Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 2 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

IF I KEEP MY EYES ON YOU

Old castles were built with the assumption that they would see battle, so the lord’s chambers were naturally quite well guarded. In the event that enemy soldiers broke in, the guards were expected to protect the lord’s quarters until the lord could either escape or take his own life.

Aside from the stairwell in the center of the castle tower, there was no way to reach Duke Alburn’s rooms. The central staircase was only just barely wide enough for two adults to walk side by side. Also, because of its tight turns, it was difficult to ascend quickly.

If Challe protected the entrance to that stairwell, no one could get close to the room that held Anne and Duke Alburn.

So the obsidian fairy stood there, sword in hand.

He quietly closed his eyes. He felt uneasy.

Anne was in the room that he was protecting, behind him. That was well and good. The problem was Alburn.

Challe worried that a man so deeply deluded might cause harm to Anne at the slightest provocation. The truth was, he hadn’t wanted to leave the two of them behind together.

But Anne so strongly desired to finish her sugar candy sculpture. Challe knew that it certainly was not only for the thousand-cress reward. Neither was it out of simple stubbornness. She was doing it for her personal pride, and her pride as a candy crafter.

“That idiot.”

There was nothing to be done about it. Anne was who she was. If that was what Anne wanted, Challe was going to try to grant her wish.

He could hear the soldiers’ voices and clashing swords outside the castle tower.

They’ll be here soon.

“Over there! It’s that staircase!”

Challe heard a soldier shout. When he opened his eyes, he could see five men rushing toward him, their chain mail rattling.

He readied his sword and ordered, “Stop.”

The soldiers noticed Challe and came to a halt.

“Does the Duke of Philax have a warrior fairy?” asked one of them.

They looked at each other in confusion.

Then another said, “Fairy, move away from there. There’s no use in protecting your master now. We are going to arrest him. You will soon have a new one.”

“Sorry, but I don’t have a master.”

Their expressions grew even more perplexed at his answer.

“I’m not following anyone’s orders, but I absolutely will not let you pass.”

The five soldiers seemed to sense Challe’s determination. They readied their swords.

Still holding his own sword vigilantly at the ready, Challe quickly looked them over.

“Oh—no, stop, stop!”

Just then, a voice came from behind the soldiers. Walking toward them from the other end of the dark corridor, holding a lamp in his hand, was Hugh. He was followed by Salim, who was holding a sword that was filthy with blood.

The soldiers’ eyes went wide when they saw Hugh, who had appeared out of nowhere.

“Silver Sugar Viscount? Why are you here? We thought you were waiting in the tent with the Earl of Downing…”

“I had planned to wait there, but I told the earl that if my old friend was going to be captured, I wanted to go see it firsthand, and he gave me his permission. We cut across the battle on Salim’s horse and made it this far. Anyway, you guys should give up on engaging him in a duel. All five of you will die.”

As he said that, Hugh stepped out in front of the five soldiers. “I heard from Salim that you went off on your own to save Anne. But why are you protecting Alburn, Challe?”

“I’m not really protecting him. I’m just buying some time. Don’t come through here for a little while.”

“Now that it’s come to this, there’s no longer any way for Alburn to escape. I want to get to him before the soldiers do and take him into custody uninjured. That’s all. Let me pass, Challe. The more it seems like he resisted, the worse the position he will be in.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you pass.”

“Why not?”

“They need time. That’s what she wants.”

“She? Anne? I don’t know what they’re doing up there, but just let me pass.”

“I refuse.”

Hugh clicked his tongue. He looked annoyed.

“You haven’t forgotten, have you? Your wing is right here.”

Hugh dug quietly through his inner breast pocket while staring at Challe with a sharp look in his eye. Challe felt a jolt run up his spine, the sensation he got before his wing was abused. He gritted his back teeth and grimaced.

“If that’s what you want to do, go ahead.”

“I am your master,” Hugh declared.

“I have no master,” Challe repeated.

Their resolute gazes locked.

“Her eyes were silver and glassy, right?”

Anne put a handful of silver sugar into a small saucepan. She quickly brought it over to the fireplace and held the bottom of the saucepan over the tips of the flames.

“What are you trying to do?” Duke Alburn mumbled, seeming overwhelmed by Anne’s vigor. He couldn’t hide his surprise and confusion at the fact that she had declared she would continue making her candy sculpture right up to the end, even after the soldiers broke in.

“I’m making the silver eyes.”

The silver sugar began to dissolve in the heated saucepan. It transformed into a thick, transparent liquid.

Small air bubbles simmered up from the bottom of the pan.

“Okay.”

When Anne took the saucepan off the fire, she headed straight for the stone slab of the workbench. She dumped the melted silver sugar out on top in one smooth motion. The transparent liquid sugar spread out thickly. Anne cooled it with cold water and touched it with her fingers.

“Ah…!”

She drew her hand back from the heat for a moment. But she chilled her fingers again in the cold water and divided the quickly hardening liquid sugar into pieces about the size of her thumbnail. She pulled off two chunks. The liquid was getting thicker before her eyes. She had two small globs of silver sugar that were a soft, jellylike texture. She rolled them into balls on top of the stone slab.

Once silver sugar is melted, its nature changes. It hardens as it cools and becomes transparent like glass.

Anne rolled the melted silver sugar with her palm on the top of the stone slab until it took the shape of two beautiful spheres.

The small spheres looked like tiny crystal balls.

She pinched the two of them between her fingers and held them up to the lamp. The orange light distorted and glistened through the transparent globes. Anne stared intently at them, then nodded.

“Mm. This works.”

Then she put her hands on the head of her sugar candy sculpture. She made hollows where the eyes would go. Eye sockets. In the back of each eye socket, she packed silver sugar that she combined with gray coloring. She inserted the spheres that she had just made into the eye sockets.

She added eyelids and made eyelashes. She rolled the eyelashes one by one between her fingertips, holding her breath as she created the fine hairs. She attached dozens of them to the sculpture. Then she took a needle and cut the tips of the eyelashes even finer.

Come out.

Subconsciously, she prayed in her heart.

Right here. In this silver sugar. Appear.

She implored her own fingers. Begged them to create the essence that Duke Alburn wished would appear.

“…This is…”

Duke Alburn groaned and stood up as if in a trance.

The sweat running down Anne’s forehead as she formed the eyelashes with her needle got into her eyes and blurred her vision. But she didn’t have time to waste wiping away the sweat, so she continued her work.

Duke Alburn slowly approached the candy sculpture.

Anne suddenly stopped moving the needle. Her instinct told her that she had accomplished something.

I think…I can stop.

Anne lowered her arms and looked at the sculpture as a whole.

A pair of silver eyes was looking down at her.

“Christina,” Duke Alburn whispered.

Anne breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

“Have I managed to make a sugar candy sculpture that meets Your Grace’s expectations?”

Looking down at the life-sized candy sculpture of the fairy, Duke Alburn mumbled, “It’s her.”

The sculpture was bizarrely large for a piece of sugar candy. But the figure of the fairy, standing there in a totally natural pose, wasn’t remarkable just for its size. With her light-blue coloring, she looked ephemeral enough to disappear at any moment. Even so, as Anne stared at her, it was clear from the hair that rippled down like flowing water, and from her gently smiling mouth, and from her silver eyes, that she was stunningly lovely.

She had probably stood quietly by Alburn’s side, always with a soft smile. That was the kind of woman she must have been. Somehow or other, Anne could tell.

“I did it, huh? Thank goodness.”

Anne smiled with relief. Duke Alburn looked at her. For a short while, he said nothing.

“Crafter…I never asked your name.”

“It’s Halford. My name is Anne Halford.”

“Halford, huh?”

He repeated the question as if to make sure, then looked back at the sugar candy fairy again.

“I…I wanted this. Halford.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a funny thing. Now that I have it before my eyes, I understand much better. Just as that fairy said, there is no way that a living creature, brimming with love, could be born from this empty essence… But…I wanted it. From the moment I first thought it might be possible, I wanted it so badly that I could hardly stand it… I wanted to see her again.”

Duke Alburn spoke matter-of-factly. It was as if the powerful delusion that had been enveloping him until now had completely disappeared.

Standing before Anne was a young man who was intellectual and reasonable, who was of noble standing, but who had also suffered terrible misfortune.

Anne was certain that this reasonable side of him had been there in the depths of his mind, even when he had requested the candy sculpture in his state of obsession. Torn between reason and delusion, he had suffered greatly.

If he had lost himself to the delusion, then right now, in this moment, the duke would surely be overwhelmed with joy.

He had gotten the thing that he had so desperately desired.

When she looked at Duke Alburn’s expression, miserable in spite of all that, Anne’s chest hurt. She thought of the blue aura of madness she had sensed enveloping Alburn’s whole body just moments earlier. She realized that it had actually been the color of sadness and despair.

“No matter how foolish an idea it was, I wanted it. I simply wanted it.”

“No one’s proven anything yet,” Anne said without thinking.

Duke Alburn slowly turned to look at Anne.

“Fairies are born from the energy of objects and the gaze of living creatures,” she continued. “If this is a perfect copy of Lady Christina, then maybe, just maybe…if you think of her and keep staring at this, then perhaps something will awaken in it in time. Until it does, no one has proven anything.”

Duke Alburn smiled at her words. “It makes me happy that you’re trying to console me. Certainly, this sugar sculpture is a perfect image of Christina. It’s so perfect that I wouldn’t be surprised if it did come alive… Halford?”

“Yes?”

“There is a leather pouch on the desk over there. There are ten gold pieces in it. You can take it and go.”

“Is that all right?”

“I promised. You don’t need to hesitate. You can take it and go back to your fairy. Go.”

Anne did as she was told and picked up the leather pouch. It was incredibly heavy. From the sound of the coins clanging against each other inside, she was certain they were gold.

“All right. I accept.”

She bowed slightly, then headed for the door.

“Halford.”

Just as she was about to exit, Duke Alburn called out to stop her. When she turned around, he was smiling. It was a tender smile, but he looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.

“You are the finest of candy crafters.”

Anne returned his smile. She hoped that now, the young man before her would find some solace.

“Thank you very much.”

Hugh and Challe glared at each other.

Hugh’s hand, still inside the interior pocket of his jacket, tensed slightly. Challe frowned, feeling discomfort ripple through his whole body.

Will he go through with it?

Then suddenly, the pain disappeared. Hugh was looking up at the staircase, over Challe’s shoulder.

“Anne?” Hugh murmured.

Challe turned to look behind him.

Anne was coming down the dimly lit staircase. She was grasping a leather pouch tightly in both hands, holding it in front of her chest. Her gait was unsteady. Anne seemed to notice Challe standing there. She broke into a broad smile.

“Challe… Huh? Hugh?”

The moment she called their names, Anne missed her footing. With an abrupt shriek, she began to tumble.

“Anne!”

Hugh shouted, but Challe was faster. His sword vanished, and he caught Anne as she fell. It took some effort to stand straight from the impact of her suddenly landing in his arms. Once he was confident that he had caught her, Challe took a breath and looked down at Anne’s face.

Anne was obviously still dazed by her sudden fall. She stared up at Challe with big round eyes.

“Challe. Th…thank you.”

Normally Challe would have wanted to make a comment about her carelessness. However, he was so relieved that Anne had returned safely that he didn’t say anything at all. He silently lowered Anne to the floor, then hugged her tightly.

“Challe?”

Anne said his name in wonder.

Hugh approached the two of them.

“You’re not injured, Anne?” he asked.

“That’s really you, isn’t it, Hugh? What are you doing here?” Anne replied, still in Challe’s arms.

“For a number of reasons, I came to arrest the Duke of Philax. Is he upstairs?”

“Yeah. He’s there. Along with his sugar candy.”

Anne seemed somewhat satisfied as she gave that answer.

“Sugar candy? One that you made?”

“That’s right. A candy sculpture of someone named Lady Christina.”

Just for a moment, Hugh made a pained expression. “I see,” he said.

“The duke seems to have prepared himself for this. So don’t be too rough on him, please, Hugh.”

Hugh shrugged. “I’m the Silver Sugar Viscount. I’m not looking for a fight. Rest assured.”

Then he turned to Salim and the five soldiers behind him and jerked his chin up toward the stairs.

“You heard the lady. No rough treatment. One of you guys go outside and tell the Earl of Downing. Tell him the Duke of Philax has been detained and to stop the fight. Salim, you lead the other four and go to the room above. I’m sure you know where it is. I’ll follow after you.”

One of the soldiers ran off, headed out of the castle tower. Accompanied by the other four soldiers, Salim went up the stairs.

Hugh watched them go, then took a small leather pouch out of his breast pocket.

“I thought I’d give this back.”

It was the pouch that contained Challe’s wing.

Anne cocked her head. “That’s…Challe’s. Why do you have it?”

“I took it from him, but even while I had it, he didn’t listen to a single thing I said. I don’t need it. Here.”

Hugh casually tossed the wing in Challe’s direction.

Challe caught it.

“I’ll have my revenge.”

“Whaa?!” Hugh made an exaggerated expression of surprise at Challe’s words. “But why? I gave the wing back. I did the same thing as Anne, so why will you let her be but take your revenge on me? That’s discrimination!” Hugh grinned and went up the stairs.

Finally, it was quiet, and Anne realized she had been pressed against Challe’s chest that whole time.

“Ah! Why am I—?!”

In her surprise, she struggled, trying to escape from Challe’s embrace. But Challe did not allow it. He held her even tighter. Anne seemed to sense that and stopped moving.

“Challe?”

Her face turned red before his eyes. But he didn’t care; he kept on hugging her.

“What’s the matter? Hey. Um, oh, that’s right! I got the thousand cress. I’m holding it right here.”

Challe felt her move the leather pouch that she was holding in both hands in front of his chest slightly.

“Hey, Challe?”

“Don’t move, just for a minute.”

“Ah…but—”

He heard the agitation in her voice but hugged her even tighter. Anne cast her eyes downward.

“…O-okay,” she replied obediently, and she stopped moving.

“You idiot. Don’t make me worry like that.”

“Sorry. But I’m a candy crafter, so… But I’m sorry.”

“Anne.”

He mumbled her name, as if checking to make sure she was safe. When he did, Anne whispered to herself.

“That’s the second time…”

Challe heard her.

“Second time for what?”

“You didn’t call me scarecrow, or you idiot, or blockhead. You called me Anne. You called me by my name. Just now was the second time.”

Challe’s eyes went wide at her words.

“You’re counting every time that I do something like that? Why?”

“I mean, it makes me happy when you call me by my name, so…”

It does?!

He was slightly shocked. If such a trivial thing could make Anne happy or sad, he was convinced he would never be able to understand her peculiar behavior.

These humans are utterly impossible to understand.

Anne was especially confounding, even more so than Liz. At least he had been able to predict Liz’s behavior.

But he could never tell what Anne was going to do. He hadn’t expected her to keep working on her candy sculpture in front of that Alburn person, knowing that the castle was surrounded by soldiers. She had declared, with strong determination in her eyes, that it was her own desire to do so. Challe didn’t know any other girl with such a resolute gaze.

He was completely baffled.

Yet for some reason, it was not an unpleasant feeling. In fact, it was even kind of interesting. He found that curious as well.

For the time being, Challe made up his mind to do his best to call Anne by her name.

“Challe,” Anne whispered, in a shaky voice. “I want you to stay with me. From now on, okay?”

Instead of answering, Challe embraced her even more tightly.

He still didn’t understand the reason why. But he was relieved to have her back.

Anne’s body was very warm. She felt soft and delicate in his arms.

Alburn, the Duke of Philax, was arrested by Hugh Mercury, the Silver Sugar Viscount, and sent to Lewiston in the custody of the Earl of Downing.

A month later, John Black, cousin of His Majesty Edmond II, was newly conferred peerage as the Duke of Philax.

Everyone expected Alburn to be executed.

But even in prison, Alburn was the same intellectual and gentle young man he had always been. He said his detention was not undeserved because he had been obviously negligent in his duties.

Even the heart of the Earl of Downing, who had been at the forefront of the scheming for the destruction of House Alburn, seemed moved by his admirable attitude. The king, who had always been sympathetic toward Alburn, was naturally against a severe punishment.

Ultimately, Alburn was stripped of his rank. Then he was placed under house arrest, supervised by the Earl of Downing, in a small castle on the outskirts of Westol. He was not allowed any contact with the outside world or permitted to marry.

Fairies took care of all his everyday necessities. There was some concern that allowing human girls to attend him might eventually result in the birth of an heir. The Alburn line was to come to an end with William’s generation. He would be a prisoner for the rest of his life.

Nonetheless, Alburn apparently lived out his days in peace. He was no longer forced to publicly grovel before the king. In a way, being a prisoner allowed him to better protect his pride.

The sugar candy sculpture of the fairy that he had commissioned sat in his room. He stared at it every day, never tiring of it.

Although he had been deposed by force, the former duke still received exceptionally generous treatment.

That was what people said when they gossiped about him.

“The Duke of Philax got his hands on a magnificent work of sugar candy. There’s no question it brought him incredible fortune,” they said.

Eventually, the candy crafter who had created the piece also became the subject of much gossip.

“Hello again, ma’am!”

When Anne opened the door to the Weather Vane on the western outskirts of Lewiston, the eyes of the innkeeper, who was serving meals to customers, lit up in a flash.

“Is that you, missy?! You did it, huh?”

The innkeeper dropped the plates on her customers’ table and rushed over.

Then she squeezed Anne in a tight hug.

“Ma’am? What happened? What did I do?” Anne asked.

“Everyone’s talking about it! They’re saying someone made a candy sculpture that pleased the Duke of Philax, and that it’s brought him the most wonderful good fortune. And the name of that candy crafter is Anne Halford!”

“They are?”

Anne was shocked. Apparently, the rumors had made it to Lewiston before she had.

It had been three days since she’d left Philax Castle. Anne had spent them in the port city. After recovering from her exhaustion, she had come back to Lewiston again.

She was planning to secure lodgings for the winter and spend an enjoyable New Year’s in the royal capital. The funds for doing so would come from the thousand cress that Duke Alburn had paid her. She had more than enough money. But since she was frugal by nature, she wanted to choose a place that was cheap, safe, and suited to her social standing.

So she had returned to the Weather Vane.

The innkeeper released Anne and grinned at Challe and Mithril, who were standing behind her.

“Great to see you two again as well.”

At her words, the customers eating lunch seemed to take an interest in Anne’s party.

A man who seemed to be a peddler spoke to her from a nearby table. “So you’re the candy crafter everyone’s gossiping about? You’re awfully young. How much do you charge to make something?”

“I charge two cress for the largest size, or if it’s something complicated.”

“Wow, that’s pretty reasonable. My wife is expecting a child soon. Maybe I could ask you to make the celebration candy?”

“Sure, certainly!”

“I think you’d better give up on that idea. On getting her to make you sugar candy,” an unenthusiastic voice said just then.

It came from the corner where the young men from the Radcliffe Workshop were sitting. Jonas was among them. Anne made eye contact, but he quickly averted his eyes.

“That girl seduced the Silver Sugar Viscount,” one of the young men insisted. “And nobody knows exactly how she managed to please the Duke of Philax, right? Right, Jonas?”

Jonas’s gaze drifted restlessly around as he answered in a small voice. “Uh, yeah…I guess. But that’s…”

“What’s with you, mumbling to yourself? We all saw it when our Jonas here won the duke’s approval, so we can vouch for him, but—”

“But even if she somehow deceived the Duke of Philax and then made sugar candy for him, if the candy was poorly made, it wouldn’t bring him good luck, would it?” said a woman who looked like a shopkeeper, sitting at the counter.

“That’s right. The Duke of Philax got unbelievably generous treatment thanks to the sugar candy that girl made being in his possession. He had incredibly good fortune. That must be the power of the candy, right?” the woman who ran the inn agreed.

“So you admit she made that sugar candy sculpture, then?” Suddenly, a young man sitting near the group spoke up.

The troublemakers were at a loss for words. Jonas fidgeted in his seat, looking more and more uncomfortable.

“Now, you guys need to knock it off with this ugly behavior,” continued the newcomer. “You’ll damage the name of the Radcliffe Workshop.”

The young men all glared at him angrily.

But when the newcomer stood up and looked in their direction, the group shouted in surprise.

“Keith…! You’re… Why are you in a place like this…?” Jonas mumbled.

The man whom Jonas had called Keith slowly looked at him and the other youths. “I come here sometimes to have lunch. Didn’t you know? Now scram, all of you. I don’t want you to do anything else embarrassing.”

“But Keith! We really did. This girl, she—”

One of the young men raised his voice and started to make excuses. Keith playfully held his index finger up in front of his lips and shushed him. But his eyes were not laughing.

“Please, shut up before I get unpleasant.”

The young men were silent in the face of his quiet intimidation. They exchanged looks with one another and stood up out of their seats.

“Fine. If you say so, Keith, we’ll leave.”

“It would make me very happy if you did.”

The young men walked past Anne and the others. They tried not to look at her as they left. Only Jonas glanced in her direction. But when their eyes met, he quickly looked away again and hurried out the door. Cathy, who was following along behind Jonas, glared at Anne as she always did—as if she were her mortal enemy—and then left.

Once the young men had gone, the one they had called Keith left a large payment on top of the table. Then he turned to the innkeeper. “I’m sorry for causing a scene. I’ll get out of your hair, too.”

He slowly headed for the door, pausing for a moment in front of Anne.

He had light-brown hair and deep-blue eyes that almost looked purple. His face seemed thoughtful and composed. He wore an elegant jacket that went down to his knees.

“My colleagues said some rude things. Please forgive them.”

“Ah, not at all. Don’t worry about it.”

With a faint smile, the young man left. Anne watched him go and tilted her head in puzzlement.

Someone from the Radcliffe Workshop?

As she stared at the door, Anne felt the innkeeper clap a hand down on her shoulder.

“Well, welcome, again,” she said with a grin. “Will you be staying? Or are you just here for a meal?”

Anne turned around and pulled herself together. With a smile, she answered, “We’re staying, and we’re eating. Both.”

“Yippee! A hot meal! Anne. Challe Fenn Challe. Let’s sit over here. This table is closest to the heater. They’re the best seats in the house.”

Bouncing lightly on his way, Mithril headed for a table in the back of the room. Even though he didn’t feel the cold, he had chosen to sit close to the heater so Anne would be more comfortable. She appreciated his consideration.

Speaking of appreciation, she was also happy about how kind the innkeeper of the Weather Vane was toward the fairies. She had made a point of telling Challe and Mithril that it was nice to see them.

The innkeeper, the owner of the establishment, had welcomed the fairies. This was one place where the proprietor allowed fairies and humans to eat together. She informed all her other customers that it was so. Anyone with a complaint just had to leave.

“I wonder what I should get to eat? But first I want to get some warm wine and put plenty of sugar in it, then squeeze in a lemon and drink it. That’s my winter go-to, so I definitely gotta have that,” Mithril stated.

Then when he got to his seat, he eagerly looked up at the blackboard hanging on the wall, where the words Daily Special Menu were written in chalk.

“Let’s go sit, too, Challe. I’m also hungry. I want some of the Weather Vane’s famous bean soup and a piece of walnut bread. Then, for my main course, maybe something like chicken roasted with herb salt would be nice. I might order dessert, too.”

Rubbing her belly, Anne headed for the table. When she did, Challe muttered from beside her, “You want to eat that much?”

“I mean, sure. I’m hungry. Is there something wrong with that? Oh, I get it. You’re worried I’ll get fat?”

“No matter how much a scarecrow eats, I doubt she can get that big. Hurry up and take your seat, Anne.”

“Scarecrow again… Ah…but…”

Feeling some minor discomfort, Anne sat down. Then she tilted her head and fixed her eyes on Challe. Over the past few days, she had decided to ask him about something that had been on her mind.

Once he had taken his seat, Challe noticed that she was staring at him. “What is it?” he inquired. “You’re making a strange face.”

“Say, Challe? You did it again just now. Over these past three days, you’ve been calling me by my name sometimes, haven’t you? Why?”

Anne was very happy about it, but it also made her feel uncomfortable. She could not stop wondering why Challe suddenly felt inclined to call her by her name.

“I thought you said you were happier when I did that. So I’ve been trying to make an effort.”

“Wait, so… Before, when you called me scarecrow and you idiot and all the other things, you mean that you weren’t really trying to put me down, or to be mean?! You just casually called me a scarecrow again now… Are you telling me you didn’t do that on purpose?”

When Anne asked him this in surprise, Challe made a complicated face.

“…Did you think I was really so cruel?”

“It wasn’t malicious…?”

So that means…Challe’s nasty words…just come naturally to him?

Anne was dumbfounded.

The aromas of bean soup, warm wine, and carefully smoked meat wafted from the kitchen. Along with the warmth from the heater, the smells of food put everyone at ease.

Mithril sniffed at the air, ecstatically inhaling the scents.

Challe seemed to find it amusing that Anne had genuinely thought he was being mean on purpose. He cast his eyes downward and chuckled a little.

Anne stared at his long eyelashes as he laughed and felt overjoyed. She was happy that he was there with her. She was happy that he was laughing. The sweet feelings she had for him still stirred in her heart. But she didn’t feel that strange air of tension anymore.

Challe is here. That’s enough. And Mithril is with me, too.

It was enough for her to feel relieved and content. Anne couldn’t help but smile.

“So what’ll it be?”

The innkeeper called out to them from behind the counter in a cheerful voice.

In that moment, all three of them were happy in their own ways.