Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 99

Orgen had been back at the Academy for less than a week when he received a letter.

 

“The Hero has answered. He wishes to meet with you alone.”

 

Eileen stared down at the time and place of the appointment. There was a time and a place for everything.

 

She felt a strange sense of relief, but also a sense of dread.

 

“You never know what might fall into the empty space.”

 

Rosalia’s words kept echoing in her head. Rolling around on the bed in frustration, Eileen hugged Star as hard as she could.

 

“Chew! Chew!”

 

Star, who had become increasingly assertive lately, whined, but Eileen didn’t seem to mind.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I think so, too. Maybe I should go for a walk to clear my head?”

 

Star protested, filling her cheeks with cold air, but Eileen merely changed her shoes. Leaving an angry Star behind, she hurried out of the dormitory and walked along the lakeshore for the first time in a long time.

 

The night sky shone brightly over Verotanis’s great lake, which resembled an ocean. Eileen’s cheeks suddenly flushed as she stared at the full moon filling the windlessly calm waters.

 

“I love it.”

 

The voice of the day rang in her ears once more. Eileen gave a small smile, as if she couldn’t help it, and slowly sat down on the floor.

 

She had a weakness for sweet people. Someone who could read a person’s mind and tell them what they needed to hear was always the person she wanted to be, and the person she wanted to be.

 

‘So I wanted to be helpful, even if I wasn’t very good at it.’

 

And that’s when she realized something. Eileen wanted to be someone who could be loved without being helpful.

 

To be loved just for being. Someone who could be someone’s shelter and future. She thought it was as far away as the moon in the sky, but maybe it was as close as the moon on the lake.

 

‘I’ve met a lot of people who are kind enough to thank.’

 

The light from the lake reflected in her reminiscing orange eyes. ‘I’ve met a lot of people in this life that I would put everything on my back for. I’ve met a lot of people who would be there for me no matter what.’

 

She was happy. And scared, because each one of them had become precious. She didn’t want to lose anyone. She pulled her eyes away from the lake, trying to compose myself.

 

“Eileen?”

 

She turned to see Felix walking out of the trees.

 

“Can’t sleep?”

 

“Felix.”

 

Eileen stared blankly for a moment, his white cheeks glowing bluish in the moonlight. She realized he was watching her anxiously.

 

“You always show up when I falter.”

 

Eileen’s lips pursed as if she were about to say something, then she smiled weakly.

 

“Yeah, I’m having trouble sleeping.”

 

“Well, then let’s take a walk around the lake.”

 

As if waiting for a response, Felix stepped up to Eileen’s side and sat down, the scent of clean soap lingering in the air as if he’d just gotten out of the shower.

 

The moon shone in front of them and overhead. Next to her was Felix, a smiling marine, reeking of soap.

 

Eileen ducked her head slightly, deliberately, to hide her flushed cheeks. Her soft brown hair cascaded down her back and framed her face. She waited for him to say something, but Felix said nothing.

 

After a few moments of silence, Eileen lifted her head slightly.

 

“Aah!”

 

“You looked up!”

 

Embarrassed, Eileen bounced a little.

 

When she looked up, Felix was staring at her with his jaw set, as if waiting for her to look up.

 

His pale pink hair, trimmed short in preparation for battle, was damp and hung down to his neckline, and his violet eyes, filled with laughter, glinted from beneath the bangs that fell naturally from the tilt of his head.

 

But it was the loose, unbuttoned shirt that caught Eileen off guard. His collarbone and rib cage were exposed, and Felix was grinning with not a hint of affection.

 

‘There’s no way I’m getting away with this!’

 

Eileen was helpless.

 

‘I’m going to be so red in the face.’

 

Eileen’s mouth dropped open in embarrassment, and her gaze traveled to the nape of Felix’s neck once more.

 

“Huh?”

 

By the light of the moon, she could see that Felix’s nape and chest were red, too. When he looked up, so did his ears.

 

Eileen’s face was red, and Felix’s neck and ears were red. Like a puzzle, they looked at each other, each colored in different places, and then burst out laughing.

 

“What the hell, ahaha!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The unexpected laughter lightened the mood.

 

“Felix, if you had a story that needed to be told someday, what would you do?”

 

The question came out of impulse. Felix looked at Eileen with a calm gaze, then turned his attention to the lake.

 

“Either way would be fine, don’t you think?”

 

“Either way?”

 

“Yeah, the way you’re asking, I’m assuming you’ve made up your mind either way?”

 

Eileen nodded quietly.

 

“Does it bother you that it happened to you?”

 

“No, it doesn’t bother me, I just don’t know what to do about it.”

 

“Aha.”

 

Felix leaned back absently. When Eileen looked at him questioningly as he lay fully down on the soft grass, he chuckled and gestured.

 

“Lie down. It’s a beautiful night.”

 

Hesitant, Eileen gingerly lay down beside him.

 

“Ah!”

 

An exclamation escaped her lips. The night sky was even more beautiful than the lake’s reflection, and as he gazed up at the moon, Felix spoke again.

 

“If it’s not too painful, then just do it. Just do it.”

 

Surprisingly, it might be easy.

 

“Just like I did to you at the ball. I don’t regret it.”

 

The ruddy-cheeked boy whispered, his eyes full of moon.

 

“I’ll tell you someday, I’ll tell you when the time is right,” he whispered, but the words were buried deep within him.

 

Felix hated it, so he said it to Eileen’s face. He let her know, however clumsily, that he trusted and loved her.

 

Eileen realized how it had changed her.

 

“Yes, I will.”

 

She made up her mind. There was one person who should be the first to hear the secret she was hiding.

 

 

***

 

 

The central shrine, late at night, when everyone else was asleep. Aire sat with a blank expression, tossing small pebbles into the pond that had been created in the corner of the temple.

 

Every time the white pebbles hit the water’s surface, thin waves rippled across the pond, scattering the moon.

 

“Are you sure you want me to tell you?”

 

A secret he’d kept to himself, a mission that would weigh him down forever. Does he dare share it with others?

 

The man who had spent his life as a hero could not know.

 

“Would you like to dance with me?”

 

The festival in Verotanis was a joyous affair. People were in a frenzy of excitement and no one bothered Aire, making it easy for him to walk through the school grounds.

 

The bustle of students in their uniforms was exciting, and the smells of food wafting from stalls filled with unfamiliar foods were delightful.

 

And most of all, he was ecstatic to dance hand-in-hand with Cordelia. As they blended into the crowd, turning, reaching, and tapping their feet, Aire’s heart felt light and floated away.

 

He was just plain happy. The happiness he’d hoped for forever was clearly real in that moment, and it was so sweet and sparkling that he felt endlessly thirsty.

 

‘It would be greedy to want it to be like that every day.’

 

And yet.

 

The hand throwing the pebbles stopped. Aire buried his face in his knees and curled into a small ball.

 

“If you wish to punish your selfish servant, do it now.”

 

A sob, neither a prayer nor a complaint, went up to the goddess, and as always, there was no answer.

 

 

***

 

 

“Eileen?”

 

Eileen called out to Cordelia as the sun rose in the early morning hours. Cordelia, who was dressing for her early morning training, opened the door with a puzzled look.

 

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

 

“Cordelia, I have a story to tell you.”

 

Eileen’s expression was so sincere as she said that, that  Cordelia let her into the room without further question. Eileen took a deep breath and paced slowly.

 

“If I ever tell anyone about this, Cordelia, you should be the first.”

 

That was Eileen’s decision.