Everyone put their hands into the water and chatted briskly with a smile on their face. Flapping its feathers, Tee played around in the field and got mud all over itself.
∗ ∗ ∗
Surprisingly, how other people perceived Lacey was often a far cry from how she perceived herself.
Aaaaaagh, I hate myself so much... Lacey placed her hands over her face as she recalled what had happened a few hours ago. I was explaining things to them...so confidently...!
“Waa, aaa, aaaaaaghhhh...” The fingertips hiding her face quivered. She was so ashamed of herself that she was trembling. She didn’t want to dwell on this, but her mind kept flashing back to every single word she’d said. “Just leave me in peace already!” It was driving her crazy.
Why did I act so pretentiously...?! At the time, she had just been so impatient to create and communicate her thoughts. But it was over with now, so there was nothing she could do about it. She puffed out a big breath and decided to forget about it. Allen had gone home in the afternoon, and Dana would leave Plume Village tomorrow.
Dana and Lacey had gone to Cedric’s restaurant on the second night as well and eaten a hearty meal. Although Cedric had a surly expression, he really was quite amiable. The drippy omelet rice he made was exquisite.
When they got back and changed into their pajamas, Lacey couldn’t help but compare her appearance to Dana’s. They were both in night gowns. Since they were wearing similar clothing, it was easy to spot the differences in their forms.
When Lacey’s gaze drifted toward Dana’s chest, she quietly glanced away.
“Something wrong, Lacey?”
“No, nothing...”
Everybody had their strengths and weaknesses. She decided not to think any harder about it.
Tee, who didn’t need to change clothes, was wearing its favorite nightcap and chirping “kwee kwee” as it prepared its bed. Of course, Lacey had made this too. She’d realized lately that she might like sewing more than she thought. It was a wonderful thing to have more likes.
Tee said a good night “Kwee!” before quickly sliding under its favorite blanket. A few minutes later, it was snoring “Nkwoo...nkwoo...” Meanwhile, Lacey and Dana looked down with anticipation at the steam rising out of the coconut shells that had been placed on the floor.
The coconuts in Lacey’s backyard were more oval-shaped than normal, so they didn’t roll around on the floor and stayed put without anything to stabilize them. The girls had hesitated to show their bare feet in front of Allen, so this would be Dana and Lacey’s first foot bath.
The two of them sat next to each other on the bed. Dana dipped her toe into the water, gently disturbing the surface. She gulped, then pushed her whole foot in. Lacey followed suit.
“Fwaaah...”
It wasn’t clear whether this vocalization escaped from Dana’s or Lacey’s lips. A pleasantly warm sensation gradually spread from their feet to their whole bodies. They wanted to keep soaking forever. They shivered as they thoroughly savored the marvelous sensation.
She almost became enthralled, but Lacey pulled her feet out before Dana and wiped off the moisture with a towel she’d had ready. After that, she rushed to the kitchen and brought two mugs full of warm water.
“Here, Dana.” Lacey had wanted to put milk in, but they’d already brushed their teeth.
“Oh my.” Dana blinked and took the mug with both hands. She slowly drank it down and faintly exhaled a warm breath. Lacey and Dana had the same ultra-mellow looks on their faces as they tucked themselves under the covers.
There were plenty of rooms in the mansion, but they were currently both in Lacey’s bedroom. “It’s my last day here, so let’s just sleep in the same bed,” Dana had said, and after Lacey consented with some anxiety, she readied two pillows.
“Being next to you reminds me of traveling together with you and the party.”
“Yeah...”
“It brings back memories. Say, I already told you that I’m working at the medical center, but how about you, Lacey? I know that you started an anything shop. But I don’t know anything besides that. I want to hear more.”
So she said, but Lacey didn’t know what to talk about. It wasn’t that she disliked the idea—she just didn’t know how much to say. What if I blab all about myself but she doesn’t think it’s interesting? she worried.
“Come on, tell me, Lacey.”
But when she heard Dana’s syrupy voice, words gradually started to tumble out of her mouth.
“I was engaged. I was going to marry a noble, so I thought I would let go of magic.”
“You?! Let go of magic?!”
“Yeah. But I realized that he was cheating on me, so the engagement was called off. Wayne helped.”
“I swear Wayne’s always hovering around you.”
“After that, I used my wish that I was owed for eliminating the Demon King. My contract with the nation was voided and I got the name Aster.”
“So that’s what happened... That’s a lot.”
“I felt so much lighter.”
“Yeah.”
“But I was still so scared, it was unbearable.”
“I bet.”
“Although I was happy too,” Lacey reflected deeply as she lay on the pillow next to Dana’s, looking up at the ceiling. There was no way she could actually see it, but she felt like she was under a sky full of stars. The mattress was soft like an open field.
Dana acknowledged everything Lacey had to say and reacted with exaggeration. Lacey had never talked to Dana so much before, not even on their quest. This was the first time.
Eventually, the words that Lacey didn’t think she’d be able to say came smoothly out of her throat. “I’m really happy that you came, Dana.”
“Me too. I was very, very happy when I saw your letter inviting me over any time.” Dana continued in a murmur. “I suppose it’s a bad habit of adults to overthink what’s convenient for someone else without asking and then miscalculate how distant they should act.”
Being an adult sounds tough, Lacey thought. She wasn’t at all clever enough to consider the distance between herself and other people. But even Lacey would become an adult in a little over two years, so now she felt nervous.
However, she then heard Dana’s very cheerful, kind, and gleaming voice.
“Lacey, you can do things nobody else can. I envy you. I want to see more of what you’ll make.”
Lacey felt that anyone was capable of what she could do. Nonetheless, she was happy to hear this from Dana. The warm words sank deep into her heart.
The pair slept next to each other on the bed, breathing gently. They sank into such a deep slumber that they didn’t know when they had drifted off. A slumber so deep that they didn’t have any dreams.
∗ ∗ ∗
When Lacey woke up, she could hear songbirds chirping outside the window.