The previous day, driven by an inexplicable competitiveness, Laila stubbornly finished the book and eventually fell asleep.
But she shouldn’t have done that.
The last chapter of the book mentioned an evil god.
To be precise, a priest appeared and spoke about the evil god.
[The priest, quite drunk, asked if I wanted to see the sky split in half.
I asked if there was a way to see it. He explained that when the evil god breaks his seal, the entrance to his prison in Hell will open, causing the sky to split momentarily.
So, if you want to witness the spectacle of the sky splitting, look up at it every day, starting about ten years from now.
I bought the priest a drink as payment for hearing an interesting story.]
The sky splitting in half.
Even after she had finished and put down the book, this nonsense continued to recur in her mind, eventually manifesting itself in her dreams.
In her dream, Laila was looking up at the sky.
Then, suddenly, the sky split in half.
She couldn’t recall exactly how the sky split in her dream after waking up. However, the words someone had shouted mockingly into her ear at the moment the sky split were etched vividly in my memory.
I knew it would be like this!
I knew it would be like this!
I knew it would be like this…
When she woke up, it was still several hours before dawn.
After that, Laila couldn’t fall back asleep.
Thanks to that, her state of mind was very poor.
Laila and her companions had breakfast at the restaurant on the ground floor of the inn.
Throughout the meal preparation, Laila kept shooting glances at Taylor until she finally spoke up.
“Sir Taylor.”
“Yes?”
“You need to develop better taste in books.”
“…Okay.”
Taylor replied pensively. Laila ignored the hint of misunderstanding in his trembling voice. Her head was throbbing.
After breakfast, the headache from lack of sleep significantly subsided over time.
Actually, the tea that Sion brought right after the meal and the conversation they had then played a big part.
‘What is this?’
‘It’s tea for fatigue.’
‘……Fatigue?’
‘You look tired.’
‘…….’
‘And, um, do you want to go get a pillow later?’
Laila couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It was cute that Sion assumed she hadn’t slept well because her pillow was uncomfortable.
……Yes, it was cute.
And then she suddenly snapped out of it. Why is Sion cute? Is it okay to find him cute? No, there’s nothing wrong with that. Or is there? Is there really? She puzzled over it silently, then gulped down the tea.
Thankfully, it wasn’t scalding hot, and the tea, sweetened with honey, tasted delicious.
The headache that had been gnawing at her nerves subsided, as if it were a lie.
Now, approximately two more hours have passed.
Laila, Taylor, and Sion stood in front of a theatre.
“This play is that good?”
“I swear.”
Taylor, puffing out his muscular chest like a knight, confidently declared.
“The owner of the inn recommended it to me, and he said he wouldn’t charge us for the night if it weren’t entertaining.”
“…Is that so?”
That was practically putting their life on the line with the recommendation.
“But will there really be any empty seats?”
“Don’t worry about that, either. Apparently, there are always a few people who buy tickets but can’t make it to the theatre due to sudden emergencies.”
Taylor had become an expert on the capital’s most entertaining theatre overnight.
Of course, he probably got that information from the inn owner.
Laila wondered when Taylor had managed to become friends with the inn owner, considering he had been holed up in the library with her for the past ten days.
Had they become friends today? In just a few hours? If so, that was quite impressive on its own.
At that moment, Taylor glanced at Laila and took a chance.
“Um, Miss. I was wondering if you could do me a favor….”
“……?”
“If the play is really as good as they say, could you reward me?”
“Reward?”
“Please let me only read half the book!”
Laila was silent. Did he really dislike reading so much?
‘Maybe I scared him during breakfast.’
It seems he firmly believed that the book he borrowed from the library was terribly boring and uninteresting.
As the one who caused the misunderstanding, Laila couldn’t ignore the last cry of her conscience.
“Alright.”
“Thank you, Miss!”
Taylor was so relieved that he even teared up. Laila silently stared off into the distance.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The play was enjoyable.
Extremely so.
After the first act ended and the curtain briefly fell on the stage, Taylor turned to Laila with a hopeful expression.
“Miss, did you enjoy the play?”
Laila couldn’t bring herself to say it wasn’t great or just okay. She simply nodded.
“It was fun.”
“Then, as promised, only half of the book…”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
“Whew.”
Although there was still the second act left, the possibility of a play that ended the first act so spectacularly suddenly becoming a mess was slim.
While Taylor dramatically wiped his chest, Laila glanced at Sion.
“…How was the play?”
“It’s fun.”
Laila observed Sion’s face intently, trying to gauge the truthfulness of his response.
Sion remained expressionless, as always.
For a moment, Laila felt a pang in her chest.
…Will there ever be a day when Sion smiles brightly?
Did Sion use to smile often? Or did he stop smiling because of his grief?
Probably the latter, right?
Then, when his complicated grief is cured, will he smile again?
When will he be cured?
‘……ah.’
Laila’s eyes widened slightly, and she stiffened.
There was a time when she thought it would be nice if Sion’s grief were completely healed.
At that time, she only thought she was worried that the symptoms of his condition might worsen again. But…
Now she realized.
She just wanted to see it.
She wanted to see Sion freed from his grief, reverting to the normal child of his age.
She wanted to see him cry and laugh over trivial matters like everyone else, to see emotions on his face.
…The image of the sky splitting in half came back to her. Laila found herself gripping the armrest of her seat without realizing it.
“This isn’t bad.”
“Yeah. I was worried because the playwright is a newcomer…”
“It’s Countess Donovan, after all. So far, none of the plays she has invested in have failed.”
“Exactly! They say she has a divine eye when it comes to theatre.”
“Do you think the Countess would have come to the theatre today?”
“She probably did. She said she wouldn’t miss watching the play she invested in for the first two weeks.”
“Then shall we all go to greet the Countess after the play?”
“I’d love that!”
“Me too.”
There was a commotion in the seats diagonally down the aisle.
The noblewomen occupying those seats chattered amidst laughter, but they quieted down when the theatre staff started bringing in chilled drinks.
After a while, the lights briefly illuminated the auditorium, then dimmed again.
As the curtain rose, the second act of the play began.
Laila couldn’t take her eyes off the stage. However, her expression remained stiff.
Sion’s gaze lingered on Laila’s profile throughout.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
“It was a perfect performance! Isn’t it, Miss? Miss?”
“Just a moment, Sir Taylor.”
The play had ended. Taylor, who had been applauding with a touched expression, turned to look beside him.
Laila had somehow stood up from her seat. She quickly spoke.
“Let’s meet outside the theater. I have some business to attend to.”
Without even glancing at Taylor or Sion, Laila hurriedly left her seat.
Her destination was the seats diagonally below.
“Excuse me.”
As Laila raised her voice to speak, the still-seated group turned their attention to her.
Laila took a deep breath and opened her mouth again.
“I’m Laila Hildegarde, the young lady of Marquis Hildegarde.”
“Marquis of Hildegarde?”
“Oh my, what brings the young lady of Hildegarde here…?”
