As Alphonse and Charlotte in her detective getup disappeared from view, Cain collected himself and smiled at Cecily.
“Right then, shall we be off?”
“Yeah,” Cecily said, returning his smile. However, she felt a nagging in her heart.
What I just did to Lady Charlotte wasn’t right...
Charlotte had come all the way to Cecily’s hometown, and now here Cecily was, brushing Charlotte aside to spend more time with her lover. She made a mental note to apologize to Charlotte properly later.
“So, Cain, where are we going today?”
“Let’s see... First up, we’ll visit the chapel, then the canteen, then the herb garden. Then, last of all, let’s head to the flower field. We played there a lot, so it’s an important place for us.”
“Yeah, there weren’t too many other places to play in the village, after all,” Cecily said, with an awkward smile. One of the rules forbade children from leaving the village on their own, as it was said to be dangerous out there. The games the children played in the village relied on a hefty dose of imagination and suspended disbelief.
Saying that, I did go out of the village sometimes, on little adventures.
Cain had been an even shyer and more nervous child than Cecily, so she had never invited him on one of these outings. She decided to keep quiet about it, as it wouldn’t do to bring it up now and upset him.
“There was a makeshift swing on the big tree in the flower field, wasn’t there? I wonder if we can still use it,” Cain said.
“There was. But they took it down a few years ago.”
Some of the witches had deemed that the wooden seat was too old and damaged to be safe for children and had gotten rid of the swing. A new one had yet to be installed.
“I see... That’s a shame.” Cain’s disappointment was evident.
As they continued their walk around the village, Cecily broached the topic that had been on her mind.
“What was the village you went to for your training like, Cain?”
“It’s far to the east of here. Like how this village is disguised in a mountain, that village is disguised deep in a forest.”
“Oh, wow. I lived in a forest too.”
“You did?” Cain said, with a touch of surprise.
Cecily nodded. “After I was forced out of the village last year when I turned fifteen, I ended up in the forest near the royal capital. A lot happened over the past year, but I ended up meeting Lady Lottie and the others.”
“I never asked—Lottie’s a noble, isn’t she?”
Her looks and general air were a far cry from your regular commoner.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Cecily replied. They weren’t trying to hide that Lottie wasn’t a noble, but at this moment, Cecily refrained from mentioning her royal status. “I mean, Lady Lottie’s rather beautiful, isn’t she? She has capable people looking after her. Sir Alphonse jokes around a lot, but he’s hugely talented. Then there’s her lady-in-waiting Maria, who performs her role perfectly.”
“Uh-huh...”
Cecily wanted to say more, but Cain sounded apathetic. Maybe he just wasn’t interested in what she had to say? Not only that, for some reason, her throat felt tight when she talked about her friends...
How strange...
“What’s wrong, Cecily?” Cain said with a puzzled expression, stopping to look back at her. “Come on, let’s go. Oh—are you hungry, maybe?”
“Cain... Something feels off.”
“What do you mean?”
“I... Why is it that I decided to come back to the witch village?”
Cain’s shoulders quivered slightly. But Cecily wasn’t looking at him—she was looking around at the familiar sight of her village—at its houses, the shop signs, the babbling brooks, the flowerpots filled with seasonal flowers, the children playing... It was almost as if her gaze was searching for something.
But Cain placed his hands on Cecily’s shoulders and shook her slightly, cutting off her train of thought.
“Isn’t it obvious? You probably chose to come back to see me, to fulfill the promise we made ten years ago.”
I came here to meet Cain? To marry him?
“No,” Cecily said, after a pause, “that’s not it.” She shook her head. “I know that no one told me that you were coming back. I didn’t know you were coming home until the moment you arrived. Right?” As Cecily racked her brains, Cain silently looked on. “That’s not all. I’m only sixteen. I was meant to be traveling the world until I turned seventeen. So why am I back here one year early?”
In the back of her mind, something was telling her that she had come here to do something important.
Cecily thought back on the days preceding her return. She had been discussing something with Greta. Charlotte had said she’d come along, but had been worried that her presence might cause some trouble...
“Enough worrying already! Come on, let’s get going, Cecily,” Cain said. His hands gripped her shoulders more tightly. She winced in pain, and he quickly removed them. “S-Sorry,” he added. “It’s just that you’re acting weird! Here we are, reunited at last, and you go on about stuff you don’t need to worry about.”
Cecily’s heart twinged with pain as she saw Cain’s unhappy expression.
“I’m sorry,” she said, as she held her shoulders. “But Cain, I really get the feeling I’m forgetting something important.”
“You’re not,” he said curtly. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he took Cecily’s hand and began walking briskly. The force of his pull caused Cecily’s heart to twinge. She was scared of him.
Wait, scared of Cain? But why should I be?
Cain was her first-ever boyfriend. He was her precious lover, whom she had promised to marry.
He shouldn’t be scary—he should be the person she felt most safe and comfortable around.
“Forget it. Let’s go home. To your house, Cecily,” Cain said. He seemed tired for some reason.
“Cain, are you angry at me?”
“I’m not. I’m just a bit...worried about your condition.”