Chapter 21 (1/2)

21.THE MASK AND LUTOGARDE

There were many varied things Lutogarde bought during their shopping. Seeming that Lutogarde intended to make everything herself except for what was made of gold, she bought many varieties of cloth and also bought things like jewels that could become used as pins and hair ornaments. The baggage increased, and when the amount became so much a n.o.ble girl couldn´t carry, Willian gave up on running away and delved himself into carrying all of it.

“That´s quite the amount. Will Lutogarde-sama partic.i.p.ate in the party too?”

Willian was carrying the great amount of baggage by himself. Lutogarde had many times suggested she should carry half of it, but as to be expected, Willian firmly refused. He had to keep the appearances to the eyes of society, and he also had pride as a man.

“No, they invited me, but I refused. I am not good at showing my face at at parties… When I am  at them, I often feel like leaving early.”

With that being the case, the amount of things she bought was weird. Seeming that she had noticed Willian acting puzzled, Lutogarde added .

“I am intending on making many sets of clothes, not only one.”

Lutogarde readily declared that, but because of how much hard it felt that this would be to do, Willian could only show a wry smile. He didn´t know how much important her friends were to her, but this was just putting too much time and effort. If she was actually doing all this without compensation, then she could only be considered a complete idiot.

“Sh-should we go have a look there?”

The shop that was ahead of Lutogarde, who was walking to its direction in a steady pace, was a mask shop.

“”That´s weird. Or is it that the party is a masquerade?””

There were many masks hanging at the stall. The open parts for the mouth and eyes were like an abbys looking back at him. To Willian, masks were something unrelated to his life until now. He never wore one, nor has ever thought of wearing one.

“Masks are carved in wood, but there are many kinds of materials like gold or porcelain that can be used for making it. While it is easy to make one of wood, it is very difficult to make one from the scratch with other materials. Because of that, I want to buy one first before I make the masks.”

What Willian had been wondering about since moments ago was about how even though Lutogarde would usually be very silent and talk in a small voice, she could become a bit talkative when talking about things related to clothing. It seemed that she really liked that kind of thing.

“Masks, right…”

While Lutogarde was focused on evaluating the masks, Willian was looking at them since he had nothing better to do. Just like Lutogarde had stated before, Willian was able to spot masks made of wood, porcelain and other various materials. All of the masks gave off some kind of weird feeling.

“”Something to hide your own form. Your expression can´t be read, and so, you can´t get the other party´s suspicion because of that. If I had to say, this is something useful.”

However, to wear a mask is the same as saying that you had something to hide.

“”This is something unnecessary to me. I don´t need to go all my way to make reasons for people to be suspicious about me.””

Deciding his own conclusions were right, Willian took his eyes away from the masks.

The weather was cloudy and very gloomy. The people at their surroundings were nervous, wondering if it was going to rain. It could be seen that the stalls, which didn´t have roofs, were all quickly closing.

A raindrop dripped at Willian´s cheek. It seems that it was going to rain.

“While masks are something used to hide yourself, it can also be used to see your inner side.”

Willian looked to Lutogarde, who had started to talk. Willian couldn´t see Lutogarde´s expression, who was with her back turned to him.

““A mask is a thin line that interposes between you and the outside. A thin boundary. Because of that, you can become aware of yourself, obtaining an outside perspective of that. I believe masks are something for you to become aware of you own existence.”

The image that was wildly going through Willian´s mind was the figure of himself changed to an ugly form.

The rain got stronger.

“Even for me, it is not like I can understand myself. I don´t understand myself, and you surely don´t understand yourself. I believe it is appropriate if those illusions can become of help.”

Lutogarde turned her head to Willian. It was a beautiful smile she had been hiding all this time. Willian gulped. He saw a smile he had never seem from Lutogarde, whose mind he had believed to have already understood…

“Take this. I believe it will definitely suit you.”

The [thing] that Lutogarde gave him was a white mask. That, which covered the expression of the eyes, had a very lonely shape. At one glance, the feeling it gave off was similar to the helm of a knight, but it was shaped in a strange whiteness that would more or less gave the impression of a skull. The red line that was drawn on the mask as decoration resembled the fires of war and the vast amount of flesh and blood.