“You know how they say there’s a separate stomach for sweets.” “I don’t think I can…”
“Then how about some tea? It was grown in Mikagami. I brought water that was purified there, too.”
This Airi accepted happily. Tea made from water purified by the Royal Trees was delicious, as she’d learned drinking on Funaho’s bridge with Yosho. Feeling like herself again, she sighed and watched Seto happily portion out the large cake and genuinely enjoy it.
“I bet you could fit a little piece.” Seto figured what she was thinking and placed a slice on a plate.
“All right, I’ll have a little.” Seto’s cake, also homemade, was as delicious as expected. Full of fruit and nuts, Seto explained that it contained no sugar, highlighting only the flavors of the fruits.
“Jurai has the most diverse plant life in the galaxy, so there is a tremendous variety of fruit and nuts. There are countless variations of this cake depending on the combinations of fruit.”
Airi nodded, impressed, completely in the palm of Seto’s hand. She did not have the wherewithal to think while she was heady from the food and only remembered that she had something to talk about after she ate the last piece of cake and finished her tea.
“That was delicious. Thank you. I don’t think I’ve had such a relaxing meal since Yosho-kun’s… Oh!”
“Would you like another cup of tea?”
“Yes, please… I mean… No, I don’t have time to be doing this!!” “You’re showing your true colors now,” Seto chuckled, bemusedly watching Airi shout and stand up.
Airi glared at Seto…but seeing her smile made her lose her momentum.
“She said Yosho-dono looks like a child his age when he comes home from the Galaxy Academy.” “What?”
“Funaho-dono, Yosho-dono’s mother, said sadly that he must be under so much stress on Jurai.”
“Yosho-kun’s mother?” Airi knew that Yosho’s mother, Funaho, was in a difficult position on Jurai. And how much Yosho cared about her…
“Funaho-dono is very grateful to you.”
Airi shook her head and mumbled, “I-I was shocked when he came back from Jurai and had this severe expression beyond his years. Right when he’d finally begun to act like a kid again, he reverted right back when he returned to Jurai… I wanted to ask you to let Yosho-kun stay at the Academy for good. Or at least…”
“At least what?”
“At least until he grows up a little more. I wanted him to have memories a childhood needs.”
“Are you in love with Yosho-dono?”
“…!!” Seto’s words were abrupt and devastating. Airi had not realized… or she was unconsciously trying not to realize. She felt Seto’s eyes on her, and uncomfortably looked around. She did not know how to answer. She knew what the answer was but did not want to put it to words. She hated Seto for staring at her silently.
How could she ask this of me…? Various excuses came and went in her mind. But she felt that Seto would see through any lie.
“That’s something I must not admit.” She finally squeezed out those words, but then something snapped inside her, and she started yelling as if a dam had burst. “How could you ask me if I loved Yosho-kun?! You know that I can’t do anything about it even if I did. If you had stayed silent, I wouldn’t have had to confront it… In one month, I go back to Airai and that will be the end of it. Why are you making me face it now?!” Airi panted.
Seto quietly watched her, then said, “You’re getting married when you get home?”
Airi’s eyes opened wide. “If you know all this, then why?!”
“House Masaki always ends up being sacrificed for Jurai’s sake. They have difficult romances.” Seto’s expression was so twisted with grief that Airi was taken aback.
“What?”
“Yosho-dono’s grandmother and her brother, his father, and those who came before him… Jurai was built upon the sacrifices of House Masaki.”
“I’ve heard of that. And that’s why the Masaki House has the least power among the Four Imperial Houses.”
“Heh, but that’s a mistake.” “What do you mean…?”
“The people in House Masaki never choose Jurai. They don’t love us. That’s why the other houses hate them so much and love them even more… I love Yosho-dono’s father.”
“The Juraian emperor?! But…” She was about to say that Seto was married but hesitated. Seeing the seriousness in her eyes, it could not be said aloud.
Seto smiled self-deprecatingly. “Of course, I love my husband… But in some way, I love Azusa-chan even more. Ever since I went to bring him to Jurai, I’ve been watching him…raising him. I love everything that he loves. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt him. Even if it was god incarnate…”
Airi’s heart beat out of her chest, and her body froze. Seto’s powerful emotions permeated the room so thickly they could be cut with a knife.
“I think of Yosho-dono as my son. I don’t want him to see you… But I also do. I wouldn’t care if he ends up having to abandon his home, like Amame-chan, his grandmother, if that was what he decided for himself.”
“Abandon his home…?” Airi asked back and realized. “Renounce our homes to be together? But…” Yosho could never abandon his home where his beloved mother lived. Just as she could not abandon Airai, where her father lived. “That…can’t happen…”
“Yes, I don’t want that to happen. Yosho-dono is engaged to my granddaughter.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, Seto-sama. It’s like you’re just trying to confuse me…”
“Airi-dono, please tell me who you’re betrothed to,” Seto murmured, ignoring her question.