Chapter 42 - Volume 2 (2/2)

Shaking my head gently to clear my thoughts, I looked up at the man looking down at me.

「Then, for what reason did you bring me here?」

「To lift your curse, obviously.」

「But, um, we don’t know who put this curse on me, do we?」

「Right. So right now I’m going to directly drive it out..」

At his assertive tone I felt somewhat detached, with an echo of unease. ‘Drive it out? Drive what out? and how?’ I wonder. Tilting my head, I looked at him. The expression on his face wasn’t quite emotionless. This was, perhaps, considerable anger, I wonder?

At the thought of his anger for my sake, even though it wasn’t the place for this, I felt a slight itchy feeling.

Geez. It’s strange, if I do say so myself. Being so uneasy when I was tormented by nightmares alone, feeling like the way forward was uncertain. Even so, what is this now? Speaking our true feelings to each other, being embraced, just with that feeling so reassured.

「Filmina」

「Yes?」

「What are you smiling at?」

「Ah」

Instinctively, I covered my mouth with both hands. But seeing my smile, his glance sharpened. 「Is this really the time to be smiling?」 those sunrise-colored eyes eloquently asked.

But that look just made me smile more. It healed my chaotic heart. Even though it wasn’t that kind of gaze at all.

At my giggle, he gave a sigh even larger than before. That sigh wasn’t aimed at me, rather it seemed as if he was scolding himself for being irritated. Then he held out his hand to me.

「Filmina, come here.」

I put my hand in his, which was so fair-skinned it made me jealous, and was pulled off the sofa to a standing position. Then, with my hand still in his, I followed him through various piles of books and magical tools.

「What? Master? And Ms. Filmina?」

Addressed by the young voice, we stopped. The origin, Widnichol, looked as if he were buried in a mountain of magical books, and appeared to be mixing medicinal herbs. This man’s disciple, how unfortunate… That was mean. The boy’s glittering sky-blue eyes looked back and forth between me and his master.

「What’s up? You weren’t supposed to be in today.」

「Don’t worry about it. I’m not here to bring you extra work」

「Huh? Oh, okay.」

Passing Widnichol, who looked like he wanted to ask more questions, Edi grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill pen and pulled me once again toward the center of the lab.

I could feel Widnichol’s quizzical gaze at my back, but Edi didn’t turn around. I had visited this lab, which was of a large size appropriate for the elite wizard who it was given to, countless times, but I had never gone this far inside before.

When I started to question exactly what he was planning, he stopped in front of one of the countless bookcase.

He put his parchment and quill pen down on a nearby desk, and using the hand that wasn’t holding mine, waved his finger in the air. And before my eyes, the bookcase made a heavy noise and started to slide sideways.

Looking over his shoulder, I saw that where the bookcase had been, there was now a stairwell leading underground.

‘Ooh, this is legit fantasy.’ I was so moved I forgot the situation. Edi once again took up the parchment and quill pen, and pulled my hand.

「Let’s go.」

「O-okay.」

Holding up the hem of my dress with my free hand, I followed him into down the stairs.

The staircase was wider than I had thought. The magic gems inlaid into the walls pulsed with light as we descended. I had no idea where this was leading. Although the gemstones gave off light, they were dim, and I was having a hard time, being sensitive to the darkness.

Whether he noticed this, or I had unconsciously started to grip his hand tighter, Edi strengthened his grip on my hand.

「It’s okay.」

What was okay, he didn’t say. But even with those two words, I felt a bit of relief.

Holding hands like that, we continued to descend. The unchanging scenery made me lose my sense of time. I don’t know whether we continued for a long time, or just a short bit.

Finally, with a thud, the hard sole of his shoe met with solid ground. Stepping down next to him, I realized that we must have reached the bottom floor.

With this, I guess the only way to return is to climb back up. Just the thought made me depressed. Indifferent to my pains, Edi reached out for the door towering in front of us.

Ring ring, making the sound of a bell, the door opened. And at the scene spread out in front of us, the world on the other side of the door, I reflexively murmured,

「How beautiful…」