I stood there, feeling dreary and dark. He squeezed my hand and nodded. I nodded silently, afraid to say the wrong thing as a master, and left the castle.
The Trundle mansion in the capital had a tight barrier around it formed by three holy beasts. The only people who could go in were those of Trundle blood and a few vassals, including Orcus. I waved to greet Orcus, who was lowering his head to me, and Lou and I headed toward my grandmother’s room, dragging our feet heavily.
Asu had flown off, and Miyu had also returned to her swamp. As holy beasts, they could charge their already-plentiful magic even further by going to their homes.
I opened the door to find my brother sitting elegantly in a chair next to our grandmother’s bed, reading a foreign book.
“Brother...”
“Welcome back, Serephione.”
My brother stood up, gently hugged me, and kissed the top of my head. Then he moved aside to let me sit down.
My grandmother had been sent from the Trundle domain to the capital. While her hair was unfortunately still white, her face had regained its color, and she was sleeping soundly. It concerned me that she hadn’t woken up once since then, so she hadn’t been eating, but the lesser dragon assured me that sleep was the most important thing for her. She wasn’t gaining weight, but I’d placed a spell on her so that she wasn’t losing weight either. She was a sleeping beauty, her skin a fair pink.
“Larouza, you’re here?” asked Lou. I held my grandmother’s hand as I interpreted for him.
“Yes. There are people I can trust like Enrique back in the Granzeus domain, and I was concerned that our grandmother’s protection would be stretched thin.”
“Grandmother... I failed...” I whimpered. “Schneider got away, the king was taken as a hostage, and I let the queen be murdered right before my eyes...” I placed her hand on my cheek. “Why did I even go? Ha ha, it didn’t accomplish anything. It only hurt people.” Tears came to my eyes. “I’m not good enough to be your successor...”
“Comparing your own actions and accomplishments as a master to Erza’s is called hubris.”
Lou’s words stuck in my chest like a knife.
“You’re right... I guess I just wanted to believe that I could find some kind of hope. I hate that I have nothing but bad news to bring home...”
“Serephione?” My brother rested his hand on my lap. “You’re not being too prideful at all. The point of today’s meeting was to take control of the situation with the king and queen and force them to publicize their intentions with us. It’s not your job to protect the queen.” He knelt and met eyes with me. “We found out so many things today that we couldn’t have if you hadn’t been there—the fact that the queen had been governing under the royal seal, that the king was poisoned into a puppetlike state, that Maribelle was responsible for our grandmother’s curse, and that Schneider had pounced on that as an opportunity for himself. Grandmother always says that intel is important, doesn’t she? We’re going to go over the information that you got today and make a plan together based on it.”
“Brother...”
“Grandmother, you agree, don’t you?” he said brightly to her. Her hand that I was holding twitched.
“Grandmother...” I mentally said my magic words for her as I always did.
“You have a lot to do tomorrow, Serephione. I’ll take over protecting Trundle and our grandmother tonight, so you get plenty of rest.”
“But...”
“Do you not trust me?”
“Of course I do!”
My brother stood up and gently petted my head. “You can come into the guild in the afternoon tomorrow, after you’ve eaten some good food and regained your strength.”
“Okay... I’ll be in the guest room on the second floor if you need anything...”
“Oh, I’m sleeping in that guest room.”
“Huh?”
“You should go to the room where you belong. Lou?”
“I see how it is, Larouza,” Lou responded. “You put up with so much just to dote on your sister... Get on, Sere!” Lou grew to full size, picked me up by the scruff of my neck like a kitten, and set me on his back.
“Huh? What? Brother? Lou?”
“See you soon. Take care.”
“See you, Larouza!”
“Ahhhh!”
At the same time as my brother smiled and waved, Lou took off at gale speed, and I desperately clung to his neck.
“Aren’t I a good brother, Grandmother?”
Larouza’s green eyes picked up a faint smile on Erza’s face. He grinned and gently kissed her cheek.
Lou kept running at full speed. By the time it was twilight and the stars had come out, I realized that we were heading south.
“No way...”
Just when I understood what my brother and Lou had had in mind, Lou jumped sky-high and crossed over the border.
We landed in Galé territory. In my stunned silence, I saw a small light come into view over the horizon, and as we approached, I saw a small military tent...from which Gillain came out, the first time I had seen him in nearly a month.
Lou’s pace slowed, and we came to a stop before Gillain and a tent.
“Sere.”
My immediate reaction was to look down. I hadn’t wanted to see Gillain tonight. I wasn’t in a state to show myself to him. I didn’t know what to say.
I was struggling on Lou’s back to straighten out my nearly panicking brain when Gillain gently lifted me up by both of my sides. He held me in a hug and patted my back.
“Thanks, Lou.”
Lou chuckled. “You owe me, Gillain.”
Gillain ushered me inside. The tent set up in the wilderness was simple, with several layers of blankets and a couple of tables made up of rows of wagons that might have held his belongings.
He leaned against one of them, sitting directly on the blanket and holding me in his lap. I buried my face in his chest out of embarrassment.
“You’ve lost weight, Sere.”
It was nothing compared to what my grandmother had been through. I silently shook my head.
“Sere, what’s wrong?”
“I didn’t manage to accomplish anything while I was away...”
Gillain has been ruling an entire empire, and I’ve just been...
“I’m relieved just to see you unhurt.”
“...”
“The Galé crest on your clothes is rather flashy.”
“Is that bad?”
“No, it suits you, just like the Trundle crest does.” Gillain chuckled. “Is Lou being shy? Asu and the dragon are here, but not Lou.”
I suddenly lifted my face and met eyes with Gillain. “Uh oh...”
Gillain smiled slightly. “Are you hungry?”
“Do you have food?”
“Well, Asu told me there should be a lot in your Magic Room.”
“You were counting on that?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t tell me you’re not eating properly! You better take everything I have on me and eat it when you get back!”
I took out whatever I could grab from my Magic Room, including both cakes and other preservable foods, and laid it all out on top of the luggage. Gillain took a bite-sized madeleine, broke it in half, put one half in his mouth, and tossed the other to me. Its sweetness gently filled my heart.
“Sere, both your heroic side and your side that gets angry for my sake are mine.”
“Huh...?”
“As is your heart. Leave your heart in my care tonight, and rest well.”
“Leave my heart to you?”
Does that mean to put my problems aside for right now?
“Yeah. Take a deep breath and relax your shoulders.”
“Like this?”
“There you go.”
Gillain put his hands around my back and gently leaned me against himself. He hugged me and kissed my eyelids, and when I involuntarily closed my eyes, drowsiness came to me all at once. I was more tired than I thought.
“You’re always helping me for nothing in return...”
The autumn nights in the wilderness were gradually getting colder, but Gillain’s arms were so warm and soothing with a blanket layered on top...
“That’s not true.”
Gillain gently removed my hair accessory and ran his fingers through my jet-black hair. It felt nice...
“You’re the only one who can sleep on my chest without being overwhelmed by my magic.” His familiar magic seeped deep into my skin. “Your existence is the only thing that affirms my life.” His calm, quiet voice...was like a lullaby...
Some time later...I heard Asu’s mild voice from afar.
“Our dear girl has exhausted herself.”
“I never wanted Sere to feel the loneliness of those who stand at the top... Lou! I thought you promised on that starry night to call me if anyone hurts Sere’s heart! Why didn’t you? I can’t protect her heart, no matter how much defensive magic I use! And Sere would never ask for help herself!”
“It wasn’t impossible to predict Schneider’s appearance...but nobody imagined that we would see such a tragedy.”
My Lou growled. I hope he’s okay...
“Sere has pride too,” Lou shot back. “If I called you for help without thinking about the timing first, she would feel even more powerless. You’ll have to deal with it.”
“I’ll protect her in your place, Gillain,” Asu said. “That will be less of a burden on her.”
“Sere... I hope you can rely on me soon.”
I felt the taste of coffee on my lips again...