Volume 1 Chapter 34 Rail Girard Seeks The White Moon
Sir Rail turned his dull, golden eyes towards me, as if the light had faded away.
Once──surely, they must have held a strong light.
Sir Roxas said that Sir Rail was an excellent person.
Until he fell ill, at the age of 15.
"...I'm sorry, Lydia. ...I wonder if my brother forced you to come here."
His dry lips quietly formed the words.
That voice reminded me of a quiet, empty snowy field.
If I didn't listen closely, it seemed like the sound wouldn't reach me, yet it had a certain intensity, clearly resonating, sinking into my skin and eardrums.
"N-no... I wasn't forced or anything..."
Even though I was brought here against my will.
In front of Sir Rail now, I couldn't say that at all.
"My brother... when it comes to me, he can be a bit reckless. ...He used to be quiet and timid, but... since I've become like this, he probably thought he had to be strong."
After saying that, Sir Rail looked down tiredly and took a deep breath.
"──But, just having you come all the way here and being able to see your face makes me happy. Thank you, Lydia. ...A holy priestess, huh. ...It's like you're an angel guiding me to the white moon."
With a gentle smile, Sir Rail said this.
It was as if he had already made up his mind.
His eyes seemed to look past me, gazing somewhere far away.
The white moon.
The White Moon, Blanche Runne, floats a little away from the Red Moon, Rubrum Lunne (Crimson Rose Garden).
Monsters fall from the Red Moon. That's why the Red Moon is avoided.
But the White Moon is the place people finally head to.
It is said to be a paradise that accepts the souls of the dead.
We live to ascend to Blanche Runne (White Moon) ── the paradise.
This is a well-known teaching from the Alexandria scriptures in the Rest priest family.
"Please... Sir Rail, don't say that..."
I clenched my hands in front of my chest.
My voice trembled.
At a time like this ── if it were Francois, she would surely smile and say, "It's okay, Sir Rail. I will heal you," confidently.
(I am... I am not Francois.)
I don't have the power to heal.
Tears slowly welled up in the corners of my eyes. It feels wrong to cry here.
I am a failure of the Rest priest family.
I feel powerless, unable to do anything, frustrated. Ashamed.
"Lydia... I'm already fine. Yet... I'm sorry."
"Brother... It's okay. I'm sure it will be fine."
"Roxas... I appreciate your feelings, but you must not trouble Lydia."
Sir Rail said this in a surprisingly strong tone.
Sir Roxas deeply bowed to Sir Rail and then took me out of the room.
Led by the silent Sir Roxas, I was guided to the Duke family's kitchen.
Sir Roxas told the cooks to "step back," leaving just the two of us.
In the corner of the kitchen, there was the backpack basket I borrowed from the market lady.
It was about as big as the kitchen at the Mage Headquarters of Saintwise.
I looked around the kitchen, checking everything. My bought vegetables, hijiki, katsuobushi, and miso were all there.
Then, there was rice, flour, and seasonings.
In the storage room, which was much taller than me, there were meats and fish, along with a frozen giant octopus packed inside.
"──My brother is right."
Sir Roxas stood at the entrance of the kitchen, smiling wryly as he ruffled his bangs.
"...I forcibly took you away. I didn't have time to explain, and I was angry. ...Five years. For 5 years, I bowed to that woman and whispered sweet nothings. I told myself it was to heal my brother's illness."
"...Sir Roxas, didn't you love Francois...?"
"How can I love someone like her? ...I've seen how she behaves in the Rest priest family. ...No matter how much you were belittled, you quietly endured it."
"That's... um, I thought that soon, I could marry His Highness... so..."
It's not that I quietly endured it.
I was really angry at both my father and Francois.
Of course, it was hard to say that out loud, so I kept it in my heart.
It was because I was told it was okay to be angry──someday, I learned that.
Sir Stefan taught me that.
"...But the engagement was broken. Honestly, I felt relieved. Even if it was for my brother, spending my life with that woman... I just couldn't bear it. Besides, in the end, that woman didn't even try to heal my brother. She probably doesn't have that kind of power."
"Francois has inherited the power of the Rest priest family. So, that's not true..."
"At least, that's what I think. ...Lydia, when I found out you ran away from the Rest priest family, I was so frustrated. Did you really hate my family that much? I know it can't be helped, but couldn't you at least apologize or explain?"
"Well, it's not that I hate you, Sir Roxas, but I just don't like men in general."
I pulled an octopus out of the basket I was carrying.
First, the octopus. I want to do something about the octopus.
I'm worried about Rail, but right now, there's a fresh octopus frozen in front of me, so I want to deal with that first.
"When I heard rumors about you, I got even angrier. Were you hiding your power? ...If you had revealed your healing power from the start, my brother's illness would have been cured a long time ago."
"That's not true...! That's just what Mr. Lucian and the others are saying! I only cooked for everyone at Saintwise because Sir Ciel asked me to, and that was just the other day!"
"...I guess that's true. Seeing your lack of confidence, I can understand that."
"Ugh..."
I can't have any confidence.
Because──I've never needed it.
I was useless, a failure, and even kind Sir Stefan lost interest in me.
So, I became a woman who spewed curses, wishing that all men would perish.
Until very recently.
"... But, I was getting angry and frustrated. ... My brother hasn't been drinking anything but water for the past few days. ...Humans die if they don't eat. No matter what kind of human they are."
"Meals are important."
I carried the large octopus to the large sink.
I turned on the water and plunged the knife into the octopus's eyes.
The ice magic melted, and the octopus softened.
I'm sorry, Mr. Octopus.
I'll eat you deliciously.
"So, I forced you to... Lydia. I'm sorry."
"I understand why you would be desperate to see Sir Rail like that."
I cleaned the octopus's head and rubbed the slime with salt.
Octopus salt rub is good.
It's fun to see the slime turn smooth. And the texture is quite addictive.
"What are you doing all this time?"
"Um, well... I'm preparing the octopus."
"......Why are you preparing the octopus now?"
"Because there's an octopus here...! ."
Why is Sir Roxas getting angry...!
He tells me to cook, and then gets angry when I start cooking. I don't understand him.
Anyway, it's an octopus.
I'll cook it soft enough for Sir Rail to eat without chewing.
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