Chapter 246:

77. So obvious

She had awakened, but not completely.

Sylatrella’s physical form had been sustained by Sheffy’s magic power; this kind of awakening, using 【Fate】 as a bridge, was inherently unstable. Even after waking up, Sylatrella remained in a drowsy state—this was precisely the outward manifestation and proof of that instability.

“I’m just saying, if it really doesn’t work, you can just sleep. I thought waking you up would let you happily go watch a fireworks show. But if you’re this sleepy, it feels a bit not worth it?”

“Haaah… mm… it’s fine… I can hold on. I also want to watch the fireworks with Lady Sheffy.”

“There’s actually nothing you have to force yourself over, you know. Heh, to be honest, I’ve got quite a lot of energy. Later, I could even hold a temporary fireworks show outside the Demon King’s Castle just for us! It would just cost a bit of gold coins…?”

“No…”

Sylatrella was very sleepy, with barely any strength.

Even though her upper and lower eyelids were fighting, her starry-colored eyes almost unable to stay open, the small girl still tightly clutched Sheffy’s sleeve.

Even though they were already sitting shoulder to shoulder, she still shrank closer to her, as if trying to press herself into Sheffy’s body.

And after Sylatrella struggled to finish that complete sentence, what she had gripped tightly was not only Sheffy’s sleeve—

—but also her heart.

“My parents before… also said they’d take me to the royal palace to watch a drum performance.”

“Is that so…” Sheffy took off her shoes, dipping her jade-like toes into the cool lake water, stretching out her complicated emotions. “But they broke their promise, didn’t they? By the time you were supposed to go watch the performance, they were already forcing you to jump into the sea of fire.”

“Mm… if I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have slept that day. Maybe… if I didn’t sleep, if I acted a bit willful and dragged them to the royal palace, while my family still loved me… then I could’ve watched the performance together with everyone.”

“But even if you didn’t sleep, there wouldn’t be anyone beating drums at the royal palace in the middle of the night, you know?”

Sheffy sighed as she said this, adding another layer of silence to the quiet.

She had said it on purpose.

To pierce through the illusion hidden deep in Sylatrella’s heart, so she could awaken from that dark, dreamlike state and stop drowning in sorrow.

The sound of sobbing rang out, intermittent.

Like teardrops falling onto an ancient drum, unable to resound across a war-torn age already reduced to ashes.

You were afraid to close your eyes and fall asleep, afraid that in your dreams you would see how your parents once treated you well.

Yet you were also afraid to open your eyes and face the world again, where it was your own parents who had pushed you into the sea of fire.

Together with the rhythm of the drums in your dreams, you fell into an eternal lament of no return.

What could a child understand?

Sheffy no longer urged her to sleep.

Because even if she fell asleep, the nightmares would be far more tormenting than her current drowsiness.

And even more terrifying was that those nightmares—

—were the reality Sylatrella had once experienced.

Sheffy rarely became this gentle.

She stopped making jokes, instead lightly patting Sylatrella’s trembling shoulders, guiding her to slowly stretch out her legs and let the lake water soak them—perhaps this coolness could help lift her spirits a little.

“If you don’t want to sleep, then chat with me. Try your best to stay awake until we see the fireworks. I’ve already told Father King to move the performance earlier, but… there’s been a delay just now. Even if it starts, we’ll still have to wait ten minutes. Can you hold on? If you can make it until then, the moment the fireworks appear, I’ll use Teleportation to take you there.”

“Ten minutes… Lady Sheffy, that amount of time feels so long…”

“Hah, you’ve lived for over a thousand years already, and you still think ten minutes is long?”

“Not long… not long…”

Leaning against Sheffy’s shoulder, Sylatrella clenched her fist tightly, her soft punch landing weakly on her own leg to keep herself awake.

Sheffy knew that if she said nothing now, it might be a bit cruel.

She didn’t know how to comfort a child who had once been betrayed by her own family. After all, Sheffy’s life had known loss—but never betrayal.

To comfort something one had never experienced before would likely be nothing more than empty words.

But…

Coincidentally.

Sheffy had once been betrayed by fate—and had also betrayed fate.

“Dea—cough, Sylatrella, I remember telling you before, you really don’t need to worry so much. I’m not your parents, and I have no intention of imitating what they did. Not everyone in this world is heartless. Besides, back then, your parents were trying to survive. Some people simply value their lives more than their emotions. Whether one values life or emotions more, it’s not something that can be condemned—because that’s human instinct.”

“Mm, I know… I really… like listening to Lady Sheffy talk, you know…? Listening to you… makes my whole body feel so comfortable…”

“Good thing your tone isn’t too excited right now, or if Xiarette heard this, she’d beat me up again.”

Saying something perverse in a lazy tone somehow made it seem less perverse.

Sylatrella smiled faintly.

When Sheffy tilted her head, she happened to see that smile. Without her usual strange aura, Sylatrella gave off a pale fragility, as if she might vanish at any moment amid wind and rain.

“That’s right…” Sylatrella struggled to lift her arm, gently touching Sheffy’s cheek with effort. “A warmth that can be felt… how could that be a lie? I’ve always believed that Lady Sheffy is so gentle… If you said you’d take me to see the fireworks, then you won’t break your promise.”

“Of course! Just look at my character! To be honest, ever since I was little, I’ve been a model of honesty. All those fish I caught when I was young—I promised Father King to release them back into nature, and there weren’t many I kept to eat myself!”

“Lady Sheffy is lying to me again…”

“Hah? What did I lie to you about?”

“Your fishing skills are terrible… when have you ever caught many fish…”

“……”

“But… that’s exactly your most gentle side…”

Sylatrella did not hate lies.

Because some lies hurt—but some lies were truly warm.

【You… you were born to die! Even His Majesty the King said so! If you don’t jump down, are you expecting all of us to be buried with you?! There are so many people in the royal capital—we don’t want to die either! Please… please! We beg you, go die…!】

A lie.

How she wished that those words she had once heard were nothing more than kind lies.

“If only they were like Lady Sheffy… not truly believing that I deserved to die… that would have been so nice…”

“Mm? Who are you talking about?”

“The heartless people you mentioned.”

“Oh, right. People do love to lie.”

“But the lies Lady Sheffy tells… I really like hearing them.”

“The way you put it, it sounds like I’ve been lying to you all along… uh.”

Sylatrella slowly lowered the hand resting on Sheffy’s face, but did not withdraw it.

She held the azure-gold-trimmed sleeve in front of Sheffy.

Her eyes were filled with cherishment as she looked at that outfit; every word she spoke was condensed from gratitude.

“I know… the clothes Lady Sheffy gave me… originally weren’t meant for me.”

“These clothes…? Oh… I think I bought them while shopping with Xiarette in the Kingdom of Aurus?”

“Mm, I shamelessly asked you for them…”

【Lady Sheffy, you’re so kind. You even bought me new clothes while going out shopping. When I woke up earlier, I saw them laid beside the Holy Sword, and the size fit perfectly!】

【Uh… not really, I actually bought those for myself…】

【Other than my mother from a thousand years ago, whose appearance I can no longer remember… this is the first time I’ve received such a wonderful gift! Thank you, Lady Sheffy! I’m really touched!】

【N-no… forget it, as long as you like it…?】

Sheffy remembered.

That subtle “misunderstanding” when she had given away those clothes.

She had always thought it was just a misunderstanding. After all, clothes she could wear would also fit Sylatrella, and they had been neatly folded beside the Holy Sword at the time, so it was natural for her to assume they were meant for her.

But who would have thought—

It wasn’t a misunderstanding at all, but the deliberate act of a child longing for love.

Sylatrella withdrew her arms and hugged her knees, helpless tears shimmering in her eyes as she buried her small head into her arms.

“I was too impatient… I clearly knew that my arrival was so sudden… I don’t even belong to your era. But you treated me well, and you said I could stay, so I became full of myself… When I said that, I thought you would scold me… actually, that would have made me feel better… but you didn’t scold me. You really said the clothes were bought for me. You’re so kind.”

“Even though you knew I was lying to you…?”

“Mm, it doesn’t matter if you lied to me. You still gave them to me. They’re really warm… like clothes knitted by a mother… even in snowy days, I’m not afraid anymore.”

Drip.

Drip.

Sheffy seemed to hear it—the sound of tears falling.

She couldn’t tell whether it was the splash of waves striking the shore and scattering droplets, or the tears of the girl beside her—who had lived her entire life entangled in lies and deception, yet had never despaired of the world.

“That was a lie, that’s true.”

Sheffy did not hesitate, nor did she avoid it, and admitted it plainly.

But some things still needed to be clarified.

“But that was because, at that time, you didn’t understand me yet.”

And at that time, I didn’t understand you either.

【Lady Sheffy, this is something I wrote for you—a translation of ancient text.】

【I’m not sure if there are any mistakes… but I did my best to proofread it! Comparing it with the Demon Clan’s language, most of it should be accurate. N-no! I didn’t write this because I think I’m useless! Ah… or rather… it’s not just because I think I’m useless…?】

【Actually, even within the thousand-year nightmare… it’s not like I never had good dreams…?】

【In my dreams, there was an angel who often said this.】

【You will still wake up. You shouldn’t die—at the very least, you shouldn’t die in sorrow.】

【I will love you, and you must also love yourself.】

【Perhaps I may deceive you, but it would never be to harm you. I could destroy you, but I chose to let you live.】

【You were never buried in the sea of fire.】

【Because the one who jumped down—】

【—was never the you of now.】

As the dream faded at the moment of awakening, the outline of that angel became clearer and clearer.

When she opened her eyes, that face gradually overlapped with the witch she had first met a thousand years later.

Ah…

So even the world had been telling her lies.

They said an angel’s wings must surely be pure white.

The snow of the deep night—when she reached out to catch it, it melted into mist upon her fingertips.

Only when she looked up did she realize that behind the falling snow, the vast sky was filled with endless night.

A warm winter, gentle snow.

When the polar night turned over, it became polar day.

Sylatrella came back to her senses between half-dream and half-wakefulness, feeling nothing but happiness.

“Mm…? Sorry… just now… I almost fell asleep again. Lady Sheffy, did you say something…?”

“I said, once your magic stabilizes in a few days and you’re no longer sleepy, I’ll take you shopping.”

“Shopping…? Do you want me to help carry the सामान? Mm, don’t be fooled by my size—I can carry a lot.”

“To buy you clothes.”

“……”

“Clothes that you choose yourself. This time, you can’t say I’m lying to you.”

Once again, it was like surging waves.

But the difference between water droplets and tears—

was, in fact, so obvious.

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