136 – Ghost of the Guardian Tree (15)
The night of the new moon. The girl was standing in a place called a hideout in the forest. Not too far from the temple. If you walk through the secret passage made of vines, you will come to a small round clearing. In the center was a willow tree.
That place was our hideout.
The girl presses down on her robes and paces nervously around the willow, lest her hair reflect in the moonlight.
It’s close to midnight.
I wonder if I got caught sneaking out of the bedroom. Did something happen The girl put her heart to sleep.
Soon after, someone rustled around the hideout and made a sign.
The girl was startled and turned her body towards the sound.
I saw the figure of a man in the dark.
“Lucily.”
As he called out the passphrase of her herb’s name, the girl shouted the correct answer.
“Pony!”
After checking the passphrase, a boy stepped out of the darkness.
And the girl pulled down her tight robe and revealed her face. Her silver hair fell down to her waist.
The boy asked.
“Did you wait long?”
The girl nodded her head.
“I was very worried about what happened because he didn’t come.”
“She thought there would be no one in front of the fountain, but suddenly Sister Dolores was taking a walk in the middle of the night. So she had to hold out until the nun returned.”
The boy was hiding something with his hands behind his back.
“What is that on the back?”
The boy grinned and held out a box from behind her.
And when I opened the square cover, a pure white cake appeared on a square plate.
“… What?”
“What? It’s a cake.”
“How can I do this… Did you bring it?”
Cake was a food that required expensive ingredients. With the circumstances of a boy who eats oat porridge every day, he would not dare to dream of even a piece of it.
“I worked all day. You said it. You’ve been busy for a while.”
Where did you come from and what did you do? There would have been few places that still used a boy who was small and weak.
“….”
“Hold it for a moment.”
He made her girl hold her cake and took her candle out of her pocket. Then he stuck it in the center of the cake and took a flint and whacked it. Seeing that, the girl laughed and lit the fire with her magic.
After the final preparations were finished without any manipulation, he put the flint back in and said awkwardly.
“Magic is convenient. I will take it now.”
The boy was handed the cake back.
Thanks to the light being turned on, the two were able to see each other’s faces hidden in the darkness again.
“Now….”
The girl cut off before he could speak. It was because of his face.
“Wait…. What’s wrong with your face?”
The boy’s forehead was bruised and one of her cheeks was swollen.
He said, averting his gaze.
“I slipped while working and hit a wall once. No big deal.”
The girl looked worried and put her hand to his cheek.
“… Why is this not a big deal Who did it? Who is this?”
“It’s okay. You really fell.”
“You… Have no talent for lying. We promised not to lie to each other.”
When she asked interrogatively, the boy kept her mouth shut for a while, then reluctantly brought her up.
“I slipped and overturned once while carrying a bag of wheat. From the manager’s point of view, that must have been a little awkward.”
He said that he punched him in the face for one mistake. The treatment of orphans has always been this way. With no parents, no power, and no one to protect them, everyone thought it was okay to treat them at random.
Teardrops began to form in the girl’s eyes.
“I… I… I’ll kill them all….”
He put a smile on her lips and calmed her down.
“Why would you kill me with something like that? Even though she has a wife and children. I’m fine, really. To me, this is really nothing.”
“….”
The person who needs to be comforted is the boy, but he didn’t show any signs of pain. The boy calmly wiped the girl’s dark eyes once and said.
“On a precious day like today, I hope you only have fun and happy memories. It’s a day that comes only once a year.”
“….”
He was the only person who took care of her birthday.
He lifted the cake and held her candle in front of her face.
“Come on, blow. Before the wind strikes first.”
The girl wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress and nodded her head.
Then she carefully blew out her candle.
Her only light disappeared, and the figure of the boy she faced was again plunged into darkness.
And then, in the abyss where there was nothing, the boy’s last words echoed softly.
[Happy Birthday, Liza.]
And Liza woke up.
It was dawn when the full moon rose and the moonlight poured in.
She stood up and checked her calendar. It was the day she had emphasized it to the point of being messy with ink.
Liza’s head fell slowly. She did so and she quietly killed time.
It was impossible to go back to sleep. Her body trembles Liza had to use her best efforts to calm her mind.
Liza clenched her fists and pounded her chest. Just like that, tapping in a slow rhythm filled the silence.
There was nothing I could do other than that.
***
I woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. Now that she was asleep in Thorn Garden Dormitory, there was no one to knock on her door except Trisha.
The knock sounded again and the door opened with a squeaking sound.
Trissa stuck her head out and whispered softly.
“Are you still sleeping?”
I frowned and covered my eyes. The dream seat was very wild, so I couldn’t sleep deeply.
These days, I keep dreaming the same dream. But none of them are clearly visible.
Is it a precognitive dream? What does it mean? Maybe it’s facing a precognitive dream that everyone is dying.
It feels like an old man on the verge of death is muttering something in a windy voice, but I can’t understand what he is saying.
“Damian…?”
“…… Why.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“No, but why did you come?”
“So…. No, no. Keep sleeping!”
I ran my hand through my messy hair and said.
“What is it? Say it.”
“That… I have all the ingredients ready.”
“… Ingredient?”
I raised my upper body, summoned the spirit, and lit the oil lamp.
“Yes. All that’s left is for you to do!’
“What do you mean?”
“Cooking… !”
I looked out the window with blurry eyes. It was still dark, but there was morning light.
Trisha had no talent for cooking. So, I was supposed to prepare the meal. Because of that, she even memorized cookbooks for a while.
From noble mtl dot com
It’s annoying, but I can’t just starve Trisha away.
I got out of bed and checked the calendar on the bedside table as usual. And when I checked the date, my head froze for a moment.
Trisha was a little puzzled when she saw me.
“Where does it hurt?”
“No.”
I folded the calendar and put it in the drawer.
“… What’s the matter. I do not feel good?”
Seeing my actions, Trisha was a bit coy. She seemed to think he was irritating her.
“No. These days, it’s just that I’m in trouble.”
I hurriedly warmed her up and got up.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“…… Anything!”
I sighed lightly and headed for the kitchen. It was the same as having to prepare breakfast for me to eat anyway.
Trisha followed me and sat down in front of her kitchen table.
Baskets filled with ingredients were neatly placed in the kitchen. It looked like it had been carefully prepared in the morning.
I set fire to the firewood and quickly started trimming the ingredients.
Then, with both hands resting on my chin, I watched my back as I was busy preparing the food.
“You go and do your thing.”
“No, I just want to stay here!”
“If you have nothing to do, would you like to wash this off?”
He pointed to a basket of potatoes with his hand. I thought she would complain, but she cheerfully accepted.
“Yes!”
Then she took her basket and ran outside.
I suddenly felt strange. When we prepare meals together, for some reason, it feels like we are really part of the family.
As we spend time together, there will be parts where we have to argue and adjust, but I feel that it is worth enduring enough for the current sense of security.
After a while, Trisha roared and came running with a basket of potatoes.
“I’m done!”
The basket was dripping with water, and my hands were red, probably because I had washed them in icy water.
When I saw that, I laughed involuntarily.
“That’s enough. I’m resting while playing with the spirits.”
Then I sent a fire spirit to Trisha to warm up my hands.
I don’t know anything else, but I had fun managing my daily life with Trisha.
Now, a picture is drawn of what kind of daily life Trisha was longing for in this isolated dorm.
Silverine’s Mansion, Whitdruff House Dormitory.
It is true that life is simpler than ever.
Food prepared by others. A bookshelf that someone else arranged. Laundry folded by others. All these aristocratic conveniences were still unfamiliar, like ill-fitting clothes.
A daily life that you organize with someone. Rather, the current method may be a better fit for me.
Because I’ve always lived like this.
***
After eating, Trisha and I went out of the dormitory on good terms.
Stitch flew in again just as he was afraid to leave the labyrinth.
I hurriedly snatched it up in the air before Trisha could see it again.
Trisha shows curiosity again. Whenever this happens, her back always gets cold.
“Moya?”
“The letter.”
“I want to see it too.”
“If you show me all your letters.”
She pondered and said.
“… That’s not allowed!”
“Then neither can I.”
“….”
Is it because I’m curious? Why are you so interested in my personal life? If only a letter arrives, he will see it too.
Silverin’s letter should be carefully hidden.
Since I have eyes to see right now, I put the letter in my back pocket.
For a while, Trisha and I parted ways in the Northern Village’s student garden.
“Come pick me up tonight!”
Trisha waved her hand and shouted and walked away.
The sun hadn’t fully risen, so the sky was still dark blue. There was quite a bit of time left until the first class, but I couldn’t think of a place to spend time.
There were hardly any students passing by.
It’s a peaceful, normal daily life that’s no different from before.
I want nothing more. I just wanted it to pass without incident.
I sat on a bench in the garden without much planning, and took out Sylverine’s letter and read it in my free time.