A Small but Certain Happiness (6)

The elf might be the leader of the Ibella clan.

In other words, she might be its queen.

Ashley's conclusion left Theorad speechless.

It wasn't an absurd idea. Theorad remembered how, at breakfast, the elf had displayed manners no one had taught her. From her gaze and the movement of her hands to the calm precision of her expression, every gesture had an old-fashioned grace that no amount of hurried instruction could imitate.

If she had learned such conduct, it had become as natural to her as breathing.

The more Theorad considered it, the less he understood.

“If the elf really is a queen…”

He had to swallow before continuing.

“Then why is she so determined to make me torment her?”

Someone honored as a ruler among her people had offered herself for sale as a sex slave and come to Deharem Manor. Since arriving, she had demanded insults and degrading treatment. None of it resembled the conduct Theorad expected from someone who ruled the Great Forest.

He couldn't begin to make sense of it.

Nor could Ashley know the real reason.

The elf had come into the household disguised as a slave and concealed her purposes even from the people closest to her.

“Perhaps…” Ashley began.

She wasn't entirely without clues. The elf had once warned her not to reveal that she was the Witch of Black Flame. And a person of such stature would hardly choose the lowest position in human society without a reason.

That reason was buried too deeply for Ashley to see. Yet one thing was becoming clear: whatever the elf wanted, it concerned Theorad.

“I believe the elf wants something from you, Lord Theorad.”

“From me? If she wants to be insulted—”

“No. I think the insults are a pretext for testing you. If cruelty were all she wanted, she could have gone to a nobleman who enjoyed treating people like animals. She wouldn't have chosen you.”

Someone like Maldon, Ashley thought sourly.

“There must be a reason she went out of her way to be sold to you. I don't know what it is, but…”

She paused, then studied his face.

“Have you ever met an elf before?”

“An elf?”

Theorad frowned and searched his memory.

There had been moments, whenever he faced the elf, when something about her seemed strangely familiar.

But when had he ever met her?

He could recall no such encounter. A woman as striking as the elf would have been impossible to forget, surely.

It must just be déjà vu.

He sighed.

“No. The slave market was the first time I met her.”

“I see…”

Ashley lowered her gaze, thinking.

A powerful elf with a high position among her people had deliberately submitted herself to slavery under a man who had never met her. The pieces wouldn't fit.

Then Ashley recalled a conversation at Pelgaroin Castle.

Revealing that wouldn't be wise. Do you think I couldn't erase your memory, young lady?

The elf had threatened her with something like that. If it hadn't been an empty threat, she might also have erased some of Theorad's memories.

If she removed the entire memory of their meeting…

That would explain why he failed to recognize her while she continued to fixate on him.

But why would she do it?

Whatever might have passed between them, Ashley had no proof. She kept her suspicions to herself. Theorad was troubled enough already; she could investigate quietly and tell him only when she knew what was true.

Ashley gathered herself and offered him an apologetic smile.

“I'm sorry. I seem to have made you worry.”

“Worry? Not at all.”

Theorad smiled back, a little sadly.

“What you tell me is always helpful. You have nothing to apologize for. And the elf isn't as fierce as she used to be. I can manage.”

His manner was warm, as always. Yet the last remark made Ashley uneasy.

Not as fierce as before…

Was he beginning to feel something for the person who tormented him? Something tangled between resentment and affection?

Ashley wanted desperately to ask him not to give the elf his heart. She wanted him to see her as one might see a storm—dangerous, unavoidable, but not someone to love. Even if their bodies were ever entangled, she wanted him to remember the promise he had made to Ashley.

What am I thinking?

Jealousy had stained a trust she had always thought pure. She was ashamed of herself for imagining he might betray her when he had given her so little cause.

Her fingers twisted together beneath the table.

“That's a relief,” she managed.

The smile that accompanied the words was clumsy. They had so little time alone together. She didn't want her own fears to spoil it.

Tap. Tap-tap.

Raindrops struck the window.

Theorad glanced outside, then turned to Ashley with concern.

“Oh. It's starting to rain. You'd better head back before it gets any worse.”

“Ah… yes.”

Ashley rose reluctantly and began closing the lids of the lunch boxes.

I didn't even get to serve the soup in the thermos…

The meal she'd prepared had scarcely begun. She tried not to let her disappointment show as she packed everything into her bag.

Theorad helped her with the containers.

“If you don't mind, could we have the rest in the carriage? It would be a shame to waste food you've made just because the weather turned.”

For an instant, the dreariness in her heart vanished.

“Yes! Of course.”

“I'm glad. Let's go, then.”

With a gentle smile, he opened the cabin door and stepped outside. Ashley followed, securing her bag as she went.

Shhhhh—

The rain had become a downpour. Beyond the eaves, grass and bushes bent under its weight.

Theorad stood admiring it for a moment, then lifted his long umbrella.

He opened the umbrella with an easy flourish and rested it against his shoulder.

Ashley found herself staring. The sight was so picturesque that she forgot to move.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Theorad asked. “Did you bring an umbrella?”

“What? Oh, yes. I did.”

“That's good. If we had only one, we'd have to share, and that would be rather awkward.”

“…Oh.”

She had ruined a perfectly good opportunity with her own answer.

We could have shared one…

Her disappointment must have shown, because Theorad looked at her with a curious, almost playful expression.

“Just to be sure. Did you really bring an umbrella?”

“I…”

He had probably seen the umbrella in her bag already. If she admitted she had it, she'd have to walk separately. If she said she hadn't, she would look foolish—and dishonest.

Her gaze dropped to the ground.

Finally, with her cheeks burning, she confessed what she wanted rather than what was true.

“…I didn't bring one.”

“Then there's nothing for it.”

Theorad laughed softly, slipped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close beneath his umbrella.

“Oh…!”

Ashley looked up at him, stunned. Her heart was pounding so quickly that she could barely find her breath.

“Stay close,” he told her. “You'll catch a cold if you get soaked.”

She could only nod, suddenly incapable of a sensible reply.

---

Meanwhile, beside the carriage…

“…I tried running, but there was no getting away. That ogre kept after me as though it meant to chase me to the ends of the earth.”

Beynon had found an audience among the Pelgaroin knights under a broad tree that offered some shelter from the rain. He was in the middle of an enthusiastic tale about his mercenary days.

“I thought, This is it. My career is over. I'm going to die here. Then I remembered something Elle Ruby said to me five days before. She worked at the Perilla Oil Inn, you see.”

One of the knights, a man who normally disliked idle talk while on duty, found himself leaning closer.

“What did she say?”

“That if I killed the ogre, she'd let me have her from behind.”

The knight covered his mouth, struggling not to laugh. His companion shook with suppressed amusement.

Beynon grinned.

“Well, naturally, that gave me a reason to fight. But the bastard was enormous, and my spear didn't seem to make a difference. While I was wondering what to do, I noticed something swinging between its legs every time it jumped.”

“You don't mean…”

“Exactly!”

Beynon threw an imaginary spear with all his might.

“Straight into its balls. Those things were as big as my head, and then—”

He clenched a fist and suddenly opened his hand.

“Pop! Like that!”

The knights broke into laughter. Taking that as encouragement, Beynon folded his arms and continued.

“It screamed, fell over from the pain, and I didn't waste a moment. I climbed up toward its neck and—”

He stopped.

Theorad and Ashley were approaching the carriage beneath a single umbrella.

The other knights turned to see what had silenced him. One immediately stepped forward.

“Doesn't my lady have an umbrella? I should fetch hers—”

Beynon caught him by the shoulder.

“Do you think she's sharing his umbrella because she doesn't own one?”

“…You mean she does?”

“Of course she does. Look at her face.”

The knight looked again. The two were smiling as they walked, seemingly in no hurry to leave each other's company.

“Aren't they walking awfully slowly?” the knight murmured. “Neither looks eager to get back.”

“Now you're catching on.”

Beynon gave him an approving thumbs-up and smiled to himself.

“Then we shall wait quietly. A knight ought to be loyal, shouldn't he?”

The others had no objections. They stepped back together and left their young lady and Theorad a few more moments beneath the umbrella.