“I hope it’s the latter.”

Eustar said.

“It means things are becoming more peaceful.”

Laila tilted her head with an expression that seemed both agreeing and disagreeing. For a moment, Eustar stared blankly at the tip of the spoon between Laila’s lips, then cleared his throat.

‘My attention keeps getting distracted.’

He thought. He tried to focus only on his date with Laila—goodness, he couldn’t even remember how long it had been—but it was difficult.

Looking at Laila kept making him think of strange things. Topics he couldn’t discuss with Laila… After all, she was pregnant now.

Moreover, what Aline had said kept lingering in his mind.

The person the child innocently called “Uncle Toad” was undoubtedly Badin. At least among those who could control toads, as much as he hated to admit it, only Badin would be so kind to Aline.

‘But didn’t he disappear? For Laila’s sake…’

By Laila giving birth to a daughter with Eustar, the promise Badin had made with the First Witch was broken.

After Aline was born, Eustar thought that perhaps the promise itself had worn away long ago. That perhaps Badin was bound to this world for some other reason.

‘Maybe what he wanted to liberate wasn’t himself. Maybe he wanted to save the soul of that woman… the woman Badin once loved.’

Laila was reticent about both Badin and Lilith, the first and last human woman he loved. After barely giving birth to Aline through a terrible labor, when she regained consciousness, she held the baby and said tearfully:

— Now they’re both truly free.

Eustar was probably the only one who understood the exact meaning of those words. Or rather, he understood as close to the truth as possible.

“…Eustar!”

Eustar, lost in thought, snapped back to reality at the sharp sound. Laila looked at him with a strange expression and snapped her fingers once more.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Eustar silently looked at Laila as if he had just woken up, then smiled gently.

It was a smile full of warmth that could melt all the cold ice remaining on the roadsides in early spring at once. It was also the face many women in Sierou Palace yearned to see even for a moment.

However, Laila was much more concerned with checking Eustar’s forehead with a calm but worried expression. His temperature seemed fine…

“I’m alright, Laila.”

“Are you sure? You look a bit pale. And you were spacing out.”

Eustar smiled with his eyes and gently held both of Laila’s hands.

“I was lost in looking at you. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen you dressed like this.”

Laila looked down at her attire. While it was lighter than usual, was it really that remarkable?

“It reminds me of when we used to go around together.”

“It’s not that long ago, Eustar.”

Eustar chuckled softly.

“You’re right. But sometimes it feels as distant as if it happened a hundred years ago.”

Laila realized that his neat and straight fingers were gently tickling and caressing her palms and knuckles. It was a movement that seemed to whisper endlessly that he loved her, without breathing, without speaking.

“Sometimes, you know.”

As Eustar spoke, Laila stared at him intently.

“I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t met you.”

“Could we have not met? Because… you had that thing. The… eyeball.”

“Raninglo,”

Eustar said with a smile.

“I still have one left.”

“To find me if I disappear?”

Laila said in a playful tone.

The magical tool Raninglo, used in Tentinella, helps the user find what they desire. It was thanks to this tool that Eustar found Laila living quietly at the foot of Mount Rigicus.

“Of course. But even without Raninglo, I could find you. No matter where you go.”

“Really? How?”

Eustar grinned and tickled Laila’s palm.

“Because I tied a thin, soft silk thread to your ankle. You can’t see it, Aline can’t see it, Mel can’t see it, but I can.”

Laila, who had been listening quietly as if in a dream, chuckled.

“It’s unfair to lie with that expression.”

“It’s not a lie. I really tied it. Very gently while you were asleep. When I walk down the hallway and see a faint glimmer, I know where you’ve gone. If I follow it slowly, I’ll surely find you there, Laila.”

Eustar does find me well. Laila thought. Perhaps he was telling the truth. Her ankle beneath the thin lace socks seemed to tingle faintly.

Laila gently grasped Eustar’s fingers that kept tickling her palm.

“Then, Eustar. You…”

Her words were suddenly cut off. Between the tables, among the flower-filled carts and various sized planters, through the people, she saw the bright azalea-colored skirt hem she had seen earlier, billowing like a balloon before disappearing again.

“What’s wrong, Laila?”

As she stood up abruptly, a startled Eustar followed suit, grasping her shoulders and arms. Laila looked at him for a moment, then at the skirt hem fluttering like flower petals over the fluffy petticoat.

Moving with quick steps as if playing hide-and-seek, she could see nothing but the skirt hem, the thin ankle extending below it, and the shoes.

“Eustar, we need to go somewhere.”

“Go somewhere? Suddenly, where…”

“Hold my hand tight. Okay?”

Laila placed her hand on her swollen belly and took a deep breath. Then, holding Eustar’s hand, she began to follow the bright-colored skirt hem through the crowd.

Aline, following the man walking in mid-air, took small steps without showing any fear.

Sometimes she would jump up, putting her weight on the man’s hand, and whenever she did, her dress, shaped like an inverted lily of the valley, would puff up in the wind, making her laugh gleefully.

“The houses look like little boxes.”

At Aline’s words, the man looked down at the child with an expression that was almost a smile.

“Do they look insignificant?”

“What’s insignificant?”

“Do they look trivial, I mean.”

Aline looked down at the rugged mountains and valleys, and the trees growing green above them. The fir trees, tall and pointed towards the sky, looked like a green carpet from above.

“They’re not trivial.”

“No?”

“It’s beautiful, that’s what I’m saying.”

The man chuckled. Aline wiggled her small fingers in the man’s hand and looked up at him.

“Are we still far?”

“We’ll arrive soon.”

“What’s your name, mister?”

“Just call me Uncle Toad.”

“You look like my mother.”

The man’s red eyes looked at Aline. She only then noticed that not a single strand of his black hair moved despite the quite strong wind.

Was it just his hair? His clothes were the same. He seemed to be walking alone in a space where neither wind nor air existed. For the young Aline, all of this came more as a feeling than words, but still.

“There it is.”

The man said. At his words, Aline lowered her head to look down. She hadn’t felt anything, but suddenly the valleys and trees were closer and lower than before.

Aline’s small feet carefully touched the ground. The man followed, placing his feet on the floor. It was an elegant movement, like that of a skilled dancer.

“Is this your home, uncle?”

When Aline asked, the man held the child’s small hand a little more gently.

“It must seem shabby compared to where you lived.”

“There’s a mountain behind.”

“If you climb that mountain, there are many things.”

“Flowers?”

The man smiled.

“Flowers, fruits, seeds, trees… Things you’ve never seen before.”

The man, who had paused for a moment, laughed with a small breath.

“The things that raised your mother.”

Aline silently looked at the small house. A house made of wood and dried grass. It was of course incomparable to the palace, but strangely, it felt good.

“Would you like to go inside?”

Aline nodded her little head. As the man approached with the child in front, the house opened its door as if it had been waiting.

The inside was cozy. The scent of wood came from everywhere, and dried grass hung upside down on the walls. After carefully examining the hearth and pot, the small bed without even silk sheets, the table and chairs, Aline said,

“The vase is empty.”

Aline said, holding the edge of the table on her tiptoes. The long-necked white vase, empty of anything, seemed unfamiliar to her.

“When the sun rises a bit more, let’s go pick some flowers.”

At the man’s words, Aline smiled brightly. The child hopped around the not-so-spacious house. She opened the low shelves, touched the dried herbs, and even struggled to open the lid of the empty pot.

“Uncle Toad.”

The man, who had been looking into the empty vase while standing in front of the table, raised his eyes to Aline.

The child was standing there, tightly holding a cloth that could wrap around her body twice. Beneath the slanted cloth, a very old-looking baby crib was visible.

“Was there a baby?”