge, exaggerated sigh, he moved behind her. “Give me the brush,” he huffed. Though he sounded irritated, he dutifully took over, styling her hair into a neat braid. “You should practice braiding your hair at night, before you go to bed.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.”
Once he was done, Lille followed Leo to the kitchen. He swiftly instructed her to wash some vegetables and crack the eggs. She was grateful that he was giving her simple jobs that didn’t require any special knowledge. Leo used magic to light the fire beneath the stove. She wondered if she’d soon be able to do things like that, too.
“Your magic’s really impressive, Leo,” she remarked.
“Well, of course. I am Master Charlie’s top apprentice, after all,” he boasted, puffing out his chest.
At the mention of his name, Lille realized she hadn’t seen Charles that morning whatsoever. She could sense that he was nearby, though, and for some reason, part of her selfishly wished he had been the first person she said good morning to.
“Is Master Charlie still sleeping?” she asked Leo.
“He’s outside, working on the kitchen garden with Ark.” Leo tipped his head in the direction of the window. “By the way, cooking isn’t the only thing he’s hopeless at. He sucks at all kinds of housework, so us two’ll be in charge of the laundry and cleaning. Sometimes he tries to help, but it’s kind of a waste of time.”
“Oh dear,” Lille said, sympathetic.
“Magic is just about the only thing he can do, but that’s geniuses for you,” Leo sighed. Lille didn’t know the first thing about what geniuses could or couldn’t do, but Leo said it with such confidence that she believed him. “His bedroom is super messy, but he claims that if I tidied it, he won’t know where things are anymore. Once, I got fed up and did it anyway, but generally, he won’t let us in there. Just thinking about that warzone makes my skin crawl.” He shivered.
“O-Oh my.” She blinked. She never would have guessed it from looking at him, but Leo was apparently more industrious than even a housewife, and was perhaps akin to some sort of housework demon.
“Hey, Leo…” Lille began. “Is Master Charlie a really powerful sorcerer? It sounds like he might be.”
Now that she had a chance to bring it up, Lille asked what had been floating at the back of her mind ever since the previous day. Charles didn’t act as though he were better than anyone else, nor seem like he bossed anyone around. However, he did have two apprentices, as well as a familiar.
Leo gaped. “Don’t you know anything? Master Charlie’s super famous.”
“Really?”
“Really. I bet there’s not a single person on this continent who doesn’t know about him. Some years back, he saved countless people by stopping a sorcery war just before it happened. They gave him a cash reward big enough to cover his living expenses for his entire life. That was when he decided to use the money to live a quiet life out here,” he explained.
“A sorcery…war?” The words tasted sour on her tongue. She couldn’t imagine magical warfare but knew it would be a terrible thing should it happen, that could ruthlessly take thousands of lives.
“You don’t even know about that?”
“In my country, sorcerers were rare, so…,” she trailed off. She opted not to tell him they were also criminals.
“Really? Where I was born, sorcerers make up over half the population. I guess it’s not like that everywhere, huh?” he marveled.
Lille had noticed that Leo had a lot to say when he spoke about Charles, and his tone grew much gentler. She figured continuing to talk about Charles would be a good way to get closer to Leo, but she was immediately interrupted.
“Say, Leo. Is Master Charlie—?”
“Peel this.”
“Huh? I’ve never peeled anything before,” she said, floundering when a potato and knife were suddenly thrust into her hands.
“I’ll teach you, so think of it as practice.”
Peeling the wonky, angular parts of the potato was rather difficult. If the knife were to slip, she could cut her fingers, so she stopped talking in order to fully focus on her hands.
“D-Done,” she finally announced.
For breakfast, Leo made potato omelets in tomato sauce with vinegar. He put out some bread as a side dish, with the leftover chicken salad from the night before. He and Lille also got out last night’s cherry pie, for dessert. Under Leo’s guidance, the meal came together before Lille knew it. She had wanted to watch Leo work, but never got the chance. Still, knowing that she’d helped, she blushed as a solid sense of achievement rose high inside her.
She smiled. “Cooking’s fun.”
“Sure, but you can’t really call what you just did ‘cooking,’ although you do show some potential,” he said as he appraised her.
“I’ll do my best,” she promised.
“Great. I hope you’ll have the same amount of enthusiasm at lunch and dinner, too,” he said in return.
Just as they were carrying the dishes over to the table, Charles and Ark came in through the back door, covered in mud. Sensibly, Charles didn’t wear his signature robe while gardening, and instead wore a simple shirt and pants held up by suspenders. He had also tied his long hair back in a ponytail. Ark flew onto his perch, and started grooming his wing feathers, looking satisfied.
“Does Ark help out in the garden, too?” Lille asked cheerfully.
“Yeah. He eats bugs, which really helps the plants. Plus, I’m not good with them,” Charles explained.
“He…eats bugs, huh…?”
She looked at Ark. Of course, she shouldn’t have been surprised, since most birds ate bugs. But, when she thought back, she remembered him eating chicken at dinner. Wasn’t that rather like cannibalism?
Ark was a bird of many mysteries.
“Did you have any nice dreams last night, Lille?” Charles asked once they were all seated at the table.
“Oh, yes.” She nodded. “I remembered all sorts of things, like my family, and my favorite things. It was a truly lovely dream.”
“That’s great to hear,” he replied.
“What was your family like?” Leo chimed in.
“I lived with my mother, father, grandfather, and little brother. I think I had a cat, too. Also…” she paused, looking at each of their faces. “They were a lot like you.”
Charles blinked. “Like us?”
“Yes. For example, the way Ark’s so composed and reliable reminds me of my father. And my little brother was a sweet-looking boy with a cheeky side to him.”
“Wait a sec. You’re trying to say I’m like him, right?” Leo interjected.
“So, that must mean…I’m the mother?” Charles deduced. Lille looked at the two of them before nodding, to which Ark responded with a howl of laughter.
Charles smiled. “I’m flattered.”
“I’m not!” Leo huffed.
“To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it as well…” She frowned. Perhaps because it didn’t feel right to compare the family in her dream to the people she was living with now.
I’m sure I’ll come to love all of them. No—they’re already becoming a beloved family to me.
She wondered what was in store for her in the future. Her chest grew warm and fuzzy as she looked between Leo, who was angrily grumbling about something; Ark, who was teasing Leo; and Charles, who was watching both of them with a gentle smile on his face. Eventually, her own lips relaxed into a happy smile, too.