Chapter 3

After the conclusion of the spontaneous tea party, Ronie returned the dishes

and silverware to the kitchen, but all the while, she continued to think about

what Kirito had said.

Not about the other side of the Wall at the End of the World, or the world

being a sphere, or the trip to the moon. She thought about the first thing that

had come up in the conversation: the possibility of another war.

She agreed that the wealth of the human lands would continue to breed

discontent among the demi-human races. But in all honesty, she found it

difficult to see that actually translating into another armed conflict.

That was because of the Peace Pact of the Five Peoples in the Dark Territory,

an agreement that bound all the various races of the dark realm. The law was

much more primitive there than in the human lands, but at the very least, it did

clearly forbid murder and pillaging.

Of course, for hundreds of years, the only law observed in the Dark Territory

had been the Law of Power, so even this much was an earthshaking,

revolutionary change for them. As a means of reducing the shock in this

transitionary period, they were allowed to duel freely so long as life was not

taken in the process. If it came to war, that kind of self-restraint would go out

the window.

And the darklanders were no different from regular humans when it came to

the soul seal that prevented criminality. That was how, just a few years after

the last war, the human realm peacefully accepted so many visitors from the

dark realm…

"…Ronie. Are you listening to me, Ronie?"

Her head rose with a start as someone poked her on the shoulder a few

times. She'd been practicing her Incarnation in a corner of the training hall on

the fourth floor of the cathedral, and at some point, she had fallen deep into

contemplation. Today's exercise was Seated Meditation, and unlike maintaining

sacred elements or balancing atop poles, it was very easy to become distracted

by worldly thoughts during this practice.

Her partner nearby was going straight past worldly thoughts into worldly

chat, however. Just to be certain, Ronie glanced over at the training master—

Deusolbert of the Conflagration Bow, today—who was giving sword instruction

to the lower knights in the center of the hall, and confirmed that he was

occupied before whispering to her best friend:

"Sorry, I was spacing out."

She quickly realized that it didn't make sense for her to apologize, but her

redheaded partner puffed her cheeks out in indignation and whispered back,

"What, you didn't hear any of that? I was saying that I want your advice on

something."

"Advice?" Ronie repeated, looking her friend over.

Tiese Schtrinen, the apprentice knight who had been her friend ever since the

Swordcraft Academy days, nodded at her seriously. "Yes…See, the thing is…I

received a proposal."

"What, to spar?! No, you can't duel!" Ronie hissed back immediately, but

Tiese just glared at her with her dark-red eyes and said, "No! Just the opposite…

Not a duel…but more of a…a family-type…proposal…"

Ronie couldn't figure out what she was implying for several seconds. She just

stared with a blank expression until it clicked in her mind. It took all her

Incarnation power to prevent herself from screaming out loud in disbelief. She

took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled long and low.

Then she inhaled again and asked, very carefully, "You…you

mean…marriage…?"

Tiese looked down at the floor before her and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Again, Ronie had to stop herself from letting instinct take over and asking who

had popped the question. But there was only one possible man who might ask

Tiese for her hand in marriage at this point in time. That was the elite Integrity

Knight and wielder of the Double-Winged Blades, Renly Synthesis TwentySeven.

It had been clear ever since the War of the Underworld that he held affection

for Tiese. So it wasn't surprising that he would ask; if anything, it had taken too

long.

Ronie envisioned the face of the small knight who always wore that shy smile,

and she started to congratulate her friend.

But Tiese shook her head quickly before she could get the words out. "I…I still

haven't decided what my answer will be," she whispered.

That was a surprise. "Huh…? But why? You don't dislike him. In fact, I thought

you liked Sir Renly, too. You're together so often…," she prompted, but Tiese's

face grew even more downcast. It was completely unlike the bright and lively

girl to look so pained.

"I do like him. But I know why I like him. And it's because…Sir Renly reminds

me a little bit of my mentor."

"…!" Ronie inhaled sharply.

Tiese wasn't talking about Swordsman Delegate Kirito, of course. When

they'd been primary trainees at Swordcraft Academy, Ronie had served as

Kirito's page, while Tiese had attended to another Elite Disciple. His gentle

manner and soft smile had hidden a talent for swordfighting and a willpower

just as indomitable as Kirito's. Ronie knew that Tiese had admired him with all

of her being.

But he was no longer among the living.

Ronie had believed that her red-haired friend had moved past that sadness.

She'd come to assume that Tiese had locked those memories away like

treasured jewels in her heart and resumed the walk along her path in life.

The tears dripping from those auburn eyelashes told Ronie that this was not

the case.

"Tiese…," Ronie said, biting her lip with hesitation. Then she steeled herself

and got to her feet. She turned to Deusolbert, who was currently giving orders

in the center of the training hall, and shouted, "Instruction Master! Please allow

us to conclude today's training session on account of Apprentice Schtrinen

feeling under the weather!"

The stern, short-haired man shot her a look like steel arrows, but he did nod

without a word to the contrary. Ronie got Tiese to her feet and helped her bow

in thanks so that no one could see her face, then left the hall with her.

She put an arm around Tiese's shoulders and quickly descended the stairs

with her toward the Rose Garden out behind the cathedral. They gave a little

bow of greeting to the large gardener—according to rumor, he had once been a

prison guard—and headed blindly through the mazelike paths until they found a

little bench far in the back where no one would find them.

In February, even the earliest-blooming breeds of roses in the garden were

only starting to bud. The plants shivered in the chill breeze, just leaves and

thorns.

Tiese's wet maple-red eyes looked at the rose plants without truly seeing

them. After a while, she mumbled, "I believed that…if I was with Sir Renly, I

would finally be able to forget about him…I mean, I wished that I could."

"Tiese…" Ronie put her arm around the girl's back. Tiese leaned over limply

and rested her head on Ronie's shoulder.

"But…then I realized that I'm always looking for signs of him in Renly's smiles

and words and gestures…And Renly knows that I'm not able to forget about

him, either. He said it was fine. And he still chose to ask me to marry him. It

made me so happy…so happy…but…"

The tears collected on her long lashes again and fell off. This time it wasn't

just one pair of droplets, but a steady stream that came and came, seeping into

their simple training garb.

"It made me happy, but I really don't want to forget. Deep in my heart, I know

that I want to remain with my memories of him forever. And because I'm aware

of that…I just can't…"

She sucked in a trembling sob, pressed her face into Ronie's chest, and

shouted, "I want to see him…I want to see Eugeo again!"

Ronie held Tiese tightly as she sobbed. Ronie felt her eyes grow hot as well.

Their experience as trainee pages at Swordcraft Academy had lasted for only

a month. But to the girls, that time was fate itself—a miracle that would happen

only once in their lives.

Long ago, Ronie had sworn to live by that miracle and never love another

person in her life. That was probably why she had hoped that Tiese would be

able to move on and find that happiness for the both of them—a hope that she

now realized had been incredibly selfish of her.

Because unlike Ronie, Tiese would never again see that love of her life. She

would never again get to touch his hand or speak with him or even gaze at him

from afar.

Ronie didn't have the words that would comfort her best friend as she wept.

Instead, she rubbed her back and stroked her hair for as long as the moment

lasted.

When Tiese's tears finally abated, the darkness of sunset was encroaching

upon the Rose Garden. Her head rested atop Ronie's shoulder, and she was

clearly wrung out and exhausted. Together, they watched Solus's slow descent

in a dull daze.

"...Sorry. Thanks," Tiese offered at last, her voice a miserable croak.

Ronie shook her head. "It's fine. In fact, I'm sorry, Tiese. I…I completely failed

to understand how you felt. Here I was, just hoping on my own that you would

move on and be happy with Sir Renly…"

"It's fine. There's a part of me that does want to do exactly that," Tiese

agreed. She took a deep breath; the strength was coming back to her voice

now. "I'm going to ask Sir Renly to wait a little bit longer. Maybe additional time

isn't going to make any difference…but I just have a feeling."

"A feeling…?"

"Yes. From the moment I saw Kirito's dragoncraft…I had a feeling that

something was about to happen. Something was going to change."

Tiese's words forced Ronie to recall that unforgettable moment. A silver light

rising endlessly against the blue-sky background. It had filled her with an elation

so sharp it had been painful. There was indeed something about that image

that was a portent of revolutionary change.

"...Yes. I feel it, too," she murmured. Tiese nodded.

The two apprentice knights sat on the stone seat for a while longer.

Eventually, the five-o'clock bell rang. Tiese got to her feet, glanced at Ronie, and

said, to the other girl's surprise, "What about you, Ronie?"

"Uh…what about what?"

Her friend's maple-red eyes blinked, and she even seemed to smile the

faintest bit. "Have you told Kirito how you feel? Even a little bit?"

"N…no, of course not!" shouted Ronie. She hunched her shoulders and looked

around, then shook her head and hissed, "You know I…I couldn't do that. I'm

fine with things the way they are."

"If you feel like you have to hold back on account of me, there's no need to do

that," Tiese said, with all seriousness.

"No, honestly, it's fine," Ronie insisted. "After all…he has Lady Asuna. And

there's Lady Alice, who's bound to come back to this world eventually, and

General Serlut, and…and even Lady Fanatio, perhaps…"

"Oh, Ronie," Tiese lamented with a sigh. "Kirito isn't married to any one of

those people. And he outranks even emperors at this point, so if you wanted to

go by Basic Imperial Law, he could have…three wives? Four…?"

"Y-you know he would never do something like that!" Ronie said, shouting

again, and stood up quickly to avoid letting Tiese see the redness in her cheeks.

"Honestly, I'm fine! Just worry about yourself, Tiese!"

She turned on her heel to face away. Her friend sighed audibly once again,

then walked over to her. "Well, I guess Kirito himself would never say it…C'mon,

Ronie—let's head back. Shimosaki must be hungry by now."

"Yes, I was going to mention that, too. But," Ronie said, glancing left and right

at the hedges, "do you know the way back, Tiese?"

"…I was crying. How would I know which way I was going?"

They shared a look. Deep in the midst of the massive rose maze, the two girls

sighed heavily.

That night, Ronie lay in her bed on the twenty-second floor of the cathedral

but found it difficult to fall asleep.

You just had to go and bring that up, Tiese, she thought, glaring at the thick

stone wall that separated her bedroom from the adjacent one. Then she felt

bad, realizing that her friend was likely also having trouble falling asleep.

Tiese, of course, was grappling with her first-ever marriage proposal.

I wonder where in the building he did it. What did he say to her? she imagined,

finding her thoughts quickly wandering astray. What if…what if Kirito were to

propose to me? What sort of venue would he choose for the proposal? The

Morning Star Lookout on the ninety-fifth floor…? Or maybe the rear yard at

Swordcraft Academy, where we shared so many memories…? Actually, he might

even use his flying arts to take me to the top of the clouds…

Ronie took a deep breath and pulled the blanket up over her head to knock

those thoughts right out of her mind. She told herself that she shouldn't even

imagine that possibility. There was only one thing she could hope for: that the

peace would persist. She could ask for nothing more. Nothing.

She rolled over onto her stomach, buried her face in her pillow, and allowed

the fairy of sleep to approach, close her eyelids, and keep them like that.