North x Northwest

“Nothing will come from staying stuck in Roahn like this. If I want to know what the hell is going on and why Venua wants to take me with him, I have to go to Sesbron.”

“That’s true.”

“Well, since you decided to come with me, I won’t say anything else. I already know that saying things as I’m going to solve it on my own or I’m sorry because I can’t help it won’t work on you…”

“It’s not free, so don’t worry.”

“That’s good to hear. What’s the price then?”

“Come with me to the jungle once this is all over.”

“…What?”

“The jungle. Or… who knows, we could go to a desert. The thing is, I plan to search for places still untouched by civilization.”

“Are you talking about finding more relics?”

“Yes. And because you agreed to our lifetime contract, let’s go find those relics together.”

“Where’s the contract stating that?”

Ed simply tapped his temple.

‘…Lifetime contract… He only talks about the lifetime contract, but he never specifies what kind of contract it actually is….’

Lil vaguely considered it like an oath of love, but Ed brought up this ‘lifetime contract’ every time they did something. That was also how Lil knew it was part of that contract that they had to eat together at least once a day. One time, she asked him about it, to which he responded in shock asking, “Didn’t we agree to a lifetime contract?”. Lil wanted to clarify that she meant to ask about the specifics of the contract, like who was involved in the contract and what it entailed. She was even meaning to set a date to codify their contract. However, she was easily distracted by every cute thing Ed did, adding in the fact that she didn’t dare to organise such a huge clause. As a result, Lil didn’t say anything.

“We have a rule that we can’t be apart for more than a day.”

“Since when has there been a rule like that?”

“Since we agreed to the contract.”

‘Wait what? What on earth is he talking about?’

Lil didn’t bother to say those words though. Ed, on the other hand, smiled, as though wanting to let her know his clear feelings. He then waved their clasped hands back and forth. Lil was curious as to why Ed seemed so excited about it, but she eventually let go of her curiosity after anticipating that she might have a hard time in the jungle.

“I have to live like this with you till I die?”

“Yup. That’s why we called it a lifetime contract.”

“We? From what I remember, you were the one who said it first…”

“So?”

“…No, what I meant…”

As Lil murmured, Ed’s face suddenly invaded her view and he rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. Lil was secretly happy whenever he did that, and Ed knew it, too. When their eyes met, Ed smiled at her. It was obvious that he was trying to distract her, but she found it rather charming and not at all contrived.

“Don’t you like it?”

“It’s not that…”

“Don’t you want it?”

“No…”

“So, you like it?”

‘He’s so persistent.’

Lil responded helplessly.

“Yeah…”

“You’re going with me, right?”

“Okay. Yeah, let’s go to the desert or wherever. I mean, what is the worst that can happen besides dying?”

“…”

Instead of responding, Ed just proceeded to smile.

“Are you already excited to travel with me?”

“Yeah. I think it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, right…”

Ed just accepted Lil’s answer casually.

‘The concept of fun and me are incompatible, however, Ed doesn’t know that yet. But… why do I feel like I want to do something that never suited me before?’

Lil tried to reflect on her feelings that even she didn’t quite understand.

“I think it will be more fun with you. Yup, I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”

“That’s… good.”

“…”

“But it’s been so long since I’ve done anything to have fun. I don’t even know since when…”

“How come?”

“…”

Even though he looked intently at her for a moment, it helped that Ed didn’t rush into comforting her.

They simply leaned against each other in silence for a while. There was no need to be chatty or preoccupied. It was enough to sit next to each other and stare at the same thing…

When a lighthouse in the east began to twinkle after a while, Ed adjusted the sails to return to the dock, and their sailboat drifted to the southwest for quite some time.

“It’ll take a while to get back. Aren’t you hungry?”

Lil shook her head when her eyes remained fixed on Roahn. As it became increasingly dark, lights came on sporadically beyond the small cape. In the hilly Roahn, the buildings were built along the curves of the land, so the city lights shone in multiple layers.

“The night view is beautiful.”

“The entire city was planned out and built from the time of the first lord.”

“It seems he had excellent aesthetic sense.”

“You could say it runs in the family.”

Lil nodded.

Just by looking at the Retiro mansion’s gallery, which resembled nothing short of an art museum, she could easily tell that he belonged to a family obsessed with aesthetics. But, Ed never really elaborated on that further.

During her silent appreciation of the cityscape, a flickering light near what she thought was forest, caught her attention.

“What is that?”contemporary romance

Ed narrowed his eyes and followed Lil’s gaze.

“It’s an old hunting ground that was abandoned because it was difficult to manage. As nature took over it’s now considered part of the forest.”

“But did you just see that? It looks like someone is there. The light is moving.”

“As it was a hunting ground, there were some buildings built there, which were naturally abandoned as well. The atmosphere around that place turned quite grim in recent years as smugglers have been using it. So, what you saw is probably them.”

“Smugglers? And they’re being left alone?”

“That’s not part of Roahn’s territory. Strictly speaking, it belongs to the Great Trade Route.”

Ed nodded indifferently while Lil continued to stare at the lights that flickered from time to time in the dark forest.

‘Before it got dark, there were no ships that looked like smuggling merchant ships. Are they using those abandoned buildings for their storage?’

Lil was in deep thought, but soon the sailboat made a sharp turn and she eventually looked away from it.

***

When the day to leave for Obernyu was decided, the entire mansion became busy. Levi also decided to return to the Imperial Clairaut along with Lil and Ed’s journey, so the two women had even less time to see each other.

Whenever Lil was exercising or reading a book alone, she would occasionally remember Levi.

‘The person I used to talk to every day has been busy making house calls for the past few days and spends a lot of time in the greenhouse. It’s funny we haven’t seen each other considering we live under the same roof.’

Lil put down the gun barrel she was cleaning and stood up, checking her watch.

‘It’s eleven o’clock. With the sun standing this high, Levi is most likely staying in the greenhouse. It seems like she’s spending a lot of time in the greenhouse these days to harvest and package herbs she’ll take with her to the Imperial Clairaut.’

Lil thought about going there to visit Levi.

Despite the fact that Lil had only known Levi for a short time, she felt a strange bond with her which developed naturally. Just as Levi told Lil that it was her first time seeing someone like Lil, Lil expressed the same sentiment towards Levi. Lil admired Levi’s enviable gaze as well as her unspoken kindness. She wanted to be like that too.

When she saw Levi treat someone, she couldn’t have been more respectful. Because Lil eventually stopped serving as a soldier, Levi, who has her own accomplishments as a person and did her part as a doctor, appeared to be very outstanding in Lil’s eyes.

Of course, Lil was certain Levi hadn’t accomplished this easily. Even though she never asked directly, Levi seemed to have overcome her obstacles with her unique gentleness, unlike Lil. There were times when Lil considered being a little gentler from now on, keeping Levi in mind as her example.

“Huh? Lil?”

Approaching from behind Lil, who was pacing at the door leading to the greenhouse, came Levi. She was wearing dirt-stained gloves and holding a small flower pot.

“I know you’re busy, but I thought you might like to have a cup of tea with me.”

“Ah! Yes, of course!”

“I already told the servants to bring the tea to the greenhouse.”

Outpacing Lil, Levi opened the door of the greenhouse.

“Come in.”

Opening the door connecting the main building with the greenhouse, and stepping outside, Lil and Levi arrived at the greenhouse space. White sunlight poured through the glass walls and ceiling, which were designed to block wind and rain and let the sun through. At first glance, Lil felt like she had stepped into the light, but then the greenhouse’s unique moist air and fragrant herbal scent wrapped around her.

– – – – –

done.co