The dark sky was lit with a dazzling light.
So bright, it was impossible to sleep.
So radiant, no one would ever forget it.
“It’s so beautiful…,” I mumbled.
Then from behind me, I heard someone else mutter the exact same words.
When I turned around, I saw the king gazing in fascination up at the night sky and the rain of crystal fragments. He must have woken up without either of us noticing. His eyes twinkled like those of an innocent child.
His gaze was fixed on Karoline, beside me.
It was their first time meeting in a year.
Smiling lightheartedly, she said to him, “Which is prettier, the crystal or me?”
Several days later, the destruction of the big crystal atop the castle caused the magical energy in everyone’s crystal clocks to run out. They were once again simple devices that stopped functioning after a single day of use, just as they had been when Karoline first invented them.
After Karoline explained the situation, the king ordered his guards to collect the crystal clocks from all the citizens. Then he apologized for his poor judgment a year earlier and for depriving his people of their freedom as a result.
But all he got back in response were cries of confusion. The people didn’t understand what the king was apologizing for.
When the crystal clocks lost their magical energy, the people had forgotten most of what happened in the intervening year. One person described the year as like watching a hazy dream. Another was confused, saying he remembered nothing at all.
The year they had spent under the influence of the crystal clocks seemed just like a dream. Everything was indistinct and unclear. Though they retained a few scattered memories, they couldn’t recall anything specific.
From that hazy lost year, only one thing remained, burned vividly into everyone’s memories: the night when countless beautiful golden lights had showered down over the city.
“I don’t know what I should do. I wanted to atone for my mistakes, but most of the citizens don’t even remember what I did,” Karoline said, gazing idly up at the deep blue sky. “But even so, I don’t plan on pretending none of it ever happened.”
She was still dealing with the aftermath of the past year’s events, and she understandably looked a little tired. But she also had a look of accomplishment about her.
As part of atonement, she planned to resign as court witch once everything was taken care of.
She told me that it was only natural that she assume responsibility for the matter, and that of course she wouldn’t be trying to cover it up or hide what had happened.
She didn’t know when she would be finished dealing with the fallout of that year-long blank period, but…
“I’m certain this city will go back to being an ordinary place with nothing special about it.”
She was sure that from now on, they would have no more unforgettable nights and no more special currency. The people would go back to their normal lives and would be no different from any other people anywhere else.
Most future travelers who paid it a visit would probably forget all about it in no time.
“Are you sad?” I asked.
“Do I look sad?”
“No, not at all.”
She narrowed her eyes against the glare as she squinted out at the city.
The scenery before her was perfectly ordinary. Even without any crystals, or an inexhaustible supply of magical energy flooding the city, it was still dazzlingly radiant.
Sunlight poured down into a side avenue. People walked by with smiles on their faces. Delicious smells hung in the air.
White buildings stood in rows along both sides of the street, as if looking down protectively over their residents, and the flowers adorning window planters swayed back and forth in the autumn breeze without a care in the world.
Everything was completely ordinary. These were the kind of sights you could see almost anywhere. Common scenes you’d forget as soon as you left the city gates.
However…
I narrowed my eyes just like Karoline beside me.
“It’s beautiful,” I said.
Very, very beautiful.
Like something from a dream.
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