Chapter 47

[47] 7. The Second Piece (6)

It was the best birthday party of my life.

Marianne gave me a pair of glasses she had personally made. They could automatically read any book out loud when you held them above a title.

‘It’s so your eyes don’t go bad from reading too much at night’ Marianne added with a smile.

While Rem… Well, his present was the birthday party itself. From the five tier cake to the childishly elaborate decorations. It all came from his wallet and his mind.

The five-tier cake, in particular, was a pain to even bring here, he grumbled.

And again, I cried.

My heart was overflowing with joy, but tears just kept spilling from my eyes. I felt like I had become a machine that produced tears.

I didn’t know why I kept crying so pathetically.

But my friends didn’t ask. Instead, they started telling me all kinds of funny stories.

Most of them were about the preparations for the party.

How they had messed up the firework formula and accidentally burned all the decorations.

How Marianne and Rem argued over the choice of decorations.

And how Rem wouldn’t stop nagging advice to Marianne as she was making my present, those glasses.

Each one of their stories was both ridiculous and heartwarming.

Before I knew it, the tears had stopped, and a big smile was plastered across my face.

Like a clear, sunny sky after the rain.

And what happened after that isn’t worth mentioning. It was too childish for any self-respecting intellectual.

We didn’t even eat the cake, we just started throwing it at each other.

Or harshly criticizing Rem’s aesthetic sense while looking at the childishly elaborate decorations,

and he, frustrated at being completely refuted, started throwing around color-changing magic.

Actions that could be collectively called ‘stupid things.’

However, while doing those stupid things, the smile never left my face.

I was having fun.

So much fun that I didn’t even think about what happened with my mother.

But why do even happy times come to an end?

“I had fun today.”

Marianne smiled at me.

She looked silly, her hair dyed a rainbow of colors, covered in cake batter, but I couldn’t smile back.

Because the words “Stay a bit longer” were gripping my heart.

Perhaps having sensed this, Marianne gently hugged me. The sweet smell of cake emanated from her.

“We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

She let go and smiled mischievously.

“And you’re going to throw me a birthday party like this too, right?”

I wanted to give her a witty reply, but I couldn’t. My voice was choked with tears. I could only nod my head frantically.

Marianne smiled and hugged me again.

“See you tomorrow.”

With that, she left the room.

I stared at the door she had disappeared through before collecting myself.

Then I looked at my other best friend who was still in the room.

Rem, that annoying jerk.

He was cleaning up my room that had now become a disaster. Perhaps because he’d lost a rock-paper-scissors bet with Marianne, his face was full of displeasure.

I chuckled and said to him,

“You can go too. I’ll handle the rest.”

He gave me the best birthday party ever. Cleaning up myself was the least I could do.

However, Rem just looked confused by my offer.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s *my* room. It’s my responsibility to…”

“That’s not what I meant.”

A smug smile appeared on Rem’s face.

“You didn’t think my birthday gift ended with just this, did you?”

“…What?”

Bewilderment rises to the top of my head.

“Just wait. There’s somewhere we need to go when I’m done with this.”

“S-Sure…”

Go somewhere?

In the middle of the night?

…Just the two of us…?

That bewilderment instantly turns into heat.

I hurriedly turned my back, clutching my burning cheeks in my hands.

“Alain, have mercy…”

My heart, which had calmed down from all the crying, began to pound wildly again.

***

The Magic Tower is a treasury of knowledge, as well as the tallest building on the continent, with its 100 floors.

Its grandeur is even visible from the Vatican, which is a three-day carriage ride away, and knowing directions based on this tower was common sense in these parts.

Truly, it’s a tower among towers, worthy of the name.

And it’s perhaps inevitable that a building of this scale would have multiple balconies.

It is, after all, human nature to get close to the sky.

The existing balconies in the Magic Tower served various purposes,

from tea rooms to practice areas for flight magic.

And some were even filled with facilities for observing the continent’s weather.

But for safety reasons, all balconies were closed at night unless there was a special reason.

…Meaning, that was the case until *now*.

“…Are you sure this is okay?”

I looked at Rem with a worried look on my face as he effortlessly dispelled the lock spell on the door. But he simply shrugged his shoulders, as if my worries were unnecessary.

“It’s fine. As long as we don’t get caught.”

“And if we do get caught…?”

“Quiet. I’m opening it.”

Ignoring my rebuttal, he threw open the door.

*WHOOSH-*

I was struck by a strong wind, and I instinctively grabbed my hat as it tried to fly off. The wind was so strong that I could barely open my eyes.

[hind wot pste]

The wind abruptly died down at Rem’s spell.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the balcony.

It was like a small island floating in a sea of stars.

Stars glittered in the sky adorned with a crescent moon, and the lights from the city below were so distant that it felt like there was nothing there. The tiles on the floor glowed dimly under the starlight.

Rem took long strides across the balcony.

Without a hint of hesitation, he headed towards the edge of the balcony.

Toward the empty space, an abyss devoid of railings.

Then, a chilling realization struck my mind.

Rem is blind.

“Don’t…!!”

But it was too late.

Before I could even finish the word, Rem had already stepped into the darkness.

I couldn’t watch and squeezed my eyes shut.

But even with my eyes closed, the following scene appeared in my imagination

The darkness would swallow Rem. I imagined him falling, flailing his arms, and screaming in terror. And listening to him fall…

“Why? You thought I was going to fall?”

A playful voice. I instinctively looked up and let out a dumbfounded sound.

“Huh…?”

A step away from the edge of the balcony,

Rem was standing on the black void where there should have been nothing.

As if an invisible floor were supporting him.

Only then was I able to think clearly again.

“…A magic platform?”

Rem grinned as if I were correct.

Then, using his telekinesis, he pulled a pouch from his pocket. He took a handful of colorful powder and sprinkled it on the floor.

[Bang!]

The powder, sprinkled over the magic platform, flared, emitting a magical light.

The platform, which had been invisible until now, appeared, taking the shape of an aurora.

Rem stood on top of it, smiling at me, a smile that was even more charming under the mystical glow of the platform.

“Aren’t you coming?”

***

Have you ever walked on an aurora under a summer night sky?

Tilt your head back, and there you see the watery summer night sky. The damp stars seemed so close, as if you could reach out and they’d flow down your fingertips.

Lower your gaze, and you see your feet on the aurora. The mystical waves of light shimmer and shift colors with each step.

Further below are twinkling city lights, proof that someone somewhere down there is also awake.

And as you look forward, you see him, his back, as he walks ahead.

Every time his telekinesis sprinkles the powder, an aurora blooms in the sky. The colors of the aurora seemed to flow along the edges of his robe.

He looks more like a fairy than a human, weaving the very fabric of the night.

Am I dreaming right now?

But the traces of tears on my face felt too vivid. The sweet scent of cake that clung to my clothes also stings my nose.

Like that, the sense of reality was firmly grasped in my hand.

But I couldn’t accept this scene as reality

because it was too beautiful,

my head was too dizzy,

and my heart was pounding like crazy again.

If there existed a butterfly suffering from a fever, would it feel like this?

Silently, engraving each passing scenery into my eyes, I followed Rem.

***

We stopped when we reached two chairs, seemingly floating in midair.

After shaking out the last of the powder, creating an aurora beneath the chairs, Rem sat down and said with a straight face,

“Have a seat.”

I, suffering from a fever, sat down without a word. Then, I lifted my head.

A magnificent night view greeted me.

The summer night sky, filled with stars,

the aurora, like a bridge, stretched out before me, reaching all the way to the distant Magic Tower,

and below, the warm lights of the city.

Three different lights overlapped, but remained distinct, flowing into my vision.

Suppressing the emotions welling up, I barely managed to open my mouth.

“Just… How long have you been preparing this?”

“About four months ago? It was originally meant for something else, but now I don’t really need it.”

Then Rem gave me a strangely anxious look and asked,

“Do you like it?”

Those words were like a battering ram.

All at once, my eyes grew, the three different lights blurred and then mixed together. Wiping my tears away with effort, I stammered,

“S-Sorry, I, *sniffle*, didn’t want to cry again…*sniffle*, but it’s s-so beautiful… *sniffle* I’m so grateful…”

Bewilderment, painted on Rem’s face when he saw my tears, vanished. Then, he sighed in relief and said,

“That’s a relief.”

“*Sniffle* what is…?”

“That it’s as beautiful as I figured it to be.”

Rem closed his eyes and continued,

“I did my best to choose the most open place considering the terrain… but, to be honest, I wasn’t certain how it would look. I didn’t know if it would actually be beautiful up here.”

And then he looked at me, resting his chin on his hand and smiling.

“But I’m glad that it’s beautiful enough to make you cry.”

It was only then that I realized Rem couldn’t see any of it, he was blind.

Even though he had prepared all this, he couldn’t even experience a sliver of the joy that I was feeling.

All he could experience was the lukewarm summer night air,

and that felt extremely unfair.

“Then, I’ll explain it to you.”

“What?”

Confusion spreads across Rem’s face. I wiped away my last tear with the back of my hand and replied,

“I’m saying I’ll explain to you how beautiful the scenery I’m seeing right now is.”

This wasn’t out of consideration, I was simply doing what was expected of someone who’d just received a gift.

“…Only then you’ll know how grateful I am.”

To express your gratitude when you receive a present.

“…”

Rem just stared at me blankly.

After a moment, he chuckled and said,

“Didn’t you always bomb your writing assignments?”

“Sh-Shut up!”

He has no sense of atmosphere whatsoever. Alain, have mercy! Why did he have to bring up my writing score?!

“J-Just listen…”

Glaring at him, I pulled myself together. In a calm voice, I started to speak,

“First, It’s a night with stars all over…”

And I began to describe everything.

how the crescent moon was giving way to the stars,

how the path he’d created stretched all the way to the Magic Tower,

and how the lights of the city below were dying down,

until the sky turned a watery blue color,

and until the morning star appeared between the clouds.

On and on.

***

It was almost sunrise by the time I returned to my room.

As soon as I entered, I threw myself onto the bed. I was so exhausted after the events of today that I was sure sleep would come right away.

But even though I closed my eyes, slumber didn’t visit me.

In fact, the longer I kept my eyes closed, the more awake I felt,

And in my sharpened mind, only one person came to mind.

Rem.

I’d initially thought he was just a boy threatening my position. Then, after he gave me the top spot, he was just that annoying friend.

…At least that was what I had tried to convince myself of.

But the truth, however much you might try to suppress it, will eventually become clear.

Now that I had walked on an aurora with him on a summer night, I couldn’t deny how I felt any longer.

I… Rem…

“No! No! It’s not true!!”

I kicked off the covers and buried my face in the pillow.

It’s just a simple mistake brought on by exhaustion! Or maybe there’s something wrong with my heart!

How could I… like him?!

It was a foolish, an *extremely* foolish imagination!

I pounded the bed with my legs until I finally calmed down. Turning over, I stared up at the ceiling.

…But it’s true that he had helped me a lot,

lending me his first place,

throwing that birthday party,

…And even that magical sight last night.

A sage always repays her debts.

I jumped out of bed, tied up my messy red hair, pulled a scroll and a quill from my drawer, and placed them on the desk.

Right, this is just a way of repaying him.

No, it’s revenge.

Revenge for the tears I shed last night.

Imagining Rem’s tearful face, I placed the quill on the scroll.

Be ready.

I’ll definitely make you cry when you receive my gift.