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“OVER here is where all the residents pile their vegetables and store them in soil. We used the location every year, and because of that, the natural field of mana was disrupted over time. To deal with that, I… Ah, it’s still here. The enchanted stone I made to erect a barrier around the area is still in use.”
“How old were you when you crafted it?”
“I think I was…around five?”
“Your parents must have been proud of your talent.”
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“THE two people riding on the cart over there are my childhood friends.” I paused. “Pardon me, may I head over to greet them?”
“Can I go with you? We’ll catch up in no time if I fly there.”
“I…hope they’re not too shocked.”
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ALL my old memories of my homeland were slowly overwritten with new ones with Emperor Haruka. The scenery, the scent, the wind, the sounds…
The ribbon that was securing my hair had nearly come undone, and Emperor Haruka helped retie it into a bow.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Your hair has gotten longer.” He touched the strands falling past my neck and a soft smile lit his eyes.
His gaze reminded me of the heat that pressed against me every night, and my chest tightened. If we weren’t the Wagtail Priestess and the emperor, I wondered whether we would have been able to walk shoulder to shoulder or lean into each other like a normal couple.
“Hey, Sai,” he said, “how does flying again sound?”
“Huh…?”
“I haven’t gotten to fly at all recently, so…”
Without warning, his wings stretched out as if to cover the sky, and he hugged me tight.
“Wai— Ah!” I gasped.
A deafening whoosh of wind lashed at me, a hurricane that threatened to raze the world to dust, and I closed my eyes. The next thing I knew, my feet were no longer on the ground.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw the Cutrettola lands far below us, filling my vision. Instantly, I clung to his arm.
He inclined his head to kiss my ear before moving me into a more stable position. “Don’t worry. There’s no way I’d ever let you fall.”
“Emperor Haruka… Thank you. Thank you for saving me over and over again.”
“Over and over again? It was just the once, right?”
I shook my head. “Like all the other times, you saved me today. You transformed my painful memories of my homeland into happy ones. I’m sure that…I will no longer wake up in the middle of the night thinking of Centoria or be forced to remember the blue flames that swallowed my house whole.”
The smile vanished from his face as he looked at me with earnest eyes. They were a few shades lighter than the sky, and in them I saw my reflection. When I closed my own, a tender kiss fell onto my lips—so gentle that I almost forgot to count. His hands were occupied supporting me, so his lips, soft like petals, brushed my cheeks and eyelids in their place.
Feeling the heat of his mouth and breath against my skin, I couldn’t resist the call of my heart, and I begged him to kiss me one more time.
“…You’re quite bold when we’re up here in the sky,” he murmured.
“It might be because no one is watching us.”
“That doesn’t seem to be the case though.”
“…Huh?”
I couldn’t bear to recall what happened after that for fear of exploding in shame. That night, Emperor Haruka teased me—who was as red and mute as an apple—about it at every opportunity until I dozed off.
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Chapter One Hundred Ten: Resignation, Realization, Hope
FINALLY, the day arrived.
I was led to the tower where Saint Lilly was imprisoned. It was located on the outskirts of the royal capital, a site under the management of the Holy Curia.
The sky was a light gray that reminded me of Emperor Haruka’s eyes, and the parched, crumbling stone tower stood tall and thin almost like a spear piercing the heavens. Around the tower were Oriental military officers in formation, ready to face whatever monstrosity that might emerge. In the distance, a handful of guards escorted the royal couple of Centoria.
By the time we arrived in the capital, the Order of Holy Knights had already ceased to function. When the Centorian public had learned that the Order had imprisoned the empress of Orient for a whole winter on false charges, burned her house down, and even tried to execute her, they attacked the Order out of trepidation—they feared Orient’s retribution, and the riot escalated out of control, or so I had heard.
What was left of the Order had evidently tried to assemble the remaining few members to serve as my guards, but Emperor Haruka had hissed in a low voice, “Are you so depraved that you wish for Holy Knights to enter Our empress’s sight, reminding her of those wretched days?” His statement had sounded the death knell for the institution.
I couldn’t argue that. Even after months in safety, whenever I saw people whom I associated with the Order, my pulse quickened and sweat slicked my palms. If not for Emperor Haruka’s consideration, I probably wouldn’t have been so calm.
Side by side, he and I looked up the tower. Strangely, all I felt in my heart was stillness.
“Sai, are you okay?”
“Yes. Thanks to you and everyone around us, I am ready to take on anything.” I gave him a wide smile.
He furrowed his eyebrows in worry, appearing far more pained than I was as he muttered, “Sorry. You probably hate the idea of being forced into Centoria’s battles, of fighting for its sake…”
“Not at all.” I shook my head. “As your wife, it is my duty to make every effort for the success of our allied nation, Meridiona. It is an honorable task that only the Wagtail Priestess and empress can accomplish. So please, don’t look so torn.”
“Give me a kiss before you go.”
“…In a place like this?”
Without a sound, the emperor’s wings concealed me from the world. In the improvised darkness, the emperor hugged me as if he couldn’t bear to let me go. He kissed me, stroked my cheek, then placed his lips on mine once again.
“Sai… I can’t live without you. I can’t shoulder the weight of emperor without you by my side.” He sounded almost like a lost child as he whispered to me.
“Emperor Haruka…” It was the first time his emotions had gotten the better of him in public. He clung to me, kissed me, without regard for his status and the eyes of those assembled around the tower.
My eyes were wide as I allowed him to shower me with his kisses. Somewhere in my head, a rational voice murmured, Perhaps he already knows what I’m planning.
“Emperor Haruka,” I repeated, giving him the most brilliant smile I could muster. With a finger, I wiped away the lipstick that had transferred to his lips, then rose on tiptoe to kiss the corners of his eyes, which seemed to be welling with tears.
I removed the white silk ribbon tying my hair and placed it into his hand. His eyes widened. “I shall be off then, my dearest emperor.”
I turned away and walked to the tower. Soon, enough distance separated us that even his wings stretched to their fullest extent couldn’t reach me.
And he couldn’t chase me any further.