Chapter 8: Rainy Night Rendezvous
Then, later that night...
Thanks to Latifa summoning the courage to speak to Flora, another sleepover was held. The visitors were the same as yesterday: Christina, Flora, Roanna, Hiroaki, Kouta, Rei, and Lilianna, as well as Liselotte and Aria.
After they were done eating and chatting, it was time to sleep.
I was worried what would happen for a moment there... I’m glad it all sorted out okay.
Rio was sitting on his bed in his bedroom, lost in his thoughts. He recalled the sight of Latifa chatting happily with Flora and the others just now, and his mouth curled in a smile.
Just then, a loud noise could be heard outside.
“Rain, huh...”
Rio stood up and moved to the window, opening the curtain to gaze outside. That being said, the rain clouds had covered the moon, so he could barely see outside.
It was a sudden downpour out of nowhere. It had been sunny during the day, so rain this heavy was completely unexpected. For some reason, it reminded him of the incident today, dampening his mood.
I wonder if it’ll stop by morning.
If it was still pouring in the morning, Christina and the others might have to delay their departure.
“Huh?”
As he was thinking, Rio spotted a faint shadow in the garden.
Who’s that?
He immediately sharpened his vision through a physical body enhancement.
He hadn’t been mistaken after all. He couldn’t tell who it was, but they didn’t seem to be an insurgent. They were standing in the garden too openly for that.
But he couldn’t understand what reason they would have to be in the garden. Why at this hour, when they should be asleep? And more importantly, why in this heavy rain? The rain had only just started, so they probably hadn’t walked out in the rain intentionally.
Rio was so curious, he decided to go out into the garden.
◇ ◇ ◇
At night, naturally, there was no one walking in the garden of the mansion at this hour. With the exception of the person Rio had just spotted, that is.
Rio used wind spirit arts to cast a barrier that would keep him dry, then approached the spot where he had seen the person.
Then, he found them. The rain was pouring so heavily, the sound of it could drown out any conversation.
Queen Christina?!
When he came within a few meters of her, Rio realized that the person was Christina.
However, Christina was gazing up at the sky with her back to the mansion, failing to notice Rio had approached her.
Once he was within one meter of her...
“You’ll catch a cold!” Rio shouted at Christina.
Christina slowly turned back and stared at Rio in a daze. “Sir Amakawa...”
“What are you doing?” Rio immediately widened his barrier to cover her from the rain too.
“I wanted to feel the rain against my skin,” Christina said, but Rio immediately thought she was lying. Rio had spotted the figure in the garden as soon as the rain had started. At the very least, she hadn’t been in the garden because she wanted to feel the rain.
Rio noticed Christina’s body was trembling. She had to be drenched all the way through her clothes, down to her skin.
The current season was winter. While winters in Galarc weren’t freezing cold, the current temperature was around ten degrees Celsius. In the rain, it would feel even colder.
And so, Rio used spirit arts to generate a warm wind to warm up Christina’s body.
“No thank you.” Christina stepped out of the barrier Rio had created.
“Why?” Rio immediately followed her, covering her with his barrier again.
“I just said I wanted to feel the rain against my skin.”
Christina looked down and away from Rio out of guilt. Her side profile made her look awfully fragile. She looked frail enough to knock down with a light touch. Just what was she thinking as she did this?
“Is it because of the incident today?” There was only one reason he could think of.
“I was just thinking to myself. I’ll only be here a little longer, so please go back first,” Christina replied, turning her face away from Rio and walking out of the barrier once again.
He thought that was definitely a lie. If he left her out here, he had the feeling she’d remain in the rain until she collapsed.
Just then, for some reason, Lina’s words flashed through Rio’s mind.
“You should get more disciples besides Sora. The first one I suggest is Christina Beltrum.” Did that have something to do with this?
This situation, this scene—had Lina foreseen it? He was curious, but now wasn’t the time for that. As Christina left, a feeling of rejection exuded from her back, as though she couldn’t bear to be beside Rio.
“I understand.”
Rio canceled the barrier that was acting as an umbrella and lined up beside Christina. His clothes were immediately soaked through by the rain.
“Huh?”
At that moment, Christina’s expression showed shock for the first time. She paused in her tracks and looked at Rio’s face beside her. She probably couldn’t understand why Rio was getting wet too.
“Just a little longer, right? I’ll keep you company until then,” Rio said with a mischievous smile.
“Why?”
Christina’s dumbfounded gaze was fixed on Rio’s side profile.
“I just so happened to be in the mood to feel the rain too. What a coincidence.”
Rio looked up at the dark night sky without making eye contact with her. The rain was still pouring hard, but strangely enough, his voice could be heard clearly.
“That’s too much of a coincidence. There’s no way.”
“There is a way. That’s why it’s called a coincidence.”
Christina was at a loss for words in spite of herself. However, she still looked like she wanted Rio to leave. But she was unable to voice that request and fell into a bitter silence.
“This is just small talk, but I was talking to my little sister today,” Rio said, still looking up at the sky.
“What were you talking about?”
Christina gave up and looked at the rainy sky as well, going along with his small talk.
“It was a talk about how it’s okay to whine and rely on others when you’re lost or troubled about something.”
Christina gasped and looked back at Rio’s profile. Her eyes were trembling with sadness and surprise, and tears threatened to flow at any moment.
“I might be meddling in something that’s not my business, but if you’re willing to talk, I’m happy to listen,” Rio offered gently.
“Please don’t say that,” Christina said, straining to speak in a voice bursting with sadness as she stared at Rio.
“Why?”
“Because it’ll make me want to rely on you...”
“I’m telling you I want you to rely on me.”
Rio turned his head and stared right back at Christina. Christina’s expression clearly wavered.
“I don’t have the right...” Christina lowered her head as though she was being heavily weighed down.
“Funnily enough, you don’t need the right to talk to me.”
“It’s because it’s you that I need the right. I don’t want to show you my weakness either. Not to anyone, but especially not to you...”
Gaze still lowered, Christina murmured as though she was talking to herself. However...
“In that case, what if we each whined about one thing to the other?”
Rio patiently persisted. He spoke to her in a light tone, as though to hold up the weights dragging down her heart.
At that, Christina finally lifted her head.
“What’s the point of that?” she asked weakly.
“Because I want to,” Rio replied without hesitation.
Christina’s entire body jumped in a flinch. She then swallowed her breath.
“Do you hate the idea?” Rio asked, peering into her face.
“I-It’s not that I hate it...”
Unable to look directly at Rio, Christina averted her face. She found his question unfair. If he had asked her if she wanted to or not, she would have answered no.
“Then, since I was the one to suggest it. The person standing beside me is clearly bothered by something, but she refuses to disclose it to me. The thought of her troubles being related to the incident today makes me feel so concerned, I’m worried she’ll spend the whole night standing in the rain. In order to spare me from my worries, please tell me what you’re thinking. And rely on me,” Rio said in a slightly joking tone, staring at Christina.
“That’s unfair,” Christina objected in a choking voice.
“My little sister likes to say that a lot too. Come to think of it, she said it to me just today.”
Rio chuckled awkwardly, scratching his cheek.
Christina pouted, finally looking back at Rio at a distance where their shoulders could touch. However, at that point, Rio was already looking back up at the darkness to hide his shyness.
Look this way. Look at me...
Save me...please.
Christina quietly moved her lips.
Those were, indeed, her words of weakness; they were her genuine thoughts. They weren’t the words of a strong, high-minded princess that carried the future of her nation.
She had always shut these words away in the depths of her heart; it was the weak, unreliable voice of a young girl seeking salvation.
But the sound of the rain got in the way, and the words never reached Rio’s ears. No, it was precisely because she knew the downpour would erase her words that she uttered them.
“Huh?”
Rio looked at Christina puzzledly, thinking she had said something to him.
“Is something the matter?” he asked nervously.
“You’re sure, right?”
The hesitation in Christina’s expression had lightened significantly. She was no longer a small girl, and had returned to putting on the face of a princess. Her gaze told Rio he was too late to back down.
“Of course,” Rio said, nodding immediately.
“I was troubled by whether the decision I am about to make for the future is truly the best decision. I couldn’t find the resolve to do it out of fear. What if it’s a mistake? No... Maybe I wanted it to be a mistake.”
Christina muttered her feeble complaints weakly. They were indeed her words of weakness, and her true thoughts.
“You’re the wisest person I know. I can’t imagine you making a mistake...”
“Thank you very much. When you say that, it gives me confidence.”
Christina smiled from the bottom of her heart.
“But even then, I don’t have the courage to make my decision. So this might be shameless of me, but could I receive some courage from you?” she asked, somewhat reservedly.
“Courage?”
“Yes. When I think of the future, I can’t help but falter in fear. So please give me courage, just for a little while. That’s what I’d like to rely on you for,” Christina said, standing face-to-face with Rio.
“Of course, I’d love to help where I can. But how...”
Rio gave his agreement, but the request was abstract, so he brought a hand to his mouth to consider the method to go about that.
“It’s okay,” Christina interrupted, taking a step towards Rio.
“Huh?”
A soft impact hit Rio’s body.
“I’ll take it for myself.”
Christina clung to Rio, burying her face in his chest. Her wet skin and clothes stuck to him.
“Wha...” Rio’s entire body froze out of shock.
Under the pouring rain, he could feel Christina’s burning heartbeat against him. Furthermore, he could clearly tell Christina’s body was trembling from the cold.
Christina wrapped her arms around Rio’s back as though to seek the warmth of his skin. She hugged his body towards her. Christina’s soft body pressed against Rio’s harder one. The next moment...
In my opinion, the first new disciple you should get is Christina Beltrum.
Once again, Lina’s words echoed in Rio’s head. But Rio’s mind was so blank, he couldn’t process the words at all.
“Hah... Hah...”
For some reason, the sound of Christina’s hot breath was louder than the rain pouring down in the dark.
The rain was cold enough to feel like it would freeze the moment it touched his skin, but the only thing Rio could feel was the almost burning warmth of the girl who seemed about to freeze to death and vanish at any moment.
At the very least, at this moment in time, he couldn’t think of this frail, helpless girl as a princess carrying the future of a nation on her back...
Rio gave Christina’s cold, shivering body a gentle hug in return.
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