“Hm? Yeah… Because I hate war.”
Colbert turned his face away from Kirche. Kirche snorted with a face full of disdain. “So unmanly”, she thought. She could see nothing but a person that had run away from the war. She couldn’t forgive this teacher who, even though he was one of the proud “Flame Users,” calmly declared that he hated war.
“As a person that also uses Fire, I’m embarassed.”
Colbert was facing down for a while, but then he looked up again.
“Miss… you know? The Fire’s purpose…”
“Isn’t only fighting, is what you want to say, right? I’m tired of hearing that.”
“That’s right. That’s simply the way it’s being used. Nothing except for destruction…”
“I don’t want to listen to a coward’s blabbering.”
Kirche turned away her face and, urging Tabitha to move along, walked away. As he watched that scene, Colbert let out a lonely sigh.
Returning to the laboratory, he sat down in a chair.
Colbert went into deep thought for a while… he unlocked the drawer of the desk that was covered by a lot of things, using the key that was hanging by a string from his neck.
In that drawer there was a small box. He took it out and opened the lid.
There was a small red ruby ring shining like a fire was inside it.
If one concentrated, he would be able to see a flickering flame inside the precious stone.
As he looked at that flame, the memories of the incident from twenty years ago were resurrected. The memories of that scene were imprinted into his mind; even now the colors were vivid. In that clear, glittering flame… Colbert was blaming himself. In just a moment, he remember everything he had forgotten….
After that, Colbert looked around the inside of the laboratory. It was a small house with a shabby exterior, but he liked it much more than the mansion and property he had inherited from his ancestors and of which he himself had disposed. The walls were covered by various tools and flasks he had obtained over time.
As he gazed at them, Colbert suddenly crumbled as if in pain.
“The Fire’s purpose… isn’t only destruction…”
Chapter Two: Cattleya
Noon, two days after leaving the academy...
Saito and the rest reached the La Vallière territory. However, by the time they would reach the mansion of La Vallière it would already be late at night. Upon hearing the words “late at night”... Saito turned pale. He realized that this “territory” was nothing more than a courtyard.
However, after half a day spent traveling, he could not possibly understand how something this big could be a residence’s garden.
By Japanese standards, Louise’s territory could be called a mid-sized city. A city... Saito had never heard of somebody possessing so much land before. These Upper Nobles were truly intimidating.
Louise’s status as a noble was truly displayed once they entered her territory.
They decided to take a break at an inn…
Once their carriages stopped, Siesta, who arrived just a bit earlier, quickly got out of her carriage. Having been trained as a maid, she went to open the coach's door for Louise.
“Uwaa, I can’t believe Siesta just did that... without any protesting,” thought Saito as he walked towards Louise’s carriage. But before he could get there, he was knocked down by a crowd of villagers running from the inn.
The villagers removed their hats in front of Louise, who had just stepped down.
“Miss Eléonore! Miss Louise!” they cried while deeply bowing down.
The villagers thought that even Saito, who was now lying in the dirt, was a noble. They quickly helped him up apologizing for their terrible manners.
“No, I’m not a noble…” Saito nervously tried to explain.
“Even so, you must be Miss Louise’s or Miss Eléonore’s attendant. And we cannot disrespect that.”
The plain looking farmers said while nodding.
They went on saying things like “Let me carry your sword for you,” and “It must have been a tiring journey to get here, huh?” as they treated Saito with the utmost kindness.
“We will be resting here for a moment. Please inform the family of our arrival,” commanded Eléonore.
A young boy quickly jumped onto a horse and rode off in order to report this.
They walked into the inn. Once Eléonore and Louise approached the table, chairs were immediately pulled out for them to sit on. The two sat down as if it were second nature. Saito tried to sit next to them, only to be given a demeaning glare by Eléonore.
“Saito-san! Saito-san!”
Hearing Siesta call, Saito turned around.
“Commoners are not permitted to sit at the same tables as nobles.”
That reminded Saito. Recently, he had been sitting next to Louise without worrying. Nevertheless, it was a strange thing to do in this world. Come to think, at first, Louise made Saito sit on the floor.
Louise opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a glare from Eléonore. Louise could do nothing but sit in her chair like a good girl. Saito stared wide-eyed – it was the first time he saw Louise in such a state. She really looked naturally obedient in front of her older sister. She must be a really scary elder sister to make Louise seem so weak.
“Oh, how Louise has grown!”
“She’s growing more and more beautiful!”
The villagers were chattering around them.
“It seems Miss Eléonore has been engaged, right?” someone muttered.
“SHHH! Don’t talk about that!” someone else scolded.
Eléonore’s eyebrows started to twitch and her expression darkened. The atmosphere in the inn took a plunge. Apparently, the topic of Eléonore’s engagement was definitely something to be avoided.
The commoners, feeling the murderous intent coming from Eléonore, didn’t dare speak another word. Saito and Siesta exchanged glances. Then Siesta quietly got close to Saito and grasped his hand. She was afraid.
Not noticing the change in her elder sister, Louise spoke.
“Eléonore. Eléonore nee-sama...”
“What…”
“Congratulations on your engagement!”
The face of every commoner fell, and a deep sigh escaped from them.
Once again, Louise had completely misread the atmosphere. All of a sudden, Eléonore’s eyebrows shot up as she pinched Louise’s cheek.
“It hwwuuuurrtsss!! Waaahhhhh! Nee-shammaaa!! Whhyy?! It hwurts it hwurts it hwurts!!!”
“You don’t know? You speak of it even though you know you shouldn’t!”
“I won’t whoh wah ur alking awout!!”
“The engagement has been canceled!! C-A-N-C-E-L-E-D!”
“W-why?”
“Who knows? Why don’t you ask Earl Burgandi? He said something about reaching his limit. ...I can’t understand why.”
Saito completely sympathized with this Earl Burgandi. Yes. It was understandable that anybody who listened to her would soon reach their “limit”. Eléonore was much fiercer and abusive than Louise. The Earl must have thought he didn’t have the stamina.
In the end, being unhappy with the marriage cancellation, Eléonore just vented all of her anger on Louise…
And so, the preaching started. She scolded Louise for blowing the roof of the carriage. Louise’s stretched cheek became very red and swollen by then. Naturally, Saito felt sorry for Louise.
However, the reprimanding didn’t last very long, because the door suddenly opened and a flow of pink blew in<!>.
A girl, wearing an elegant dress around her slim waist and a wide rimmed hat with a feather on top, had entered. Under the hat was a flow of silky pink blond hair – exactly the same as Louise’s.
Surprisingly, a lovely face popped up from under the hat.