North x Northwest

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Lil sighed and handed some coins to the boy, who then put the huge basket of lilies down, counted the money, and walked away with a big smile. Lil rubbed her brow while staring at the blooming flowers. She didn’t particularly dislike the flowers, but thinking about Sagastar’s intentions just exhausted her. As a result, Lil, caught in this uneasy foreboding that things wouldn’t end here, sighed even deeper.

Moments later, Lil had to greet Sagastar amidst a stack of presents. Sagastar, who became much more recognizable after washing himself and changing his clothes, took off his hat and greeted her as if this were actually their first time meeting. Unsurprisingly, Lil now obediently accepted his manners.

“Will this be all right? I realised I dirtied your clothes earlier, so I thought you may need this.”

Lil hadn’t even opened the gift box yet, but judging from what Sagastar said, she figured it contained clothes. Lil’s eyes wandered towards the servant who had to buy and carry all those presents in the blink of an eye.

‘The reason why Sagastar is acting like this is, firstly, because he wants to change Ed’s sentiments towards him, and secondly, because he’s conscious of my family. If Sagastar hadn’t been married, he might even have offered to take responsibility for damaging my body.’

“I want to keep my heart grateful, so I won’t refuse.”

“Yes, please accept it. Because the burden on my heart is great enough as it is.”

Lil nodded gently, offering Sagastar the seat across from her. Sagastar behaved so politely that a run-down bar like this suddenly felt like a salon. And thanks to this, all the attention from the people inside the bar was on them, compelling Lil to lower her voice, aware of the dozens of eyes on her.

“Commodore, thank you for all these gifts, but I actually have something else to ask of you.”

“Is there anything you want from me? I’d be happy to give you anything.”

“Even though you did the right thing back then, Commodore… my injury inevitably weakened me, and both my body and soul suffered. There’s something I must do, but because my recovery is slow, I’m looking for someone who could do it in my stead. If there could be at least someone…”

“What’s it about? I’d gladly offer my help.”

Lil recalled the identity guarantee she had received from Cesar.

‘If it were a random request of release, Sagastar would flatly refuse to assist. However, I’m now in possession of an official guarantee. I don’t want this to go to trial. I want to legally end the investigation as soon as possible, even if it was only for the sailors who were held as hostages.’

“If you think this request is too much, you can stab me once again.”

Sagastar jumped up and waved his hands.

“What are you saying?!”

“I mean I don’t care what happens anymore. As long as the crew are all right.”

“…What?”

When Lil leaned towards Sagastar, the commodore leaned in towards her as well. Lil spoke quietly, taking care to not let her voice escape from their table.

“Please release the crew before the trial.”

“You mean the sailors who were held hostage with you?”

“I know it’s an unreasonable request. It’s a pity our first meeting turned out to be so disastrous, but I’d only like to ask you this just once…”

Delaying their serious topic in order to give him time to think, Sagastar cleverly shifted their topic.

“…Our first meeting? Why, don’t you remember me?”

Lil pretended to be embarrassed and smiled vaguely. She figured that Sagastar was doing this to stall their conversation and come up with various conditions, but despite knowing this, she matched his rhythm for now.

“…Oh, have we met in Sesbron before?”

“Yes. If my memory serves me right, I recall us dancing. It was a court dance, but we weren’t partners.”

Lil opened her eyes wide in actual surprise this time.

‘Sagastar and myself? At court? …I don’t remember this at all…’

At the same time, Lil realised why Sagastar stopped himself from pushing his dagger forward, albeit belatedly. contemporary romance

‘Sagastar stopped the battle not just because he heard me declare my identity, but also because he recognized my face…’

Lil felt fortunate.

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember…”

“…You did what?!…”

“..?”

Lil turned around at the familiar voice and saw Ed standing tall by the pile of presents. After scanning the cream-coloured gift boxes and flower baskets piled on the side of the table, his eyes went over to Sagastar. Lil looked at Sagastar as well. The nervous Commodore had already stood up and saluted for a while now. Still, Ed only kept glaring at him, who couldn’t bear locking eyes with Ed and kept his stance firm by looking straight ahead. It was only then that Lil realised Ed might’ve misunderstood the situation.

‘Should I intervene?’

“…Umm…”

Remembering Levi’s words, which she didn’t believe at the time, Lil never expected for Ed to actually be able to come and find her. In addition, the distance from his residence to the port wasn’t so quick to traverse. While the proximity was close in terms of straight line distance, he would’ve had to turn around and come down the hill due to the residence being on a cliff.

Lil pondered whether she should involve Ed or kick him out. After all, it was clear who would benefit the most from the negotiations with Sagastar.

“Sit down… will you, Admiral?”

Lil bit her tongue to stop herself from addressing him too informally or down right rude.

She had no reason to address Ed politely, but she felt like it would be better if they didn’t appear too close in front of Sagastar.

As Ed approached, the smell of the wind became stronger, and the chill of the morning breeze reverberated when he sat next to her.

‘I meant for him to take a seat next to Sagastar, why is he sitting next to me?’

Ed removed his gloves and placed them on the table before stroking his unkempt hair. The seat they sat in was so narrow that his justaucorps brushed against her shoulder. The cold outside wind that came with him seemed even colder than Lil remembered, like it was getting cooled by the heavy sins he was carrying with him.

Lil had to sit close to Ed because the wooden bench was shorter than the table. Even though he had to be aware that their arms were touching, Ed remained motionless. Lil attempted to push his arm slightly but gave up for fear of appearing ridiculous.

Perhaps realising Ed’s mood, Sagastar quickly explained.

“This is all because I ruined Miss Liloa’s clothes. Those gifts are from me to make amends to her.”

“…”

Still, Ed kept his stoic expression despite hearing what Sagastar just said.

‘I guess this is why people always say, beyond mountains, there are mountains.*’

In her mind, Lil washed her face dry. She couldn’t deny her involvement with Ed seeing the way he acted. Sagastar even seemed to understand why Ed was so prickly, and Ed didn’t appear to have any intention of hiding it either.

‘Why are you doing this?’

Lil herself was getting more and more nervous.

“And the flowers are meant to congratulate her on her recovery. It’s common courtesy… Yes, that’s what it is.”

Ed looked startled for a moment, but immediately shut his lips. It was only a little while ago that she asked Sagastar to apologise for the assumption that she had any involvement with ‘Admiral Retiro’.

The sudden embarrassing atmosphere was all Lil’s doing.

After that, an awkward silence passed. Ed never intended to talk to Sagastar again, and Sagastar couldn’t bear to start a conversation first either. Observing the two, Lil felt that Sagastar’s guilt seemed bigger than she thought. She knew that Sagastar had been promoted because of Ed’s full support, so she initially assumed that everything Sagastar did for her so far was his way of amending his concerns regarding his rank. However, Lil was now slowly changing her opinion on the matter. True enough, there might be concerns about his rank, but more than that, the emotional tension was high between Ed and Sagastar.

‘Even a stranger would hold the view that Ed saved Sagastar’s life and Sagastar was now the shameless one for betraying his saviour’s grace.’

Lil, who was still caught between the wall and Ed’s shoulder, squirmed and raised herself a little.

“Anyway, the Commodore and I were talking about the identity guarantees. The Admiral remembers, right? That document… I showed you.”

Footnote:

Beyond mountains, there are mountains. = Haitian proverb that means “as you solve one problem, another will present itself.” Although it can seem grim, this seems to be a universal truth, no matter the situation. [THE LANTERN]

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