71 Dreamer (2/2)
”Practical.” She nodded in approval before smiling at Li. ”I…feel that I understand you better now. Before, I did not have the faintest idea what kind of person you were, but this does give me perspective. Firstly, you are quite a bit older than I thought. Yet, I have to say, you do not look like a broken man, Li. You act and think with purpose.”
”I figure that's because I've fulfilled my dreams,” said Li.
”And that is a quiet life, perhaps? On the farm? That would explain why you wish for nothing more.”
”You've got the gist of it.”
Sylvie straightened her posture, confidence beginning to wreath her form. ”Then you need not worry about me. Just as you have become whole again with a dream, I have dreams of my own. Even should I give away all of myself, I will always have my dream, and that is a piece of myself that cannot ever flee me.”
Li looked into Sylvie's eyes and saw straight determination, the hands once shyly held together now straight at her sides. ”You wanted to get stronger to help your family, right? I'll tell you right now that wanting to help your family isn't a dream for yourself, even if it feels fulfilling at the time. You're following exactly in my footsteps.”
Sylvie shook her head. ”No, that is my duty, but my dream is simpler.” Her eyes twinkled with her trademark curiosity again. ”It is to explore the world and see every little piece of it for myself. First, the wondrous East, then the strange South, then the fiery Western lands, then perhaps at the very end, I will travel to the northern end of the world.”
”I see. Then what's stopping you?”
”Because when I do decide to travel the world, I wish to see it in its best state, with as little pain and misery as possible. How can I abandon everything to a fanciful dream when I know that I could have changed the very world I wish to admire for the better?” Sylvie sighed. ”I am much more an idealist than you, I am afraid.”
She waited for Li to say something, but he did not. Though she probably could not tell, it wasn't because he felt like being silent. It was because he was thinking about what she had said. About having a duty to be a steward to the world.
”Well, let us hurry back to the ceremony,” she said to break the silence, turning back to the chest and retrieving several scrolls and ragged leather-bound texts that she carefully placed inside a bag at her waist.
Valery drove them back to the square, and by now, the crowd had settled into a relatively orderly gathering around the upraised square. Li and Sylvie, their senses both sharp, managed to see the whole thing from the back of the crowd.
Atop the platform where famous bards would normally play to raving crowds, there was instead quite the picturesque and royal scene. There was Jeanne kneeling, her eyes closed as the duchess gracefully slung a ruby-red metal fashioned into the shape of a tongue of flame across the hero's neck.
Sunstar stood beside the duchess, Old Thane nearby. Li narrowed his eyes to see Old Thane so near the solar hero, but he suppressed an urge to do anything unreasonable. Old Thane had one of the largest smiles Li had seen on him at the moment, and he didn't want to ruin the moment either.
A pop, and clouds of falling petals materialized above the square, conjured up by a royal band of musicians and mages lined up at the back. The musicians played a fanfare of trumpets, and the crowd cheered and whistled in honor of their new gold-ranked adventurer and hero.
The duchess bid Jeanne to rise up and took her hand, pulling her gently to face the crowd. The duchess waved, and Jeanne followed her.
Then the duchess led Jeanne away to the back of the square. The band broke their formation without stopping the music, allowing the two to take the stairs down and out of sight for the crowd.
”Something's not right,” said Sylvie.
Li gave her a questioning look.
”I know when she's genuinely happy.” Sylvie furrowed her brows. ”She was forcing herself to smile there. I'm going to try and meet her.”
Li looked over to Old Thane now alone with Sunstar. ”I'll go pick the old man up, then.”