TRVLT 13

Chapter 13

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  “Good, good.”

The hand that had walked tick by tick with the second and minute hands slid the blanket and tugged it over the hour hand. The blanket covered Ariretti’s shoulders.
“Th-thank you.”

• “Just saying words.”

Ariretti sniffled.
“…Why has your voice changed?”
Before, it was just a buzzing resonance, impossible to tell the gender from. But now, the sound the Needle made was almost a real voice.
A beautiful, prepubescent voice. Sometimes it sounded like a boy, other times like a young man.

• “Because you are gradually losing the power to control me. In other words, it means you’re dying… just now, you thought, ‘Well, that’s fine,’ didn’t you?”

“Uuuh…”

• “Tsk, this isn’t even half-hearted. Always whining like this… Fine, it’s not like it’s your fault.”

Grumbling, the Needle tapped Ariretti’s shoulder with the second hand.
Even though most days were filled with noisy scolding, teasing, or harsh reprimands, the one who knew Ariretti best was still the Needle.
On days when she was weak and hurting, the only one who spoke to her was the Needle.
“Can anyone else hear you?”

• “Not yet. I don’t know about the future, though.”

“Could you make it a little smaller…?”

• “This is already reduced as much as I can.”

“Then… if I drop it now, it’ll break?”

• “Exactly! That’s what would happen!”

The Needle let out a loud, explosive anger.
The hour, minute, and second hands started a fierce tap dance on the blanket.

• “See, you bad master! I warned you to stop using your powers! What are you going to do about this now! Now, if anyone grabs me and snaps me in half, I won’t be able to do a thing!”

As the life of the sage drew to an end, the connection with the Needle was growing fainter. Eventually, she wouldn’t even be able to communicate with the Needle by telepathy.
Ariretti felt a little uneasy.
‘That can’t happen.’
The Needle, who had been with her since her twelve-year-old self in her first life, was her only friend.
Living together, dying together…

• “I don’t want to dieee!”

Dying together…

• “Hey. Let’s live a little, Aril! Let’s try living just once more, dear. Okay? This is really the last time, but isn’t it unfair to end it like this after everything you’ve been through? Did I teach you like that?”

“Okay, okay.”
Ariretti grabbed the Needle with both hands and plunged it deeply into a large rabbit plush beside her.

• “What are you doing!”

“Don’t break even if it falls.”
It was true. Whoever left this rabbit plush was gone, and it was the biggest and softest buffer she could find around her.
Looking closer, smaller animal plushes stood next to the rabbit.
A squirrel, a fox, a turtle, a gorilla.

• “This rabbit was left by that young master Sogaju. The turtle by the maid Tanesa.”

“Why?”

• “Why? It must be a get-well gift. They were very worried.”

Worried? About me?

• “By the way, master, what will you do? Since you’ve received so many gifts, you’ll have to repay them.”

“Gifts…”
But they might not even be mine.
Ariretti carefully extended her index finger. She poked the turtle’s shell, felt the soft cushion sink under her finger, and quickly withdrew.

• “To repay, you should quickly regain your strength and get up, right? Huh? Hey, Aril. Don’t you like this estate a little? It’s a bit rustic and shabby, but it’s far better than the capital overflowing with waste. The first prince came to visit you, the second prince and his fiancée gave you little plush gifts, right?”

Under the turtle plush’s front paw was a palm-sized card.
Ariretti glared at it with eyes full of caution and distrust, approaching only after a long while.
Slowly, cautiously, in a crawling posture.
The card had large letters written on it:

[“Big sister Tanesa will go get some warm water! Ring the bell by your bed anytime you wake up, Princess Aril♡”]

The letters rolled playfully.
‘Must be Sister Tanesa.’
Next to the turtle, a gorilla plush in leather armor sat proudly, holding a card in its arms.

[“Don’t be sick, little one. Once you get better, the uncles will take you on a polar expedition!

• Uncle Deng and Uncle Tom -”]

Each plush held a card.
After reading all the cards, Ariretti looked around the bed. Only the rabbit plush left by Sogaju had no card.
The Needle twitched its hour hand as if waiting.

• “There it is, the rabbit’s card. It fell to the floor.”

“Oh…!”
It was true. A pink card had fallen under the bed. It must have dropped while she plunged the Needle into the rabbit.

[“The snow has stopped, little teacher.
Thank you.”]

Next to the plain handwriting was a rough drawing.
A path stretched across sparsely wooded land.
It depicted the path Ariretti had dug by rewinding time.
There were many small circles and lines on the path. People, with round faces, all smiling brightly. On the clear path, people were laughing cheerfully.

[“Thank you.”]

Ariretti didn’t have the strength to get down, so she stuck her face out of the bed and stared endlessly at the card.
Read, and read again.
Looked, and looked again.
‘Why do they keep saying thank you…?’
She had just returned what she had received.
Somehow, it made her want to cry. Ariretti forced herself to find the reason her chest fluttered.
They kept saying thanks, and whenever they gave gifts, it made her feel obliged to return them.
That’s why her nose tingled. Yes, that was right.
But then, how should she repay them for the plushes…? After calming her heart, questions flew busily in her head.
‘Since I got five plushes, not just one, maybe I should use the remaining power once, right?’
Or not? Was she falling into another sly trap?

• “Sniff sniff, ah, smells like a person. Seems a bit livable here. Right? Huh? Aril, yes?”

She didn’t know. She didn’t understand. She had never received gifts like this.
Ariretti buried her face into the rabbit’s back.
Strangely, her ears kept feeling warm. Even though her fever had completely gone.

Five days after the day she fainted from a heavy nosebleed,
Ariretti finally received permission from Dr. Sergio to go outside.
“Are you okay, Aril? Can you walk alone?”
“Yes.”
“If it’s too hard, you must tell someone, okay?”
“Yes.”

Having lain completely still for five days, she felt restless.
The adults thought she had gone outside the estate during the snowstorm, unaware of her injury, and that’s why she had been blown back.
“If Dr. Sergio hadn’t examined you, Ariretti, it could have been very dangerous. So from now on, you can’t go outside alone without an adult, understood?”
“…”
“Come on, Aril. You have to answer.”
Holding her hands tightly, Tanesa looked tearful.
Ariretti reluctantly said, “Yes.”
She didn’t want to see her sister cry.

Ariretti went down to the lord’s castle dining hall with Tanesa. The castle knights, including Glenn, had already gathered for breakfast.
From early in the morning, Duncan and Roel were waving their hands energetically while eating meat.
“Little sage!”
“Ah! You’re holding the rabbit plush Sogaju gave! But what’s that stick stuck in it?”

Ariretti hurried to the knights but stopped. Glenn Hezeight happened to be at that table.
Oh, their eyes met. Ariretti’s shoulders noticeably flinched.
He must have realized she was the sage. Between the card and other clues, it would be obvious.
“You’re here, teacher? And you too, teacher.”

The first ‘teacher’ was for Dr. Sergio, but the second ‘teacher’ was Glenn, looking directly at Ariretti.
Then he gave a mischievous, teasing grin.
“Did you sleep well last night, Aril-sensei?”

Ariretti’s eyebrows scrunched up strangely.