A Resplendent Era (16)

Two days later, having completed my final examination and received a clean bill of health, I was discharged from the hospital.

My injuries had long since healed, and the only lingering issue was my stiffened body from three days of bedrest, leaving no reason to prolong my stay.

Promptly thereafter, I commenced negotiations with the Belfast authorities.

“How do you intend to address this? I nearly lost my life!”

“I am deeply ashamed. What recompense can I offer, I wonder…”

“If it had been just me, perhaps. But my daughter was also embroiled in this incident.”

“We keenly feel the gravity of that matter. While this may not suffice as compensation, we have something in mind – if you would hear us out.”

“Hmm, very well, I shall listen.”

Quite apart from my emphatic protestations, this entire affair more closely resembled a rigged game of gossip.

If I complained vociferously about my injured family members, the Belfast bureaucrats would begrudgingly lend an ear before acquiescing to my demands.

Having experienced such scenarios on multiple prior occasions, I was well-versed in the process, though forewarned about negotiating through official channels. Before I knew it, I found myself dining with a neighboring police precinct chief.

Ultimately, the resolution entailed Ceres Martop making relatively minor tax and regulatory concessions.

While further gains could have been extracted through persistent theatrics, the outcome exceeded mere token appeasement.

The reason for this mutually agreeable compromise was singular:

“I hear you’ll be returning to Londinium soon.”

“Ah, yes.”

“What are your plans then?”

“Just as before, I must diligently prepare to the best of my abilities. Personally, I anticipate it will occur within two years, one at the earliest.”

We both understood that protracted confrontation would only harm both parties.

Though I omitted the subject, my implication was understood – war loomed imminently, a reality even rural farmers could no longer ignore.

“We received a report from the border yesterday. There were several instances of gunfire.”

“…Has war broken out already? No, the lack of any mobilization orders suggests otherwise.”

“Towards the sky, apparently. But while training exercises near the border are one matter, firing in our direction, even skyward, is unprecedented.”

“I see. Come to think of it, I heard Belfast’s mercenary recruitment drive will commence within a few weeks.”

“Signifying the end of our ‘Resplendent Era,’ it would seem.”

In the decades following the last war, people had dubbed the ensuing peace the “Resplendent Era.”

Yet as all beginnings inevitably meet their end, that tenuous, resplendent peace had finally shattered.

I was unable to fully execute my Antrim plans.

Originally, I had scheduled meetings with Carno’s research institute and administrative procedures for establishing a local branch. There were also the tourist attractions Freugne and I had intended to visit.

However, after being assaulted by the Demonic Tribe, prolonging my stay in Antrim would have proven detrimental to both myself and the local authorities.

“I shall keep in touch periodically.”

“Yes, please forward any Demonic Tribe-related intelligence or potential weapon improvements you may uncover.”

There was little point in stubbornly lingering.

After a final, brief meeting with Carno to exchange parting words, I concluded my Antrim business.

While unable to conduct practical experiments, Carno’s institute gladly provided valuable field data in exchange.

The administrative procedures for the Martop branch were tactfully resolved by Antrim as part of our agreement. As for the unvisited tourist sites – well, I could always return at a later juncture.

“When we return… it’ll be the new year, won’t it? Just one more semester, and you’ll be graduating too.”

“Indeed, I’ll be nineteen as well.”

I responded while reclining in the hotel room that had accommodated me for over two months.

Tomorrow, I would bid farewell to this temporary abode and return to my cherished Londinium.

Gazing silently out the window at the nightscape, I turned at the approaching footsteps.

“So what were your original plans after gradua- huh?”

“Why that reaction?”

“…That’s an unfamiliar outfit.”

Freugne stood before me, clutching a pillow while clad in an unprecedented sleepwear ensemble.

Its gauzy thinness causing it to flutter, I slowly inquired after briefly appraising it:

“In any case, are your preparations complete? We’ll need an early rest for tomorrow’s train journey.”

“Yes, does it suit me well?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.”

“Relieved? Why?”

Freugne responded as she dimmed the lights:

“Because I’ll be sleeping beside you tonight, Uncle.”

---

‘Let’s forget all these complicated matters and flee together, just the two of us.’

Had he agreed, I would have gladly accompanied him.

While uncertain about others, I at least possessed the capability to sustain us both in seclusion.

Yet even without glimpsing the future, I knew his refusal was a foregone conclusion.

By then, Edan had undoubtedly sensed the imminence of war.

His lack of interest in procuring a secluded rural bunker served as proof that fleeing held no appeal.

So why had I posed that inquiry?

-The word ‘daughter,’ you mean.

-Do you still perceive me as such?

It was a necessary prelude to uttering those words.

I had deliberately cultivated an ambiguous atmosphere within this private room.

That the attending physician, who would ordinarily be the first to greet a newly-awakened patient, was inexplicably absent that day was no coincidence.

And while potentially imperceptible, our conversation had been meticulously designed to steer Edan towards a predictable response, enabling me to navigate the subject accordingly.

The results were splendid.

Edan would no longer view my every casual action through an innocent lens as before.

“I’ll lie beside you for a bit.”

“Wait, it’s a bit cramped here…”

“That’s because you’re spreading your legs. We used to do this all the time, didn’t we? No need for such reservations now.”

Perhaps he sensed some other sentiment directed towards him, his daughter?

Though left unspoken, Edan seemed to intuit the implication.

Not that it truly mattered – I had already slipped under the covers beside him, rendering any attempt at rebuffing me futile.

Deferring to a future opportunity did not imply inaction until then, merely postponing an overt confession of affection.

“Heheh…”

“……”

Edan regarded me with a bemused expression. Rather than offering an explanation, the piqued Freugne instead nestled deeper into his embrace.

My hesitation to explicitly declare my love – not the innocent filial affection, but unrestrained desire – stemmed from more than merely affording Edan time for introspection.

‘No, I rather prefer this ambiguity.’

To be more candid, I wished for this delicious tension to persist for a while longer.

His current reaction had solidified my tentative assumptions. Despite his superior physical prowess, he remained paralyzed, unable to dislodge me.

In truth, I had never seriously contemplated a romantic relationship with Edan.

Not due to any lack of forethought on my part – I simply lacked relevant experience to serve as a useful frame of reference for courtship.

My sole exposure to such matters came from eavesdropping on my peers’ conversations at school.

“How are things progressing with your boyfriend?”

“Great! I cooked dinner for him yesterday, and he absolutely loved it.”

“Dinner, huh… noted. Anything else he particularly enjoyed?”

“Hmm, let me think… Oh yes! When I hugged him from behind, he got a bit flustered and his face turned slightly red.”

Even those morsels proved unhelpful.

Evidently, my circumstances differed somewhat from my peers’. Any attempts at implementation, no matter how meticulously documented, inevitably proved futile.

Cooking meals only elicited endearment: “Ah, my Freugne has grown so much.”

Backhug embraces were merely perceived as mild affectionate gestures, prompting delight. While he would return embraces face-to-face, he ascribed no deeper significance to the act.

As for Edan himself, he likely failed to register the myriad overtures I had attempted –

All dismissed as the cloying affections or attention-seeking antics of an adopted daughter. Regrettably.

Hence, until now, I had vaguely entertained such notions:

-If only he would whisper his love for me first.

-Hasn’t the time come for him to recognize me as more than a child?

-Should I simply confess outright? Surely even his obliviousness would comprehend that.

In retrospect, those wishes were entirely unnecessary.

From my perspective, this present scenario was somewhat… lewd.

For Edan, with me clinging so intimately, only two choices remained:

One, to accept this as a father-daughter dynamic and remain passive.

Two, to create some distance by gently rebuffing me – an implicit acknowledgment of harboring different sentiments.

‘So I do enjoy such depravity.’

Freugne had finally recognized her licentious cravings.

Judging by his lack of response beyond a faint trembling, he seemed to have chosen the former option. Yet I had already succeeded in planting the seeds of conflicted feelings within him.

While currently perceiving me as his daughter, he would gradually come to regard me as a woman, unable to reconcile the contradiction. Then, slowly but inevitably, reality would set in.

Having witnessed Edan’s slumber, Freugne followed suit, closing her eyes.