Rubia

“At this rate, there shouldn’t be any problems. Good. I’ll review it, so you can leave now.”

Following Charlotte’s gesture, the sharp-featured woman standing across from her quietly backed away and exited the room.

Click. The sound of the door closing. Beyond it, footsteps gradually fading away.

“…Haa. I can’t put it off any longer.”

As if finally relieved of tension, Charlotte’s body slumped onto the desk.

“It can’t be helped. It’s something we absolutely have to do.”

Seeing Charlotte like that, Hermilla gave a bitter smile and picked up the document on the side table.

“Of course, what we have to do isn’t a festival, but revealing a hidden story to the world… Still, it’s the best way to gather people.”

The document had the words “Inauguration Ceremony” written largely on it.

Hermilla stared at it for a moment, then tossed it aside as if uninterested and picked up another document.

The title written at the very top of that document was:

The End of the World.

Below it were vast amounts of data and exploration records.

Shhh— Hermilla’s hand turned the next page, which was the same.

Only after turning about a dozen pages did she find the content she, they, wanted.

Content that she had seen countless times, but still couldn’t accept in her mind.

The world had collapsed. No, it was shattered.

The Artifact-printed photos showed landscapes that could only be described with such absurd sentences.

Rather, the photos were the better part.

Hermilla had gone there herself.

Gone and seen it clearly with her own two eyes.

The landscape where the world was shattered.

The traces of a desperate battle.

Fragments of despair that might have become the future of this world.

But, the traces of hope protected by a single girl.

Hermilla stared at it quietly, took a shallow breath, and turned the page.

On and on.

When only one last page remained.

Gritting. A rough sound came from between Hermilla’s teeth. Just for a moment, Hermilla gently put down the document, sighed deeply, and looked at Charlotte.

“I thought I could do anything I wanted once I became Empress, but I guess that’s not the case.”

“You’re not Empress yet since you haven’t had the inauguration ceremony. Well, that’s not important… It can’t be helped that you can’t do as you please. There are too many eyes watching. Besides, we’ve lost 70% of our forces, so there are many countries we need to pay attention to.”

Charlotte, who had been groaning with her forehead pressed against the desk, lifted her head.

“Well, they can’t start a war just because they’re watching, or because our strength has weakened. But we still have to be careful.”

Too many eyes watching.

It meant the gazes of neighboring countries, but.

The biggest part was the former Emperor. The faction of the former Emperor, who was now dead and left no corpse behind.

Those who had immersed themselves in Erden and followed its will.

They were now scattered and hiding, but she, they, thought they were seeds that would one day start a war.

At the same time, they didn’t think they would lose even if such a thing happened.

Because there was exactly one person in this empire who could single-handedly destroy a kingdom, perhaps a being who had transcended humanity.

However, they didn’t blindly trust that being and act recklessly.

They wanted to move forward in a way that blended with everyone as before, but rising a little higher. So that in time, in the distant future, true peace could come to this world, Charlotte, everyone, wanted.

Just like a girl had wished for.

“Well, I’m going to be the Empress. I have no choice since the imperial bloodline is cut off except for me… Well, I have to be recognized by the people of the Empire, right? At least for the year left until the inauguration ceremony.”

Charlotte’s smile as she said that was self-deprecating.

“Is there anything more Charlotte needs to be recognized for here? Everyone who’s left seems too busy praising you.”

“Those are the only ones who are left. The rest are all dead.”

It was a conversation that could easily become very heavy if it went wrong, but their atmosphere remained the same.

It couldn’t be helped. Those who had deeply set foot in Erden were, for them, people who had to be killed unconditionally.

Of course, it wasn’t just those who had set foot in Erden who had died. There were also people who had died among the Liberation Army, among their friends. People who had disappeared.

But they didn’t bother to say it.

“That’s true.”

Hermilla, with a bitter smile on her face, was the same. She tried to erase the smile by lifting a teacup filled with black tea, but.

“…So, how’s Rubia doing?”

At Charlotte’s question, she put the teacup back down.

Then she looked at the document again.

The document was unfolded, with the last page left open.

Hermilla’s eyes remained fixed on the final paragraph summarizing the last page.

-342 days elapsed.

-Still, no trace of the person can be found.

Knock knock.

A cautious knock echoed in the hallway.

“…Sister.”

A girl with pink hair, Hephaestus, was waiting for the door to open, holding two servings of food.

There was no answer, no sign of life, but she didn’t bother to knock again. She didn’t add any words.

Because it was a familiar occurrence for Hephaestus.

After a while.

Click—

A doorknob turning weakly.

Through the gap, a pair of dull blue eyes, where the beautiful blue light of the past could not be found, looked at Hephaestus.

“Um, I thought we could… eat breakfast together again today…”

The blue eyes dropped, looking at the two servings of food that Hephaestus was struggling to hold.

Following them, silver-white hair. Hair that was split at the ends and had lost its previous vitality, now darkened to the point where it should be called gray, flowed down her shoulders.

Hephaestus’s hand trembled.

The woman stared at that hand for a moment.

Rubia nodded slightly.

“…Okay.”

A cracked voice.

Movements that seemed like she would collapse at any moment.

Seeing that, Hephaestus closed her lips tightly and stepped into the room.

At the same time, the scenes inside the room unfolded, which she had seen for months but still found difficult to adapt to.

A room that was absurdly large for one person to live in.

The walls erected in such a room were filled with things that Hephaestus could not understand.

On one side, countless Magic circles.

Next to them, ancient Magic circles.

On the opposite side, the formulas and principles of those magics.

And, on the side that Rubia had her back to.

Papers were plastered all over, writing down all the processes that had been done to find a girl and the speculations that had come out of those processes.

No light came in.

Because even the windows for letting in light were covered with Magic circles.

Therefore, the room, which was not ventilated, was surrounded by an ink smell that made it difficult to breathe.

Rubia, who had already adapted, couldn’t smell it, but Hephaestus couldn’t. Because of that, her face stiffened for a moment.

Seeing that, Rubia gave a faint smile and approached the window.

And one by one, she carefully removed the papers that were blocking the window, then barely managed to open the window with force.

“Shall we eat over here?”

Soon after, Rubia tapped the table, which was more spacious than other places, and gave Hephaestus a faint smile.

“…U-Uh…”

Hephaestus, who barely answered with a choked voice, took a cautious step towards the table where Rubia was sitting.

Soon after, click. Hephaestus put the food down on the table and took a breath. Very quietly, so that Rubia wouldn’t hear.

And so, a quiet silence came.

In it, Hephaestus’s mouth opened.

“Did you get some sleep?”

A voice that seemed a little better than before.

She tried to pretend to be okay, but the trembling could not be hidden.

In response, Rubia picked up a spoon instead of answering.

“You have to get enough sleep. What if something goes wrong—”

“It’s okay, I won’t die from not sleeping a little. How’s Hephaestus doing? Does anything hurt?”

“…I’m, uh. Always, healthy, you know…”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

A soft smile. But Hephaestus’s expression almost crumbled at the smile that wasn’t the same as before, but she barely managed to maintain her expression.

And, clatter— She began to eat the still-warm soup, matching Rubia’s pace.

In the midst of that.

Rubia’s eyes, who had chewed and swallowed the soft soup several times, turned towards the wide-open window.

A very lively atmosphere.

People who never stopped laughing.

Voices promising tomorrow.

Rubia stared at it quietly, then frowned and covered her mouth with one hand.

“S-Sister?”

Hephaestus was flustered, but her hand had already brought a handkerchief and handed it to Rubia.

It was a familiar sight for Hephaestus.

It was familiar to see Rubia emptying her stomach while looking at people, looking at people who were laughing.

Until now, every day, every day, it had been like that.

But that didn’t mean she got used to it, but she could at least respond quickly.

After Rubia trembled and gagged several times, she forced herself to drink water to calm it down and opened her mouth.

“…I’m sorry.”

Hephaestus couldn’t answer that.

Because she knew that the story she had to tell next would make Rubia even more difficult than she was now.

Did Rubia notice that atmosphere?

Rubia, who had finished catching her breath, gave Hephaestus a kind smile and tilted her head.

In response, Hephaestus cleared her trembling voice and opened her mouth.

“I have… something to tell you, Sister.”

“Yeah.”

How should I say it?

How should I say it to make it sound even a little better?

Countless worries went through Hephaestus’s head.

But there was no answer.

There couldn’t be.

So, she squeezed her eyes shut and said it as it was.

“A, a festival is going to be held…!”

A festival to commemorate those who died in the war, in the war for liberation.

“The day of Charlotte’s inauguration ceremony… I don’t know when it will be… but it will probably be exactly one year after the end of the war…”

Hephaestus’s words couldn’t continue.

Because Rubia’s answer flowed out.

“I see.”

Because a more nonchalant answer than expected was heard.

So, Hephaestus slowly raised her head and opened her eyes.

Rubia was smiling.

A soft smile.

The same smile that always came to her.

An unknown question arose at that.

Clatter. At the sight of Rubia getting up from her seat with a tray, the question that had arisen quickly subsided.

“S-Sister! I’ll do it. You rest.”

“…Can you do that?”

“Of course!”

Hephaestus quickly got up from her seat, took Rubia’s tray, and stared at Rubia.

Rubia was still giving a soft smile and opened her mouth.

“Thank you, always.”

“F-For something like this.”

“Dinner’s okay. There’s bread over there, so I’ll eat it myself.”

“Bread… Okay. I understand. Then, see you… in the morning.”

“Yeah.”

Hehe. Leaving behind a forced smile, Hephaestus opened the door and carefully left the room.

At the same time, Rubia’s body collapsed weakly.

Her legs, which had lost their balance, buckled and hit the floor.

The arm that had tried to support her body, the hand that had grabbed the window frame, also fell weakly.

Even so, her eyes were facing out the window.

With a soft smile.

With the smile she had shown Hephaestus, still on her face.

Against the backdrop of the voices of people full of happiness.

Against the backdrop of the noise of a street full of peace.

She was looking at the clear sky.

Endlessly.

Continuously.

Until the next day.

Until Hephaestus brought breakfast.