The third meeting took place on the second rest day after Esper returned from Wald's place.
When Esper arrived, Rafina was already sitting by the window.
A light rain was falling outside, and before Esper's arrival, she had been watching the raindrops fall to the ground.
Her long silver-white hair was woven into a loose side braid today, and her tail rested quietly over the back of the chair, its tip curled slightly upward, swaying easily like a small question mark.
Several sheets of parchment were spread out in front of her, and to her left sat a steaming cup of black tea. It had been specially brewed for her by the landlady of the Drunken Moon Tavern, sweetened with chestnut honey, a specialty of Maple Town.
When Esper greeted her, her quiet and elegant expression was instantly covered by a faint smile.
There was not much to discuss this time, mainly the final confirmation of the previous two plans and a few newly added collaborative signal protocols. The two of them spent less than one and a half shichen to handle all of the official business.
Rafina placed the last signed document into the folder, lightly pressed the opening with her fingertips, and nodded at her.
“Thank you for your hard work, Miss Hero.”
“Mm.”
Rafina put the folder into her shoulder bag and picked up the cup of black tea, which had already cooled down a bit.
Outside the window, the maple leaves were a vibrant red. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves and spilled onto the table, and from the cobblestone streets of the town came the occasional sound of children running past and bursts of laughter.
Esper looked at Rafina's profile, reached into the inner pocket of her cloak, and felt the notes she had copied down after returning from Wald's.
“Miss Demon King.”
“Hmm? Is something the matter?”
Rafina turned around and tilted her head in slight confusion, the faint smile still lingering on her lips.
“I went to see Wald earlier. He didn't reach any useful conclusions regarding the Demon King's curse, but he did tell me some other things related to your bloodline.”
Rafina's hand holding the teacup paused.
“...My bloodline?”
“According to him, it is highly likely related to Lady Lilith.”
“...Lady Lilith? Me?”
“Yes. According to him, she possessed physical traits similar to yours, as well as other racial characteristics. However, those traits were swallowed by the Black Tide after a battle related to it, causing her half-breed descendants to lose those characteristics as well.”
Esper omitted Wald's long discourse on the world's memory and the Root Language, distilling only the core conclusions.
She opened her notes and read Wald's speculations to Rafina point by point.
About the surname Nocturn, about the concepts swallowed by the Black Tide, and about the sacrifice and revenge of the Ancestor of Demons herself.
“Wald believes that your name itself might be related to another world. The surname Thun might be a fragment left behind after Nocturn was partially erased by the Black Tide. And the only one capable of doing such a thing would be the Ancestor of Demons herself.”
A maple leaf happened to drift down and stick to the windowsill, which was wet from the autumn rain, morning dew still clinging to its edges.
Rafina did not speak for a long time after hearing this. Her straight posture seemed to soften as she leaned back slightly against the chair.
Then, she lowered her eyes and let out a very, very soft smile.
“...Thank you, Esper. Thank you for being willing to tell me this.”
“...I just felt it was necessary for you to know, that's all.”
Esper shifted her gaze away from her face and looked out the window.
Then, she heard a faint sound of dripping.
The light rain outside had stopped long ago.
She quickly turned her head and saw that Rafina's face was covered in tears at some point.
Translucent tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto the table and into the folds of her skirt, drop after drop, like rain that had been bottled up for too long finally finding an outlet.
“Hey... what's wrong?”
Esper stood up, her chair scraping back half a step.
Her hand instinctively reached forward a bit, only to freeze in midair.
She didn't know if she should touch her, or if she should support her like she did when Rafina coughed up blood last time.
This time, Rafina wasn't coughing up blood, she wasn't frowning, and she showed no signs of pain.
She was smiling.
Tears poured continuously from her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curved upward, looking exactly the same as every time she had smiled when they were children.
“I just remembered some things from the past... that's all.”
Rafina said softly.
She still remembered when she was seven years old, the first time Gloom collapsed on the ground in front of the two of them due to the curse.
After that, she dragged her to the old archives to look for books.
They searched for so many books, wanting to know how to lift the Demon King's curse. They searched from morning until dark, flipping through every book they could find, but found nothing.
At that time, Rafina had been very calm. She knew from the start that no one had found a way to lift the curse for hundreds of years, so finding nothing was to be expected.
She told the breathless Lonia that it was fine, and that there was no rush anyway.
It was those very words that made Lonia burst into tears.
She threw her arms around Rafina, as if trying to snatch her away from an invisible monster.
“I don't want Fina to die... I don't...!”
“Nia, I'm not dead yet.”
“But inheriting the curse means you'll die sooner or later! Wah!!!”
At the time, Rafina smiled at Lonia, pulled the breathlessly sobbing Lonia from her embrace, and ran her fingers through Lonia's black hair. Gently patting her, she told her that it was okay, that she wouldn't die so easily, and that they still hadn't gone to the elven forest to see the moonlight flower sea together.
Another maple leaf fell outside the window, spinning past the windowsill and disappearing from sight.
“I've long forgotten about that.”
Esper's voice was very dry.
Was that a bit too harsh? She had clearly remembered that time she cried her eyes out in the old archives, yet she still told her she had forgotten.
She still hadn't truly forgiven Rafina.
Even though she had agreed to her words about starting over, in essence, it was merely a concession made to temporarily ease the tension in the face of a great enemy.
Rafina surely understood this as well.
Yet, upon hearing those words, Rafina merely stood up from her chair, gently wiped away the tear tracks on her face with her sleeve, and looked up into Esper's eyes.
She was still smiling.
With that familiar appearance, with those familiar eyes.
As if looking at someone who had never truly left.
“Mm. It's okay. Even if you forgot, it doesn't matter. One day, Nia will remember...”
She didn't finish the sentence.
She picked up the folder from the table, left the unfinished chestnut cake for Esper, stepped out the door, and disappeared down the wooden stairs just like any other day.
No other sound came from the hallway.
Out of Esper's line of sight, Rafina narrowed her eyes slightly.
She remembered; she just didn't want to admit it.
But she would admit it one day.
Because she was still that same Nia.
The clumsy yet strong Lonia who always thought of others, who would stand up again no matter what setbacks she faced, and who would continue to shine.
This was the answer she needed most.
“One day... Nia will remember.”
When that day comes, let us become “friends” once again.
Rate on N.U.
