Ch 2.4
I quietly watched what he was doing.
Then, once the two of us were left alone, Eden spoke.
“It has been a long time.”
There was no trace of flustered emotion in Eden’s voice.
“Yes. It has been a long time.”
I also replied in a voice devoid of emotional highs and lows.
Silence fell between us again, and only the sound of the waves, clearer than before, reached my ears.
We stared at each other for a while without looking away.
However…….
Eden’s gaze looked somewhat sad for some reason.
He seemed a bit hollow, or perhaps a trace of disappointment lingered there.
‘Why?’
I was thinking that I might have misseen it because it was dark, when he spoke to me again.
“Has it been a year?”
“That’s right. A year has passed.”
“Seeing as we meet here again, it seems you are still traveling.”
“Yes. I’m traveling.”
“I have been waiting to meet the Lady again.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
At his words that he had been waiting to meet again, my heart skipped a beat.
Eden’s voice was plain, unlike his words, but the atmosphere his appearance exuded was enough to cause a misunderstanding.
“Why me?”
Caught up in an uncalled-for mood, I stared straight at him.
“I was told that the boy who was with the Lady back then did not come to the orphanage and disappeared midway. I went to the inn because I had to convey the situation, but you had already departed.”
‘Ah…….’
It was about Lian.
Even though I knew he would surely bring up Lian if he saw me, I felt embarrassed for having been caught up in a strange thought for a moment.
“By any chance, did you not see the child?”
Eden was asking me about Lian.
I cleared my mind of the strange and sudden thoughts and answered the man’s question.
“If you mean that child, I have him with me.”
“Pardon?”
Eden stared at me with a bewildered face at my unexpected answer.
“You have…… the child with you?”
“Yes. It’s a long story, but to put it simply, it wasn’t that I intended to take him; the child came to find me. He said he wanted to go with me, so we ended up together.”
I quickly recited the story between Lian and me from a year ago to him.
“I…… see.”
Judging by the man’s expression, it wasn’t a face of disbelief.
Now that the man knew I had the child, it was time for me to tell him the reason I sought him out.
“The reason I looked for you is because I was curious if the children rescued a year ago are doing well. I didn’t even hear which orphanage it was back then.”
Faced with the man’s silence, I continued with what I had to say.
“I arrived in this city today, and it happened to be a festival. While looking around, I discovered a circus troupe, and the expression of the child I’m with didn’t look good. He was likely reminded of the children he stayed with. So I thought his worries might be eased if he knew how they were doing. I loitered around the area just in case, but I didn’t expect to actually meet you.”
“You are a warm-hearted person.”
Eden praised me out of the blue.
“Pardon?”
I looked at him with a bewildered expression.
“You are a kind person for noticing the child’s worry and coming forward like this to meet me.”
At Eden’s praise, I made a bashful face and smiled awkwardly.
At that moment, Eden also followed suit and smiled slightly.
As expected, the smile of a handsome man was satisfying.
“The children are doing well. And the orphanage is in a small village called Hemoa, located northeast of the capital. If you happen to come to the capital later, you will be able to meet them.”
“Hemoa in the northeast…….”
I repeated the location of the orphanage to myself so as not to forget.
“Let’s go. I will take you to the inn where you are staying.”
“No. I can go alone.”
“No. It is for my own peace of mind, so please do not mind.”
Since he said it like that, it was difficult to refuse any further.
I nodded as a sign of accepting his favor and took the first step, and Eden walked beside me.
Walking along the coast, the sound of crashing waves, the salty smell of the sea permeating the air, and the cool sea breeze made me feel very good.
So, whereas normally I would have just gone quietly without a word, unable to resist the momentary mood, I spoke to Eden.
“But you recognized me at once, didn’t you?”
Because I went dressed as a man, I thought Eden wouldn’t recognize me.
However, Eden recognized me instantly.
At my words, he suddenly stared at me and then let out a faint smile.
“Why are you laughing?”
It wasn’t a laugh that made one feel particularly bad, but I was curious why he was laughing.
“Because a person like the Lady is rare. And truthfully, it shows even if you dress as a man.”
“Ah, is that so?”
I had gone in disguise in my own way, so hearing that it was obvious brought on a bit of embarrassment.
So, making a sheepish face, I quickly changed the subject.
“Did you come all the way here from near the capital?”
“That is correct.”
“You’ve come a long way. I’ve been traveling all over the continent. That’s how I ended up in Yulita.”
And I was saying things to Eden that I didn’t necessarily have to say in my distraction.
“I’ve been traveling for a year, but this is my first coastal city. So I’m thinking of staying for a while.”
“Is this your first time seeing the sea?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes.”
At the question of whether it was my first time seeing the sea, I was about to say no for a moment, but then I said yes.
Because while ‘I’ had seen the sea many times, I thought ‘Belita’ probably wouldn’t have been able to see the sea until now.
“Are you enjoying your travels?”
“Well, it’s quite alright in its own way. Isn’t it quite thrilling to go to places you haven’t been? Because if not now, there’s a high possibility I’d spend my whole life trapped in one place.”
Whether it was an unexpected answer, Eden gazed at me piercingly.
“Of course, such a life isn’t bad, but…… a bit of boredom is inevitable. In that sense, you seem quite free.”
“Do I appear that way to you.”
Eden’s smile as he said that looked bitter for some reason.
“There is something I’m curious about.”
“About me?”
“Yes. But you can choose to answer or not.”
I told him in advance not to answer if it was difficult. Eden nodded.
“Are you really doing this work only to rescue the children?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Perhaps my question was offensive, but Eden’s voice turned sharp for a moment.
“Ah, I’m not doubting your heart in saving
the children. I know you are doing a good thing. However, Peorat is a place you can reach in a day from the capital, but this
place isn’t like that. It’s a place that takes several full days from the capital to reach, and to come to such a distant place just to save children is somehow…… impressive.”
It was certainly true.
Seeing that the orphanage was in a village near the capital, Eden was undoubtedly a nobleman from that vicinity.
However, this place, Yulita, was located quite far from the capital.
If it were truly because Eden had a strong sense of justice, there would be nothing to say, but to come to this distant place solely out of a sense of justice was impressive yet inevitably a bit strange.
Of course, I had no right to ask him such a question.
I was simply curious, and that is why I had told him beforehand that he didn’t have to answer.
Eden was silent for a while.
He could be thinking about what kind of answer to give to my words, or he could be remaining silent because he thought it
wasn’t worth answering.
Feeling like I had asked a pointless question in the suddenly frozen atmosphere, I rebuked myself internally.
However, contrary to my thought that I wouldn’t hear any answer from Eden, his mouth soon opened and unexpected words popped out.
“You are certainly no ordinary person. Actually, there is someone I am looking for.”
“You are looking for someone?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Ah…… do you think that person might be in a circus troupe, so you only track circus troupes?”
“Correct.”
“If so…….”
It seems I was right that his gaze looked sad earlier.
He was clearly disappointed because he failed to find the person he was looking for this time as well.
“Did you fail to find them again this time?”
“Yes. I did not find them.”
Eden’s expression sank rapidly.
“I’m sorry. I brought up something I shouldn’t have.”
I quickly apologized to Eden, feeling as
though I had needlessly poked at someone’s painful spot.
“No. It is alright.”
But he didn’t look alright at all.
Somehow, I felt bad as if I had seen a weak side of him.
So, when an idea to help him suddenly flashed through my mind, I immediately spoke out to Eden.
“If you tell me what kind of person you are looking for, I’d like to help you…….”
It might have been unnecessary interference, and I didn’t know what consequences involving myself with a man I’d only seen twice would bring, but that was how I felt now.
Right now, I wanted to help Eden.
“Since I travel to various places, I will look for them too if I see a circus troupe again.”
But Eden’s purple eyes instantly fixed on me.
That look seemed to want to pierce through my intentions and see why I was saying such things.
“As I thought…….”
And after a long while, Eden opened his mouth, and the gazes that had been fixed on each other dispersed.
“You are a kind and gracious person.”
Eden was mentioning those words again,
the ones he used to praise me earlier.
“That’s not true.”
It really wasn’t.
I was neither that gracious nor that kind of a person.
If there was an exception, perhaps due to my environment, I was only sensitive to matters concerning children.
Regarding everything else, I was just similar to others.
“I am neither as gracious nor as kind as you think.”
In fact, it shouldn’t have mattered if I let Eden believe whatever misunderstanding he had of me, but I didn’t want to do that.
Upon seeing me deny it, he slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
I saw him smile several times today.
And that was enough to make my heart flutter just a little.
