ITYVA 13

Chapter 13

Taking advantage of As being off guard, I shamelessly tried to find out his wish, but when he caught me, I quickly looked away.

“What wish did you write, Einra?”

Avoiding his gaze and faking a cough, I pretended to be distracted. Then As asked.

I turned my eyes back to him and winked.

“Mine’s a secret.”

“…That’s boring.”

As stared blankly at me for a while before suddenly turning his head away.

Through his curly hair, I could see the tips of his ears—strangely red.

I was tempted to tease him more, but since I was guilty of something already, I decided to behave.

What if As ends up hating me because of it?

That thought brought back Aces.

The one person I didn’t want to be hated by.

Even if the Emperor despised me, it never scared me. But for some reason, I absolutely did not want Aces to hate me.

Actually… I kind of wish the Emperor would keep his distance instead.

Do you know the word “estrangement”? That’s exactly what I’d like from him.

With hazy eyes, I stared up at the sky, then suddenly wondered—did As know Aces?

“As.”

“Yes?”

“By any chance… do you know Duke Aces de Serenia?”

At my question, As blinked once and opened his eyes again.

The child’s red pupils fixed on me.

His lips slowly parted.

“Aces de Serenia, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“What about him?”

“I was just wondering if you knew him.”

I looked down at As with faint hope.

If he had some kind of connection with Aces, it would mean that when I eventually returned, there might be more chances for him to speak well of me to Aces.

But the answer that came out of As’s mouth was vague.

“I know he’s the Duke of Serenia.”

“…Ah, I see…”

I let out an awkward laugh and shifted my gaze away.

Prying further would be impolite.

Why does this feel so unsettling?

It was as if I kept missing something important, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Frustrating.

“Do you… like me?”

It was just a joking question.

I had never expected a serious answer.

Something like “Don’t mess around” or “That’s not funny” would have been enough.

I couldn’t even imagine getting any other kind of reply.

“…I like you. Really… a lot.”

So when I heard that response, I froze.

No, Einra!

I screamed at myself.

Even though I knew this was a dream. Even though I knew I couldn’t change the past.

You must not run away—!

Even if it felt like silver bracelets were shackled on both wrists. Even if I wanted to disappear on the spot.

I should never have done that.

I—I’m sorry!

Throwing out such a reckless apology and then running away—absolutely not!

“No!”

I shouted and sat bolt upright.

Sunlight poured gently through the window, settling warmly in the room.

As I tried to calm my ragged breathing, I touched my forehead and felt cold sweat.

Sighing softly, I climbed out of bed.

“Dreaming of such an old black history… feels like something’s coming from the Emperor.”

And sure enough, my premonition was correct.

After summoning Quiel and washing up briefly, I found a small dove perched neatly by my window.

Around its neck hung the emblem of the Elberk imperial family.

A quill and sword crossed together… what is this, a “Liberal Arts × Martial Arts Cross”?

Such blatant discrimination against the sciences.

Muttering nonsense to myself, I opened the window.

The magically-controlled dove waddled inside.

Taking a bit of bird feed I had stored in my drawer, I sprinkled it by the window.

“You worked hard flying such a long way, dove.”

While it pecked at the food, I untied the note fastened to its leg.

As expected.

The tiny note, no bigger than two fingers pressed together, was crammed with writing.

Letter spacing was practically negative, and line spacing—atrocious.

My head throbbed as I held my forehead.

“Emperor, if you write like this, no one can find the main point…”

What was the point of elegant handwriting when readability was garbage?

After ten minutes of struggling, I finally managed to dig out the main point buried beneath all the whining about when I’d return.

At the very end, hastily scribbled:

[Wildfire in the Berbena Forest, territory of Count Sachsen.]

“…A wildfire… after all my efforts to keep it from drying out…”

Who was the adorable little thing that committed arson?

“So adorable that I’d love to give them a truly horrific experience.”

I caught myself muttering such words and shut my mouth.

Clearly, my personality was being corrupted by my favorite person.

“My morals are doomed…”

With weary eyes, I went to the dressing room and pulled out a crisp white uniform dress.

“It’s still official duty, so I can’t just go out in casual clothes.”

Changing quickly, I headed to As’s room.

“Einra, are you going out?”

He had been writing at his desk, but looked surprised to see me in uniform.

“Yeah, something came up—I need to step out.”

His face fell slightly.

If he had dog ears, they would have drooped.

I was startled to see him making such an expression for the first time.

As… actually looks his age right now!

“…Will you be late?”

And that sulky little voice—so cute!

But I had no time. Instead of explaining, I simply grabbed his hand.

The moment I held it, a gentle breeze swirled around us, forming a barrier.

It scattered the air, hiding us from view.

The townsfolk couldn’t be allowed to see us soaring on a spirit.

“Einra?”

“I’ll explain on the way.”

I couldn’t just leave a child alone at home, not knowing when I’d return.

Taking As outside, I summoned a high-ranking wind spirit.

“Hisha!”

Before us appeared a great bird-shaped wind spirit.

Lifting the startled As onto its back, I sat behind him.

“Hisha, take us to Berbena Forest in Count Sachsen’s territory.”

Hisha gave a small nod and spread its wings toward the sky.

Thanks to the wind barrier, we weren’t buffeted by air resistance.

“Whew, that’s one worry down…”

Now all that was left was putting out the fire.

Letting out a long sigh, I heard As—still blinking in confusion—ask:

“…What on earth is going on?”

“Ah, right. Let me explain.”

On our way to Berbena Forest, I told him briefly that I was a spirit summoner and why we were heading there.

Since As had already seen me heal him twice with spiritual arts—when he spilled hot water—he wasn’t overly shocked. He listened calmly.

He had probably suspected I was either a shaman or a spirit summoner.

After explaining, I added playfully:

“As, you’ll keep it a secret that I’m a spirit summoner, right?”

After a pause, he asked in a hushed voice:

“…Do you trust me?”

I answered without much thought.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He sounded puzzled.

I tapped my chin and then smiled.

“I just feel like I can trust you.”

“…”

“Don’t know why. Just a feeling.”

Maybe because he reminded me of Aces.

Tilting my head, I added lightly:

“You’ll keep the secret, won’t you?”

“…Of course I will.”

After a short silence, As mumbled back.

I smiled again.

Before long, Hisha landed us at Berbena Forest.

Did that only take ten minutes?

Count Sachsen’s domain lay on the northwestern border, so compared to Count Hyla’s southern lands, the speed was extraordinary.

The forest bordered two villages. From the one on the left, smoke and flames rose thickly.

Already, one-third of the forest had been devoured by fire.