The water’s surface rippled with soft splashing sounds as Noie kept shaking her legs.
Yesterday, she had done exactly what the small vice-captain told her to do. Probably.
But something completely different from what she had imagined ended up happening.
Still, that might have been fine in its own way. She thought she would do the same thing again today so she would not forget.
She gently placed her hand on her own belly.
She wanted it so badly, yet it would not happen. A baby still would not come.
She had asked many times and remembered how it was supposed to work. She knew Argusta was trying hard too. But it still would not happen.
「I want one so much……」
The blonde vice-captain had also told her that some couples wanted children but could not have them no matter how much they wished.
She had added, 『In the captain’s case, you might still be too young.』. It seemed that being too young made it harder to have a child.
While they were talking about that, the small vice-captain suddenly started crying while punching the ground. Noie did not understand why, but she was crying.
She moved her hand away from her belly and looked at the water’s surface again.
The ripples that formed every time she moved her legs with a splash were nice. They showed her many different shapes. That was why she kept doing it.
She created them again and again, watching as the ripples met, canceled each other out, and disappeared.
「……」
Her slightly parted lips stuck together and would not move.
Her throat felt a little dry.
But Noie continued splashing her legs in the water.
She could not put it into words. She could not turn the feelings inside her into words.
『Why?』
She stopped swinging both legs in the river and leaned forward to look at her own reflection on the surface.
『Why?』
She did not understand. The face staring back at her should be her own.
『Why did Arg-sama…… call me by a different name?』
And it had happened many times.
Her chest tightened painfully.
Sometimes when she woke up in the middle of the night, he would still be awake.
He would look tired and sleepy, yet he would be reading a book or staring at some papers.
She would think about calling out to him, but the words would not come out. She could only watch him with half-open eyes.
Then he would look at her and call her 『×××』, a different name. Not her real name, but another one.
She did not understand. She did not understand at all.
Many times, she thought about opening her eyes and trying to speak.
But she could not find the words. She did not even know what she wanted to say.
Because she did not understand, she closed her eyes again and pretended to be asleep.
She convinced herself that she had been sleeping the whole time.
Surely what she had seen was just a scary dream. That was what she told herself.
When he called her by a different name, her chest tightened painfully.
It hurt so much, so much, so much…… yet the words would not come out.
She did not understand. She did not know how to say it.
Small ripples appeared on the water’s surface with soft plops.
Noie noticed that they were falling from her own reflection on the water.
Tears were coming from her eyes again…… She wiped them with her arm and this time looked up at the sky.
『Scary.』
An emotion she had come to know and fully understand once.
Something that had taken root inside her and would never disappear.
Noie gently placed both hands over her chest as if to hold it.
Scary. Not herself.
Scary. The person she cherished.
「……Scary.」
Not just anyone…… It was Argusta.
-0-
Following last night, she had landed another direct hit with a powerful punch on me.
I thought I could endure it since I had taken it once before, but today she looked at me with slightly moist eyes and said things like 『Scary……』.
From my point of view, Noie was the one who was incredibly terrifying.
Noie, who had turned her back to me and was sleeping soundly, looked the same as always.
She could undo her ponytail when she slept, but because she kept it tied, I could not see her lying face-up.
I reached out my hand to remove the ribbon holding her hair, but her eyes snapped open with a click.
「……A monkey, huh.」
The cold glance she gave me carried incredible poison!
Ignoring me as I took heavy mental damage, she sat up, lightly rolled her neck, and untied the ribbon herself. Her red hair spread out softly and flowed down.
「There is no time, so let us do it quickly.」
「……Yes.」
She wrapped the sheet around her whole body, stood up from the bed, and walked over to the desk that was placed in the room.
She sat on the only chair, held her hand over the drawer, and whispered something. It was to release the magic lock. Then she took out a platinum plate from inside and placed it on the desk.
「These two plates are ones I slightly modified from what Glodia came up with. The way to use them is exactly as I explained before.」
「Yes.」
She held out the mysterious plates engraved with strange patterns and words between her fingers.
I took them and memorized their features so I would not make a mistake later.
She spread the three plates open like cards and fanned them.
「Today we will engrave a cooling spell formula to send to that so-called witch of the republic. Prepare four fake plates made from ordinary boards as well and send them together.」
「Will she come back, I wonder?」
Even though we had not actually made any promise, would that witch honestly send back the spell plates that were being forced on her one-sidedly?
As I held that doubt, she gave a thin smile.
「I will write a sample for the letter to attach with it. Once she reads it, she may get angry, but she will not refuse to return them.」
「Since we are technically allied nations, she will probably forgive any commotion?」
「That depends on how open-minded that witch is.」
She chuckled softly and placed one plate on the desk. The other two went back into the drawer.
「Once the spell formula is complete, I will engrave it onto these two plates as well. If things go as planned, this may become the first spell formula of its kind in the continent’s history.」
「Is that so?」
When I turned around, she looked at me with exasperated and slightly contemptuous eyes.
「Normally, no one would think of using a blessing together with a spell formula. In Noie’s case it is possible while using the blessing, but still.」
Saying that, she picked up the blank plate on the desk and shook it lightly.
「I will start engraving this now…… I will finish it by tomorrow morning. I will come out in a few days, so until then, figure out how to embed the plates into the body and prepare the fake plates to send to the republic.」
「Understood.」
The fake plates were something anyone could make as long as they had boards. For the surgery, we had no choice but to ask that doctor.
The question was whether she would cooperate obediently…… but that would depend on our efforts.
She turned back to the desk, lightly stretched her arms, and rolled her shoulders.
「To think I have to push my body this hard right before doing such delicate work.」
「……I am truly sorry.」
I had nothing to say. On this matter, I could not argue back at all.
「Well, it is fine. I will finish it quickly, so you prepare something that matches the reward I deserve.」
I had already prepared that in advance.
「I wrote down as many problems as I could remember in the top drawer.」
Her hand moved smoothly as she pulled the drawer open, checked the contents, and closed it again.
「Then I will show you what this 『Witch of Spell Formations』 can really do.」
With those words, Islerose turned toward the desk.
However, being told 『It is distracting, so go sleep』 and chased away was also the usual thing.
In the end, I never learned exactly how she engraved the spell formula onto the plates.
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