Chapter 306: Sienna Merdein (2) [Bonus Image]
As her fluttering hair slowly settled down, Sienna stared into Eugene’s face, unable to say a word.
This wasn’t the first time that they’d been reunited. Many years ago, Sienna had come to Aroth in the form of a mental projection.
That time had been thanks to her detecting that Hamel’s heirloom, his old necklace, had appeared in her mansion. So Sienna had scraped up what little magic power she had left to create her mental projection and had searched Aroth to find the necklace.
As a mental projection that couldn’t move as she wished, touch anything, or even say anything, Sienna had wandered through the plaza.
But the magic energy infused into the necklace was far too weak to detect. At that time, Sienna had no choice but to choose the most difficult option of blindly searching for the necklace within that large and crowded square, but then….
‘I found you.’
She hadn’t been able to hear his voice directly with her own ears. Just like how Sienna wasn’t able to transmit her voice to anyone, she also wasn’t able to hear anyone else’s voice. Even so, Sienna had sensed his voice .
It was a voice that she had last heard three hundred years ago. A voice that she had fondly recalled and imagined speaking to her over and over again.
Just the movement of his lips was enough for her to hear his voice. From Eugene, Sienna had heard Hamel say, ‘I found you.’
“...Ahaha…,” Sienna chuckled.
Their second reunion had happened inside the World Tree when a miracle that couldn’t normally have happened took place. Because of a combination of Sienna’s sealed consciousness, a miracle from Anise, who had turned into an angel, and a miracle from the World Tree, the center of the elven religion and the same World Tree that Sienna had been playing in since she was a child, a miraculous dream had been created.
…And in that dream, she was reunited with Hamel.
There were tears.
There was laughter.
Then they parted ways after making the following promises.
Hamel had said that he would save Sienna.
Sienna had said that she would go looking for Hamel.
During their third reunion, both their promises were fulfilled.
“...Haha….”
This was their fourth reunion.
A reunion that had been long-awaited. She had spent countless times wondering what they would talk about when they met.
But even though she had given it so much thought, Sienna still couldn’t scrounge up a single topic inside her head to spark a conversation.
Unable to recall what to say, Sienna just stared at Eugene, who was standing in front of her.
To think that they would both be able to survive like this, being in the same place as each other once more. While breathing the same air, seeing the same sights, able to approach each other whenever they pleased, able to touch each other, and able to hear each other’s voices.
Her concerns about whether this dreamlike moment was, in fact, actual reality were enough to make Sienna’s hair turn white.
“Ha…,” Sienna’s laughter faded.
She didn’t want to let out any tears, so Sienna had to purposely force herself to laugh. Even if they were tears of joy, she didn’t want to show him such an ugly and shameful expression.
However, she wasn’t able to control her surging emotions as she wanted to. Her eyes kept involuntarily blinking, the tip of her nose was twitching, and her heart was pounding like it had been clenched in some sort of vise.
Sienna tried to say something, “That’s….”
She was still trying not to cry. Sienna placed a hand on her chest as she tried to control her breathing.
Getting a firm grip on her dampening eyes, Sienna looked straight at Eugene and asked, “What’s... what’s with that look?”
Why did he look so much different from what he had looked like during their previous reunions?
It was causing her heart to race even faster.
His smooth cheeks, without a single scar, seemed to be glowing, and his shaggy bangs had been tidied up to give a clearer view of his eyes. He was wearing a spotless tuxedo without any wrinkles and a coat draped over his shoulders….
Seeing him dressed like this was enough to make Sienna wonder….
Sienna stammered, “It-it looks like you dressed up for my sake. A-ahem, s-so it looks like you really do secretly have quite a cute side, don’t you?”
“Is that really something you should say?” Eugene replied with a grin on his face as he approached Sienna.
Eugene also felt the same sense of excitement stirring in his chest.
Eugene wasn’t the only one who had put a lot of effort into dressing up for today. He had thought that the outfit he had seen her in last time already looked good enough, but Sienna had also changed into a new set of clothes.
“I-I didn’t change my outfit for your sake,” Sienna denied.
Eugene was slowly getting closer. Wouldn’t he soon be able to hear the sound of her loudly racing heart? While having such concerns, Sienna pressed down firmly on her chest.
Sienna hesitated, “This is just… uh… ahem, about my clothes, it’s just that too much time had passed, so they were all worn out…. Mhm…. I’ve also noticed that a lot of things have changed between then and now, so I was just trying to wear some clothes that fit in with the current era—”
“Alright, alright,” Eugene said with a grin as his steps came to a halt. While staring directly into Sienna’s face from the now closed distance, he said, “It looks good on you.”
“...What?” Sienna said, taken aback.
Eugene repeated himself, “I said that it looks good on you. What about it?”
“You… a-a-are you crazy?” Sienna stammered, her face having turned bright red.
While trying to cover her overheated face with both hands, Sienna staggered back a few paces.
What did he say just now? It, it looks good on you? He said that to me? Something like that? That stupid, idiot, bastard Hamel?
“What’s with your reaction?” Eugene questioned. “I put a lot of thought into those words, you know.”
Sienna stuttered in shock, “Uh… u-u-um, no, th-th-that’s just, you… could it be that you drank a little before coming here?”
“Why would I have a drink before coming here to meet with you?” Eugene asked in confusion.
Sienna protested, “It’s because you’re saying things that aren’t like you, things that really don’t suit you—!”
“Really now. It’s not like I said anything strange,” Eugene grumbled as one hand started rummaging through the pockets of his coat for some reason.
When she said that those words weren’t like him and didn’t really suit him, Eugene naturally was already fully aware of that. Whether it was in his previous life or after he had been reincarnated, Eugene wasn’t the sort of person to say such words.
So it wasn’t like he hadn’t felt strange saying them, but even though he had felt strange, he had still spat out those words. A lot of time had passed since they had last met in real life, and he knew just how desperately they had each longed for this meeting, just as he knew that they no longer needed to cling to their old regrets — not anymore. That was why he had uttered such a compliment that didn’t really suit him, but now, Eugene was embarrassed because Sienna’s reaction to it wasn’t all that positive.
“...Ahem,” Eugene awkwardly coughed as he glanced at Sienna’s current outfit once more.
Then he swallowed a sigh of relief that he had listened to Anise.
Should he give the present to her now? No, it should be a bit later. If he gave it to her now, Sienna might just kick up another fuss about how such an action really didn’t suit him, and Eugene might really die from embarrassment.
“...Oh, that’s right,” Eugene changed the subject. “There was something that I wanted to ask you.”
“Wh-what is it?” Sienna stammered.
What do you think of me? Do you like me? In that short moment, questions like these repeatedly popped up inside Sienna’s head.
However, Eugene asked something completely different from the list of questions Sienna had imagined, “It’s about the last time after we killed Raizakia. Before you disappeared, what were you trying to say to me?”
She had hastily gotten her hopes up, but it still hurt to have her expectations betrayed…. Sienna’s lips parted in a daze, and she blinked repeatedly as she registered the question.
Soon, Sienna regained her composure as she let out a sharp shriek, “Ah!”
Then she stomped over to Eugene.
Although Eugene flinched back in the face of Sienna’s sudden advance and tried to take a few steps back, Sienna wasn’t going to allow Eugene to escape. A furious thrust of her hand stabbed deeply into Eugene’s coat, grabbing hold of his left hand that had just been rummaging within and pulling it out.
“You!” Sienna growled as her eyes lit up with a bloodthirsty light.
She was glaring at the ring finger on his left hand that she had spotted a month ago, just before she had disappeared. While she was in the middle of reconstituting and repairing her body inside the World Three, Sienna had made some lengthy deductions about this ring’s true identity.
She had soon come to an initial conclusion.
‘No, I must have just seen it wrong.’
Her eyes must have been mistaken since she had been on the verge of disappearing. Although this was a rather forced conclusion, Sienna had decided to embrace it for now. She had assured herself that she would just need to take a closer look and confirm it with her own eyes when they met one month later.
She, who had been called the Wise Sienna , had come to such a forced conclusion because there was a month left before they could meet, a month in which she wouldn’t be able to go and check it for herself, and she really didn’t want to deal with that mental stress. In fact, she already knew that she hadn’t seen it wrongly but was deliberately ignoring the truth.
And now, the thing she had been ignoring had transformed into an undeniable reality and was now being etched into Sienna’s eyes.
Eugene did have a ring on his left ring finger!
Sienna’s hair slowly began to float upward as she stammered, “You…. Y-y-You! You’re… married? Engaged? Wh-what’s with this? To whom?!”
She suddenly recalled the warning that she had heard from Mer.
There are a lot of foxes, no, starving wolves prowling around Sir Eugene.
She had also been trying to ignore those words, but now, there was no longer any need for her to do so. As for why that was? It was because Hamel, no, Eugene, was currently right in front of Sienna.
Sienna stuttered, “I-i-is it… Anise?!”
Anise Slywood. If it was Anise, a woman who had such a snakelike side to her, then she could definitely be described as a starving wolf.
Sienna was also well aware of what kind of feelings Anise had for Hamel.
‘And her fate was incomparably more pitiful than mine, ’ Sienna recalled.
Although she could have somehow escaped her fate if she had truly wanted to, Anise had chosen not to do so and had accepted her fate. While remaining pure her entire life, Anise had lived the life of a religious idol as the Saint.
The fate that Anise had accepted would steal from her the happiness she deserved and would make it impossible for her to rest even in death. Anise had been fully aware of these facts, yet she had still decided to accept her fate. For the sake of the future, for the sake of the world, and because their future generations would need the Saint.
But what if Hamel hadn’t died….
What if all five of them had survived, slain the Demon Kings, and saved the world? Anise wouldn’t have needed to accept such a fate.
What was so good about being the Saint? Even if it meant going up against the Pope and the entire church, even if Anise herself were to refuse, Sienna would still have chosen to carry Anise off so they could have a future together with Hamel.
However, she hadn’t been able to do so. Hamel had died, and they hadn’t managed to slay all of the Demon Kings. They were defeated. So they had needed to make contingencies for the future.
That future was now. Anise had sacrificed herself and become an angel. The immoral and blood-soaked miracle of the Holy Empire of Yuras had created a Saint who looked just like Anise for the current era, while Anise, who had become an angel, now dwelled within the Saint of this era.
Sienna had sincerely wished for Anise’s salvation. As such, if it was Anise who was now with Eugene, then she would be able to accept it to some extent.
However!
‘She made a move before me? ’
That couldn’t be allowed.
‘If they’ve only just exchanged rings, then that’s still alright, but… just how far have they really gone? ’
Sienna’s eyes kept shaking. While she knew that thinking about precedence in an issue like this was strange, still… if at all possible, Sienna had hoped to come before Anise!
“...No way…,” Sienna muttered to herself.
Sienna’s shoulders shook as she suddenly thought of another scenario. What if…?
“I-is it the one who looks like Anise, the Saint of this era…?” Sienna asked, thinking that it was definitely possible.
Rather than Anise, who had become an angel, the Saint of the current era, who was alive and well, was more suspicious. That Saint could have been influenced by Anise, who dwelled within her, to exchange rings with Hamel… and perhaps… it was also possible that the Saint herself could have fallen in love with Hamel.
“Calm down,” Eugene tried to tell her.
What crazy idea was she having now? Letting out a snort, Eugene shook his head. He had experienced a similar reaction before, so he was now used to it.
Naturally, Sienna wasn’t able to immediately calm down just because Eugene said to. With eyes that were rapidly growing colder, she glared into Eugene’s face.
“You son of a bitch,” Sienna cursed.
Eugene sighed, “I’m telling you to calm down.”
Sienna refused, “You motherfucker.”
“Hey, hey. Stop cursing and take a good look at it. Shouldn’t you be able to tell that this isn’t an ordinary ring?” Eugene persuaded her.
He wanted her to calm down and take a good look? Huffing angrily, Sienna glared at Eugene’s ring.
…The fact that the ring was being worn on the ring finger of Eugene’s left hand had clouded Sienna’s judgment, but indeed, now that she was looking at it properly, she could tell that it wasn’t just any ordinary ring.
“...Ah… ahem,” Sienna let out an awkward cough as she brought Eugene’s hand, which she was still holding tightly, up for a closer look. Then she opened her eyes wide as she stared into the ring on his finger, “...Your left ring finger… if it’s combined with a magical contract, that means this ring is the symbol of a promise. That’s right, each finger does have its own different meaning, but the ring finger of the left hand has always held that sort of symbolism ever since ancient times. Both in the fields of sorcery and in magic… ah—!”
Eugene snorted, “Yeah, go on.”
Sienna coughed once more, “Ahem…. In fact, I have to say, I was actually already aware of this, Hamel, no, I mean, Eugene. I really was aware of it already. Why wouldn’t I be able to tell what it was right away? There’s no way that I, Sienna Merdein, the greatest and wisest wizard in the continent’s history, wouldn’t have noticed the truth. I was just, I was just playing a practical joke on you.”
The light had now returned to her cold, dead eyes. Unaware of how red her own face had become, Sienna kept rambling.
“This is… ahem… it’s definitely a magic ring. Not just any ordinary magic either; it’s been enchanted with ancient divine magic…,” Sienna muttered as her face moved closer and closer to Eugene’s left hand.
What a large hand…. There were raised veins on the back with calluses as hard as steel on the inside of his palm. He had long, rugged fingers, and, this close, she could smell the slight scent of his body. All of these factors caused Sienna’s face to grow even hotter.
She had gotten too close. If Eugene tilted his hand even slightly, it felt like the back of his hand would be able to rub against her cheek.
“I-I’ve gotten a good look at it,” Sienna stammered as she belatedly came to her senses and let go of Eugene’s hand.
Then Sienna stepped back, cooling off her face by fanning her cheeks with both hands.
Eugene stared at Sienna with a smile on his face.
“...What are you looking at?” Sienna grumbled, pouting in response to his gaze and obvious amusement.
“It’s just strange to see you like this,” Eugene said as he pointed his finger at something behind Sienna’s back.
He was pointing at the smile that had been drawn onto Sienna’s portrait by the artist. That benevolent expression on the portrait gave off a completely different feeling to the real Sienna’s face.
Sienna huffed sulkily, “...Hmph, it seems you like that expression? I’m sorry, but even if I wanted to, I just can’t make that sort of smile work for me. Even at that time, I had the same expression as I do now. The person who painted the portrait did it all on his own—”
“It doesn’t matter to me either way. Rather than a portrait you can’t even touch or talk to, I prefer the real you who keeps grumbling and clicking her tongue,” Eugene confessed.
He was doing it again! Sienna’s jaw dropped as she stared at Eugene.
“Y-you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” Sienna accused once she had regained her composure.
“Doing what?” Eugene responded innocently.
Sienna cried out, “You keep saying things that aren’t like you—!
“Really now, you’re making such a fuss even though I’m giving you compliments,” Eugene complained as he tucked Sienna’s hat, which he had still been holding on to, inside of his cloak.
“Why are you putting my hat inside there?” Sienna demanded.
Eugene shrugged, “Just cause.”
If she wore this huge hat, it would be hard to see Sienna’s face. In fact, from now on, he would be able to see her face every day, but just for today, Eugene wanted to see Sienna’s face clearly.
Of course, he wasn’t going to say such thoughts out loud. Moreover, Eugene didn’t want to admit that he had such thoughts, even to himself.
Clearing his throat, Eugene turned and glanced out the window before asking, “...Are you just going to keep staying here?”
Sienna blushed, “W-well… it’s just been so long since I last returned home, so I was taking a little look around. In fact, there’s no need to stay here any longer. Since the insides haven’t changed a bit, what is there to even see?”
“Alright then, do you have anywhere that you want to go?” Eugene asked.
Sienna retorted, “Wh-why do you have to keep asking me? Huh? What about you? Don’t you have anywhere you want to go?”
“Ahem,” Eugene cleared his throat once more as he sauntered over to Sienna. “For now, shall we head outside?”
“If-if you want to,” Sienna acquiesced.
“Well then, why don’t you get a bit closer to me,” Eugene requested as he inserted both hands into his cloak.
Sienna didn’t try to understand what Eugene was going to do and instead just drew closer to Eugene with a deepening blush on her face.
“It might be a bit cold outside for you,” Eugene commented out of consideration for Sienna.
It wasn’t strange for Eugene to say so. While it was always warm in the Rainforest to the south, currently, it was early winter in Aroth. So naturally, there was no reason for Sienna to mock him for saying this. After all, the comment was meant to show consideration rather than prompt a response.
Eugene took a cloak he had purchased after wandering through the city in the early morning hours and draped it around Sienna’s shoulders.
It had a vintage purple color. A short cape rested on her shoulders while the rest of the gold-embroidered cloak continued below the cape and flared out at Sienna’s thighs. Eugene had picked this cloak because he thought its color would go well with Sienna’s purple hair, and it had worked out just as he had thought.
Sienna was struck dumb.
What was she going to say?
Would she call him crazy?
Would she ask him, why a cloak?
What if she said that it was tacky?
Eugene felt nervous that Sienna might make such a provocative comment, so he kept glancing at her face.
However, Sienna wasn’t able to say anything, and it seemed like she was even having some trouble breathing properly.
What was this cloak?
A gift.
To whom?
To her.
Sienna’s thoughts went through a cycle of these questions before coming to a standstill.